Web Moves Blog

Evaluations & Testimonials
Evaluations and testimonials are under-utilized by many businesses. If you are new in business or have a new product or service, ask satisfied clients if they would mind writing a testimonial. It’s a great marketing tool for your business. Others will see the testimonials about your business products/services and will provide that extra confidence in them. Thank them with a little gift for their testimonials.

Many people believe in the written word, and testimonials are a wonderful business reference. They are invaluable to your business. Collect them and put them into your websites. Let other clients read about your customer expertise. Customers buy from businesses that offer excellent customer service.

If you are introducing a new product or service, find reputable clients or companies who would like to test your product for you. Offer it at a discount in return for an evaluation or testimonial. Always ask for written permission to use testimonials in your promotional literature, website, etc. Most people are impressed with testimonials, they are one of the main features that influences current and future purchases.

Haven’t you ever run across a product/service you wanted to purchase and reading the testimonial influenced your purchase? The same applies to your business. Let other customers read them…they’re great marketing tools!

Author:
Sonia Colon of JimsonProducts.com

Google Adwords campaign uses
If you ever used Google AdWords to advertise your product or service online, you’d have experienced the sheer power of this online advertising medium.

In fact, more and more online marketers, both large organizations and ‘one-man’ companies alike, use Google AdWords for a variety of purposes, including but not limited to:
• Increase website exposure
• Sell existing products and services
• Launch new products and services
• Drive traffic to website to capture e-mail leads and build prospect list
• Test various marketing strategies e.g. web copy effectiveness, product and services pricing etc.
• Research primary and secondary keywords for Search Engine Optimization strategy
• Research consumer and business wants and needs
• Market and sell own &/or affiliate products
• And much much more

However, as with any pay-per-click service, a poorly designed Google AdWords campaign will NOT bring you the results your desire. Worst still, a poorly implemented Google AdWords campaign can even ‘break your wallet’! So, how does one develop an effective Google AdWords campaign?

Adwords Campaigns Strategies
Here are 7 useful strategies you can use to maximize your Google AdWords campaign:

1) Identify a large number (preferably 300 above) of low-cost but highly targeted keywords/ keyword phrases. It is important to understand Google AdWords is a pay-per-click system and you only pay when a prospect clicks on your AdWords ad – regardless of the number of impressions.

And you can use this to your advantage by ensuring you develop a huge keyword list for each campaign.

Here are some free tools you can use to generate keywords and key phrases:

Google AdWords Keyword Suggestions tool:
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordSandbox

Good Keywords:
http://GoodKeywords.com

7Search.com’s Keyword Suggestion Tool:
http://conversion.7search.com/scripts/advertisertools/keywordsuggestion.aspx

WordTracker (Free trial version):
http://WordTracker.com

Misspelled Keywords:
http://searchspell.com

2) Develop various headlines and descriptions and split-test them to identify the most effective ad (actually, Google AdWords does this for you automatically i.e. it displays the ad that receives a higher click-through more frequently).

Here’s a quick and dirty way to develop a killer headline and description – Model other Google AdWords ads!

Notice I said ‘model’ and NOT ‘copy’.

All you need to do is type in relevant keywords in the Google search box and review the AdWords ads that show up.

Ask yourself which AdWords ad attracts your attention and note down how the headline and description are written.

Here’s a Copywriting 101 Tip – Your headline and description should mention the BIGGEST benefit of your product or service.

3) Use the ‘Keyword Matching’ option to better target your ads. Unlike conventional pay-per-click models, AdWords ads are ranked based the following formula:

Cost-Per-Click (CPC) X Click-Through Rate (CTR).

Keyword matching helps you achieve a higher Click-Through-Rate (CTR) for your ads and therefore, a higher ad ranking, without increasing the Cost-Per-Click
(CPC) of your campaign.

For example, a phrase match keyword like “popup generator” will show up for the search query “best popup generator” but will not display for the search query “popup a generator”.

So, using the ‘Phrase Match’ option will minimize ‘untargeted’ impressions and result in Click-Through-Rate (CTR) improvements.

4) Limit the ad impressions to certain countries and/or regions once you’ve received customer data from the initial sales generated. For example, if most of your customers are from the USA, you may wish to focus your advertising revenue on the US market and target your ads to only US customers. This strategy will also help you to achieve a higher Click-Through-Rate (CTR) for your ads.

5) Add a subscriber sign-up box on ALL your websites you’re promoting. This will allow you to build your subscriber list at the same time! Place your subscriber sign-up box at the top left or right side of your webpage to increase visibility.

6) Add a DHTML (Dynamic Hyper Text Markup Language) pop-up on your websites. Here’s a 5-STAR SECRET Google doesn’t want you to know: You CAN use pop-ups on your landing page (i.e. the page a prospect sees when he/she clicks on your AdWords ad) as long as the pop-up does not result in the OPENING OF A NEW WINDOW!

A DHTML pop-up is technically not a pop-up – it is really a ‘floating menu’, made to look and act like a pop-up!

