SEO Secret - Don't Tell Anybody!
Content, content, content is the mantra. Then many gurus go on to espouse 'go for the long tail keywords' - it is easy to get top rankings for these keywords. Tosh - more of this later.
Long Term Keywords
Say you are trying to create a page on your website that is targeted at the keyword "Directory". Hey that is a highly competitive keyword with 977,000,000 competing pages. However, if you design a page targeting "top submission list of business directories in UK", the competition is down to just 240,000 pages. So the gurus will tell that is easier to get a top ranking on that phrase - its true but is it worth it?
Proportionate Effort
How many vistors will you get for such a phrase? Probably peanuts - remember you still have to create the page, and promote it with a linking strategy. So how many long term keyword phrases (and content pages) will you have to target to get reasonable traffic? It is also probably true that sites with high rankings for "directory" or "directories" or "business directories" will also do well for this long tail keyword phrase because the power phrase is "directory" or "business directory".
OK - if you go for the killer phrase, nobody is going to kid you that it is going to be easy! Aiming for a 1000 visitors a day from one keyword phrase has its attractions though! But as before you have to create the content and have an extensive linking strategy. However, even if your ultimate aim is a Page 1 ranking, one of the side effects is that you will rank well for long tail keywords anyhow as the campaign rolls out. For example, you will start to rank well on various combinations with the keyword "directory" included.
This is not going to happen overnight but there are plenty examples where small companies have taken on the big boys. Even for example in the highly competitive market of Golf, at least one of big hitters started from nothing and competes with the big boys.
Howard Farmer
Business Links Directory - promote you website in our Professional Business Directory. Our site includes extensive categories, Google maps for your location, and comprehensive site descriptions. Submit your site today - all sites reviewed within 24 hours. Visit our collection of SEO articles.
4 Reasons Why You Need Testimonials to Sell More
The other day I was writing a sales brochure for a West Coast manufacturer. As I got to what Ill call the proof section of the brochure, I was rummaging around for testimonials. The company already had a full-blown Web site and a solid PowerPoint presentation. So I was hopeful that Id find some ready made testimonials or at least some material I could use to create some.
As it turned out, they had one case study with a couple of customer quotes. I pieced together the material to create one measly testimonial. It was less than adequate.
Well, maybe its no big deal. After all, I wrote strong copy. Why even bother with testimonials? Ill give you four good reasons.
1. Credibility
Testimonials give your company, product, or service credibility. Everyone is bombarded with advertising messages every day. Its a brutal marketplace. If you want to sell something to somebody, you stand a much better chance if you can convince them that youre credible. Testimonials are like references on a resume. Theyre the people who vouch for you.
2. Identification
Your prospects identify with your customers who are providing the testimonials. They have similar concerns, problems, hopes and desires. They commiserate. This is good. You want this in your marketing. (Sorry, but your prospects dont identify with you. Not really. Youre trying to sell them something!)
3. Proof
Proof, alone, is reason enough to gather and use testimonials. This is where your customers say, in effect, Theyre right, Mr. or Ms. Prospect. They can save you 50% ... or make you feel 18 again ... or make you enough money to retire at 50. They did it for me and Im thrilled! Testimonials notarize your marketing speak.
4. Closure
Testimonials help close the sale. Sure, they can be used throughout a marketing piece. But they definitely come in handy toward the end. Youve introduced the problem or need, your product or service, the features and benefits, and more. Then you line up your testimonials, all the customers whose heads are nodding and saying, Yep, it worked for me. Soon after, you ask for the order.
For many reasons, testimonials give your prospects the confidence they need to buy from you for the first time. And once your prospects turn into new customers, the door to repeat sales swings wide open.
(c) 2005 Neil Sagebiel
Neil Sagebiel is a former senior copywriter for a Seattle B2B ad agency and publisher of a monthly ezine, Headlines from Floyd.
How to Optimize Your Squidoo Lens
For all of us who spent years, it seems, learning SEO techniques in order to drive traffic to our sites, Squidoo is a brand new game. To optimize your Squidoo lens, you cannot rely on the old SEO techniques. And yet, SEO is part of the Squidoo game.
First, a little background will help you understand Squidoo. Squidoo allows you to create a lens that focuses people on a specific topic. When you set up your account, you set up keywords or tags as Squidoo calls them. You don't have to understand the concept of keyword density.
You don't have to worry about H-Tags, meta-tags, or long tails either. This is because Squidoo is set up to handle these issues for you. The SquidTeam takes the tags and other information you fill into the automatically set up pages for you and create the html that optimizes your Squidoo site for you.
Anyone who has ever lost sleep trying to optimize their site is in for a real delightful surprise with Squidoo. SEO is built into the site design. All you have to do is use the Squidoo tools and your site basically optimizes itself.
You can add in attractive modules that give you an advertising edge. Among the modules you can add are YouTube, Guestbook, Polls, RSS Feeds, Del.icio.us, Flickr, and Plexo. You don't need to know the first thing about html or coding.
Squidoo is a flip from the way websites used to work. The deal then was to get lots and lots of SEO pages in the hope that the sheer numbers would get the site to Google's first page. The content mattered so little that there was a booming business in article spinners and automatically generated pages.
Squidoo is all about content and looks at quality over quantity. The lensmaster (that would be you) takes the best of what's online and using the tools, focuses the reader on the topic by offering the most comprehensive information possible.
The more concise and up-to-date your lens is, the more attention you can attract. Think of a Squidoo page as a minisite. You take a single topic and you focus on that topic, digging deep into the topic.
The secret is to make the site informative. Because Squidoo does the SEO work for you, you can focus on rounding up all the information related to your topic. This makes your readers' experience comprehensive. Rather than dig through hundreds or thousands of Google pages, the reader can simply get all the information from your Squidoo site.
Nick Stewart has been doing online marketing for several years.
He is the author of the free 58 page Traffic Guide: Nick's Traffic Tricks 58 Page Traffic Guide
Get great traffic tips every week: NicksTrafficTricks.com
How to Boost Your Ranking with Google!
Google is a Beast! The King of all search engines! If you have an Online Business, then Google can make your job a heck of a lot easier! But how can you beat the veterans at their own game?
