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Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Why Write an eBook?
It's not true that everything that has been said hasalready been written. Since that unfortunate axiomcame into use, the whole universe has changed.Technology has changed, ideas have changed, and themindsets of entire nations have changed.
The fact is that this is the perfect time to write anebook. What the publishing industry needs are peoplewho can tap into the world as it is today - innovativethinkers who can make the leap into the new millenniumand figure out how to solve old problems in a new way.Ebooks are a new and powerful tool for originalthinkers with fresh ideas to disseminate informationto the millions of people who are struggling to figureout how to do a plethora of different things.
Let's say you already have a brilliant idea, and theknowledge to back it up that will enable you to writean exceptional ebook. You may be sitting at yourcomputer staring at a blank screen wondering, "Why?Why should I go through all the trouble of writing myebook when it's so impossible to get anythingpublished these days?
Well, let me assure you that publishing an ebook isentirely different than publishing a book in print.Let's look at the specifics of how the print and cyberpublishing industry differ, and the many reasons whyyou should take the plunge and get your fingerstapping across those keyboards!
Submitting a print book to conventional publishinghouses or to agents is similar to wearing a hair shirt24/7. No matter how good your book actually is, or howmany critique services and mentor writers have toldyou that "you've got what it takes," your submittedmanuscript keeps coming back to you as if it is aboomerang instead of a valuable mine of information.
Perhaps, in desperation, you've checked outself-publishing and found out just how expensive aventure it can be. Most "vanity presses" requireminimal print runs of at least 500 copies, and eventhat amount will cost you thousands of dollars. Somepresses' minimal run starts at 1,000 to 2,000 copies.And that's just for the printing and binding. Add indistribution, shipping, and promotional costs and -well, you do the math. Even if you wanted to go thisroute, you may not have that kind of money to risk.
Let's say you already have an Internet business with aquality website and a quality product. An ebook is oneof the most powerful ways to promote your businesswhile educating people with the knowledge you alreadypossess as a business owner of a specific product orservice.
The fact is that this is the perfect time to write anebook. What the publishing industry needs are peoplewho can tap into the world as it is today - innovativethinkers who can make the leap into the new millenniumand figure out how to solve old problems in a new way.Ebooks are a new and powerful tool for originalthinkers with fresh ideas to disseminate informationto the millions of people who are struggling to figureout how to do a plethora of different things.
Let's say you already have a brilliant idea, and theknowledge to back it up that will enable you to writean exceptional ebook. You may be sitting at yourcomputer staring at a blank screen wondering, "Why?Why should I go through all the trouble of writing myebook when it's so impossible to get anythingpublished these days?
Well, let me assure you that publishing an ebook isentirely different than publishing a book in print.Let's look at the specifics of how the print and cyberpublishing industry differ, and the many reasons whyyou should take the plunge and get your fingerstapping across those keyboards!
Submitting a print book to conventional publishinghouses or to agents is similar to wearing a hair shirt24/7. No matter how good your book actually is, or howmany critique services and mentor writers have toldyou that "you've got what it takes," your submittedmanuscript keeps coming back to you as if it is aboomerang instead of a valuable mine of information.
Perhaps, in desperation, you've checked outself-publishing and found out just how expensive aventure it can be. Most "vanity presses" requireminimal print runs of at least 500 copies, and eventhat amount will cost you thousands of dollars. Somepresses' minimal run starts at 1,000 to 2,000 copies.And that's just for the printing and binding. Add indistribution, shipping, and promotional costs and -well, you do the math. Even if you wanted to go thisroute, you may not have that kind of money to risk.
Let's say you already have an Internet business with aquality website and a quality product. An ebook is oneof the most powerful ways to promote your businesswhile educating people with the knowledge you alreadypossess as a business owner of a specific product orservice.
Search Engine Keywords Selection
Search engines are the vehicles that drive potentialcustomers to your websites. But in order for visitors toreach their destination - your website - you need toprovide them with specific and effective signs that willdirect them right to your site. You do this by creatingcarefully chosen keywords.
Think of the right keywords as the Open Sesame! of theInternet. Find the exactly right words or phrases, andpresto! hoards of traffic will be pulling up to your frontdoor. But if your keywords are too general or tooover-used, the possibility of visitors actually making itall the way to your site - or of seeing any real profitsfrom the visitors that do arrive - decreases dramatically.
Your keywords serve as the foundation of your marketingstrategy. If they are not chosen with great precision, nomatter how aggressive your marketing campaign may be, theright people may never get the chance to find out about it.So your first step in plotting your strategy is to gatherand evaluate keywords and phrases.
You probably think you already know EXACTLY the right wordsfor your search phrases. Unfortunately, if you haven'tfollowed certain specific steps, you are probably WRONG.It's hard to be objective when you are right in the centerof your business network, which is the reason that you maynot be able to choose the most efficient keywords from theinside. You need to be able to think like your customers.And since you are a business owner and not the consumer,your best bet is to go directly to the source.
Instead of plunging in and scribbling down a list ofpotential search words and phrases yourself, ask for wordsfrom as many potential customers as you can. You will mostlikely find out that your understanding of your businessand your customers' understanding is significantlydifferent.
The consumer is an invaluable resource. You will find thewords you accumulate from them are words and phrases youprobably never would have considered from deep inside thetrenches of your business.
