In order to locate products that sell online, we need to understand what people already want to buy. Finding a good choice of idea or product is always accompanied by interfacing the demand for the product in the current market and the level of competition or market share that the product will be having in the long run.
“What should I sell? What products are hot selling? These are the questions most people are trying to find an answer in order for them to make the definite decision. And if we really want to know the answer to this question, our only choice is to do some research. There are all kinds of twists along the road that may lead you to think you have a high-demand idea. We must be able to understand and satisfy the need, wants and expectations of our customers on a certain product that they’re trying to buy. This three are called the basic needs or minimum requirements in a purchase. Needs are the basic reasons or the minimum requirements consumers are looking for in a product or service. They are called the qualifying or “gatekeeper” dimensions in a purchase. Wants are the determining dimensions among many choices. Expectations, on the other hand, are values or intangibles associated with a product or service. Expectations are actually part of “wants” but they become extremely important when products or services are not differentiated.
For example, in reading a logic book, university students look for the following: Relevant logic concepts use of simple language, easy to understand and affordable prices. These similar ideas can be applied to Internet Sales as well. After all, the Internet is just another place to sell products. The basic concept of demand is the same there as it is anywhere else, and has been all the time.
Now, the second thing that must be considered in finding “hot” products to sell are the level of competition or the market shares do your product will have. Market share or level of competition means the ratio of your brand sales versus the total market sales. While companies would naturally define its target competitors, it is actually the consumers who ultimately decide the competitive frame, or the list related products or services that consumers consider when exercising their purchasing power. We must therefore choose the market segment where we can have a potential leadership or at least a strong challenger role. Because the overriding objective of getting into this business is not just to satisfy the needs and wants of our customers but to do so profitably better than his competition. Otherwise, our competition will end up satisfying the customers better than our own interest.
Third factor to be considered in finding hot selling products is finding out the general interest level about the product. General interest in a product helps us to gauge where our demand and competition numbers fall into the big picture. Simply saying, if there isn’t much demand for the product, and there isn’t much competition, it would seem that it might not be good a good put up for sale. But the research doesn’t stop here; there is one last thing to be considered to exactly find the hot selling products that you’ve been looking for. We must also learn how others are advertising those products. If there are a good number of them doing so, it may mean that it’s a good product to get into. Coming to the last phase of the process is analyzing and evaluating all the information that has been collected. We have to look at all of the data we have collected on demand, competition, and advertising, and make decision as how they all balance out.
And here are several factors or aspects that must be measured: (a) not enough demand means not enough people are going to buy (b) too much competition means not enough of a profit to go around (c) too much advertising drives up the price of pay per click ads, and competition as well (d) not enough general interest, combined with low demand, means there may not be a good market even if there is competition trying to make the sales.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Twenty Ways to Boost Traffic and promote your site
1) Yahoo Answers.
You can go through and start answering questions at answers.yahoo.com.
You'll be surprised at the many questions left unanswered in many categories. You can become an "expert" within many fields by answering questions, and having relevant links point back to your site. It's a quick way to build back links and actually have targeted users viewing your site.
Check it out at answers.yahoo.com
Be sure to never spam. It's important to be friendly with your answers, and provide good relevant information. The goal here is to have the user to trust you.
To get started simply browse the categories or you can search for questions. For example you can do a search for "making money" and it will produce questions people have asked about "making money".
2) Myspace.com
Create a myspace account and start marketing to the users. Some quick tips for myspace are:
a. Never spam
b. Join as many relevant groups as possible and participate within the groups.
c. Post interesting bulletins that provide useful information
d. Send friend requests to users within the groups you've joined.
e. Use graphics in your posts to catch the attention of the reader.
f. Use catchy titles, anything boring will be ignored.
g. For non-targeted friends, you can look into friend trains such as friendstorm.net
h. To automate friend adding, comment posting and bulletin posting you can check friendbot.com and madderadder.com
3) Yahoo Groups
Join yahoo groups. I've joined groups within the "Home Business" section and promoted my products/services to group members. You can also create your own group as well. One of the keys here is to offer free reports and tools to the users, and then use that free report to up sell your main products/services.
You can find home business groups at the link below:
http://finance.dir.groups.yahoo.com/dir/Business___Finance/Home_Business
The marketing/advertising groups at the link below:
http://finance.dir.groups.yahoo.com/dir/Business___Finance/Marketing_and_Advertising
4) Stumbleupon.com
Download the stumbleupon toolbar and ensure you click "I like this" to all of your websites, and have your friends and family do the same and click the "I like this" to all your sites. Also create pages specifically for stumbleupon that either is funny and odd, which can range from funny pictures to funny videos. You'll find many users clicking "I like this" and on those pages you should have links to all your other sites, and perhaps even Google Adsense to earn money from all the visits you'll receive. This works well since Stumbleupon users love to browse sites that have odd and funny stuff, or even free stuff would work good as well.
5) Forum linking
Every forum you join, always have a signature file that contains links to your most treasured websites. Be sure to use your preferred keywords within the links or perhaps catchy titles to entice clicks.
6) Craigslist.org
Submit free ads to craigslist.org. Be sure not to spam the classifieds.
One or two ads per week in a few select cities are fine. If you submit too many then your ads can be flagged or labeled as spam, so be careful with how many submissions you make. Always use catchy titles to ensure your ad is read.
7) Site maps
Always have a site map for all your sites, and ensure the site map is submitted to Google. You can create a free site map using the following site.
http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/
Once your site map is created, then upload it to your site, then submit it to Google using the link below:
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/siteoverview?hl=en
8) E-Book Giveaway
If you have an e-book, give it away free, this can help build your mailing list and get more traffic to your site and offers. Ensure the e-book is of good value and that you'll have an up sell product to then make money from the subscribers at a later date.
9) CSS Website Design
When having your website designed it's best to use CSS to organize the layout of the site rather than using tables. CSS can power the layout using div tags instead of table tags. This will ensure your design is tableless. It will allow your textual content to have more weight when viewed by the search engines. If you have a designer, ensure you request "CSS Tabless Design" for your next website layout.
10) Submit To Directories
Most people already do this, but just in case you haven't, you should submit to directories. You can find a list of directories below:
http://strongestlinks.com/directories.php
The above list some of the better directories to submit to. By submitting to these directories you can acquire back links and more traffic to your site.
11) Tell a Friend
You can install a tell a friend script to your site that will allow users to "refer" your site to their friends and colleagues. The downside to this is that some spammers try to manipulate tell a friend scripts. Be sure the one you use actually has "image verification" to limit form manipulation; otherwise you may find spammers trying to use your form to send spam.
12) Search Engine Optimization
Always read up on the latest with optimizing your website for search engines. Some good forums to review for free tips are:
http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/forumdisplay.php?f=12
http://forums.seochat.com/
http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/
http://www.searchengineforums.com/apps/searchengine.forums/
I would join each of these forums or at least review the forums for the latest tips and strategies on search engine optimization.
13) Squidoo.com
Create a lense at squidoo.com, this is one of the latest fads.
14) Social bookmarking sites
Submit to each of these sites.
http://del.icio.us/ PageRank: 8/10
http://www.furl.net/ PageRank: 7/10
http://www.simpy.com/ PageRank: 7/10
http://del.icio.us/ PageRank: 8/10
http://www.backflip.com/ PageRank: 6/10
http://www.blinklist.com/ PageRank: 6/10
http://bluedot.us/ PageRank: 6/10
http://de.lirio.us/bookmarks/ PageRank: 6/10
http://www.diigo.com/user/ PageRank: 6/10
http://www.shadows.com/ PageRank: 6/10
http://www.markaboo.com/ PageRank: 5/10
http://ma.gnolia.com/ PageRank: 7/10
http://linkagogo.com/ PageRank: 7/10
http://netvouz.com/ PageRank: 7/10
http://www.mister-wong.de/ PageRank: 6/10
http://www.spurl.net/ PageRank: 7/10
http://www.rawsugar.com/ PageRank: 6/10
http://www.stumbleupon.com/ PageRank: 7/10
http://www.digg.com/ PageRank: 8/10
http://www.blogmarks.net/ PageRank: 7/10
http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/ PageRank: 7/10
http://www.netvouz.com/ PageRank: 7/10
http://www.taggly.com/ PageRank: 5/10
http://www.lookmarks.com/ PageRank: 5/10
http://socialbookmarking.org/ PageRank: 5/10
15) Article Promotion
Write articles are short reports and submit to ezinearticles.com,
goarticles.com, articlecity.com.
16) Site Explorer
Submit your sitemaps using Yahoo Site Explorer, similar format to
Google Webmaster Tools
http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/
17) Epinion.com
Post your opinion on products and services related to yours on
epinion.com
18) Alexa.com
Review popular websites on Alexa.com, and at the end of the message have your URL listed. It may not hyperlink automatically but a few people may still copy/paste into their address bar. Just make sure your post is really a review and not spam.
19) Newsletter Box
Always have a newsletter box on your website that will allow all visitors to subscribe for updates on your site. This can be a real winner, as you'll be able to market your product or service to these subscribers. You can use aweber.com, getresponse.com, constantcontact.com for the newsletter subscriptions.
20) Pay per Click search engines
I've listed this last since almost everyone does this, but I can't have a list of marketing tips without mentioning PPC. Google Adwords, Microsoft Ad Center and Yahoo Search Marketing are the big three. Other options are SearchFeed.com, Goclick.com.
