I have been reviewing several websites that artists have been submitting to me for review and I have some suggestions in general for everyone reading this.
Consider not having a flash video on your opening page. I use broadband to connect to the internet and still have to wait almost forty seconds for a full flash video to load. Now that may not sound like a long time, but for someone visiting your site for the first time…if they wait, they’re gone. I went to look at the submitted sites so I waited for the videos to load, but visitors may not. This is probably something your web designer suggested you to have but from a marketing point of view it gives people reason to leave.
Most of the sites that I went to had no method for capturing visitors names and e-mails. This is what we do immediately when someone visits my site in order to have the opportunity to market to them in the future. They may not be interested in buying something today but by keeping in touch with your visitors they may buy in the future. Consider having a guestbook where people could sign in at your site and in return give them some images of your work that they could download for “wallpaper” for their computer. This not only gives them a reason to give you their name and e-mail but keeps your art in front of them when they work on their computer. The images you give could have your name and contact information on the bottom of the image to keep your contact info in front of them.
Following up on my last comment you are probably saying that you offer a newsletter to people who leave their e-mail. I would suggest you “sell” the newsletter signup with the items I mentioned in number 2 above. Furthermore, capture their name. When I send out my e-mails it is thru an auto responder. If you are not familiar with what that is…it is an automatic e-mail that takes information that people give (name, e-mail, etc.) and plugs it into e-mail template being sent out. I have thousands of people in my database, I would never be able to send out each and every e-mail one at a time to everyone who signs up for my course. By being able to send out an e-mail that is personalized to your visitor will keep you in their consciousness.
These are just but a couple of suggestions that I have for you. I am going to recommend you to take a look at either my complete advance course at the link below or if you like I will be breaking out a special section on “Selling Your Art Online” from the course within the next week. That section will be available in a downloadable format and is extremely thorough on strategies to make your website profitable. I will be e-mailing my entire list when this section is available. The advance course has this section and 26 other sections. I hope the points I made above help you.
bio = Steve Popkin, a veteran glass artist, makes it easy for artists to become successful. Learn the secrets most artists and craftsmen will never know about selling artwork in his complimentary e-course just visit http://www.thethrivingartist.com
1) You should make your Adsense ads look as a part of your web page. They shouldn’t look like an Ad. People are negative to advertising. They search the internet for content not ads. Especially Banners have a less of 0,5% response. Their days are over. Imagine if you have an Adsense ad looking like the typical Banner with different colors. It will not be profitable.
2) Text ads are better than image ads. Like before, people are more responsive to text than images. In a way it is considered as a part of the online document and is more clickable.
3) No Border ads. One of the best tricks is to erase the borders of Adsense ads and make them again having the same color with your website’s background.
4) No other advertisements. The first reason is to be legitimate according to Google’s Rules and the second more practical reason is that you do not want to distract your visitor’s attention and go somewhere else without clicking your Adsense ads.
5) Placement. Even if you have the best Ad, people will not respond if they don’t see it instantly. The best place to see the ad is the top of your web page and the next is aside
your document’s text. Visitors will click it more frequently since it will look like your text.
6) Traffic. Try to use legitimate ways of traffic. Some people use Google Adwords and other Pay per Click search engines. The problem here is to search very carefully for the right niche and keywords in order to make your campaigns profitable. Other ways is link popularity techniques like link exchange directories, software or even mass blog submission techniques. Don’t use link farms and classifieds for that, because search engine’s algorithms are extremely clever and they will ban your listings.
7) Do not rely on one website. Yes you can make money with one website but try to make as more as possible.
Relevant content is King. Articles are one of the best tactics to create huge websites that will be crawled by search engine’s robots. Don’t forget search engines exist to provide relevant content at first. One excellent resource to automate your article directory procedure is http://www.articleequalizer.com .You can create an article database in minutes which otherwise is time consuming and it would take you a week!
9) Use site maps. Google’s site maps visit your site and crawl it much sooner that any other submission process. More information is here: http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps
10) Relevant ads. It’s one of the most important factors for Adsense success. If the internet user can’t find relevant ad in your page he or she won’t click the ad. Would you act differently? So it’s critical to create relevant resource for your web page. In order to do that, you must do the following steps.
First the file must be saved with the appropriate name for example: Golf-Secrets.html if your article is about golf. So the webpage will be:
www.yoursitesname.com/Golf-Secrets.html
Second thing you must change is your title tag. For example:
Third is the heading. The first sentence must have this heading:
12 Golf secrets
bio = Christos Varsamis is a Business writer, creator and owner of the http://www.settinglifegoals.com & http://www.fastprofitbiz.com Sign for your 7 day FREE e-course ” How to TRACE a Legitimate Business Opportunity.”
reating a well-designed website is the first step in your internet marketing strategy. Once the website has been created and optimized, there are further techniques to employ that will drive traffic to your website for successful, long-term results. You wouldn’t consider opening a retail store in a major shopping mall without signage and you shouldn’t consider having a nice looking website designed without expanding your web presence in order to be found on the internet. But unless the website is designed correctly to begin with, follow-on SEO efforts will have limited results at best. The following strategy overview is designed to bring about productive SEO results:
- Create an attractive website that is complementary to your company image and provides your targeted audience with information about you, your company and your products and/or services.
- Design a website that has a call-to-action in the form of a purchase or providing you a contact, subscription or other commitment from your visitor.
- Create a successful marketing arm for your overall business promotion and marketing campaign to promote your business, products and/or services with the many follow-on strategies that drive traffic to your website.
- Become competitive in your industry and marketplace by meeting or exceeding the industry marketing standards and attracting a qualified audience for your products and/or services based on a strong reputation.
- Generate and maintain or grow internet traffic to your website resulting in a conversion of traffic into sales of your products and/or services by evolving as your market demands.
This search engine optimization (SEO) strategy is composed of several processes in three stages: 1) Good web design, 2) Attracting attention from search engines and directories, and 3) Creating long-term popularity on the internet. However, it all starts with good web design. Website design is the foundation and beginning of a successful internet marketing strategy. It is true that there are websites on the internet that are unattractive but somehow seem to work. If there are aspects of these websites that work, imagine how well they could do if they simply followed basic design implementation tactics that resulted in a good image as well as simply pushed information out to the viewer.
These basics are essential for Tier 1 success:
- Good web design will complement and enhance the company image and offline marketing campaign products creating a corporate branding if done well.
- Easy, logical navigation that leads the viewer deeper and deeper into the web of information provided by the website will keep the visitor on your site longer and give you more time to sell your products or services.
- Attractive but quick-loading graphics that are pleasing to the eye and meaningful to the website will guide the viewer along the route you decide is important for explaining what you offer.
- Keyword usage that is search engine-friendly depends on how the keywords are utilized, the placement of the keywords, the frequency of the most important keywords and their relevance to the website.
- Website coding that is lean, clean and without errors will keep the search engines happy and your viewer seeing exactly what you intended to offer.
- Relevance of content to the theme of the site is essential. Be concise, to the point and focus on your goals. If you have multiple themes and offerings, consider multiple websites to address the different markets, then tie each website back to the others by linking.
- Changing content that changes frequently and stays fresh keeps your viewer returning and prevents the search engines from treating your website as if it were stale news. A stale site will be ranked lower by the search engines.
Content is king — it’s all about content, content, content. But how that content is presented is what makes the difference.
(c)2005 TAO Consultants, Inc. All rights reserved.
bio = Chesa Keane of TAO Consultants has been involved with the internet for 10 years through internet consulting, web development and search engine optimization. Go to www.computergoddess.com for a free Search Engine Optimization Checklist.
Newsletters are sent for various reasons like to abreast customers of the latest happenings inside the company in terms of various product launchings, new business policies and regulations, upcoming events, news about the achievements of the company and its employees and other stuffs that might be deem interesting and helpful to the customers.