Only after you have gathered as many words and phrases fromoutside resources should you add your own keyword to thelist. Once you have this list in hand, you are ready forthe next step: evaluation.
The aim of evaluation is to narrow down your list to asmall number of words and phrases that will direct thehighest number of quality visitors to your website. By"quality visitors" I mean those consumers who are mostlikely to make a purchase rather than just cruise aroundyour site and take off for greener
Think of the right keywords as the Open Sesame! of theInternet. Find the exactly right words or phrases, andpresto! hoards of traffic will be pulling up to your frontdoor. But if your keywords are too general or tooover-used, the possibility of visitors actually making itall the way to your site - or of seeing any real profitsfrom the visitors that do arrive - decreases dramatically.
Your keywords serve as the foundation of your marketingstrategy. If they are not chosen with great precision, nomatter how aggressive your marketing campaign may be, theright people may never get the chance to find out about it.So your first step in plotting your strategy is to gatherand evaluate keywords and phrases.
You probably think you already know EXACTLY the right wordsfor your search phrases. Unfortunately, if you haven'tfollowed certain specific steps, you are probably WRONG.It's hard to be objective when you are right in the centerof your business network, which is the reason that you maynot be able to choose the most efficient keywords from theinside. You need to be able to think like your customers.And since you are a business owner and not the consumer,your best bet is to go directly to the source.
Instead of plunging in and scribbling down a list ofpotential search words and phrases yourself, ask for wordsfrom as many potential customers as you can. You will mostlikely find out that your understanding of your businessand your customers' understanding is significantlydifferent.
The consumer is an invaluable resource. You will find thewords you accumulate from them are words and phrases youprobably never would have considered from deep inside thetrenches of your business.
Only after you have gathered as many words and phrases fromoutside resources should you add your own keyword to thelist. Once you have this list in hand, you are ready forthe next step: evaluation.
The aim of evaluation is to narrow down your list to asmall number of words and phrases that will direct thehighest number of quality visitors to your website. By"quality visitors" I mean those consumers who are mostlikely to make a purchase rather than just cruise aroundyour site and take off for greener
get all the things u need !!!!!!!
1 Naukri.com
2 TimesJobs.com
3 JobsAhead.com
4 JobStreet.com
5 CareerIndia.com
6 Jobs.net
7 CareerKhaza.com
8 IndianJobSite.com
9 Naukri2000.com
10 India Jobs
11 JobKhoj.com
12 jobsbazaar.com
13 india-2000.itgo.com
14 bharatcareers.com
15 jobsdb.com
16 careerage.com
17 AllindiaJobs.com
18 freshersworld.com
22 groovyjobs.com2
3 jobs.asiaco.com
24 Job Listings
25 indianparttimejobs.com
26 accessenterprises.com
27 career1000.com
28 Alltimejobs.com
29 Careermosaicindia.com30 Dice.com-Tech jobs
2 TimesJobs.com
3 JobsAhead.com
4 JobStreet.com
5 CareerIndia.com
6 Jobs.net
7 CareerKhaza.com
8 IndianJobSite.com
9 Naukri2000.com
10 India Jobs
11 JobKhoj.com
12 jobsbazaar.com
13 india-2000.itgo.com
14 bharatcareers.com
15 jobsdb.com
16 careerage.com
17 AllindiaJobs.com
18 freshersworld.com
22 groovyjobs.com2
3 jobs.asiaco.com
24 Job Listings
25 indianparttimejobs.com
26 accessenterprises.com
27 career1000.com
28 Alltimejobs.com
29 Careermosaicindia.com30 Dice.com-Tech jobs
Search Engine Keywords Selection
Search engines are the vehicles that drive potentialcustomers to your websites. But in order for visitors toreach their destination - your website - you need toprovide them with specific and effective signs that willdirect them right to your site. You do this by creatingcarefully chosen keywords.
Think of the right keywords as the Open Sesame! of theInternet. Find the exactly right words or phrases, andpresto! hoards of traffic will be pulling up to your frontdoor. But if your keywords are too general or tooover-used, the possibility of visitors actually making itall the way to your site - or of seeing any real profitsfrom the visitors that do arrive - decreases dramatically.
Your keywords serve as the foundation of your marketingstrategy. If they are not chosen with great precision, nomatter how aggressive your marketing campaign may be, theright people may never get the chance to find out about it.So your first step in plotting your strategy is to gatherand evaluate keywords and phrases.
You probably think you already know EXACTLY the right wordsfor your search phrases. Unfortunately, if you haven'tfollowed certain specific steps, you are probably WRONG.It's hard to be objective when you are right in the centerof your business network, which is the reason that you maynot be able to choose the most efficient keywords from theinside. You need to be able to think like your customers.And since you are a business owner and not the consumer,your best bet is to go directly to the source.
Instead of plunging in and scribbling down a list ofpotential search words and phrases yourself, ask for wordsfrom as many potential customers as you can. You will mostlikely find out that your understanding of your businessand your customers' understanding is significantlydifferent.
The consumer is an invaluable resource. You will find thewords you accumulate from them are words and phrases youprobably never would have considered from deep inside thetrenches of your business.
Only after you have gathered as many words and phrases fromoutside resources should you add your own keyword to thelist. Once you have this list in hand, you are ready forthe next step: evaluation.
