Search Engines & Links
Website owners: do you know how many links are out there on the Internet, pointing back to your site? If you’re interested in getting free search engine placement for your site, you ought to know. An easy way to find out is to download the Alexa toolbar from http://www.alexa.com. One of its many useful features is that it shows you how many links are pointing to the site. High quality links are one of the most crucial aspects of good search engine optimization.
When you think about it, this makes sense. After all, this is the Internet, the World Wide Web, we’re talking about. And in a web, everything is… right, everything is LINKED.
Links have always been a priority in search engine optimization. Search engines have long used link popularity as an indicator of a site’s “importance,” and this in turn affects the site’s performance in the search engines. Until recently, many different schemes existed that allowed a website owner to garner dozens, or even hundreds of links, simply by using specialized tools, reciprocal programs, and the like. Then came the Google “update” of November, 2003.
In that now legendary update, Google penalized tens of thousands of websites by dropping their placement in the index or eliminating them entirely. While Google isn’t talking about what happened, it is very likely that “undeserved” links, or links that do not have anything to do with quality content, played a role in this episode. Most website owners now seem to agree that while links are as important as ever, they have to be added the old-fashioned way � they have to be earned.
What does this mean? Simply put, it means that a link between two pages on the Internet should have some valid reason for its existence besides the desire of the website owners to hit page 1 on Google. So if Joe’s Auto Shop and Cindy’s Interior Design trade links, in order to boost their rankings, the link only exists for that reason, and it may well lead to lower search engine rankings for both Joe and Cindy. On the other hand, if Bud’s Cabinetry Shop, on its page describing different types of woods, is linked to the National Association of Wood Products, this is very likely to be viewed as a “quality” link by the search engine, and may help rankings.
How does one build these kind of quality links? There are at least four well-known methods, and creative website owners can come up with more. First, you can ask for them. At conventions, conferences, meetings, anyplace where the business of your website may be discussed, ask for quality links. If someone has a site you respect, and it relates to your product, simply ask them to link to your site. It’s good old networking at its finest. Second, you can write articles that promote your website, or your product or service, include a link back to your home page, and offer it for publication on the Internet. There are numerous forums for doing just this, try Googling some search terms to come up with them. Third, get on the Internet and find directories that relate to your product or service, and ask for a link to be placed. This is an easy step that most website owners can take themselves. Finally, and perhaps the best way to build a great site! Put up great content, and other sites will link to you. Because, in the end, that is what the Internet is all about disseminating information.
Add valuable content, in terms of information, to your site, keep adding it over time, and gradually, people will link to you. If you build it, they will come.
Author Bio:
Neil Street is co-founder of Small Business Online, LLC, based in Wilton, CT., a website design, management, and promotion company dedicated to the Internet needs of the small business. His website is at http://www.smallbusinessonline.net. Send email to neil@smallbusinessonline.net He can also be reached at (203)761-7992
Getting started
Search engines have become a critical source of traffic for many Web sites. In fact, search engines can account for as much as 80 percent of their traffic.
However, search engine placement is a complex and ever-moving target to hit: search engines refresh their listings constantly to produce new content. They also use a unique and proprietary (read: ‘top secret’) algorithm to determine a site’s relevance to keyword queries. You can never be too sure as to what Google or Yahoo wants from a site to merit a top ranking.
Playing catch-up with search engines can be time-consuming and costly. Worse, search engine visibility takes time to achieve and only seconds to lose.
If you are operating a web-based operation, you will need to make a number of business decisions regarding search engine marketing. The key to successful search engine marketing strategy is constant testing, revising and optimizing based on metrics. Here are some business decisions that you need to address in search engine marketing:
Staying up-to-date
1. Are you keeping up with the changes?
Search engines are constantly trying to improve their search results. In so doing, you might find your site in the number one position one morning, only to slide to page 10 the following day, or worse, dropped from the engine’s entire index. You check your web stats to find that your traffic decreased by 10% or so because one search engine reduced its referrals to your site. Do you know what just happened?
Google, for example, constantly tweak their algorithms leading to a shakeup of the search results. A lot of webmasters are finding it hard to keep track of what Google wants or not. Yahoo, just recently, stopped showing Google results (Google used to be the provider of Yahoo search results) and shifted to their own ‘internally powered results’ (from all accounts, looks to be a hybrid Inktomi processed by Yahoo’s new algorithm).