Most companies hire the expertise of reputable newsletter printing companies to help them in creating noteworthy newsletters. Newsletter printing companies in a way relieves busy owners of the task of creating eloquently worded newsletters. Nevertheless, there are electronic newsletters that are also being employed nowadays and can be used by some owners. But inspite of this most companies still prefer to have their newsletters created in the old fashioned way-PRINTED.
Printed newsletters especially those that have undergone full color printing still creates that aesthetic appeal that helps customers in associating with the business. Nevertheless, there are also some business owners that creates their own newsletters and assign the task to their human resource department. Although this may save the company some dollars but in terms of the quality of the output one can clearly see the newsletters that have undergone professional newsletter writing from those that are just merely created by business staffs that have no proper training when it comes to newsletter creation.
Poorly created newsletters would not be good especially in building the company’s image because this will show unprofessionalism in the way the business conduct itself. And aside from that poorly created newsletters would just be shunned away by customers and would just be tacked away in some corner and then forgotten. And so to prevent such from happening always makes sure that you hire the expertise of a reputable newsletter printing company, bear in mind that potential customers may be turn-off if ever they received generic newsletters with caption “TO OUR VALUED CUSTOMERS” and then the newsletters just didn’t show that value. A business must be able to show value and quality all throughout its business endeavors.
For comments and suggestions kindly visit:
http://www.rushprintingservices.com/catalog/Newsletter.html
bio = Jinky C. Mesias is a lover of simple things and of nature. She spends most of her time reading and writing poetry.
Your online business will likely require more
advertising than a contemporary business downtown, yet some new to the world of online business do not spend the time and money to advertise their business appropriately and are, in turn, loosing money. Your online business is crammed into the world wide web along with thousands of others selling the same product or service as yourself. Consider this scenario: In your hometown you want to open an art supply store. In that same town there are thousands of art supply stores. In order for your business to
be successful, it will have to stand out in some way from the others. This is exactly what is happening when a business is opened online. There is so much competition, that you must take drastic measures to ensure that you are getting noticed. Advertising can be done in so many ways online. These are some of the most successful ways that you can promote your online business.
Advertising in e-zines is a popular way to promote your online business. Ezines are the magazines of the internet; they written on a particular subject and read by those interested in that subject. Therefore, ezine readers are already potential customers and advertising your site in ezines that are related to your business is almost guaranteed to help drive traffic to your site and increase sales for your product. You should be sure when advertising in ezines that you are not advertising along sidecompetitors. Ask the ezine producer if there is a policy concerning posting competing ads. It is also a good idea to subscribe to the ezine before making a decision about whether or not to advertise in it. An ezine that runs fewer ads is a better choice than one that runs many ads. You can look at the online Directory of Ezines to find publications that are relevant to your company.
Pay-per-click programs are an excellent way to
advertise your business without taking a risk that you have advertised in the wrong place. With pay-per-click, you can advertise you site and only pay for those who click the link and go to your site. Another popular pay-per program is the pay-per-lead program that allows you to only pay for leads. Usually this means that you pay for only those who download a trail, fill out a form or enter a sweepstakes; whatever you choose. Lastly you can display pay-per-click banner ads in which your company would be allowed to place a banner on their site and
you will be charged for every click that your banner receives.
Opt-In email is a great way to advertise your
business, however it is expensive and it can be
misused very easily. Using opt-in emails, you would submit your sales copy to the company that will in turn email it to those on their mailing list. You should be very careful since some of the companies that advertise their mailing lists as opt-in email service is sometimes really SPAM. It is essential that you have a perfect and effective sales letter when using opt-in mailing lists. Without and effective sales copy your money and time have been wasted.
bio = Pamela Jensen can help YOU
start your own profitable business on the Internet within the next 24 hours… To learn more, visit:http://www.FreeYourLife-Work-At-Home.net/pips.html
Cross promotions are not a new idea. They have been used by businesses for a very long time. For example, a real-estate company may promote a certain lawyer to close a sale, as the lawyer will promote that agency in his firm. The system is somewhat similar to the primitive barter system, where people traded items rather than using money. How can anything primitive fit into the online world of Internet marketing? Very
easily. Cross promotions are, simply stated, a trade of advertising space. Instead of paying for advertising space on a site, you would place their ad on your page and yours on theirs. There are many ways to use cross promotions in your internet business that can be an effective and cost efficient way to advertise.
One way is to use link exchanges. This is very
effective when doing cross promotions with a company that is similar to yours, however you should be sure and never link to a page that is in direct competition with yours. One of the best things about link exchanges is that some search engines are factoring in hits from the sites that are linked to your page to when determining the ranking. Therefore linking to a
more popular site, can not only increase your
advertising, and traffic, but also increase your
search engine ranking.
When customers or potential customers subscribe to your ezine you can use this as an opportunity to use cross promotions. On the same page that the customer subscribes to your ezine, make available the opportunity to subscribe to another company’s ezine. You can even exchange ad space in ezines, and provide recommendations for those whom you cross promote with. You might even want to exchange column space in one another’s ezines.
Writing free articles that inform customers or
potential customers with information that is useful and accurate can create a reputation for you and your business. Soon readers will come to know you as an expert on the subject. In these articles the author uses a byline to help promote his site. Bylines can be a way to use cross promotions as well. You can use part of the space in your byline to recommend another’s product.
If you have been considering writing an ebook, a joint venture could mean increased profits for you and the person you are partnering with. Cross promotions through ebooks are an excellent way to allow for a wider topic and to promote both your business and your partner’s business. The ebook should contain information that will benefit both businesses and still be helpful to the reader. A good example of using cross promotions through an ebook is to a site selling used video games partnering with a site selling gaming devices. These are two subjects that would interest the same reader and most likely lead the reader to both sites.
You should keep in mind that the recommendations that you make are a direct reflection of you, so choose your cross promotional businesses carefully. Also keep in mind that it would be nice as a shopper to be able to link from one site to another as a way to “shop around.” Since this is usually not beneficial to you, never link or recommend a site that is in direct competition with you. Instead, recommend those who are similar, such as health and life insurance.
bio = Pamela Jensen can help YOU
start your own profitable business on the Internet within the next 24 hours… To learn more, visit:http://www.FreeYourLife-Work-At-Home.net/pips.html
Effective or Irritating: The Use of Pop Windows in Internet Marketing
By Pamela Jensen
A few years ago, pop-up windows were all the rage in Internet marketing. It seemed that every time one opened a web page they would be bombarded with offers for this or that. It had gotten to the point where surfing the Internet was almost like playing a video game; when the ads would pop-up one would try and close them out before another one came. This is precisely why we have seen the decline in the use of
pop-up windows on the Internet today; surfers simply do not even look at the pop-ups anymore. They close the windows out before even reading the ad. Very often, a surfer will even leave your site if there are too many pop-up ads. They simply do not want the hassle of closing those windows while trying to obtain the information that your site has to offer. This information, while valuable, is not as valuable as the
surfers time. Studies have shown however, that even with these set backs, pop-up windows are still an effective method of Internet marketing.
Is there some way that pop-up windows can be less irritating and still be effective? Yes! What if the pop ad were seen upon exiting your site instead of entering? This would allow the surfer to obtain the information that they need from your site, feeling that they were able to come and go quickly without being hassled by other ads and offers all the while making the surfer happy. You have left the surfer with a positive attitude and therefore are more likely
to respond to the pop advertisement. This is being accomplished more and more by using what is being called pop-under windows. When the surfer comes to your site, the ad is opened discretely behind the your web page. Then, upon leaving your site, after obtaining all the information that they need , will see the ad and therefore be more likely to respond. Since the surfer has the information, he has achieved
his objective and is now open to do other things; ideally respond to the pop under advertisement.
