How do you make your blog higher in the search engines?

I don't want to lose what I started blogging for, but I need to make it pay for my time, too. So I am doing paid advertising. In order for the ads to be worth my time I need to have a higher ranking blog. I have searched and searched on what I need to do in order to get the higher paying opportunities. (which means having to post less often!)
There are two major ranking systems and one new one on the scene. Alexa is the major system for getting the really high paying jobs, but it is not a fair ranking system. They only measure the traffic to your blog by people who have the Alexa toolbar installed. And that is a majority of technology people. Well, I do some technology posts, but mostly not. I don't have a large webmaster and tech audience. But I need the ranking!
The other major ranking is page ranking from Google. I have no problems with Google. Their system can be simple or complicated. But there is a lot of press going around about Google "slapping" people for getting paid outside of Google ways. People with high ratings were being dropped low with no apparent reasoning. And silence from Google. I have not been slapped and I do PPP. I wonder if it has more to do with the "no follow" that I don't understand at all.
Then there is PPP's new ranking system called Real Rank. That one seems like it would be better on some levels, like it won't slap you for offending them, and it records all traffic on your site. However, you have to have tools installed in order to be ranked yourself.
For some reason it is believed that you should have your own domain name to get better ranking. I'm not sure why the "blogspot" confuses the system, but I'm going to switch. There are advertisers who will not even let you to look at their opportunity if you don't have your own domain name.
I don't want to start over on a new name because I will lose the ranking I've already worked hard to get.
I found a way to keep this blog and host it on my own domain name, so that is what I am going to be doing. Then I keep my old links which will redirect to my new site. And soon the new site will have its own traffic recordings and I can turn my ppp blog over to the new address and get better opportunities. At least I am hoping it will work!

The Mist By Stephen King

Years ago my mom started me reading Stephen King books. That is probably where I get my love of being scared silly, and scaring the kids silly.
One night, while my infant brother slept in another room, my mom, my cousin Nicky and I were reading a Stephen King book aloud. I can't remember what it was even called, but there was a man walking in the mountains and a dog started playing with him and as he traveled up the mountain the dog started jumping in front of him and growling, trying to stop him. Eventually he started to leave and something happened and the dog jumped between him and whatever was going to attack him and was growling.
Right at that moment my mom's dog started growling something fierce! We started screaming! We were just petrified. No one else was home, and we were in a bedroom and couldn't get to a phone. We were so afraid of whatever would make a very happy dog growl so fiercely in the hallway that we were to scared to even go check on and grab the baby!
Nicky and I were just teenagers, but my mom should have run for the baby, wouldn't you think?
That is kind of what happens in The Mist by Stephen King. A mist surrounds a grocery store and it is too thick to even get to the cars, much less get anywhere. Eventually they figure out that something is in there and their true characters start to come out. It is almost more frightening in the store than out of it.
The trailer for The Mist scared me. I wasn't sure I could even handle watching the movie. Donnie thinks it looks great, so we'll have to go see it together, and I know he will leave with bruises and nail marks on his arms. I would NOT go see the movie with my mom, though. Sorry, mom, but I know you too well!

Ouch! Where does it hurt?

My father-in-law, Phillip, has always been an extremely hard working man. Farming all his life. Whatever he had to do, he did it. He would go without brakes in his car to make sure the kids were taken car of.
In the harsh cold of Minnesota winters, Philip would go to work outside day in and day out. Sometimes he was doing typical farming, sometimes he was on the turkey farm. He lost a finger to an auger accident when he was a young man.
Over the years, the cold and hard work took its toll on him and his body started to rebel. Arthritis and gout settled into his joints and crippled him slowly. Now, at nearing 80 he is unable to open jars, zip and button his own clothing, and even needs a special tool to turn the key in the car. He can't even clip his own toenails. His feet are so misshapen with arthritis and gout that he can't wear regular shoes, we have to find wide, large slippers with hard bottoms for him. But since you need to have warm winter boots in Minnesota we've had to buy several sizes too large in order for him to get them on, much less walk without pain.
If you look in the picture, his hands are so bad he can hardly even hold his own grandchildren.
Phillip needs something to help with the pain so he can be more mobile. I believe Freeze It will help him. When he isn't in pain he is able to walk faster and handle the grand kids sitting with him. He would feel so much better and less of a burden if he didn't need everything done for him anymore.
You can buy Freeze It Gel or Freeze It Sticks. I think the sticks would be best for Phillip because he wouldn't have to rub it in with his hands and could reach more difficult places.
You can use Freeze It® for:

• Sore Muscles & Muscle Sprains
• Back, Shoulder, Neck Pain
• Arthritis, Painful Ankle, Knee, Hip & Elbow Joints
• Muscular Strains
  

Sleep Number Beds

Have you heard about the sleep number bed? Years ago I heard about it from my cousin who said it was the best bed he had ever purchased. Then my brother and his wife bought one. They both have back problems. They would give up about anything before they would give up their bed. A coworker of Donnie's went to a hotel for the night so they could try out the bed, and they ended up going to buy one.
The sleep number bed is a bed that has adjustable firmness. You can change the firmness number at any time with a little button. There is a pump that adds or releases air from the air chambers. With dual controls your husband and you can have completely different firmness in the same bed! That alone is amazing. We fight over a firm mattress for Donnie or a soft one for me.
The bed comes in twin all the way to King size. There is even a long warranty, 5 year full replacement, and up to a 20 year warranty.
Do you have a Sleep Number Bed? How do you like it? We have been thinking about it for our next bed purchase. I would love to hear from anyone's experience.



Thanks for making this possible, sleep number beds!

Math help

Math is a subject that I struggle with, so helping my kids do their homework can be a less than enjoyable parenting moment. Sometimes it is downright humiliating. What we need are Math Tutors to help the kids master their lessons. When we lived in Virginia we worked with just such a program for my brother, who lived with us. He needed help with math. Score Learning Center, owned by Kaplan, assesses the child's weak areas and finds a place where they have 85% proficiency and challenges them from there. They are successful enough that they don't want to quit, but they are still learning. To keep the child motivated there is a reward program where they earn points to spend on prizes. Kids just love that! Positive reinforcement works wonders on children. I also love how they keep the student/teacher ratio 1:3, so the students have much more one one one time if they need it. I hope Score plans to expand to more states soon, because we had one in Virginia, but here in Minnesota we don't.



Thanks go out to Score for making this post possible.