You can find out more about ‘PopupMaster Pro’, a ‘ new-generation’ pop-up software (that also beats pop-up blockers) here:
http://PopupMaster.net

7) Monitor and manage your campaigns. You’ll be able to access valuable information and find out which keywords have the highest impressions, which keywords generate the highest click-throughs etc. once your campaign is live. And you should use this information to tweak your headline, description and cost-per-click accordingly, to maximize your campaign effectiveness.

Use the various strategies described above and monitor the effectiveness of each of them. It will help you maximize your Google AdWords campaigns and reduce your campaign costs.

Author Bio:
Fabian Lim is a Management & Internet Marketing Consultant. He helps organizations and individuals succeed online. Visit his website at http://BizSuccessOnline.com. To subscribe to his free newsletter, BizSuccess Tips, send a blank e-mail to: mailto:bizsuccesstips@webcopywritingcourse.com

Introduction – Ask Jeeves Interview
If you plan on attending Jupiter Media’s Search Engine Strategies conference in New York on March 1st thru 4th, you’ll no doubt hear a lot of buzz surrounding the future of search engine technology. With Yahoo recently switching to a new and improved Inktomi index, Google testing localized search and MSN promising to enter the foray sometime in the next twelve months, you can bet that the search engines we know today will be much improved over the next couple of years.

While the spotlight may be on Google, Yahoo and MSN, Ask Jeeves has quietly improved their search engine to ensure a user experience that is second-to-none. While, Ask could comfortably rest on their laurels, they know that the competitive world of search is constantly changing and in order to continue their success they need to ensure that they remain at the cutting edge of search engine technology.

After being fortunate enough to sit down with Microsoft’s Robert Scoble and discuss his thoughts on search engine technology development, I caught up with Ask Jeeves’ vice president of products, Jim Lanzone and asked him his thoughts on what the future of search might hold.

Starting things off
[Andy Beal] Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions. Let’s start with what you see happening in the future?

[Jim Lanzone] Unfortunately, we can’t talk publicly about the most exciting search technologies we’re building, because they are proprietary to us and we wouldn’t want Google copying us now would we? We have some very tasty special sauce we’ll be launching over the course of the next few quarters that will make our search results perceivably better than the competition’s.

[AB] Without giving too much away to your competitors, can you give any hints as to what might be upcoming from Ask Jeeves?

[JL] In the area of things we can talk about, we are very excited about our work on both the search technology side and the search experience side. They are equally important to helping people find what they need.

Regarding the user experience, we’ve had a lot of success with Smart Search the past year, and you can expect to see us continue to pursue that strategy. Smart Search is more of an ideology here than a brand name. It means giving the user smarter results in a more intuitive way, and what that means differs depending on what kind of search you’re doing.

[AB] What new developments in search do you see happening in the next 3-5 years?

[JL] Because accessing information is such an integral part of our lives, I believe your interaction with search will change dramatically in the next 3-5 years. You will be able to access search databases from other sources than the keyboard (with voice recognition technology, maybe), and on different platforms (such as the GPS in your car).

[AB] GPS (global positioning system)? How do you see GPS and search interacting?

[JL] For example, a GPS with search capabilities could tell you where to find the best local pizza restaurant or nearest medical clinic in a neighborhood you visit. Of course, in order for that to happen, local search capabilities will have to vastly improve, as will voice recognition technology.

[AB] Apart from GPS, do you see search having an impact on any other consumer products?

[JL] Search is the #1 activity on the Web, and there’s no reason why the utility of search or the Internet should be restricted to your PC or Mac. I believe a device will come along and have the same impact on search as the iPod did for music. Cell phones will probably adapt more to this device, ultimately, than the other way around, due to usability issues, and the user’s desire to carry only one device. Standing on a street corner and using this device, you will search for a local restaurant, or a cab company, through the Internet. Instead of going to the cab company’s website, you will click a link and initiate a phone call. The search engine will be compensated for the call (this is the traditional Yellow Pages model of “metered calling”) rather than the click.

More of the interview
[AB] What if cost wasn’t an issue? Any dream product?

[JL] If cost were no issue, we’d also like to see an Ask Jeeves-enabled PDA in every user’s hand!

[AB] Companies such as Eurekster are betting that social networking is the future of quality search engine results, what are your thoughts?

[JL] In terms of the social networking devices being developed by other companies, there are two types we’re seeing get attention. The first is the kind being used by the likes of Friendster and Tribe.net, where social networks are being used to help people find a job or a gardener or a date. The potential problem with this is the “reverse network effect”, whereby the more the network grows, the less useful the recommendations are by those in the network. For example, how much more useful is it to me, versus the yellow pages or a search engine, to be recommended a contractor by my friend’s cousin’s neighbor? Now imagine if that’s how I’m finding a date for next Friday night?

Meanwhile, with something like Eurekster, the “social networking search engine”, you may face the same problem. At what point are these results more useful than those given by our “normal” engine, which is already getting smarter and smarter about who and when it serves up certain results. So, in the end, we believe that social networking as defined and utilized by Teoma is the best of breed way to go in this area, and the most effective growth will be built on its foundation.

