Internet Marketing Articles and Resources

Internet Marketing – It’s About Accountability!

Arthur — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 03:45:28 +0000

We are being reminded multiple times a day of how tough times are and how much tougher they will get. Unemployment is expected to rise even into the double digits during 2009. The Auto Industry is in an unimaginable mess. Our banking and financial systems are dysfunctional, not even trusting each other to lend between themselves. The federal government seems to lack planning, direction or even the understanding of how to deal with and address these issues effectively. Talk of recession, the worst one since the Great Depression, and even talk of another Great Depression are all part of the daily discussion. For business owners, large and small, marketing executives and managers , sales executives and representatives, these are formidable forces to be reckoned with and are the everyday challenges being faced in conducting business, particularly in the areas of planning and execution with precious sales and marketing budgets.

Fundamentals of Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Duran — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 19:32:24 +0000

SEM is no easy task. It requires a thoroughly planned execution strategy and a flawless process to be successful. Depending on the competitiveness of the industry, it might take 6 months to years to achieve substantial results. There are no tricks or magic involved here, just hard work and dedication. There are a lot of roads to take and strategies to implement. However, marketers should not forget the fundamentals of SEM.

Are You Committing Website Design Overkill?

Adelard — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 19:02:56 +0000

The most important aspect of a website is to deliver a message to visitors and get then to fill out a form, buy a product, service, or make a phone call.

How to Attract More Local Customers Online

Eric — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:14:23 +0000

There are many small businesses that have difficulties in marketing, specifically attracting local customers. There are many market challenges for small business. Many mom and pop shops don't have large enough budgets for marketing. For most small businesses, print advertising becomes their medium of choice whether they post an ad in local Newspaper or pass out flyers made on a home PC. TV advertising isn't even an option for small businesses. Another challenge is that many small business owners do not have the experience in advertising. Very few small businesses are going to know how to calculate brand equity, opportunities-to-see, and day-parting. These are all terms only marketers understand. Another challenge to small businesses is time. Many mom and pop shops are working double the hours in this economy which leaves little time for implementation and tracking of marketing initiatives with various techniques such as pay per click marketing. Most Small business owners spend their time at the business, not sweating over statistics.

Internet Marketing – Survival of the Fittest

Arthur — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:43:34 +0000

We are in the midst of a frightening and deepening financial and economic crisis worldwide. The world is making huge adjustments to correct many flawed policies, processes and practices including the use of real estate equity to fuel a worldwide buying binge, highly leveraged global gambling casino-style betting on the success of highly risky credit in the name of Credit Default Swaps. The process is called "deleveraging" but really what this is the process of liquidating hard and soft assets to pay off what can be paid off in the face of never-before-seen lost bets on incredibly risky investments. As someone first said, "This too shall pass." But what will the world look like? In this writing I will focus on marketing and the lessons we can learn.

When It Is Time For A Website Redesign

Adelard — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:59:18 +0000

Recently I wrote an article about how the next president of the United States Barack Obama was about to determine whether his website needs a redesign. In my opinion his website put him over the top.

Online Marketing and Innovation – Guide To Marketers

Duran — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:28:54 +0000

How can we differentiate ourselves from the competition? Many companies are using the same methods and procedures to create results for their clients. I have been hearing al lot of this recently at events and conferences. It seems to be a huge concern for companies who feel they cannot sustain growth or who feel they have hit a ceiling in their markets.

CMS (CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM) VS HTML SITES

Duran — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 21:00:16 +0000

The internet gets more and more competitive each year. More and more businesses are realizing the opportunities of having a website and addressing an endless number of consumers through the online market. It's no question that only the websites with great design, wide functionalities, and the right tools will make it to the front of the line.

What’s The Secret to Getting Great Traffic Online? Long-tailed keywords

Adelard — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:38:33 +0000

First, what is a "Long-tailed keyword"? It is a keyword phrase that has 3 or more words in it. I prefer to rank higher for long-tailed keyword phrases versus generic keyword phrases for one reason: profitability. Also, the competition is most likely not paying attention to them.

Static Versus Dynamic Urls, Which Is Better? Static.

Adelard — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:21:37 +0000

There is a lot of back and forth about the topic of static versus dynamic URLs and it's implication to search engine optimization. Early on, Google told us to use URL rewrites whenever possible, and now they are saying you don't have to do any rewrites.

