Using Keywords as Part of Your Internet Marketing Strategy

Whether your internet marketing strategy utilizes websites, blogs, article marketing or press releases correctly using keywords is an absolute must.

Anyone involved in an online business will tell you their marketing efforts are dramatically reduced if they haven't optimized their published content correctly with the right keywords.

Keyword optimization is a very integral component of an effective online marketing strategy.

The proper keyword optimization of content helps anyone searching for information like yours to easily find it. Done correctly and you'll be rewarded with a higher ranking in the search results. The manner in which you use keywords within your content will make or break you in the search engine rankings. A low search engine ranking will make you virtually invisible to anyone searching for content like yours.

Search engines rely heavily on keywords to accurately identify and rank sites found on the internet for people searching for the content that these sites contain. Under or over utilizing keywords will only hurt the ranking of the site giving it a very weak showing in any search results.

There are 3 areas of focus you'll need to be concerned with to correctly utilize keywords within your content. By doing so you'll gain the favor of the search engines and also quite a bit more traffic to your site.

Let's discuss these 3 important areas of keyword optimization below:

ACCURACY

Any keywords you select to use should be relevant to the content itself. Search engines are very strict about this and will bury you in the search results if they feel your keyword selection doesn't reflect the content. When people search keywords on the internet they're expecting to find information directly related to the words they are searching on. Search engines for their part want to insure that people using their search engine find what it is they're looking for.

POSITIONING

Another factor to be considered when using keywords is the placement of these words within the content itself. For instance it is recommended to use keywords in the title of your content when you can. Even within the title it is better to place the selected word or phrase at the title beginning if at all possible. Again you must remember that these keywords must accurately describe, reflect, or relate to the content within.

Another consideration is to place your primary keyword at the beginning and the end of the body of content you're performing the keyword optimization on. Additional theme keywords should be used conservatively thru out the content when their use makes grammatical sense.

FREQUENCY

Here's an area where some people may have a tendency to get carried away. In an attempt to gain the attention of search engines some may overuse their selected keywords throughout the content. Keyword 'stuffing' as this is known is frowned upon by search engines as a deliberate attempt to gain higher search rankings. Search engines discourage this by penalizing you with a lower search engine ranking.

Opinions vary on what is the right percentage of keywords to use within the content that will maximize your optimization efforts while avoiding penalties. Generally any keyword usage between 2 and 5 percent of the total body of content is considered safe. A free keyword density tool you can use online to check your content can be found at live-keyword-analysis.

Always remember to use your selected words in a natural way within the body of your content since you're writing for the reader and not the search engine. So before you hit the 'submit' bottom proof-read your work to ensure it reads like a human wrote it and not some cyborg.

Proper keyword placement and utilization is almost always at the core of any successful internet marketing strategy. Thru the correct implementation of this online marketing technique you will increase your search rankings thereby boosting the awareness of your online presence. Whatever your reasons for being online may be, if you're looking to boost your traffic this is one of the most effective and fundamental ways to achieve that!

About the Author
TJ Philpott is an author and Internet entrepreneur based out of North Carolina. For additional online success tips and a free guide that demonstrates how to find both profitable markets and products visit: http://blogbrawn.com.

Search Engine Optimization And Search Engine Crawlers

There is a lot to learn when it comes to online or internet marketing and search engine optimization. That is why a lot of people hire SEO consultants to worry about their internet marketing for them.

However, if you do not want to have to pay SEO experts to help you with the marketing of your website, then you may want to think about doing it yourself! It's not that hard, it just takes some reading on the internet from trusted sources. Really, most of the SEO services that are provided online are built around one thing, and that is search engine crawlers.

Today we are going to talk more about search engine crawlers, and what they do. Soon you will find out that pretty much everything that you do, as far as search engine optimization goes, is to make these little crawlers happy. It is no longer as easy as a quick search engine submission and your website becomes popular.

As you may be able to guess by the name, these search engine crawlers are little bots that roam around the internet looking for new websites and ranking them based on an algorithm. When they come across a new website, they rank it in different ways, taking many things in to consideration. These ranks help to determine where the site is going to end up in a search done on a search engine.

The first thing that you have to do for these crawlers is to get noticed by them, and that is the hardest part of SEO, or at least that is what SEO consultants want you to think! The truth of the matter is, you can get your website noticed by simply visiting different popular search engines and adding your URL to their submission forms.

You also must get links from other web sites pointing to your web site to obtain link popularity and credibility with the search engines. This way the crawlers will know where your site is at, and find it a lot quicker. They will also consider it a relevant source of information if other sites link to you.

After that, it's all about marketing your web site on the internet through search engine optimization techniques. These little crawlers are programmed to look for certain things on your web site, these are things that SEO experts study and have an understanding for.

Using the services of SEO Consultants to help in your marketing, however they can be very costly, so you should hire a service provider that is talented and can provide a portfolio to ensure you get quality work.

Before hiring someone to work on your web site you should make sure they use ethical search optimization and marketing tactics and also make sure that they can provide results.

The first thing that crawlers look for is, of course, keywords.

Keywords in your web sites content and keywords in the links pointing to your site. When it comes to search engine optimization, use keywords wisely. Don't over-saturate your web site with keywords because you can get docked as a spammer. These keywords have to be worked into the web page and not just listed there. You should integrate them in to your content, page titles, meta tags and URL. Also, it will help the marketing of your web site if you work them into the titles of your web page as well.

Also make sure that your main page headings are bigger than that of your normal font so the crawlers can easily pick out what the main focus of your page is.

SEO consultants also worry about how many links there are out there that point back to your website. The more links, the better. However they must also be quality links from popular sites that are credible with the search engines. That is why SEO experts are always looking for different places where they can post links to your website. While crawlers are looking around, if they come across links to your website, then that helps to boost your ranking online.

As you can see, SEO services are very helpful, but if you can learn how to do online marketing by yourself, you don't need to hire anyone.

About the Author
Joel McLaughlin - DataFlurry offers Affordable Search Engine Optimization & Marketing. We are a talented Phoenix Internet Marketing, Search Advertising Online Agency.

Online Marketing to Prospects: 6 Secrets to Ensure Your Prospect Well Never Runs Dry

Many service business owners, once they become busy working with current clients, no longer make the time to market their businesses. It's only when business has dropped off (and the well is starting to run dry) that they frantically begin marketing their businesses again, anxious to fill in the gaps. When they speak to prospective clients, the prospects can hear the desperation in their voice and are thus unlikely to hire them. Frustrated by rejection, the business owner is off again, desperately seeking more clients. Does this describe your marketing pattern? If so, you're not alone.

More than 50% of service business owners experience this feast or famine scenario. What if you could create an environment so that the well never ran dry and would permit you to continuously market and promote your business? There is another way to keep yourself supplied with an eagerly waiting list of prospects with whom you can work when you have the time and space in your business. Often referred to as "drip marketing," this strategy is defined by a deliberate, planned and sequenced system of deploying marketing messages over a period of time. In many cases, drip marketing is conducted through direct mail, but the Internet entrepreneur can create her own drip marketing campaign as well.

Here are 6 secrets you can use to create your online drip marketing campaign and keep prospects in your pipeline:

1. Client attraction device. The best way to get prospects into your marketing funnel is to give away something that would compel them to part with their name and email address and join your list. Often called an "ethical bribe", your client attraction device must answer a pressing problem experienced by your target market. You can format this information into an ebook, special report, ecourse, audio recording, video, or some combination of all of these.

2. Newsletter: Whether you choose to publish a hard copy newsletter that's directly mailed to your prospects or an email newsletter that is emailed on a regular schedule to your list, your newsletter is the best "stay in touch" device that you have. Regular publication of an email newsletter (weekly is most effective) will enable your prospects to get to know, like and trust you and have you be top of mind when they are ready to solve the pressing problems that fall within your line of expertise.