Search engine optimization is a never-ending game. You need to dedicate time and resources to understanding how you can optimize your web site for search engine rankings. With each new shakeup, the results will either be positive (if your site gets better ranked in your keywords) or negative (if your site drops from your rank or disappears altogether). And paying to get into the search engines is not even a guarantee of a top (or even ‘good’) spot.
If you are running a business on the Web and you rely on search engines to give you a significant amount of traffic, you must keep your eyes wide open for any changes. Read as much as you can for information. Check out Webmaster or search engine forums. Absorb everything you learn and apply them to your site.
Pay for inclusion?
2. Are you willing to pay to get your site indexed or listed by the search engines or directories?
Getting into the search engines is not as easy as it used to be. With more Web sites sprouting all over the Internet, there are more pages for search engines to index. To ‘expedite’ your listing in search engines, some search engine providers have introduced the concept of Pay for Inclusion (PFI), which means submitting a web site or web pages for a fee in exchange for guaranteed inclusion into a search engine’s database/listings for a set period of time. Inktomi, Fast/AlltheWeb, Teoma/Ask Jeeves, and AltaVista are the search engines that currently require sites to pay to be included in their search listings.
If you are operating a small-to-medium site, your fee is based on the number of URLs that you submit for indexing (cost is anywhere from $16 to $39 per URL for one year). Bigger sites, often defined as those with 1,000 or more pages are typically charged on a pay-per-click fee basis. The benefit will be the assurance that the web pages you submitted will typically appear within 72 hours and updated every 48 hours. In many search engines, you will also be provided reporting details and ability to manage your account.
Yahoo also has a separate Paid Submission program for its directory. For a fee of $299 per year, you are guaranteed a review of your site. Inclusion into the directory, however, is not automatic and will depend only whether your site meets the stated guidelines for submission.
Take note, though, that PFIs can be pretty expensive, and costs can set you back thousands of dollars depending on the number of pages you want to be included. For example, a 100-page submission at $25 per URL will set you back $2,500 per year!
It is also important to take into consideration that PFIs cannot guarantee prominent listing or ranking in the search results. The rankings are often based on the search engine’s unique algorithm, which takes into consideration both URLs that paid for inclusion as well as URLs that are picked up by their spiders (for free!). PFIs will only guarantee that you are included in their database, but will not provide assurance that you will be in the top 10 of the listing. The ranking criteria will still depend on how your pages are optimized and their popularity.
A number of complaints have also been raised against the PFI programs. Some site owners report that pages already indexed for free suddenly disappear in the listing as soon as they paid for its inclusion. For example, a site owner with 500 pages in the search engine decides to pay for inclusion of 1 of its pages, only to see the 499 dropped from the index. Some webmasters opine that the thinking behind this action is to compel the site owner who has already shown their willingness to pay for inclusion to pay for the rest of the pages.
The alternative, of course, is to resist paying for inclusion and wait for your URLs to be picked up by the search engines for free (yes, they still do that!). It may take a few months for their spider or human editors to stumble on your site, but doing so can save you a lot of money. In the meantime, you can develop more pages, improve your content, requests for links from similar websites, and develop a customer base.
Paying per click
3. Are you willing to attract more search engine traffic by paying per-click?
Overture pioneered the pay-for-placement (PFM) model, where you bid a price on keywords you wish to be included. Payment is on a pay-per-click basis, and placement is often based on the amount of bid you placed in comparison with the offer of other bidders.
Your placement in Overture, FindWhat, Kanoodle, and others will depend on how high you bid on your keywords. The top placements are the highest bidders for the keyword. Google AdWords, on the other hand, combines the amount of bid placed on the keyword with your clickthrough rate.
It is important to note that PFM model is basically pay-per-click advertising (with emphasis on advertising). According to a study made, the top 2 organic listings usually receive more than 50 percent of the clicks on a search results page, whereas the average click through for a paid search placement is about 2 percent.
Listings are often shown under the label ‘Sponsored Listings’ and are not integrated with what is called the ‘natural’ search engine results. Once your budget runs out and you no longer bid for your term, your listing disappears.
When you run pay-per-click campaigns in the search engines, it is extremely important to manage your costs, as listings can be very expensive to maintain. The key is to choose the right keywords for your budget. Some keywords targeting the same customer may cost you $0.05 per click, while a different one can cost you $0.65 per click. A thousand click-throughs will cost you $50 if the keyword costs only $0.50, while the cost can go up to $650 for the $0.65 per click.
