How Many Internet Marketing Secrets Can There Possibly Be?

May 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Having the word secret in your headline has actually been proven to work but man I’m sick of seeing it.

Don’t be drawn into having to have the next super duper software product or book that unlocks the secret. Can there actually be any secrets left?

While we are talking about secrets, have you heard about the secret of the secret that reveals the other secret which lets you in on the next secret?

Yeah right…

If they really are secrets then internet marketers are really bad at keeping them.

Some software (scripts) I really like so I’m generallizing here… But consider this…

Before being converted to Christianity many years ago I was a compulsive gambler. Now being in the gambling game it is amazing how many systems are being sold. Think about this… A guy says he is making $100,000 a month with this super duper horse racing system and out of the kindness of his heart he is going to reveal it to you in a $47 book or piece of software. Come on…

If you are earning $100,000 a month from your system why are you trying to sell it so the whole world knows about it (which will destroy its effectiveness) and why sell it so cheap?

Answer – because it is a con!

Now go and read some of the salesletters for various types of software and script products out there. One of the latest I saw was a guy who is making over $500,000 a month is now releasing the software for us lucky fellows as well.

Hmmm… Sometimes Internet marketing products sound an aweful lot like those horse racing systems.

Stay Focused On One Thing!

If making money with adsense is your go then forget everything else and just concentrate all your efforts on doing this one thing. After you are making nice money then spend SOME time branching off into other fields but don’t get distracted from your main goal.

Block out all of the latest fads, gizmo’s, guru advice, must have products, etc. One of the biggest enemies to your success is the time wasted away from your primary objective and the expense of buying too many products.

I envisage a video with a bunch of hares running from one side to the other – chasing after the next big thing or latest idea, while there is a tortoise going slow and steady straight down the middle.

Be the tortoise – let the hares go side to side in a frenzy but you keep your nose down going straight ahead and you will get there before them.

Allan Wilson
http://www.articlesbase.com/affiliate-programs-articles/how-many-internet-marketing-secrets-can-there-possibly-be-94179.html


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Learn To Be Your Own SEO Expert

May 9, 2010 By 3 Comments

Learning SEO or search engine optimization is just like learning anything else in regard to marketing on the internet.

The truth is, that not even the so called experts in SEO know everything there is to know about search engine marketing. The search engines only reveal so much about what makes them tick. And then there is the fact that the search engines are always evolving and making changes. Search engine optimization is not an exact science since only so many facts are revealed by the search engines.

So how do you know how to optimize? Study what is working for successful marketers. Spend some time really analyzing successful sites in your marketing field. Don’t try to re-invent the wheel. Observe what is working for others.

It is also good to spend some time reading the guidelines of the more popular search engines. They do provide information that is free. You may not find their suggestions exciting if you are looking for the magic formula for immediate listing. But do read their guidelines and that will give you some basic information.

Your web pages should be optimized as they are built. Keep it simple and build SEO in as you are building. Each search engine has it’s own little kinks. Some read meta tags and some do not. Meta tags can be added easily, as you build pages, to satisfy the search engines that use them.

Many marketers try to fight the search engines. This is foolish. The search engines are not going to go away. They perform a much needed service, and if you build to find favor with the search engines, it can be of great value to your website and bring you a lot of free, targeted traffic.

Build a website that gives value to your visitors and what they are looking for. Add keywords and watch keyword density. Overkill can kill your website when it comes to SEO so don’t overdo it, or try to trick the search engines.

1. Choose a relevant domain name

Choosing your domain name carefully can be of help in many ways. If your domain name contains keywords, it can help in many ways. Your visitors will know immediately what you are about. It can also be a help when you are getting or exchanging links. When a link is pointed to your site voluntarily, your keywords will be included even if all the site adds is your domain name.

2. Link exchanges

Link exchanges don’t have as much impact as they once did, but they are still beneficial. With a new website they are especially helpful in getting you found by the search engines. Join a link exchange.

Add link management software to your website. This will build your link pages and add categories so you have an orderly link directory. It should also be able to check to be sure your partners are sill linking back. Limit the number of links per page.

3. Site navigation

Keep site navigation orderly and easy for the visitor. Use keywords in your navigation menu.

4. Write and submit articles

Learn to write and submit articles about or strongly related to your website topic and submit to article banks. This will bring you one way links and even some traffic. Submit articles frequently and you will soon acquire many one way links.

SEO isn’t really hard. Think about what search engine optimization means. It simply means creating pages the way the search engines want them, and following up by promoting your website to the search engines in ways they find ethical and helpful to those searching for what you have to offer.