To be notice you need to get on the first page of any search engine. And no! I am not talking about pay-per-clicks. That is a very competitive environment that can cost you more to run a campaign then you will receive in income!
So, what can you do to boost your ranking with Google? First, everyone knows about the basics, keywords, density, and new content. This will help your ranking with Google, but most people don't know about the other things that can boost your ranking.
First, what you already know, keywords and keyword phrases.
If you look closely, I have used "To Boost your ranking with Google" three times already. Why, because that is how you found me! Out of all the websites and blogs, this keyword phrase that I have been using has directed my page to you.
You want to pick out about three keywords or phrases that will explain what you are writing about. You want to sprinkle them around to keep your density up. Do not abuse the system though as I found out the hard way what Google spiders will do!
Your keywords should be something the average searcher will type. For example, you might write something about lower back pain right. If you use one of Googles free tool to find out good keywords like keyword track and type in lower back pain, it will give you all the keywords that are associated with that phrase. You want to pick the highest ones and use those.
I know, I know, "But, Gary, isn't everyone else using the same keywords?" Yes! But I'd rather play the game then be in a league of my own with no fans. Think about it. If your talking about lower back pain, you want to pick a keyword like lower back pain not Erector Spinae pain. People won't search for that.
Next, is your density. To Boost your ranking with Google, you want your keywords density to be about 4 % of your entire article. This will boost your chance without putting you in the red.
When Googles spiders look for your keyword, they like to see it a lot. That will tell the spiders that this is what this article is about. You can use a tool from Google. Just type in keyword density and use the free ones.
Next is your content. To Boost your ranking with Google, you must change your content regularly. Googles spiders hate left over night. Get the picture. Even if you have to right your articles over and over again putting more and more information in the mix, if it's keeping you on the first page then go for it!
Now, the good stuff! Back links! What is a back link? A Back link is another blog or website that is comparable to your site or niche. This is a lot like a tag-team event. You are buddy backing off of one another to Boost your ranking with Google. If you get about three or more back links this will definitely power up your Google ranking.
Simply contact the owner of the page and present the offer. But, be sure to buddy up with people that have a slightly better page rank then you. If you go the other route then your page will suffer. A thousand ones are only a thousand, but a hundred tens, in Google eyes, are ten thousand!
Next are Article Hubs. If you want to Boost your ranking with Google, not submitting articles to Article Hubs is a mortal sin! This mostly free technique is the Grandfather of buddy backing. Your article, with a back link to your website, will push you up and beyond the rest! Article Hubs are Google spider's favorite five-course meal.
This is what the gurus do and why this is such a hidden piece of information.
Gary Lamb Is a make it for free nut! Knowing that the way of the pay-per-click is losing its grip, Gary became obsessed with ways to drive large amounts of traffic to his websites for free! Now, he is passing these techniques to others. To check out he has to offer go to http://makeitforfree.com/
Productive Article Marketing - Latest 3 Comprehensive Methods to Advance With Article Marketing
Article marketing is one of the most powerful website marketing strategies in the internet today. As search engines remain to the be best source of warm and targeted traffic, more and more webmasters are using article marketing so they can fare well on major search engines.
Here are the 3 comprehensive methods to advance with article marketing:
1. Write for your readers. Article marketing can bring you numerous benefits. It can improve your page ranking, increase the number of targeted visitors to your site, and it can help you communicate your expertise to your potential readers. However, before you can achieve all of that, you must know how to attract and please your target market first. You can easily do so by writing content that is targeted to their needs and demands. That is why, it is very crucial for you to get to know your readers first even before you start writing your articles so you can effectively adjust your writing style and language on the level that they are most comfortable with.
2. Widely distribute your articles. It is not enough that you submit your articles to major submission sites. To get maximum exposure, you must consistently find avenues where you can post your content. Some marketers are submitting their articles to websites that are syndicated by Google and Yahoo News. While others are posting their writing materials to various sites like wikis, forums, blogs, and on their own websites.
3. Bank on the quality of your content. It article marketing, it is useless to write numerous low quality articles. Why? Because these articles are unlikely to get distributed or republished by other marketers. Thus, they will not be able to help you augment your traffic and your page ranking. So, instead of focusing on the number of your articles, concentrate on your content. It is better to have few articles that are worth distributing that more articles that will just sit on publishing sites and will not have the chance to go further.
To learn more, download my free guide, "How to Generate $15,000 Per Month Online" here: "How to Generate $15,000 Per Month Online"
Sean Mize is an internet marketing mentor who teaches people to generate over $15,000 per month online via automated systems and product funnels.
Affiliates - Increase Your Income with Article Marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of the most lucrative and successful online income resources that exist. Most great affiliates have researched many different ways in which they can be successful with their affiliate marketing. This is how they are successful, in fact. Keeping up with an ever-changing market can be tough and sometimes frustrating, but in order to earn a real income as an affiliate, it is necessary. As an affiliate, have you ever considered article marketing? As one of the best ways to generate traffic and build lists, this is a great thing to couple with affiliate marketing.
Article marketing is when you submit your own unique, quality, and keyword-rich articles to article marketing directories like Ezine Articles or Article Feeder. The articles would have to do with the product or service that you are offering, and may outline the benefits or the reasons to purchase this product or service. The best way this is accomplished is with a freelance writer or ghostwriter who can create this article to be subtle but have it speak to potential customers. These articles are published under a corresponding category, and when people search for keywords that are placed in the article, yours pops up. Of course, in order for your article to be displayed with the search results, several things must be accomplished.
First of all, there has to be a correct amount of SEO within the article. Of course, this means keywords. The proper keyword density is around 3 to 5%. When more than this is added, the search engines consider the article to be keyword stuffed, which is pretty much another term for spam. The article also has to flow well in order to interest the readers, and contain enough information for them to trust you and consider you an expert in your niche. After they read the article, they will see your author byline, which will include a call to action and a link to your website. Ideally, if the article is good, they will click on the link, already prepared to purchase a product or service from you. At the very least, you should be able to have them sign up for a free newsletter or something similar so that you can build your list.
