Search Engines and Visitors are Attracted to Quality Content

The main factor in getting search engines to pay attention to your website is the content of your website. Savvy internet marketers understand that website positioning is a major concern to the success of their marketing efforts. The pros know that lack of quality content may cause a drop in the search engine rankings and the loss of prospective customers brought to their site in the form of targeted traffic.

Marketing your website using quality content can be simple and cost-effective. If you don’t like the thought of writing your own content you may choose to out-source this task to a professional. Two good sources are elance.com or getafreelancer.com. You can always Google to find more choices! Prices may vary, but this is usually a relatively inexpensive option at about $5 to $10 per article. Keep in mind that the article should contain good keyword optimization, the same as your website.

Is Good Content Critical ?

How critical is the air you breathe? But seriously, good content is a vital part of your marketing campaign. You will need to conduct a little research of your own as you determine the best keywords related to your content. The quality of content in your website and your articles is a critical element and could very well mean the difference between the success or failure of your efforts. Be sure to focus on content that is appropriate for your website to ensure its responsiveness to search engines. This type of laser focus makes your niche market easier to find, which makes your site easier to find, which makes it easier for your visitors to find you! Additionally, consider boosting your marketing strategies by posting to a related forum or a blog.

So What is Good Content?

Points to consider:

1) The content must be related to the products or services. Duh? And it’s best to keep it to one webpage per product: Highlighting too many products on one page may turn off visitors and defeat the purpose of being able to write content rich with targeted words. (Keep it Simple!)

Secondly, take care to include the right concentration of keywords throughout your website. This may require some research on your part, but it will be worth the extra effort. Imagine content that entices your visitors to take action, requesting more information about your product or service, or even making a purchase. This means that the message your site presents must be relevant to the products or services you are marketing. Sounds obvious, right? Yes, but don’t miss the importance of this step!

Another point to consider is to make sure the information presented is enough for the visitor to absorb quickly, if possible. It is advisable to summarize in the beginning what your page is about so it is evident to the reader who is in a hurry as well as those who have the time to read the whole page. Another way to accomplish this would be to incorporate a web page with summaries that contain links to more detailed information. This helps to avoid information overload which may serve to drive your customers away!

You may also wish to include new content in the form of how-to’s or other helpful tips within your niche market. This type of supportive content will build and maintain customer loyalty and keep them coming back to your site. It may go without saying, but this content should be related to the theme of your website, to your products or services, and add value for your customers. Changing the content on a regular basis, whether it be weekly or daily, will help to keep it fresh and enticing to your visitors.

To summarize, the emphasis is on quality content with the right keywords that will attract your future customers and the search engines. Outdated content should be removed or archived. Keeping your site up to date and fresh with content that is innovative is a key strategy. Good content rules!

Stop with the enforced e-mail forwards already! Trying to force or bribe people to forward your info to a friends or family in order to be rewarded or win looks skanky in today’s ultra-permission-based world. Especially when you tell visitors nothing about their friend’s or familys privacy in the space directly next to the e-mail form.

A true viral campaign gets forwarded because consumers are compelled to do so by the glory of the content, not because you bribed them with points or something else.

What absolutely will not work:

Suggesting that e-mail recipients forward your message to their family and friends will not work. Adding a line at the bottom of your e-mail that reads Please feel free to forward this message to a friend is more likely to get it deleted than forwarded.

What absolutely will work:

Offering something worthy of sharing like a valuable discount, vital information or offering an incentive for sharing like additional entries into a sweepstakes or an added discount or premium service.

Jokes and cartoons are often forwarded to everybody the recipient knows. Why? Because they are entertaining and entertainment is meant to be shared.

A really cool multimedia experience is always going to achieve a lot of pass-along. Rich media is new and the novelty and tech factors alone are often enough to make the e-mail recipient eager to share it.

Almost forgot one really important thing.You can craft a brilliant e-mail following all the rules, but if a consumer visits your site and has an experience less than what was promised, you are going to achieve viral marketing, alrightthe bad kind. So be certain that your product or service is ready and is as advertised.