3. Blog. Business blogging has become more popular than ever. Blogs use RSS feed technology to immediate get new posts and updates out to your blog subscribers through a feed reader, Unlike ezines or traditional websites, search engines index blog posts almost immediately, which help you generate traffic to your website. You need to post 2-3 times per week to keep your readers interested and coming back.

4. Article marketing. One of the best ways to generate traffic to your site or to your blog is to regular write and publish high quality articles that demonstrate your expertise. In addition to placing these articles on your website and blog, you'll want to get them distributed throughout the Internet on high traffic article directories. Ezine publishers, reporters, print media editors, and bloggers all frequent article directories in search of quality content to present to their readers.

5. Social networking. If you don't yet have accounts on the two most popular social networking platforms, Facebook and Twitter, today is the day to hop on board. Business owners are getting prospects on their lists and making sales every day to people they met exclusively through social networking. Best of all, these strategies are free of charge!

6. Public speaking/teleclasses. What better way to wow prospects than for them to hear you speak at an organizational meeting or on a teleclass? Speaking locally to groups comprised of your target market or holding teleclasses are very effective ways to build your list and increase the number of prospective clients. Design a signature speech or teleseminar that demonstrates your knowledge and expertise without giving away the store (focus on the what and the why but not the how) that compels your listeners to visit your website or request your client attraction device and get on your list.

Don't become overwhelmed and try all of these strategies at once. Pick one that you find appealing and work at it for 3 months. If you discover that you don't enjoy it or that it's not working for you, try another one. Continue to slowly add more drip marketing strategies until the process is firmly ingrained in your day-to-day business practices. Ultimately, you'll create a list of prospects who are ready, waiting, and eager to hire you. Copyright (c) 2008 OnlineBizU.com


About this author
Online Business Manager and Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals learn how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise on the Internet, and get more clients online. To claim your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, visit her site at http://www.OnlineBizU.com . Ask Donna an Internet Marketing question at http://www.AskDonnaGunter.com

Article Marketing Secrets and SEO Techniques

You won't find many article marketing secrets being given away online, because very few people properly understand the power of this internet marketing tool. It is more than simply a way of getting links back to your website, but a very powerful tool that if used properly can increase your sales to another level.

If you are provided with 'secrets' then they are well known by almost everybody. I will admit that even the 'secrets' I am about to divulge are not secrets at all, but well known article marketing techniques. However, what I will also say is that the three provided here are neither appreciated nor used by all of even those that profess to be marketing 'gurus'.

I know that because I have purchased many of their books and they don't suggest what I suggest: I know my systems work and can prove it through my website listings. However I must stop because I am becoming dangerously close to advertising, but I have done so as to indicate about the maximum you can do on article directories to advertise yourself: and that is your free tip. Do not advertise in your articles if they are intended for submission. Leave that for your 'author's resource box'.



The most common purpose for people writing articles and offering them to directories for publication is to get those all-important back links from the directories. However, just stand back a bit and think why the directories are in existence. It is not for your benefit. It is not to provide you with a free means of improving your Google PageRank, but they exist to make money. And why not? Otherwise there would be no point in anybody offering an article directory to all of these online writers.

You don't pay to have your articles published on the directories, so what is their purpose? How do these people make money? Two ways in fact: the first is by means of Adsense. If you do a search for an article on a specific topic, you will certainly find one because articles have been written on every topic on the planet. On the same page you will find Adsense ads. The reason for this is obvious and also psychological.

It is because most articles are not worth reading, and visitors generally have a quick look at them before leaving the directory site to seek proper information on their topic or niche. That is when they are liable to click on the Adsense ads and make money for the directory owner. That is added to the second way they make money which is from payment for speeding up the listing of the articles. You've seen the thing: get listed in several weeks or pay a few dollars for an instant listing. Like most other serious marketers, I pay.

Whichever means they use, article directories realize that it is to their advantage to get high search engine listings for as many articles as possible. They then have their sites visited by as many people as possible, and also have writers use them. That provides them with more visitors to click the Adsense ads and also as an inducement to other budding authors who might pay for listings. I don't pay for a listing in a site that never has my articles in Google.

Here are three secrets or tips, that you can use in your own article marketing campaigns:

Secret #1 is that if you write the article on a topic related to the content of a page on your website, then the directory (and by that I mean the owner, but let's call it 'the directory' for simplicity) will do all the SEO work and get your article listed so as to get as many visitors as possible. That earns them money. What that means to you is that you get free SEO done on your article.

Why do you think that your articles have to be of a minimum length and of a certain standard? To be listed by search engines, especially Google, that's why. You can use this information to your advantage, but your articles must be at least 500 words. Your resource URL must be one related to the article, and if you make it your blog, that is even better. Place links on your blog to all your other relevant online ventures.

Secret #2 is not really a secret as a submission technique. When you have finished writing your article save it and submit it as a text file. Most people write using Microsoft word, or some other word processing software that uses their own formating code embedded in the article. You don't see it, but the search engines do and it could harm the listing of the directory web page containing your article.

Secret #3 is that many sites offer two or three links in the author's resource. That allows you not only to present links to two or three pages on your website, but also that these links need not all be from the same site. You could provide a link to a page relating to the article (as you always should), one to one of your other websites or Squidoo lens, and a third to your blog URL. Never ignore these possibilities. Open up your mind.

There are several more article marketing secrets that I could give you but that would render this article far too long. You might also require some elementary HTML instruction to provide you with a working knowledge: HTML, or hyptertext mark-up language, is not really a computer language but a means of linking text to files, and it can also be used to format text, graphics and tables on websites and any other medium that can read HTML and transfer it to the intended visual formating.

However, the above secrets are sufficient allow you to use them as SEO techniques that will improve your chances of a high search engine listing. Learn them and use them, and even if you think that they seem fairly elementary I bet my bottom dollar that nobody is using all of them in their article marketing campaigns, because most people are still thinking in mono as far as article marketing is concerned and have to reach the analogue stereo age let alone digital.

Get modern and look farther than you can see, or the internet kids will soon gobble you up for breakfast! Yesterday's techniques are today's tomorrow.

About the Author
If you are interested in more of Pete's article marketing secrets, and some of the best are to come, then visit his Squidoo lens at SEOcious or perhaps his blog at My SEO Blog where you will find more about his personal SEO philosophy. Pete suggests them in the above order for some reason. Me? I don't care! I just want more ice cream.

Successful Internet Marketing Without Search Engines

by Bill Platt

Believe me or not, a business can survive and thrive on the Internet without good search engine placement. That does not mean that a Webmaster should not strive to get good rankings in the search engines, but it does mean that a Webmaster should not throw his or her entire advertising budget towards search engine optimization (SEO).

The SEO guys are rolling in their Ferrari's as you read this. I would have said that the SEO guys are rolling their graves, but they are not dead, yet.

There Can Be Only Ten

How many web pages will be listed on page one of the search results at Google? How about on Yahoo or MSN? That is right; there can be only ten web pages listed on page one of the search results.

According to the Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org), there are currently 85 billion web pages on the Internet. But, if you have ever used the Wayback Machine at the Internet Archive, then you know as I know that they have not archived everything that is out there, so that 85-billion number is actually smaller than the real number of existing web pages.

With only ten listings on page one of the search results, there are going to be a lot of disappointed people in the world. They cannot all be on page one of the search results.

First Things First

Search engine optimization is an expensive undertaking, so it should never be taken lightly. I talk to people everyday who are building their first website for the very first time. These folks, bless their hearts, know just enough about Internet marketing to blow their savings on a website that may or may not deliver a profit to them.