Internet Marketing: How to Cope with the Recession of 2009

Arthur — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:04:45 +0000

Some say we are in a recession. Others say we haven't had any negative growth yet through the 2nd quarter of 2008 and you need 2 consecutive quarters of negative GDP for a textbook recession. The financial and credit markets are predictors of the future and they are telling us that, any way you want to measure it, 2009 will be a year of recession, possibly a big one.

How to Increase Conversion Rates in Google Adwords (PPC)

Duran — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:29:27 +0000

Competition is fierce in Pay Per Click Advertising on both Google Adwords and Yahoo Sponsor Search, aka Overture. There's nothing more attractive than displaying your products and services to targeted audiences who are only looking for the specific products and services that you offer.

HOW TO INCREASE ECOMMERCE SALES

Duran — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:21:01 +0000

It's one of the most asked questions. How do I increase my ecommerce sales? While there is not a quick answer or solution, there are some major factors that can contribute to increased online sales for ecommerce websites. The keys are relevance and the correct strategy. There are literally tens of thousands of ecommerce websites online; why should yours be any different and make millions?

How to Make Money in Ecommerce Drop Shipping

Duran — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:12:12 +0000

Drop Shipping is ideal for many individuals and / or small businesses. It requires very little investment to start and can grow to a large business quickly if done correctly. So, how do you make money in Ecommerce Drop Shipping? Where do you start and what are the important factors that affect the outcome?

HOW TO CREATE AN ONLINE BRAND

Duran — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:03:49 +0000

Creating an online brand is no easy task. It requires a well-structured strategy and a good game plan. Since the competition is so great in the online marketplace, there's a thin line between making and losing money. Therefore, any brand should carry certain characteristics.

Not getting Targeted Traffic?

Adelard — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:17:39 +0000

When it comes down to it, I would rather have targeted traffic versus just traffic. Most logical people will. But what most web owners actually target is basic traffic. They do campaigns to increase traffic to their site, which in return wastes their time and money.

How I Do That “Creative” Thing

Adelard — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:07:53 +0000

I have been trying to figure out why recently I've been able hit a home run with new projects, when in the past it was difficult to find the "creative" juice I need. I think I've figured out what motivates me into digging down into myself and connecting with the universe (life-stream, God, or whatever you believe in that gives you power and motivation), and channeling the energy that fills that blank canvas I am looking at.

Search Engine Marketing Companies

Arthur — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:45:59 +0000

If you are looking for a Search Engine Marketing Company, you must know by now that there are many to choose from. However, if you think through your goals and objectives, your “Search” for an SEM Company will become focused very quickly. Consider what your goals are; asked yourself the following key questions:

Search Engine Advertising

Arthur — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:40:01 +0000

Search Engine Advertising is a term that is inherently confusing. Some use this term interchangeably with Sponsored Search or Pay Per Click Advertising as in Google Adwords. Of course, these are actual advertisements that are tied to specific keyword phrases. As such they are targeted advertisements because they are only viewed based on the keyword itself. Others use this term to mean Organic Search Engine Optimization or SEO which in fact are not advertisements. Rather, these are listings based strictly on relevance as rated by the search engines themselves. These listings are not purchased or bid upon like PPC; they are earned through highly sophisticated optimization techniques. Successful Organic Optimization results in highly visible listings with no cost to the website owner no matter how many times the listing is displayed or clicked.

Adwords Management and Its Importance to You

Arthur — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 19:34:09 +0000

The difference between making and losing money in a PPC campaign is all too often directly attributable to a lack of, or even, non-existence of an Adwords Management Strategy.

Google Adwords Content Network Is a Gold Mine!

Adelard — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:14:00 +0000

A lot of Pay per Click Gurus tell clients not use the Google's Content Network because it is filled with Made for Adsense sites and click fraud, which is a huge issue. However, the same Gurus do not say anything about the content network not being able to generate targeted traffic, but it does.

The Power of Local Search Services and Google Local

Adelard — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:07:35 +0000

Google and Yahoo both have local search services but many businesses are unaware of this and their potential benefits. Many people do not know that they are free to register and can have huge positive results for their businesses. Once you get your business listed in local services, you will start showing up on their map features like Google Maps and Yahoo Maps.

How Internet Marketing Saved the Music Labels

Duran — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:37:38 +0000

The turn of the century brought a lot of new technology to the world and with that it brought the Music Industry a whole lot of problems. To deal with declining sales and continuous losses, record labels are finding new ways of raising money by focusing on different aspects of their business such as online marketing and consumer feedback rather than basing everything on CD sales.