The aim of evaluation is to narrow down your list to asmall number of words and phrases that will direct thehighest number of quality visitors to your website. By"quality visitors" I mean those consumers who are mostlikely to make a purchase rather than just cruise aroundyour site and take off for greener pastures. In evaluatingthe effectiveness of keywords, bear in mind three elements:popularity, specificity, and motivation.
Popularity is the easiest to evaluate because it is anobjective quality. The more popular your keyword is, themore likely the chances are that it will be typed into asearch engine which will then bring up your URL.
Think of the right keywords as the Open Sesame! of theInternet. Find the exactly right words or phrases, andpresto! hoards of traffic will be pulling up to your frontdoor. But if your keywords are too general or tooover-used, the possibility of visitors actually making itall the way to your site - or of seeing any real profitsfrom the visitors that do arrive - decreases dramatically.
Your keywords serve as the foundation of your marketingstrategy. If they are not chosen with great precision, nomatter how aggressive your marketing campaign may be, theright people may never get the chance to find out about it.So your first step in plotting your strategy is to gatherand evaluate keywords and phrases.
You probably think you already know EXACTLY the right wordsfor your search phrases. Unfortunately, if you haven'tfollowed certain specific steps, you are probably WRONG.It's hard to be objective when you are right in the centerof your business network, which is the reason that you maynot be able to choose the most efficient keywords from theinside. You need to be able to think like your customers.And since you are a business owner and not the consumer,your best bet is to go directly to the source.
Instead of plunging in and scribbling down a list ofpotential search words and phrases yourself, ask for wordsfrom as many potential customers as you can. You will mostlikely find out that your understanding of your businessand your customers' understanding is significantlydifferent.
The consumer is an invaluable resource. You will find thewords you accumulate from them are words and phrases youprobably never would have considered from deep inside thetrenches of your business.
Only after you have gathered as many words and phrases fromoutside resources should you add your own keyword to thelist. Once you have this list in hand, you are ready forthe next step: evaluation.
The aim of evaluation is to narrow down your list to asmall number of words and phrases that will direct thehighest number of quality visitors to your website. By"quality visitors" I mean those consumers who are mostlikely to make a purchase rather than just cruise aroundyour site and take off for greener pastures. In evaluatingthe effectiveness of keywords, bear in mind three elements:popularity, specificity, and motivation.
Popularity is the easiest to evaluate because it is anobjective quality. The more popular your keyword is, themore likely the chances are that it will be typed into asearch engine which will then bring up your URL.
Paid URL Inclusion
Advertising your services or products on the Internet isboth extremely effective and extremely competitive. Thereare several ways to go about attracting traffic to yourwebsite; Pay-Per-Click is one of the options you can choosefrom, along with developing an SEO, or search engineoptimization campaign. Both pay-per-click and SEO aretargeted to get your website placed as close to the top ofsearch engine results as possible. One of the differencesis that it takes minutes to set up a pay-per-click campaignversus months for a good SEO campaign.
Pay-Per-Click is a simple type of paid advertising thatmost search engines, including some of the largest ones,now offer. It requires a bid for a "per-click" basis, whichtranslates to your company paying the bid amount every timethe search engine directs a visitor to your site. There isthe added bonus that when a per-click site sends yourwebsite traffic, your site often appears in the results ofother prevalent search engines.
As with all marketing campaigns, there are advantages anddisadvantages. If you understand the process and monitoryour pay-per-click campaign frequently, it can be veryeffective. One of the greatest advantages is that you neverhave to tweak your web pages to change your position insearch engine results, as you must do in a typical SEOcampaign. What you do have to do in a pay-per-clickcampaign is pay a fee.
Another advantage is the simplicity of the pay-per-clickprocess. You just bid and you're up and running. It doesn'tdemand any specific technical knowledge, though the moreyou know about search engines and keywords, the easier -and more effective - the process will be.
The downside is that pay-per-click is essentially a biddingwar. A higher bid than yours will lower your position onsearch engine results. This means that you will have toraise your bid to regain your position - which canobviously become quite expensive, especially if you arebidding on a popular keyword.
In order to determine if pay-per-click is a cost effectiveform of marketing for your business, you must do somecomputing to figure out how much each visitor to your siteis worth. You can compute this value by dividing the profityou make on your website over a given period of time by thetotal number of visitors for that same time period. Forexample, if your site made $5,000 in profits and there were2,5000 hits, each visitor would be theoretically worth 50cents. The basic formula is profits divided by visitors.
The figure of 50 cents per visitor is the point at whichyour business breaks even. The idea, of course, is to showa profit, not to merely cover your costs. Therefore, youare aiming at a figure less than 50 cents per click.
Be aware that the most popular keywords often costconsiderably more than 50 cents a click. The only wayaround this is to bid less for these phrases or you will bepaying too much for each individual hit.
The key (pun intended) to success is to learn everythingyou can about search engine keyword research. The good newsis there isn't a limit to the amount of keywords you canadd to your bid because additional keywords do not addadditional cost. This translates into a lot less hassle foryou because there is no need to optimize your site to indexa particular set of keywords.
Pay-Per-Click is a simple type of paid advertising thatmost search engines, including some of the largest ones,now offer. It requires a bid for a "per-click" basis, whichtranslates to your company paying the bid amount every timethe search engine directs a visitor to your site. There isthe added bonus that when a per-click site sends yourwebsite traffic, your site often appears in the results ofother prevalent search engines.