Article marketing can be very effective for affiliate marketers in order to boost their business, create more customers and sales, or build their contact list. It is a great addition to the other types of marketing in which affiliate marketers have become proficient. The credibility it creates for you will simply build your reputation as an expert within your niche, and this is great for your career. If you are skilled in SEO and the subtleties of article marketing, try your hand at it today. If you're not, find a great ghostwriter or freelance writer to craft your articles for you! Utilize the tips and ideas within this article to help you get your article marketing campaign started, and increase your affiliate marketing business. Good luck on your journey to great success!
Are you a freelance writer who is tired of others profiting from your hard work and effort? Do you want to maximize your online income and secure financial freedom for you and your family? Now you can! Combine your writing talents with the power of Internet Marketing and watch your income soar! Visit http://www.internetmarketingwriter.com and join the new revolution of financially secure and joyous freelance writers.
Article Marketing 101 - Quick And Easy Steps To Promoting Your Business For Free
There are many different ways to promote your business on the internet. You can use PPC, ezine advertising and search engine optimization to name a few. Unfortunately for most people who are new to internet marketing these options can be very overwhelming. You need to have some money to invest to tweak your paid advertising so that you can actually get it right. Search engine optimization takes long and can be complicated and you may also not receive the conversions that you want.
The two things that I like very much about article marketing is that you get very good conversions which can be up to 10 times better than leads from other sources. So if you are new to internet marketing and trying to sell your new product it will be so much easier. Also it is completely free and only requires some time of your to write articles.
However, it can be really difficult to get started using this method of advertising your business. I remember when I first got started I really struggled to write articles. The main reason is that you need to train your brain to do this. The more practise you get the easier it will become. This is the formula that I use to write my articles. I will think of a specific area concerning my niche market and write focusing on this. I then come up with a killer title. I will write the introduction and conclusion next as these are the easiest to write first. Then I will focus on the meat of the article or the body.
I brainstorm various ideas and then think of bullet points that represent each idea. I will write one complete paragraph for each bullet point. I then proof read the article and submit it to the major article directories the following day.
Once you get going it will become easier to start writing consistently and consequently you will start getting highly qualified traffic to your website.
Are you really interested in driving massive traffic to your website?
Here's the answer:
Secrets Of Article Marketing - Download your free ebook now.
Mark Abrahams is a full time internet marketer who has helped others to earn a living online.
Article Marketing - Why Articles are Your Most Valuable Promotional Tool
On the Web, links are currency. The more links you have to your site, the more traffic you will get. Article marketing gives you a time-tested way to develop good links, and to increase the traffic to your site.
Article marketing has other benefits too: it reveals your expertise in your area, and over time, brands you as an authority. This builds the credibility of your site and your offerings.
So you can use article marketing in two ways: to develop links to your site, and to increase your credibility online.
But first, let's establish what "article marketing" is. Article marketing is essentially a form of advertising - a site owner writes short articles related to their business as a form of promotion.
Links are vital online, and article marketing helps you to get links
Let's say you and your competitor have two similar sites, with roughly the same number of pages, and good content throughout each of your sites. However, your competitor always shows up in the first ten results on the Search Engine Results pages (SERPs) for your primary keywords.
What's happening here?
Invariably, your competitor's site has more backlinks - more links which point to his site. The search engines, especially Google, take the number of backlinks into account when deciding which site has more authority, and the most authoritative sites are always returned first in the search engines' query results.
Is your site credible?
When someone finds your site, at the back of his mind is a single question: "How credible is this site?"
Credibility and trust are vital issues online, especially if you're selling from your site. Your site's visitors must know that they can trust you.
Article marketing helps to establish trust. Write articles in your field, promote the articles on article directories, and you will become an authority in your field, if those articles are useful.
So if you're considering article marketing as a form of promotion, don't hesitate. It gives you a lot of bang for a small amount of time invested.
When you consider that your articles will work for you year after year, and compare this with the ephemeral nature of advertising, article marketing is a great investment of your time and energy.
Want to build a well-paid writing career? You can, with Angela Booth's new Writing Hacker Web site at http://writinghacker.com/ - watch Angela's "Make money Writing: Write and sell Web articles - they're in hot demand" video.
For more writing tips, subscribe to Angela's Fab Freelance Writing Ezine at http://fabfreelancewriting.com/ezine/fab-freelance-writing-ezine.html and receive "Write And Sell Your Writing: The Power-Write Report". It's 21 pages packed with information to help you to develop a six-figure writing career, and it's completely free. Angela's Fab Freelance Writing Blog at http://fabfreelancewriting.com/blog/ brings you fresh writing tips several times a week.
Effective Marketing Strategies - What Is the Most Effective Marketing Strategy?
There are a lot of marketing strategies that work, but which one is the best? This question is impossible to answer because it all depends on your goal. Since most of the people that will read an article online will be looking for something for free we are going to discuss the most effective free marketing strategy.
So, which marketing strategy is the most effective for free? Article marketing is the most effective online marketing strategy. Basically it is a way to give surfers something for free online while getting them to click through to your website where you might sell something or have them sign up for a newsletter or list.
Article marketing is a way of targeting your traffic. You already know that if someone is willing to read an entire article about something, then they have interest in the subject so they will most likely want more information about the subject. This is also the best traffic for purchasing from you as well.
Marketing with articles is not a hard thing to do. Basically you need to pick keywords to target your articles around, write the articles, and submit them to article directories all over the web. There are tons of article directories out there and you can submit your article to as many as you can find.
The basic strategy is to get your articles listed on Google and other search engines so that you can get free targeted traffic like crazy. Article Marketing is the most effective free online marketing strategy and it has become very popular. There is a lot of free information that can help you get started with article marketing.
Get started with article marketing and start getting Free Targeted Traffic to your Website. Get more info here: http://www.FREE-OFFER-SITES.info/ArticleMarketing.html
Latest 6 Comprehensive Methods to Accelerate Your Article Marketing
Are you ready to market your business online? If you are, then you should also be prepared with article marketing. It's currently one of the best and most efficient traffic-generating and marketing tools, so it's definitely worth giving a try. Here are 6 comprehensive methods to accelerate your article marketing:
1. Post articles in forums. Message boards and groups have been a popular venue to talk about and ask questions about a particular subject or product. When it comes to article marketing, make it your habit to participate. You can post your own written article, as long as it's relevant to the discussion. Encourage reaction from other forum members. Of course, make sure you can maximize your signature file by adding a link to your site.