E-Commerce … Design Matters for Increasing Sales

Arthur — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:09:06 +0000

While Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is very important so that you are found by those seeking your product s, you still need to convert that visitor to being a buyer. If you are selling through an online store, conversion is easily measured … SALES. How do you know that your e-commerce site is generating all of the sales that it can? The answer lies in the statistics. Monitoring and analyzing your stats is absolutely critical towards the ultimate goal of maximized sales for your online business. You can almost count on, in every case, that you will find things in the stats that will indicate issues that are preventing you from achieving the best performance. Stats offer you a window into the user interaction with your shopping cart. You can see how effective and efficient the buying process is. Are visitors moving through the process smoothly? Do they seem to get stuck on a particular step or page? How many enter the checkout process? How many complete the checkout process? At what point is the checkout process aborted? Which products are producing the most sales … and the least? Compare the best sellers with the worst? Are there differences that can be attributable to the information and the way the information is displayed? Have you tested different designs, configurations to see which ones perform the best? There are hundreds, even more, factors involving color, font, positions, graphics that need to be tested to determine the optimum combination. Are you insuring that the visitor feels secure, confident and have the peace of mind that your site is secure, their purchase is secure? Do you offer guarantees, warranties, even money back guarantees? Do you offer customer reviews / comments to further promote a sense in confidence in you as a vendor and in the product itself? Not all e-commerce sites are created equal from an SEO point of view either? E-Commerce structure and internal software needs to be SEO-friendly in and of itself. The products need to be indexed through a well designed and structured relational database. Visuals are important as well; are you displaying high res / high quality images that can be enlarged? Are you offering more details / specifications … there are those that read this stuff so it needs to be made available. Your Back Office Your shopping cart requires active administration to: 1. Monitor and manage your product line and all available options. 2. Manage integration and options involving all of the major shippers. 3. Dynamically update the site map to include all relevant updates so that Google has your products properly indexed for universal search purposes. 4. Carefully review stats which is so essential as already said 5. Customize CRM (Customer Relation Management) features to reflect current operations, products and policies online. 6. Offer special pricing, coupons, promotions and other customer-engagement initiatives. There are hundreds of additional considerations depending on your particular situation. You likely will need an E-Commerce Design Specialist with demonstrated results both in Internet Marketing / SEO and Conversion Optimization. Both sides of the success formula, visibility on Google and the highest conversion rates on the site itself need to be addressed by a fully integrated Internet Marketing Services Company. The wide array of specialties and sub-specialties dictate the need for top-level expertise. The opportunity cost is huge without a dedicated company that is focused and skilled in all of these areas. The key, as with everything worthwhile, is being fully committed to the ultimate success of your website and your shopping cart in particular.

Internet Marketing Services … Now More than Ever

Arthur — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 15:57:38 +0000

At the time of this writing, the country is facing real and growing fear ... on Wall Street and on Main Street. The Congress, without shame, has passed the bailout plan along with a whole bunch of pork. In other words to get enough votes, individual members of Congress traded their "conviction" for their pet projects designed to do what ... get more votes and insure their own political longevity. This is Democracy?

SEO – A milestone … Not the Goal Line

Arthur — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 05:01:03 +0000

SEO (Search Engine Optimization), professionally executed, accomplishes an important piece of a very valuable puzzle towards a truly successful and profitable website marketing strategy. Using strong research for the best keywords, insightful competitive research, onsite and offsite optimization using great content and careful management using sophisticated website statistics are key elements towards high organic rankings for targeted keywords relevant to your business. Being easily found for these highly popular and competitive keywords generates huge amounts of traffic to the website. Although all of this is a great accomplishment, page 1 Google rankings by itself doesn't put a thin dime into your bank account. So we have reached an important milestone; but now what? How do we generate business from all of this traffic?

Microsoft’s Many Competitors

Adelard — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:36:22 +0000

Microsoft has become what they feared most; the next IBM. With the latest release of their operating system, Vista, you have to wonder how they have lost their focus. They have a lot of competition and any attempt to expand their brand into other industries seems to fail. Here are some quick examples.

