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The blog volcano wants to ERUPT. But it won't unless you are doing some basic things in your posts and articles. Here are eight important and relatively easy to follow tips to give your posts and articles legs.

Ready to take conversion seriously? Finally? If you want a great place to start, here are fifty bit-sized posts to get you started up the learning curve. I even got a mention. There are lots of ways to increase the performance of your website, and this list is organized into very helpful categories. Spend some time here.

Ready to take conversion seriously? Finally? If you want a great place to start, here are fifty bit-sized posts to get you started up the learning curve. I even got a mention. There are lots of ways to increase the performance of your website, and this list is organized into very helpful categories. Spend some time here.

This is one ambitious post, but it's chock full of examples.

Take some time during the holidays to review the advice in this post.

 @ashocka18 has written an article for designers working on landing pages. In the process Heidi has linked to some very helpful posts.

I was struck by the way she laid out the article, perfect for those of us who scan. Your landing pages should be designed to help scanners find the salient points of your copy... like where the link to my post is.

I especially love the banner images for each topic. Very fun. Boring Call to Action Button Lame Logos Inconsistency Too many fonts Random colors Spacing fails Cheesy stock photos (I call this "Business Porn") Overuse of photoshop effects Icons from everywhere Readability issues Navigation Check it out.

 @b2bmarketing via @huffpostbiz John Fox gets landing pages and is bringing the tale of this important online strategy to the masses who read the Huffington Post. Much of the article was based on an interview with yours truly.

There are two defining characteristics of a landing page: It must keep the promise made by the link or ad that brings people to the page It is single-mindedly focused on getting them to take an action that will help them or the business Fox goes on the talk about trust, proof and images as keys to effective landing pages. He also talks about eliminating distractions and avenues for abandonment.

Thanks for a great article, John.

This is the way blogging is done right.

That B2B marketers see engaging content as a "bar set too high" is just one of the excellent points made in this post. If only the B2B world realized that we are trying to set them free!

Providing choice for your web visitors is not only a great way to increase conversions in your post-click marketing program, but also to increase the value of those conversions.

 @copyblogger Here are the five most persuasive words we can use. Indivdually, each of these words appeals to a certain kind of person. If we use the Eisenberg Modes of Persuasion as a guide, we can assign each to a different mode.

"You" - Humanists are relationship oriented. When your voice shifts from "We" and "our company" and you speak to them in the first person, it feels more human -- and more Humanistic.

"Free" - This word appeals to the Spontaneous reader. These visitors are just looking for an excuse to take action.

"Because" - Methodicals want to understand the details. They make decisions deliberately and logically. Credible proof is important.

"Instantly" - This also appeals to our Spontaneous reader, who wants immmediate gratification.

"New" - This appeals to the Competitive, who wants to know what will make them better. New technologies, new versions, new looks get their attention.

So, two of the words are very Spontaneous, and we tend to act spontaneously when we've decided to buy something. "Free" and "Instantly" are bottom of the funnel words.

Read the research in this excellent post.

 @Avinash Kaushik has a unique ability to make analytics human. I don't share many analytics posts with you, as I don't want to scare you off. But I fear I may be underestimating you.

Here are ten very good ways to get to know your visitors through Google Analytics. I believe you will be energized and excited if you open these reports in your own Google Analytics account.

This is a great way to start appreciating your visitors in ways that will make your site more successful.

 @peeplaja has just saved you a whole lot of time. He's done the research and found the studies that you can use to refute the often poor advice your designers are giving your Web team.

Spend some time with this post and the links he references if you want to consistently create effective, high-converting websites.

 @peeplaja "People have an infinite attention span if you are entertaining them."

I get a lot of questions about sales letter styled landing pages. Do they work? Do I need to write that much?

My stock answer is that they do work, but that your copywriter needs to know what they are doing. These kind of landing pages typically work with visitors that already know and follow your business.

Peep says it best: "Buyers are readers." There is more wisdom in this entertaining post.

 @crestodina I spoke at the Conversion Conference #convcon this week about flipping your message according to your Web visitor. This can be applied to subject lines, search ads, display ads and landing pages.

One of the most powerful "flips" is between the four kind of visitors outlined by Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg in their book Waiting for Your Cat to Bark?.

Here is a creative twist on the four kinds of visitors you'll encounter on your website: video game characters.

Is the page, post or email you're working on right now targeting Frogger or Mario or Galaga or PacMan?

It should.

PayPal is a preferred method of payment for many of your visitors. Even if you've got a merchant account and gateway all setup, you should consider PayPal as an alternative source.

However, measuring transactions through PayPal is problematic. Or it was.

Here is an excellent post on how to configure your PayPal account and Google Analytics for full-transaction tracking, includkng Ecommerce tracking.

Bryan Eisenberg is a great teacher and is one of the fathers of conversion science. In this post, he asks his audience to make recommendations on pricing tables, those pages that ostensibly help us to choose the right product for us.

Here are my suggestions.

The main purpose of a page like this is "Help me choose." Choice, as it turns out, is a conversion killer, so these pages can be very helpful. This page needs to tell me which is "The best value." A badge would be helpful, probably on the most expensive item.

The little "signal bars" are unique and may be helpful, but don't really tell me at a glance what I want to know.

The copy is unhelpful. Instead of "Essential productivity..." how about "Great system for a tight budget." Instead of "Yield better results..." how about "Good value ready for your network." Instead of "2nd Generation Processor..." how about "This system has the power to do heavy number crunching, video editing and graphics."

There are too many prices here -- four to be exact. I say, pick two: Savings and total price. Crossing out "Starting price" is a proven way to communicate value.

Finally, put the coupon code near the "Customize & Buy" buttons to give those transactional shoppers an extra push.

What do you find frustrating about this page?

If you want to understand the importance of charging your marketing batteries TODAY, just listen to Seth Godin, who has been building a following for a decade with daily blog posts, books and presentations: "[Kickstarter is] the LAST step, not the first one. I started working on this Kickstarter 9 or 10 years ago. That's the way you maximize your results. Dig your well before you're thirsty."

Seth was able to raise well over $100,000 to fund his new book using Kickstarter. He didn't set out to do that nine or ten years ago. When you've got a list and have built a relationship with its members, you can invite them to participate in new things as they arise. Start now.

 @peeplaja - This is about as complete a summary of home page best practices that I've ever seen. Peep could have made this an eBook. There are some great examples, specific recommendations and tons of links to other resources. This ambitious post covers:Map out buyer personasCraft a value propositionBuild a connectionUse proper visualsDefine most wanted actionCreate call to actionWrite user oriented copyAdd trust elementsTest lengthCheck load speed

Testing is part science, part art, part perseverence. Here is a comprehensive list of resources for the new and experienced alike.

Email is the biggest social network on the planet. If you find yourself reluctant to tackle this proven cahnnel, here is a one-stop resource for inspiration and instruction.