Not all pop-windows are created equally. There are some things that you can do to make your pop-windows, whether pop-up or pop-under more effective. The pop-window should be easy to “escape” from. If the surfer does not want to see the add, but has a hard time closing it out, they will likely become frustrated and could leave your site all together. You should either use a button to that will allow the surfer to close the window or be sure that the “x” is
easily visible. Another good idea is to use a script that utilizes cookies. Cookie will prevent pop-windows from overloading the surfer since you can decide the frequency of the pop-windows, rather than each time a page is opened. Also be sure that there is no more than one pop-window per page.
When creating a pop-window, you will be asked to fill out a short information form, select the length of cookies, and choose the layout of the pop-window. When choosing the design of the pop-window, you can increase the effectiveness by creating a large headline that includes benefits that will be most appealing to the customer. You should also consider using incentives and lastly do not ask the customer to read a long and drawn out advertisement. Keep the message simple yet powerful and your pop-ads will be sure to generate profits for your site.
bio = Pamela Jensen can help YOU
start your own profitable business on the Internet within the next 24 hours… To learn more, visit:http://www.FreeYourLife-Work-At-Home.net/pips.html
Most of the webmasters do believe in the fact that Link exchanging plays a major role in promoting a website.
Exchanging links helps in:
First, making available useful and related information to your visitors.
Secondly, to increase your website’s page rank w.r.t promoting it in SE’s.
Daily thousands of webmasters search for other websites to exchange links and end up exchanging links with websites which are of less or no use to them due to their less page rank. Also improper understanding of facts by webmasters concerning link exchange results in lesser benefits to the website which includes factors like
- exchanging links with less PR sites,
- stuffing link exchange pages with too many sites,
- improper selection of keywords,
- improper selection of websites for link exchange unrelated to your website
While many of us tend to accomplish the above factors, still there is untapped potential while exchanging links.
The main objective with link exchanging process, is to display website links which have information, products or services useful to the visitors. Ever wondered. What if the exchanged website also helps generate revenue?? Ever thought of it?… I’ve reason about the same.
To accomplish it, I would recommend doing link exchanges with the related websites offering free affiliate programs.
Registering with affiliate program offered by websites, you get their promotional stuff like text links, banners etc to be displayed in your website. Including them in your site is similar to what is done with the normal link exchange process. Now after doing this, whenever any visitor comes to your website and visits that link, you will get paid with commission.
Now its upon the webmasters to select a suitable affiliate program which complements their website and at the same time generates revenue.
Makemycall.com prepaid phone cards affiliate program is Free and you get:
- 10% Commissions on ALL successful Sales for LIFE
- 2% commission on 2-tiered sales
As online prepaid calling cards are regularly being used by customers, hence you will be automatically entitled to get Recurring Revenues for the customers forwarded from your website via our Affiliate program!
Also lets you track commissions accrued for your website running our affiliate text and banners.
For further information on our Affiliate program visit: http://affiliate.nimbustel.com
Thanks & Regards,
Lucks…
bio = Does web promotion since many years. Also did research on Online affiliate programs while developing one for my company.
While finding new ways to promotion websites. found many similarities between Link exchanges often done by webmasters and the using of Affiliate programs for generating revenue. This article has been written in its support.
For further information on our Affiliate program: http://affiliate.nimbustel.com
SEO is the key to unlocking your website’s full potential. Google handles over 200 million internet search requests each day, and people who search for information clearly express what they want. Imagine capturing a relevant stream of such web traffic. It’s therefore important to optimize your web pages to improve search engine rankings using the most appropriate keywords describing the content of your site.
The search engine optimization process begins before you start building your website, when you decide on the domain name to register. The process then continues on as long as your website remains online.
Please note that optimizing your web pages to get high rankings takes time. Your rankings may start out low and slowly improve. Link popularity, i.e. the quantity and quality of external links to your web pages, greatly influences your rankings, and it takes time for your website to become popular in its niche.
Every time you improve your site, you need to allow time for the full effect to show in search engine results. Don’t tweak your web pages too frequently. The time and effort is better spent on adding high-quality contents to your site and building inbound links.
Search Engines have computers and programs called “Spiders” that collect information about your web pages in an attempt to “figure out” what your pages are about. These spiders gather information from your pages and use these in factoring which sites get ranked higher than others. Search Engines analyze over 100 On-Page Factors when analyzing your web pages.
bio = Sharifah Hardie is the founder of http://www.marketingonlinecrashcourse.com website focusing on the Marketing Online, resources and articles. This site provides detailed information on SEO. For more info on SEO visit: http://www.marketingonlinecr
At CRF Communities, we consider all our active adult communities to be among the best retirement communities in Florida, just suited to different budgets and style requirements. To choose a few that we consider the best retirement communities built by us is difficult, if not impossible. Therefore, think of this list not as what we consider our best Florida retirement communities, but as a sample list drawn from various budgets and styles, indicative of the high standards that we aspire to.
Walden Woods
One of the Finest Active Adult Communities in Florida
If you’re looking for the best retirement communities in the best place to retire, stop by Walden Woods. Walden Woods is situated approximately 45 minutes north of Tampa, in beautiful, unspoiled surroundings. Birds fly overhead and the area’s crystal clear natural waterways are very close by, where dolphins and manatees can be found frolicking.
Equipped with a host of luxuries, like a heated pool, whirlpool spa and courts for racquet games, Walden Woods is where luxury meets affordability, where the rugged outdoors meets the comfort of home. There are not many retirement communities like it in the world, situated as it is near the Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park, the Chassahowitzka National Refuge and in close proximity to seven of the country’s sparkling spring-fed rivers.
Lake Ashton
The Best Among Florida Retirement Communities for Avid Golfers
The beauty of Lake Ashton and the breathtaking array of amenities available are enough to quicken the pulse of any half-serious homebuyer. Situated on 700 acres fronting the sparkling waters of Lake Ashton, this community is the last word on a comfortable, luxurious retirement. Amenities include a heated pool, lighted tennis and, amazingly.an entire 18-hole golf course!
Other attractions include a sprawling clubhouse, dock and a movie theatre, not to mention a library, billiards center, bowling room.the list goes on and on. Suffice to say that the residents of Lake Ashton have a lot to keep themselves busy with through their retired lives.
Mt. Olive Shores North
Where Retirement Communities Meet Recreational Vehicle Lifestyles
Mt Olive Shores North is a distinctively designed retirement community, which welcomes residents who want a comfortable site-built home, but also enjoy the thrill of the recreational vehicle (RV) lifestyle. The homes come in various styles, colors and sizes to suit all kinds of tastes. In addition most models are equipped with unique RV ports to accommodate the large vehicles. Spanning a wide price range, every at Mt. Olive Shores North receives the painstaking attention to detail that is characteristic of homes built by CRF Communities.
bio = Over the past 25 years, CRF has developed and built over 30 retirement communities serving the needs for Active Adult Communities over 30,000 residents. CRF Communities’ comprehensive website, www.crfcommunities.com has extensive information to help anyone who is considering buying a home in one of the company’s retirement communities in Florida.
Pop Windows, Do They Really Work?
Copyright c 2005 Michael Tansey
A few years ago, pop-up windows were all the rage in Internet marketing. It seemed that every time one opened a web page they would be bombarded with offers for this or that. It had gotten to the point where surfing the Internet was almost like playing a video game; when the ads would pop-up one would try and close them out before the next one opened. This is precisely why we have seen the decline in the use of pop-up windows on the Internet today; surfers simply don’t even look at the pop-ups anymore. They close the windows out before even reading the headline much less the actual ad. Very often, a surfer will even leave your site if there are too many pop-up ads. They simply do not want the hassle of closing those windows while trying to obtain the information that your site has to offer. This information, while valuable, is not as valuable as the surfers time. Studies have shown however, that even with these set backs, pop-up windows are still an effective method of Internet marketing.