It’s time to get directly to the point in your message. Although you may think you have narrowed it down to a rather tight message, have you actually informed your customers as to why they need to buy from you?

After all, this could be the most important part in your AdWords management. Because this is the ingredient in marketing that trumps all others. With this ingredient, everything in marketing gets easy. Without it, people wander around in an aimless stupor for years.

So just what is this magic ingredient? It’s simply being able to provide a good answer to the following question:

Why should I do business with you, rather than someone else, or why should I do business at all?

Another way of asking the same question is:

What do you guarantee?

When you can truly answer these two questions, your ads will practically write themselves. When you can truly answer these questions, people will be lining up to buy from you.

When your business possesses a simple, unmistakable mission, it stands out in an age of obfuscated marketing messages and Byzantine corporatespeak. Your answer to this question is your unique selling proposition (USP). A statement of value that’s so clear and focused it’s almost impossible to misunderstand it.

Less is more. Your business will grow, the world will sit up and take notice, and even your Google ads will write themselves, when you stand out from the crowd with a clear, simple, and utterly unique message.

WHAT IS A USP?

Your USP is thr one thing special about you that your customer can’t find anywhere else. It’s your Unique Selling Proposition. It’s what you bring to the table that no other business does, or even can.

Your USP is about the uniqueness of your product. It’s even more than that. It is the whole reason for why your product is necessary in the first place. It is why your accompanying services are necessary, and why it’s necessary to get the product now rather than later.

Many of the difficulties people have with Google come from a USP that isn’t clear and unique. If you have your USP right up front, everything from the keywords and ads to the price of your product, everything will fall into place, making you and your customers satisfied.

As with any type of businesses, publishing your own online newsletter a.k.a. eZine has its share of drawbacks, in spite of the several benefits it offer.

The purpose of this article is not to scare you away with the disadvantages of publishing your own eZine, as the benefits are much more attractive. However, I will also show you how you can easily tackle the cons.

One obvious challenge most beginning eZine publishers face is the creation of eZine content. Creating your own content can be tiresome, especially if you are not a gifted writer. You can also run out of ideas often while your publishing schedule is threatening you.

Create your content in advance. You can compile 30 days worth of content in one day, for example. If you are not blessed with writing skills, you can broker the writing task to capable freelance writers which you can find at places such as http://www.elance.com/ or http://www.rentacoder.com/. While you need to pay for such services, you are at liberty to take the credit for written articles.

Alternatively, you can republish articles from article directories such as http://ezinearticles.com/. This is a free method you can use in making content, provided you include the resource box of the original author and that the article has republishing rights conveyed.

In conclusion, you can easily tackle the content creation challenge using the mentioned methods that do not require writing on your part, free or paid.

The last part of your article that the reader will see is the Resource Box and it follows the final paragraph of your actual text. This area is often referred to as the Authors Bio Box. A lot of thought should go into completing this box, because of how important it is in promoting you and your business. When I first started writing articles, I didn’t understand the real significance of this box, and I was entering way more information than was necessary. I was practically putting my life history there, until it was pointed out to me that the reader can check my bio information elsewhere if they want to know more about me.

On doing some research on the importance of the Resource Box, I realized that it’s main purpose was to motivate the reader to take action that would benefit my business. For most of us, that action would see them clicking on the links we have provided that directs them to our website.

You would want to include the following information in this area:

• your name

• a brief history of your background

• your present employment

• a call to action

If you look at my Resource Box at the end of this article, you will see that I have included all these things in a very concise paragraph. People are reading your article because they are interested in the information you are providing. They did not click onto the article to read about you. However, in the Resource Box you give them the opportunity to get to know you better, by visiting one of your websites. Hopefully, you have provided enough valuable information that they will want to see what else you have available on your other sites.

You will probably have taken quite a bit of time creating your article. I suggest that you take nearly as much time in developing your Resource Box. If you do not motivate people to visit your website after they have read the article, then it doesn’t matter how great the article is….it might even be on the first page of Google…..if they are not ending up on your website, then it will do nothing to increase your business. I want you to really get this point, because it is so important. I know of people who write the most wonderful articles but are not getting that transition over to their site.

