by: RajAndrews
SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the process by which the quality and volume of traffic can be improved on a search engine on the Internet. Normally when we search for a particular piece of information or data on any top search engine ranking the results we get, are presented in a serial order by the particular search engine. This presentation of the results is derived from what is called the ‘Algorithmic’ basis and the results that figure at the top of the order are the ones that would be visited more often.
A number of times the process of SEO could focus on searches that broadly range from ‘vertical search’ to ‘horizontal search’ or could be a very specific search. The process of SEO depends to a great extent on how the search engine has been designed to respond to specific searches. A search engine may have a particular set of search words or ‘Keywords’ that has been used by a very large number of visitors to a particular site on this search engine. In this case the designers of the search engine would invariably give a very high priority to this particular set of keywords that would display the website in a privileged position in the top three or top five results on the search engine.
Now, although certain search engines do have somewhat different algorithms that are liable to change sometimes, it has been found that all engines more or less similarly appreciate the information that searchers look for, such as:
Simple, clean and implicit search engine friendly web site design
Carefully prepared, perceptive direction
Descriptive and well-written text
Tag content that that optimizes identification of relevant keywords
Accurate links that extend the scope of the search
It is true that good content that provides relevant information to the visitor to the site utilizing keyword phrases should be the objective of all contents that makes its way to the World Wide Web. Therefore a professional content writer and not SEO, is what is vital for that aspect of the job. In fact most people would rather be presented with information they require in clear, concise language, right on the main page of the site they are visiting.
Normally a decent search engine strategy takes up to a year to work although it might also work with minimal effort for a long time although it might not perform well in the beginning. If the site does not provide the visitors with what they want then it might never perform at all. Therefore while designing a site, it is important to remember that for the site to be up on the World Wide Web it will first be read by search engines that are machines. On the other hand, any content designed specifically for machine-readability could turn off a real visitor who is not interested in how the pages appear to a machine. Hence SEO is basically a question of balance. Article city
SEO - An overview
Traffic Building And Finished Home Work
One of the quickest ways to drive traffic to your site is to key in on a hot topic. If you have a site dedicated to why butter melts on summer days and then you place a series of supporting articles on your site you may not wind up with as much traffic as you’d like. This may be due to the fact that this is an issue most people don’t really think about much – or perhaps they’ve already learned the secret.
However key in on a controversial topic like the death penalty or hate crimes you will likely find improved traffic. You can also look for emotionally connected issues such as weight loss or an improved health.
Once you’ve optimized your site with appropriate keywords or phrases your site will likely find its way into a better place in search engine rankings and it may show up in Google’s email program.
When visitors make it to your site you should attempt to ensure that you can welcome them back again at an appropriate time. Many sites do this with the offer of a free report when the individual decides to leave the site. The offer will usually say something like, “Don’t leave yet. As a way of saying thank you…” and then will explain the report, tip or ecourse that is being offered with a simple and absolutely free sign up.
If the visitor is interested and the information you have on your site has been valued then that guest may find it in their interest to sign up for your free newsletter. This is especially true when they know they can opt out at any time.
Most sites manage this with time-released autoresponders, but the intent remains improved traffic.
I have been to some health related sites that were infused with health information, testimonials, quotes from doctors and article archives that provided a comprehensive look at the health issue being discussed. The exit strategy left me with a choice about receiving reports on additional ways to combat this potential health issue as well as recipes that will help aid in a healthy lifestyle.
At that point, if a site visitor has any interest at all, it becomes a fairly easy decision – perhaps as easy as bookmarking the site. All they need to do is provide an email address and a first name. The reports are sent and the visitor has regular links back to the primary site if they need more information or want to make a purchase of an ancillary product or service.
Traffic that is built from individuals who have a motivation for visiting the site is much more beneficial than using email marketing that can be little more than a shot in the dark if the list is leased. You might hit something, but they may not be happy about it.