As with all marketing campaigns, there are advantages anddisadvantages. If you understand the process and monitoryour pay-per-click campaign frequently, it can be veryeffective. One of the greatest advantages is that you neverhave to tweak your web pages to change your position insearch engine results, as you must do in a typical SEOcampaign. What you do have to do in a pay-per-clickcampaign is pay a fee.
Another advantage is the simplicity of the pay-per-clickprocess. You just bid and you're up and running. It doesn'tdemand any specific technical knowledge, though the moreyou know about search engines and keywords, the easier -and more effective - the process will be.
The downside is that pay-per-click is essentially a biddingwar. A higher bid than yours will lower your position onsearch engine results. This means that you will have toraise your bid to regain your position - which canobviously become quite expensive, especially if you arebidding on a popular keyword.
In order to determine if pay-per-click is a cost effectiveform of marketing for your business, you must do somecomputing to figure out how much each visitor to your siteis worth. You can compute this value by dividing the profityou make on your website over a given period of time by thetotal number of visitors for that same time period. Forexample, if your site made $5,000 in profits and there were2,5000 hits, each visitor would be theoretically worth 50cents. The basic formula is profits divided by visitors.
The figure of 50 cents per visitor is the point at whichyour business breaks even. The idea, of course, is to showa profit, not to merely cover your costs. Therefore, youare aiming at a figure less than 50 cents per click.
Be aware that the most popular keywords often costconsiderably more than 50 cents a click. The only wayaround this is to bid less for these phrases or you will bepaying too much for each individual hit.
The key (pun intended) to success is to learn everythingyou can about search engine keyword research. The good newsis there isn't a limit to the amount of keywords you canadd to your bid because additional keywords do not addadditional cost. This translates into a lot less hassle foryou because there is no need to optimize your site to indexa particular set of keywords.
Increasing Link Popularity
Search engines are the gateway to the Internet; they arethe first tool that potential customers use to find theproducts and services they need. This is why linkpopularity is so imperative. If the customers do not findyour website, you have no possibilities of making anysales.
You're probably wondering what the blazes is popular abouta link! Well, in a word - plenty! Link popularity refers tothe ranking assigned to your website by the search engines,and it determines the ranking your page gets when keywordsare entered into a search engine. So, you're probablywondering, how do I make my link popular?
Search engines are discretionary, giving status and rankingto sites that have links to their pages from related,quality sites. It's a simple formula, but a very importantone. Google created the system, and now virtually all themost popular search engines employ it to rank your webpages in their indexes.
The more commonly used your keyword is, the harder it willbe to achieve link popularity, but without achieving thisstep, it is almost certain your site will never rank highlyon any search engine. But don't be discouraged; there aretried and true ways of achieving link popularity using themost competitive keywords.
There are a few things you should be aware of. The first isthat just linking up with a large number of other websiteswill not achieve link popularity. In fact, it may havequite the opposite effect. This is particularly true whenpertaining to websites that are nothing more than "linkfarms" - pages containing line after line of indiscriminatelinks. Search engines may aggressively discriminate againstyour website if you are associated with a link farm, sosteer clear of them!
The next thing to bear in mind is the quality of the siteyou are linking to. Never link to a page you havereservations about your visitors seeing. The last thing youwant your website to appear as is indiscriminate and cheap.Linking to sites of poor quality will only lessen your linkpopularity, if not completely destroy it.
So let's get to what you need to do to achieve supreme linkpopularity and improve your rankings to stellar status onall the popular search engines.
The first step, and the fastest way to get your foot in thedoor, is to get a listing in a popular directory, such asOpen Directory Project and Yahoo. If your site isbusiness-related, you will want to be listed on Yahoo, anddespite the fact that it will cost you around $300 a year,it will be money well spent. If your site isnon-commercial, the listing will be free, but it will taketime and follow-up to actually get it listed. OpenDirectory is gives you a free listing whether you arebusiness-related or non-commercial, but be prepared to makea lot of follow-up inquiries before you see your sitelisted.
You are aiming to get listed in the highest level ofappropriate category, and this just takes some commonsense. For example, if your company ships Alpaca wool froman Alpaca farm located in the middle of Nowhere, TinyState, do NOT submit your listing to "Retailers fromNowhere, Tiny State." BIG MISTAKE! All you have to do islook a little deeper - and submit your listing to the "FineAlpaca Wool" category. You will not only associate yourselfwith culture and quality, but you will be listed in anational category.
The next step after you have attained directory listings isto locate other quality sites that will increase your linkpopularity. Try to find sites that are in some way relatedto yours, so not only will your link popularity increase,but your customer base may also be expanded. You want toavoid your competitors and look for sites that are usefulto your site's visitors. Let's look at the Alpaca Wool siteexample. Linking up to a site that sells knitting supplieswould be helpful to your visitors, and the chances of theknitting supply site wanting to link up to your site arealso greater. By linking to a related site that will berelevant to your website's traffic, you are increasing bothof your site's business prospects - and both of your sites'link popularity.
