Saturday, March 19, 2005
3 Reasons why your site isn't being visited
Below are 3 reasons why your site isnt being visited:
1. You don't offer something free. People like to see the word FREE. Offer
some sort of freebie on your site. Some ideas include a free contest,
free ebook, free recipes, free report, free tips, and free shipping.
2. You don't offer original content. Be sure to have content on your site
that isn't offered on another site. It is okay to use others content such
as articles but be sure to include content of your own. If you offer your
visitors something they can't find somewhere else, they will be bound
to visit your site.
3. You do not have any incoming links to your site. The search engines
will not find you if there is no other sites linking to you. In fact the more
your site is listed on others sites, the more likely your site will be indexed.
If you don't have a link exchange or directory on your site, I would advise
setting one up. Then exchange links with sites related to yours.
Until Next Time
Stefani Partin
Url Affiliates
A Mom's Affiliate Directory
http://www.urlaffiliates.com
Sunday, February 27, 2005
How to get your customer's email address legitimately
1) Put a subscription box on a prominent site of your home page. Another good idea for those of you that have templates and/or menus on your sites, put the subscription box on your menua and/or template. The more pages your subscription box is shown, the better chances of signups to your newsletter/mailing list.
2) Create a webpage just for your newsletter or mailing list. Some of you will just put a subscriptoin box to your (autoresponder/mailing list vendor). So the people just signup trusting you have something to offer them. What you want to do is create a seperate webpage just for this list. See my newsletter homepage here: http://www.mommyenterprises.com/newsletter
One MommyEnterprises.com I have the subscription box on my menu in the template and have a link to the newsletter's webpage as well.
3) Offer your visitor's and/or customer's something of value for joining. I have put together an ebook library and newsletters are given access to download valuable ebooks and reports. See the link above for an my tip put into action there. It WORKS.
Until Next Time
Stefani Partin
Mommy Portal
http://www.MommyPortal.com
Thursday, February 17, 2005
I am over 5000 incoming links
Read a blurb from one of my past blog posts:
"As of today 09/19/04 there are a total of 1,954 links to www.mommyenterprises.com. I hope to increase this by the hundreds within the next month. It takes a long time to build up good link popularity."
Wow, that is 3,213 more links. I am excited. I can definately say that my building of my website and trading links, etc is starting to payoff.
Until Next Time
Stefani Partin
Friday, January 28, 2005
Google's Sandbox
Google's Giant Sandbox
by Mark Daoust
If you pay any attention to the search engine optimization community, you have probably heard about Google's sandbox. Knowing exactly what the sandbox is might be a little confusing, but it is an important concept to know if you hope to eventually be successful with Google.
What is the Sandbox?
Before we get too far into an explanation as to what Google’s sandbox is, it must be noted that not everyone even agrees that the sandbox exists. The sandbox is actually nothing more than a theory developed to explain what many different SEO experts have witnessed with their listings. Whether or not the sandbox really exists is actually irrelevant when we know that the effects of the sandbox exist.
Google’s sandbox is a relatively new filter that appeared to be put in place back in March of 2004. This happened after the widely publicized updates of Austin and Florida, and the implementation of what is known as the Austin update. If you are not sure what those are, there is no need to worry as those updates are now for the most part in the past. The sandbox filter seems to affect nearly all new websites placing them on an initial “probation” status. The effect of this is that new websites may get into Google’s SERP’s (search engine results pages) relatively quickly and may even perform well for a couple of weeks. When the filter is applied to the new website it is referred to as being put in the “sandbox”. The new website will still show in the result pages, but it will not rank well regardless of how much original, well optimized content and regardless of how many quality inbound links the site may have. The filter restrains new websites from having immediate success in the search engine result pages.
The sandbox filter seems to affect almost all new websites, with very few exceptions. It is important to note that the filter is not a punishment for anything the webmaster did with their new website. The filter is merely an initiation period for new websites.
The sandbox filter also affects more competitive keyword driven sites more than sites that key in on less competitive keywords. If your website focuses on very competitive keywords, you are likely to remain in the sandbox for a longer period of time than if you focus on keywords that are relatively non-competitive keywords.