Most article directories allow you to have two links in your Resource Box. If you try to put more than two in, and the directory has to modify your Box, it could end up being a problem for you. I feel that two links is quite sufficient for just one paragraph. I usually direct both my links to my website but sometimes I will use one for my social networking sites, such as YouTube or Facebook. This gives the reader a chance to get to know me better.

The Resource Box gives you a great opportunity to reach out and connect with your readers. Please make sure you take full advantage of this and then you can just stand back and watch your business grow!

There are many reasons why people write articles and get them posted on the Internet. Some just enjoy sharing information with others, but there are those, like myself, who are interested in using their articles as a vehicle to generate leads for their business. The question to ask ourselves is whether it is worth all the trouble. I can assure you, that after you have read this particular article, you will be running to your PC to start your writing career!

There are many authors who write about a variety of subjects. Because of this they do not always use their own name. You can actually use as many different names as you wish. So, this is one of the first things you have to decide. Are you always going to use your own name? If on occasion you are writing about a subject far removed from your business, then perhaps you would want to use another name.

Obviously, if you are trying to brand yourself on the Internet, then you would want to use your personal name as much as possible. If the subject matter can be in some way related to the type of business you are in, then it is going to be much easier to transition with a link back to your website.

It is recommended that articles be between 400 – 600 words. That works out to be about 8 paragraphs, with approximately three short sentences in each paragraph. If it much better to write a few short articles, than one long one.

It came as a pleasant surprise to me to see how I could significantly increase my presence on the Web, by getting my articles posted there. I didn’t write and submit my first article until late December, 2008. That was three weeks ago from the time I am writing this article. At that time, if I searched my name “Jan Shimano” in Google I would come up empty. However, just a few short weeks and ten articles later, when I googled by name in quotes again, I came up with 2760 hits. Perhaps you would like to check for yourself and Google my name (make sure you put it in quotes) and see how much it has increased since then. It seems to increase on a daily basis.

So, are you curious as to how I was able to accomplish this? Well then, I’ll tell you!! It just took writing those ten short articles and getting them accepted by EzineArticles. This is the largest article directory and it should be the first place you submit to. By the way, Google search just loves EzineArticles and gives them a very high rating, moving you up the charts, so to speak. If EzineArticles accepts your submission, then you will have no trouble with any of the other article directories.

However, just getting published with EzineArticles is not going to get you the huge presence on the Internet that you are looking for. There is an important second step to take and that is to sent it off to a multiple submission company. The one I use, and which I highly recommend, is Unique Article Wizard (UAW). On their website, you type in three unique versions of your article, along with variations in the Resource Box. UAW then configures all the paragraphs and resource boxes and comes up with hundreds and hundreds of unique articles. This is very important, because the search engines do not like duplication and you will not be rewarded at all for it….in fact, they could punish you. One of my articles was submitted to over 1800 directories by UAW.

EzineArticles is a free service. They do have a paid upgrade, but for the majority of people that is not necessary. I personally only use the free service and I am allowed to submit as many articles as I like. If you are using UAW, there is a monthly cost of $70.35. If you are only planning on writing an article now and again, this might not be the way to go for you. However, if you are serious about creating a huge presence for yourself on the Internet, then I can’t think of a better way to do it.

You do not have to be a professional writer to get your articles published on the Internet. If you can sit down and write a letter to a friend or loved one, then you can sit down and write a short eight paragraph article. Remember, this is not an assignment from your old English teacher from years past. She is not looking over your shoulder checking your grammar. Your reader is looking at your article because you are providing him with valuable information. He is not there to critique you. So, please, make up your mind right now that you are going to give this an honest effort. Once you have that first article accepted and published, my guess is that there will be no stopping you!!

Here is a word of caution to anyone who is venturing into PPC advertising for the first time. Slow down! There is a pretty substantial learning curve with PPC advertising. Taking the time to learn some information about how Google AdWords and PPC advertising works can and will save the newbie advertiser a great deal of time, money and aggravation.