Not all sites want to link to other sites, so you will haveto do some research when you are looking for possiblelinking partners. Google is an excellent starting place foryour search. Make sure you enter keywords that you thinkquality customers will also enter to find your own site.Remember, your criteria are quality, highly ranked,non-competing websites that have a links or resources page.Go to these sites and objectively assess them. Look at thequality of the product, the graphics, and the ease of use.Then check out the other sites they are linked to, anddetermine if your own site would fit in with the crowd.
When you decide you have found a good prospect, you mustset out to woo them. The first thing to do is to add a linkon your own links page to their site. This is an essentialfirst step; it shows good faith, and ups your chancessignificantly of their reciprocity. After you have addedtheir link, you must contact the webmaster of their site.Since this is almost always done by email, you want to makesure it is immediately clear that your message is not junkmail. This requires that you tell them right off the batthat you have added a link to their page on your site. Ahook like this almost always insures the reader will readon.
Next, be sure to be flattering and let them know how muchyou appreciate their website. Make sure you emphasize thatyou have actually visited their site, and that their siteis not just a random pick. Give them the address of yourlinks page, and ask them to check out the link forthemselves. It's a good idea to mention that they will notonly benefit from the increased traffic your website willdirect their way, but you will also increase their linkpopularity. Briefly, explain why link popularity is soessential, but do this in a sentence or two so you don'tsound like a professor! Finally, tell them you wouldgreatly appreciate if they would reciprocally add a link ontheir own links page to your website.
Go through this process with as many appropriate sites asyou can find, bearing in mind the criteria of quality andnon-competitiveness. After you have emailed all relevantsites, be sure to check these website frequently to see ifthey have added a link to your page. Give it about a month,and if no link appears, try another charming email. Thengive it another month, and if your site is still absentfrom their links page, it's time to remove their link fromyour own links page. The only time you want to pursue alink further than this is if you believe a site is crucialto your link popularity and your business needs. Justremember to keep all your communications complimentary andcordial.
Then set up a schedule to check your ranking in searchengines frequently to see if your link popularity hasimproved. This is not achievable in the blink of an eye. Itwill take some time and a good deal of work. There is noway around the labor-intensive quality of improving yourlink popularity, which is why search engines regard it withsuch importance.
By the way - make sure you have a beautiful, streamlinedsite or you will never persuade anyone to link up to you.Be prepared to keep plugging away at this process, as longas it takes, until you achieve link popularity stardom!
You're probably wondering what the blazes is popular abouta link! Well, in a word - plenty! Link popularity refers tothe ranking assigned to your website by the search engines,and it determines the ranking your page gets when keywordsare entered into a search engine. So, you're probablywondering, how do I make my link popular?
Search engines are discretionary, giving status and rankingto sites that have links to their pages from related,quality sites. It's a simple formula, but a very importantone. Google created the system, and now virtually all themost popular search engines employ it to rank your webpages in their indexes.
The more commonly used your keyword is, the harder it willbe to achieve link popularity, but without achieving thisstep, it is almost certain your site will never rank highlyon any search engine. But don't be discouraged; there aretried and true ways of achieving link popularity using themost competitive keywords.
There are a few things you should be aware of. The first isthat just linking up with a large number of other websiteswill not achieve link popularity. In fact, it may havequite the opposite effect. This is particularly true whenpertaining to websites that are nothing more than "linkfarms" - pages containing line after line of indiscriminatelinks. Search engines may aggressively discriminate againstyour website if you are associated with a link farm, sosteer clear of them!
The next thing to bear in mind is the quality of the siteyou are linking to. Never link to a page you havereservations about your visitors seeing. The last thing youwant your website to appear as is indiscriminate and cheap.Linking to sites of poor quality will only lessen your linkpopularity, if not completely destroy it.
So let's get to what you need to do to achieve supreme linkpopularity and improve your rankings to stellar status onall the popular search engines.
The first step, and the fastest way to get your foot in thedoor, is to get a listing in a popular directory, such asOpen Directory Project and Yahoo. If your site isbusiness-related, you will want to be listed on Yahoo, anddespite the fact that it will cost you around $300 a year,it will be money well spent. If your site isnon-commercial, the listing will be free, but it will taketime and follow-up to actually get it listed. OpenDirectory is gives you a free listing whether you arebusiness-related or non-commercial, but be prepared to makea lot of follow-up inquiries before you see your sitelisted.
You are aiming to get listed in the highest level ofappropriate category, and this just takes some commonsense. For example, if your company ships Alpaca wool froman Alpaca farm located in the middle of Nowhere, TinyState, do NOT submit your listing to "Retailers fromNowhere, Tiny State." BIG MISTAKE! All you have to do islook a little deeper - and submit your listing to the "FineAlpaca Wool" category. You will not only associate yourselfwith culture and quality, but you will be listed in anational category.
The next step after you have attained directory listings isto locate other quality sites that will increase your linkpopularity. Try to find sites that are in some way relatedto yours, so not only will your link popularity increase,but your customer base may also be expanded. You want toavoid your competitors and look for sites that are usefulto your site's visitors. Let's look at the Alpaca Wool siteexample. Linking up to a site that sells knitting supplieswould be helpful to your visitors, and the chances of theknitting supply site wanting to link up to your site arealso greater. By linking to a related site that will berelevant to your website's traffic, you are increasing bothof your site's business prospects - and both of your sites'link popularity.