Does the Sandbox Exist?
There is a lot of debate as to whether the sandbox filter is a good thing for Google to implement or not. Obviously webmasters who are trying to get their sites well positioned in Google do not like the sandbox filter as it prevents them from receiving the huge levels of traffic that a top listing in Google can bring. The filter was not implemented at random, however, and there is some good reasoning for the filter existing.
As the SEO community figured out the basic elements of Google’s ranking algorithm, inbound links, original content rich with keywords, and the proper use of anchor text, search engine spammers began to take advantage of these elements. Search engine spammers would setup websites that were in clear violation of Google’s policies with the knowledge that eventually their website would be banned from the listings. This, however, did not matter. If a search engine spammer could get their website to rank well in Google for even one month, the profits they could make from that one month would justify the cost of building the site in the first place. All they needed to do in the future was to rebuild their spam websites with different domains and slightly different content.
The idea for spammers was a simple one. Capitalize off of Google’s traffic for as long as they can (before they get banned), then do it all over again with a new website. The method was extremely effective and easy to implement.
What made this all the more easy to accomplish was Google’s extremely fast indexing. While other search engines would take several months to index a new website, Google could index a website in as little as one month (they are now indexing sites within a few days). Search engine spammers were living large off of Google’s generosity.
To solve this problem, Google determined that it would compromise. They would still index websites quickly, attempting to get as much new, fresh content out to the general public as possible, but they would not trust new websites implicitly as they had in the past. All new websites that were launched would be put on probation. As time passed, and as the sites continued to pass any spam filters they ran, the website will not be held back from performing well in the rankings. Eventually, after quite a bit of time had passed, a site would be allowed to “leave” the sandbox and join the rest of the established websites.
How Does This Affect My Website?
If you have a new website, there is a good chance that you will be placed in the sandbox. This should be expected, but it should not change the way you build your website or market it. You should use the sandbox filter to your advantage.
Google still ranks websites in much the same way that they had in the past. Websites are judged on the quality of their inbound links and the quality of their content. Google will continue to change how they evaluate inbound links and content, but the basic elements of their rankings will remain the same.
While your website is in the sandbox, you should use this time to build your traffic using regular traffic building methods such as writing articles, building a strong community of visitors, and partnering with websites that offer some synergy to your visitors. During your time on probation, you have an excellent opportunity to build all the elements that cause websites to perform well in the search engines. When you finally do leave the sandbox, your website should be very well positioned within Google.
Is My Website in the Sandbox?
When webmasters learn about the sandbox filter, their first question is always whether or not their website has been placed in it. Determining whether or not you are in the sandbox is a relatively easy task to do.
First, being placed in the sandbox is different than having your website banned. If you do a search for your domain in Google and they return zero results for your website (and you had been previously listed in Google), there is a chance that you have been banned. One of the best ways to determine if you have been banned is to look at your log files to see if Google is visiting your website. Banned websites typically do not see Google visit their websites, regardless of who is linking to them.
If you have not been banned, but do not rank well with Google, you should look at the quality of your content and the quality of your inbound links. You should also see if you rank well for non-competitive keywords. Remember how the filter affects competitive keywords more than less competitive keywords? Well, you can use this to determine if you have been sandboxed. Finally, if you rank well in all the other major search engines, but do not show up at all in Google’s rankings, you have probably been sandboxed.
Is There A Way to Get Out of the Sandbox?
The quick answer to this is yes, there is a way out of the sandbox, but you will not like the answer. The answer is to simply wait. The sandbox filter is not a permanent filter and is only intended to reduce search engine spam. It is not intended to hold people back from succeeding. So eventually, if you continue to build your site as it should be built, you will leave the sandbox and join the other established websites.
Again, if your website has been placed in the sandbox you should use this time to your advantage. It is a great opportunity to build your traffic sources outside of the search engines. If you have a website that does well in the search engines, you may be tempted to ignore other proven methods of traffic building such as building a community, or building strong inbound links through partnerships. However, if you establish traffic sources outside of search engines, when you finally leave the sandbox, you will see a welcome increase in your traffic levels.