Before starting with a PPC campaign, it is wise to gain some knowledge and insight into how Google AdWords work. The initial lessons you get can save you a great deal of time and/or money. Google has some wonderful training right on their site. Also a great resource I found that is recommended by several of the top earners I work with is Perry Marshall’s, “The Definitive Guide to Google AdWords.” It is well worth the investment plus you get other invaluable tips to Google.

I am a very hands on learner so I went in full force to design my own PPC campaign with very little research. After spending hundreds of dollars with no substantial return, I decided to take a break and start from ground zero. I knew that PPC could drive a great deal of traffic to my landing page if done correctly. All I was doing was dumping money into Google.

Remember with Google AdWords, many times less is more. Lets talk about who you are targeting. If you target your ads to a very small niche audience, you will use a very narrow group of keywords that are specific to what your target audience is looking for. You will have a lower impression rate for your ad, but your audience will be clicking on your ad. Your click through rate will increase.

Why is that? Well, you are providing your niche target with ads that are directly aligned with what they are looking for. They are looking for something specific and you are delivering it right to them with your targeted keywords and ads. Talk about a win ” win situation.

Always run two ads simultaneously. You will have your control ad and your test ad. Once you hit about 50-60 clicks, you will know which ad is working and which ad needs to be dumped. Obviously, you will want to make the higher performing ad your control and revamp or completely dump the other to create a new competing ad.

The lower performing ad has one of two fates. You will either toss is completely (if it does absolutely nothing for you) or you will make some minor change to try and improve it. Keep in mind that in PPC, sometimes less is more. By changing one word, it could become your highest producing ad.

This is a great way to ensure that you are always working towards increasing your lead generation by raising the bar of expectation for your ads. This is a great example of a way to apply attraction marketing principles to your marketing and attracting the quality leads you are looking for.

If you have a refined web site for your business, you are surely contemplating what kind of server you will need. A server, in reality, is what is hosting your website online. It gives you internet space and helps increase hits to your website.

When trying to decide what type of internet host you want for your website, you have two types of servers to chose from. Personal and small business websites tend to favor shared servers. Dedicated Servers are other type of server.

Some of the pros of sharing a server are that you could have access to templates and you would be able to make a website without a lot of computer know how. Also, some shared servers are free. Shared servers offer a variety of different services. A great deal of inexpensive and unique plans can be found on shared servers.

Shared servers are the best option for small businesses or personal websites on the internet. Some shared servers, especially the free ones, will want to put mandatory ads on your website. This is how they pay for their website. Other services allow you to put your own ads on your website, increasing your revenue.

Larger businesses do not benefit from using shared servers. If you share a server, the bandwidth may have issues connecting to your website if it the hits become very heavy. The bandwidth may not be able to handle the volume, so if you are gettng an outstanidng number of hits, some potential customers may be left out.

Additionally, space is limited for those using shared servers. It would be best if you had a server used only for internet business purposes. It enlarges your space size, and frees up bandwidth so that all of your customers can get through to the site. This is especially important if your business has forums or shopping carts. These are called databases and tend to take up a lot of space.

Building a business is the best reason for a dedicated server, even though it costs quite a lot more than a shared one. Choosing is dedicated server is the best thing for the internet business that wants to grow.

Yes, they are more expensive than shared servers, but dedicated servers offer distinct advantages to justify premium price and can be available for monthly rentals as low as $100. Not only can you incorporate as many ads and affiliates as you like on your website but you’re going to be hosting your website yourself. This can also bring you in extra revenue.

With a server used only for your business, there is no limit to what you do for your business. You can have businness connections on your website that are linked with your type of business. There are all sorts of ways to make money online and most of them include advertising of some sort. You can use all the advertisement you want with a dedicated server and earn more profit on the website.

The greatest benefit of article marketing is that is an absolutely free method anyone can use to get free traffic to their site. This is an easy process of using the article, which has a back link at the bottom, to send people who have read it to a website that has more information. The best place to submit articles is site where you know they have a great deal of traffic every day; an increase in visitors to your site should happen quite quickly.