2. Create bullets or list. Don't think that your targeted audience has all the time in the world to read your copies. Just so they will be able to get the information they need in your articles, utilize bullets and lists. They can also facilitate easy reading.
3. Double-check your articles. If you want to keep the interest of your readers and boost your credibility, submit proofread articles only. The last thing you want to do is to be criticized for your spelling and grammar mistakes.
4. Create an eBook with your articles. Why struggle creating an electronic book when you can simply compile all of your articles? You can then send them to your targeted audience for free. However, just ensure that you have your website URL written on all pages of your eBook.
5. Develop a variety. There are many angles that you can possibly have even for just one topic, and it's ideal that you can write your own take on each of them. Variety will keep the interest of your targeted readers.
6. Don't praise. You're not going to sell your products through your articles, so don't praise them. Rather, devise a way on how you can improve their image by pointing out their features and benefits.
Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'
Download it free here: Secrets of Article Promotion
Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 1574 articles in print and 11 published ebooks.
The Secret of Success With Article Marketing
Everybody must have heard that article marketing can be one of the best ways to drive free targeted traffic to your website. This article provides review of this strategy of article internet marketing.
One of the biggest secrets to succeed with article writing is to write a lot of articles. If you are looking to drive traffic to your website with articles, or you are looking to build 1 way backlinks to increase search engine rankings for your site, then articles can be a free and effective way to do this.
However, in order to see satisfactory results with for article writing efforts, you need to churn out lots and lots of articles and keep doing so on a consistent basis.
If you write articles only occasionally every now and then and are not consistent, then you may not see the results that you desire. Your article marketing might not give you the traffic and back-links that you can really get if you write articles a lot.
There are many important factors to consider when you are doing article marketing. Things like keyword research, targeting the correct keywords in your article, title of the article, using the author's resource box properly, etc. all are important factors if you want to succeed with article marketing.
However, I think that none is as important as making a habit of writing tons of articles. If you can develop the habit of writing articles daily, then even though your initial articles might have been crap, not properly keyword optimized etc. but you can improve a lot with practice.
The more you write the better you can get not only in your writing skills, but you can also improve in other areas like getting better at keyword research, thinking of better titles for your articles etc.
So remember this - start writing articles from today. Do not worry if your initial articles are rubbish. Keep writing articles in spite of the quality of your articles.
Do not worry if your initial articles do not fetch many visitors to your website. Do not worry if you are unable to find keywords to target.
Eventually you should get better. So start writing articles on a regular basis. Write loads and loads of articles. Submit them to article directories, on your own blog etc. You may start seeing some favorable results soon.
Remember article marketing can be an effective and free method of building back-links and getting free traffic. Infact, it is one of the very few free methods of online traffic generation that works. Other free methods of traffic generation are either fully useless or atleast not so effective.
So start writing articles now. You can read more about various important things for article marketing - like keyword research, which directories to submit the articles, using the resource box effectively etc. Gain knowledge in these areas too for fully utilizing the benefits of article marketing. One such helpful article is :
Internet marketing article advertising
In this article you learned the importance of writing lots of articles in order to drive free traffic to your website. Article marketing can be a really good strategy for getting targeted traffic to web site.
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Article Marketing - You're Doing It All Wrong
Article marketing can be take a lot of time and effort. If it does, you're doing it all wrong. The best way to write articles is fast and effectively. I will show you how to cut down on the time it is taking you to write articles and be more successful in your online endeavors.
- Either choose something you know well to write about, or use a piece of software to do the research for you. The amount of time you save on research will be phenomenal and your knowledge will be portrayed in your writing.
- Solve somebody's problem. Write an article that will help someone out. This will help you build a trusting relationship and possibly sell products later.
- Use numbers/bullet points. This will help you keep to the point and not to waffle on about something off topic.
- Set yourself a target. How many articles do you want to write this hour? 7 is a good number. Write down 7 topics and get started straight away.
- Link to a squeeze page. At the bottom of your article, have a link to your squeeze page. Here you can capture a name and address.
- Don't obsess over content. Check your spelling and grammar, but don't worry too much about writing a great article. A good one will suffice.
- If you are finding it hard to put together your article once you've chosen your topic, you can use a piece of software to do it for you. I find this quite a good way to do things when I am unsure of a topic.
Catherine Smith 2007 Copyright
http://www.article-wizard.info
Catherine Smith is a successful entrepreneur and writer. For loads of tips on how to succeed with article marketing check out http://www.article-wizard.info
Using Articles As Marketing Tools
Nowadays, every business has a website and is being advertised through Internet marketing. Online marketing tools require a lot less time and effort than traditional marketing tools and since Internet users often search the web for information, the tools are programmed to respond quickly and target potential customers.
Though it is traditionally used in print methods, such as newspapers and, writing articles can still be an incredibly useful tool on the Internet. This content can help to boost a business' website ratings and bring the site higher in search engine listings, which will automatically increase the amount of traffic going in and out of the website. The more customers who see a site, the more sales a business will have, whether or not you're selling a product or a service.
The content, which is more likely than not a typical web article, should contain keywords and be search engine optimized so that the site is listed as high as possible on search engines. It should contain important information about the company and the services offered as well as how these services or products can be useful to potential customers. Though it's important that the keywords are visible so that the website will generate more traffic, the article should not be overridden with obvious marketing techniques and should be interesting and captivating to a potential customer. Like any article in a magazine or newspaper, a consumer can stop reading at any point if they become bored and disinterested.
Perhaps even more important than the writing of the actual article is the writing of the headline. A headline is what grabs a consumers attention and makes them decide whether or not they even want to read your article and continue with your website. A headline needs to be catchy and interesting so that a customer is eager to read the rest of the article and find out what this headline, a brief preview of the content, is all about.
Articles are effective marketing tools because, unlike other methods of Internet marketing, such as pop-up advertisements, you can really connect with a potential customer and allow them to become familiar with your business and services. Articles can be used several times and in several different places on the web. You can post the content on your website, email it to subscribers or potential customers, and even list it in article directories so that more users know that it's there.