There are steps that people should take when they start their website, and SEO is not one of those first steps.

Here is a checklist of steps that the new Webmaster should use in the development of his or her website:

Step One: Select the products or services that the website will sell.

Step Two: Determine if there is a market for what will be sold.

Step Three: Analyze the competition and determine the competition's weaknesses. Competition is about building a better mousetrap or reaching customers that another might be under serving.

Step Four: Build the website to sell the chosen products or services. Sales conversion is the most important element in any successful business model.

Step Five: Run test advertising to figure out what will generate traffic to your website, and more importantly, to figure out what one needs to do in order to sell goods and services.

Testing And Tracking Advertising Results Is Essential

I sold advertising in my newsletter to a guy one time. He paid a nice fee to have his advertisement run in my newsletter, but he did not invest any money in writing or testing his ad first. The advertisement itself was written very badly.

I asked him if he would like to tweak his advertisement before I ran it in my newsletter. He said he did not care what the ad looked like. He just needed me to run his ad.

I offered to rewrite his ad for him to enhance his chances of getting traffic from my newsletter. He agreed and I did.

As the newsletters I subscribed to began rolling in the following week, I noticed his bad advertisement ran in dozens of those newsletters.

I asked him later his results, and he said he had spent $10,000 running that advertisement and closed four sales at $25 each. He spent $10,000 to make $100. Needless to say, his website closed down just a couple months later.

The problem was clearly his ad, but his website may have contributed to his lack of sales conversion.

Starting Small Serves A Very Real Purpose

As we saw with the guy who spent ten grand to make $100, starting small would have been beneficial. It is all a matter of figuring out how to get traffic to one's website and more importantly, how to convert traffic to sales.

One should start small with his or her advertising to find the ad formula that will actually deliver traffic to the website. Once the traffic is coming to the website, the webmaster needs to tweak his or her sales copy to make sure that the copy will close enough sales to justify the expense of a large advertising run.

SEO should be treated in the same way. By using Pay-Per-Click advertising (PPC), a webmaster can get an idea as to which keyword phrases will actually generate traffic to a website, and with the right analytical software, the Webmaster can determine which keyword phrases generate clicks that will lead to a sale.

Google Analytics (http://www.google.com/urlnalytics/) is a good program to help webmasters figure this out and it is free, but it has its shortcomings.

Popular paid programs include:

> http://www.opentracker.net

> http://www.keytrail.com

Another two-dozen web analytics applications are reviewed here: http://www.cumbrowski.com/CarstenC/internetmarketing_webanalytics.asp

SEO campaigns should never be undertaken until one knows exactly which keywords will actually generate sales for a website. To do otherwise, one runs the risk of optimizing a website for keywords that will not help the website convert traffic to sales.

Advertising Lessons Learned

While testing your advertising and your PPC advertising, a few very important lessons were learned.

First, you learned how to tap into the Law Of Attraction to bring people to your website.

You have learned what keywords you should target, if you decide to optimize your website.

You have learned how to track your successes and your failures with your website analytical software.

And finally, you have learned to tweak your website for the purpose of increasing your sales conversion.

All are very important lessons, because each will contribute to how much money can be earned from a website.

Building Links Is Not About PageRank

If you remember, the title of this article is, "Internet Marketing Without Search Engines." That should imply that this article is not about getting good rankings in Google. By extension, the title should also imply that what I am telling you has "nothing" to do with PageRank.

The fact is that every person using the Internet is clicking on links to take them from one website to another. Some links are in emails; others are in paid adverts on websites, or in informational web pages. Even social bookmarking websites have links to other web pages.

Building links to your website is about getting your sales message, with its accompanying link, in front of the people most likely to buy what you are selling, in a way that encourages your potential customer to click your link and visit your website.

Once you understand who your customers are and where you might be able to reach them, then you will know what steps you need to take to get your link within reach of their mouse.

You may need to buy advertising at that location. You might be able to write an article to give to them, in exchange for a link to your website. You might be able to participate in the website's forums and leave a breadcrumb trail of links for your potential clients to find. You can even create social bookmarks that will point to your website or to a page that points to your website.

The goal of linking is to give your potential customers more ways for them to find your website.

An Ironic Twist To This Tale

Although this article is about thriving on the Internet without relying on search engines, any person who undertakes linking for the sake of attracting customers will find their websites climbing in the search engine results, due to all of those links on targeted and relevant websites pointing to their own website.

Imagine that --- a link that will attract and deliver potential customers to a website AND influence how well a website might rank in the search engines


About this author
Bill Platt has been writing reprint articles for the promotion of his websites since 1999, and now he has written an ebook to share what he has learned. His book is called, “Article Marketing For Traffic, Sales and Profit”. Included in the book are many examples and the Five Essential Elements Of Creating A Successful Article. To learn more about Bill's business, visit: http://www.thephantomwriters.com

Successful Internet Marketing Without Search Engines

By Bill Platt

Believe me or not, a business can survive and thrive on the Internet without good search engine placement. That does not mean that a Webmaster should not strive to get good rankings in the search engines, but it does mean that a Webmaster should not throw his or her entire advertising budget towards search engine optimization (SEO).

The SEO guys are rolling in their Ferrari's as you read this. I would have said that the SEO guys are rolling their graves, but they are not dead, yet.
The Web's Most Comprehensive News Source!

There Can Be Only Ten

How many web pages will be listed on page one of the search results at Google? How about on Yahoo or MSN? That is right; there can be only ten web pages listed on page one of the search results.

According to the Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org), there are currently 85 billion web pages on the Internet. But, if you have ever used the Wayback Machine at the Internet Archive, then you know as I know that they have not archived everything that is out there, so that 85-billion number is actually smaller than the real number of existing web pages.

With only ten listings on page one of the search results, there are going to be a lot of disappointed people in the world. They cannot all be on page one of the search results.

First Things First

Search engine optimization is an expensive undertaking, so it shouldn't be taken lightly. I talk to people everyday who are building their first website for the very first time. These folks, bless their hearts, know just enough about Internet marketing to blow their savings on a website that may or may not deliver a profít to them.

There are steps that people should take when they start their website, and SEO is not one of those first steps.

Here is a checklist of steps that the new Webmaster should use in the development of his or her website:

Step One: Select the products or services that the website will sell.

Step Two: Determine if there is a market for what will be sold.Take Submission Monster for a Test Drive!

Step Three: Analyze the competition and determine the competition's weaknesses. Competition is about building a better mousetrap or reaching customers that another might be under serving.

Step Four: Build the website to sell the chosen products or services. Sales conversion is the most important element in any successful business model.

Step Five: Run test advertising to figure out what will generate traffic to your website, and more importantly, to figure out what one needs to do in order to sell goods and services.

Testing And Tracking Advertising Results Is Essential

I once sold advertising in my newsletter to a guy who paid a nice fee to have his advertisement run in my newsletter, but he did not invest any money in writing or testing his ad first. The advertisement itself was written very badly.

I asked him if he would like to tweak his advertisement before I ran it in my newsletter. He said he did not care what the ad looked like. He just needed me to run his ad.

I offered to rewrite his ad for him to enhance his chances of getting traffic from my newsletter. He agreed and I did.

As the newsletters I subscribed to began rolling in the following week, I noticed his bad advertisement ran in dozens of those newsletters.

I asked him later about his results, and he said he had spent $10,000 running that advertisement and closed four sales at $25 each. He spent $10,000 to make one hundred dollars. Needless to say, his website closed down just a couple months later.
Forget Expensive PPC Advertising - There is an Alternative!

The problem was clearly his ad, but his website may have contributed to his lack of sales conversion.