Is there some way that pop-up windows can be less irritating and still be effective? Yes! What if the pop ad were seen upon exiting your site instead of entering? This would allow the surfer to obtain the information that they need from your site, feeling that they were able to come and go quickly without being hassled by other ads and offers all the while making the surfer happy. You have left the surfer with a positive attitude and therefore are more likely to respond to the pop advertisement. This is being accomplished more and more by using what is being called pop-under windows. When the surfer comes to your site, the ad is opened discretely behind your web page. Then, upon leaving your site, after obtaining all the information that they need, they will see the ad and therefore be more likely to respond. Since the surfer has the information, he has achieved his objective and is now open to do other things; i.e. respond to the pop under advertisement.
Not all pop-windows are created equally. There are some things that you can do to make your pop-windows, whether pop-up or pop-under more effective. The pop-window must be easy to “escape” from. If the surfer does not want to see the add, but has a hard time closing it out, they will likely become frustrated and could leave your site all together. You should either use a button that will allow the surfer to close the window or be sure that the “x” is easily visible. Also be certain you use no more than one pop-window per page.
When creating a pop-window, you will be asked to fill out a short information form, and choose the layout of the pop-window. When choosing the design of the pop-window, you can increase the effectiveness by creating a large headline that includes benefits that will be most appealing to the customer. You should also consider using incentives and lastly do not ask the customer to read a long and drawn out advertisement. Keep the message simple yet powerful and your pop-ads will be sure to generate profits for your site.
bio =
Mike Tansey can help YOU start your own profitable business on the Internet within the next 24 hours…
visit: http://www.Profit-Unlimited.net/pips.html
To Receive More Informative Tips, Subscribe Below
mailto:Profit_Unlimited@GetMoreInfo.com?subject=REF100
Search Engine Wars - Quality Searches Vs Quantity!
By: Martin Lemieux
It is no secret that Google and Yahoo are on a continuous battle to win our hearts and get everyone to convert, but is converting someone really a matter of the quantity or the quality?
Let’s take a look at some top key searches and compare them with some search engines online. I will outline a few things for each search result:
1) Search Engine
2) Number of results found
3) Quality & content of the top 10 sites
4) What you find going beyond the first 10 pages
Each section will get ranked out of 10 points for quality (information taken on August 26,2005).
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Starting with my all-time favorite search term: “INTERNET MARKETING”
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Google.com
- 99,000,000 results
- 10/10 on quality
- 10/10 Past 10 pages still delivers top quality results
Yahoo.com
- 281,000,000 results
- 7/10 on quality. There’s no reason to list a “Hotel Marketing Firm” & “Building websites”. The #1 spot was reserved for Yahoo marketing.
- 9/10 Past 10 pages, it is very generic for business, not specific.
MSN.com
- 93,661,176 results
- 10/10 on quality
- 10/10 Past 10 pages still delivers high quality results. I am surprised and give MSN two thumbs up for their attention to detail.
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Moving onto the search term for “BUSINESS NEWS”
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Google.com
- 627,000,000 results
- 10/10 on quality
- 10/10 Beyond 10 pages delivers high quality & local news centers.
Yahoo.com
- 1,260,000,000 results (wow)
- 10/10 on quality
- 9/10 Beyond 10 pages. There are still some sites that should never be there.
MSN.com
- 381,631,054 results
- 8/10 on quality - Some aren’t related at all and brand new sites as well.
- 10/10 beyond 10 pages. Their results seem to tighten up and get better.
Let’s now take some more “local” search results to see deeper and more targeted results…
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Moving on to the search term for “WASHINGTON UNIVERSITIES”.
I hope to find the “University of Washington” come up #1 or thereabouts.
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Google.com
- 22,700,000
- 10/10 on quality (www.washington.edu is #1)
- 10/10 beyond 10 pages. The results still deliver “university” topics.
Yahoo.com
- 143,000,000 results
- 9/10 on quality - The top spot is reserved for Yahoo on Washington University in St. Louis. There seems to be a strong battle going on here on which university to list.
- 10/10 beyond 10 pages. Content is specific and relevant.
MSN.com
- 34,442,536 results
- 9/10 on quality - Again another battle going on and washington.edu is #10 tilting on the verge of page 2.
- 10/10 beyond 10 pages. All related to Washington & University living
Let’s now get even more specific than that… For this search term I will be using something very local that I can relate to and give a better analysis.
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Moving on to the search term for “HAMILTON ONTARIO CANADA”.
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Google.com
- 3,700,000 results
- 10/10 on quality - Great job
- 10/10 beyond 10 pages - Anything goes but is directly related to Hamilton.
Yahoo.com
- 14,900,000 results
- 10/10 on quality - Almost the same as Google but a couple of different choices.
- 9/10 on quality - Some results are found by keyword stuffing their pages.
MSN Local *New (http://search.msn.com/local/)
- 1,280,405 results
- 9/10 on quality - Getting some random placements & keyword stuffing
- 10/10+ beyond 10 pages - Many local companies well listed in the results.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Let’s now take a look at these results as a total. Out of a possible score of 80 points, here are the total scores for each:
Google - 752,400,000
Yahoo - 1,698,900,000
MSN - 511,015,171
And people wonder why Google is the king of searching?! But wait, without even noticing the results, as I totaled the final point standings, MSN came up in second place! In my study, I tried to be as neutral as possible.
How is it that Msn & Google have 50% the amount of results shown in Yahoo, but outrank Yahoo in quality?
In conclusion:
Even though Yahoo delivered a report stating that it has over 19 billion search items, what does it matter when you’re still trying to figure out how to deliver all that content? MSN & Google seem to know exactly what to do with their results. They don’t seem “off the wall” at all. If Yahoo is to step up and be crowned the search king, I really think that they need to refine the amount of search terms they have, to match the quality of search results as well.
Yahoo has major potential to outreach Google but they still have a lot of work ahead of them and by the time they figure things out, Google may even step up their game even further and wow us all on some other search plateau.
bio = About The Author:
Martin Lemieux is the president of the Smartads Advertising Network. Smartads is dedicated to helping you expose your business online and offline.
Why should you pay to get web site traffic, isn’t SEO enough?
It’s a fair question - after all most businesses on and offline have tight budgets to play with and need to make each and every penny count.
So why should you as a business pay good money to drive targeted traffic to your site?
Perhaps there’s a clue in the last question.
What other options are there?
You have 3 basic choices to get traffic to your website:
1. You pay - using PPC, ezine ads, banners etc…
2. You borrow - constructing Joint Ventures and endorsed offers with partners
3. You grow your own - with natural search engine optimisation
So which is the best?
———————
Well they all do a different job and have different characteristics, perhaps the best information source you could hope to find on the subject is found here:
http://www.trackingandtesting.com/dystatic/TrafficGeneration.php
But why PPC?
You need PPC because you can:
* Control the flow of traffic to your website
* Target buying customers and those most likely to buy through correct keyword targeting
* Test different offers
The last benefit above is perhaps the most important. Remember a page on a website doesn’t have to stay recorded online forever…
Just because you’ve completed your site in terms of the pages you want to add (although in truth you’ll never be finished as you can continually add more related content), this does not preclude you from testing other pages…
The value of testing
——————–
Simple scenario: You want to test 2 price points for a product/service. (Yes you can do this and people don’t have to know about it so don’t be worried).
With a PPC campaign you can have your normal web page (Page A) sitting as normal at the well known web address with all of your normal links pointing to it.
You 2 price point test pages (Page B & C) are a different kettle of fish - they sit off to the side and you push traffic to them using PPC to quickly determine which is the winner.
