It's a dog eat dog world out there on the Internet. There is the capacity for an unlimited number of storefronts on the web that you'd never be able to find on main street. The fact is that there is even more competition for business online than there is in the brick-and-mortar world. This is only going to get more intense. It wasn't so long ago that many people were afraid to use credit cards online. Shopping online was a curiosity. Now, it's a given.
The battle of relevancy online is the battle of one site being more useful than another. In the growing virtual marketplace, it isn't nearly enough to just have a number of products and hope for the best. Look at Amazon.com reviews—they are core to what has made that site grow. A glowing Amazon review can do a lot for a product's sales. Web surfers use Amazon reviews as much as they use a review in the local paper, if not more. Reviews have made Amazon a relevant and trusted resource for a department store's worth of products.
Not every site can hope to have the same review structure as Amazon. A number of affiliate sites use Amazon reviews as their own content. Web surfers are getting savvy to this: they can smell an affiliate site. Why not just go to Amazon directly? The battle for relevancy, then, is to become something as trusted and vital as the major sites online. You can't necessarily wait around for people to write reviews, and the process may not even apply to your site, so a site owner needs to provide content of your own.
Another word for relevancy is usefulness. It has been shown that the longer a person sticks around on a site, the more likely he or she will make a purchase. Even if that person doesn't make a purchase the first time to the site, the site will have left an impression. People are looking for information on a product or service as much as they are looking to make an immediate purchase. Web surfers like to be informed shoppers and the web gives them an unlimited amount of places to get this information.
This is where your site comes in. Don't make a web surfer click off your site to find information on a product—give them the information right on site. This means you should have articles available about any and all issues affecting a particular type of product or service. There can be hundreds of potential topics on one type of product, and a site may have dozens upon dozens of products available.
Not only will this type of information keep your site relevant to web surfers, it will be relevant to search engines as well. With content, these make up your target audience: search engine spiders and real people. If you provide relevant content that speaks to both, your site can compete with the giants.
Floyd Bogart
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Win The Battle Of Relevancy Online With Custom Content
Increase Your Rankings With Custom Content Solutions
There is a mantra in e-commerce that content is king. Content isn't just a way to inform visitors coming by the site, it's a way to draw in those ever-present mechanical insects, search engine spiders. The key to knowing if you're making nice with search engine spiders is if you have a good page rank: Google page rank is the holy grail of search engine ranking.
Page rank and content go hand in hand. There is a misconception that the number of links coming in to a site is the main thing that determines page rank. While links are obviously important, content is vital as well. In fact, they are intrinsically connected. If you have quality content on your site, more sites will link to you as a respected authority on a given topic. If those sites have a good page rank, it can only help elevate the page ranking of your site.
First though, you need to create articles that are worth reading. A poorly written article with legions of typos and inaccurate information isn't going to fool web surfers or search engine spiders. Poorly written content full of keyword-jamming and other outdated SEO techniques are going to be virtually ignored. In the age of Web 2.0, web content needs to have a purpose. Only web content that is useful and informative will help a website move forward in the rankings.
This is easier said than done, however. Many small, medium, or large business owners are not professional writers. Furthermore they just don't have the time to write quality, custom content. Merely cutting and pasting someone else's content is not the best solution. New and updated content is important to keep a site relevant and fresh, it might amount to hundreds of new articles. Site owners just don't have the time, patience, or even the skill.
The hardest part about getting a good page rank may be writing the content itself. As a result, outsourcing custom content is common. It is as integral to setting up a website as web design. There are a number of content writing solutions available. Make sure to find a content writing company with a qualified and talented stable of writers who have the ability to write on a variety of subjects.
Quality content will keep people on the site. It has been shown that the longer a web surfer stays on the site, the more likely it is that he or she will make a purchase or become a repeat visitor. Customers and clients trust a company with a site that is well written and informative. As the vast majority of web surfers use search engines to find products or services, it is necessary to have both quality content and a good page rank.
Floyd Bogart
The Importance and Benefits of Link Popularity
Importance And Benefits Of Link Popularity
Everyone likes to be popular. In a way, the web is just like one big popularity contest. It wasn't fair in high school, and it might not seem so fair now. You can have the best-designed, most informative site online, but if no one links to you, you're going to have a harder time getting a high search engine ranking. Ranking high with search engines relies on two things: content and link popularity.
