So, you’ve joined Qassia and are ready to write some intel (Qassia’s term for articles). But how should you go about doing this? I’ve seen a lot of intel on Qassia that is poorly written, in my opinion. Not that the articles themselves are bad. But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

If you haven’t yet joined you need to join using a current Qassia member’s link. You can join using my link here. You can also read my thoughts Qassia to learn more benefits of joining.

Make your intel match your backlink

Before you write an article you need to realize that every intel you submit will have a quality backlink to the site of your choice. This means the backlink will encourage spiders to follow the link back to your sites and any pagerank the page has will travel to your site.

The reason I point this out is because the majority of intel I’ve seen on Qassia has nothing to do with the backlinks. The intel may be able stinky cheese and the backlink may be to a web site on cell phones. You want your intel article to match the backlink as closely as possible.

If you write about stinky cheese then link the article to your web site that sells cheese. If you don’t have a cheese web site then don’t write about cheese. Simple as that.

Add your web site before writing intel about it

This is not something you have to do. Qassia is kind enough to let you add a quality backlink to any URL. That means you can add a backlink to some deep part of your niche store. But if you do this to a site that you haven’t added to your Qassia account then this is what the backlink will look like:

If you use a web site that you have already added to your Qassia account then this is what your backlink will look like:

Did you notice the difference? The first image is of a URL. Rather ugly. The second image looks professional. But what should you do if you want to use a link that is deep within your site? Read on.

Add links to your intel content

You can add links within the content of your intel. To create a link you need to add the following code:

[url=http://www.URL.com/category/subcategory/] anchor text [/url]

The anchor text in the above code is what the readers will see. For example, the statement, "You are cordially invited to join Qassia," contains a link and anchor text. The link is http://whatisinaname.qassia.com/ and the anchor text is join Qassia.

I honestly don’t know if the links within the intel content are quality links or no-follow links (spiders don’t follow the link so there is no benefit). If someone knows please tell us in the comments section. But it certainly can’t hurt to add them. If you are writing on some aspect of your niche store it should be easy enough for you to find deep links to add.

So, there you have it. The best way to use Qassia’s intel to get backlinks to your niche stores.

Rochelle

Someone asked me how to get text to wrap around images so I decided it would make a good post. What this person wants to do is the following:

This is a picture that I included just have a picture here. I’m writing now just to take up space so you can see what text looks like that wraps around an image. In this case the image is aligned to the left of the screen and the text is going around it to the right. So now you can see what wrapped text looks like. I am still rambling just to get a bit more text into this paragraph. That is the end of this rambling text.

You can do the above text wrapping by adding some code to your image. The instructions below can be used in your niche stores or on any site you may have. In other words, these instructions are not specific to Build A Niche Store (BANS).

Rochelle

As many of you found out, Qassia was not working over the past few days. It turns out their server ran out of space and crashed. The good news is they aren’t likely to let that happen again and you can now join up. As I said in my prior post about Qassia, you need to join up using someone else’s link. You can join using my link and get started working on backlinks.

Regarding backlinks from Qassia, I’ve recently learned that you won’t see them right away. They probably won’t become visible until Qassia comes out of beta (which should be any time now). But that shouldn’t stop you from creating intel. The more you add now the more backlinks you will get once Qassia is out of beta.

If you need help getting started you can read my previous post about Qassia.

Rochelle

If you haven’t already heard about Qassia it is only a matter of time before you do. Of course, you just did now, right? But what is Qassia and how can you use it to help promote your niche stores?

Qassia is a web site that that encourages you to add your websites and articles (known as intel). They are offering you a legitimate way to toot your own horn and get backlinks in the process. You don’t need to find a sneaky way to get backlinks with Qassia because they are giving them to you. And it’s all free.

Here are the benefits of joining Qassia:

• You can list your websites without anything in return. In other words, Qassia will let you list as many websites as you want without asking you to link back to them.
• You can list as many articles as you’d like, and the more you add the more credit you get (more about that later). This is an excellent way to deal with the PLR articles you may have collecting dust on your computer’s hard drive.
• You can add your AdSense account information and earn 100% of revenues generated from your intel.
• It’s easy and free to join.

Join Qassia

Here’s how it works: As of this writing Qassia is in beta testing. I mention that because they will not allow you to sign up during beta testing unless you are referred by a current Qassia member. So, you need to find an invitation to join from a current member.

Of course, I am a current member, and I will now offer you an invitation to join. Click my Qassia link and you will be able to sign up. When you arrive at Qassia click on the ‘Sign Up’ button (and, no, it’s not a porn site which is what my husband asked when he saw this image - I don’t know the significance of the bare belly):

Complete the sign up process. Be aware that you are allowed just one Qassia account. If they find you have more than one they will close all your accounts.

After you done you can start adding websites or intel, but I suggest you add your Google AdSense account information first. Finding where to do this was tricky (at least for me) so I’ll walk you through it.

First, make sure you are logged in. You need to be at your dashboard so click on the ‘Dashboard‘ link. There are two places where you will find this link and it doesn’t matter which one you click:

Scroll down to the ‘Settings‘ links and click on the Google AdSense link. I’ve already done this so my link reads, "edit google adsense account number." I don’t know if this is what the link says before you enter any information but it will be similar, if not the same, as my link:

You are now set up to earn revenue on any intel you submit to Qassia. Don’t forget to add a new channel to your AdSense account so you know when you get clicks from Qassia.

Now you are ready to add your sites or intel.

My suggestion at this point is to focus on adding intel. The reason I say this is because Qassia allows you one quality backlink (one that will encourage search engine spiders to follow the link to your niche store) for every intel you add. It doesn’t matter if you have added this web site to your Qassia account or not. Since the purpose of this is to get backlinks and help get your site indexed you’ll want to focus on this first.

How does intel work?

The way Qassia has their intel set up is you create an article and submit it for review. Then at least 12 other members will read it and rate it. After 12 people have done this you will earn credits based on the length and rating of the article. More about credits in a moment.

After your intel is reviewed and rated it can be viewed by the public. This is pretty much like any other article submission site. Your intel will be indexed by search engines and show up in search engine results. You may get people to your site this way, assuming you remembered to add a link to your site. But more importantly, spiders will now find it and follow your link back to your site and help get it indexed.

You can also include links within your article so if you want to include some deep links you can do that. I’ll write another post on how to create intel that will go more in-depth on how to do this.

What are Qassia credits and why do I want them?

Credits are credits that you earn for different actions on Qassia. They have no monetary value but they do help the websites you add to your Qassia account rank higher.

Qassia offers several ways for members to earn credits. You can earn credits by doing any of the following:

• Refer people to Qassia
• Screen (read and rate) new intel from other members
• Add your own intel

The only purpose of Qassia credits is to help your added websites rank higher within Qassia. They have no other purpose. Your websites will show on their site after they get out of beta.

At some point Qassia will add ways for you to spend your credits but there is nothing to do right now but collect them.

How well does Qassia help my sites get indexed?

Unfortunately Qassia is so new that I have no idea. But if they do what they say then this could be a very valuable tool for niche stores.

So now you know the basics of Qassia. I recommend you join and start listing your own intel.

One last word. The first 12 hours after you join Qassia you will be given a $400 credit (Qassia credits, not actual money) bonus for every referral you generate. This is an excellent time to increase your Qassia bank account.

Rochelle