3 Solutions to Problems for Increasing Website Leads

Adelard — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:12:13 +0000

Most of my new clients come to me with the same problems; their websites don't generate enough leads or sales. There are several factors that contribute to this, but usually all fall under a combination of 3 problems. They are either not getting enough traffic, they are getting poor traffic or the website is not converting the traffic into leads. These are usually the biggest problems that most website owners face. Here are the solutions I propose

International SEO and the Emerging Markets

Duran — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 04:02:02 +0000

nternet is a global portal. Access is no problem and one does not need a passport. Therefore, anybody can conduct business or market their products / services online. After the initial phase of Internet until the beginning of this century, Google re-arranged the focus by introducing advanced search. Imagine a TV channel or radio station or even a magazine where all marketing is targeted. Suddenly questions like the number or the percentage of a target audience would not require advanced research anymore. It definitely would be a blessing. With Google and the other major search engines, we have just that … a blessing.

Internet Marketing - Taking Care of Clients

Duran — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 03:51:07 +0000

Theoretically, anybody could start an Internet Marketing / Consultation Company. All it takes is an office, few employees, few computers and a website. However, not all these companies can be successful. Only those firms with a solid execution process that is client and ROI-focused will ultimately be successful. It comes down to “Taking Care of our Clients.”

Internet Business and the Crazy Financial Markets

Arthur — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 21:28:59 +0000

During these crazy times, it is clearer than ever that those owning and operating businesses of all kinds and sizes must maintain their focus on their business. While grossly under-reported, business loans are still very obtainable as long as you have the same things you have always had to have to obtain a business loan from your community or area bank i.e. solid business plan, collateral, etc. In other words, capital is still available to entrepreneurs as long as you aren’t relying on smoke and mirrors.

International SEO and Internet Marketing; Europe & Asia

Duran — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 05:58:05 +0000

Many US Companies including our clients feel like they have hit a market ceiling in terms of business opportunities. We have been asked this question many times … “Does worldwide online marketing and multilingual websites work?” Well, our answer is almost always the same: it depends… If you are looking for added business and leads from overseas, you should definitely read on.

Why Optimum7 Actually Rejects Potential SEO Clients

Arthur — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 05:32:51 +0000

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is an intensive, interactive process that requires a strongly committed SEO Company. The commitment must be based on results … high search engine rankings, high conversion rates and a measurable ROI. There are certain inescapable truths about Search Engine Marketing:

Search Around the World — The Google Reality

Arthur — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:04:45 +0000

It is now estimated that there are over 1.5 million searches conducted worldwide EVERY MINUTE! With the exception of China, Google dominates around the world just the same way it has in the US since its inception about a decade ago.

Converting Visitors to Buyers

Arthur — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:02:39 +0000

Search Engine Marketing is only 50% complete when you start getting visitors to your website in volume due to successfully achieving high rankings for your targeted keywords. You now have visitors ... now you need buyers.

Search Engine Marketing Consultants

Arthur — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:00:27 +0000

Search Engine Marketing Consultants, as the term “consultant” implies, provide analysis, guidance and usually implementation of Search Engine Marketing strategies and procedures. However, the definition by itself does little justice to the important areas of emphasis that you must look for in a true SEM Consultant.

Staffing Up For SEM - Finding The Right Type of Search Engine Marketing Employees

Duran — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:23:59 +0000

It’s always tough to create a team, a team of people who can communicate and identify opportunities as well as deliver promises. Employee turnover is one of the major issues at any company. So, how do you find the right kind of staff to create your Search Engine Department? The first step would be to identify yourself; what type of an organization you really are. Are you an internet marketing agency, a full service marketing firm or a consultant? Once you place yourself in the right category, the people you should associate with will be limited.

SEM for Small Businesses

Arthur — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 16:40:51 +0000

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is not reserved and exclusive for big business. In fact, it is the brightest light for small businesses to effectively compete in their respective markets. It is a mistake to believe that the “big boys” know what they are doing on the internet, at least not yet.

Website Optimization

Arthur — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:31:44 +0000

Website Optimization and Internet Marketing are synonymous terms. The major supporting cast or specialty is Search Engine Optimization or SEO.

However SEO is often misunderstood. It is not at all unusual to speak with prospective clients that think SEO is all about meta tags, title tags and even “tricks.” However so-called White Hat SEO or “ethical” SEO or much more accurately, EFFECTIVE SEO, involves no tricks and the lexicon of meta tags and title tags does little justice to the true scope of what is involved in SEO.

SEO Companies

Arthur — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:29:27 +0000

As is the case with many products and service providers, there is a wide disparity between and amongst SEO companies. Without essaying over the comparisons of “unnamed” companies or competitors, let’s review those qualities you should seek in selecting the right SEO company for your online strategy.