[AB] What makes Teoma the “best of breed”?

[JL] Our Teoma technology is predicated on social networking theory, as originally pursued by the Clever team at IBM in the mid-90’s. Teoma was the first (and is still the only) search technology that can identify the Web graph’s expert hubs and authorities in real time.

[AB] What is Teoma doing that the IBM team couldn’t do?

[JL] The Clever team identified that it was a better mousetrap for producing relevant search results, but thought it would take a server farm the size of the state of Texas to produce in real time. Teoma does it in a split second. Others questioned whether the technology would scale past 50 million document index. We’re now at 2 billion. Remember that Teoma is a much younger technology than our competitors, so in some ways we’re only now starting to see the power of it. And as it grows, social networking will continue to be at the heart of what makes Teoma different and special.

[AB] Do you foresee a time when commercial search results (product/services) will be separated from informational search results (white papers/educational sites)?

[JL] Yes, similar to Yellow vs. White Pages. But since index search is already separate from P4P links, this is a much more important prediction for the future of paid inclusion. The future of paid inclusion is more likely to be in separate, possibly 100% paid indexes, than it is the current mix of paid and unpaid links, and structured and unstructured data. It’s better for monetization, better for relevance, and probably better for the FTC. When you think about it, this is already happening with a site like Shopping.com, which is basically product search with a 100% paid index. Same thing with the Yellow Pages. I could see this model extended to jobs, airfares, and even adult sites.

[AB] We’ve talked a little about providing more relevant search results. If search engine users gave up a little of their privacy and allowed their search habits to be monitored, would this allow the search engines to provide better, customized results?

[JL] Some search engine users are already giving up their privacy willingly, for example with the latest Google 2.0 toolbar. The reason why Google wants this information is because the answer to your question is a resounding “yes”! Even more important than results customized for individuals, however, which will have some utility but not as much as some may think, are results customized for groups of individuals who exhibit similar characteristics. For example, those who frequently visit certain sites. Moreover, search engines can use this information to track the quality of their competitors’ results, because these toolbars can – if users allow them to – track their usage on other sites.

[AB] Jim, I appreciate you taking the time to answer these questions. What last thing would you like readers to know about Ask Jeeves?

[JL] We’d just like to add that we’re very proud of service Ask Jeeves has become the past 18 months. It is now a world-class search site, featuring world-class search results thanks to Teoma and a world-class search experience thanks to Smart Search. 2004 will be an exciting year for us.

Conclusion
Anyone connected with the search engine industry probably shares my excitement that the future holds some great advances in technology. Search engine users are going to be in for a thrill as Google finally faces some legitimate challenges from a host of search engine companies, both large and small. You can keep up with the latest search engine news and developments at Search Engine Watch or by visiting my blog, www.SearchEngineLowdown.com.

Author Bio:
Andy Beal is Vice President of Search Marketing for WebSourced, Inc and KeywordRanking.com, global leaders in professional search engine marketing. Highly respected as a source of search engine marketing advice, Andy has had articles published around the world and is a repeat speaker at Danny Sullivan’s Search Engine Strategies conferences. Clients include Real.com, Alaska Air, Peopleclick, Monica Lewinsky and NBC. You can reach Andy at andy@keywordranking.com and view his daily SEO blog at www.searchenginelowdown.com.

How To Use PopUps With Google Adwords
One of the common issues that marketers face when using Google Adwords, is that the use of popups on the target page for their ad is not permitted. Many Adwords advertisers just completely remove popups from their web site, which can not only significantly damage the profitability that results from other traffic sources, but, as we shall see, it is also not entirely necessary. This article looks at alternative solutions, which when implemented can virtually double the ROI (Return On Investment) for Adwords ads.

It is well recognized that by capturing the visitor’s email address, and then following up with them via an effective auto-responder campaign, marketers can more than double their chances of clinching the sale. Popups can be a very effective way of doing this, often helping to convert 50% of more of visitors to subscribers.

With Google Adwords however, because popups are not permitted, you need to look for other ways in which you can maximize the visitor-to-subscriber conversion ratio, and thereby also maximize the value you get out of each click-through to your web site.

Here are three main ways in which you can do this:

1. Set your target page for your ad as a so-called ‘name squeeze’ page – this means the whole page you direct them to is focussed on one thing, to get their name and email address, following which you can always redirect them to your normal sales page to try and ‘make the sale’. You still need to make sure of course that your ad accurately reflects your target page.

As an example of how to do this, let’s say you sell cheap widgets, and your ad is displayed for the keywords ‘cheap widgets’. Write a report or an ebook on ‘How To Choose The Best Cheap Widget’ and offer it for free on your name squeeze page, in return for their email address.

2. Use a special type of popup that doesn’t actually display in a new browser window, but ‘hovers’ over your existing web page – this type of popup is not detected by Google (nor for that matter can they be prevented by popup blocker technology), and works in a similar way to dynamic menus, which of course are perfectly permissable. I have been using this type of popup very successfully for many months in conjunction with Adwords.