Not all sites want to link to other sites, so you will haveto do some research when you are looking for possiblelinking partners. Google is an excellent starting place foryour search. Make sure you enter keywords that you thinkquality customers will also enter to find your own site.Remember, your criteria are quality, highly ranked,non-competing websites that have a links or resources page.Go to these sites and objectively assess them. Look at thequality of the product, the graphics, and the ease of use.Then check out the other sites they are linked to, anddetermine if your own site would fit in with the crowd.
When you decide you have found a good prospect, you mustset out to woo them. The first thing to do is to add a linkon your own links page to their site. This is an essentialfirst step; it shows good faith, and ups your chancessignificantly of their reciprocity. After you have addedtheir link, you must contact the webmaster of their site.Since this is almost always done by email, you want to makesure it is immediately clear that your message is not junkmail. This requires that you tell them right off the batthat you have added a link to their page on your site. Ahook like this almost always insures the reader will readon.
Next, be sure to be flattering and let them know how muchyou appreciate their website. Make sure you emphasize thatyou have actually visited their site, and that their siteis not just a random pick. Give them the address of yourlinks page, and ask them to check out the link forthemselves. It's a good idea to mention that they will notonly benefit from the increased traffic your website willdirect their way, but you will also increase their linkpopularity. Briefly, explain why link popularity is soessential, but do this in a sentence or two so you don'tsound like a professor! Finally, tell them you wouldgreatly appreciate if they would reciprocally add a link ontheir own links page to your website.
Go through this process with as many appropriate sites asyou can find, bearing in mind the criteria of quality andnon-competitiveness. After you have emailed all relevantsites, be sure to check these website frequently to see ifthey have added a link to your page. Give it about a month,and if no link appears, try another charming email. Thengive it another month, and if your site is still absentfrom their links page, it's time to remove their link fromyour own links page. The only time you want to pursue alink further than this is if you believe a site is crucialto your link popularity and your business needs. Justremember to keep all your communications complimentary andcordial.
Then set up a schedule to check your ranking in searchengines frequently to see if your link popularity hasimproved. This is not achievable in the blink of an eye. Itwill take some time and a good deal of work. There is noway around the labor-intensive quality of improving yourlink popularity, which is why search engines regard it withsuch importance.
By the way - make sure you have a beautiful, streamlinedsite or you will never persuade anyone to link up to you.Be prepared to keep plugging away at this process, as longas it takes, until you achieve link popularity stardom!
Evaulating Web Site Performance
Setting up a website is the very first step of an Internetmarketing campaign, and the success or failure of your sitedepends greatly on how specifically you have defined yourwebsite goals. If you don't know what you want your site toaccomplish, it will most likely fail to accomplishanything. Without goals to guide you in developing andmonitoring your website, all your site will be is an onlineannouncement that you are in business.
If you expect your site to stimulate some form of action,whether it is visitors filling out a form so arepresentative can contact them, or purchasing a product,there are steps you can take to insure that your website isfunctioning at peak efficiency. One of the first indicatorsof how well your site is working for you is finding out thenumber of visitors in a given period of time. A goodbaseline measurement is a month in which you haven't beendoing any unusual offline promotional activities.
However, just because hoards of people have passed throughyour gates does not mean your site is successful. Usually,you want those visitors to actually do something there. Itis equally important to monitor the number of visitors toyour site who made a purchase. This figure is called thesite conversion rate, and it is an essential element of theefficacy of your website.
To find the site conversion rate, take the number ofvisitors per month and figure out the percentage of themthat actually performed the action your site is set up for.For example, if you had 2,000 hits to your site, but only25 of them purchased your product, your site conversionrate equals 1.25%. To get this figure, take your number ofvisitors and divide that figure by the number of visitorswho made a purchase. Then divide that result by 100 (25 ?00 X 100).
If your website is set-up to get visitors to fill out aform, make sure to then figure out what the difference isbetween your site conversion rate and your sales conversionrate. This is because not everyone who fills out your formwill actually become your customer. However, whether yoursite is set-up to sell a service or product, or to get thevisitor to fill out a form, the site conversion rate willmeasure the success or failure of your website whenever youmake changes to the site.
You may find that you need to implement some additionalmarketing strategies if you find that traffic to your siteis extremely low. There are several effective methods toimprove the flow of traffic to your website, particularlylaunching a search engine optimization campaign. Thiscampaign is targeted at increasing your position in searchengine results so that consumers can find your pages fasterand easier. You can either research the steps you need totake to improve your search engine rankings, or employ asearch engine optimization company to do the work for you.In either case, after your have improved your search enginepositions, make sure you keep on top of them by regularmonitoring and adjusting of your efforts to maintain highpositions.
Another factor to examine is how easy it is for a visitorto your website to accomplish the action the site is set-upfor. For example, if your goal is for the visitor to fillout a form, is this form easily accessible, or does thevisitor have to go through four levels to get to it? Ifit's too difficult to get to, the customer may just throwin the towel and move on to another site. Make sure yourbuttons are highly visible, and the path to your form orordering page quickly accessible.
Finally, have a professional evaluate the copy on yourwebsite. The goal is, of course, to get your visitor tomake a purchase or fill out your form. Website copy must bespecifically geared to your online campaign and not just acut and paste job from your company brochure. The rightcopy can make the difference between profit and loss inyour online campaign.