Of course, if you have the most informative site online, your job is half done. One of the keys to bringing in new links is having a well-designed site. If you go after link exchanges and your site looks like it belongs in the last decade, you're going to be hard-pressed to find any takers. People don't have all the room in the world to add links on their site. You need to provide a site that is worth linking to. On the flipside, you should find link partners with quality sites of their own.
Link popularity is not just about quantity, but quality. Certainly, it is a good idea to have a great number of links coming in, but search engine spiders also take into account the quality of those links: i.e. how many sites link to the site that links to you. Spiders hold a premium on sites that link to you without a corresponding reciprocal link. When search engine spiders surf your site, they're looking for the type of content that you have on your site and the number of links going both in and out.
An easy way to start building link popularity is to add your site to a number of directories. These directories may or may not require a reciprocal link. The higher the quality of the directory, the more the directory listing will be worth. Really, you should spend a good amount of time adding your site to as many directories as possible. Look for other immediate avenues for link building as well—post in forums, on blogs, or create a blog of your own. All of these will be indexed by search engines, which will help increase your ranking.
One of the major advantages of having a blog is you have one more place to add a link to your site. In addition, you have one more place where you can trade links—contact other bloggers in a similar field and trade links. You should not only be looking to increase link popularity for the host site, but for blogs and other sub-sites as well.
It is absolutely imperative that your site is useful. The more content you provide, the more you can get a foothold in your industry. When you write new content, promote it: Digg.com the article and add the article to directories and other sources. Websites can then potentially place the article on their sites, linking to the site where the article originated. A link doesn't necessarily have to be permanent—a temporary link to an article can help search engine ranking as well.
What this all means is that link popularity is an evolving process. You should always be corresponding with site owners looking for a link trade. And you should be frequently providing new content to ensure that your site is worth the link.
For more information Click Here!
Floyd Bogart
How To Make Money with Affiliate Programs
How To Make Money With Affiliate Programs
Affiliate programs can either be a way to put a little extra cash in your pocket or, hopefully, become a full time job. However, it's not like you can put up a bunch of affiliate links and expect to start making a mint. If you want to make a full time job's worth of money off affiliate marketing, you have to work at it full time. The great thing about affiliate marketing is that it works 24/7—but this doesn't mean you should also put in several hours a day of your own time.
The affiliate marketers who have had the most outstanding success are normally those who have more than one site working at once. It's much harder to make a decent amount of money if you have one affiliate site at a time. Experienced affiliate marketers will have a number of different sites running at once, all with different types of affiliate links. What this means is that each affiliate site will need separate SEO: new content in the form of blogs, forums, articles, and other techniques.
A key to a successful affiliate marketing program is to make the affiliate site a useful resource. Just posting a bunch of links is not going to impress many web surfers. They'll leave and likely never come back. The trick to any web business is to keep people on site—this is true for the affiliate partner and it's true for affiliate marketers. An affiliate site shouldn't necessarily scream, "affiliate site." Instead, it can be a trusted resource on a particular topic.
Useful content is the best way to make this possible. Take a site that has a number of links to sports-related businesses (apparel, equipment, tickets, books, etc.). The affiliate marketer can then set up a forum that talks about different sports teams, strategy, and so on—potentially, this forum could bring in sports fans from across the country. Blogging is another great medium for affiliate marketing. On the same site, the blogger could write reviews of new equipment or write in depth trade talk about a variety of sports. These are just a few ideas but they show how affiliate marketing can—and should—be a serious, long-term proposition.
What it comes down to is that affiliate marketing is no different than running the host site. Both are about running a business, even if an affiliate marketer has no direct product or service to sell. An affiliate marketer should set up a site that is useful and informative—a destination that people will come back to again and again. In some cases, an affiliate site might even be more informative than the partner's website.
Only until these issues are covered can an affiliate marketer hope to make a good amount of money with affiliate marketing. Sure, you could put up links and hope for the best, but you should think about investing some time into the site if you really hope to turn a respectable profit.
For more information Click Here!
Floyd Bogart
Five Reasons Your Company Needs a Solid SEO Plan
Five Reasons Your Company Needs A Solid SEO Plan
Here's the major reason that your company needs a solid SEO plan: profitability. Search Engine Optimization is just another way of marketing. If you don't market a product, you can't expect name recognition or sales to come pouring in. Most people surfing online go to search engines to find information or new products. Without a decent search engine ranking, your site, and products, will be passed over time and again.