Work to optimize your site at the beginning of your online journey and then develop a desirable means of encouraging first time guests to come back. If you’ve done your job right many of them will take you up on your offer. articlecity
Blogging For Website Traffic
Nowadays, it seems that everyone and his cousin have taken to blogging. This form of online self-expression has slowly but steadily taken over the World Wide Web to become somewhat of a phenomenon in recent years. Some people use blogs as their personal journals, some may see them as an outlet for their creative work, and others may just want their own personal place in cyberspace to share thoughts and ideas.
Now, a quick question for the Internet businessman. If you have a blog, can you use it to boost your site's exposure and drive more traffic to it? A blog is great for sharing ideas and posting about things you like or don't like, but can a blog help your online business succeed?
The answer is a definite YES. Your blog can do wonders for your website, but it all depends on the way you utilize its potential power. I'm going to teach you a tried and proven method that has been effective for other website owners, and this method is applicable for any type of blog. You will just need a lot of creativity and some time to make it work.
First thing you have to keep in mind is that most blogs on the Web have a community feel to them. You may think that your blog is your own, since you're the one who installed and developed it. And you may be right. But your blog is also connected to other blogs on the same site. You may also be connected to other blogs that are using the same blogging software as you. This situation guarantees that sooner or later, a person will land on your blog and be able to see all that you have to say. This can also mean that your blog is now getting free advertising within the blogging community. I don't think you need me to tell you how beneficial this can be for your site's traffic.
However, you do have to keep in mind what you're posting as your blog's content. If all you're doing is making posts that promote your products or your business, then you're dead. Believe me, that is not the recommended way to use your blog. Have you seen the Internet lately? It's already overflowing with loads of advertisements for products and services. Be different. Your visitors need a good reason to keep coming back to your blog. Use it to give expert and knowledgeable information about your line of work to your readers. If you're selling a product on your site, talk about it on your blog, and don't just post a measly advertising blurb.
Let's say you're selling power tools on your website. You can write reviews and other useful posts about the kinds of tools you have on your site. What you're doing is providing some insight for your potential customers about the tools you're selling. These blog posts will then be able to generate confidence in your readers and encourage them to actually buy the products.
Another advantage of having a blog is that it makes it easier for interested buyers to get access to the seller (that's you). Usually, readers of a particular blog post are allowed to leave comments on what they've just read. For example, you've just finished a review for the new Ajax power drill. Whenever a reader comes across it and has a question regarding that product, he or she can easily leave a comment. You can then see the questions and post your answers. See? You can now connect with your readers and potential customers personally. This make you much more approachable, as compared to the faceless entity behind the impersonal commercial website.
In addition, your readers will also have the option of subscribing to your blog feeds via RSS or to your newsletters, so they can be immediately notified about any new posts you make. If you have established a reputable standing in your niche, a long list of eager readers will soon be waiting for your next post, and lots more will be coming to your website.
SEO Step One Of Ten: Keyword Research
by: Dave Davies
Back in October 2004 I launched a series of articles outlining the ten crucial steps to a well optimized website. The steps were:
1.Keyword Selection
2.Content Creation
3.Site Structure
4.Optimization
5.Internal Linking
6.Human Testing
7.Submissions
8.Link Building
9.Monitoring
10.The Extras (all those things that didn’t fit in the first 9 steps)
Well in case you’ve been asleep for the last few years on in case you’ve just recently joined us in the SEO-realm, I – along with some of my good friends in the web marketing world – have decided to re-write the series with new information and new perspectives.
The New Series
In our updated series we’ll be dropping some of the articles and adding others to account for changes in the industry. Another major change in this series is that we’re going to compliment it with a weekly segment on Webmaster Radio’s Webcology (http://www.webmasterradio.fm/Search-Engine-Optimization/Webcology/) on Thursday afternoon at 2PM EST where we’ll be conducting interviews and discussing tools with their manufacturers to help our readers and listeners make the most of this information. If you miss the show, you can always download the podcast free of charge afterwards.
The 10 steps covered in this series will be:
1.Keyword Research & Selection
2.Competition Analysis
3.Site Structure
4.Content Optimization
5.Link Building
6.Social Media
7.PPC
8.Statistics Analysis
9.Conversion Optimization
10.Keeping It Up
Step One: Keyword Research & Selection
There are two times in a site’s life when keyword research is conducted – when researching a site to rank in the organic results on the search engines and when researching keywords for a PPC campaign. In our article today we’re going to focus on the former and save the research involved with PPC campaigns for step seven in this series.