By publishing articles online, businesses can let customers know that they are an expert in the services they're providing, utilize the resource box for free advertising, increase their profits through an increase of sales and gain from affiliate marketing. Using keywords within an article, businesses can raise their rankings on search engines, such as Yahoo or Google, and attract more high quality user traffic to their website. The more potential customers that visit your website, the more who will read your article and the more who will buy your products or services.
James Copper is a writer for big strategies limited
Article Marketing and Some Guidelines to Crafting an Engaging Resource Box
Ranking good at search engines through requires two important factors. These are:
1. Valuable, regularly updated and Search Engine friendly content.
2. And the quantity and quality of links, preferably one-way, pointing back to your website.
Search Engines tend to rank websites with higher number of incoming links (links found at other web pages that would direct clicks to your web site). To Search Engines, a well-linked web site has more value than those with less or none at all.
One way increase your web site's incoming links is through article marketing. It is a marketing strategy that has been more popular in its online advertising form. In article marketing, the marketer provides valuable information on a certain niche in the form of articles. These articles are then freely distributed to different article directories. The author or company would then gain authority or have their expertise make known within the market that they are operating.
Entrepreneurs and companies distribute articles about their business, generally because they:
* Want to establish themselves as experts in the specific niche that they are conducting business on,
* Feel the need to offer free and valuable information to the their targeted market, and
* Need to advertise their website, product, and/or service.
Article Marketing entails time and knowledge or money. Having the money, and not so much time or having poor English, a company or professional could choose to hire a ghostwriter who would be willing to give up copyright of their work for a price. Businesses owners/ professionals could also opt to do the writing themselves if they lack the money. Or it could also work with the combination of the factors given depending on what suits the entrepreneur best.
The key to getting articles accepted by the directories are quality content, no advertisement in the article body and no links or if any, just those directed to helpful resources. You also have to work on a resource box that urges the reader to take action to gain business leads.
The success of writing an article for distribution on the World Wide Web is not limited to the excellent writing of the entrepreneur or a hired ghostwriter, it also needs a compelling Author Resource. The Resource box is article component where the reader is urged to take action. This makes the article resource a very vital tool in article marketing.
To craft a Resource Box to capture readers' interest, here are some pointers:
1. Brand your name. Writing in the third person, introduce the name or your company. Information about who you are should be enclosed in the first sentence of your resource.
2. Speak of your 'expertise'. Relate relevant experiences, years working in the field, past occupations, awards achieved, etc. Any truthful statement of credibility is well acknowledged.
3. Try offering something for free. If you have other free info products or materials that establish your expertise, this would be the best place to distribute these.
4. Call to action. Include anything that would prompt the reader to go further like 'Please visit mysite.com' or 'Click here to subscribe', etc. Not having these action words would make you miss out on a whole lot of clicks.
Needing a ghostwriter to write high quality articles for you? Contact Aweng Moral-Basco at aweng.freelance (a) gmail.com
A glimpse at Aweng's thoughts--a personal blog
How To Profit With Article Marketing
Internet marketers who have been around the block a time or two know that article marketing is one of the best, low-cost ways to drive traffic to your web site. And traffic (visitors to your site) can translate into buyers, right?
That, right there, is the main idea of article marketing. Let me give you a real-world example (and then in a minute I'll give you another idea how you can use articles).
Suppose you have written a book (either a physical book, or even an ebook) and offer it for sale on your web site. Web site traffic doesn't just appear, you have to drive it to your site in some way. Probably the easiest way is with pay-per-click traffic - but the downside is that, as the name says, you will *pay* per click. Even if you're paying 10 or 20 cents per click, that can add up to real money in no time.
The other obvious way to get traffic to your site is through the search engines. But anyone who's looked into SEO, or search engine optimization, knows it's time-consuming and seems to need a healthy dose of voodoo in order to work.
So this brings up article marketing - a way to promote your product or service by writing short articles about the subject.
If the book we're pretending you've written is about gardening, you need to find a way to get gardeners to your site - so write an article about some aspect of gardening that will really excite those people with green thumbs.
At the end of that article you can put a resource, or bio (biography) box. Most people put in a blurb about the author, but since you're trying to drive traffic to your site, you'll want to give them a reason to visit. Offer them more of what they just received in the article and a lot of them will click the link and visit your site.
Once you've written your article you will distribute it to article directories online - and then people who need articles on gardening (or every other subject) will see your article and, if it's written well, use it on their web sites, in the blogs, ezines, etc. And every time they use your article, the link to your web site is right there for the reader to click on!
That's the main way article marketing is used. There's another way that's similar, but it's done for a different reason.
If you don't have a product for sale yourself, you can still use article marketing to promote someone else's product. Find a product you believe in (it'll probably be one you've purchased yourself) from a company that offers an affiliate program, and sign up for it. As an affiliate you can promote the product with a special link and will receive a commission for each sale you make.
Now, you do the same thing as the person who's promoting their own product - write articles about some aspect of the product you're promoting and drive people to the sales page with the link in your resource box.
Sidebar: Some article directories do not let you point directly to a product using an affiliate link. In that case, you'll lead the reader back to your site, and then to the product sales page. Be sure and check the terms of service for each article directory to whom you submit an article to make sure you follow the rules.
One of the biggest "secrets" in article marketing is in writing more than one article. A lot of people write one article and when they don't see an avalanche of traffic, they decide it doesn't work and give up on it.
But the people who continue to write articles and submit them to the directories will see their traffic build and build. Article marketing is a tried and true method of creating web site traffic - and once you can get them to your web site, you have a chance to close the sale and make some money!
Jay Jennings has created software that makes article marketing quick and easy, even if you're not a writer. See Article Architect right now at http://articlearchitect.com and find out how more traffic to your web site will impact your online business.
Best Article Marketing - Discover 5 Responsive Ways to Excel at Article Marketing
If you want to get permanent quality inbound links, brand yourself as an authority on your chosen field, create additional stream of income for your ebusiness, increase your targeted traffic, and attain higher visibility on search engines, article marketing is the best marketing tool for you.
1. Titles. Creating a good impression online begins with your titles. When people are presented with numerous articles while searching for information on publishing sites, they chose the one to read based on its headline alone. You would want to grab people's attention, wouldn't you? So, make your headlines compelling, thought-provoking, direct to the point, and interesting.