For a comprehensive list of pay per click search engines see link below:
http://www.payperclicksearchengines.com/
Hopefully one of the marketing options mentioned caught your eye. I've used these various avenues to boost traffic to my sites on a regular basis. You may not get a flood of traffic overnight, but combining these methods can result in gradual increase traffic, and in some cases you can receive a tremendous boost. It's all about your efforts and sometimes having luck on your side helps as well :)
You can go through and start answering questions at answers.yahoo.com.
You'll be surprised at the many questions left unanswered in many categories. You can become an "expert" within many fields by answering questions, and having relevant links point back to your site. It's a quick way to build back links and actually have targeted users viewing your site.
Check it out at answers.yahoo.com
Be sure to never spam. It's important to be friendly with your answers, and provide good relevant information. The goal here is to have the user to trust you.
To get started simply browse the categories or you can search for questions. For example you can do a search for "making money" and it will produce questions people have asked about "making money".
2) Myspace.com
Create a myspace account and start marketing to the users. Some quick tips for myspace are:
a. Never spam
b. Join as many relevant groups as possible and participate within the groups.
c. Post interesting bulletins that provide useful information
d. Send friend requests to users within the groups you've joined.
e. Use graphics in your posts to catch the attention of the reader.
f. Use catchy titles, anything boring will be ignored.
g. For non-targeted friends, you can look into friend trains such as friendstorm.net
h. To automate friend adding, comment posting and bulletin posting you can check friendbot.com and madderadder.com
3) Yahoo Groups
Join yahoo groups. I've joined groups within the "Home Business" section and promoted my products/services to group members. You can also create your own group as well. One of the keys here is to offer free reports and tools to the users, and then use that free report to up sell your main products/services.
You can find home business groups at the link below:
http://finance.dir.groups.yahoo.com/dir/Business___Finance/Home_Business
The marketing/advertising groups at the link below:
http://finance.dir.groups.yahoo.com/dir/Business___Finance/Marketing_and_Advertising
4) Stumbleupon.com
Download the stumbleupon toolbar and ensure you click "I like this" to all of your websites, and have your friends and family do the same and click the "I like this" to all your sites. Also create pages specifically for stumbleupon that either is funny and odd, which can range from funny pictures to funny videos. You'll find many users clicking "I like this" and on those pages you should have links to all your other sites, and perhaps even Google Adsense to earn money from all the visits you'll receive. This works well since Stumbleupon users love to browse sites that have odd and funny stuff, or even free stuff would work good as well.
5) Forum linking
Every forum you join, always have a signature file that contains links to your most treasured websites. Be sure to use your preferred keywords within the links or perhaps catchy titles to entice clicks.
6) Craigslist.org
Submit free ads to craigslist.org. Be sure not to spam the classifieds.
One or two ads per week in a few select cities are fine. If you submit too many then your ads can be flagged or labeled as spam, so be careful with how many submissions you make. Always use catchy titles to ensure your ad is read.
7) Site maps
Always have a site map for all your sites, and ensure the site map is submitted to Google. You can create a free site map using the following site.
http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/
Once your site map is created, then upload it to your site, then submit it to Google using the link below:
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/siteoverview?hl=en
8) E-Book Giveaway
If you have an e-book, give it away free, this can help build your mailing list and get more traffic to your site and offers. Ensure the e-book is of good value and that you'll have an up sell product to then make money from the subscribers at a later date.
9) CSS Website Design
When having your website designed it's best to use CSS to organize the layout of the site rather than using tables. CSS can power the layout using div tags instead of table tags. This will ensure your design is tableless. It will allow your textual content to have more weight when viewed by the search engines. If you have a designer, ensure you request "CSS Tabless Design" for your next website layout.
10) Submit To Directories
Most people already do this, but just in case you haven't, you should submit to directories. You can find a list of directories below:
http://strongestlinks.com/directories.php
The above list some of the better directories to submit to. By submitting to these directories you can acquire back links and more traffic to your site.
11) Tell a Friend
You can install a tell a friend script to your site that will allow users to "refer" your site to their friends and colleagues. The downside to this is that some spammers try to manipulate tell a friend scripts. Be sure the one you use actually has "image verification" to limit form manipulation; otherwise you may find spammers trying to use your form to send spam.
12) Search Engine Optimization
Always read up on the latest with optimizing your website for search engines. Some good forums to review for free tips are:
http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/forumdisplay.php?f=12
http://forums.seochat.com/
http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/
http://www.searchengineforums.com/apps/searchengine.forums/
I would join each of these forums or at least review the forums for the latest tips and strategies on search engine optimization.
13) Squidoo.com
Create a lense at squidoo.com, this is one of the latest fads.
14) Social bookmarking sites
Submit to each of these sites.
http://del.icio.us/ PageRank: 8/10
http://www.furl.net/ PageRank: 7/10
http://www.simpy.com/ PageRank: 7/10
http://del.icio.us/ PageRank: 8/10
http://www.backflip.com/ PageRank: 6/10
http://www.blinklist.com/ PageRank: 6/10
http://bluedot.us/ PageRank: 6/10
http://de.lirio.us/bookmarks/ PageRank: 6/10
http://www.diigo.com/user/ PageRank: 6/10
http://www.shadows.com/ PageRank: 6/10
http://www.markaboo.com/ PageRank: 5/10
http://ma.gnolia.com/ PageRank: 7/10
http://linkagogo.com/ PageRank: 7/10
http://netvouz.com/ PageRank: 7/10
http://www.mister-wong.de/ PageRank: 6/10
http://www.spurl.net/ PageRank: 7/10
http://www.rawsugar.com/ PageRank: 6/10
http://www.stumbleupon.com/ PageRank: 7/10
http://www.digg.com/ PageRank: 8/10
http://www.blogmarks.net/ PageRank: 7/10
http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/ PageRank: 7/10
http://www.netvouz.com/ PageRank: 7/10
http://www.taggly.com/ PageRank: 5/10
http://www.lookmarks.com/ PageRank: 5/10
http://socialbookmarking.org/ PageRank: 5/10
15) Article Promotion
Write articles are short reports and submit to ezinearticles.com,
goarticles.com, articlecity.com.
16) Site Explorer
Submit your sitemaps using Yahoo Site Explorer, similar format to
Google Webmaster Tools
http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/
17) Epinion.com
Post your opinion on products and services related to yours on
epinion.com
18) Alexa.com
Review popular websites on Alexa.com, and at the end of the message have your URL listed. It may not hyperlink automatically but a few people may still copy/paste into their address bar. Just make sure your post is really a review and not spam.
19) Newsletter Box
Always have a newsletter box on your website that will allow all visitors to subscribe for updates on your site. This can be a real winner, as you'll be able to market your product or service to these subscribers. You can use aweber.com, getresponse.com, constantcontact.com for the newsletter subscriptions.
20) Pay per Click search engines
I've listed this last since almost everyone does this, but I can't have a list of marketing tips without mentioning PPC. Google Adwords, Microsoft Ad Center and Yahoo Search Marketing are the big three. Other options are SearchFeed.com, Goclick.com.
For a comprehensive list of pay per click search engines see link below:
http://www.payperclicksearchengines.com/
Hopefully one of the marketing options mentioned caught your eye. I've used these various avenues to boost traffic to my sites on a regular basis. You may not get a flood of traffic overnight, but combining these methods can result in gradual increase traffic, and in some cases you can receive a tremendous boost. It's all about your efforts and sometimes having luck on your side helps as well :)
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Twenty SEO Tips
Tip #1: Search Engine Friendly URLs
Always use search engine friendly URLs. Be sure to use hyphens and underscores in all your URLs and preferably have the URLs be the keyword that relates to the page. For example if the page is about web hosting, then the URL could be web-hosting or web_hosting.
Tip #2: Keyword Rich Domain Name
This may not be possible in many niche markets for the more popular keywords. Therefore you can focus on creating mini-sites that are keyword based. For example if your site is about web hosting, you can create mini-sites about web hosting but with a lesser known keyword such as "low cost web hosting".
Tip #3: Keyword research
It's important to do thorough research before deciding what keywords you'll focus on when optimizing your website. I've listed below some popular tools you can use
Digital Point Keyword Suggestion Tool
http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/suggestion/
Overture Search Suggestion
http://inventory.overture.com/
Nichebot
http://www.nichebot.com
Word Tracker
http://www.wordtracker.com
Keyword Discovery
http://www.keyworddiscovery.com
Google Adwords Keyword Tool
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Good Keywords (Free keyword research Software application)
Download Link: http://www.softnik.com/download/gkwv2_setup.exe
Main website link: http://www.goodkeywords.com
Tip #4: IP Address
The sites you deemed most important, ensure they have unique ip addresses for each site. The reason this is important is many sites on a "shared" hosting service share the same ip address. If any of these sites have been banned by the search engines, it could affect your site's ranking or even result in your site being banned as well, since it is sharing the same ip address.
Tip #5: Site Map
Always create a site map for your site and submit the site map using Google's webmaster tools. A site map will allow the search engines to easily find all the pages within your website.