So we’ve got the topic down to “just” keyword research and selection for organic SEO campaigns – from there the topic once again gets split into a variety of areas. Those that we will cover here are:
The raw data
Studying those who’ve gone before
Understanding your choices
The Raw Data
The raw data is the raw estimated searches/day that you can expect a phrase to get on the major search engines. There are a number of tools you can use to compile this information. Here are some of the more commonly used:
Overture Keyword Suggestion Tool (http://inventory.overture.com/)
Yahoo!’s keyword suggestion tool. It’s fast and it’s free but it has some serious drawbacks. The tool often mixes singular, plural and common misspellings into one so it could lead you astray (admittedly it’s gotten much better lately but still far from perfect).
Is a bed and breakfast in Banff, BC better to target “banff accommodation” or “banff accommodations”. How about the very common misspelling “Banff accomodations”? That said, it’s based on easily the largest pool of search data made available in this way which gives it a huge edge in accuracy based on the pool of data it’s collecting from.
WordTracker (http://www.beanstalk-inc.com/resources/recommended/wordtracker.htm)
WordTracker is easily one of the most popular of the paid keyword research tools. It solves the problem with the singular vs plural vs misspellings however the data it accesses is from a few meta engines and is not as comprehensive as one might like.
They offer a free trial and have options to pay for just a day or up to a year so they provide options for people who simply need it for a quick round of research on one site to SEO firms who need it on a daily bases. It sells for $59/mth.
Keyword Discovery (http://www.beanstalk-inc.com/resources/recommended/keyword-discovery.htm)
This tool is very similar to WordTracker in the advantages/disadvantages category. Better specification of keywords, lower pool of data to base them on. I personally prefer Keyword Discovery simply for some of the features and the ability to export data for clients to view easily. Of course, that could well be due to my increased experience with it.
They have a free trial as well and it sells for $69/mth.
Aaron Wall’s Summary (http://www.seobook.com/archives/001013.shtml)
Noted above are some of the most popular tools and the ones I’ve used the most. There are some other tools definitely worth taking a peek at. Aaron Wall did a great summary on his site of the major tools, their pros and cons, etc. Definitely worth taking a peek at. Admittedly it’s a couple years old so some of the features have changed a bit but most of it is still valid and accurate.
Now What ...
Now that we’ve looked at the tools, let’s take a look at what we’re supposed to do with them. As noted, we'll cover how to use these tools when launching or updating a PPC campaign in a future article, however there are still a few areas and considerations that we need to consider here.
So let's get started ...
In case no one told you – size doesn't matter. It's not how big it is, it's who's using it. Let's use as an example a phrase we at Beanstalk targetted and that's the phrases “search engine positioning”. At first this was our big phrase which now gets 7,689 estimated searches/mth (a bit higher than it was back then). “search engine positioning services” gets a lowly 2,636 searches/mth. Of course we should be targeting the one with the higher number of searches (or so I thought).
Once we have attained top 3 rankings for both I started looking through my stats and setting up filters for conversion (forms filled out and visits to our contact page). People who entered “search engine positioning” were sure interested in our blog and articles but only those who added the word “services” contacted us. And so the big phrase was abandoned as a target and we began focusing on what I refer to as “buy phrases”. So bigger isn't better if the people you want are searching using phrases with a lower search volume.
There's another time when bigger isn't better. Which of those two phrases do you suppose we ranked for first? If you guessed the services phrase then you're right. When you launch a new website (which we had) you're likely up against sites that have been around for a while, have some solid backlinks and a good number of pages. You're not going to want to go up against them for the top phrases out of the gate. Choosing to go with phrases that are lower in search volume and lower in competition will almost always result in higher rankings faster, put some money back in your pocket and ready you to go for the bigger phrases.
It's here that the model we followed works well. When you're selecting your short term and long term targets it's wise to choose phrases with the same root keywords (“search engine positioning” and “search engine positioning services” for example). This basically enables you to work towards your long term goals during link building for your short term targets. And who doesn't like to kill two birds with one stone? Or perhaps you have all the time in the world and you're one of those people who likes nothing more than working on developing incoming links.