This is the benefit of using popular sites that have authority and providing they accept your contribution it will help you as well; trust is probably more important on the Internet because most people are faceless.

Article marketing carried out this way (i.e. more than once) will get people to look upon you as an author whose work they will seek out because the content is good. This is why it is so important to show people that you know what you are talking about so they trust the content you provide in the area you write about.

The purpose of all this is to increase your credibility with the various search engines; by default this will increase the number of ‘organic’ visitors you receive that have searched for something your site has information on. If there are many websites which link with your website then it increases your website ranking which in turn boost up your traffic gaining. the greatest benefit of this is none of it is costing you a single dollar!

A number of links to other relevant sites can be placed in the body text (not too many) when using article marketing. Your article must have good content if you want it placed in many websites because this in turn will link back to your own website which of course will increase the website ranking.

Unfortunately you cannot normally expect your site to be listed straight away with the search engines. Although you cannot rush the search engines directly, submitting more articles and using the authority sites will help enormously.

To increase your website ranking further, you need to be adding more content (preferably unique) to your website (or blog) all the time if you want your article marketing to work. The visitors you attract have no idea most of the time you are trying to sell them something. Visitors are searching for information so the more precise and truthful you can be about whatever it is you are promoting the better.

Once on your site it is not a complicated matter to show your visitors what it is you are selling. Doing it this way ensures the visitor is not mislead and is happy to be shown what you are selling. The last thing you want after making the sale is to return the money so by doing carrying out this process you lessen your chance of it happening.

If you want visitors to your websites then you must continue your article marketing this way; this process must be repeated on a regular basis for it to work. An additional benefit from writing quality articles is that other website owners will either link to your site or use your articles on their own site; having your articles on numerous sites just improves the exposure of your site. There are no charges to article marketing and is still the number one way to get traffic to your site; with relevant, quality unique articles, visitors will keep returning.

Essential to doing any sort of business activities on the Internet, a website acts as a sort of online store front, presenting your business to countless international customers. The success or failure that your Internet based business has is greatly influenced by the graphics you choose to use on the website.

Above all else, well made, high quality graphics will give your website a great professional touch. Conversely, the entire website will be affected negatively by low quality graphics or images that are poorly arranged, blurry, or otherwise unappealing aesthetically. Right or wrong, visitors to your site will judge your entire business based on the appearance your graphics present. If they consider yours to be amateur, they probably won’t be real excited to do business with you.

To be as effective as possible, the graphics you choose should help to create brand recognition and convey the message you are trying to send to the world. Take Nike, for example. Their famous “swoosh symbol” is featured on their website, as well as pictures of shoes, athletes, and other sports-minded images.

Nike’s concept, “Just Do It,” is well represented by the images and graphics that are placed on the company’s website. Think for a moment about how you would feel if, upon arriving on the Nike home page, you were greeted with pictures of cookies, cake, and ice cream. You would surely be confused and would probably start looking for the website you were actually after in the first place.

The same theory applies to your website; if the graphics do not convey the message you are trying to send, your visitors will end up confused and click away. The quality of your graphics also affects success of your affiliate programs as well as the number of incoming links you may receive.

Asking other businesspeople to join up with you in an online affiliate program brings with it a certain level of responsibility. Since you are requesting that they sell your products and services, you will want to have high caliber graphics on your website. Otherwise, affiliates will be hard to find. They will not be able to advertise or promote your products if you provide them with poor quality graphics.

Likewise, when you ask someone to partner with you on a link exchange, they are going to expect a quality graphic. They will be displaying this graphic, with a link to your page, on their website. If you send them an unprofessional-looking graphic, it is going to bring the look of their site down. They will more than likely decline your offer.

As you can see, graphics play a big part in your business. If you do not have experience with graphic software or don’t feel that you are the best one suited for creating your graphics, you should hire a graphic designer. It may cost more up front, but think about how much money you would lose by having a poor image as your graphic. It is well worth the investment to hire a professional.