You can get a free copy of the software I use by sending a blank mailto:optinover@takanomi.par32.com.

3. Put popups on other pages – Google does not stipulate that you should no popups on your web site, only on the target page for your ad. This means that if your target page encourages visitors to click through to other areas of your web site, you can add put popups on these other pages to help capture your visitors email address.

For example, if you have a long sales letter, try splitting it up onto two or more pages. Your popup(s) can be placed on any of the other pages. I use PopUpMaster Pro to ensure that the popup does not appear if certain links are pressed – this means that you don’t show the popup to visitors who click through to read other pages of the sales letter or to order, but otherwise (if they leave your web site) you show them an exit popup to try and grab their email address before they are ‘lost forever’.

Use one of the above methods, and you should find that you capture the details of many more visitors who click through from your Google Adwords ad – and by doing this, together with an effective autoresponder campaign, your return on your ad could greatly increase too.

Author Bio:
Steve Shaw creates systems and software for effective e-marketing. For the technical edge on e-marketing, and to claim some valuable bonuses, you can subscribe to his popular newsletter at http://takanomi.com/newsletter.

Marketing Mistakes To Avoid
Advertising can be one of the fastest ways to market and grow your business or it can be one of the quickest ways to go out of business. With the right ad you can attract clients to your business and increase your profits. With the wrong ad you can spend your way into bankruptcy.

To grow your business you need to attract the attention of your prospects, advertising can help you do so if used correctly. Unfortunately, many small businesses owners waste thousands of dollars on advertising efforts that only achieve minimal results.

If you want to get the most from the money you spend to promote your products and services, make sure to avoid these common mistakes.

Focusing on Your Products and Services
If you want to get the attention of your prospects, speak to their needs and wants. Your prospects’ primary concern isn’t that you’ve been in business for 25 years; it is do you know the problem they want to solve. Use your ad to identify at least one common problem of your prospects and the benefit of using your product or service.

Having a Weak Marketing Message
All to often you hear ads and it takes some thought to figure out what they are even promoting. Make sure your advertisement includes a 7-10 word description of whom you serve and the problems you solve so people who read or hear your ad know how you can help them.

Using the Wrong Words
A word here, a phrase there can change your response rate by hundreds of percent. When you spend money on advertising, first test a number of versions of your copy to identify the one that works best. Just by revising her ad copy so it was client and problem centered, I helped one small business owner achieve her best month in sales ever.

Missing Motivation
Most ads miss the mark in moving prospects to action.
If you want to prompt prospects to visit your web site or your store or to contact you, include an offer that motivates them to do so.

Lacking in Frequency
Some people make spur of the moment buying decisions, but most need to become familiar with your services and products, and this takes time. If you want your advertising to work, you need to ensure that your prospects see or hear it regularly.

Web Sites that Don’t Move Prospects to Action
Many small business owners direct prospects to a web site where they have more extensive content covering available services and products. I constantly get calls from people who have been successful at attracting prospects to their web site, but generate few sales.

Once prospects get to your web site make sure the content and visual organization moves them to take the action you want them to. Whether it is providing them with ample opportunities to fill in your service inquiry form, or including a subset of your product catalog in your web page navigation bars, help prospects move to client and customer status.

Lack of Follow Up
Sometimes making a sale requires sending a note or picking up the phone and calling your prospects. If you have an effective lead generation strategy, prospects will provide you with their contact information and the problem they want solved. Use the web, email, and the phone to follow up and close the sale.

Lack of Tracking
If you are making more from your advertising than you are spending, you’re ahead. Frequently small business owners can’t tell you which of their efforts helped bring in the business. Track each of your ad campaigns and you’ll know where to spend your money in the future, what to modify and what to eliminate.

– Do you know how many sales and how much money you made as a result of each of your advertising campaigns?

– Are you making any of the above common marketing mistakes?

– What elements of your marketing should you change?

Put your marketing house in order. Fix your strategy and your materials. If you don’t know what to change or how to change it, use experts to help you with strategy, copyrighting, design, PR, and media placement.

Avoid these common marketing mistakes and you’ll find ore people contacting you about your products and services and that your making more than your spending on your advertising.

Author Bio:
Charlie Cook, is Chief Executive of Ideas and Inspiration at In Mind Communications in Old Greenwich, CT and can be contacted via http://www.charliecook.net, or by calling 203-637-1118. To get the F*ree Marketing Guide and the ‘More Business’ newsletter, full of practical marketing tips go to http://www.charliecook.net.

Market Research
The bad news is: All the time.
The good news is: It isn’t that hard.

“Market research” may sound like a complicated concept, but it’s something you do all the time. It’s just a matter of becoming aware of it, and orienting it toward your product or service. Most people, once they get the hang of it, love it. In fact many of us can’t stop doing it!

We are all consumers as well as sellers. All day long we are bombarded with sales messages, by the marketing of others. Paying attention to what gets YOUR attention is the first step.