Conclusion
Google has been going to great lengths to cut out on search engine spam. Some have faulted them on the lengths that they are going to claiming that it is effecting legitimate sites as well as the spam websites. While this is probably the case, as an owner of a website you need to place yourself in the position of Google and ask yourself what they are really looking for in a website. Google is looking for websites that offer quality content. Google still relies on the natural voting system that was first used to establish pagerank. They may change the way that they qualify content or inbound links, but the basic elements of a quality website will always remain the same.
No website owner in their right mind will “like” Google’s sandbox. However, a smart website owner will use the sandbox as an opportunity to build a website that Google simply cannot refuse.
Mark Daoust is the owner of Site Reference.
Discuss this article and others in our Search Engine Forums
Until Next Time
Stefani Partin
Sunday, January 16, 2005
What is your subscription box doing for you
Here a couple key two tips to remember.
Put your subscription box right on the main page to your website if not
in the menu bar of your website if you have one. If they don't see it, they
won't or can't subscribe.
Offer your visitors something of value for subscribing. I did offer my
newsletter subscribers a free ebook. Now that I am offering a library
of ebooks for them FREE my subscriber rate is going up like crazy.
I thought I would share that success story.
Stefani Partin
http://www.mommyenterprises.com
Friday, January 07, 2005
Ways to get inbound links to your site
Below are ways to get "inbound links" to your website. The more inbound links the easier the search engines have in finding its way to your site. While some links may cost you there are several free methods as well. I would suggest starting with the free methods first
1. Articles - Have something to write about? Create your own articles and submit them to websites to be published. The key is to include a little bio about you at the end and include your website link. The more the article is published, the more links you will have pointing to your website. There are tons of places online to submit your article to as well.
2. Link directory - Create a link directory on your site. With your link directory require a recipricol link back to your site. Be sure to link with sites that are related to yours. Linking to related websites will improve your search engine rankings.
3. Directory Listings - Purchase a listing in some popular directories for the market your website is in. If you are in the candle business find online candle directories and get listed. Do your research first before purchasing ads, you will want to get your money worth. Ask the webmaster how many visitors the site gets and do a comparison of ad rates with other sites.
4. Free Ebook - Write an ebook and offer it free to webmasters in exchange for a link on your site. There are free software programs you can download as well to create the ebook. You don't have to be a professional to write an ebook. Be sure the ebook will be helpful to the readers. Don't forget to add a link to your website in your ebook as well.
5. Blog - Create a blog and include a link to your site in your template. Then publish your blog frequently. Search engines tend to spider blogs quickly and the more you publish your blog, the more webpages it will create online to be spidered.
6. Resourceful website - Make sure your website has lots and lots of information. Include helpful content, articles, resources and tools your visitors will benefit from. If your website provides its visitors will helpful information you will most likely get links to your site without even asking for them.
I think that is going to sum it up for now. Remember to keep building and building those inbound links to your site. It will pay off in the end when you end up with thousands of links to your site. I have been very successful over the last year creating inbound links.
To check your link popularity please visit: http://www.marketleap.com/publinkpop/
Until Next Time
Stefani Partin
Mommy Portal
The Web Portal for the WAHM
http://www.mommyportal.com
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Things You Don't Want To Do To Your Website
1. Don't repeat the same content on your webpages. Make each and every one of your pages have fresh content. Make your content unique and appealing.
2. Don't use alot of animation/flash. You might think that you are impressing your visitor but in reality you might be making your visitor frustrated. Those without a fast internet connection or older computer might not be able to load all the high tech website tools you might want to add.
3. Don't change the size and type of your font on your pages. Keep to a normal size for your text content. I prefer to use size 2 and I make my headings a size 3.
4. Don't forget to add your title tag to your webpage. A majority of the search engines use the title tag in your search engine listing results. If you don't design your own webpages ask your webmaster to make sure your title tags are done.
5. Don't add a ton of images to your webpages. The more images you have the slower your webpage takes to load. This could cause your visitor to get frustrated and click off your site before it finishes loading.