SEO Marketing

Arthur — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:26:42 +0000

One inescapable fact: No matter how great your website looks, it doesn’t mean a thing unless those that you want to find you on Google can’t find you on the top 3 pages for those keywords you would like to be found for.

Sixty-Eight percent of online searchers DON’T go past the first page … 98% don’t go past the 3rd page. Are you hoping that the remaining 2% will find you? Is that what you are banking on or hoping for? Don’t hold your breath.

Internet Marketing & Blogs… Is it really necessary?

Arthur — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:24:37 +0000

The answer to this question is not ambiguous … Yes!!! If you want to know why and how, I invite you to please read on.

If you are interested in a successful website and a successful website equals quality internet marketing and includes search engine optimization, conversion optimization, blogs should be an essential part of the overall website marketing approach.

How to submit a sitemap to all Search Engines using Robots.txt

Adelard — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:22:33 +0000

I discovered this about a week ago and it frankly surprised me. Apparently the Robots.txt file has a new agreed upon protocol for implementing sitemaps

To simply add a sitemap to your robots.txt file simple open it in a text editor and input the following example:

How to Keep Your Customers Coming Back

Arthur — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:18:37 +0000

If your website has a goal, that is, sales made through an online ecommerce site, lead generation, phone calls, surveys that are completed, then you probably have put some significant effort in time and expense towards winning that client... and it all started with a conversion.

If you have been in business for any length of time, you should probably already know what a big percentage of NEW sales actually come from EXISTING customers. If you are doing a good job, this is most certainly the case. This should make sense; customer buys product or uses your service and you have provided the value, and hopefully more, than the client expected. Important customer-relationship dynamics take hold … trust, confidence, peace of mind and convenience all grow in your favor.

A Better Web Experience is on The Horizon

Adelard — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:16:31 +0000

Recently Apple announced the iPhone 2.0, renamed "OS X iPhone" and an interested new Operating System Upgrade called "Snow Leopard 10.6.” The interesting part about these is how the two releases interact together.

"Snow Leopard" will not be a major upgrade like "Leopard" but a more of a speed and stability upgrade which will allow its devices to operate smoother. They are also going with a full Intel 64 bit processing for speed and more stability thus dropping Power PC support.

What happened to Microsoft Silverlight?

Adelard — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:14:23 +0000

About a year ago there was talk about a Flash/Ajax eliminator. Microsoft was unveiling a new competing plug-in that would blow Flash, Ajax, JavaScript, and CSS apparently all out of the water. It was based on the .Net technology, and at the same time was cross browser AND cross operating system compatible.

1 year later, I don't see a lot of talk about it in the tech world, in fact I remember disregarding it completely when it was announce, and I believe most Flash and JavaScript Developers did. Interesting enough, People at the Y Combinator, which invest in web 2.0 and other emerging companies, don’t even take in consideration if Microsoft is already in the field when funding a company. They consider seeing if Google is in the field they are trying to get into, and ways t avoid them now. Google has all the power of a multi-billion dollar company, but a lot of the nimbleness and energy of a startup.

Why You Need Inbound and Outbound Links On Your Website

Adelard — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:11:15 +0000

A website is like a train station, it has visitors that come and go through it to get around on the Internet. Think about it, whenever you visit a website, you click on a link that takes you to the next page that has the information on it your desire. Eventually if you click long enough you get to a web "station" that allows you to visit any website in the world.

This would in essence be a web portal, like Yahoo or AOL has. For these big web "stations" you can get to anywhere around the world. This is what the search engine spiders have to do; they can’t “Google” a web site like you and me. They rely on link to web pages, and eventually run into a huge web station that they constantly come back to for references.

Innovation - Why the Dinosaurs Need the Pirates

Adelard — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:09:26 +0000

Recently I read an interview on Larry Page; co-founder of Google, and most of his answers were simply brilliant. Larry Page - http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/29/magazines/fortune/larry_page_change_the_world.fortune/index2.htm .

He speaks a lot about Innovation and the why there needs to be more risk taking behavior in technology. Risk taking was what leaded to all the great inventions of the last century and it is needed to drive us into the future. Here are two examples of innovation which were brought on by non-traditional means that have changed the way we view the world;

How To Get Rid of Spam on Form Submissions

Adelard — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:06:47 +0000

Recently we had a client who started to rank up very quickly on the major search engines such as Google and Yahoo. We noticed that the amount of spam that was being passed through our web submission forms increased by 1000% and that happens to all major websites Well, over the next couple of months I came up with the best way and really the final way to get rid of all spam from web forms!