2. Article summary. This is where you provide your potential readers with sneak peak on what kind of information your article has to offer. Just like your title, it must also be interesting and attention-grabbing. Keep it concise and make sure that it communicates readers' benefits so you can effectively entice people to read your content.
3. Keywords. If you would like your articles to fare well on searches, you better make them keyword-rich. Identify the keywords that are usually searched for within your target niche and sprinkle them all throughout your content.
4. Content. The only reason why people read articles is they would like to be informed. So make sure that your article contains valuable information that your readers will find useful. Strike out fillers and don't beat around the bush to make your content concise and direct to the point.
5. Length. When writing your articles, you have to remember that you are writing for people who do not have the time nor the patience to read essay-like articles. Keep your articles short and present valuable information upfront.
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Article Marketing - The Power Of Article Marketing For High Search Engine Rankings
Article marketing is a highly effective method for dominating the search engines. I know, because I personally use it and some of sites have received some pretty outrageous rankings that bring me a nice passive income stream.
The reason why article marketing is great for search engine marketing is because of the sites articles are often posted on. Article directories like EzineArticles are generally considered as authority sites by Google and Yahoo. Submitting your articles to these article directories gives you the potential to gain high quality backlinks.
What you'd want to do to gain these high quality links is to include your anchor text link in your author's resource box. Some article directories allow multiple links so you can use those too.
Another way to get into the search engine rankings is via the articles themselves. If you write a keyword-optimized article, you can get your article itself ranked highly in the search engines. Have your main keyword phrase in your title at least once (include it twice for a more powerful effect) and have it sprinkled in your article in a few times. Don't overdo it as the search engine spiders will think of it as keyword spamming and penalize your article. It has also been tested and proven that having the keyword phrase at least once or twice in the opening paragraph increases the chance of the article ranking well for that keyword in the search engines.
There you go..now you know how to get high search engine rankings from article marketing. All that's left to do is to act now and start marketing your articles.
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Article Marketing - When Is Writing More Articles Detrimental To You?
Question - When is writing more articles detrimental to you?
Answer - When what you write is useless cr*p.
There seems to be a preponderance around article marketing sites that the more articles you write the better your return will be. Well, that may be the case if you are an Adsense marketer. However, what is the point of pumping out one useless, barren, valueless article after another if your intention is to get people to click through to your website? Quite simply, there is NONE!
There is a mathematical LAW that is called the "Multiplication Factor of Zero." Basically, what that means is that anything multiplied by zero is still zero. I have a saying that I use quite often which is: "Three fifths of five eighths of nothing is still nothing."
Pumping out dozens or even hundreds of poorly structured, grammatically incorrect, boring, useless, rubbishy articles will only hurt you in the long run. People will see your name and immediately peg you as a purveyor of junk and nonsense. Word gets out folks. Think about it. You probably already know the names of some people who have so completely bored you in the past with such mindless drivel that you wouldn't read another thing with their name on it in a pink fit.
So, having said all that, when is writing more articles beneficial to you?
Answer - when you become known for supplying good, solid information that people can use. The high views can then be used to click through to your website(s) for more information.
Look at your statistics. Are you getting a lot of views? Are you getting a decent click through rate? If you aren't then there is absolutely no point in writing more of the SAME articles because all you will achieve by that is getting more of the same with a greater volume. It will only be a waste of everybody's time - mostly yours.
By examining your statistics you can "tune" your articles for better results. When you keep doing this you will get more views and your click through rate will climb. Even better, you will develop a good name and people might even begin to search for your articles rather than run away from them whenever they see your name.
Research your statistics and give people more of what they want and you, too, will benefit from the exercise. Everybody will WIN!
Even though I have written quite a number of articles on this subject I don't have an Article Marketing website. I write these articles for education purposes only because I am sick of seeing junk. If you search on my name you will find the others. But I do have a wealth creation website. So, if you think that I have presented you with valuable information in this article and you want to know about how to make a lot more money and increase your personal wealth then, click HERE.
How To Market Your Internet Articles
The Internet is saturated with a lot of websites providing tons of quality articles. In such a situation, you should follow an efficient approach of writing and distributing the articles to divert a good amount of traffic on your website. How does this happen? There are article directories that can select your article as a supplement for publishing on their website or distributing it to their member websites on request.
Benefits of Effective Distribution
The question may arise, in the mind of the readers of this article, "Why give my articles instead of getting any price for it?" The answer could be seen in the form of benefits coming up your way:
- The expert Ezine publishers don't modify the contents of your article and most importantly, provides a resource box where you will link your website along with your article.
- The Ezine publishers distribute your articles to its member websites which increases the viewing of your article. Remember, your article is viewed by hundreds more viewers each time a publisher distributes your article. You do not need to do this manually, once you submit your article to the main article directory site the distribution process is effectively carried out.
- The link popularity is the most important reason you want your article distributed as often as possible. Each time your link is clicked on it which will assist in bringing your website to the top ranking websites. Then when a user searches for quality contents in a search engine, your website will be thrown in the top search results.
There are set of guidelines that should be taken into account while writing and distributing the articles to increase your chances of getting noticed by good publishers:
- First of all, write interesting articles that are short but informative. Make use of bullets to increase the readability.
- Use only one or two links in the resource section below each article.
- Don't add affiliate ads with your article, as publishers like Ezine don't prefer it.
- Don't burden the articles with HTML codes and use plain text format.
- Try to look for the subjects that are less explored by other writers.
- Submit the articles to the websites visited regularly by the good article directory publishers.
- Lastly, submit only one article to each website.
The ultimate objective for you is to bring a good flow of readers to your website. It is possible by writing and distributing the articles effectively. As fast as you attract the publishers the quicker the distribution rate of your articles will be. Always look for fresh content for your article. You can achieve the aim of getting thousands of views of your articles.
As an Internet Article Marketing writer you should be writing up to 400 articles per year. Taking time to also distribute and promote those articles is not necessary. Submit you articles to one or all of the article directories and let them do the distribution.
Toni Grundstrom is a freelance writer with emphasis in the Marketing field. With 17 years of experience I provide valuable content in all aspects of Marketing. Click Here for additional information about article marketing and how it can make you money.
This article may be distributed freely as long as this entire article, links and this resource box are unchanged.