With hundreds of emails coming in daily, which one gets you to open it? With all the billboards you see on the way to work, which one catches you eye? When do you tune back in to an ad on the radio? What TV commercial do you sit and watch instead of channel surfing? Which ezines do you actually bother to read? Which ones do you read every single word?

This all becomes market research when you stop and ask yourself the question “why”? Why with all the billboards out there did that one catch your eye? What’s different about it? You are as capable of answering this as any ad genius out there. It could be the beautiful babe. The unusual font. The color. The protusion over the top (like the chick-fil-a cows).

Next time something “catches your eye,” or “holds you spellbound,” or “keeps you nailed to your seat,” break the spell and THINK. Analyze. Figure out why. Someone has gotten through the fog with you, and this is invaluable information.

There are three aspects to market research:
– The target market
– Your website and collaterals
– What others are doing

Target Market
Target Market means the people who are going to buy your product or service. Rarely is it “everyone.” For instance, if you sell baby clothes, the obvious market would be mothers, but fathers buy for their babies as well. And what about grandparents? Did you know that the biggest buyers of teen CDs are seniors? They are buying them for their teenage grandchildren.

Periodically go over your records and see who is actually buying your products. Get as much information about them as you can. You can do this by asking for the information on PayPal, by sending a feedback satisfaction form after the sale where you ask for this information, by offering something free where you garner this information, and by various other methods.

If you sell a service, such as coaching, when someone finds you, be sure and ask them how they found your name.

At the same time, ask your current and past purchasers where else they go, so you can go to those websites and see how those people are selling.

Studying your target market and their preferences is particularly important when you aren’t in it. By this I mean, if you are selling something to teens, and you are middle-aged, you are trying to discover what appeals to teens, not to you.

If you’re a Generation X-er marketing to Baby Boomers, your taste will be different, but you’re not selling to you, you are selling to them.

Keep reading about the age group you market to.

Your Website & Collaterals
“Collaterals” in marketing means your promotional materials – your website, brochures, flyers and things like that. You need to consider them always works in progress. Marketing changes even more rapidly these days, and particularly on the Internet.

You should review your website at least every 6 months. We expect to see changes on a website. Very few of them are static. Changing the look from time-to-time shows that you’re a “happening” place. This indicates, especially in the area of services, that you’re keeping up with the times – new information, new ways of addressing problems, new! Not old!

The marketplace is changing, and consumers want you to be too.

What Others Are Doing
You need to be constantly aware of what others are doing, about the internet in general, but also about your competition. Peruse other websites continually. You’ll find new and better ways of saying things, new terms, new services, new programs, and you’ll also see their pricing.

This is the only way you can stay competitive. By looking at a cross-section, you’ll see what’s “in”. When you see something that’s jarring to you, you’ll know not to do that.

You can read rules for instance, about not having a long load time for your website, and consider yourself special, but the first time you’re in a hurry and go to a website that takes “too long” to upload and you impatiently give up and go elsewhere, you will have learned the most valuable lesson you can.

Or when you happen to be in a quiet office and go to a website and suddenly there’s music blaring out. Be a mindful consumer sometimes and see what it’s like from the other side.

Next time you get irritated with someone’s website, stop and analyze why. Too many graphics? Font too small or too hard to read? Too busy? Unappealing colors?

If you sell services or products related to relationships and dating, check out all the websites you can to get the feel, the look and the terminology.

Conclusion
Do market research all the time. It’s just a matter of paying attention to what you see, hear and feel. If you really get into it, you can become almost obnoxious about it. Conrad Hilton’s wife said she couldn’t stand to travel with him because he was always criticizing what he saw when they were in a hotel. It should be like that, where you have to remind yourself to turn this critical eye off, not on. There’s a lot to learn out there in a changing scene, and it takes constant attention.

Author Bio:
Susan Dunn helps clients market their practices and small businesses on the Internet. Article-writing service and ghostwriting, search engine placement. Visit her at www.webstrategies.cc and sdunn@susandunn.cc

Introduction
Who is more important to you as a webmaster: the visitor or the search engine?

Needless traffic may be important to websites that seek advertising revenue (well, they too need targeted traffic) but you need traffic that caters to your requirement. So for a successful website, both are important. Search engines send relevant visitors to your website and visitors do business with you. Both should be an important factor when you sit down and plan the architecture of your website. The misconception that lots of senseless traffic is good for business has been shattered.

Your website should read convincing both to your target visitors, and the search engines. In fact, you should treat search engines too as your visitors because if you optimize for your visitors, you automatically optimize for the search engines. Once you follow the steps listed below, there is a big chance that you’ll create a website optimized both for the search engines and your visitors.

Well-written content
Both visitors and search engines like well-written content. In fact every one of us appreciates an interesting read. There used to be a time when lots of crap took place to please search engines. Lots of keywords and phrases were stuffed needlessly into the web pages to make them rank higher. Scores of “doorway” pages were created to lead visitors to websites. They made search engines happy but confused the visitors, nullifying the advantage and ultimately, forcing the search engine companies to alter their search algorithms.