Starting Small Serves A Very Real Purpose

As we saw with the guy who spent ten grand to make one hundred, starting small would have been beneficial. It is all a matter of figuring out how to get traffic to one's website and more importantly, how to convert traffic to sales.

One should start small with his or her advertising to find the ad formula that will actually deliver traffic to the website. Once the traffic is coming to the website, the webmaster needs to tweak his or her sales copy to make sure that the copy will close enough sales to justify the expense of a large advertising run.

SEO should be treated in the same way. By using Pay-Per-Click advertising (PPC), a webmaster can get an idea as to which keyword phrases will actually generate traffic to a website, and with the right analytical software, the Webmaster can determine which keyword phrases generate clicks that will lead to a sale.

Google Analytics is a good program to help webmasters figure this out and it is free, but it has its shortcomings.

Popular paid programs include:

* OpenTracker.net
* KeyTrail.com

Another two-dozen web analytics applications are reviewed at Cumbrowski.com .

SEO campaigns shouldn't be undertaken until one knows exactly which keywords will actually generate sales for a website. To do otherwise, one runs the risk of optimizing a website for keywords that will not help the website convert traffic to sales.

Advertising Lessons Learned

While testing your advertising and your PPC advertising, a few very important lessons can be learned.

First, you learn how to tap into the Law Of Attraction to bring people to your website.

You learn what keywords you should target, if you decide to optimize your website.

You learn how to track your successes and your failures with your website analytical software.

And finally, you learn to tweak your website for the purpose of increasing your sales conversion.

All are very important lessons, because each will contribute to how much money can be earned from a website.

Building Links Is Not About PageRank

If you remember, the title of this article is, "Internet Marketing Without Search Engines." That should imply that this article is not about getting good rankings in Google. By extension, the title should also imply that what I am telling you has "nothing" to do with PageRank.

The fact is that every person using the Internet is clicking on links to take them from one website to another. Some links are in emails; others are in paid adverts on websites, or in informational web pages. Even social bookmarking websites have links to other web pages.

Building links to your website is about getting your sales message, with its accompanying link, in front of the people most likely to buy what you are selling, in a way that encourages your potential customer to click your link and visit your website.

Once you understand who your customers are and where you might be able to reach them, then you will know what steps you need to take to get your link within reach of their mouse.

You may need to buy advertising at that location. You might be able to write an article to give to them, in exchange for a link to your website. You might be able to participate in the website's forums and leave a breadcrumb trail of links for your potential clients to find. You can even create social bookmarks that will point to your website or to a page that points to your website.

The goal of linking is to give your potential customers more ways for them to find your website.

An Ironic Twist To This Tale

Although this article is about thriving on the Internet without relying on search engines, any person who undertakes linking for the sake of attracting customers will find their websites climbing in the search engine results, due to all of those links on targeted and relevant websites pointing to their own website.

Imagine that --- a link that will attract and deliver potential customers to a website AND influence how well a website might rank in the search engines.

About The Author
Bill Platt has been writing reprint articles for the promotíon of his websites since 1999, and now he has written an ebook to share what he has learned. His book is called, "Article Marketing For Traffic, Sales and Profit". Included in the book are many examples and the Five Essential Elements Of Creating A Successful Article. To learn more about Bill's business, visit thePhantomWriters.com.

P/S: HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008!

Web-Video Campaign Creation 101

By Jerry Bader

Everyone knows what television commercials are, how long they are, and what the various formats and styles consist of, ranging from the hard-sell detergent ads to the soft-sell feel-good stuff.

Most people, especially those addicted to late night television also recognize the standard infomercial format with the familiar over-enthusiastic host, obnoxious pitchman, the ebullient paid shills, and the fabricated, fantastical demonstrations. And of course, let's not forget the ever-present "But wait there's more! Call now and get even more..." There are many ways to effectively deliver a marketing message and this is not one of them.

What's a Web-video Commercial Anyway?

Maybe it's just us but I'm finding more and more clients open to the idea that Web-commercials need to be something different, something entertaining, something informative, and most of all something memorable. It isn't about creating something viral for the sake of being viral but rather something that is worth the time and effort to sit through.

If you start your video project with a television mindset, you are going to waste a lot of money on bad ideas and expensive production costs that add nothing to the delivery of a memorable message.

Big production costs may enhance the reputation of the video producer or feed the ego of the executive suite but they rarely sell more stuff. And worst of all elaborate productions generally cause the client to cut back on the number of videos created for the campaign. One video doesn’t have the same lasting impact as a series of videos with a similar theme and message. To use poker legend Scotty Nguyen's favorite expression, "It's about the campaign, baby!"

So without further preamble here is Web-Video Campaign Creation 101.

Web-Video Campaign Creation 101 - The Plan

1 Define Focus

Your marketing message must be focused on a single idea. If you try to cram everything you can do, or provide, into one video presentation all you are doing is diluting your core marketing message, the element that makes you different and superior to your competition - you are superior to your competition, aren't you?

One reason some companies have such difficulty with this concept is that they have been trained to focus on the old feature-benefit rationale. This is a game that I guarantëe you will loose unless you are the biggest, best financed, and most ruthless cutthroat company in your industry. Maybe that describes you and your business, but that's unlikely.

For any small or medium-sized company that thinks this is the path to success, read Sergio Zyman's book, "The End of Marketing As We Know It". Mr. Zyman is the former Chief Marketing Officer of the Coca-Cola Company and the guy responsible for New Coke. It's not that Mr. Zyman doesn't know what he's talking about but rather, there is only one Coca-Cola and I dare say most businesses don't fall into the same category. Unless you're a multinational corporation, trying to run your company like one is a prescription for disaster.

So, if you shouldn't be reciting a bunch of facts and features, what should you be focusing on: emotional value-add. It's the key to hitting a nerve in your audience's psyche. Focus your marketing on the psychological advantage you provide, and your competition will be left in the dust.

2 Build A BME Structure

If you want viewers to remember what you are saying and hopefully respond, then your videos have to tell a story that paints a picture in the viewers mind that they'll nevër forget. Without beating a dead horse, you just can't throw up an animation with a bunch of bulleted points or a series of stock royalty-free images that have been used more times than the ladies in the local red-light district and expect it to be effective.

In order to effectively deliver your core marketing message you must structure your videos around the BME story format. Simply put, a story must have a beginning, middle, and end.

This is not rocket science, but nevertheless it is a simple method that seems to elude a lot of entrepreneurs and business managers. Your story must begin with a problem that you can solve; proceed to a level of frustration or exasperation; and end with a solution; a beginning, a middle, and an end. Now that wasn't so hard, was it?

3 Create Signature Personality

Why do you watch certain programs on television and not others. Sure certain genres appeal to some and not others, but the success of any television series is based on the connection that the audience has with certain characters. If you like the characters on 'CSI' (Las Vegas) I dare say the characters on 'CSI Miami' are a complete turn-off and perhaps vice versa.

The point is your brand, whether represented by your company or by a particular product, must have a defined personality. That personality like the difference between the Las Vegas and Miami CSIs is sure to generate both positive and negative reaction, and that is good.

If you think you should only generate positive reactions from your marketing, then you will nevër be a successful marketer because you'll nevër say anything memorable or interesting. Some people absolutely hate David Caruso but that doesn't stop the people who like him to make his show a consistent top ten ratings performer.

4 Create Dialogue that Resonates

If you want a web-video marketing campaign produced for an affordable production budget, you have get past the old bromide followed by the traditional movie and television industry - show it, don't tell.

First of all, showing is always more expensive than telling and it doesn't have the nuance and sophistication of communicating through the face and voice of a real human being. With apologies to all aspiring John Woo's, words have meaning, speech has impact, people sell product. We are making a commercial, not a feature film or television show. There are similarities but there are also differences.