Useful Tips for Effective Article Directory Submission
If you think you are good in writing articles, then your next activity is to submit them to article directories. This would not only increase back links on your blog but also a good source of income. Unlike submitting your blog to blog directories, article submission is quite harder and time consuming but definitely worth to spend. This is because there are a lot of factors to be considered before doing such, and here are some of them:
Correct spelling and grammar. This is very important since your articles will be submitted to quality publishers that are very strict in terms of spelling and grammar. Although there are article directories or marketers that will check them and inform you, there are those that will not. If a certain article directory is not strict, then it has a low standard and you will not benefit from them.
Appropriate article title. This is the first item you should be careful of simply because this will be the teaser of your article. An attractive title will definitely be advantageous over a less attractive one; even they have almost the same idea in content. Besides not using all capital letters and exclamation point for your title, using relevant keywords is very essential.
No affiliate links. Although there are some article directories that allow affiliate link on your resource box, it is better that you do not put it anywhere in your article submission. This may scare your article readers because they are not interested to buy anything. They are just there to view your article and be informed by its content. Anyways, you you can always provide a link to your blog and your blog will be the one to show your affiliate link.
Re-write your articles. This is not usually being mentioned by article directories but it is better if you do so. Re-writing your article means changing some words including the title and arrangement of sentences but maintaining the original content. This is because search engines do not like duplicate content. Even if your article has been posted everywhere, search engines will only consider only one. You cannot imagine a google page with articles that has the same title and content.
Articles can only be high quality if they are being approved by highly article directories.
I am a Filipino engineer who found himself more comfortable in writing letters instead of numbers, and interacting with humans rather than machines. For more quality articles about blogging tips, internet marketing techniques and article marketing strategies, please feel free to visit Humane Blogging Tips at http://www.wherebloggersandhumansmeet.blogspot.com
Article Marketing Tips for Internet Newbies - What to Write About?
Article writing is the best way to spread your links. It is free; and it helps add value to your Internet presence through the information you share in the articles. You write an article about 500 words and submit it to prominent article directories. You can reference your web url in your resource box attached with the article. The more directories you submit your articles to, the more back links you build.
Writing articles can be challenging for some people. If you want to hold your standards high and write your own articles, it could be time-consuming. Alternatively, you can hire ghost writers to do the job for you at a cost. $10 for a 300-500 word article when you commit in bulk (maybe 8-10 articles) is a decent price.
I personally like to write my own articles despite the fact that it is time-consuming. I like the fact that it is my voice and that I learn what I have to write about through the research and experimenting.
For Internet marketing newbies, the first block may be not knowing what to write about. When you are new, you do not feel like an authority in anything. How do I come up with an article when I do not know enough about anything? You may ask.
The answer is "Quite the contrary!" You have a lot more to write about when being the newbie than a veteran to some extent. Anything you are learning can be committed to paper. This is much like a school paper. You have to do some research, carry out the experiment, share the results (or sometimes not necessarily), and reach a conclusion.
Some areas where you may find plenty to write about are:
- how each of your affiliate programs works
- how you solved a problem in building your home biz
- new things you've learned and your thoughts on them
- your views and revelations in your area of interest
- resources that you have found that have worked well for you
- documenting you success experience with step by step instruction
Covering various topics in these areas may also gradually establish you as an authority in building your home biz online.
If the above suggested areas of topics are too vague for you, there is another way that is more specific. Visit Internet marketing related forums (e.g. Warriorforum). Pay attention to what questions people are asking. Make those questions your assigned topics to write about. Do the necessary research (if you do not already know the answer) and document your findings and conclusions. Since the same questions are asked over and over again by different people, you may get a chance to share your findings at a later opportunity, which will in turn build you a solid backlink (when you plant your web url in your signature).
Still another specific way to find what to write about is to read what other people have written. Then, try to rehash the same content in your own words adding your own spin to it. It is better that you add some new and/or unique input to the original content. This is not difficult to do as we are all so opinionated and find ourselves disagreeing with each other easily and often.
It is also advisable to keep a list of topics you want to write about. If you are like me, you will have days when you feel extremely inspired that you have something to say about everything. Those are usually the times when you only have enough time to do perhaps one article. Other times, you are dealt the writer's block where you just cannot think of anything to write about. Experience tells me that it is a smart habit to get into to note down all the things you want to comment/write about in your brief moments of inspiration. These notes, though it takes some discipline to keep, will prove to be little sparkles of intellect when your mind goes through the duller phase.
Copyright by Ying Hong, 2008
Ying Hong writes reviews on quality online home biz opportunities. Visit http://www.HomeBizOnlineThatWorks.com for FREE Internet marketing mini-course, FREE ebook Dotcomology by Stone Evans, and quality FREE home business ideas and opportunities. Subscribe to Ying Hong's My Home-Biz Journal at http://ying-pluginprofit.blogspot.com
The Basics of SEO - Some FAQs
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a foreign field to a lot of people. Rarely does a day go by when I don't get asked a few questions on the subject. So I've decided to post this FAQ article in the hopes that it will help people understand the basics, and make them a little more comfortable with the whole domain.
Q: Why are search engines important to me?
A: 85% of all website traffic is driven by search engines. The only online activity more popular than search is email. 79.2% of US users don't go to page 2 of search results. 42% of users click on the no.1 result. For the under-40 age-group, the Internet will become the most used media in the next 2-3 years.
Q: How do search engines decide on their rankings?
A: IMPORTANT: You cannot pay a search engine in return for a high ranking in the natural results. You can only get a high ranking if your content is seen as relevant by the search engines.
Search engines identify relevant content for their search results by sending out spiders or robots which crawl (analyze) your site and index (record) its details. Complex algorithms are then employed to determine whether your site is useful and should be included in the search engines search results.
Q: Can't I just pay for a high ranking?
A: No. The biggest concern for search engine companies like Google and Yahoo is finding content that will bring them more traffic (and thus more advertising revenue). In other words, their results must be relevant. Relevant results makes for a good search engine; irrelevant results makes for a short-lived search engine.
Most search engines these days return two types of results whenever you click Search:
- Natural/Organic The real search results. The results that most users are looking for and which take up most of the window. For most searches, the search engine displays a long list of links to sites with content which is related to the word you searched for. These results are ranked according to how relevant and important they are.