Link: http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/
Tip #6: Use Of H1 Tags
It's been shown that using H1 tags, and even H2 tags are good for optimization. Be sure you section your website's headlines in H1 tags. It's important you use CSS to power how the tags are displayed or the tag will be very big by default and could make your page look ugly. Using a css file will enable the tag to blend nicely with your design. Be sure your H1 tags are keyword rich.
Tip #7: Menu Links
For further on site optimization be sure that your menu links are keyword rich. Be creative with your menu text titles and have a few of them be actual keywords that relate to your website.
Tip #8: CSS Div Tags
Whenever possible ensure your site is created with CSS div tags instead of tables, as it will result in the search engine spider being able to reach your body text easier than being buried in table tags.
Review the tutorial below for more details
Link:
http://www.ndesign-studio.com/resources/dreamweaver/basic-css-tableless/
Tip #9: Limiting Javascript
Try to limit the amount of Javascript used on your page, especially if it's being placed near the top of your website's source code. This will lower the relevance of your site's content, as the first thing the spider will see is Javascript code and not actual textual content, therefore you lose relevancy points since your main content is not loaded first on the page.
Tip #10: Meta Description
Always use meta tag description. Google actually pulls your meta tag description when spidering your website, and so does Yahoo and MSN. So it's very important that you have a well written and keyword rich meta tag description. For best results have your description less than 200 characters.
Tip #11: Meta Keywords
Not all search engines index meta keywords, but it's still a good idea to have a meta keyword tag just in case it's indexed or have some kind of relevance.
Tip #12: Unique Titles
Many scripts by default do not utilize unique titles for each page within the script or website, therefore your site is not optimized well for high rankings. Be sure that when using a script to power your website that you have the option to have a unique Title for each page, a unique meta description, and unique keywords.
Tip #13: Unique Body Content
Do not *ever* repeat the same content on too many pages. If this is done, your pages could be placed in Google's supplemental results database. This is not where you want to be, so therefore ensure that
each page within your website does have unique body content.
Tip #14: Link Building
You'll need to start having links pointing to you from relevant and popular websites. Research the websites that are your competitors who have achieved high page rank, and see what sites are linking to them, and if possible contact those websites to see if you can have a link as well. Do a search on Google for a keyword that relates to your website. Review the top ten websites, and input this tag in Google for each of the sites. Type in the search box link:www.sitename.com, replacing sitename.com with the site name you are researching. Review all the back links for that particular site and try to acquire link partnerships with the same sites as your competitors.
Tip #15: Paid Directory Submission
It's important to submit to popular web directories. I would recommend submitting to Yahoo Directory and perhaps Business.com and a few other paid directories such as Uncoverthenet.com and Gimpsy.com. This can help with relevancy points by having established paid directories having a link to your site. The fees for these directories range from $40-$299.
Tip #16: Social Bookmarking Sites
For quick indexing into the search engines, submitting to reddit.com and digg.com maybe a worth while task. It can allow the spiders to quickly visit your site and also result in some traffic. Ensure your article or reports are of good value, and never spam these sites. It's important to maintain a good relationship.
Tip #17: SEO for Firefox
This tool allows you to check PR, age of websites, backlinks, edu links, gov links, page links, technorati backlinks, alexa ranking, dmoz links, yahoo directory links and provides whois information. It's a great plugin tool for firefox.
Link: http://tools.seobook.com/firefox/seo-for-firefox.html
Tip #18: Quality Hosting Service
This is just a general rule since you have to have as limited downtime as possible. Always research the hosting companies carefully, since downtime can result in a site that is dropped from the search engines if they try to spider and realize that the site cannot be accessed.
Tip #19: Robots.txt
Ensure you create a robots.txt file to restrict the content that can be indexed by the search engines. This can limit the "duplication" factor that can occur if you have more than one page that is similar.
See more here: http://www.seochat.com/seo-tools/robots-generator/
Tip #20: Link Purchasing
I'm listing this last since many people do not like to endorse it. I'm not endorsing it, but I will mention it. You can purchase links on power sites that can help with your page rank which can aid in better rankings *if* you have a well optimized website. You have to ensure the links you purchase are actually from respected sites and preferably within a related field.
See these resources
www.textlinkads.com
www.textlinkbrokers.com
If you utilize each of these steps it can help with your search engine optimization. These tips are meant to be an introduction to ways you can better optimize your website.
Always use search engine friendly URLs. Be sure to use hyphens and underscores in all your URLs and preferably have the URLs be the keyword that relates to the page. For example if the page is about web hosting, then the URL could be web-hosting or web_hosting.
Tip #2: Keyword Rich Domain Name
This may not be possible in many niche markets for the more popular keywords. Therefore you can focus on creating mini-sites that are keyword based. For example if your site is about web hosting, you can create mini-sites about web hosting but with a lesser known keyword such as "low cost web hosting".
Tip #3: Keyword research
It's important to do thorough research before deciding what keywords you'll focus on when optimizing your website. I've listed below some popular tools you can use
Digital Point Keyword Suggestion Tool
http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/suggestion/
Overture Search Suggestion
http://inventory.overture.com/
Nichebot
http://www.nichebot.com
Word Tracker
http://www.wordtracker.com
Keyword Discovery
http://www.keyworddiscovery.com
Google Adwords Keyword Tool
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Good Keywords (Free keyword research Software application)
Download Link: http://www.softnik.com/download/gkwv2_setup.exe
Main website link: http://www.goodkeywords.com
Tip #4: IP Address
The sites you deemed most important, ensure they have unique ip addresses for each site. The reason this is important is many sites on a "shared" hosting service share the same ip address. If any of these sites have been banned by the search engines, it could affect your site's ranking or even result in your site being banned as well, since it is sharing the same ip address.
Tip #5: Site Map
Always create a site map for your site and submit the site map using Google's webmaster tools. A site map will allow the search engines to easily find all the pages within your website.
Link: http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/
Tip #6: Use Of H1 Tags
It's been shown that using H1 tags, and even H2 tags are good for optimization. Be sure you section your website's headlines in H1 tags. It's important you use CSS to power how the tags are displayed or the tag will be very big by default and could make your page look ugly. Using a css file will enable the tag to blend nicely with your design. Be sure your H1 tags are keyword rich.
Tip #7: Menu Links
For further on site optimization be sure that your menu links are keyword rich. Be creative with your menu text titles and have a few of them be actual keywords that relate to your website.
Tip #8: CSS Div Tags
Whenever possible ensure your site is created with CSS div tags instead of tables, as it will result in the search engine spider being able to reach your body text easier than being buried in table tags.
Review the tutorial below for more details
Link:
http://www.ndesign-studio.com/resources/dreamweaver/basic-css-tableless/
Tip #9: Limiting Javascript
Try to limit the amount of Javascript used on your page, especially if it's being placed near the top of your website's source code. This will lower the relevance of your site's content, as the first thing the spider will see is Javascript code and not actual textual content, therefore you lose relevancy points since your main content is not loaded first on the page.
Tip #10: Meta Description
Always use meta tag description. Google actually pulls your meta tag description when spidering your website, and so does Yahoo and MSN. So it's very important that you have a well written and keyword rich meta tag description. For best results have your description less than 200 characters.
Tip #11: Meta Keywords
Not all search engines index meta keywords, but it's still a good idea to have a meta keyword tag just in case it's indexed or have some kind of relevance.
Tip #12: Unique Titles
Many scripts by default do not utilize unique titles for each page within the script or website, therefore your site is not optimized well for high rankings. Be sure that when using a script to power your website that you have the option to have a unique Title for each page, a unique meta description, and unique keywords.
Tip #13: Unique Body Content
Do not *ever* repeat the same content on too many pages. If this is done, your pages could be placed in Google's supplemental results database. This is not where you want to be, so therefore ensure that
each page within your website does have unique body content.
Tip #14: Link Building
You'll need to start having links pointing to you from relevant and popular websites. Research the websites that are your competitors who have achieved high page rank, and see what sites are linking to them, and if possible contact those websites to see if you can have a link as well. Do a search on Google for a keyword that relates to your website. Review the top ten websites, and input this tag in Google for each of the sites. Type in the search box link:www.sitename.com, replacing sitename.com with the site name you are researching. Review all the back links for that particular site and try to acquire link partnerships with the same sites as your competitors.
Tip #15: Paid Directory Submission
It's important to submit to popular web directories. I would recommend submitting to Yahoo Directory and perhaps Business.com and a few other paid directories such as Uncoverthenet.com and Gimpsy.com. This can help with relevancy points by having established paid directories having a link to your site. The fees for these directories range from $40-$299.
Tip #16: Social Bookmarking Sites
For quick indexing into the search engines, submitting to reddit.com and digg.com maybe a worth while task. It can allow the spiders to quickly visit your site and also result in some traffic. Ensure your article or reports are of good value, and never spam these sites. It's important to maintain a good relationship.
Tip #17: SEO for Firefox
This tool allows you to check PR, age of websites, backlinks, edu links, gov links, page links, technorati backlinks, alexa ranking, dmoz links, yahoo directory links and provides whois information. It's a great plugin tool for firefox.
Link: http://tools.seobook.com/firefox/seo-for-firefox.html
Tip #18: Quality Hosting Service
This is just a general rule since you have to have as limited downtime as possible. Always research the hosting companies carefully, since downtime can result in a site that is dropped from the search engines if they try to spider and realize that the site cannot be accessed.
