101 Love Tips

I mentioned a while ago that I was going to start doing some optimization here on Romance Tracker aimed at making the site rank higher when someone searched for “Romantic Ideas” in Google.  I  changing our home page link anchor text to “Romantic Ideas,” am using the term more often in posts, and doing some other boring technical stuff designed to help us rank higher.

Google is a weird animal.  Within a few weeks of starting our optimization, we jumped from 260 to 137 for the the search term “Romantic Ideas,” then suddenly dropped down into the 400’s for nearly a month.

The good news is that today Google suddenly has Romance Tracker listed as number 11 in a search for “Romantic Ideas.”  That’s cool . . . we’re almost in the top ten!  I don’t know how long we’ll stay there, but our goal is to reach number one, and the quest continues.

I also noticed something else pretty cool today: without even shooting for it, Romance Tracker now ranks at number 61 in a search for the word “romance.” That’s a term that’s searched even more highly than “romantic ideas,” and I’m sure my next contest will involve linking back to us with “romance” as anchor text. 

If you get a chance, be sure to enter our Romantic Ideas Link Contest to help Romance Tracker reach number one in the SERPS for “Romantic Ideas.”  You’ll have a chance to win some pretty cool stuff in the process. 

I’m not sure if I deserve it, but Roberta Ferguson tagged Romance Tracker as a member of a new community of Awsome Guy Bloggers.  Thanks for the honor, I’ll try to live up to it! 

If you want to apply for the Awsome Guy Blogger award or its female equivalent, Rockin’ Girl Blogger,  make sure you contact Roberta.  It’s a fun idea that I’m sure she’ll do well with.

As promised, I’m sending some link love back to the bloggers who entered our Romantic Ideas Link Contest this week:

Redhead Rants

Webtrepreneur

There’s still time to enter the Romantic Ideas Link Contest if you’re an RSS subscriber or a blogger.  It’s quick, easy, and a great chance to win some cool free stuff . . . why not enter today?

This is really cool!  Liz Strauss at Successful Blog has completed the Blogging Metaphor Project, and  Romance Tracker’s post on 10 Reasons Why Blogging is Like Dating has been chosen as one of the ten winners.

Even cooler: as a winner, Romnace Tracker is going to receive an autographed copy of Lorelle’s book “Blogging Tips–What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging.”  It’s strange to learn that I’ll be getting a free copy of this great book, because I was actually already thinking about ordering it!

I’m sure “Blogging Tips” will help me improve Romance Tracker and make it even better for our regualr readers.  Kudos to Liz Strauss for running such a super blog project and inspiring so much good writing!  I’m going to reproduce the entire list of entries below, and I hope you check them all out if you get a chance.

Frequent readers of Romance Tracker may have noticed that our RSS subscriber number has been inching closer and closer to 100 in recent days . . . in fact, as of today, 99 readers have signed up for the Romance Tracker Feed!

That’s a totally awesome milestone, especially since Romance Tracker’s Technorati Authority ranking also hit 199 today!

To celebrate hitting 100 RSS subscribers and Technorati 200, Romance Tracker is going to give a little something back to our readers and fellow bloggers who helped us get there.

Today we’re launching the Romantic Ideas Link Contest and giving you an easy chance to win hundreds of dollars worth of prizes and advertising here on Romance Tracker!

Before I tell you how to enter, let’s see the prizes:

RSS SUBSCRIBER PRIZE ($20 value)

• One lucky reader will win his or her choice of any relationship book they want from our favorite books list.

BLOGGER FIRST PRIZE ($110 value)

• A free review of your site on the front page of Romance Tracker
• A free link in our “featured sites” for one month
• Your choice of any relationship book you want from our favorite books list

BLOGGER SECOND PRIZE ($90 value)

• A free review of your site on the front page of Romance Tracker
• A free link in our “featured sites” for one month

BLOGGER THIRD PRIZE ($30 value)

• A free link in our “featured sites” for one month

HOW TO ENTER

So, how do you enter the Romantic Ideas Link Contest and qualify for these great prizes? It’s super easy!

• If you’re a Romance Tracker RSS subscriber, simply send me your name and contact info using our contact page and I’ll automatically enter you to win a free book of your choice.
• If you’re a blogger, just write a teeny tiny post about this contest on your site and link back to the contest page and Romance Tracker’s home page using the anchor text “romantic ideas.” Here’s an example of what I’m looking for:

Hey, there’s a contest going on over at Romance Tracker for free blog reviews, linkbacks and books. All you have to do is link back to them using the anchor text romantic ideas.

It’s that easy! Drop me a note to let me know you’ve put up the post and I’ll automatically enter you in the contest to win one of the blogger prize packages. It doesn’t matter what your blog is about, as long as it’s family friendly.

Oh, and as an extra bonus, I’ll post a link to your site as soon as you enter the contest, regardless of whether you win one of the prize packages or not. Free link love from a PR 4 site using any anchor text you want . . . not a bad deal!

SO, WHEN WILL YOU GET YOUR PRIZES?

The contest will remain open until Sunday, July 15, which should give everyone plenty of time to enter. Once I’ve received your entry, I’ll drop your name into a draw bucket and pull out the random winners when the contest is over.

WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

The Romantic Ideas Link Contest couldn’t be easier to enter, and your chances to win some cool free stuff are pretty darn good! Shoot me your name if you’re an RSS subscriber, or post a sentence or two about the contest on your blog today.

I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you!