Which brings us to …
Studying Those Who’ve Gone Before
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Let's just hang onto that thought while we research what those who are successful in your industry are targeting in order to glean some insight into what works.
I've recently discovered (much to my pleasure) a very cool tool that, while a bit pricey for some, simplified MANY of the processes of keyword research, tracking and competitor keyword dissection. A company called AdGooroo (http://www.adgooroo.com/) has created what I've now discovered to be an awesome keyword tracking tool (I'd call it keyword research but it does a lot more than list off search phrases). The tool allows you to do the generic keyword research that we're all used to with the same limitations as the tools above (i.e. Google doesn't hand out their search keyphrase volumes) but that's just the first step.
They then take a look at your competitors on both the organic and PPC results, figure out what they're ranking for and bidding on and provides some great reports on saturation levels, competition levels, and a lot more. With this in hand you can then begin to analyze how they're ranking (that'll be covered next week in our article on competition analysis).
The folks at AdGooroo also store historical information so you can look back over trends in the past and compare that to what you see now. As noted, a bit pricey for some but worth it for those who can afford to know this level of information on who's doing what and what you should be doing.
I should also note that I’m experienced in their SEM Insight product which costs $399/mth. They also do offer AdGooroo Express which has a lot of the same feature (but missing a lot of the ones I personally feel can give a researcher a HUGE jump on their competitors). The Express version however sells at $89/mth so far more affordable for some. And like all my favorite tools, they provide a free trial. :)
But if you can't afford that level of information you'll want to run ranking reports on all your top competitors (you likely know who these are but if you don't – they're the ones who rank in the top 10 for the most competitive phrases). You can either do this manually or use a reporting tool such as WebPosition Gold (http://www.beanstalk-inc.com/resources/recommended/webposition.htm - again, has a free trail).
If you find weaker sites ranking for large numbers of phrases, you know who to watch (again, we'll get into this more next week). The only problem with this method is that you can only think of what you can think of. The site might be ranking for phrases you never thought to look into and which, in knowing, might provide some great insight into additional targets and tactics. Of course, you might well be from an industry with very obvious and defined keywords.
Understanding Your Choices
So now you've got choices to make. You've got a list of perhaps hundreds of keywords and you need to shorten that list down. The number of phrase you target will only be limited by your site and the amount of time you have to dedicate to it.
You will likely need to pare down your choices to those that will produce the fastest and highest ROI possible. This will likely be the phrases that provide the lowest competition levels for the highest searched “buy phrases”. Once you have attained these rankings you can move on.
The alternative is to go for the gold and target the biggest phrases in your industry. This will take longer (99% of the time) but might be necessary if there are no suitable secondary phrases. In this event you have to ready yourself for a slow rise to the top and a longer period of stagnant traffic with a big return (hopefully) at the end.
Another major choice you'll have to make (especially if you have a large number of potential phrases) is whether to start out with a PPC campaign for the traffic or to test keyword phrases for an organic promotion. While these will be covered in more detail in part 7, if you just can't wait you can find a past article on the subject titled “Using PPC To Maximize Your Search Engine Positioning ROI” (http://www.beanstalk-inc.com/articles/ppc/4roi.htm).
More Info On This Series
As noted but worth mentioning again, this article series is being supplemented with a weekly show on WebmasterRadio.fm. Be sure to tune in or download the podcast to get the full information and hear some great interviews with the tool makers and experts.
Next week the topic will be competition analysis and will be written by StepForth, Inc. author and owner Ross Dunn. Ross will of course be on the show with us next Thursday along with some great guests.
7 Surefire Ways To Increase Your Traffic Starting Yesterday
by: Terry Leslie
words into a successful merging you will need another word. Traffic. Every article you will find about making your site or company successful would always include the importance of generating traffic.
So, we all know that in the core of it all, traffic is the most essential thing to a successful internet based business company. Aside from ensuring that you have a Internet. Business. Profit. To fully integrate all of these words into a successful merging you will need another word. Traffic. Every article you will find about making your site or company successful would always include the importance of generating traffic.