Tip #19: Robots.txt
Ensure you create a robots.txt file to restrict the content that can be indexed by the search engines. This can limit the "duplication" factor that can occur if you have more than one page that is similar.
See more here: http://www.seochat.com/seo-tools/robots-generator/
Tip #20: Link Purchasing
I'm listing this last since many people do not like to endorse it. I'm not endorsing it, but I will mention it. You can purchase links on power sites that can help with your page rank which can aid in better rankings *if* you have a well optimized website. You have to ensure the links you purchase are actually from respected sites and preferably within a related field.
See these resources
www.textlinkads.com
www.textlinkbrokers.com
If you utilize each of these steps it can help with your search engine optimization. These tips are meant to be an introduction to ways you can better optimize your website.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
How to create a sitemap
A sitemap of a website is similar to the table of contents of a book. Sitemaps are important because it guides web surfers to the particular part of the website they have a point of interest in. With it they would save time following links and get right to the point instead.
Sitemaps are also where search engines look at if somebody is looking for a particular keyword or phrase. If you have a site map, you can most likely be searched.
Creating a sitemap, now with software technology surging in, is relatively easier than before. You need not be a programming guru to be one. All need is a notepad, a program editor, and some patience. Here’s how you do it:
Create the listing on a notepad.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be a notepad. Any word processing program will do. First off, make sure to type in all the parts and pieces of your website. Include all pages and all links you have. Create it as if you listing the contents of your book. Make a draft first. You’re sure no to miss something out this way.
Create a new page for your sitemap.
You can insert the sitemap on your website on one of its pages or you can create an entirely different page for it. Using your notepad, incorporate all tags necessary to it to make another webpage. Open up your website creator program and tag your sitemap using it. If you have created your website on your own, this will be easy for you.
Create a link for the sitemap.
You won’t be able to view the sitemap if you won’t put a link for it, of course. Create the link on the front page of your website so that visitors can view it right away and be directed appropriately.
Check your work.
It is important to validate the functionality of the links you created on the sitemap. Test each and every one in there and if you get an error, be sure to fix it accurately. Run through every single page to make sure that all are accounted for.
Upload your work.
Place the sitemap now on your live browser and double check it. It should function as smoothly as the dry run. Error should be minimal at this stage since you already have verified it locally.
The steps provided herewith is the manual way of creating a sitemap. These days, if you search hard enough on the web, you will find online programs that will do all these work for you. All you have to do it type in the URL or the link of your website and they will create the sitemap with click of a button.
Of course that method is generic. All of you who have created their sitemap that way will have an end product that is all the same, plus there’s that possibility that something else will be inserted in there too. Then again, the process is less taxing and way, way simpler.
But if you want a more personalized output, and you are pretty good with computers and programming yourself, better make one of your own. And since you made your website anyway, creating sitemap is just like creating any other page on the website. Other than you’ll know for sure the links are accurate, you can organize the links the way you prefer it to be. Major parts of the site are emphasized compared to less significant. This is important especially if you are selling products or offering services online.
Sitemap is vital to a website. People search the web a lot for something. If your website has what that particular person is looking for, and your sitemap reports it, then you have a new customer looking at your items. Not only that, they will see some other things up for sale that they might be interested in as well.
Sitemaps, be it generated by a program automatically or you made it yourself, presents the same purpose. That is to lead your visitors to where they’re likely headed, and for you to be seen on the World Wide Web through search spiders. So with these, make sure your website has a sitemap of its own, lest make one.
Sitemaps are also where search engines look at if somebody is looking for a particular keyword or phrase. If you have a site map, you can most likely be searched.
Creating a sitemap, now with software technology surging in, is relatively easier than before. You need not be a programming guru to be one. All need is a notepad, a program editor, and some patience. Here’s how you do it:
Create the listing on a notepad.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be a notepad. Any word processing program will do. First off, make sure to type in all the parts and pieces of your website. Include all pages and all links you have. Create it as if you listing the contents of your book. Make a draft first. You’re sure no to miss something out this way.
Create a new page for your sitemap.
You can insert the sitemap on your website on one of its pages or you can create an entirely different page for it. Using your notepad, incorporate all tags necessary to it to make another webpage. Open up your website creator program and tag your sitemap using it. If you have created your website on your own, this will be easy for you.
Create a link for the sitemap.
You won’t be able to view the sitemap if you won’t put a link for it, of course. Create the link on the front page of your website so that visitors can view it right away and be directed appropriately.
Check your work.
It is important to validate the functionality of the links you created on the sitemap. Test each and every one in there and if you get an error, be sure to fix it accurately. Run through every single page to make sure that all are accounted for.
Upload your work.
Place the sitemap now on your live browser and double check it. It should function as smoothly as the dry run. Error should be minimal at this stage since you already have verified it locally.
The steps provided herewith is the manual way of creating a sitemap. These days, if you search hard enough on the web, you will find online programs that will do all these work for you. All you have to do it type in the URL or the link of your website and they will create the sitemap with click of a button.
Of course that method is generic. All of you who have created their sitemap that way will have an end product that is all the same, plus there’s that possibility that something else will be inserted in there too. Then again, the process is less taxing and way, way simpler.
But if you want a more personalized output, and you are pretty good with computers and programming yourself, better make one of your own. And since you made your website anyway, creating sitemap is just like creating any other page on the website. Other than you’ll know for sure the links are accurate, you can organize the links the way you prefer it to be. Major parts of the site are emphasized compared to less significant. This is important especially if you are selling products or offering services online.
Sitemap is vital to a website. People search the web a lot for something. If your website has what that particular person is looking for, and your sitemap reports it, then you have a new customer looking at your items. Not only that, they will see some other things up for sale that they might be interested in as well.
Sitemaps, be it generated by a program automatically or you made it yourself, presents the same purpose. That is to lead your visitors to where they’re likely headed, and for you to be seen on the World Wide Web through search spiders. So with these, make sure your website has a sitemap of its own, lest make one.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Learning the Basics of RSS
What is RSS?
You probably have seen this three-letter acronym in the course of your internet surfing. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary; syndicating means republishing an article that comes from another source such as a website.
An RSS is a means of publicizing updates about websites. It may or may not include a summary and photos of the latest posting. But those that provide summaries (thus Rich Site Summary) allow users to skim through the article so that they could decide later on if they want to access the website source. The RSS feed usually contains the title of the update originating from the website. It is also usually the link to the website source.
What are the benefits of RSS?
RSS gives benefits to both readers (users) and web publishers.
1. It gives you the latest updates.
Whether it is about the weather, new music, software upgrade, local news, or a new posting from a rarely-updates site learn about the latest as soon as it comes out.
2. It saves on surfing time.
Since an RSS feed provides a summary of the related article, it saves the user’s time by helping s/he decide on which items to prioritize when reading or browsing the net.
3. It gives the power of subscription to the user.
Users are given a free-hand on which websites to subscribe in their RSS aggregators which they can change at any time they decide differently.
4. It lessens the clutter in your inbox.
Although your email address will be required to enjoy the services of online RSS aggregators, RSS does not use your email address to send the updates.
5. It is spam free.
Unlike email subscriptions, RSS does not make use of your email address to send updates thus your privacy is kept safe from spam mails.
6. Unsubscribing is hassle-free.
Unlike email subscriptions where the user is asked questions on why s/he is unsubscribing and then the user would be asked to confirm unsubscribing, all you have to do is to delete the RSS feed from your aggregator.
7. It can be used as an advertising or marketing tool.
Users who subscribe or syndicate product websites receive the latest news on products and services without the website sending spam mail. This is advantageous to both the web user and the website owner since advertising becomes targeted; those who are actually interested in their products are kept posted.
What are the drawbacks of RSS?
The disadvantages of RSS use are brought about by its being a new technology and some user-preference concerns.
1. Some users prefer receiving email updates over an RSS feed.
2. Graphics and photos do not appear in all RSS feeds.
For conciseness and ease of publication, RSS feeds do not display the photos from the original site in announcing the update except for some web-based aggregators
3. The identity of the source website can be confusing.
Since RSS feeds do not display the actual URL or name of the website, it can sometimes get confusing on what feed a user is actually reading.
4. Publishers cannot determine how many users are subscribed to their feed and the frequency of their visits. Moreover, they would not know the reasons why users unsubscribe which could be important in improving their advertising.
5. RSS feeds create higher traffic and demands on the server.
Most readers still prefer the whole update over a brief summary of the entry, thus they still access the site.
6. Since it is a new technology, many sites still do not support RSS.
How do I start using RSS?
There are two things needed: an RSS feed and an RSS aggregator or reader. The RSS feed comes from an RSS-supported website. There are also websites that provide a list of RSS feeds of different websites. An RSS aggregator is used to read the RSS feed from the source website. It scans and collects data on latest RSS feeds from the worldwide web.
An aggregator comes in two forms: a downloadable program also known as desktop aggregator and an online or web-based aggregator. Downloadable aggregators may require payment before they can be acquired, while internet-based aggregators are usually free of charge. All you need to do is to register an account then you are ready to use their services. Both versions allow you to customize or choose which RSS feeds to enter. Paid aggregators are usually chosen by more experienced users and they usually allow more freedom in customizing feeds.
1. Choose an RSS aggregator to use. For beginners, web-based aggregators are recommended since they are usually user-friendly
2. Scan the homepage of your target website for the RSS or XML button. It contains the RSS code you need to enter in the aggregator. Copy this code. Syndic8 provides a directory of websites that support RSS.