You can do this for any test you dream up, the bottom line is you can quickly determine what is working and what is not in your marketing.
Knowing what’s not working is more important than what is (particularly if you are sailing close to the wind) because you SAVE money you would otherwise have thrown away.
The Affiliate Advantage
———————–
When you have a website that is converting well, you will be able to attract many affiliates (and even super affiliates if you are doing a good enough job and providing a good enough incentive package).
Affiliates can make your business explode overnight if you have done your homework and have the site converting well.
If you have not you may attract them, they may pump some traffic and then they will disappear to pastures new when they see you are not doing a good job.
In summary
———-
If I could give you one reason why you should use PPC and in particular Google Adwords as part of your internet marketing campaign it would be this:
“Feedback fast, feedback cheap”
Yes you may spend a little money up front, but you can save yourself a whole lot of heartache on the back end.
bio = Tom O’Brien turns Adwords PPC management problems into profitable advertising campaigns. For more free tips on Adwords Campaign Management visit: http://www.pdqprospects.com/benefits/PayPerPerformanceWebTraffic.html
You’ve probably heard by now that article marketing can help you build links back to your site.
But there’s a lot more to it than that. Articles aren’t only good for leveraging yourself stronger positions in Google, Yahoo, MSN and the other big search engines, though that’s what we’ll be focusing on today. Keep in mind that learning a more balanced view of promotion and marketing with articles can help you reap all the perks with essentially the same amount of work.
For now, let’s start with four of the top five search engine benefits.
1- The One-Way Link of a Resource Box backlink is More Powerful.
A link from a site that you’re not linked back to has more value than one where you may be required to link back to, simply because changes in the way search engines rank sites now include an adjustment for exchanged links.
The logic is that this would make the voting power of a link that points in one direction weigh more heavily than one that is traded. In theory, this makes it easier for sites that have earned link popularity to get more credit than those who have bought or traded for it.
Of course, over time, this effect may be adjusted and partially dampened so that articles that are just being submitted to resources with no editorial process will count less than those that don’t undergo this process. So make sure you’re not submitting junk content for the purpose of linking alone.
2- Article Resource Box Links Back to You Are Relevant
If you write articles that stay on the topic of your site, the page where your article appears is more effective as a page that links back because it is more relevant. Again, depending on the search engine, the more topical the environment where you are linked, the more credit your site gets for the link itself, particularly if you’re submitting to an online directory which allows you to make better use of linking.
There are a few little changes you can make that will make your links and articles more topically relevant than 90% of other articles, merely because other authors don’t think to balance the search engine benefits of article promotion with its value as content, rather than favoring one or the other.
3- Many of Your Articles Appear on Pages with High Google PR
If you take a look at your Google Site Information page, you’ll probably notice that Google seems to pick up only sites that have high page rank under the listing for sites that link to you.
Then, of course all the sites that use the text of your site URL, hyperlinked or not, can be found under the last setting for sites that contain your link.
Google Page Rank is typically not something to get in a frenzy over, but it does have an importance that can affect your bottom line for two main reasons.
First, on the occasions that Google Page Rank can help you get better search engine positioning, the process of being linked from these sites can help bring you more targeted traffic, which can lead to more sales. Again, this has to be part of an overall strategy, not your sole reason for submitting articles.
Second, if links from sites with higher page rank get are being spidered more frequently than your site, your link on these sites can also get crawled faster. If you have unique content on your site, this can give you a competitive edge when your content gets included more rapidly.
4- These links back to your site are permanent.
That means that instead of buying a link on a site that appears there for three months and disappears, you are getting a free, topically relevant link pointing back to your site that may be archived, but not dropped.
Over time, if you submit articles on a regular schedule, each effort towards publication is building on previous exposure, helping you brand yourself and your company, as well as build a strong link campaign pointing back towards your site that is free.
As the quality of your articles improve, you can also get qualified leads from the process, an increase in traffic and sales, and publication in resources who have stronger brands than you do, which you may then leverage for additional exposure.
Just remember, the search engine benefits of promoting your site with articles represent only the tip of the iceberg. With articles you can also brand yourself, use your knowledge to establish yourself as an expert, network, develop relationships and increase your leads, sales and traffic.
bio =
What is the Fifth Search Engine Benefit to Article Marketing and Promotion? Find out in the free e-course on Article Promotion at: http://www.freetraffictip.com/2-article-marketing/tips-am2.php
Getting Traffic or more precisely Targeted Traffic to your website is the most important strategy for the Survival and Success of your Internet Home Based Business. It is a well known fact that the vast majority of the new Home Business Entrepreneurs have only a small marketing budget. Not that they are all short of funds but it takes time for them to be convinced about spending money. It is their desire and determination to cash in on the vast potential the Internet offers that has thrust them into this field of activity.
Follow these free, reliable methods and get the Traffic you desperately need to get noticed in the Internet. Some methods are time consuming and laborious but when money is the critical factor, time and labor should not be of major concern.
1. Reciprocal Linking.
Reciprocal linking is one of the most popular ways to get traffic to your Home Based Business site and also boost your rankings in the search engines. The strategy you should follow is: (a) Go to search engines such as Google, Yahoo or MSN and identify the websites that are similar or relevant to yours with high page ranks. (b)Eliminate those that are in direct competition to you. (c) Persuade and convince the webmasters to exchange links with you. (d) Identify quality websites i.e. websites with PR3 and over that have high traffic and exchange links with them.
2. Writing Articles.
One of the best ways to get high targeted traffic and one way links to your Home Business is to write articles and submit them to (a) Article Directories, (b) Ezine Publishers, and (c) High traffic websites that accept article submissions. Quality articles are in great demand and if you can write quality, thought provoking and educative articles in your field of expertise, your articles will definitely be accepted for publication. You should ensure that (a) you have a Resource Box at the bottom of the article. (b) And have your URL in the Resource Box. If your article is impressive you can expect a massive influx of visitors to your website via the resource box.
3. Submitting to Directories.
Once your website is ready with good content and quality links, you should start submitting your website to Search Engine Google and the Directories. Submitting to Directories is another way of getting additional targeted traffic to your website. This also increases your site’s overall importance to obtain a high page rank. If you want to be visible in the internet world, getting listed in Directories especially in Directories with high page rank and traffic is the fastest way to do it. Some charge a fee for listing while others are free. Among the free directories some insist on a link back from your site. Link back to them happily and get listed.
4. Posting at Forums.
Another great way of getting free traffic is to post at discussion forums on a regular basis. If your contributions at these forums display good knowledge and authority, an immediate increase in your website traffic will be seen. To get the maximum benefit, (a) visit high traffic forums, (b) display your knowledge and (c) include your signature file and URL there. It is this URL that will siphon traffic to your site.
5. Emails.
The emails that you send out, whether it is personal or business can be a source of traffic. You have to ensure that your advertisement or signature is there at the bottom of the page with your URL. Though it might not be much traffic, nevertheless it is free traffic. Make the best use of it.
6 Tell a friend/Refer a friend.
Another source of traffic which is often overlooked is through your own website. Place a “Tell a Friend” or “Refer a Friend” image or script on your website. This can be obtained free from several sources, by searching in the search engines. Visitors, who sincerely appreciate your site and are grateful for the information and the resources provided, will pass on the good news to their friends.
7. eBay Traffic.
Traffic from eBay is not the normal channel but it is working for many. Any traffic that is free is what you need most. So (a) register yourself with eBay,
(b) go to the “about me” page and fill in useful information with a link to your website. If done correctly, you are certain to get a significant amount of traffic since millions visit eBay every month.
8. Fresh Content.
It is surprising that many webmasters spend much time in finding various avenues to attract visitors to their sites but overlook the importance of adding fresh content to their sites. Content is King and Search Engines love fresh content. Your visitors love them too. It does not cost you anything so add fresh content regularly and they will keep on returning again and again.
