…and other stories from Yahoo! and the blogosphere

We like lists — five reasons to use display, seven linkbait tips, and lots more — so Jen Slegg’s 52 easy ways optimize your blog while on your coffee break makes us positively giddy. So many tips! Now we just have to go check the ways we’re not optimized. On our coffee breaks, of course.

MyBlogLog has some nifty new widgets that make it easier to let your readers know what’s happening with you. The idea is that even if you’re too busy to update your “about me” section, the widgets will look at what you’re posting or bookmarking across the web and update your information for you.

Speaking of widgets, you might already be using some of the applications that pop up all over the social media world. Yahoo! has joined forces with Google and MySpace to form the OpenSocial Foundation, which wants to provide “common ‘plumbing’ that lets social applications run on many different websites.”

And we couldn’t leave you without some pop-culture proof that Yahoos are smart: Dave Sikula, one of the “surfers”who built the Yahoo! directory, has won a slot on Jeopardy  — and $15,000 in his first night there. Needless to say, Dave will be buying lunch in the Yahoo! cafeteria for a while.

– The Team

Seven ways to create link-friendly content

Linkbait has nothing to do with hot dog “links” or fish “bait,” but it has everything to do with catching folks’ attention, which can make you shout with glee: “Hot dog!” (Probably not “Fish!”)

Linkbait refers to content or a feature on a website that entices users to place links to it on other websites. Previously, Rand Fishkin, CEO of SEOmoz.org, wrote about linkbaiting on our YPN blog. We thought it would be a great idea to recap Rand’s informative and practical article, in case you missed it.

Linkbaiting is often seen as a form of viral marketing, which encourages users to pass along a message. When using linkbaiting, you may want to consider targeting link-friendly audiences such as bloggers, news sites and social media portals such as Flickr, Facebook and MySpace.

What Can You Use as Linkbait?
Rand explains that linkbait can be anything from a photo to an interactive web-based application to a “Top 10” list. In a nutshell, if your content sparks someone to link to it, it can be defined as linkbait.

The How and Why of Linkbait
Successful linkbait content generates buzz. As it is linked and passed on from site to site, the content gains traction and visibility. For example, let’s say you have a funny video of a dramatic and cute chipmunk on your site. Folks online will want to share this clip, and the next thing you know, it’s a world-wide internet phenomenon. (It’s actually a prairie dog from a Japanese telly show, but it’s still pretty darn funny.)

Rand explains that “Even after the initial buzz from your successful linkbaiting campaign dies down, your site’s traffic may stay on a slight increase due to a “linkbait bump” that keeps users circling back to your site.”

Rand’s Seven Tips for Linkbaiting:
1.  Find appropriate linkbait portals
2.  Understand your audience
3.  Brainstorm effectively
4.  Build beautiful bait
5.  Create a reputation
6.  Grab their attention
7.  Don’t be manipulative—and DON’T SPAM!

You can find more details on each step in Rand’s article.  Then…hot dog!

– Roger Park, Manager, Marketing Communications and office snacker

Five reasons to use display advertising

Lots of new publishers turn to contextual advertising when they first start advertising on their web sites, because it seems like the easiest way to start. But if you ignore display, you’re ignoring a way to make money with your sites.

Contextual advertising is an easy way to start, but using display advertising can be just as easy. Here are five reasons why display could be right for you.

1. Variety is the Spice of Life

 Publishers sometimes make the mistake of looking at advertising too one-dimensionally. For example, some publishers only use text ads to monetize their pages. Their rationale is that text ads won’t “distract” their users from web page content.

However, using display ads along with those text ads provides variety, which can improve a user’s overall experience on a web site.

2. Display Can Handle What Text Can’t

Text ad services can’t read a flash game that’s running on a page, can’t create relevant ads from a social network profile (where the comments and content are really mixed), and can’t “listen” to an internet radio site and determine relevant text ads to show. These kinds of publishers are ready to put display ads into the mix, as they’re likely to monetize better.

3. If it’s Guaranteed, it Will Be Display

What can you do if your site is growing, gaining traction, and you want to have the option of selling a guaranteed ad campaign to Company XYZ? Guaranteed campaigns are usually made up of display ads—so your site is more likely to attract advertisers if you’re already running display ads than if the site only has contextual ads.

4. Being Discreet

With most contextual ad systems, people usually know exactly who is providing your ads; with display it’s not as clear. Some publishers would prefer to keep their ad providers to themselves.

5. Channel Conflicts, Competitors and Contextual

Contextual relevancy can sometimes work against you. An example: if you’re a site that features a directory of different plumbers, your text ads on the sidebar will most likely be about “plumbing” or “plumbers.” But what if plumbing companies (who paid to be advertised high up on your directory page) have to compete with those text ads? The conflict is real. This is another example where ad variety works for you.

Fortunately, there is an easy solution for addressing these issues: It’s a free ad-server/ad management system called Direct Media Exchange. It provides a variety of ads, less channel conflicts, and can lead you to higher ad revenue opportunities. Using DMX, ad networks bid for your ad spaces, and the highest bidding ad is served every time…so you can maximize your ad revenue.

It’s that simple. DMX can provide you with a more effective way to monetize your web sites.

If you think you’re ready for display ads— or merely want more competition between your current display ad networks to help maximize your revenue—it may be time to check out DMX. Ads can be hard work to handle on your own. But we make it easy.

—Vince Panero, Community Education Manager/Blogger, Right Media’s DMX

Try the new Ads for Adobe PDF Powered by Yahoo! service

The Ads for Adobe PDF Powered by Yahoo! service that we first mentioned in November is up and running. This beta program offers publishers a great opportunity to monetize PDFs with contextual, text-based ads next to your content.

So just how do you get an ad in a PDF? Ads will be displayed in a panel adjacent to your content, so that they don’t disrupt the viewing experience. Every time the PDF is viewed, we’ll match contextual ads from our extensive network of advertisers to the content of the document.

This program solves one of the problems of loading content into PDFs, which is that they use up bandwidth and storage in hosting them, but they don’t bring any additional payment unless you charge for them. So the more people download them, the more they potentially end up costing you.

It’s That Word, Again: Monetize

By signing up for this service, you get paid every time someone clicks on an ad displayed next to your PDF documents. So the more your document gets downloaded, the more potential it has to make you money. Wired, Pearson’s Education, Meredith Corporation and many other publishers are already active in the program.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up today and start generating revenue from your PDFs. If your application is accepted, you’ll just need to upload your PDFs so that we can ad-enable them. Then simply distribute them to your audience, just like you do today.

For more info, check out the Adobe blog.

–Mike McCullough