3. Paste the code (which contains the URL of the website) in your aggregator. There is a space provided for pasting the code.
After you have done these three easy steps, you can start reading the RSS feeds coming from the website. New postings appear as they are published real time at the source website.
RSS and Internet Marketing
The original idea of RSS came from Netscape, where their intention is to provide a means for users to customize their personal homepage to contain links to websites that interest them, similar to bookmarking websites.
The application of RSS to internet marketing was an unforeseen development to RSS technology developers. Since users are given the freedom to add RSS feeds to their aggregators, those who are interested in particular products and services available in the internet can now be notified real time. Marketing becomes more specific to interested people and not a hit-and-miss operation.
Those who intend to use RSS for marketing their products and services should consider linking up with email account providers, (e.g. Yahoo, MSN, Google mail); networking websites (e.g. Friendster, Multiply, My Space, Hi5); websites of newspapers and television network websites (e.g. New York Times, CNN) for medium to big-scale companies. Small-time industries can also look into networking websites as well as personal blog websites (e.g. Blogspot) and websites of clubs and organizations that would probably make use of their products or services e.g. a fishing supplies store can look for the website of their local fishing club for possible RSS marketing.
Clearly, RSS is an innovation in information management in the worldwide web as well as online marketing. We can expect better RSS technology in the not-so-distant future as its popularity increases among users and website owners alike.
You probably have seen this three-letter acronym in the course of your internet surfing. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary; syndicating means republishing an article that comes from another source such as a website.
An RSS is a means of publicizing updates about websites. It may or may not include a summary and photos of the latest posting. But those that provide summaries (thus Rich Site Summary) allow users to skim through the article so that they could decide later on if they want to access the website source. The RSS feed usually contains the title of the update originating from the website. It is also usually the link to the website source.
What are the benefits of RSS?
RSS gives benefits to both readers (users) and web publishers.
1. It gives you the latest updates.
Whether it is about the weather, new music, software upgrade, local news, or a new posting from a rarely-updates site learn about the latest as soon as it comes out.
2. It saves on surfing time.
Since an RSS feed provides a summary of the related article, it saves the user’s time by helping s/he decide on which items to prioritize when reading or browsing the net.
3. It gives the power of subscription to the user.
Users are given a free-hand on which websites to subscribe in their RSS aggregators which they can change at any time they decide differently.
4. It lessens the clutter in your inbox.
Although your email address will be required to enjoy the services of online RSS aggregators, RSS does not use your email address to send the updates.
5. It is spam free.
Unlike email subscriptions, RSS does not make use of your email address to send updates thus your privacy is kept safe from spam mails.
6. Unsubscribing is hassle-free.
Unlike email subscriptions where the user is asked questions on why s/he is unsubscribing and then the user would be asked to confirm unsubscribing, all you have to do is to delete the RSS feed from your aggregator.
7. It can be used as an advertising or marketing tool.
Users who subscribe or syndicate product websites receive the latest news on products and services without the website sending spam mail. This is advantageous to both the web user and the website owner since advertising becomes targeted; those who are actually interested in their products are kept posted.
What are the drawbacks of RSS?
The disadvantages of RSS use are brought about by its being a new technology and some user-preference concerns.
1. Some users prefer receiving email updates over an RSS feed.
2. Graphics and photos do not appear in all RSS feeds.
For conciseness and ease of publication, RSS feeds do not display the photos from the original site in announcing the update except for some web-based aggregators
3. The identity of the source website can be confusing.
Since RSS feeds do not display the actual URL or name of the website, it can sometimes get confusing on what feed a user is actually reading.
4. Publishers cannot determine how many users are subscribed to their feed and the frequency of their visits. Moreover, they would not know the reasons why users unsubscribe which could be important in improving their advertising.
5. RSS feeds create higher traffic and demands on the server.
Most readers still prefer the whole update over a brief summary of the entry, thus they still access the site.
6. Since it is a new technology, many sites still do not support RSS.
How do I start using RSS?
There are two things needed: an RSS feed and an RSS aggregator or reader. The RSS feed comes from an RSS-supported website. There are also websites that provide a list of RSS feeds of different websites. An RSS aggregator is used to read the RSS feed from the source website. It scans and collects data on latest RSS feeds from the worldwide web.
An aggregator comes in two forms: a downloadable program also known as desktop aggregator and an online or web-based aggregator. Downloadable aggregators may require payment before they can be acquired, while internet-based aggregators are usually free of charge. All you need to do is to register an account then you are ready to use their services. Both versions allow you to customize or choose which RSS feeds to enter. Paid aggregators are usually chosen by more experienced users and they usually allow more freedom in customizing feeds.
1. Choose an RSS aggregator to use. For beginners, web-based aggregators are recommended since they are usually user-friendly
2. Scan the homepage of your target website for the RSS or XML button. It contains the RSS code you need to enter in the aggregator. Copy this code. Syndic8 provides a directory of websites that support RSS.
3. Paste the code (which contains the URL of the website) in your aggregator. There is a space provided for pasting the code.
After you have done these three easy steps, you can start reading the RSS feeds coming from the website. New postings appear as they are published real time at the source website.
RSS and Internet Marketing
The original idea of RSS came from Netscape, where their intention is to provide a means for users to customize their personal homepage to contain links to websites that interest them, similar to bookmarking websites.
The application of RSS to internet marketing was an unforeseen development to RSS technology developers. Since users are given the freedom to add RSS feeds to their aggregators, those who are interested in particular products and services available in the internet can now be notified real time. Marketing becomes more specific to interested people and not a hit-and-miss operation.
Those who intend to use RSS for marketing their products and services should consider linking up with email account providers, (e.g. Yahoo, MSN, Google mail); networking websites (e.g. Friendster, Multiply, My Space, Hi5); websites of newspapers and television network websites (e.g. New York Times, CNN) for medium to big-scale companies. Small-time industries can also look into networking websites as well as personal blog websites (e.g. Blogspot) and websites of clubs and organizations that would probably make use of their products or services e.g. a fishing supplies store can look for the website of their local fishing club for possible RSS marketing.
Clearly, RSS is an innovation in information management in the worldwide web as well as online marketing. We can expect better RSS technology in the not-so-distant future as its popularity increases among users and website owners alike.
Monday, June 16, 2008
SEO
The online community is definitely a large market place that you cannot ignore, especially if you have an internet business. There are thousands if not millions of consumers that you can tap in the internet.
At the same time, the internet also poses a quite different challenge. The easy access that internet provides also gives you as much competition as you can imagine. It is too crowded and congested.
Having a website is not enough to make your business running and able to compete. You must take other alternatives to give way for the online community to access your website at any rate or chance possible.
You have to expose your website. Make it known. It has to be visible. It has to be frequently targeted by consumers and surfers.
Invest in marketing your internet site. There are basically two options available to you, the SEO and PPC. These two are probably the most desirable alternatives you can get for your internet business as strategy for search engine marketing.
1. SEO
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Some researches indicate that 60% - 70% of internet surfers and users actually resort to using the Google search engine to find and locate web sites and pages, for any topic they desire. SEO is the process taken to make sure that the internet uses will find your website when ranked among the top results of a search. This way you can make sure that you will be visible and can clearly stand out from the rest.
To get a search engine optimization, you will have to build on your own internet site frequently hit internet links to web site pages. The process will involve IBLN or Independent Back-Linking Network, wherein hundreds or even thousands of pages will be utilized to promote a particular website of a client.
In SEO, there is no need for you to pay for the clicks although it will require you to spend time doing research to get a favorable combination of ads and target audience. The SEO process is a long term one. It requires months, 6 months at the least, before the proper outcome is fully achieved, but once the goal is accomplished, you will definitely get a steady source of profit.
2. PPC
PPC means Pay Per Click. It gives way advertising on a search engine. These are sponsored listings that you see whenever you make a search. There will be a charge whenever a visitor or web surfer clicks on any of your ads. There will first be a bidding process. The highest bidder for the price per click will definitely get the chance to be first listed in the search engine.
With this kind of advertising, you can still basically control your campaign as you get to create your own ad. You will also manage the target audience and still stay within the bounds of your budget. Most of the providers of PPC advertising will allow you to specify the target market, either by topic, industry or geographical location. You can also very well check if your ad gets to be shown at all and if it is competitive with the rest.
There are some guaranteed benefits when you get to maximize the PPC strategy.
? PPC lets you advertise to the whole of the online community. It is also relatively easy to set up.
? At first glance, PPC advertising may seem very expensive. Could it possibly happen that someone out there will go on clicking on your ad? This will definitely give you a large bill without the expected profit on your part. If this provides a lot of worries, be rest assured that there is a protection for you. Networks are able to recognize fraudulent clicks.
? You can also set a budget for a certain period. The moment your budget has been used up by the target number of clicks, your ads will no longer be displayed until the next period you want it again displayed.
? You will also be able to adjust well to changes in market demands and trends.
In deciding which of the two strategies will work right for you, think of your goals and of your resources. They definitely offer benefits and advantages that will work for your good. The better way to approach this two is to evaluate according to your short term and long term plans. Take the PPC course for your short term goals and choose SEO if you have long term ones.
There world is out there for you now. Just make sure you do what will work best for your entrepreneurial endeavors and visions. The secret to success lies in your hands. Just study your options well and you’ll get exactly what you want.