Illa Maden
http://www.articlesbase.com/seo-articles/learn-to-be-your-own-seo-expert-76884.html


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Hiring A Web Designer: The Questions To Ask So You Aren’t Ripped Off!

May 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

So, you’re going to hire a designer or design company to build a website for you.

You’ve made the right choice (but since I’m a designer I would say that wouldn’t I) – however like most trades, there are a lot of so-called “professionals” out there who are far from it.

Some simply don’t have the technical knowledge to back up their design skills, most don’t have any type of marketing expertise – they’ll build you a website that looks fantastic, but won’t bring in a red cent because it takes 10 minutes to load that bandwidth-sucking Flash animation they did for you.

By that time your visitor (who’s on dialup) has decided they’re not going to wait and have left your site.

There are some “web designers” who’ll take your money and not complete the project because they don’t have the expertise or the time/inclination – or worse, just blatantly rip you off and not do the work at all, quickly changing their phone number so you can’t get in contact with them.

And worst of all … some designers work is just plain crap.

Sorry for being blunt … but it’s true!

So, how can you protect yourself when hiring a web designer or company?

When it comes to web design, qualifications aren’t worth diddly squat!

There are no recognized industry-standard qualifications in web design. If someone wanted to go into the computer support/networking field they know they need to aim for becoming a Microsoft Certified System Engineer (MCSE) or a Cisco Certified Network Administrator (CCNA).

These are qualifications created by software and hardware companies to make sure people using their products know what they’re doing. And to make more money for the company, of course!

The problem is, there are no overriding organizations when it comes to web design. The nearest you could get would be qualifications from Microsoft on using FrontPage (their Web Design Software) or Adobe on using Dreamweaver (their web design software) as these are two of the biggest “players” in the market.

However, having a qualification that says you know how to operate a piece of software doesn’t mean you can design a website. For instance, I’m a successful web designer and have been for 4 years, but I don’t have a single web design qualification.

Another thing to note is what does the designer’s website look like? Does it look like they’ve spent some time designing it or does it look like a standard template from their software?

Also does it look like they have the skills to create your website? Obviously, this may be difficult to determine if you have no technical background in HTML, etc. but what is your “gut reaction” about them?

Can they explain in simple language exactly what they will do for your project? If they start bamboozling you with techno-jargon and geek-speak and are unable to talk to you in a way that you can understand, walk away.

What is the standard of their work portfolio? Do you like any of the website designs listed there? If they don’t have a portfolio, are unable to show you any of their work for aren’t able to refer you to previous clients, walk away! Don’t risk your project on an unproven designer. Let someone else take that risk.

Are the websites they’ve built easy to use? There’s no point in building a website with a beautiful looking navigation system if it’s difficult to use – visitors will simply go somewhere else. Ask them questions like “Will my website be 100% compatible with all the major browsers?” (They should answer “Yes!”)

Setting Your Budget

Before you start looking for web designers, you need to know how much you’re going to budget for the project – and stick to it. By all means allow another 25% as a contingency against potential problems (but don’t tell the web designer you have this, or they may try to get you to spend it.)

Make sure you tell the web designers you’ve short listed; you want a quote for the job as a whole – not an hourly rate. Don’t ever take on a web designer (or programmer for that matter) for a major project and pay by the hour – you’ll end up broke.

Make sure you draft a “Work For Hire” agreement which details everything the web designer will do for you, any deadlines you’ve agreed upon and the price you’re going to pay.

If you don’t have a “Work For Hire” agreement on file you can use, contact your legal advisor or you could purchase a “legal letters” software package.

You’ll soon notice there are web designers charging ridiculously low figures and designers charging the equivalent of a small nation’s GDP. You could post a bid on a freelance site and get quotes for $100 from designers in India or Eastern Europe or contact a high-flying web design company in your own country and get quoted $50,000.

Personally, I’d avoid companies or designers at both ends of the spectrum – you’ll probably be fairly safe price-wise somewhere in-between. At the end of the day, (like most things) you pay for what you get. So if you want a professional, experienced web designer who also has marketing knowledge, you’ll have to pay – but you’ll soon find out, it will save you money in the long run.

Package Offers

Lastly, under no circumstances buy a package deal with a web designer or company that contains the domain name, web hosting and other accounts. Should you fall out with them for any reason, they will have complete control over your website and can do anything with it.

Also since they’re doing everything as a package they’ll want to minimize their expenses and so will usually purchase the very basic, cheapest options to make sure they keep hold of the most money they can. And it will almost certainly come back to bite you on the … erm … hand.