The script is the critical element in making your point, delivering your message and creating that elusive brand personality we've talked about.

5 Add Appropriate Memory Prompts

So now that we have our focused psychological value-add, our story structured with a beginning, middle, and end, our signature personality, and a dialog scripted to present it all, we now need a few enhancements.

A successful web-video campaign is definitely not a PowerPoint presentation ported to video nor does it have to be one of those overly produced television ads the car companies like. Delivering the message is all about connecting with your audience, that is why the script and choice of presenter is critical, which brings me to the point of using the company president or sales manager as spokesperson - forget it. It is a bad idea, a very bad idea. First of all your sales manager will probably be working for the competition in a couple of months and other than the president's spouse, no one really wants to listen to, or look at him or her let alone be convinced of anything they have to say. Actors and voice-over talent know how to look, and how to deliver a line, that's what they do.

Depending on what the particular scenario being presented is, there are certain techniques that can help a campaign connect with its audience.

Music can be a major factor in enhancing memory retention but only if it is used properly. The caveat that I expressed for royalty free imagery applies to royalty free music. One of my favorite Web-campaigns is the Wayspa.com Christmas gift series. This series of video commercials is extraordinarily funny and I think effective, but its tagline incorporates the infamous "F-word" and that will definitely turn some people off. The music that they used as their signature theme recently cropped up on a new Christmas ad campaign for a local jewelry retail chain. As I was watching this commercial play twelve times during the evening, all I could think of was the Wayspa.com tagline. Not exactly what the nice middle-of-the-road, don't offend anybody retailer was trying to achieve.

Music has an enormous psychological effect on the viewer, it provides mood, enhances personality, and if scored to the presentation can stress certain key points that get embedded in the viewers memory because of the musical emphasis.

Another key use of music is as a signature logo-tag, like the familiar Intel tag that accompanies every appearance of their logo or the famous three-note NBC sound-tag.

Voice-overs are another way to create character, personality, and memory enhancement within a video presentation. Cutaways of appropriate images or montages, or on-screen text prompts are also effective ways of enhancing the memory retention of a presentation. All of these techniques enhance and emphasize if used properly, but if they are misused as is so often the case, they get remembered for all the wrong reasons.

6 Be Bold or Save Your Money

This is the Web we are talking about, an environment where it is critical to standout if you expect to get heard, let alone make an impact. You can not, I repeat you can not, be coy. Be bold or forget it. Unless you are some deep-pocketed multinational with more dough and market share than ideas then you have to make a statement, clearly and decisively. It is the only way, if you want to be successful on the Web.

Being bold may seem like it's alienating some potential customers, but what it is really doing is qualifying leads.

7 Create Campaigns Not Ads

How do you know if you've come up with a good concept that will make an effective Web-marketing advertisement or commercial? If the concept 'has legs' meaning that you can roll that idea out into a minimum of at least six similar but different presentations then you know you've got something.

It is taken for granted that everyone understands that you can't just present an advertisement once and expect it to be successful. It should also be understood that you have to present your concept in varying configurations in order to maximize its ability to be remembered and to penetrate the Web's clutter, not to mention the need for the investment to be cost effective.

After all, the hardest part of developing a marketing campaign is to come up with one that has legs. Why waste a great idea on a one-shot effort, when you should be milking it for all it's worth.

The End

So there you have Web-Video Campaign Creation 101: seven simple steps that will give you a shot at having an effective marketing campaign.


About The Author
Jerry Bader is Senior Partner at MRPwebmedia, a website design firm that specializes in Web-audio and Web-video. Visit http://www.mrpwebmedia.com/ads,
http://www.136words.com/ and http://www.sonicpersonality.com/. Contact at info@mrpwebmedia.com or telephone (905) 764-1246.

Is Your Website an Asset Or a Liability?

By Nick Yorchak

Remember back in the good ol' days when having a website was something every company needed and wanted? Websites were the wave of the future, and the dream of transitioning to conducting business onlíne filled our heads with visions of a revolution in the way commerce was conducted. With a website, a company could reach clients and interact with potential customers on a global scale. A website was indicative of a company's technological prowess, symbolic of the desire to innovate and evolve with developments in the industry.

Today, this mindset has changed drastically. We all know that we need a website, but many of us think that simply having one is enough. In fact, there is research indicating that many firms with an online presence haven't touched their websites in years. They haven't spent any time improving functionality and appearance, and they have yet to consider the basics of website usability and the inherent potential of search engine optimization. Of course, we all recognize by now that having a website is an essential business asset, if it's done correctly. It's easy to see that if your site is an outdated eyesore, it becomes a liability that hurts you more than it helps you. Conversely, a well-designed site can make all the difference. It's the first place users go to research your products and services, serves as a lead generator, a CRM tool, and even to make purchases.

We've all heard the adage about first impressions, and it's no secret that they're the most important factor in the way people remember their first encounter with you or with your website. On one hand, a well-designed, user-friendly website will showcase your business and your brand, impressing clients. On the other hand, an outdated and otherwise bad website can hurt you far more than it can help you. Potential customers will eliminate you as a possible vendor after interacting with your brand and substandard website for only a few minutes.

I'll utilize a real estate analogy here to expand upon this thought. You'll impress guests when they arrive at your home if it's clean, well-kept, landscaped, painted, and overall welcoming. But, if you arrive at a home that's dilapidated and falling apart with chipped paint and an overgrown lawn, you'll think a lot of less of whoever lives there. Are they lazy slobs? Maybe. Or maybe they just haven't had time to take care of the property. Either way, your first impression is less than positive. We all try not to "judge a book by its cover," but in an online atmosphere, a company's website is their cover, the digital face they present to the world, so in that case you can't not judge the book by its cover. After all, that's all you have to go by.

So this must leave you wondering: Is my website an asset or a liability? By answering the following questíons, you can find out if it's time for an overhaul or just some simple changes. Or maybe your site doesn't need any work at all. Ready to find out?

Home Page
~Can visiting users tell immediately who you are and what you offer?
~Is your site organized in a clear fashion that promotes navigation?
~Is your home page an information destination or just a messy landing page?
~Does your home page give a good first impression that entices users to clickthrough your links?

Performance Issues
~Do your images, videos, and pages load quickly?
~Does your site utilize clean, un-bloated code?
~Does your site have a "search" function? If so, is it fast and useful?
~Have you performed quality assurance testing to ensure your site looks the same across different browsers?

Content Is King
~Is your content written clearly and persuasively? Does it speak to your target market?
~Have you included useful and relevant resources like case studies, white papers, articles, or links?
~Does your content effectively describe your products, services, and benefits?
~Is your content keyword focused to cater to users and search engines alike?

Links & Navigation
~First and foremost: Do all your links work?
~Are your links clearly marked?
~Do your links utilize descriptive and enticing anchor text?
~Is your navigation menu or framework consistent throughout your site?
~Does your navigation menu provide access to your entire site?

Critical Pages
~Is there a top-level page that describes your products and services?
~Do you have an "About Us" page to describe your company?
~Is the "Contact Us" page clear, informative, and thorough?
~Do you have a page where users can ask questíons or answer their own?
~Do you have a Testimonials section?
~Do you have a blog that you update frequently?
~Do you have social bookmarking buttons to take advantage of Web 2.0 technologies?

Usability
~Is your site organized so that information is easy to find?
~Do you have a site map that wireframes this organizational structure and links to all your pages?
~Is your site "user-friendly?"
~Is your type scannable, easy to read, and written for the web?
~Do you utilize bullets, headlines, and other stylistic elements to organize and present content?
~Do you have calls to action that prompt users to take desired actions?
~Are you using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to control the layout of the site?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
~Is your site search engine friendly?
~Have you optimized your site for specific and relevant keywords?
~Have you acquired a network of high-quality, relevant links?
~Have you utilized online PR or social media marketing for its SEO benefits?
~Does your navigation menu provide access to your entire site?