So, we all know that in the core of it all, traffic is the most essential thing to a successful internet based business company. Aside from ensuring that you have a great product to sell, and you have your company’s internal organization well taken core of, it would be time to get to the nitty gritty of things, generating traffic.
If you already have a site and you want think that you're not getting the traffic that you're supposed to be getting, then its time to reconsider. If you are contending in these very competitive business, you should always be a step ahead of your competition, increasing your traffic flow should have been done starting yesterday.
Timing is essential, that’s an old adage known to everyone. But with generating traffic, you should always be on your toes and be a day ahead of everyone. Never think of today and tomorrow as a starting point for making your site traffic laden, it should always have been yesterday.
To help you out in generating more traffic for your site, here are some seven surefire ways to increase your traffic starting from yesterday.
1) Invest in good advertising with search engines
Google’s Adwords and Yahoo’s Overture provide great advertising schemes that are very truly popular and assures great traffic. Although with this surefire way to increase your traffic would cost some money. While some would shy away from spending money to increase traffic, it is imperative in this case to do so because Adwords and Overture is the top surefire way to increase your traffic.
You could see for yourself the success this search engine advertising methods have reaped rewards for so many companies. Lots of site feature these advertising system and many have signed on to reap the benefits. Do not be left behind. Every penny is worth it with using Google and Yahoo’s advertising.
2) Exchange or Trade Links with other sites
With exchanging links with other sites, both of you will benefit from the efforts both of you do to enhance your sites traffic. When one site features another sites link, they could provide one another with the traffic one site generates. The efforts are doubly beneficial because it would seem like both of you are working to generate more traffic. The more links traded with more sites the more traffic could be expected.
3) Use Viral Marketing
Viral marketing allows you to spread the word about your company and product without any costs or if ever low costs only. This is a marketing method that can be quite sneaky; you can attach your company’s name, product or link to a certain media such as a funny video, entertaining game, an interesting article or a gossip or buzz. With this method, people get infected with the creativity and entertainment of the medium that they will pass it on to many people.
4) Search and use proper keywords or keyword phrases for your sites content
Search engines look for certain keywords that they would show in their results page. In doing so, having the right keyword and keyword phrase is a high requirement in ranking in high in search engine results. You could write your own content or you could hire someone to do it for you.
5) Write Articles that can lead traffic to your site
Submit articles to sites that would contain the same subject that your site deals in. If you sell car parts write press releases and articles about cars and car parts. Attach your sites description and services at the end of the article as well as the link.
6) Join forums and form online communities
Capture a market and show your expertise and credibility. When you found a good foundation for your site, people will trust you and your site and will pass on to many people their trust. Traffic will certainly increase because they know that you can provide what they need.
7) Lastly, Offer newsletters.
If many people know what you are about and your existence is shared with many others, you will find a loyal traffic that can provide you with more traffic by recommendation. If you arouse the curiosity of your customers they would be pushed to help you with your traffic.
In the mean time, Good Luck on your journey to success…
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AND for a Limited Time, you will also receive a FREE copy of a limited number of the amazing 60 page eBook “52 Highly Profitable Instant Online Business Ideas That You Can Steal As Your Own And Start Today On A Very Tight Budget!”, which is jam packed with so many ideas you can use to instantly create an automated income for life! That’s my GIFT to You as a way of saying thank you for reading my articles.
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Cashing in by Blogging
Believe it or not, but it’s actually possible to make money from blogging. One teenager has, in fact, earned $5,000 a month just from making posts on his blog! Of course, not every blogger is this lucky. It does take some skill, and some luck to make money from blogging. What it also takes is some knowledge of how exactly to generate income just by posting blogs. In this newsletter, we will go over three specific methods of making money on your blog: Adsense, Pay Per Lead, and Affiliate Links.
So how exactly do I make money on my blog?
You do it by working with another company that wants to use your blog as a form of advertising. It sounds like selling out, right? Not exactly. The advertising can be as in your face or subtle as you want. And it can still make you money, provided you have enough visitors to your blog.
What is Adsense?