Millions of websites are lost deep down in the Internet Wilderness unheard of and unsung. Certainly you don’t want to be one of those! Get started. Start making money from home by implementing your Internet Marketing program.
bio = Copyright c 2005 Kanaga Siva
About Kanaga: Kanaga Siva has been a Marketing Manager and Business Manager and has a wealth of experience in Marketing. He now operates his own Home Based Business. For Articles, Resources, Tips and Ideas to start a Home Based Business from anywhere in the World and for other recommended Programs to make money from home, visit his website, http://www.business-fromhome.com
There’s a proven way to make money online, you can do this by selling information or knowledge you have.
The great part is you’ll be your own boss. You’re work from your home, while earning money on line. Isn’t this fun?
But to successful, you’ll need to promote your website.
Make a comprehensive marketing plan that where you’ve clearly identified your markets and how to appeal to them. You’ll also need to
work closely with your web team to optimize your website, so your business connects with both the human audience and content spiders.
But remember - you can only do some much promotions and marketing before you fall flat on your nose. Be sure you have the following elements present in your website.
To promote your website successfully, you need to have great products and services. Otherwise, they will come in to look but won’t buy. Your promotional efforts will be a total waste.
Make sure your website is perfectly positioned, to sell and process orders. If your e-commerce aspect is not secure, then no one will buy. No matter how many great products you have. No matter how many links you swap with, promoting your website will just be a waste of time.
Third element - internet marketing, means you need a marketing plan which clearly speaks to your audience. Make sure that it’s at a price you can afford. If you spend too much on your promotional efforts, only to have it die down because of lack of funds, you will lose your momentum. So stick to a promotional budget you can afford.
So how do you promote your website?
Website design
Keep your website design basic and user friendly. This means minimizing the use of animation or outlandish colors. Make sure your content has the appropriate keywords in them, so that search engines can read and put you at the upper top of the rankings.
Optimizing your website for search engine rankings
Make it a point to submit your website to two of the most popular and heavily used crawler based search engines - Yahoo and Google. If your promotional budget is small, make sure it’s keyword rich. Then submit, wait patiently for a few months before it to appear. Or you can do a sponsored listing if you have a bigger promotional budget.
Submit your website to directories. This is free; and many seo experts say you’ll dramatically increase your chances of appearing at the top of the search engine results. Try these directories: MSN, Yahoo, Google, AltaVista and Inktomi, for starters.
Do swap links with other websites. Only after, you’ve researched their websites to see if you’re a fit for each other. Some will refuse to swap links, but don’t let it throw you. Just keep trying.
Post authoritative comments about subjects you are knowledgeable about. A majority of these forums give you the freedom to put your URL at the bottom do so.
Lastly - write articles about subjects you are an expert on. Submit these articles to the directories that have big audiences. Include your URL and byline. Soon, you’ll get the traffic you need, because of the promotional efforts you’ve done.
bio = About The Author:
—————————————————————–
Not long ago, I didn’t know ANYTHING about Internet marketing…
However, within just 2 weeks, I launched my own website AND
learned how to profit from an opt-in list, pull in sales with
ezines, make money with Google Adwords and setup my own BLOG!
Here’s how: http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-9583
————————————————-
NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this
article within your website or newsletter as long
as you leave the article fully intact and include
the “About The Author” resource box. Thanks!
1) Before you start, you must find the right keywords. If you
optimize your WebPages for the wrong keywords you will fail on
your campaigns. Try to avoid the highly competitive keywords
such as “Work from home”, for example. You can’t beat millions
of competitive websites. There are two Great free tools for
finding keywords: http://www.goodkeywords.com and overture
suggestion tool: http://inventory.overture.com
2) The page optimization easy rules you must follow are these:
a) Put your keyword in your title tag, for example we will use
the keyword “self improvement software” self improvement
software
b) Put your keyword in the heading tag - self improvement
software
c) Bold with tags the keyword inside your text.
3) Mention your primary keyword at the very top left and at the
very bottom right hand side of the webpage. A trick you can use
is to include this in the copyright information line at the
bottom of the website. This would be a good example:
http://www.selfimprovement.com - A self improvement software.
4) Use the image tag with your keyword. Be careful. Do NOT fill
the tag with many keywords. It will be considered as spamming
and search engines will ban your site.
5) List your site in Google in 24 hours. Yes, you can do that by
many ways actually. There is no need for waiting 6 weeks in
order for your site to be indexed. You can do it in 24 hours by:
a) Purchasing links with big page rank from other websites like:
http://www.textlinkbrokers.com (paid solution)
b) Creating your own Blog for Free to http://www.blogger.com and
Google will crawl your site in 24-48 hours max.
6) Next step is to search for the Top 1 site on search engines
for your keyword. Study your competition and check what they are
doing right. First check the tags and optimization rules they
follow and then check the websites that are linked with it. You
can do it by going to Google and typing in the search box:
link:http://www.competitorsite.com. In this way, you will find
the website’s link partners and you can contact them and trade
links, especially those with high page ranks.
7) Avoid the spamming techniques like hidden text (having same
color text with page background and human eye can’t see it), too
many keywords in your title tags, description tags and keyword
tags. They will not help you in your ranking, plus your site is
in danger of being banned from search engines. Link your website’s pages together. Don’t have them just
standing in your web server. Search engine robots follow links
and if your pages are connected, they will crawl the whole
website and index all your web pages.
9) You can follow these procedures manually with no cost at all.
It will take you more time though. If you want to automate all
your search engine campaigns then an excellent tool for that is
http://www.seoelite.com
bio = Christos Varsamis is a Business writer,
creator and owner of the http://www.settinglifegoals.com &
http://www.fastprofitbiz.com Sign for your 7 day FREE e-course
®How to TRACE a Legitimate Business Opportunity.
Many people are out there looking for a job. A local job search can often be difficult. But did you know you can do a local job search right from your own home? You can even do a local job search without even having to get up from your chair. How do you do a local job search? What’s the best way to do a local job search? Let’s go over some of the methods.
The first way people usually do a local job search is from a newspaper. This is not always the best way to do a local job search, but it is commonly used. The first way to do this local job search is to get your local newspaper. You can either have it delivered to your home or purchase it a grocery store or gas station. You then open your newspaper to the classified section and start your local job search. The jobs are sectioned off by their designated fields such as: legal, medical, labor, drivers, sales, etc. Before you start this local job search, you may want to have a resume already made.
The most popular form of a local job search is to go online and do a local job search. There are several websites that offer a local job search. I find the easiest website to use for a local job search to be careerbuilders.com. At this website you begin your local job search by first creating a resume. You can either copy and paste a resume you have already created or you can use the websites free resume builder. You can save up to 5. Next you begin the local job search. First select your city and state. You then select how far away you are willing to work from your zip code. Next you select the categories of job interest and click “enter.” Soon you will have tons of jobs listed from your local job search. You can then select jobs you are interested in and automatically send them your resume. It is the easiest way to do a local job search. Careerbuilder.com even emails you daily with jobs that match the local job search you did on the website.
The last local job search website you may be interested in is monster.com. This website is probably the most popular, but not as user friendly. It is very similar to careerbuilder.com except that they do not send out email alerts for jobs you may be interested in.
Finding a great job is very important. Finding the best job is not always easy. Use the information you have just been given wisely. With it you should have no trouble finding the perfect job.
bio = Jay Moncliff is the founder of http://www.1st-job-search.info a blog focusing on the Job Search, resources and articles. This site provides detailed information on Job Search. For more info on Job Search visit: http://www.1st-job-search.info
Those gurus who tell you “It is easy to make big money online” should be shot. Starting an Internet business is easy but getting sales is not. Why? The misery with online business is that you are always marketing to people who don’t want your product.