Now that you've answered all of these questíons, you need to decide what to do next. Start with some competitve analysis to see what your competitors are doing and what you need to do to catch up. Then, survey users to see what they think and act upon that feedback; don't wait, evaluate and reciprocate.

So make as many changes as you can to improve your website, turning it back into a business asset instead of a liability, and watch as your web presence creates leads and ultimately sales that impact your bottom line.


About The Author
Nick Yorchak is an SEO expert and Search Engine Marketing Specialist at Fusionbox, a full-service Denver Internet marketing, web design, and web development company. He can be reached at his Fusionbox email (nyorchak@fusionbox.com) or at (303)952-7490.

Improve holiday sales with a speaking character

'Tis time of the year for giving! According to a market forecast by TNS retail, online sales in Q4 2007 will reach $42B driven by a strong holiday retail sales in November and December. A consumer survey done by eTail group reveals that 90% of respondents are planning to spend over $100 over the holiday period with 47% willing to spend over $500.

As great as the opportunity may sound, the competition is also intense. Almost every online merchant including the giants like Wal-Mart are gearing up to ride on the biggest shopping spree of the year with increased marketing budget, special promotions and so on.

So how can you compete with Wal-Mart? You have limited resources and need a cost effective way to entice people to open their wallets on YOUR site, not on your competitors? One key to maximize your site effectiveness is to create a differentiated and efficient shopping experience. Speaking characters are a perfect tool to make your site stand out during the holiday season.

Here are 5 easy and smart ways how a speaking character can help:

1.Engage customers with a memorable holiday greeting
2.Make your holiday promotions come across loud via a SPOKEN message
3.Use an interactive FAQ to save time for your customers
4.Persuade customers to take action
5.Reinforce special deals in the shopping cart and up-sell

Reveal:
5 tips for increasing conversions with a speaking character

1. Engage your customers with a memorable holiday greeting

Have your speaking character welcome your visitors on the homepage with a warm holiday greeting. You can reinforce the festive atmosphere by using a SitePal holiday characters or add holiday accessories, outfits or backgrounds to your existing character. Trivial as it may sound, the friendly seasonal gesture will definitely grab your visitors' attention, ignite their interest in your website and make your website memorable.

2. Make your holiday promotions come across loud via a SPOKEN message

Use a speaking character to take advantage of the deal-driven mentality of holiday shoppers. If you have a special holiday promotions, have your speaking character highlight it clearly and loudly as soon as your visitors land on your site. A SPOKEN message will ensure that your special offers are found and heard by your customers. Add a speaking character to your product page as well to draw customers' attention to any special items on sale.

3. Use an interactive FAQ to save the time for your customers

The eTail survey also revealed that 68% of holiday shoppers chose “time saving” as one of their top 3 priorities. If you anticipate any questions or concerns from your customers, why not address them in advance so your customers don't have to spend time finding the answers on your site? Using SitePal's FAQ feature, you can easily program your speaking character to answer to most frequently asked questions from gift ideas to on-time delivery guarantee in an engaging and time-saving manner. You may want to call brand her as a virtual shopping guide!

4. Persuade customers to take action

Another big merit of a speaking character is its power to engage people to respond to a call to action. Make sure you include a clear and specific call to action in the audio message (e.g. click the "buy now" button below to add the item for a 15% discounted price!) A recent AB test done by Anita Campbell, CEO of Small Business Trends.com, proved that a SitePal character-enabled website had a 144% higher conversion rate than a text only site due to its power to persuade people to take action.

5. Reinforce special deals in the shopping cart and up-sell

Place a speaking character in your shopping cart to remind your customers of any missed deal and up-sell. For example, if you offer "free shipping" during your holiday period, make your speaking character reiterate it in the shopping cart. Now your customer may want to add even more items to her cart to take advantage of the free shipping offer!

Sign up for your speaking character today!

About SitePal
SitePal is easy-to-use, industry-leading speaking character solution developed by Oddcast. With its ability to engage customers, reinforce marketing messages and persuade customers to take action, SitePal has helped thousands of small businesses improve their business results from increasing conversions to enhancing customer loyalty.

Key Marketing Methods For 2008

by Sam Law and Julian Stone

Isn't online marketing by definition, expensive? Not necessarily. Online businesses are coming to the realization that in an organic environment like the Internet, organic marketing is required; paying for traditional or static marketing only gets you so far before it becomes ineffective. The consumer now controls your marketing.

What is wrong with the old methods?

Old marketing methods are failing because users are beginning to wise up (Rise Up) against the old brute force advertising that tries to win users over through sheer volume, using abrasive web-page banners, unrelated Adwords displayed on the page, or repeated newsletters (most being restricted by anti-spam laws).

The old methods no longer work effectively for two key reasons. One is the fact that they are a "flash in the pan", directing users to websites only so long as you continue to pay for the campaign, the second reason is consumers are now at the stage where they either ignore them or go out of their way to block them (with plug-in based browser or email filtering).
Let's quickly run through some of the "traditional" ways to market on the web, and their failings.

Paid Campaigns - (These only work while active) Paid campaigns may lure people to your site, but they are regularly not your target market and after arriving they promptly leave (High "bounce" rate).

Banner Ads - People hate banner ads. Most of the ads on the Internet are loathed because they aren't relevant. Seeing a banner for a better insurance rate when on a gaming site is a massive disconnect for the audience and a significant portion of banner ads are plain abrasive to users. Filling one third of your page with banner ads will not increase the likelihood anyone will care.

Adwords - Adwords (PPC, Pay Per Click) have the same problem as banner ads, though to a lesser extent. Adwords work by displaying "sponsored results," in search engine results. Adword results are separated from normal search results so not many people select them and the unknown quality in the users eye causes distrust (how do I know that a sponsored result is better than an organic result). Competition is fierce, with prices spiraling upwards, and returns staying constant. For more information see our article about Google marketing pitfalls.

Newsletters - One word: Spam. Because of the spam epidemic, users are becoming ever more wary signing up to receive mail from any online source. Legislation and the ever increasing ability of spam filters mean a continually shrinking audience (Restricting the ability to send newsletters, and filtering them before they reach your audience).

The "Old World" marketing relied on one or two large marketing sources to drive traffic with big budgets and marketing firms. You have to get people to create the "news" then you pay other people to distribute the "news", so you are pulling people into your "store" to show them what you have (whether they want it or not).

New methods for marketing

These days having other create and distribute your content for you is in vogue, this can mean syndicating your articles for other users to repost, paying users to review or rate your services, guiding users directly on forums or having users sign up to receive exclusive information. In every case, the handiwork of distribution is left to others.

Lets quickly run through some of the new "web 2.0" ways to market on the web, and the reason you should try them:

Blogs - Blogs are a goldmine to both the reader and the writer. Blogging is less time consuming and considerably cheaper than traditional marketing. Blogs give you the ability to convey your personal thoughts on happenings in your industry and your personal and corporate life, letting you really connect with your audience. Another positive is the viral marketing component where you are referenced through various social media websites, search engines and other blogs, increasing both your credibility and searchability, making it easier for consumers to find and trust you.

Forums - Forums give you an insight into what people are talking about, letting you get directly into the heads of potential customers. An easy way to find an appropriate forum is by asking existing customers what forums they frequent. Join in conversations, threads, contribute to the community and become a trusted member, then you can give your professional advice and mention what you do for a living. You should approach this as a way to get insight into what people are talking about, with the side-effect of possibly generating leads. If you approach this as direct marketing the community will quickly tell and either ban you, or develop a healthy disdain of you.