If you expect your site to stimulate some form of action,whether it is visitors filling out a form so arepresentative can contact them, or purchasing a product,there are steps you can take to insure that your website isfunctioning at peak efficiency. One of the first indicatorsof how well your site is working for you is finding out thenumber of visitors in a given period of time. A goodbaseline measurement is a month in which you haven't beendoing any unusual offline promotional activities.
However, just because hoards of people have passed throughyour gates does not mean your site is successful. Usually,you want those visitors to actually do something there. Itis equally important to monitor the number of visitors toyour site who made a purchase. This figure is called thesite conversion rate, and it is an essential element of theefficacy of your website.
To find the site conversion rate, take the number ofvisitors per month and figure out the percentage of themthat actually performed the action your site is set up for.For example, if you had 2,000 hits to your site, but only25 of them purchased your product, your site conversionrate equals 1.25%. To get this figure, take your number ofvisitors and divide that figure by the number of visitorswho made a purchase. Then divide that result by 100 (25 ?00 X 100).
If your website is set-up to get visitors to fill out aform, make sure to then figure out what the difference isbetween your site conversion rate and your sales conversionrate. This is because not everyone who fills out your formwill actually become your customer. However, whether yoursite is set-up to sell a service or product, or to get thevisitor to fill out a form, the site conversion rate willmeasure the success or failure of your website whenever youmake changes to the site.
You may find that you need to implement some additionalmarketing strategies if you find that traffic to your siteis extremely low. There are several effective methods toimprove the flow of traffic to your website, particularlylaunching a search engine optimization campaign. Thiscampaign is targeted at increasing your position in searchengine results so that consumers can find your pages fasterand easier. You can either research the steps you need totake to improve your search engine rankings, or employ asearch engine optimization company to do the work for you.In either case, after your have improved your search enginepositions, make sure you keep on top of them by regularmonitoring and adjusting of your efforts to maintain highpositions.
Another factor to examine is how easy it is for a visitorto your website to accomplish the action the site is set-upfor. For example, if your goal is for the visitor to fillout a form, is this form easily accessible, or does thevisitor have to go through four levels to get to it? Ifit's too difficult to get to, the customer may just throwin the towel and move on to another site. Make sure yourbuttons are highly visible, and the path to your form orordering page quickly accessible.
Finally, have a professional evaluate the copy on yourwebsite. The goal is, of course, to get your visitor tomake a purchase or fill out your form. Website copy must bespecifically geared to your online campaign and not just acut and paste job from your company brochure. The rightcopy can make the difference between profit and loss inyour online campaign.
Analyzing Website Traffic
Analyzing your web traffic statistics can be an invaluabletool for a number of different reasons. But before you canmake full use of this tool, you need to understand how tointerpret the data.
Most web hosting companies will provide you with basic webtraffic information that you then have to interpret andmake pertinent use of. However, the data you receive fromyour host company can be overwhelming if you don'tunderstand how to apply it to your particular business andwebsite. Let's start by examining the most basic data - theaverage visitors to your site on a daily, weekly, andmonthly basis.
These figures are the most accurate measure of yourwebsite's activity. It would appear on the surface that themore traffic you see recorded, the better you can assumeyour website is doing, but this is an inaccurateperception. You must also look at the behavior of yourvisitors once they come to your website to accurately gaugethe effectiveness of your site.
There is often a great misconception about what is commonlyknown as "hits" and what is really effective, qualitytraffic to your site. Hits simply means the number ofinformation requests received by the server. If you thinkabout the fact that a hit can simply equate to the numberof graphics per page, you will get an idea of how overblownthe concept of hits can be. For example, if your homepagehas 15 graphics on it, the server records this as 15 hits,when in reality we are talking about a single visitorchecking out a single page on your site. As you can see,hits are not useful in analyzing your website traffic.
The more visitors that come to your website, the moreaccurate your interpretation will become. The greater thetraffic is to your website, the more precise your analysiswill be of overall trends in visitor behavior. The smallerthe number of visitors, the more a few anomalous visitorscan distort the analysis.
The aim is to use the web traffic statistics to figure outhow well or how poorly your site is working for yourvisitors. One way to determine this is to find out how longon average your visitors spend on your site. If the timespent is relatively brief, it usually indicates anunderlying problem. Then the challenge is to figure outwhat that problem is.
It could be that your keywords are directing the wrong typeof visitors to your website, or that your graphics areconfusing or intimidating, causing the visitor to exitrapidly. Use the knowledge of how much time visitors arespending on your site to pinpoint specific problems, andafter you fix those problems, continue to use time spent asa gauge of how effective your fix has been.
Additionally, web traffic stats can help you determineeffective and ineffective areas of your website. If youhave a page that you believe is important, but visitors areexiting it rapidly, that page needs attention. You could,for example, consider improving the link to this page bymaking the link more noticeable and enticing, or you couldimprove the look of the page or the ease that your visitorscan access the necessary information on that page.
If, on the other hand, you notice that visitors arespending a lot of time on pages that you think are lessimportant, you might consider moving some of your salescopy and marketing focus to that particular page.
As you can see, these statistics will reveal vitalinformation about the effectiveness of individual pages,and visitor habits and motivation. This is essentialinformation to any successful Internet marketing campaign.