Diversification plan
4. Do you have a diversification plan?
The old adage “don’t put your eggs all in one basket” holds true even in search engine marketing: if search engines drop your site, do you have any back up plans to get people to visit your site?
If you concentrate solely on search engine marketing and it fails, you will lose not only traffic but also sales and revenues. It is important that you have alternative marketing plans in place. In fact, it is best to have a well-laid marketing plan, one that uses other online and offline marketing strategies in addition to search engines. Carve out a plan to market your site off the Web, whether through a press release in your community journal, or attending networking activities.
Conclusion
With almost 80 percent of Internet users using search engines to find information on the Web, there are only two possible outcomes when someone performs a search: either they will find you or they will find your competitors. Search engine marketing ” getting your Web site visible in the search engines” should be a key element of your business strategies.
Author Bio:
Nach Maravilla is the Publisher/CEO of Power HomeBiz Guides. For a step-by-step guide to starting a business, visit PowerHomeBiz.com at http://www.powerhomebiz.com
The power of free
Every single day thousands of people from around the world are logging on to the Net for the very first time. Every single day thousands of people from around the world are attempting to factualize their dream of running an Internet business from home. And every single day, these same thousand people are searching the Net for that ultimate product or service that will BE their home business.
Would you love to be the one selling these same people the products and services that they need? I’ll just bet you would! But firstly you need to get these peoples’ attention. You want them to visit your site but so does every other marketer out there. What you need is a lure… a bait! Surveys have shown for years that the one word that gets peoples attention is the word – sex! Yes, sex… but we’re not going to use this word, (tricked you didn’t I) we are going to use the second most popular word – free!
Free, free, FREE, fReE… it doesn’t matter how you say it, it always means the same thing – some item of some description is going to cost you: nilch, nadda, nitch, nill, etc… You know it won’t cost you anything and if it is something that you can use in your business, something that will help with some aspect of running your business, then you are more than likely going to take those few seconds to click on that link, fill in your email address, and grab your ‘freebie’. You know you’re going to do it if it’s something that you want, so you know that others will too. A ‘freebie’ will go a long way towards gaining new customers. Offer them something for free that directly relates to your web site and watch your customer base grow!
Author Bio:
Kristy A. Taylor is the publishing Editor of Digital Dollars Ezine, dedicated to helping others earn their share of digital dollars. To subscribe to this free e-zine and receive free subscriber ads and products visit http://www.digitaldollars.biz
Mistake 1. Keyword Flooding
Here’s a consolidated list of things you most definitely do not want to be doing if you want a high ranking in the search engines. There are five main things that literally hundreds of thousands of webmasters err on regularly. However, with a few small changes, they could make a big difference in their rankings.
Below are the five most common errors and their solutions in no particular order.
Mistake 1. Keyword Flooding
The Error: Trying to optimize a home page for all possible keywords. For example, you will often see tags loaded with 12-plus keywords. Here a webmaster is attempting to squeeze in all his or her keywords on the home page. A classic example of a little know-how being a dangerous thing!
What generally happens is not one of the 12-plus words ever reach a high ranking because individually they can never get the density or repetitions needed in order to rank highly. This is especially the case for popular terms. I laugh when I see spammers hiding loads of keywords in long lists, knowing that rather than improving their ranking they just make it worse! Less, can mean a lot more when it comes to search engine optimization in this respect.
The Solution: Focus your home page for a maximum of three of your top keywords. If you have a particularly competitive field, then make that just one or two keywords. Concentrate on just those keywords on your home page and, of course, in your title tags.
On my home page, I concentrates on three keyword phrases that do very well in German searches (where my business is based): “Internet Marketing,” “Web Promotion,” and “Search Engine Optimization.” A newbie would have added more keywords to the title tag and would have tried to optimize the home page for all the terms rather than spreading them throughout the site as I have done.
Summary: Focus on your top three keywords (hopefully researched properly) for your home page, keep them to a maximum of three. If you are really in a niche market with little competition, it is okay to go up to four or five. Try to keep your title tag to less than seven words and make sure your text copy uses the three terms at least three times each. Don’t forget every page is a potential entry page from search engines, so there is no need to cram everything in on your home page.
Mistake 2. Header Area Duplication
The Error: It is human nature to be a bit lazy when developing a website. One of the most common, yet devastating for search engine traffic, mistakes is when a webmaster uses “save as” to work on a new content page but forgets to change the non-visible header area of a page in Dreamweaver or whatever content management system being used.