But what really matters is the quality content. If you have no content, or irrelevant content, what’s the use of getting hundreds of visitors daily? You need to have website content that is user-focussed; you need a web copy that talks to the visitors. The copy on your website needs to supply the information your visitors need to arrive at some decision. The content should be written in an interesting manner, in an absorbing manner. All the information that your visitor should get, should be there on your website, in a straight, non-cryptic language.

This re-affirms that professional content developers are as important as professional web developers, if not more. Badly written content can prove costlier than you can imagine.

Well-connected pages
All your pages should be accessible to both people and search engines. When the search engines visit your website, they should be able to jump from link to link. It should be like an inter-connected network where one can go anywhere from anywhere. Many web developers create a sitemap that contains links to all the pages on the website so that once the search engine finds that page it can go to all the links on the page.

Anyway, irrelevant pages have no business being on your website and relevant pages should be within one or two clicks away from your visitors (unless they are password-protected).

Less use of frills
Frills like Flash and DHTML look cool but if they don’t solve any purpose other than let you show-off how you can make geometric figures dance around the screen, you should avoid using them. The search engine crawlers like the plain-vanilla text. Showcase frills only if youre selling them (if youre a Flash designer or a graphic artist). A company selling organic manure doesn’t benefit much by having a Flash website that shows bags of manure appearing here and there like apparitions.

Use keywords sparingly
The search engine companies have finally realized that actual content is better than nonsensical repetition of keywords. Of course keywords are important, but not because they are “keywords”, but because they are needed there. For instance, if you sell organic manure, you have this phrase on your website because you need to specify what you sell (unless you belong to some underground organization that uses coded language to communicate).

There is no need for a keyword or a key-phrase to appear more than three or four times on your page. In fact on Google you spoil your ranking if you use keywords excessively. Let them appear at the top, somewhere in the middle, and then in the end. That does the trick. Weave around them a nice context.

There are people who do this as a profession and it really pays in the long run to hire a content writer who can write optimized content for you.

Update frequently
Both search engines and people like updated content.

If your visitors expect to see new content on your website whenever they come, they’ll come again and again, and they’ll come with greater frequency. Search engines too want to show content that is rapidly updated so that they can display the latest information. Make it a routine to put something new every second or third day, even if it is one paragraph.

Use clean HTML
Clean code loads quicker and gets crawled (this sounds creepy!) by the search engines faster. If the success of your website really matters to you and if you want to create your own web pages instead of hiring a professional web developer, you should spend at least a few days learning HTML. A search-engine friendly website doesn’t need much HTML to learn and it will show clean content to your visitors without unnecessarily increasing the load time. Avoid using graphical tools and use a text editor instead. It sounds daunting in the beginning but once your realize its benefit, you’ll be more than eager to write HTML rather than use a tool that produces lots of unnecessary junk code.

The efforts mentioned above take time to show result, but they are long lasting and they fetch you the desired results.

Author Bio:
Amrit Hallan is a freelance copywriter, copy editor and a writer. He also optimizes web page content for higher Search Engine ranking. Read his weekly essays and articles by subscribing to amritscolumn-subscribe@topica.com For Copywriting and Copy Editing Services, visit: http://www.amrithallan.com.

21 ways to expand your subscriber list
1. Keep your subscription form easy to find on every web page. Preferably, add it on your navigational bar. If the form is to large for the bar or page, add a hyperlink and send them to a popup or a separate page so that the previous page on your site doesn’t disappear. It is easy for them to return.

2. Not only must the form be easy to see, it also needs to be easy to read. Label each field. I’ve seen a few where I didn’t know what to enter. Be kind to computer readers suffering from dry eyes, make the font large and easy to read.

3. Do you write your own ezine articles? Add a “please subscribe here line to your byline. Begin the line with a benefit they get from subscribing and then add a few invitational words along with a URL hyperlink. Example: “Learn more about this topic. Subscribe to [name of your ezine] by visiting….”

4. Generally, people are impulse buyers. So, give them that impulse. Give away a free ebook. Instead of letting them see that the ebook is free. Regularly charge for the eBook. Six dollars is a good price, just explain them that it is a limited special offer.

They will perceive it even more valuable when there is a price connected to it. An example of the wording could go like, “Normally this ebook sells for $6 at [your web site URL or even a middle man ebook site].” Always give them a reason why you are giving it to them free. Make the reason believable.

5. Do you belong to networking groups, or attend other events? Invite everyone you meet if they would like to register for your ezine. Give them a story about the free, but not so free, ebook offer. Always, make this offer limited. In fact, have a list of these free but-not-free ebooks, written either by you, affiliates, or from resale right products. Move them around. Put one on the calendar for January through December and then repeat them the next year. Then in the third year, change it. Also, share with them how easy it is to opt-out if they don’t like the ezine and they can keep the ebook.

6. Don’t stop at networking groups, contact trade or professional organizations you do or don’t belong to that have a high percentage of your type of readers. Ask for the membership list. Look for the people you have identified as your gatekeepers (people that know lots of others in your target market). For accountants, it’s lawyers and bankers. Call them and introduce yourself. Ask if they could recommend your ezine to a few of their friends. You can also attend their networking events and ask, ask, ask.