6. Don't change your topics. Try to keep only one topic per webpage. If your webpage seems to be long you might want to try rewriting it and breaking it down into additional topics.
7. Don't use "Page Under Construction" signs on your site. If the page isn't ready, simply don't publicize it. Make sure to customize your 404.html error pages. You don't want to lose a visitor.
8. Don't change your links. As you build your site, people will begin to link to these pages on your website. If you change your links those links coming into your site will lead your visitors to a dead link, not good.
9. Don't misguide your visitors to your site. If you are selling products from your site, you will want targeted visitors, not visitors that thought they were coming for something else.
10. Don't put a hit counter on your webpage. Yeah put one on your ebay auctions for the fun of it but don't put them on your webpages, it looks tacky. The hit counters stats don't count as actual visitors. Each image on your page counts as a hit so if you have lots of images on each page its going to count each of those images as a visitor.
Hope you enjoyed these tips on things to avoid.
Until Next Time
Stefani Partin
Mommy Portal
The Web Portal For The WAHM
http://www.mommyportal.com
Saturday, December 04, 2004
Do you use Trafficswarm
to use? I have tried many with not much luck.
Some time ago an online friend of mine told me how she used these traffic exchanges to her advantage. She told me she sets her startup page as a rotator script. I asked her for the script
and have been using it ever since. Everytime I startup my browser, it will randomly open
one of my traffic exchange programs. So instead of just being able to start my browser on one program, I can actively use as many programs as I want. I currently am only using about 4 of the programs that are working the best for me. My friend also suggested putting your referral links in each of the other programs you are using, let your credits build up and then put your regular links in the programs. I hope I didn't confuse anyone. :)
Well as for traffic exchanges my favorite is going to have to be TrafficSwarm. Now this program is actually bringing a swarm of traffic to my links. I am a free member too. How TrafficSwarm works is you get your own unique TrafficSwarm link. You can either set your browsers startup page as this or you can put it in your favorites. When you visit this link, you will see a list of other sites, when you visit those sites listed you earn credits towards your links shown on other users screen. You can also upgrade to Pro and earn even more traffic. I have placed a few links and have created a downline underneath me now of 108 (87 1st level & 21 2nd level). As of now I have earned 10,010 credits just from my downline. I am going to have to give TrafficSwarm a thumbs UP.
Until Next Time
Stefani Partin
Mommy Portal
The Web Portal For The WAHM
http://www.mommyportal.com
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Link building
I hope all of this hard work pays off in the future as so many things change so fast in the
SEO world. Right as I started to learn how to create my own tags to better my search engine
results, they change their algorithm on me. It seems hard for an average web designer to stay on top of the new trends of the search engines.
For the past year I have used Market Leap's Link Popularity tool to view the incoming links to my site. On Sept 27, 2004 I checked my number of links, it said 2,427. As of today I now have 3,110, not too bad huh.
Just shows that my strategy is working!!!
Until Next Time
Stefani Partin
The Making Money Newsletter For Moms
http://www.mommyenterprises.com/newsletter
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Linking Is Queen
Linking is Queen
By Shawn Campbell
If content is king, then linking is the queen that shares his throne. We have all heard about adding content to your site to give the search engines fodder to consume. But the sëcret to luring the search engines is the links to your site. Today's search engines look very carefully and critically at who is linking to you, and what it is that they are saying about you. A link from a leader in your industry carries a lot of clout and means that your site is important. Two links from industry leaders means your site is even more important. 100 links from random web sites, from industries you are not even related with, means almost nothing. Thus, getting links is only the start; the important thing is getting good links from quality web sites.
Why Do Links Matter?
Since the arrival of Google and their PageRank, search engines have put a lot of emphasis on links to a site. There used to be simple ways to get good rankings: Meta tags, titles, keyword density, etc... Today, things have become more complex, with search engines using a very complicated algorithm that involves:
* links to your site,
* what is written in those links,
* who is linking to the site that links to yours,
* what are the keyphrases used in those links,
* what is the quality of the site that is linking to yours,
* how many other links does that site have,
* how many links out (and to what sites) does your site have,
* and other such criteria.