SEO Prices - Realities and Myths

Arthur — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:04:21 +0000

Search Engine Optimization (SEO), the service, and SEO, what you actually get, unfortunately are all too often mutually exclusive to each other. The primary reason for this is confusion in the marketplace of what you are actually paying for. We all understand numbers. But the buyer, the website owner, does not understand what to expect:

SEO - Significance to C-Level Executives

Adelard — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:02:09 +0000

C-Level Executives have an important stake in the online business performance of their company websites. However, CEOs, COOs, CFO’s and other top execs are no different than any other top executives and business owners when it comes to their website and “the purpose of it all.” Often they are frustrated that a good deal of company money has been spent on website design and promotion yet the early optimism has faded with time as the hoped-for results in terms of sales, profitability and corporate efficiency just didn’t materialize.

Google Ranking Factors

Arthur — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:58:01 +0000

Internet Marketing Companies and, more specifically, Search Engine Marketing Companies focus their attention on Google when it comes to achieving high organic rankings. This should make obvious sense since the overwhelming and growing majority of internet searches are performed using Google. However what are the factors that Google uses to generate its rankings? As such, what therefore should be the chief strategies for Search Engine Marketing Companies? A great deal has been written about “best practices” by SEO (Search Engine Optimization) companies when promoting their services. This is in apparent response to some bad apples in this industry that attempt to “play games or tricks” to achieve high Google rankings … more on this later. Aside from mere ethics, the factors that really matter to the Google Spiders are as follows:

8 Ways to Build Traffic to Your Website

Arthur — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:54:44 +0000

Your Website must get traffic to have the opportunity to succeed. If your website is well designed to convert visitors into new customers and your business model is ready to go to execute new business and provide excellent support, then building traffic is the absolute key to your online success. Here are 8 straight forward ways to build traffic to your site.

Google – SEO Strategic Partner or Competitor

Arthur — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:51:54 +0000

Since Google announced its acquisition of DoubleClick, there has been a great deal of angst from SEO Firms and SEO professionals alike. The reason: An SEO Company named Performics was included in the purchase as a part of DoubleClick’s business. SEO companies were concerned that the giant of the industry, Google, would now have a vehicle to unfairly compete with all Internet Marketing Companies by providing “access” to information that is not currently made available to SEO Firms in delivering their Internet Marketing Services to their clients. In addition, there have been many concerns expressed about the cost and price in fear that Google might package, discount or even give away high organic search rankings in special arrangements also not available to competing Search Engine Marketing Companies.

Build It and They Will Come - This ain’t Hollywood, It The Internet Jungle

Adelard — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:48:43 +0000

A new era of the internet has been brewing for some time now. A more visitor focused view has emerged which I credit to web 2.0 . Long is gone the build it and they will come framework, if it even existed. But as the internet evolves, there are still thousands upon thousands of websites still thinking in a backwards theory. The main reason for this is because most people think they can put up a website, sit back, relax and start counting their millions. Unfortunately this is not the case.For every 1 success story, there are at least 100 unsuccessful ventures which have not seen the promised millions. And on the internet, it is not different. In fact the ease of setting up a website has only multiplied the failure rate. So, why is it that most websites do not succeed? We could ask the same question for any new business offline as well. The law of supply and demand is one factor but there is another underlining problem with most people’s thinking process when venturing into a new project.

How to Dominate a Niche Category

Adelard — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:45:18 +0000

This quick tutorial is an overview of the most common way Internet marketers have been able to control a niche category online. When entering a new niche/industry online, the path most website owners take is create only 1 site and build upon that site over time. Most “gurus” know this creates some common problems. The biggest problem is competition: 1 versus thousands/millions of other sites in the industry. Note: This is not for the faint of heart; this will not be quick, and this will not be painless. But if you follow these guidelines, you will join the few who say, they own a niche. Here is the method that pros use to overcome this dilemma:

Content is King, Traffic is Supreme

Adelard — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:42:02 +0000

"What should I put on my website?" That is the question I receive mostly from newcomers. The answer is very simple, content. You have to give your visitors and prospects a reason to go to your website, and keep going to your website. "What should I put on my website?" That is the question I receive mostly from newcomers. The answer is very simple, content. You have to give your visitors and prospects a reason to go to your website, and keep going to your website. The Content Thou Art King The website's information; text, images, videos, audio, and other data are the content elements you provide. The flavor of the content should be unique, and entice the visitors to get involved in your website. The style of your writing, content will portray a personality in itself and provide flavor to your website.