Articles - Articles are a great way to show you are connected to the issues in your industry and the wider world around you. You can either submit your articles through a syndication service, or post it on your blog, even better is a combination of the two: Choose a topic you enjoy talking about and write an article (like this one!) with your personal opinion or some helpful advice. If it is well-written and educates readers, you will already have an edge on your competition.

The theme of the new marketing methods is tailoring your content to the audience. The intent is to create something reader want to read. Marketing is not about trickery or insincerity, it's about communicating your ideas with honesty and authenticity. If it is worthwhile to your users, then they will happily talk about the content and spread it around, you have to communicate authentically with your customers and it simply doesn't happen using "traditional" online marketing.

A word of caution: if you try any of the above methods but approach them traditionally (as a direct marketing channel) then not only will you annoy a great deal of users, you can also damage your company image. Again I stress the above point, make the content something people want to read, not just marketing material.

Old marketing methods that are now approached differently
Benjamin Franklin said insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." This is increasingly true for some of the more traditional forms of online marketing. It's not so much what people are doing, but more a case of how they are being done.

Let's take a look at how we should be approaching some of the old marketing methods today.

Press Releases - Before we start, I'm sorry to tell you, but unless you are in the 5% of the market that people pay attention to, no-one reads your press releases - at least no potential customers do. A high percentage of companies marketing on the web use traditional methods of delivery, either in print or on a section of their website. Consider changing your press release to positively present your company then send it through a syndication service for papers and online news sources to pick up and republish.

Search Engines - Previously you had to specifically tailor your site to search engine specifications to ensure you had a high pagerank and were located at the top of search results. To put it simply, the important factor was how your site was presented to the user. These days although page display has an impact, it is far more important to have the right content on the site. Search engines now care more about content. Structure your pages logically and efficiently with appropriate content for each page, and be sure to link to those pages wherever possible, especially if you are engaging in blog or forum marketing.

Mailing Lists and Newsletters - With new anti-spam laws coming into effect, coupled with users increasingly annoyed at anything email based, mailing lists and newsletters are becoming far less effective. Ensure all the users on your mailing lists and newsletters have agreed to receive them. You don't need to re-ask permission from your existing list, but be sure to let users op-out, and put an optional op-in form link in your communications.

Old-world communication can still be effective but you need to ensure it is not your only approach.

The Conclusion?

Reevaluation is the key to a healthy online presence. You need to be constantly measuring and reevaluating your marketing methods to ensure you are not wasting money, and can take advantage of effective new methods.

About this author
Sam Law and Julian Stone - Project, Task & Time Management specialists for: ProActiveSoftware.com, ProWorkflow.com & Julian101.com

Improve Your conversion Rate With An Online Sales Silo

You're probably wondering what an online sales silo is and why you need to create one. In the past, sales and marketing experts told us to create a sales or marketing funnel. You dump all of your prospects into a wide funnel and a few would drop out of the bottom of the funnel that may turn into customers. Using the power of the search engines, you drop highly targeted prospects into a silo instead of a funnel. Once they are in the silo, you lead them directly to the product or service they were searching for and sell it to them.

Why does the online sales silo work so well? In today's society we all have the same problems, lack of time and too much to do. We're unfocused and our attention spans are now measured in seconds. For example, recent studies show that when we visit a new website we decide within 3 seconds if we're going to stay. If the graphics load too slowly, we don't like the colors or fonts, or if we don't find what we're looking for in 3 seconds we abandon that website and move on to the next. We're a society that thrives on instant gratification because our time is precious and we have a million other things on our mind.

When you do a Google search you're looking to solve a problem or you're looking for some form of pleasure or entertainment. When your prospect has a problem they want an answer immediately. They type in a keyword phrase and they land on your webpage where they find your product or service that solves their problem. They complete their purchase and it's a win-win for both of you.

Sounds simple doesn't it? Then why doesn't it always work that way? Because when they type a keyword phrase they're expecting to land on a webpage that contains those keywords and a solution to their problem. If they type "lower back pain" in Google, they want to land on a webpage that offers a solution to their lower back pain. If they land on a chiropractor's home page with beautiful colors, holistic music playing in the background and a picture of him holding a model spine, they get frustrated and click away.

When someone searches for "lower back pain" their back hurts and they want to land on a webpage that tells them how they get rid of their "lower back pain". They don't care what's causing it and how qualified the chiropractor is. They want their "lower back pain" to disappear now!

When you create an online sales silo you create a process that will take them by the hand and lead them directly to what they're looking for. Imagine walking into WalMart and the greeter asks you what you're looking for. You say you're looking for a new pair of running shoes and he takes you by the hand and takes you right to the running shoes. He doesn't' take you near the shoe section. He doesn't take you to the dress shoes or the casual shoes. He takes you right to the running shoes. No distractions. No confusion. Instant gratification.

Turning your website into an online sales silo is a simple process. Using this process will improve your conversion rate, increase user satisfaction, increase your repeat visitor rate and improve your bottom line.

Step 1: Identify what action you want the prospect to take. Do you want to collect their contact information so you can contact them? Do you want to sell them a product on the spot? Determine if your goal is going to be lead generation or to complete an ecommerce transaction.

Step 2: Identify the keywords and keyword phrases that best describe your product or service. Imagine your prospect searching Google and you want them to land on your website. What keywords would they type to find you? You can use keyword research tools like Wordtracker (freekeywords.wordtracker.com) and Google's keyword tool (https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal)

Step 3: Create separate landing pages on your website for each keyword phrase. This webpage should contain only information about that particular keyword phrase. If the keyword phrase is "lower back pain" the webpage should only contain information about solving lower back pain. Keep the reader focused on lower back pain and don't distract them with other services you provide.

The landing page should have a compelling headline that contains the keyword phrase like "7 Ways to Eliminate Lower Back Pain Instantly". The search engines like headlines with keyword phrases. Your content should also contain the keyword phrase to keep the reader focused on what they're looking for.

Stay focused on one keyword phrase or topic per webpage. If you also talk about how you can solve foot pain on the same page, they'll get distracted and forget about their lower back pain. Remember to take them by the hand and lead them directly to the solution their looking for.

Step 4: Make it easy for them to complete the transaction. If you're collecting leads then make the contact form short and easy to complete. Give them a free report, free consultation or some other compelling reason for them to you their contact information. If you're selling them something, make the Buy Now button very clear and visible. Also make the checkout process very easy to complete.

Step 5: Give them an easy way to contact you if they have questions or difficulty on the website. Add your telephone number and an email address to the landing page so they can easily contact you.

Step 6: Add a privacy policy and terms of service agreement to your website. This adds credibility to your website and shows the visitor that you are a real company providing quality products and services.

Step 7: Follow up the transaction with a series of emails. The first email should be a "thank you" email with the details of the transaction. Thank them for signing up for your newsletter and tell them how to download their free report. If they purchased a product, thank them for their purchase and give them some tips how they can best use the product. Follow up with an email every other day for a week giving them more information about your products and services, and always direct them to your website for more information.

That's how to create your online sales silo. Remember to keep the website visitor focused on one topic and only one topic and you'll see your conversion rate soar!

How To Setup A Successful Online Business In 7 Easy Steps

Do you want your own online business? No more than ever it is possible to start a business quickly and inexpensively. Below are seven steps you can follow that will help you start off in the right direction every time.

1. Find a product to sell. You can create the product yourself. You can sell an affiliate product on a commission basis, or you can find a private label rights product that allows you to edit and resell as your own product. The product can be an ebook in a pdf format, or audio format. Video or software could be the product as well. If you are enthusiastic about the product and believe in it, you will have an easier time selling it.