Adsense is a program offered by Google. The program, if installed, will display ads provided by Google.
How do I get Adsense?
You’ll need to go to Google.com, first. At the bottom of the screen is a link for “Advertising Programs”. Click on that. Then click on the link for “Adsense”. Scroll down on the page that comes up and click “Click Here To Apply!” You then fill out the form with information about yourself. After 12-48 hours, Google will notify you via email whether or not your site has been accepted. When you’ve been accepted, set up your ads by doing either of the following:
1. If your blog is hosted on Blogger.com, you can set up your AdSense ads by going to your profile, selecting settings>template>add an element. Then select AdSense and login with your account info. Next, you’ll configure your ads and save the template. That’s it.
2. If you are self-hosting your blog, you’ll have to set up AdSense in more of a manual way. You’ll create your ads(which can be as small or as tall as you want) and then copy the HTML/Javascript code Google gives you. Then you’ll paste it into your blog(on the left, right, or top of the screen).
For the first few days, the ads displayed by Google will be Public Service Announcements. After the ads have been up a few days, though, the ads will switch to ads that are relevant to your blog.
How does Adsense work?
Every time a visitor clicks an Adsense ad, you get a little bit of money(usually around 30-60 cents). The amount you get for each ad clicked depends on the number of unique visitors you receive on your blog. The more visitors, the more money that can be earned.
Google will then send a check or pay you through Paypal once you’ve made at least $100 from the ads.
It is important to remember that Google will penalize you if you click your own ads, or if you ask visitors specifically to click ads. So don’t do that!
Pay Per Click
Pay Per Click is basically just like AdSense, except you don’t just work with Google—you work with multiple companies. BidVertiser is one such company you can sign up with to do Pay Per Click advertising.
How do I get Pay Per Click
You sign up with a site like Bidvertiser and then follow their instructions to set up the Pay Per Click ads on your site.
How does Pay Per Click work?
It works by paying you money each time someone clicks an ad that you display. You won’t get paid for multiple clicks from the same user in the same visitor, nor will you get paid for someone simply visiting your site. You only get paid for legitimate clicks.
Affiliate Links
Affiliate links are basically links which people pay you for. Companies will actually pay owners of popular blogs to post links on their blog. You can do as much Affiliate linking as you want.
How do I get Affiliate Links?
You can get Affiliate links by searching for “Affiliate Link Programs” on the internet. Once you find an Affiliate link program that looks good to you, sign up for it. Then you can follow their instructions for putting the link(s) on your blog.
How do Affiliate Links work?
Like the other two methods mentioned above, Affiliate links work by paying you money each time they are clicked. You get paid for each click per unique visitor.
So that’s it. There’s three legitimate ways to make money from blogging. It is important to keep in mind that the amount of money you are able to make depends on how many visitors your blog draws. If you draw a lot, you’ll make a lot. If not, the money you earn will be modest. But it’s still extra money, so why not do it?
Making money using Adsense, Pay Per Click or Affiliate Link programs is easy and effective. Start monetizing your blog today!
SEO ROI & The Conversion Rate Dilemma
What do legitimate search engine optimization firms charge? Like most things involving the Web, prices are all over the place but if the price is extremely low you can be assured that the quality of the service will match the price.
If you do a search for SEO pricing from reliable search engine firms you will find that although prices vary greatly fees of $2,500 per month on an annual contract ($30,000 per year) are not uncommon. Of course some firms will charge less and others will charge a great deal more depending on where they are located, the size and condition of your website, and exactly what services you want them to provide.
Are SEO Costs Worth the Investment?
So what do you get for your $30k ante? Legitimate SEO companies will provide things like target market analysis, keyword analysis, content massaging, code modifications, link implementation strategy, and metric analysis.
And what happens when Google changes their algorithms? Well you guessed it. You have to ante-up again and the addiction continues. Search engine optimization has become the crack-cocaine of Web-based businesses.
Keep in mind search engine optimization's main goal is to increase your visibility and ranking in search engines which assumes more traffic to your website; but the leap from visibility to traffic to sales conversion is higher than you think. The assumption that better search engine visibility and more traffic automatically generates more sales is faulty logic.