RSS and How It Can Bring Your Site Traffic and Sales

Duran — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:37:26 +0000

So, what is RSS? (Really Simple Syndication) That must be one of the most often-asked questions we get from our clients. It’s very normal for individuals to dismiss an idea or “glaze over” when they hear a term such as “RSS” because they basically do not understand what it does. RSS is one of the many feed formats used on the web. A feed format is the way information is delivered to its recipient. It’s mainly used for frequently updated content such as blogs, news, podcasts and videos. The information could be just a summary or the fully detailed content. We know how much content there is on the web and it would be impossible to get all that content via RSS and read it. So there are ways to filter this content using RSS Readers and 3rd Party Web-Based and Desktop Applications. Let’s say I’m interested in Football and the scores in the NFL. I can go to the NFL site or any news site and subscribe to an RSS feed which then would bring that information daily (sometimes hourly) to my Desktop, Yahoo or Gmail. So, every time I turn on my computer or check my mails at Yahoo, I can see the scores. So, the information is filtered to what I want to see and then is delivered to me and displayed in the manner that I want .. PERFECT!

Not Using These 18 Steps to Generate FREE Traffic?

Adelard — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:35:22 +0000

This is my version of an article named “10 Steps to Generate Free Targeted Web Traffic”, I have edited and update it to included new techniques and eliminate items that are no longer relevant. Update with 8 more FREE traffic generating techniques. This is a guide to help those on a budget and/or do not want to spend money on advertising, but still want to generate huge amounts of traffic. You now actually can have your cake and eat it too. 1.) Know Your Niche; this is a key to getting traffic to any website. You have to know more than the average person on the topics and items related to your industry.

Why You Need to Understand Latent Semantic Indexing

Adelard — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:31:20 +0000

Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) is the underlying root of the entire major search engines' algorithms. There is a complicated Wikipedia version here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latent_semantic_indexing .. that goes into detail of the Matrix relationship of words, but to really understand it you will need some knowledge and understanding of Calculus and Advanced Algebra, and have not slept through the Derivatives and Matrices parts of class. I will attempt to show you a simplified version of it. Guess the theme/keyword of this next sentence: "I love linguini, spaghetti, and angel hair. I also like rotini, bow ties, and macaroni." Here is the same concept of the sentence with stuffed keywords: "I love pasta. All kinds of pasta. Without pasta, I couldn't survive. There isn't a type of pasta that I don't like."

Online Branding - Style or Substance?

Arthur — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:26:59 +0000

If I had to pick just one, it would be substance. When I refer to style, I am limiting the definition to items such as logo, name and title, public relations, advertising. While these and more are all important factors in creating a look and feel for your online visitors, they are all clearly secondary to substance. So what do we mean when we speak of substance? Substance, in its essence, refers to those elements that create a lasting impression, a unique and lasting “user experience.” In the real world of bricks and mortar, we can all quickly name scores of successful brands. They all have one thing in common … a distinctive and easily recognizable customer experience that is repeatable interaction after interaction, transaction after transaction.

How Top Management Can Increase its Revenue

Adelard — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:23:25 +0000

Recently I read a great article about tapping into the hidden potential of the IT department (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120467900166211989.html), and it got me thinking about all the ways past employers missed opportunities towards improving customer satisfaction, internal productivity, product development … simply by “boxing me in” as the “IT Guy.”

PPC or Organic Search – Which one should I use?

Arthur — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:19:00 +0000

Let me give you the answer up front... Both! Now read on if you wish to know more. Firstly, to make sure everyone knows the physical difference see the illustration provided ...

Google PageRank Doesn’t Matter. It’s Dead.

Adelard — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:01:46 +0000

If your PageRank has dropped, it's not a sign that you are going to start dropping in search engine results. You're already screwed! Google PageRank is dead. If you rely on your PageRank to determine whether you are doing a good job of internet marketing, you are basically looking at how you were doing 3-6 months ago (it’s in the rear view mirror).