At the same time, the internet also poses a quite different challenge. The easy access that internet provides also gives you as much competition as you can imagine. It is too crowded and congested.
Having a website is not enough to make your business running and able to compete. You must take other alternatives to give way for the online community to access your website at any rate or chance possible.
You have to expose your website. Make it known. It has to be visible. It has to be frequently targeted by consumers and surfers.
Invest in marketing your internet site. There are basically two options available to you, the SEO and PPC. These two are probably the most desirable alternatives you can get for your internet business as strategy for search engine marketing.
1. SEO
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Some researches indicate that 60% - 70% of internet surfers and users actually resort to using the Google search engine to find and locate web sites and pages, for any topic they desire. SEO is the process taken to make sure that the internet uses will find your website when ranked among the top results of a search. This way you can make sure that you will be visible and can clearly stand out from the rest.
To get a search engine optimization, you will have to build on your own internet site frequently hit internet links to web site pages. The process will involve IBLN or Independent Back-Linking Network, wherein hundreds or even thousands of pages will be utilized to promote a particular website of a client.
In SEO, there is no need for you to pay for the clicks although it will require you to spend time doing research to get a favorable combination of ads and target audience. The SEO process is a long term one. It requires months, 6 months at the least, before the proper outcome is fully achieved, but once the goal is accomplished, you will definitely get a steady source of profit.
2. PPC
PPC means Pay Per Click. It gives way advertising on a search engine. These are sponsored listings that you see whenever you make a search. There will be a charge whenever a visitor or web surfer clicks on any of your ads. There will first be a bidding process. The highest bidder for the price per click will definitely get the chance to be first listed in the search engine.
With this kind of advertising, you can still basically control your campaign as you get to create your own ad. You will also manage the target audience and still stay within the bounds of your budget. Most of the providers of PPC advertising will allow you to specify the target market, either by topic, industry or geographical location. You can also very well check if your ad gets to be shown at all and if it is competitive with the rest.
There are some guaranteed benefits when you get to maximize the PPC strategy.
? PPC lets you advertise to the whole of the online community. It is also relatively easy to set up.
? At first glance, PPC advertising may seem very expensive. Could it possibly happen that someone out there will go on clicking on your ad? This will definitely give you a large bill without the expected profit on your part. If this provides a lot of worries, be rest assured that there is a protection for you. Networks are able to recognize fraudulent clicks.
? You can also set a budget for a certain period. The moment your budget has been used up by the target number of clicks, your ads will no longer be displayed until the next period you want it again displayed.
? You will also be able to adjust well to changes in market demands and trends.
In deciding which of the two strategies will work right for you, think of your goals and of your resources. They definitely offer benefits and advantages that will work for your good. The better way to approach this two is to evaluate according to your short term and long term plans. Take the PPC course for your short term goals and choose SEO if you have long term ones.
There world is out there for you now. Just make sure you do what will work best for your entrepreneurial endeavors and visions. The secret to success lies in your hands. Just study your options well and you’ll get exactly what you want.
PPC marketing - Popular method of advertisement on the Web
PPC marketing or pay per click marketing is the most popular method of advertisement employed by various websites on the Internet. PPC marketing may often be referred to as pay for position, cost per click or pay for performance. But regardless of the term used, PPC marketing is the online advertiser's medium of choice for promoting products and services to online consumers.
PPC marketing is beneficial to both the advertiser and the consumer. Advertisers using PPC marketing only need to pay for the actual click throughs linked to their sites from search engines. At the same time as consumers are relieved of having to get annoying emails or pop-up ads for products and services.
When an online consumer searches for a specific product or service on the Internet, corresponding PPC marketing ads are also displayed alongside the results generated by the search engine. This forms a highly targeted consumer group that is more likely to purchase a specific product or service. In addition, websites get to limit their advertisement costs with the use of PPC marketing. PPC marketing is truly a winning solution for both parties.
Possible drawbacks of PPC marketing
Despite the obvious advantages of PPC marketing, there are possible drawbacks that can cancel out its benefits. One of the most common problems associated with PPC marketing is the inexperience of many people attempting to use this profitable advertisement method. Simply submitting PPC marketing ads to a search engine such as google, does not make up the entire campaign.
PPC marketing requires a calculated and systematic approach to setting up ads. PPC marketing involves the use of keywords and biddings in order to get top placement on a search engine. Getting top search engine placement helps boost traffic to a website that can easily translate into profit.
Without the necessary experience and knowledge to carry out a typical PPC marketing ad, may turn into an expensive campaign that does not convert into profit. PPC marketing ads also require continuous funding, as discontinued payments will also result in discontinued ads. This can be unfavorable for a website that has already built high rankings with their PPC marketing ads.
Bidding on keywords can also be quite costly, as the growing number of websites on the web struggle against each other to bid on the most popular keyword for their PPC marketing ad. Obviously small business websites are at a disadvantage here since big business websites are able to pay more for popular keywords related to their site. This is because most small businesses only set aside a small portion of their capital for advertisement, putting them at a disadvantage.
Running an effective PPC marketing campaign
There are a number of things that a website should consider when running an effective PPC marketing campaign. It is important to develop a marketing plan in order to get the most return on investment from PPC marketing. Selecting the most appropriate keywords that relate to the site's business is essential in PPC marketing.
However, simply choosing the most popular keywords does not necessarily translate into profit. Selecting more specific keywords that will put a site within the first ten results of a search also gets greater awareness from online consumers. In addition, it doesn't cost as much as getting the top spot for PPC marketing.
It is also important that a website constantly monitors the performance of their PPC marketing campaign. This will help the site modify any existing PPC marketing ad to make it more productive. At the same time any PPC marketing ad that has not proven effective can be immediately discontinued. Altering PPC marketing ads is a continuous process that many websites do in order to increase their return on investment.
Getting professional help with PPC marketing
The popularity of PPC marketing has given rise to professionals offering PPC marketing services for small and big businesses. Hiring a professional PPC marketing company is advisable for a small business without experience in PPC marketing. Most PPC marketing companies offer reasonable rates for their services and at the same time produce acceptable results.
A PPC marketing professional can attend to all the details commonly involved in a PPC marketing campaign. Handling a PPC marketing campaign is a time consuming process that can be overwhelming for a small business. A PPC marketing professional can help set up a PPC marketing campaign and later on train someone from within the business to handle it to ensure its continued success.
PPC marketing is beneficial to both the advertiser and the consumer. Advertisers using PPC marketing only need to pay for the actual click throughs linked to their sites from search engines. At the same time as consumers are relieved of having to get annoying emails or pop-up ads for products and services.
When an online consumer searches for a specific product or service on the Internet, corresponding PPC marketing ads are also displayed alongside the results generated by the search engine. This forms a highly targeted consumer group that is more likely to purchase a specific product or service. In addition, websites get to limit their advertisement costs with the use of PPC marketing. PPC marketing is truly a winning solution for both parties.
Possible drawbacks of PPC marketing
Despite the obvious advantages of PPC marketing, there are possible drawbacks that can cancel out its benefits. One of the most common problems associated with PPC marketing is the inexperience of many people attempting to use this profitable advertisement method. Simply submitting PPC marketing ads to a search engine such as google, does not make up the entire campaign.
PPC marketing requires a calculated and systematic approach to setting up ads. PPC marketing involves the use of keywords and biddings in order to get top placement on a search engine. Getting top search engine placement helps boost traffic to a website that can easily translate into profit.
Without the necessary experience and knowledge to carry out a typical PPC marketing ad, may turn into an expensive campaign that does not convert into profit. PPC marketing ads also require continuous funding, as discontinued payments will also result in discontinued ads. This can be unfavorable for a website that has already built high rankings with their PPC marketing ads.
Bidding on keywords can also be quite costly, as the growing number of websites on the web struggle against each other to bid on the most popular keyword for their PPC marketing ad. Obviously small business websites are at a disadvantage here since big business websites are able to pay more for popular keywords related to their site. This is because most small businesses only set aside a small portion of their capital for advertisement, putting them at a disadvantage.
Running an effective PPC marketing campaign
There are a number of things that a website should consider when running an effective PPC marketing campaign. It is important to develop a marketing plan in order to get the most return on investment from PPC marketing. Selecting the most appropriate keywords that relate to the site's business is essential in PPC marketing.
However, simply choosing the most popular keywords does not necessarily translate into profit. Selecting more specific keywords that will put a site within the first ten results of a search also gets greater awareness from online consumers. In addition, it doesn't cost as much as getting the top spot for PPC marketing.
It is also important that a website constantly monitors the performance of their PPC marketing campaign. This will help the site modify any existing PPC marketing ad to make it more productive. At the same time any PPC marketing ad that has not proven effective can be immediately discontinued. Altering PPC marketing ads is a continuous process that many websites do in order to increase their return on investment.
Getting professional help with PPC marketing
The popularity of PPC marketing has given rise to professionals offering PPC marketing services for small and big businesses. Hiring a professional PPC marketing company is advisable for a small business without experience in PPC marketing. Most PPC marketing companies offer reasonable rates for their services and at the same time produce acceptable results.