Don’t hope for too much for traffic is not definite but definable. Some people say “When I launch my site, I will do 3 weeks of marketing and make big money.” Well, that’s a dream. You cannot get massive traffic in a short sharp campaign. Unless you go into 3 months to 3 years of steady sales drive, you won’t make money.
Therefore, you have two options: quit or work harder. If you choose to work harder, then don’t work extra hard, work extra smart.
Online marketing is like fishing in troubled waters. You have to do it piece by piece. Research, read, and learn various traffic techniques and apply them one by one. Here, you will learn that what works for one site may not work for you.
You have to also pay for traffic tools and services for there’s no free lunch. Then you think of limited resources. Remember that it takes money to make money. There are loads of experts out there who will help you or give you there trade secrets in exchange for dollars. Raising funds is part of traffic generating.
Finally, avoid changing your business concept. The concept is often fine, you only need more traffic.
bio = Bright Johnson is the author of “Why Your Site Is Not Making Sales” which can be downloaded free at http://superriches.com
You can distribute this article but you must include the bylines.
There’s an old expression that says, “The only things
certain in life are death and taxes.”
Well that is not entirely true.
Now there’s a new kid on the block…
Guaranteed Signups.
Guaranteed Signups provide new opportunities for
marketers to get direct sign ups to their programs
without the time consuming task of having to
advertise or recruit new members themselves.
Here are some of the benefits:
1) You get a built in downline quickly and easily.
2) You can build a contact list and mail to them
as long as the back office of your program allows
you to do this.
3) You can develop a lead capture or splash page
and create your own mailing list without little or
no extra effort on your part.
There are many different kinds of guaranteed
sign-ups.
For instance, you can purchase…
* World Wide sign-ups
* US sign-ups
* Country targeted sign-ups
* Incentivized sign-ups
* Non incentivized sign-ups
* Phone surveyed sign-ups
Non incentivized, phone surveyed sign-ups give you
more bang for your buck and usually produce good
results.
US sign-ups are high demand primarily because
these people tend to purchase more.
The best of the bunch are phone surveyed
sign-ups, they cost a bit more, but they are
well worth the extra outlay.
Using Guaranteed Sign-ups for Your Members.
If you own a program with a large downline or
database, you can purchase large blocks of
sign-ups. This is a great way to provide instant
downlines for your members. It helps motivate
and excite them.
What Guaranteed Sign-ups Can and Cannot Do
All guaranteed signup programs work on the
following basis…
1. Your program must have an option to join
free, with the ability to upgrade to paid status.
2. Sign-ups will be sent directly to your site and,
if the person is interested, they sign up as a
free member.
3. For this point on it’s up to you. You need to do
the work of following these people up and give
them reasons and incentives to upgrade
Do not expect a sign up to upgrade automatically.
This won’t happen unless you work your new
contacts and nurture them. Let them know the
benefits of your product and give them heaps of
free information.
Sign ups to do not happen by magic.
A site that offers you sign ups is essentially doing
the hard work of advertising for you and that
takes time. So be patient.
Benefits of guaranteed signups…
* You can share them with downline members
* Do JV’s with the suppliers and resell them
* Fill you own program downline and work them
to get new upgrades.
And the best part, the companies that supply
them do all the work for you.
bio = Phil Basten and Jane Mark run their own Ad-Agency
online. They provide marketing services to online
marketers and small business owners including
Guaranteed Signups, Phone surveyed leads, Ultra-
Fresh Autoresponder leads and much more. You
get more info here…
Link popularity has been written about ad nauseum, but most articles address the subject from a perspective circa 2001. The available information usually focuses on topics such as reciprocal linking or the current price of a PR6 link. But following outdated link building advice is more likely to get your Web site penalized than it is to help you gain top rankings.
Google’s increasingly sophisticated algorithm has largely caught on to PageRank brokers and has successfully filtered out the benefits of many bought links, as well as those of reciprocal links. The risk of obtaining these types of links is even greater for a new site, as detection of an “unnatural” link structure has recently gotten many sites “sandboxed” to the bottom of the SERPs. For this reason, a link popularity campaign must be conducted carefully and yield relevant, “natural” links.
The methods described in this article will give your Web site backlinks that fit the following criteria, which are important for keeping a site out of the “sandbox”:
1) The link is on a Web page that is hosted on a unique IP address.
2) The link is on a Web page that itself has a unique, wholly independent set of backlinks.
3) The link is on a Web page that is at least loosely relevant to your Web site’s topic.
4) The link is created within a week.
Numbers 1-3 are important so that your Web site’s new backlinks are independent and natural, and do not trip a filter in the search engine algorithm; number 4 ensures that you can move on to more advanced link building tactics before your competition gets further ahead.
Directories
Directories have always been cited as a basic starting point for a link popularity campaign. Listings in the Open Directory Project and the Yahoo! Directory ensure that a site will be spidered and indexed quickly and also provide a reputable backlink. In the past few years however many general and niche directories have sprung up, most charging a yearly or one-time fee to be listed. Webmasters have questioned the ROI from being listed in these second-tier directories, as most provide little traffic and charge 10-50 USD per listing.
But listings in these directories provide important link popularity benefits for a Web site. A link from a directory fits the four criteria we laid out above-each of these directories has a unique set of backlinks and is hosted on a unique IP, the site’s URL will be placed on a topical page, and all of the directories review and add new submissions within a week. With directory listings alone, a new Web site can gain a few dozen quality backlinks for under 1000 USD (not counting Yahoo!). Aaron Wall of SEO Book has provided a good list of directories at http://www.seobook.com/archives/000166.shtml.
Press Releases
Press Releases provide an opportunity to announce your Web site, and just as importantly, provide a backlink to your Web site from a relevant page (it had better be relevant-after all, it’s an article about your Web site!). A press release should be well-written and submitted to multiple newswires. In less than a week, it will be published on its own Web page by each newswire and possibly by the newswires’ syndication partners as well. The writer should be sure to include a link in the body of the press release in http://www.mysite.com format. Again, these backlinks meet the four criteria we laid out above. Newswires usually charge a fee to publish a press release, although a few offer this service for free. You can view the Open Directory Project’s category of press release services at http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Web_Design_and_Development/Promotion/Press_Release_Services/.
Articles
Another great method for gaining quality backlinks, as well as publicity, is to write and publish a helpful article. The author can write a relevant, informative piece on your Web site’s subject, which of course includes a link to your Web site in http://www.mysite.com format. General “how-to” sites (and often, news sites in your particular niche) accept article submissions and will often reprint a relevant, well-written piece. It’s free content for them, and a backlink for you-a win-win situation. The author of THIS article swears by this method, and once again notes that it fits all four of our criteria for a timely and quality backlink. Aaron Wall of SEO Book has provided a list of Web sites that accept article submissions at http://www.seobook.com/archives/000099.shtml.
Just Say `No’
Although it may be tempting, you should stay away from reciprocal linking, except in the rare case where the link is relevant and helpful to your visitors. Likewise, you should avoid renting links from link brokers or networks; the links they sell are usually filtered by Google. These two types of links will have a minimal impact on your search engine rankings anyway and may even get your Web site “sandboxed.”
Instead, seek quality one-way inbound links by the methods described in this article; if you have exhausted these tactics, or if you have run out of money, you can always beg for links from relevant Web sites. If your site contains quality, original content, you may not even need to beg!
Conclusion
The success of a search engine optimization campaign depends greatly upon link popularity. Getting a Web site listed in directories, distributing press releases and submitting articles for syndication are three ways to gain a slew of legitimate backlinks from unique IPs relatively quickly. This will keep the site out of the “sandbox” and give any SEO campaign a sound link structure to build upon.
bio = Andy Hagans is a search engine optimization consultant who specializes in link building and risk management. Visit http://www.andyhagans.com/ for more information.