Your website undoubtedly has exit pages, such as a finalorder or contact form. This is a page you can expect yourvisitor to exit rapidly. However, not every visitor to yoursite is going to find exactly what he or she is lookingfor, so statistics may show you a number of different exitpages. This is normal unless you notice a exit trend on aparticular page that is not intended as an exit page. Inthe case that a significant percentage of visitors areexiting your website on a page not designed for thatpurpose, you must closely examine that particular page todiscern what the problem is. Once you pinpoint potentialweaknesses on that page, minor modifications in content orgraphic may have a significant impact on the keepingvisitors moving through your site instead of exiting at thewrong page.
After you have analyzed your visitor statistics, it's timeto turn to your keywords and phrases. Notice if particularkeywords are directing a specific type of visitor to yoursite. The more targeted the visitor - meaning that theyfind what they are looking for on your site, and evenbetter, fill out your contact form or make a purchase - themore valuable that keyword is.
However, if you find a large number of visitors are beingdirected - or should I say misdirected - to your site by aparticular keyword or phrase, that keyword demandsadjustment. Keywords are vital to bringing quality visitorsto your site who are ready to do business with you. Closeanalysis of the keywords your visitors are using to findyour site will give you a vital understanding of yourvisitor's needs and motivations.
Finally, if you notice that users are finding your websiteby typing in your company name, break open the champagne!It means you have achieved a significant level of brandrecognition, and this is a sure sign of burgeoning success.
Most web hosting companies will provide you with basic webtraffic information that you then have to interpret andmake pertinent use of. However, the data you receive fromyour host company can be overwhelming if you don'tunderstand how to apply it to your particular business andwebsite. Let's start by examining the most basic data - theaverage visitors to your site on a daily, weekly, andmonthly basis.
These figures are the most accurate measure of yourwebsite's activity. It would appear on the surface that themore traffic you see recorded, the better you can assumeyour website is doing, but this is an inaccurateperception. You must also look at the behavior of yourvisitors once they come to your website to accurately gaugethe effectiveness of your site.
There is often a great misconception about what is commonlyknown as "hits" and what is really effective, qualitytraffic to your site. Hits simply means the number ofinformation requests received by the server. If you thinkabout the fact that a hit can simply equate to the numberof graphics per page, you will get an idea of how overblownthe concept of hits can be. For example, if your homepagehas 15 graphics on it, the server records this as 15 hits,when in reality we are talking about a single visitorchecking out a single page on your site. As you can see,hits are not useful in analyzing your website traffic.
The more visitors that come to your website, the moreaccurate your interpretation will become. The greater thetraffic is to your website, the more precise your analysiswill be of overall trends in visitor behavior. The smallerthe number of visitors, the more a few anomalous visitorscan distort the analysis.
The aim is to use the web traffic statistics to figure outhow well or how poorly your site is working for yourvisitors. One way to determine this is to find out how longon average your visitors spend on your site. If the timespent is relatively brief, it usually indicates anunderlying problem. Then the challenge is to figure outwhat that problem is.
It could be that your keywords are directing the wrong typeof visitors to your website, or that your graphics areconfusing or intimidating, causing the visitor to exitrapidly. Use the knowledge of how much time visitors arespending on your site to pinpoint specific problems, andafter you fix those problems, continue to use time spent asa gauge of how effective your fix has been.
Additionally, web traffic stats can help you determineeffective and ineffective areas of your website. If youhave a page that you believe is important, but visitors areexiting it rapidly, that page needs attention. You could,for example, consider improving the link to this page bymaking the link more noticeable and enticing, or you couldimprove the look of the page or the ease that your visitorscan access the necessary information on that page.
If, on the other hand, you notice that visitors arespending a lot of time on pages that you think are lessimportant, you might consider moving some of your salescopy and marketing focus to that particular page.
As you can see, these statistics will reveal vitalinformation about the effectiveness of individual pages,and visitor habits and motivation. This is essentialinformation to any successful Internet marketing campaign.
Your website undoubtedly has exit pages, such as a finalorder or contact form. This is a page you can expect yourvisitor to exit rapidly. However, not every visitor to yoursite is going to find exactly what he or she is lookingfor, so statistics may show you a number of different exitpages. This is normal unless you notice a exit trend on aparticular page that is not intended as an exit page. Inthe case that a significant percentage of visitors areexiting your website on a page not designed for thatpurpose, you must closely examine that particular page todiscern what the problem is. Once you pinpoint potentialweaknesses on that page, minor modifications in content orgraphic may have a significant impact on the keepingvisitors moving through your site instead of exiting at thewrong page.
After you have analyzed your visitor statistics, it's timeto turn to your keywords and phrases. Notice if particularkeywords are directing a specific type of visitor to yoursite. The more targeted the visitor - meaning that theyfind what they are looking for on your site, and evenbetter, fill out your contact form or make a purchase - themore valuable that keyword is.
However, if you find a large number of visitors are beingdirected - or should I say misdirected - to your site by aparticular keyword or phrase, that keyword demandsadjustment. Keywords are vital to bringing quality visitorsto your site who are ready to do business with you. Closeanalysis of the keywords your visitors are using to findyour site will give you a vital understanding of yourvisitor's needs and motivations.
Finally, if you notice that users are finding your websiteby typing in your company name, break open the champagne!It means you have achieved a significant level of brandrecognition, and this is a sure sign of burgeoning success.
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