A PPC marketing professional can attend to all the details commonly involved in a PPC marketing campaign. Handling a PPC marketing campaign is a time consuming process that can be overwhelming for a small business. A PPC marketing professional can help set up a PPC marketing campaign and later on train someone from within the business to handle it to ensure its continued success.
search engine advertising
PPC search engine advertising is by far the most affordable form of advertising available. PPC search engine advertising is a flourishing business that by 2008 is expected to reach $ 8 billion. PPC search engine advertising is about producing leads. Creating leads will help potential buyers find the specific website that will provide them with the product or service they need.
However, PPC search engine advertising does not end there. It is important to understand that although PPC search engine advertising generates leads, it is also important for users to find relevant information at the website they are directed to. Information is a valuable asset in PPC search engine advertising that is often left unchecked by many websites. Keep in mind that users are more likely to purchase products or services from a company that provided them with the necessary information they needed in the first place.
Qualified traffic with PPC search engine advertising
One of the benefits of PPC search engine advertising is that it provides qualified traffic to a specific website. Users that click on a PPC ad are those in search of a particular product or service. This helps eliminate unnecessary clicks from non-prospective buyers that only produce expenditures not profits. PPC search engine advertising is also the fastest way to get a reasonable return on investment.
A bidding process is used to establish the price of a specific keyword. In general, the budget for PPC search engine advertising may be a $100 to $100,000 depending on the number of keywords used. These prices can skyrocket in just minutes as more and more sites bid for the same keyword thus causing the prices to jack up.
PPC ads are placed alongside search engine results to which they are relevant. The highest bids for a specific keyword or phrase gets top billing on the search engine results page. Getting top placement provides greater odds for a PPC ad to get clicked by a qualified searcher.
Elements of PPC search engine advertising
PPC search engine advertising involves three basic elements; constant monitoring, response analysis and refinement as the essential factors involved in PPC search engine advertising. Proper management of PPC search engine advertising can result in big profits for a website.
PPC search engine advertising makes it possible for sites to monitor the productivity of each PPC ad they place. This gives a site the opportunity to turn off any PPC ad that is not performing at its best. PPC search engine advertising provides the most economical way for a site to advertise on the World Wide Web.
The cost entailed in PPC search engine advertising is dictated by the clicks made on a particular PPC ad. The number of clicks made on a PPC ad is subtracted from the initial amount paid by the business to a search engine company. To minimize cost and maximize return on investment, a business will have to regularly monitor its PPC search engine advertising campaign.
How to use PPC search engine advertising
Many businesses are unable to get the most out of their PPC search engine advertising campaign. PPC search engine advertising involves a lot more than just bidding on the highest keywords. Information is a main concern of many online users.
Providing online users with relevant information they need will help bring about a more long-term relationship with an online user that will more likely result in a sale.
Information provided to online users may be in the form of a newsletter or e-zine that online users would likely sign up for. Sign-ups may be enough to cover the expenses of a PPC search engine advertising campaign.
Sign-ups also help generate leads for websites as they build opt in list from qualified online searchers who clicked their PPC ad. Getting personal information from qualified online searchers can be done in a variety of ways such as offering freebies for surveys or signing up for newsletters.
PPC search engine advertising is a continuous process that requires hands on supervision and a thorough understanding of PPC search engines. Businesses may opt to hire the services of a professional or do PPC search engine advertising with in-house experts. Whatever course of action is selected, a business is sure to get a huge return on investment with PPC search engine advertising.
However, PPC search engine advertising does not end there. It is important to understand that although PPC search engine advertising generates leads, it is also important for users to find relevant information at the website they are directed to. Information is a valuable asset in PPC search engine advertising that is often left unchecked by many websites. Keep in mind that users are more likely to purchase products or services from a company that provided them with the necessary information they needed in the first place.
Qualified traffic with PPC search engine advertising
One of the benefits of PPC search engine advertising is that it provides qualified traffic to a specific website. Users that click on a PPC ad are those in search of a particular product or service. This helps eliminate unnecessary clicks from non-prospective buyers that only produce expenditures not profits. PPC search engine advertising is also the fastest way to get a reasonable return on investment.
A bidding process is used to establish the price of a specific keyword. In general, the budget for PPC search engine advertising may be a $100 to $100,000 depending on the number of keywords used. These prices can skyrocket in just minutes as more and more sites bid for the same keyword thus causing the prices to jack up.
PPC ads are placed alongside search engine results to which they are relevant. The highest bids for a specific keyword or phrase gets top billing on the search engine results page. Getting top placement provides greater odds for a PPC ad to get clicked by a qualified searcher.
Elements of PPC search engine advertising
PPC search engine advertising involves three basic elements; constant monitoring, response analysis and refinement as the essential factors involved in PPC search engine advertising. Proper management of PPC search engine advertising can result in big profits for a website.
PPC search engine advertising makes it possible for sites to monitor the productivity of each PPC ad they place. This gives a site the opportunity to turn off any PPC ad that is not performing at its best. PPC search engine advertising provides the most economical way for a site to advertise on the World Wide Web.
The cost entailed in PPC search engine advertising is dictated by the clicks made on a particular PPC ad. The number of clicks made on a PPC ad is subtracted from the initial amount paid by the business to a search engine company. To minimize cost and maximize return on investment, a business will have to regularly monitor its PPC search engine advertising campaign.
How to use PPC search engine advertising
Many businesses are unable to get the most out of their PPC search engine advertising campaign. PPC search engine advertising involves a lot more than just bidding on the highest keywords. Information is a main concern of many online users.
Providing online users with relevant information they need will help bring about a more long-term relationship with an online user that will more likely result in a sale.
Information provided to online users may be in the form of a newsletter or e-zine that online users would likely sign up for. Sign-ups may be enough to cover the expenses of a PPC search engine advertising campaign.
Sign-ups also help generate leads for websites as they build opt in list from qualified online searchers who clicked their PPC ad. Getting personal information from qualified online searchers can be done in a variety of ways such as offering freebies for surveys or signing up for newsletters.
PPC search engine advertising is a continuous process that requires hands on supervision and a thorough understanding of PPC search engines. Businesses may opt to hire the services of a professional or do PPC search engine advertising with in-house experts. Whatever course of action is selected, a business is sure to get a huge return on investment with PPC search engine advertising.
PPC ADVERTISING: HOW TO MAKE YOUR BUSINESS "CLICK"
PPC stands for Pay Per Click - a popular advertising technique on the Internet. Found on websites, advertising networks, and especially on search engines, PPC advertising involves sponsored links that are typically in the form of text ads. These are usually placed close to search results, where an advertiser pays a particular amount to visitors who click on these links or banners and land on the advertiser's web page.
In essence, PPC advertising is all about bidding for the top or leading position on search engine results and listings. Advertisers do this by buying or bidding on keyword phrases that are relevant to their products or services - the higher the bid, the higher the spot on the search results, the more the people will find the ad (and click on it) to go to their websites (this is why some people call it "keyword auctioning"). Advertisers would then pay the bidding price every time a visitor clicks through the website.
PPC advertising is also known under the following names/variations:
· Pay per placement
· Pay per performance
· Pay per ranking
· Pay per position
· Cost per click (CPC)
PPC advertising is usually done with the following standard procedures:
1. Setting up an account and/or deposit funds.
2. Creating a keyword list.
3. Choosing (and setting up) an account with a PPC search engine.
4. Bidding on the ad placement, including the search result words or phrases.
5. Writing out an ad copy.
6. Setting up the 'landing pages' for your ads.
7. Placing the advertisement in the search engine.
There are many benefits to Pay Per Click advertising, making it an effective way of promoting a business 'online'. Some of them are listed below:
· Get launched immediately. PPC advertisements are implemented very quickly - they can go 'online' within an hour after winning the bid and paying for it.
· Obtain specific, pre-qualified, and quality traffic. PPC provides you with a quality or a well-targeted traffic. Visitors are narrowed down into 'qualified' people who are actually looking for specific products and/or services that you offer - those who are more likely to become a 'lead' (a convert) and complete a transaction (either by buying your product or subscribing to the service that you are offering.
· Widen your reach. PPC advertising provides additional traffic to your site, aside from the natural or "organic" search engines.
· Track your investment. PPC advertising makes use of a tracking system that will determine exactly who comes to the website and what they do once they arrive - the length of their stay on the site and the number of pages (including the actual pages) that they view. These are valuable tools in determining statistics such as return on investment (ROI), acquisition cost-per-visitor, and conversion rates (the percentage of visitors who are converted into customers or leads).
Below are some important things to consider when planning on a pay per click campaign:
1. Know your product. Take an inventory of the product and/or services that you have to offer (before anything else).
2. Stay within the budget. Determine your daily or monthly budget; and stay with it. This means keeping your budget in mind, avoiding bidding wars if possible.
3. Bid just right. Know how to bid right - a bid that is too high can exhaust all of your money, while a bid that is too low can make you lose that spot.
4. Watch the bottom line. Measure your profit margin against your spending or expenses. Know when to stop and terminate your PPC program - if you spend more on advertising but have little or no sales at all.
5. Find the right keywords. Decide which keyword phrases to opt and bid for. Do some keyword research, either by actually looking at existing search terms or with the use of online keyword suggestion tools, to know which terms are mostly used when searching for items that are related to your business. Focus on specific keywords, not on general ones.