To use a rather appetizing analogy, these new criteria are added to the stew that is your site, along with the quality and quantity of the content. Left to simmer on the worldwide web, this stew is then eaten up by the search engines depending on how well your site matches the aforementioned criteria. Put differently, the king and queen must join together to turn your site into a number one result.
How Do We Get Links?
It all starts with content. No one will link to you unless you offer quality information about a particular subject. If you are in real estate, you must offer information about the area you sell. If someone wants to buy in your area, first s/he will want to learn about it, so you will need to have good resources about that area. The next step is to find new sites that would benefit from your site's information; new sites whose clients would potentially buy your real estate. For example, one of our clients (www.monlac.com) sells real estate in the Laurentians area of Quebec. Their site has content on activities in Quebec and the nearby Laurentian mountains. Thus, we will be soliciting links from web sites such as the nearby water parks and ski hills, nearby towns, lake and boating associations, and local construction web sites to name just a few. To these web sites, not only will linking to www.monlac.com make their customers happier, but it is in their best interest that the site sells real estate since it brings in more business for them.
How Do You Solicit Links?
To solicit sites you have to use a lot of elbow grease. Send out personalized emails to these sites. Don't send out mass emails or sp@m. Be friendly, and point out the benefits of linking to your site. If you are lucky, maybe 1 in 3 emails will get a response. It is frustrating and discouraging, but keep your spirits up. Many times a site is perfect but they don't ever update it, so your site won't get the link in because nothing ever changes on the solicited site. Don't waste too much time on sites that haven't been updated in years. It is also important to follow up. Until you get a flat out denial, keep saying "Hi", and keep it personal. Keep track of who you have contacted and what you have written or said because you have to make it seem like they are the only person you are contacting. As soon as they get a sniff that you are sending out a mass email, or that you are using the exact same approach with other sites, you will probably losë their respect - and their business!
Do not forget to submit to the directories such as the Open Directory Project, because getting listed at DMOZ counts for a lot in all the big search engines. Take your time and choose the right category to submit to. Also, read about how they want their descriptions and titles written, and write them that way. These are the keys to getting into the directories.
Soliciting links is a very time-consuming (and frustrating) venture, but it is essential to getting good rankings in the search engines. It takes a lot of patience and a lot of time. Getting your first link is like getting your first sale. It is just as hard - and just as satisfying.
Good luck, Shawn Campbell
About The AuthorShawn Campbell is an enthusiastic player in the ecommerce marketplace, and co-founded Red Carpet Web Promotion, Inc.. He has been researching and developing marketing strategies to achieve more prominent listings in search engine results since 1998. Shawn is one of the earliest pioneers in the search engine optimization field. Contact: shawn@redcarpetweb.com
Sunday, November 07, 2004
Guaranteed Ways To Build Up Your Ezine List
Sorry I haven't been posting much here lately but things have been crazy at home. I just became a broker for AmeriPlan®, which provides a great health benefit plan for only $11.95 a month by the way. This new business is keeping me quite busy, so much to learn. I read this article and thought it would be useful to those who have a newsletter or are in the process of creating one.
Enjoy!
Guaranteed Ways to Build Up Your Ezine List By Suzanne Falter-Barns (c) 2004
Here are tips gleaned from roughly 5 years spent building up an ezine list. I've also incorporated comments and tips from Jenna Glatzer, who successfully built her list up to 75,000 at her excellent site, www.absolutewrite.com.
1. 'Free' Stuff. Pick genuinely useful frëe stuff that you know your audience wants and needs. For instance, my brand new ezine, Expert Status, attracted 600 readers in just a few weeks by offering a report, "25 Top Self Help Literary Agents". The practical freebie works. Jenna Glatzer offers two frëe ebooks/reports to subscribers on agents who are receptive to new writers, and on writer's markets. She notes: "Before I did that, my subscriber numbers were in the hundreds, not thousands.
2. Put a subscribe box on every page of the site. This has worked for both Jenna and me. Mine is parked in the left hand column of the site. Experts advise putting a simple sign up box (with freebie mentioned) in the top left hand corner, as that's where the eye naturally travels first. A simple sign up box that requests only email address works best.