Keyword research is certainly the most important phase in Search Engine Optimization process. Whether you hire a SEO company to do the job or you are doing the SEO process in-house, take your time during this process. You should not be a spectator, but you should be an active part of the decision making process.
Try to think as a customer
Before to start the keywords analysis & research process, be sure that you know how you should perform this process. Try to think about your keywords as a customer. How would you search for your product or service? Which keyword or key phrase would you use? Think about which words or phrases describe best your product or service.
Generic keywords vs. highly targeted key phrases
Surprisingly many companies still believe that increased traffic will necessary lead to increased sales. Unfortunately this is very far from the truth. If traffic is not well targeted, visitors will not found what they are looking for, and they won’t order anything.
Many companies still make the mistake to attempt to get ranked for generic keywords. This is often costly mistake. You will simply loose your time, money and resources to get ranked for generic keyword. Chances are that if you are in competitive industry you won’t succeed to achieve top ranking. In many cases, even if you succeed to get high ranking for generic keyword you won’t benefit much from that. Let’s elaborate this with an example.
Key phrase “shoes manufacturers” will return worldwide results, and your competition will be very strong. Even if you manage to rank high, “conversion to sales rate” will be fairly low. Some of the people would actually search for “shoes manufacturers” which are located in Asia. They might enter on your site, and they will leave without to order anything. You will get more traffic, and you want increase your sales or establish new business contacts. None of your goals will be achieved.
That is because your product or service is not exactly what the people are searching for. Key phrases like “UK shoes manufacturers” or “EU shoes manufacturers” will have better conversion and you will get high ranking faster. Why? It’s easier to get ranked for these key phrases because of smaller number of competitors. From the other side, because of better targeting your conversion rate would be higher, because your traffic is better targeted.
Best approach to do find right keywords and key phrases is to get your generic keyword, and add a specific word to it. Using this approach you will be able to find yours most important key phrases, and target your traffic much better. Key phrases are usually two to five words long.
Think global
In different countries people use different terminology for same product or service. Be sure that you check your terminology for your main keywords. Different terminology for your keyword might be used in Canada, or in Australia. Follow your site statistic, and if some country is missing, something might be wrong with your terminology.
How many keywords do you need
Number of the key phrases for which you will optimize your pages will depend from your budget of course. But be sure to create long list to select from. Initial keyword research should end with at least 70 -100 keywords or key phrases.
Your first thought here might be how you will find so many keywords. Creativity and well knowing your industry will do half of the work. The tools will do the other half. Wordtracker has free trial which will tell you how many times the key phrase was searched for last month. Full version (you can pay for one day only if you want to use this tool once) is much more powerful tool of course. Overture has also free tool for keyword research which will give you useful suggestions. These tools will give you suggestions which you might not come to your mind, and tell you how many competitors you have for every keyword.
Next phase should be customizing some of these suggestions and make the re-check after that. After establishing the main list, start the elimination. Have in mind that your chances are bigger if you select bigger number of keywords. It is always best strategy to optimize each page for one primary and one secondary keyword. Optimize your main page for your most important key phrase.
Final selection will depend from your budget. You can always optimize more pages later, so keep the initial keyword list. Best option is to start to optimize your pages for less competitive key phrases first. When you achieve high ranking for these key phrases, then go after more competitive key phrases.
New Book Offers Supernatural Tales Involving Everyday People
Martha Whittington invites readers to take a break from the doldrums of daily routine and delve into a world where ordinary lives are blindsided by the bizarre. The Storyteller: Volume I (now available through AuthorHouse) provides a feast of paranormal delights that satisfy the imagination.
Comprised of six intriguing tales, The Storyteller delves into the lives of a colorful variety of people who suddenly find themselves in unsettling situations. In “The Fennigan Case,” two news reporters step across the threshold of a creepy house and into another dimension. “A Unique Team” follows another investigative journalist as he plunges into international intrigue. Readers explore the mind of a psychic teenager in “The Hidden Knowledge” and meet a wicked woman who holds an entire town hostage with her dark magic in “The Witch”. Two brothers endure tragedy in a remote corner of the world in “Sand,” and a couple experiences any parent’s worst nightmare in “The Gifted Child”.
Throughout The Storyteller, Whittington weaves a macabre tapestry of drama, suspense and fast-paced action. From the dangers of the Egyptian desert to the cold streets of New York, she takes readers on a thrilling journey along the knife-edge between this world and the unknown. A captivating read for fans of the disturbingly weird. The Storyteller delivers thrills and chills at each turn of the page.
For further review on this book, please go to: http://storytellersbookclub.com or e-mail us at: thestorytellers2121@yahoo.com
bio = Born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico, Whittington set out to see the world when she was 21. She holds a Degree in Communications and a Master’s in Public Relations, and she speaks fluent Spanish, English, German and French. Whittington comes from a family of published authors. At a young age, she wrote short stories that won awards in international contests. She currently lives in Houston, where she continues to nurture her passion for writing.
A Pay-Per-Inclusion search engine is a service in which
a search engine charges you a certain amount to spider
and include your website in its database. For this fee,
regular repeated spiderings are guaranteed, so you are
sure to be indexed.
However, rankings are not guaranteed. These pages have
no advantage over any page submitted for free. A few
years ago, pay-per-inclusion search engines such as Inktomi,
Altavista, Ask Jeeves and Yahoo were introduced.
However, they have failed badly and have lost traffic to
Google.
Why Google is Tops
Google built the LARGEST search engine database because
it refused to adopt the pay-per-inclusion model. By allowing
every website to submit its pages free, it built an enormous
database of websites. Good news for everyone searching
Google’s database!
Google’s competitors were unable to deliver the same results,
partly because they had fewer websites to choose from.
If you charge for entry into a search engine, you eliminate
over 90% of the websites on the Net which cannot justify
such a fee.
What the pay-per-inclusion search engines did not understand
was that their real customers were the ADVERTISERS and
not the searchers. Nor were the websites the customers of the
engines.
The advertisers pay the search engines, so they are the customers.
Google recognised this and decided to keep the advertisers happy
by providing a large database of websites. This large database
became well known and it attracted great numbers of searches.
These searches were exposed to the advertisers’ products and
the searches led to good sales. To make this most efficient,
search engine submission must be free.
Search Engine Model is Similar to Television
This is all similar to television where programmes are made for
the masses and given away free. Then the advertisers step in
and make the money! As a search engine survives by the quality
of its search results, surfers and sites flocked to Google making it
the number one search engine.
Why the Death of Pay-Per-Inclusion SE’s is Good for Small Sites
Only large quality SE databases can fulfil the needs of surfers. Your
relationships with the search engines is one of mutual benefit. You need
the traffic and the search engines provide the quality content.
Therefore by creating good websites with quality content and submitting
them free to the search engines, you are both winning. There is no need
to spend enormous amounts on search engine submission and optimisation.
All you need to do is create good websites with the appropriate keywords
for your pages and everything else will take care of itself.
Of course, this is where we were at the beginning of the Internet revolution,
except certain search engines got too greedy and thought they could cash
in on unfortunate small website owners!
c John Lynch
( For a review of Site Build It - the leading website and store building
software package which encourages good content for high search engine
rankings go to: http://www.merchant-account-service.com/sitebuildit.html)
bio = For a review of SiteBuildIt - the most advanced website building software for home and small business
go to: http://www.merchant-account-service.com/sitebuildit.html
Relevant content is King. Articles are one of the best tactics to create huge websites that will be crawled by search engine’s robots. Don’t forget search engines exist to provide relevant content at first. One excellent resource to automate your article directory procedure is http://www.articleequalizer.com .You can create an article database in minutes which otherwise is time consuming and it would take you a week! 