6. Write effective ads. A good PPC ad is that which can persuade and move a searcher. There are several approaches to this:
· Discount offers
· Testimonials
· Celebrity/famous endorsers
· Money-back guarantees
· Free trials or sample offers
· Freebies
· Reverse psychology
· Major benefits ("Lose weight")
· Direct instructions ("Click here")
7. Maintain a professional-looking site. Your web content should be regularly updated and checked for spelling and grammatical errors. There should be no broken links or images. The website should be simple - designed in such a way that it will be easy for visitors to navigate and load. Include contact details to create a good impression among potential customers.
Done properly, PPC advertising can be an effective marketing tool that will maximize the return on your investment.
In essence, PPC advertising is all about bidding for the top or leading position on search engine results and listings. Advertisers do this by buying or bidding on keyword phrases that are relevant to their products or services - the higher the bid, the higher the spot on the search results, the more the people will find the ad (and click on it) to go to their websites (this is why some people call it "keyword auctioning"). Advertisers would then pay the bidding price every time a visitor clicks through the website.
PPC advertising is also known under the following names/variations:
· Pay per placement
· Pay per performance
· Pay per ranking
· Pay per position
· Cost per click (CPC)
PPC advertising is usually done with the following standard procedures:
1. Setting up an account and/or deposit funds.
2. Creating a keyword list.
3. Choosing (and setting up) an account with a PPC search engine.
4. Bidding on the ad placement, including the search result words or phrases.
5. Writing out an ad copy.
6. Setting up the 'landing pages' for your ads.
7. Placing the advertisement in the search engine.
There are many benefits to Pay Per Click advertising, making it an effective way of promoting a business 'online'. Some of them are listed below:
· Get launched immediately. PPC advertisements are implemented very quickly - they can go 'online' within an hour after winning the bid and paying for it.
· Obtain specific, pre-qualified, and quality traffic. PPC provides you with a quality or a well-targeted traffic. Visitors are narrowed down into 'qualified' people who are actually looking for specific products and/or services that you offer - those who are more likely to become a 'lead' (a convert) and complete a transaction (either by buying your product or subscribing to the service that you are offering.
· Widen your reach. PPC advertising provides additional traffic to your site, aside from the natural or "organic" search engines.
· Track your investment. PPC advertising makes use of a tracking system that will determine exactly who comes to the website and what they do once they arrive - the length of their stay on the site and the number of pages (including the actual pages) that they view. These are valuable tools in determining statistics such as return on investment (ROI), acquisition cost-per-visitor, and conversion rates (the percentage of visitors who are converted into customers or leads).
Below are some important things to consider when planning on a pay per click campaign:
1. Know your product. Take an inventory of the product and/or services that you have to offer (before anything else).
2. Stay within the budget. Determine your daily or monthly budget; and stay with it. This means keeping your budget in mind, avoiding bidding wars if possible.
3. Bid just right. Know how to bid right - a bid that is too high can exhaust all of your money, while a bid that is too low can make you lose that spot.
4. Watch the bottom line. Measure your profit margin against your spending or expenses. Know when to stop and terminate your PPC program - if you spend more on advertising but have little or no sales at all.
5. Find the right keywords. Decide which keyword phrases to opt and bid for. Do some keyword research, either by actually looking at existing search terms or with the use of online keyword suggestion tools, to know which terms are mostly used when searching for items that are related to your business. Focus on specific keywords, not on general ones.
6. Write effective ads. A good PPC ad is that which can persuade and move a searcher. There are several approaches to this:
· Discount offers
· Testimonials
· Celebrity/famous endorsers
· Money-back guarantees
· Free trials or sample offers
· Freebies
· Reverse psychology
· Major benefits ("Lose weight")
· Direct instructions ("Click here")
7. Maintain a professional-looking site. Your web content should be regularly updated and checked for spelling and grammatical errors. There should be no broken links or images. The website should be simple - designed in such a way that it will be easy for visitors to navigate and load. Include contact details to create a good impression among potential customers.
Done properly, PPC advertising can be an effective marketing tool that will maximize the return on your investment.
Getting started with videoblogging
Videoblogging is the next generation of posting ideas and products over the internet. Everybody knows about textblogging. Now they use videos for a better way of expression. This form of communication may entail a lot of resources, but it is all worth it. If pictures say a thousand words, videoblogging exceeds that by far.
A videoblog requires larger disk spaces on websites, a faster server, and a whole new set of programs to support it. Videoblogs can be fed through RSS. This is technology of syndicating your website to other RSS aggregators.
Videoblogging works with people on the internet expressing their selves. Now if you put this on a business prospective, you are up to a lot of benefits. Think of it as a powerful tool in making showing your prospective customers your line of products or your services. It’s just like showing a commercial all for free. And if you videoblog through RSS, then most probably you are getting your target market.
People like to see what they are going to buy. Some would like to see proof and be sure that they are getting their money’s worth before shelving their dimes on it. All of us know the influence of a thirty second commercial. The effect of videoblogging is similar to that. You show your product, people watch it. If they like it, they buy it. If you present it good enough, they’ll buy the product even if they don’t need it.
Now on the web, things are pretty much static, unlike in television in which all are moving. If you post something that is mobile, it would most likely catch attention. Now imaging your product parading in all it’s royalty through videoblog. You’ll get phone call orders in no time.
If your business is just starting up, you can create a videoblog right at your own home. All you need is your web camera, microphone, video software, and lights. For as long as you know how to use your camera, then you can create a videoblog.
Invest in a good web camera. The higher its resolution is the better the output. And you like to present your goods in the optimum way so get the best one possible. Make a short story, or just capture your goods in one go. Just make sure you are getting the best profile for each. Get those creativity juices flowing.
Lights are important in a production. Make sure you illuminate entirely the area you are going to use to create videoblog. The brighter the area, the crispier the images will be. You can also use lighting effects for added appeal to the presentation.
Should you require sounds for your videoblog, you need a microphone. Record you voice as a voice over for promoting the product and its benefit to consumers. Sounds are as important as videos on a videoblog. It is advisable to make your sound effects as enticing as the video.
Your video editing software can be any program. You need this to finalize your work. You can add sounds, delete some bad angles, or insert some still pictures in there too. Some programs are user-friendly and can be used even with zero knowledge on video editing. Even simple video editing programs should do the trick. Select your background carefully too. The light affects the presentation so make sure that the background and the light complements each other.
Videoblogging is a great tool but it also has it downside. It may slow down the computer so other may steer clear of it. Download time may also be time consuming especially if customer is still on a dial- up connection.
But don’t let those stop you. Let videoblogging be an alternative for you, though it is best to still keep the text and pictures present in your presentation to accommodate all possible viewers of your site.
Nowadays, the more creative you are in presenting your product to the market, they more you are likely to succeed. Videoblogging offers an interactive way of selling. You involve the customers. You instill in them the advantage of your goods. And at times, those are enough to make a sale.
A videoblog requires larger disk spaces on websites, a faster server, and a whole new set of programs to support it. Videoblogs can be fed through RSS. This is technology of syndicating your website to other RSS aggregators.
Videoblogging works with people on the internet expressing their selves. Now if you put this on a business prospective, you are up to a lot of benefits. Think of it as a powerful tool in making showing your prospective customers your line of products or your services. It’s just like showing a commercial all for free. And if you videoblog through RSS, then most probably you are getting your target market.
People like to see what they are going to buy. Some would like to see proof and be sure that they are getting their money’s worth before shelving their dimes on it. All of us know the influence of a thirty second commercial. The effect of videoblogging is similar to that. You show your product, people watch it. If they like it, they buy it. If you present it good enough, they’ll buy the product even if they don’t need it.
Now on the web, things are pretty much static, unlike in television in which all are moving. If you post something that is mobile, it would most likely catch attention. Now imaging your product parading in all it’s royalty through videoblog. You’ll get phone call orders in no time.
If your business is just starting up, you can create a videoblog right at your own home. All you need is your web camera, microphone, video software, and lights. For as long as you know how to use your camera, then you can create a videoblog.
Invest in a good web camera. The higher its resolution is the better the output. And you like to present your goods in the optimum way so get the best one possible. Make a short story, or just capture your goods in one go. Just make sure you are getting the best profile for each. Get those creativity juices flowing.
Lights are important in a production. Make sure you illuminate entirely the area you are going to use to create videoblog. The brighter the area, the crispier the images will be. You can also use lighting effects for added appeal to the presentation.
Should you require sounds for your videoblog, you need a microphone. Record you voice as a voice over for promoting the product and its benefit to consumers. Sounds are as important as videos on a videoblog. It is advisable to make your sound effects as enticing as the video.
Your video editing software can be any program. You need this to finalize your work. You can add sounds, delete some bad angles, or insert some still pictures in there too. Some programs are user-friendly and can be used even with zero knowledge on video editing. Even simple video editing programs should do the trick. Select your background carefully too. The light affects the presentation so make sure that the background and the light complements each other.
Videoblogging is a great tool but it also has it downside. It may slow down the computer so other may steer clear of it. Download time may also be time consuming especially if customer is still on a dial- up connection.
But don’t let those stop you. Let videoblogging be an alternative for you, though it is best to still keep the text and pictures present in your presentation to accommodate all possible viewers of your site.
Nowadays, the more creative you are in presenting your product to the market, they more you are likely to succeed. Videoblogging offers an interactive way of selling. You involve the customers. You instill in them the advantage of your goods. And at times, those are enough to make a sale.
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