7. Instead, or in addition to, calling the gatekeepers you have identified on the membership lists, you can send them a letter of introduction — a direct mail piece. The piece can ask them (a call to action) to visit your web site for more information on your newsletter and/or receive a copy of the free but-not-free ebook.

8. Share the wealth. Exchange recommendations to each other’s newsletter. Be prepared for these so that it doesn’t cost you valuable time when you are working on a deadline. If you work with a virtual assistant, let them respond to these opportunities. Prepare three or four examples and offer the exchanger their choice to use one that they feel is appropriate for their audience. Ask them for a reciprocal and equal announcement.

9. Make comments and include your byline at the end. Comments can be product review on Amazon, ezines you enjoy, or local newspapers. Give suggestions, share your stories on how it helped you, ask questions, or give ideas that emerged from your reading. Blogs are also good places to comment on as well.

10. It takes 7 times before people start to trust. Present them 7 opportunities to have two-way conversations with you. Not one-way conversations (you write, they read). Provide the two-way with surveys, questions, contests, games, things that they need to ask for are just a few. If you are offering a contest, send them a testimonial from the winner. If you can, create an opportunity for many winners. It spreads the hope.

11. Use a conversational writing tone. It makes a connection. Yet, don’t get lax on the grammar and spelling. Use personal pronouns (I, me, you and your). Limit the percentage of I’s to half or less of the yous.

12. Spread the knowledge even further by asking your readership to forward a copy of your ezine to family members, friends, colleagues, or co-workers. Create a “please forward this ezine to” line or two. Give them an incentive, offer a free but-not-free item. This can be challenging to design.

13. Do you give presentations with slides or a projection system? Add a paragraph about your ezine and how to get it on the test slide. A test slide is the slide you leave up there when they are seating themselves. Leave it displayed until a few minutes before your presentation and then turn it off. By turning it off, it creates a “loss feeling” and they will pay attention to it the next time you turn it on.

Turn the system on with the test slide displayed and then switch to the next slide. The next slide can explain how they can get your free but-not-for-free product and the directions on how to receive it. Return to this same slide at the end of your presentation,

14. At this same presentation, pass around a clipboard asking them if they want to register for ezine. Start passing at the beginning or even before you start. Use a short piece, different colored paper, with a note about the free but-not-free item. Give them three incentives to register at that time.

15. Send out a press release every time you have a new free but-not-free item available. Send whenever you have new context, new article published, or whenever anything else occurs. Since press releases require special writing, you might want to delegate this, especially if you are challenged with writing from another perspective. If you choose to learn the lingo, you can learn the how-tos with a Google search: Search example: “press release” and “how to”. Leave in the quote marks. Don’t be nervous about sending out too many, some are always missed. http://www.prweb.com/ is a great place to post your press releases.

16. Locate web sites that give out awards for outstanding ezines. Apply and keep applying. Keep tweaking. Look at previous winners and model. When you do win one, post it everywhere on your site and on every issue of your ezine for a year. Also, send out a press release when you do. If they create a press release as well, ask to use that one. Make copies of theirs and give it out at networking events.
Remember, you can’t win the lotto unless you play. So, get in the game, and apply.
Try: http://emailuniverse.com/bestezines/ or search on Google with: “ezine award”.

17. I’m frequently asked, “How much information should I ask for?” My recommendation is to KISS your subscriber form — “keep it short and simple.” Ask for the e-mail address and/or their first name. If you ask for their first name, tell them why. Example: We like to personalize our correspondence with our subscribers.”

18. Set up section for past issues of your e-newsletters. I recommend just listing their main topic or name of the article and not by date. People don’t like to read things that they consider “old news”. If you use a pdf format to deliver past issues there are pros and cons. The pro is pdf files are smaller to store and send. The con is that you loose the opportunity for tagging the item for search engine listing.

19. After you post your articles in the ezine, expand or submit as is to multi-media web sites. Possibility: http://www.goarticles.com. Locations where publishers and editors will pick up the article. Normally, there are no fees paid, just opportunity for visibility. When published send out a press release. Link their site, not yours, in the press release, Send them a copy of the release.

20. Readers are tired of not getting any value and are dropping off lists fast, faster than ever. To keep them there you MUST provide valuable information (their perception not yours). The 25/75% rule (you give them 25% and sell them the remaining 75%) is acceptable. After reading thousands of ezines, I found many publishers don’t come close to providing that percentage.

21. Add an invitation to all your automatic e-mail signatures. Also, mention the free but-not-free item of the month. Include an expiration date for that free but-not- free offer. Change the e-mail signatures weekly to maintain interest.

Author Bio:
Catherine Franz is a marketing industry veteran, a Certified Business Coach, Certified Teleclass Leader and Trainer, speaker, and author. Three ezines and a blog are available for writers, marketers and other topics at: http://www.AbundanceCenter.com.