Purchase your own domain names, web hosting, credit card processing and autoresponder accounts, so they’re all in your name. Once the project has been completed and the web designer isn’t on a monthly retainer, change all the passwords so they no longer have access.

Follow these guidelines and you’ll get your website, when you want it at the price you want to pay.

Nick Smith
http://www.articlesbase.com/ecommerce-articles/hiring-a-web-designer-the-questions-to-ask-so-you-arent-ripped-off-68587.html


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Article Submissions: 4 Reasons to Use Html When Submitting your Article

May 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Writing articles is an excellent way to promote your website. Links from your articles drive traffic to your site; they aid in your search engine optimization efforts. These two facts lead to the simple conclusion that the more an article is redistributed and republished, the more traffic a site will acquire.

A few well known methods for ensuring that your article is republished are:

  • Writing unique and useful content
  • Writing articles between 600 and 1000 words
  • Optimizing your articles for high traffic search engine keywords

These are all excellent methods, but much like a glass of orange juice, scrambled egg and slice of toast aren’t “complete” without a bowl of Cheerios, neither is your article submission without HTML.

Below are 4 reasons why you should be using HTML every time you submit.

1.) More Traffic:

Internet readers are lazy. According to renowned web usability expert, Jakob Nielsen of Useit.com, readers are much more likely to read web copy if it is “scannable.”

Scannable web copy:

  • Bolds important points in paragraphs
  • Breaks long paragraphs down into shorter ones
  • Makes use of bulleted lists
  • Clearly marks off new thoughts with section headers.

Text that is scannable will yield readers that get to the end of that text, which in turn will yield more clicks on your links i.e. more traffic! The scannability of your text is severely limited without the use of HTML.

2.) Formatted Text is More “Publisher Friendly”:

Publishers are looking for scannable web copy in the articles they publish. Take for example this excerpt regarding preferred formatting techniques from one of the Internet’s most trusted domains, About.com.

“Avoid lengthy paragraphs and provide the [article] in Web reading format where people tend to scan and read less. Include bullet points and sub headings to make reading easy and enjoyable. Please provide additional links to web sites that a reader may explore the topic in greater depth.”

This particular About.com subdomain boasts a Google Page Rank of 7 as well as thousands of visitors every day. Along with other standard submission techniques, HTML in your submission will give you the best chance of getting featured on this site.

3.) Control of Anchor Text:

Anchor text is one the most influential factors when it comes to search engine rankings. By using HTML in your article submissions, every link that you acquire will be fully optimized for the search engines.

Without HTML, your links can not be optimized to the same degree. While it is true that the text surrounding an active link is taken into consideration by search engine algorithms, it is not weighted nearly as heavily as the actual anchor text of that link.

Anchor text can only be manipulated using HTML.

4.) Speed of Submissions:

Most article submission software or automated submission services will speak to the contrary of this point. They do not allow HTML formatting in their mass submissions and they generally cite two reasons why not:

  • Most article directories don’t accept HTML
  • With all the variances in article submission sites, it’s too slow to submit HTML

Both of these statements are false; submission software and services haven’t taken the time to compile the proper resources that make these statements true. Fortunately, I have.

I have compiled a list of 80 HTML-friendly article submission sites, complete with statistics detailing Page Rank, domain backlinks and more. Using that list and a plug-in for the Firefox Web Brower called “Fireform,” I am able to submit to all 80 of these sites in about an hour.

Both of the resources I use to submit to all of these sites are free.

A Few Notes on HTML Submissions:

  • When submitting, make sure you use only simple HTML. I stick to a, br, b, u, i, ul (not ol), li, and blockquote.
  • Nobody likes p tags. Don’t use them.
  • Make sure you close all of your tags.
  • Test your HTML in a simple text editor before you submit it.
  • Put the entirety of your HTML on one single line for faster submissions.

HTML-formatting is to article submissions what Lucky Charms is to “this complete breakfast.” While a tall glass of orange juice, slice of toast, and ruby red grapefruit half are pretty good, it just isn’t right without those purple horseshoes, yellow stars and red balloons.

Likewise, make sure you are writing fresh content, using keywords, connecting with your audience, writing articles between 600 and 1000 words, AND formatting using HTML to make the most out of your article submissions.

Bradbury
http://www.articlesbase.com/link-popularity-articles/article-submissions-4-reasons-to-use-html-when-submitting-your-article-92844.html


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"Are You Submitting Your Articles…?"