Even if increased search engine visibility produces more traffic to your site and even if your website contains genuine content; if the presentation of that content doesn't engage the viewer quickly and if it doesn't hold the visitor's attention for two to three minutes with a compelling and even entertaining presentation, then your chances of converting that visitor to a customer are minimal.
How Much New Traffic Is Needed to Pay for SEO?
Let's say your search engine tactics actually work and they not only increase your search engine ranking but also drive tons of traffic to your site. With realistic conversion rates at about 2-3%, how much traffic do you have to bring in to actually pay for the SEO expertise.
Based on a $30K annual investment in SEO and a 20% Net Profit you must generate $150,000 in new sales just to pay the SEO fees. And at a 3% conversion rate and an average sale amount of $100 per transaction that translates into 50,000 unique new visitors per year to your site just to pay for your SEO strategy, and you still haven't added one cent to your bottom line. You can do the math.
SEO Investment Break-Even Formula
SEO Generated Unique Traffic Break-even = SEO Cost / Conversion Rate x Average Sale x Net Profit Percentage.
Determining Your Conversion Rate
Every business has a different Average Sales Amount and generally speaking it is safe to assume the higher the Selling Price the lower the Conversion Rate. In order to figure out what your Conversion Rate is you have to do a little more calculation. Lets say a company brings in a total of $150,000 in Web-Sales and attracts 25,000 Unique Visitors per year and has an Average Sale Price of $395.95; their Conversion Rate would be 1.5%. What's your Conversion Rate?
Conversion Rate = [(Total Web Sales / Unique Web Traffic) / Average Sales Price] x 100
To test the formula, we can check the original example where we have a given Conversion Rate of 3% to see if we arrive at the same rate:
CR = [(150,000/50,000)/100] x 100]
Conversion Rate = 3%
The Meaning of It All
After calculating your own numbers, different readers will come to different conclusions. People seem to be mesmerized by complex statistics and bean counter analysis but the hidden meaning behind all the number crunching and mathematical machinations seems clear: if you want to make more money from your website the trick is not where you appear on a search engine or even how many unique visitors you attract to your site, but rather how many of these visitors you convert into customers. If you have a marketing budget it should be spent on conversions; and conversions are not the primary concern of search engine optimization. What you really want is a strategy that will increase conversions.
How Do You Increase Conversions
MarketingExperiments is a research group lead by Dr. Flint McGlaughlin that studies and analyzes these kinds of Web-related issues. In a recent study entitled "Optimizing Your Landing Pages", they came up with a formula for determining conversion probability. Here's the copyrighted MarketingExperiments formula: Conversion Probability = 4(Level of Motivational Matching) + 3(Clarity of the Value Proposition) + 2(Effectiveness of the Incentive - Level of Sales Friction) - 2(Conversion Process Anxiety).
I already have a headache, but here's how they explain it in more digestible terms: "… the highest performing Landing Pages are those that match exactly the Motivation of the customer. After Motivation, the clarity with which you express the Value Proposition is the most important factor in determining whether a customer buys from you or not."(c) Copyright 2007 MarketingExperiments, LLC, You can visit the MarketingExperiments website for more details on their research.
I prefer an even simpler approach to increasing conversions: feature a website presentation that resonates with the needs of a qualified audience and compels action by providing a solution to those needs. Repurpose that presentation in affordable and no cost venues that drives even more meaningful qualified traffic to your site. Easy to say but hard to do, or is it?
What you need to determine is exactly what needs your audience craves and how best to engage their attention long enough to deliver a story that positions your offering as the missing ingredient required to fulfill their desire and ambition.
The Answer and The Future
The answer to delivering this kind of presentation on your website is video that features professional presenters delivering focused, well-crafted messages that motivate action and embed in your visitors' memory. If done right, these videos will resonate with the emotional and psychological factors that trigger human desire and motivation. Like it or not, it is the future of Web-marketing.
Google, Yahoo and all the other search engines understand that the Web has become a far more sophisticated delivery platform than it used to be. Methods are in place to delivery not only video, audio, and multimedia, but also to index and tag it for relevance. For when all is said and done, search engines are in the relevance business. If they can't deliver relevant, meaningful results they are out of business, and no search engine optimization trick, scheme or formula is going to stand in their way.