Search Engine Friendliness
A good looking and user friendly website is an extremely important asset to your success on the Internet. However without traffic, even a well designed site will not produce results for you. The best websites are those that are both attractive and easy to use by your human users, and at the same time, convenient for the search engine robots that are trying to find and collect data from your site.

Oftentimes a site that may look good to your eye has some design flaws that impair its search engine friendliness. Here are a few things to look for when designing new sites or optimizing an existing site.

Your first line of text
1. Where does your first line of text begin? You may think, “that’s easy, the first line of text is right at the top?” If you view your web page using Notepad or the html view of popular editors you may be surprised to find that the first line of your actual searchable text may be pushed down, 100 lines or more, by long strings of java script and by the html code that defines your tables.

The higher your text appears in this html view of the site, the easier it is for the robot to find it and put it in the search engine data base. You can save space in your html code by copying your java script and placing it in an external file uploaded to your server. Instead of having 50 lines of java script commands in your html code, there will only be one line pointing to the separate file with the java script.

Similarly if you simplify your table structure, your searchable text will become more prominent. The left-hand navigation bar, for example, with its separate graphic elements each in its own row, may be a place where you can economize on your code by merging the rows into one cell.

Graphic-Predominance
2. Is your website graphics-predominant, at the expense of searchable text? If your site begins with a splash page, such as a lovely page-filling picture of the ocean and no text except, “enter here”, then you are wasting a big opportunity. Search engines consider your main page, the one you reach when you land at www.yourcompany.com, to be the most important page. Your main text with its important keywords should be on your first page. If you already have splash page, you should consider scrapping it altogether, or at least adding a paragraph with a powerful capsule description of your activity.

If your site has a flash-only first page then the text message on that page is not visible, except for what you are able to put in your title and description tags. Search engine robots cannot read the text message that has been put in the form of a flash movie.

If you want to use flash, and also do well in search engine rankings it is better to make a hybrid page where the flash is surrounded by a normal html page with text. The text around the flash movie should be optimized so that the page ranks well in search engine queries for your important keywords.

Important text as graphics?
3. Have you unknowingly rendered important text as a graphic? If your site is about “wireless widgets made in California” then you would want some prominent text near the top of the page with these words. You may already have it but the text has been changed into a beautiful gif or jpg graphic either by your designer or by your html editing program. Search engines will not give that nice-looking graphic the same importance as it would text written as an H1 or H2 header. Some popular html editors render entire paragraphs as gif graphic images. All the text that appears in the image becomes almost invisible to the search engines. I say almost invisible because you can always put an alt text for any graphic, however this alt text is not weighed as heavily as normal text set as bold or in headers. So, check your pages and make sure that your text is normal text and not an image.

Link structure
4. Can Search Engines Follow Your Site’s Link structure? If your site employs a drop-down menu that is run with java script, then search engines may find your main page, but they won’t follow the links to your interior pages. Similarly if your navigation area is an image map, a graphic with “hot spots” that link to your various internal pages then the search engines cannot and will not find the other pages of your site. To get maximum traffic it is imperative to have as many of your pages as possible indexed in the big search engines. You can accomplish this by adding a text-based navigation area at the bottom of your pages or a site-map page with text links to all your interior pages.

If you pay attention to these design considerations, you can greatly improve your site’s chances of getting a top ranking in search engine queries for your most important keywords.

Author Bio:
Donald Nelson is a web developer, editor and social worker. He has been promoting web sites since 1995 and now runs A1-Optimization a company that provides low-cost search engine optimization and submission services. He can be reached at support@a1-optimization.com

Free Ezine Advertising That Works!
When I say free ezine advertising, I’m not talking about the free ezine ads that some publishers offer, this technique is FAR more powerful than that.

One of the best ways to get free traffic to your site, is to write articles for ezines.

Now before you shudder and click away, it isn’t that hard to write a good article.

If you’ve got a bout of writers block, just search for info related to the subject you want to write about, then re-write it in YOUR OWN words and style, do not copy.

Your article needs to be around 500 – 700 words, with short paragraphs, 5 or 6 sentences.

DON’T try and disguise an advert as an article and forget about putting in your affiliate links, publishers will delete it straight away, if you want to use this approach to promote an affiliate program, you should really get your own domain as it looks more professional.

Once you have put your masterpiece together, leave it a day, then come back to it and re-read it, you’ll be surprised what other nuggets of info pop out after a nights sleep, and how many errors seem to jump out at you.

When you’re sure your article is ready, run it through a spell checker and format it to 55 – 60 characters per line so the publisher can just cut-n-paste into their ezine.

Don’t forget to put your resource box at the bottom of the article! This is what’s going to get you a ton of free traffic to your site after all.

Believe me folks, just one half decent article can get you alot of free traffic, I remember one article I wrote was published in a ezine that had a circulation of 500,000, if I wanted to pay for advertising in this particular ezine it would have cost me over $400!

Not only does this technique save you money, it also gives you credability, and alot of ezines turn your articles into web pages that will remain there for years to come.

Get published, get credibility, get free traffic for years to come! I think that’s worth a little effort don’t you?

Author:
Neil Moran