May 3, 2010 By 2 Comments

You have permission to publish this article in its entirety,
electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as Robert
Leggett’s byline is included. A courtesy copy of your
publication would be appreciated.

ARTICLE WORD COUNT: [686]

KEY WORDS: submit,articles,Jason Potash,Article
Announcer,dynamic balance,equilibrium,new
authors,articles,Google,Yahoo,MSN,always intelligently automate
whenever possible,strong headlines,valuable content,Submission
Guidelines,become a better writer,Article Submission
Directories,submission sites

SUMMARY: I anticipated a reaction to the introduction of this
new software [Jason Potash's "Article Announcer"]. I was right.
I chose to submit last month’s article, “Penury Perpetuates
Poverty” the “hard way,” one by one to various submission sites
on the Internet. Out of about 80 submissions, I discovered about
25% have temporarily (I hope) ceased accepting new
authors/articles. Some submission pages came up with a 404 Error
upon clicking the “submit” button.

Copyright 2005 – by Robert Leggett – All rights reserved

* * * * * * *

Last month, I began promoting Jason Potash’s “Article
Announcer.” I always take time to research new products on the
market. I don’t believe in “magic bullets.” There is a principle
taught in physics, chemistry, biology and even Algebra 101.
Nature seeks dynamic balance, equilibrium. If you add something
to the left side of the = sign, the right side moves to balance
it.

I anticipated a reaction to the introduction of this new
software. I was right. I chose to submit last month’s article,
“Penury Perpetuates Poverty” the “hard way,” one by one to
various submission sites on the Internet. Out of about 80
submissions, I discovered about 25% have temporarily (I hope)
ceased accepting new authors/articles. Some submission pages
came up with a 404 Error upon clicking the “submit” button.

One came up with the following: “Wére being plagued by so
many automated submissions, duplicate article submissions, etc.
that we spend too much time in selecting the real articles that
matter. For this reason we are temporary not accepting new
submissions until we have implemented some security measures to
block bad submissions. We hope you understand. Please come back
in about 1 month to submit your articles.”

Some have extremely obtuse instructions. Some simply don’t work.
Some are very specialized. Some are email submissions only
(which opens the door to being spam’d). Some of these bounced.
One may have had his ISP overloaded, shut down, and later began
accepting articles again.

Right now I’m checking each site if my article was accepted. I
know it is “loading the dice” when I access Google, Yahoo, MSN
and search on ["Robert Leggett" Penury]. I was getting over 600
listings and dominated the first few pages of these search
engines. I’m even listed on sites where I never submitted.

Of course just after doing my first “submission run” I
periodically checked Google. Wow! Exposure just kept growing!
Then, one day, I got no listing at all on Google. Yahoo still
liked me a little. The following day I was baaaaaack. I need to
research why Google didn’t like me that one day. Now my search
engine hits have settled down to a more realistic number.

Shortly after going to press, I continued checking latest
submission and submitted my next article, “Discover your
Creativity.” I am “paying my dues.” I must know how this all
works. It is new to me. Once I see everything has settled down
and a more stable balance has been achieved, I will seriously
consider purchasing Jason Potash’s “Article Announcer” – if it
saves me time. Always intelligently automate whenever possible!

“Doing it the hard way” I have discovered my articles must have
strong headlines. They must contain words search engine spiders
like. They must have valuable content. Don’t take my word on
this. Check out a lot of “Submission Guidelines” at different
directories. Through necessity, I must become a better writer.

This exercise was time intensive. I have profited more not
taking a “magic bullet” approach. Other benefits include
“sharpening up” our webZine “Cyberspace Marketeer,” offering
greater content and more user-friendly design. I have just added
a new page which includes 37 user-friendly Article Submission
Directories.

Recently I received the following [edited] message from one of
these Directories: “You can now save your default RESOURCE BOX
and up to 2 additional RESOURCE BOXES for your default author
and alternate author accounts – SAVING YOU THE TIME from having
to copy and paste it each time you send in a new article. :-) .
Think of the additional time you can save with this new feature?
Perhaps you might want to head to the gym earlier or better yet,
send in another article now that you can do it in less time! :)
*hint hint*”

They want you! Write and rewrite your articles you plan to
submit. Research different submission sites. If you publish your
own eZine or webZine, some sites accept these listings, too.
Some sites also accept News Releases. Get a feel for these
submission sites. Work with them. When you eventually decide to
put much of this on automatic, you will have a much better
overview of the process.

Robert Leggett
http://www.articlesbase.com/viral-marketing-articles/quotare-you-submitting-your-articlesquot-2804.html


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