2. Register a domain name that fits your product. If at all possible, include the key words that relate to the product in the domain name. Since domain names are not very expensive these days register several similar names. The content would be basically the same in each one.

3. Find a web host that is reliable and affordable. Make sure the web host has an easy to use control panel so you can upload your web pages yourself. Many of the most popular hosts use CPanel which is very easy for you to master quickly.

4. Create a small website or have someone create it for you. Some websites are only one page long, although it's a very long one page. Others are only three or four pages of content. There are free website sales page templates you can search for and use in your site. When writing the content for the sales page stress the attributes of your product. Make sure your headline grabs the visitors attention and pulls them into the copy. If you include endorsements or testimonials make sure they are from real people. Ask for the sale more than once and include a link to the order page.

5. Set up a payment processor. PayPal is quick, free and easy to set up. There is a fee to process the transactions. This fee is taken right out of each sale so you do not need to keep records. Tell your visitors they do not have to have a PayPal account to use PayPal, they can use their credit card. You have access to your money and can withdraw the money nearly immediately. Clickbank is another alternative. Clickbank takes longer to get your account approved and there is a fee to set up the account. Like Paypal, there is a fee per transaction and a percentage based on the price of the product sold through Clickbank.

6. Be sure to set up product delivery as instant and automatic. Doing this serves your best interest as you do not waste a lot of time emailing the product or download link to the customer after they have paid. And it serves your customer's best interest since they do not have to wait to download their product.

7. Drive targeted traffic to your website. You can use search engine optimization and keywords research. One fantastic approach is article placement in ezine directories. You can participate in discussion forums. And one of the newer marketing methods is social bookmarking.

True these seven steps do not go into any great technical, this is because to much detail would only slow you down in the beginning. There will be plenty of time later to learn the technical side of everything. For now, just get started.

Business Success Tips

Lose is a terrible thing. Losing a loved one is terrible, getting terminated- distasteful, both in one year; horrific! Such events plunge people into the quicksand of depression. What about lose of your desire, lose of your purpose, or meaning? Several years ago I did lose my mother in law, three jobs and almost my family in one year. My purpose and my mission were abandoned.

If you find yourself aimless and seek to find your mission, then you can find ways to align the stars. Rather than question, "Why me"? Perhaps it is time to ask "Why not me"?

Here are some thoughts to assist your mission, align the stars and live the remainder of your life with a purpose.

1. Stop manifesting in self-doubt. We tend to wallow too much in despair. What you focus on you become. Become great by focusing on the positive!

2. Listen. Stop and smell the roses. By this I mean listen to all around you, friends, colleagues, peers, the Lord. Professional Speaking did not enter my mind until someone suggested teaching.
3. Stop looking for the perfection. Success comes from not using the elevator of life but one step at a time. If you love what you do the money will come to you. Refrain from trying to make your world perfect... it doen't exist.

4. Build a brand or message that emotionally and intelligently involves the client. Too much competition today confuses clients, seek differentiation and illustrate value.

5. Ironically, 63% of us go at least 10 mph or more over the speed limit. We drive 70 mph on a dark and slick road. 81% drink at a social gathering and drive home. We choose not to take risk because we believe we are not ready. Fact, you will never be ready! Risk is about confidence, risk is about self worth. If you are confident, you will take the risk. If you are passionate, you will take the risk and if you have self worth, you will take the risk.

6. Passion comes from the Greek word entheos which means to be filled with God. When you are filled in spirit you are instantly filled with energy and inspiration. Find something you are passionate about and you will make money at it.

7. Confidence is the attitude of 80-year-old women that attends college to get her bachelor's degree or Thomas Edison that tried 10,000 times to get it right! If you are confident in your abilities you can achieve anything you set your mind to!

8. Competence. People seek you and your services because of your expertise. Illustrated your expertise with speaking, consulting, writing articles or anything else that attracts people to you. Your expertise will be sought only if you show it.

Confidence plus passion, plus, market need plus competence begets success. Success is easy if you know where to look. You do not have to point true north or west, simply at yourself. Success begins with you. As Loa Tzu once stated the journey of 1,000 miles begins with the first step. You must make a move. Live each day in acquisition, live each day in passion, live each day knowing that your success lies within you not in others.

Addtional Success Tips

1. Keep raising the bar
Look for new and innovative ways to achieve results

2. Results are about choices you make
You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.

3. Winning is about hits not home runs
Each day, each goal, each success is movement toward your dream.

4. Be a student of the game.
Learn what you did right and keep on doing it.

Good luck!

Web Site Marketing Strategy Hints And Tips

by Eric Menzies

Your web site marketing strategy is the essential factor that determines the success or failure of a business web site. This is true whether your web site is an extension of an offline business, or you run an completely online business. Web site marketing is unlike any marketing you may have done using other media.

However, marketing your web site on the internet shares many common core marketing foundations that underlie your marketing efforts regardless of the media you use. I am a strong believer that for a small business, all marketing should be based on the old direct marketing mantra of attention, interest, desire, and action. In this article I am going to discuss those aspects in terms of how they are crucial in marketing your web site on the internet.

Regardless of the media you choose, nothing will ever happen if you don't attract the attention of prospective buyers. This is one of the very basic tenets of successful marketing. On the internet, this concept is evaluated by the traffic that you receive on your web site. But there are a lot of factors that affect how much traffic you get, and only part of it is the actual content of your web site. There are two ways you can get attention in any media: you can earn it or you can buy it.

All the major search engines (Google, MSN, Yahoo, etc.) show up two different types of results when a customer uses them.

The most relevant results based on the search algorithms used by the engine are called 'free' or 'organic' since they are the natural result of running a search.

The second type of result are actually paid advertisements, and they can be very difficult to distinguish from the results that are actually relevant to you query.

It is important to keep in mind that no matter how good the engine, the results are still hit or miss. It is a computer program sorting web pages based on mathematical formulae, not live people helping you select the best results, so as a person hoping to be indexed, you must be willing to put the time and effort into checking how you rank on the major engines and tuning your word choice to optimize that. If you can't make it onto the first (or second at the very least) page of results, your traffic will drop dramatically! Most people don't bother to wade through the hits on the pages after that. Even second-page ranking will hurt your ability to attract new users.

One of the most effective ways to increase internet traffic is buying some form of advertising. One of the most pervasive forms is banner advertising. Originally, these were very popular forms of advertising, but as they became more prevalent, their effectiveness waned. They can still be effective as long as you have a clear marketing strategy and are able to track your advertising statistics.

Text advertisements are probably the most common form of internet advertising today. Google has paved the way, and if done correctly, your internet traffic can multiply quickly by using Google ads. MSN and Yahoo also offer text advertisements on their sites. One downside to text advertising is that the cost can add up fairly quickly, depending on how many hits you receive for your ad. Each time a searcher clicks on your text ad, the provider charges you a set amount. Another way to increase traffic to your site is to buy traffic from someone who has an e-mail contact list or has a lot of traffic on their site already.

Any approach to publicizing your website or portal must begin with the aim of grabbing attention of the web surfers and internet addicts. To grab attention, you must deliver your message to surfers on websites they frequently visit. You can publicize your website by doing the hard work yourself or by availing expert help, or a mix of both.

Doing it yourself means you will have to commit your time, energy and money. It might sound daunting but ultimately proves to be cheaper as well. Availing expert help can get your results without eating your time. To set the cash registers ringing, it is suggested that you develop your own mix of both ways suited to your own needs and resources.

About the Author

You can get more information about Business Marketing at http://www.BizRave.com.Eric Menzies writes about Search Engine Marketing
Firms and other topics.