Those who truly understand the shifting momentum of this reality are already adapting to this new Web-video paradigm - the question is are you?
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Writing Articles For Affiliate Programs
Why write articles
Writing articles can make your affiliate pages unique and drive more traffic from the major search engines, resulting in more sales.
In some instances the merchant's affiliate program may not provide you with more than a banner and a few text links.
If your traffic levels are low than this will not do much to drive traffic to your affiliate links.
If the merchant does provide you with content then this can be viewed by search engines as duplicate material depending on how many affiliates are promoting the same product with that content.
Beginning Your Article
First begin by reading all the information on the merchant's site about the affiliate program, if you are not already familiar with the product.
It is very important that you learn what it is that you are offering to your customers such as,product features,capabilities,limitations and specifications.
Many merchants will include these details with the description.
Researching your article
Use one of the many free or paid keyword suggestion tools to build your list of niche keywords.
Google Adwords, Digitalpoint and CBtrends all have really useful keyword tools which are free. Experimenting will help you discover search trends.
Testing these keywords in major search engine will give you a sense market saturation and competition.
Include Keywords In your Article
When writing for search engines your article should be keyword rich. Include long tail keyword phrases in your article title and subcategories. Product specific keyword phrases will help drive targeted traffic from search engines to your specific niche.
What to include in your article
Creating an outline will help you organize your article and supporting subcategories sequence.
Including descriptive keywords such as, size, color and dimensions in your article will further help drive targeted visitors to your site.
Helping your visitors solve a problem
When promoting affiliate programs through article writing, bring attention to product features that will help your visitors resolve a problem.
Use examples and illustrations of how these features can be applied in real life situations.
If your product is easy to use, then bring attention to why you believe it is better than similar products.
Ways to emphasize product features
Use bullet points, numbering or italics when writing articles to emphasize and bring attention to helpful product features.
Free content
Articles provide free instant content for ezines,newsletters and website publishers. This free content is used to optimize and attract free search engine traffic.
Submitting to article directories
There are countless popular free article directories, where your can submit your article for publication. Arcanaweb publishes a list of many popular directories. These directories allow anyone to reprint the article as long as the resource box is included at the end of the article.
Read and follow the guidelines before submitting your articles
Do not include affiliate links in your article or resource box.
This may cause your article to be rejected by the directory.
Do not plagiarize another writers material.
Resource box and backlinks
Writing articles can increase the number of one way links or backlinks to your site.
Included at the end of every article is a resource box,where you can include a brief bio and link back to your site.
Free article directories
Free article directories will allow you submit content but you are not paid for your article. Goarticles,Isnare and Articledashboard are among some of the large high traffic free article repositories.
Article distribution and submission services
Article distribution services will submit your article for a fee to article directories,ezines,newsletters,article email groups, social bookmarking and article announcement sites.
Article submission software
Article submission software such as Artemis Lite and Article Submitter 2.2 are free and may expedite the process once your are registered. You will need to do a manual submission for sites using an access code.
Paid article directories
These directories will pay you for writing articles or reviews.
Compensation may be in the form of revenue share or per word.
Paid to write reviews
In addition to getting paid for writing articles, reviews can be another avenue to earn extra income. Review rates can range anywhere from $2.00 to $200.00.
Reviewme, Reviewstream, Softwarejudge and Epinions are just a few of the popular paid to review sites that can put extra cash in your pocket.
You can also earn money with your clickbank id at Reviewsarena for up to 60 days.
Paid to blog
Writing blogs are yet another alternative for earning extra income.
Payperpost and Smorty are blog sites that pay weekly and compensation may range anywhere from $5 to $100. In some cases, you may be able to negotiate a price with the advertiser.
In conclusion
Do your research before writing an article,use targeted keywords on affiliate product landing pages. Submit to high ranking article directories to increase the number of quality backlinks. Check site stats for increase traffic levels. Test and improve your writing skills by reading writing tutorials and ebooks. Learn from mistakes and continue writing articles.