There are five core reasons that SEO is important, all of which can help a business's profit margin. Let's begin with what is the basis of SEO marketing: content. The idea of providing unique content is so that the site becomes a trusted resource on a set of topics. So how does content help profitability?
First is search engine ranking. Search engine spiders love content. If the content matches the HTML title tag, an important optimization technique, and the content contains common keywords plugged into a search engine, there will be more opportunities for the site to land in the top listings of search results. Providing quality, targeted content will draw in potential customers looking specifically for what you have to offer.
Driving traffic has a two-fold purpose. Not only does a content-rich site help search engine results, but the content will leave a lasting impression on visitors. Imagine a site that's in the top three results that provides no useful information. Traffic can be useless if the site doesn't have some sticking power. Web surfers will come back to the site time and again. SEO will lead to both new and repeat visitors. Inspiring repeat visitors is reason number two for a solid SEO plan.
An offshoot of this is number three: referrals. The more content-rich your site, the more you'll be able to get referrals. Web surfer one goes to a site and finds useful information, he then refers web surfer two—it's a type of traffic that works independently of search engines, the basis of viral marketing. Part of SEO is providing an easy way for people to refer other web surfers, possibly with a reward system.
Fourth is linkbait. Again, this has two purposes. Quality content can lead to other sites linking to the original article. This will both drive traffic from the linking site, as well as help elevate search engine ranking. Search engine spiders love relevant links.
The final way SEO is useful is general: it improves the site. A website is a form of advertising--it represents the company. A site should be feature-rich and informative in order to increase brand recognition and ensure repeat visitors. Too often, website owners are caught up in how to "fool" search engine spiders. You might fool a spider, but you'll rarely fool an actual web surfer. SEO should be about providing a content-heavy site that will become a trusted resource in your industry.
For more information Click Here!
Floyd Bogart
The Difference Between an Affiliate and a Super Affiliate
Difference Between An Affiliate & Super Affiliate
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Super Affiliate! Corny, but "super affiliate" is the new buzzword for affiliates who are both ambitious and successful at affiliate marketing. There are wild claims online about affiliate marketing: Make Millions Overnight! Never Work Again! Unfortunately, these claims are usually false. To go from being a plain affiliate to super affiliate takes a lot of work. In short, you need to be an affiliate of steel.
The vast majority of affiliate marketing sites online are run by people who have no great interest in turning a huge profit. For example, you'll find thousands of blogs where people put up a few Amazon listings and/or Google links on the off chance that a passing browser will click on them. That's all well and good, but this is no way to make a dent in the affiliate marketing game. To be a super affiliate, you need to treat affiliate marketing as a job, not just something that you do on the side to put a couple of bucks in your pocket.
There is a misconception that affiliate marketing is not a real business. After all, the affiliate is not putting out a product. This is patently false. Even though an affiliate marketer is not manufacturing a product, he or she is still offering the product up for sale. An affiliate marketer still needs to be in charge of search engine optimization, custom content, quality web design, financial management, and everything else that goes into running a successful e-business. As with any business, an affiliate marketing plan is only as strong as the amount of work you put into it.
A super affiliate will be able to turn as hefty a profit as a standard business—several sales a day on a number of different fronts. Remember, successful affiliate marketers don't necessarily stop at one site. They set up a variety of affiliate sites with a good web address, quality web design, and lucrative affiliate marketing opportunities. Additionally, once you start selling at an accelerated rate, some affiliate programs will promote you from regular affiliate to super affiliate. If you start sending sales and traffic to a business, they will reward you with better terms.
This isn't an easy proposition, but it is possible. Make sure that an affiliate program has a corresponding super affiliate program in place—better terms for more sales. Even if they don't, an affiliate with good terms up front can really pay off if you're able to make a several sales a month. Affiliate programs with great terms are also sometimes referred to as super affiliates. Find these and you know you'll have a good marketing in place at the start.
For more information Click Here!
Floyd Bogart
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Easy Blog Traffic
Just bought this and cannot believe
the power behind the program.
Shoot, it's really cheap too!
Check it out:
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Saturday, October 27, 2007
Content is King!
This is probably not the first time
you have heard that statement:
Content is King!
It highlights a very important truth.
If you want people to visit your website
then there better be some reason for
them to do so.
That reason, in one way or another, is
always content.