I think we’ve all seen these sites. A whole site has something like “widgets-for-sale.com” in the title on every page: the meta tags are identical on every page. Only the visible content is different. Rarely, however, do separate pages have exactly the same theme or content. Every page can be optimized for different keywords whether major or minor and can be an entry point to your site from a search engine. It is such a waste and almost makes me cry when I see great sites using mydomain.com for a title on every page.
The Solution: When developing a site, stick to a pattern. I will normally do the content first but I always make sure the last thing I do before moving on to a new content page is to make sure I have not only the content optimized, but the area as well. You will not find an identical title tag on my whole website, or meta description for that matter. Never forget that each page is an entry page and optimize each one to the best of your ability.
Summary: Never repeat titles or meta descriptions in a website. Treat each page as if it were the most important and optimize it thoroughly. Don’t be tempted to leave the head area without optimization.
Mistake 3. Unnecessary Framesets
The Error: It is now rare that I will see a framed website and believe that the use of frames in any way enhances the site or that it is a practical necessity for a webmaster. It isn’t so much that framed sites generally rank lower, it is that few webmasters know how to correctly optimize them. This might give you an idea of the scale of the problem. Click on this link.
The majority of those 536,000 websites require search engine optimization. Not many of them are going to rank in the top 10 of anywhere. Just to have “browser+does+not+support+frames” in your noframe tag is a great way to never get your website found on a search engine.
The Solution: Treat the noframe tag content as if it were a text version of your home page and optimize it as you would a normal website. Very important: Also link to your framed pages from your noframe area. For your framed pages, consider JavaScript that will call the frame set should it be found orphaned in a search engine. Normally, framed pages without the frameset mean no navigation and are not displayed as was initially intended. The following code placed in all framed pages is one solution and works on the majority of browsers…
There are more complex and better solutions, which really wouldn’t fit in the space I have here. Try NetMechanic for a more complete solution.
Also be aware that you can achieve what a frameset does through the use of cascading style sheets (CSS) layer positioning, iframes and other methods. Only use frames if you really, really have to.
Summary: If you must use frames, make sure you optimize them well. Use the noframe tag properly, and thoroughly link to framed pages. On your framed pages, use JavaScript to prevent them being called without the frameset.
Mistake 4. Splash / Flash Sites
The Error: I often see poorly ranked sites that visually contain a lot of text, but the text itself is not of the font variety but graphic. Great eye candy, but forget a high ranking and search engine traffic if that is the only text on a page. I would say at least half my clients used to suffer from overdoing graphic text. The main webmaster culprits for this are (surprise, surprise) adult sites, and also those targeting young markets where it is believed lots of graphics and eye candy is what impresses and sells (games console websites, games software sites, etc.).
Of course the worst of all has to be the Flash websites that offer no pure html alternative and the source code looks like the example I give in my search engine optimization for flash tutorial page.
The Solution: Integrate normal text where you can. You can make text and text links look great with a bit of CSS formatting know-how. You do not need graphic text to make text look attractive nowadays. At the very least, do not make your pages all graphic text. Leave something for the search engine spiders to find and index. This also applies to Flash sites. Rarely does everything have to be a flash object. You can quite often have text surrounding a Flash object without any negative effects.
Summary: Web pages that contain no normal text, or very little text, simply will not rank highly unless there is a very strong link campaign running. Mix graphics and objects with text. It is really this simple. Remember: No text = No ranking.
Mistake 5. Keywords Not Researched
The Error: Unfortunately, too many webmasters do not really bother using any of several keyword research tools � there are about four or five of them. Most, like the Overture keyword research tool, are free. Many webmasters don’t think they need to use them as they know what their site is about and don’t need to research the top keywords. This is a big mistake. Another big mistake is either optimizing for too niche or too obscure a search term, or going the other way and going for a very broad term. You either get too little traffic because you optimized for terms that are rarely searched for, or you go for the terms with millions of competing pages but you don’t yet have the experience or incoming links (one element of off-site optimization) to be able to compete.
The Solution: The balance is normally achieved through two- or three-word phrases in competitive areas. These are best found by cross-referencing the several keyword research databases to be found on my online tools page and through a fair bit of lateral thinking.
Summary: Don’t guess your best keywords. Know them through taking the time to use the free tools out there.
Author:
Alan Webb of ABAKUS Internet Marketing
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
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
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.
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.
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
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.