Conversion… The Real Bottom Line

Arthur — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:49:05 +0000

Search Engine Marketing , whether its Organic SEO or PPC , even spectacularly done, is limited to getting searchers to find you and land on your home page, a specific landing page or another internal page that is most relevant to the search performed. It does not equal CONVERSION . Successful SEO gets the right user to the right page on your website. Now your website must take over from there to grab the attention of the visitor and very quickly … 5 seconds.

Quality Score

Duran — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:46:39 +0000

While organic listings are based on relevancy alone, as evaluated and rated by Google’s algorithms, paid search, more specifically, paid search listings also are controlled by relevancy. This may seem counterintuitive when thinking of Paid Search. Paid Search by definition involves a bidding process specific to keywords and basic logic would indicate that the highest bidder would get the highest positions within the Paid Search Listings. However, Relevancy is the most important factor for Google, even as it applies to Paid Search. Google invests billions to make their results more relevant and this extends to its major profit contributor, paid ads. Google wants one thing, above and beyond all else … the continued #1 ranking of its search service to continue to dominate the Search Engine Industry. If searchers continue to use Google in overwhelming numbers, advertisers are sure to continue bidding higher and for more keywords.

Link Quality Versus Link Quantity: Which is Better?

Adelard — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:37:48 +0000

Great Question, Complex Answer. First we have to explain the reasoning behind the question. It is a fact; search engines view a link to a website as a vote for the site. Now an even better "theory" is that a link from a web site of the same "subject" is a vote that counts more. That’s the Link Quality theory. If your website is in a specific industry, and another website in the same industry links to you, that is seen as giving better votes for you, compared to a link from a website outside the industry.

Websites and User Friendly Web Designs

Adelard — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:29:40 +0000

5 SECONDS … that’s how long you have to capture the attention of a website visitor. Does your website convey trust, credibility and reliability within 5 seconds? Site visitors are impatient people seeking immediate gratification … they want to ooh and ahh … even before the page is fully loaded.

Internet Marketing, The Never ending Marathon

Adelard — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:27:12 +0000

Ever get the look …The look when discussing intrernet marketing and its potentialwith clients. The look that says “what are you talking about?” The incredulous look about what it really takes to be successful marketing on the internet. Internet Marketing is nothing short of a big race. If you are a brand new website, your competitors already on the web are already ahead of you. If this race were across the United States and we are all trying to get to California from New York, your competition can be anywhere from Ohio to Nevada. So by the time your website is created and launched, your competition still holds a wide advantage in the “race to California.”

Converting Web Site Visitors, Beyond Search Engine Optimization

Arthur — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:22:36 +0000

For the purposes of this article let’s assume that you have successfully achieved high organic search engine rankings for the right key words through Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts and have also employed paid search (PPC or Pay Per Click ) to more fully maximize traffic to your website. At this point you have a web presence with a site and good search engine optimization results, as well as, paid search management that have paved the way to your site. But now you are not achieving your BUSINESS objectives of increasing SALES AND PROFITABILITY.

Web Development and Search Engines

Duran — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:19:54 +0000

In the 90’s, when the first websites started to pop up on the web, nobody would have thought that things would get so complicated for the web development industry. Building was pretty easy and self explanatory then. Anybody who knew html and how to use frontpage could build and upload a website. I remember building my first website on geocities and I was so excited when I saw it indexed in Yahoo and Altavista in 1994. We did not have the big Google then.

The Most Valuable Prospect & The Most Valuable Tool

Arthur — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:54:56 +0000

Prospect Lists, Telephone Directories, Databases, Mail Lists, Print Advertising, Radio & TV advertising, Trade Shows, Direct Mail, Coupon Books and Mailers, Restaurant Placemats, Billboards, Direct Mail, and, oh yes, Telemarketing … you know them all. All proven methods supposedly as part of marketing strategies to promote sales, generate leads and establish brand names. What do they all have in common? Among countless other things, all have low levels (small percentages) of success. They all depend on the laws of probability that a tiny percentage of recipients of the marketing message will be received at precisely the time the “prospect” is actually interested in actually buying the very product or service that is being offered. For instance, it is commonly believed, and accepted that a 1% response rate to a direct mail piece is “good.” And if you follow up the mailing with a telephone call (at significant additional expense), you can increase this rate to a lofty 3%! Aside from the sarcasm, it is clear that traditional marketing is a numbers game that is inefficient almost by definition and certainly in measured results. The cost in production, editing, delivering, following through et al create a precarious cost-benefit justification for even the most aggressive marketer.