Whether this is in the form of Articles,
Downloads, RSS Feeds or whatever,
this constitutes Content.
Original Content is the best of all
possibilities, but many people feel that
they are not up to the task of writing
their own copy of sufficient quality to
make it interesting.
Nothing could be farther from the truth!
Almost anyone can write with sufficient
clarity, style and above all brevity to make
their Blog Posts, Articles or Comments
understood as well as appreciated.
Online writing is frequently rife with misspellings
as well as poor grammar, but this should not be
taken as a license to ignore such things. A little
effort as well as a few tools can turn you into what
many will assume is a quite educated writer.
Take a look at the Free Dictionary tool
in the sidebar on the right.
Do not be fooled! This is much more than a
simple Dictionary. It will get you through
an almost endless set of writing dilemmas.
Go ahead and check it out thoroughly. The
possibilities are nearly limitless...
The code to post this on your blog or website
can be had without charge at Bravenet once you
have joined as a Free Member:
You will find the link to this and many other
writing resources in the backroom of this
site, with an amazing array of tools to assist
in your online marketing endeavors.
More Soon!
Floyd Bogart
Outsourcing
Working online gives us so much in the
way of flexibility that it is easy to
miss the other side of that coin. Working
online can be addicting and steal back all
of that extra time that it creates for us.
Eventually we all realize that we
can't possibly do it all ourselves.
Hopefully coming to this realization
before our health,or family relationships
are compromised...
I have found that outsourcing frequently
increases my profitibility as opposed to
decreasing it as was previously supposed.
How can that be?
Well, using the time that would have been
spent coding to do things like Social Book-
Marking, or Article Writing and Submission
can create sales far above the cost of that
coding work.
For you the mix is probably at least a little
different as we all have varied strengths and
weaknesses. Designing websites is like root
canal but copywriting is a joy. Graphics work
again, not a first choice, but for you it may be
a favorite task...
You get the idea.
Once you identify those time stealers, and jobs
that are constantly put off, there are two ways
to go:
1. Put the needed time into that arena to both
become proficient, and thus usually start to enjoy
them. Or
2. Outsource these tasks to concentrate on what
you are best at.
If you opt for Outsourcing, your best resources
are to go the forums that you frequent and just
ask around for help. Many of them have sections
devoted to this.
On the other hand a very handy
place to go is Elance.
You can find just about anything you could
want there. From Copywriting to Article
Submission to Graphics Work to Site Design
to FTP Work...
You get the idea.
Having used several of the "Subcontractors"
at Elance it is easy to recommend this service
whole heartedly. Their interface couldn't be
easier to use. Simply post a job and choose
between offers. It will in all likelihood be far
cheaper than you had thought to Outsource
those dreaded tasks that all of us have.
Take a look toward the bottom of the right
hand sidebar for a feed of the Elance Blog.
There are other Outsourcing services
available online, but this is by far the
largest and therefore has a better chance
of filling your needs.
Just a little something to share
on a Saturday afternoon...
Floyd Bogart
Just came across the following Bog
that is all about Outsourcing:
Floyd Bogart
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Do You Squidoo?
If not, then you should!
Squidoo is the brainchild of Seth Godin,
and is another Web 2.0 success story that
you should be taking advantage of.
There is absolutely zero reason not to as
everything there is Free! Which of course
is everyone's favorite Internet Keyword!
You can publish an unlimited number of
pages, or "Lenses" as they are called on
Squidoo.
The range of tools to be found there is
truly amazing and with them you can build
lenses of any niche you could desire.
Here are feeds of a couple of mine:
A few other topics that I have done lenses on:
Eckhart Tolle and "The Power of Now"
Cat Stevens
Little Feat
Avery Brooks
Neon Park
Jeri Ryan
Robert B Parker
An eclectic set of topics to be sure,
and an equally wide array of content.
You can post video and audio but very
little in the way of HTML is enabled.
RSS Feeds are a great way around many
of the limitations and can be customized
within limits. You can see that I used this
within my Robert B Parker lens to post
links to full length episodes of TV Episodes
at AOL Video
There are Plexos and Wikis and a
whole range of other options to delve
into and create very Search-Friendly
pages on most any subject.
As you can see while there are limits
on the scope of what you can do with
Squidoo the possibilities could still keep
you busy and making fungolas for a long
time into the future.
So let me ask you again:
Do you Squidoo ?
Floyd Bogart