- Paid Pure advertising. This is how the search engines make their money. Advertisers pay the search engines to display their ad whenever someone searches for a word which is related to their product or service. These ads look similar to the natural search results, but are normally labeled Sponsored Links, and normally take up a smaller portion of the window.
Q: How do I get a high ranking?
A: There are four main steps:
Step 1 - Use the right words on your website
Step 2 - Get lots of relevant sites to link to yours
Step 3 - Use the right words in those links
Step 4 - Have lots of content on your site & add more regularly
Q: What is search engine optimization (SEO)?
A: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the art of creating a website which is search engine-friendly. This means:
- using the right words in your copy
- using the right words in your HTML code
- structuring your site properly
- designing your site properly
For more information on these 4 elements, download our free 'SEO Secrets' eBook from divinewrite.com/seosecrets.htm.
Many people use SEO to also describe the other ingredient in a high ranking, 'Link Popularity'.
Q: What is link popularity?
A: Think of the search engines as a big election. All the websites in the world are candidates. The links to your website are votes. The more votes (links) a candidate (website) has, the more important it is, and the higher its ranking. Link popularity is all about how many links you have, and how you can get more.
Links to your site tell the search engines how important your site is. They assume that if its important enough for a lot of other sites to link to, its important enough for them to display at the top of the rankings. Links are the single most important factor in ranking. Generally speaking, the more links you have to your site from other sites, the better your ranking.
Q: Are some links better than others?
A: Yes! The ideal kind of links are those that:
- come from relevant sites (sites which use the same keywords);
- come from important sites (have a high ranking);
- include your keyword as part of the visible link text;
- include varying link text (not the same link text each time); and
- come from a page that links to few other sites.
When a search engine sees a link which satisfies most or all of these conditions, it says, Hey, this site must be credible and important, because others in the same industry are pointing to it.
Q: How do I get lots of links back to my site?
A: There are many possible ways to generate links. Some are dubious (like auto-generation software, and sites set up by webmasters simply to host links to their other sites) and I wont be discussing them here. Others, like those discussed below, are legitimate.
- Add your site to DMOZ & Yahoo Directories (and other free directories)
- Check where your competitors links are coming from
- Article PR - Write and submit articles for Internet publication
- Swap links
- Partner websites
- Pay for links
For more information on these methods, download our free 'SEO Secrets' eBook from divinewrite.com/seosecrets.htm.
Q: What do you think is the best way to get lots of links?
A: Article PR. Write helpful articles and let other webmasters publish them for free in exchange for a link in the byline. With article PR, you don't have to pay for the link, you determine the content of the page containing the link, you determine the link text, and the link is more or less permanent. A single article can be reprinted hundreds of times, and each time is another link back to your site! For more information, read divinewrite.com/seoarticles.htm or visit ArticlePR.com.
Q: How do I write a good article PR piece?
A: See divinewrite.com/seoarticles.htm.
Q: How do I get a high ranking using free reprint content?
A: See divinewrite.com/Top_Ranking_Free.htm.
Q: How long does it take to get a high search engine ranking?
A: A long time! Its impossible to say how much time youll need to spend generating links, but you can be sure itll be a while no matter which method of link generation you use. You just have to keep at it until you have achieved a high ranking. Even then, youll still need to dedicate some ongoing time to the task, otherwise your ranking will drop.
Q: What is the Google Sandbox, and is it real?
A: The Google Sandbox theory suggest that whenever Google detects a new website, it withholds its rightful ranking for a period while it determines whether your site is a genuine, credible, long term site. It does this to discourage the creation of SPAM websites (sites which serve no useful purpose other than to boost the ranking of some other site).
There is a lot of anecdotal evidence supporting the theory, but there is also a lot discounting it. No one has categorically proven its existence.
Q: What is the Google Dampening Link Filter, and is it real?
A: The Google Dampening Link Filter theory suggests that if Google detects a sudden increase (i.e. many hundreds or thousands) in the number of links back to your site, it may sandbox them for a period (or in fact penalize you by lowering your ranking or blacklisting your site altogether).
There is a lot of anecdotal evidence supporting the theory, but there is also a lot discounting it. No one has categorically proven its existence.
Q: What SEO companies should I be wary of?
A: Be wary of SEO companies that promise or guarantee results in a given timeframe, especially if they won't expand on their methods for generating links back to your site.
Q: What tools can you recommend?
A: There are many very useful tools to help with your SEO. The following are just selection. All tools are free unless otherwise indicated.
Q: I'm confused about all the terms used in SEO, can you help?
A: See divinewrite.com/seo_glossary.htm.
Q: What is keyword analysis?
A: The first thing you need to do when you begin chasing a good search engine ranking is decide which words you want to rank well for. This is called performing a keyword analysis. Keyword analysis involves a bit of research and a good knowledge of your business and the benefits you offer your customers. For more information, download our free 'SEO Secrets' eBook from divinewrite.com/seosecrets.htm.
Q: Do I need to submit my site to the search engines?
A: Theoretically, no. But I wouldn't risk not doing it - especially as it's free. As soon as you register your domain name, submit it to Google! Even if you havent built your site, or thought about your content, submit your domain name to Google. In fact, even if you havent fully articulated your business plan and marketing plan, submit your domain name to Google.
For more information, download our free 'SEO Secrets' eBook from divinewrite.com/seosecrets.htm.
Q: Should I submit my site to the search engines more than once?
A: No need. Although some of the search engines allow you to do this, there's really no need.
Q: What are directories and should I submit my site to them?
A: Directories are websites (or web pages) which simply list lots of website and give a quick description of the website. Some are free and some require you to pay for a listing. Free directories are useful because you get a free link. However, the links aren't worth that much. Paid directories can be good if they're relevant, but they can cost a lot in the long term, so choose wisely.
One essential directories for any website is the DMOZ Open Directory Project.
* Glenn Murray is an SEO copywriter and article submission and article PR specialist. He is a director of article PR company, Article PR, and also of copywriting studio Divine Write. He can be contacted on Sydney +612 4334 6222 or at glenn@divinewrite.com. Visit DivineWrite.com or ArticlePR.com for further details, more FREE articles, or to download his FREE SEO e-book.