3. Ad swaps. Exchange plugs for your ezine with another website, to run in each other's ezines. Be sure to mention those freebies! Doing this on a regular basis with a rotating selection of web partners will keep your subscription page busy.
4. Cross-registration. I've found subscribers by having a plug for my ezine on the thank you page of a comparable (but not directly competitive) website. This offer is made to folks who just signed up for an ezine, and are therefore deemed 'in the mood for more.' Offer a swap with your site, and try not to list more than about two other ezines. Also, make a point of including only really good, reliable publications that reach your target market.
5. Give away a bonus for other sites to use, based on your ezine. A popular web marketing technique is the special one or two-day promo that offers big bonus lists when you buy a certain product on those particular days. (I cover this promo technique in more detail in my ebook/binder, Get Known Now; How to Build Your Platform as a Self Help Expert.) So collect some of your best ezine essays, pack 'em up in a downloadable PDF-based e-book, and offer it as a bonus these sites can use in their special promos. Don't forget juicy descriptive copy about your ezine, and a subscribe link at the end of your ebook. I've gotten hundreds of new readers this way, and much traffïc to my site.
6. Announce ezine 'events' on PRweb.com and other PR sites. There's an entire world of web-based press release distribution services out there, some of which are low cost or even frëe. So use them. But be sure to only plant press releases that are truly newsworthy, and thus likely to get press attention. Even if the media don't use your words this time, they'll hopefully file you as an expert for future use.
7. Use discussion boards or groups. These are sites frequented by gangs of people interested in the same thing. Avoid the unmoderated sites, because they're likely to be sp@m targets that generate little bonafide traffïc. Boards found on member sites are the best. Don't sp@m the board with your subscribe message. Instead, offer some genuinely helpful info. Then sign off with a signature line that includes ezine and subscribe info. You can find some of these groups at groups.yahoo.com, topica.com, and mail-list.com for starters.
8. Sponsor other people's contests. Jenna Glatzer gives away products like her paid newsletter, Absolute Markets Premium Newsletter, to writers' groups, contests, and conferences that request it, regardless of size. I've tried this too, to good effect. Simply run an announcement in your ezine that you'd be happy to sponsor comparable events. Ask them to provide a URL for an event description so you know it's legit. Then offer up your gifts, and ask for a plug for your ezine and for them to talk up your dazzling freebie, as well. Jenna notes that groups she sponsors "often send out ads for us to their lists... just as a thank you."
9. Run quality content. There's no substitute for heartfelt writing plus solid information about a subject that matters. Jenna writes: 'The main reason our list stays so big is our 'letter from the editor' ... Each week, I chronicle my writing life and my triumphs and failures ...when an article is killed, when I'm having trouble finishing a book ... And I share personal things, too, like when my grandfather died... . People write: 'I feel like I know you so well.' And I think that's why they stay on the list, even when their mailbox fills up with dozens of other writer's newsletters.
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10. Allow reprints. Allow any newsletter that wants to reprint your articles do so. I like to have an email requesting permission, so I can enter their info into a big database I use to track where I can send more articles in the future. I end each article with the line: You may reprint this article in your own ezine or website. Simply send an email requesting permission to Email Address. Please be sure to include our full bio box at the end.
11. Create a survey or contest. This would be one of those newsworthy 'ezine events' I mentioned above in point # 6. Make it a fun, relevant question that you could really develop a good, newsy story from. I did a survey asking people what they fought with their spouse/partner/boy or girlfriend about. The results made for the kind of reading offline media enjoy running short, 100-word pieces about (fillers.) I made sure to attribute the survey to my ezine, The Joy Letter, with a mention of the site's basic URL. You can get the technology to run your own survey and collect responses at surveymonkey.com (for a fee) or bravenet.com (for frëe.)
I think I could actually go on and on. The possibilities seem to be endless. If you try even half of these techniques on a regular basis, you'll find your subscriber rates double and even triple. Here's to building your list... the foundation that much of your traffïc and success rely on.
About The AuthorSuzanne Falter-Barns' website, The Self Help Salon offers tips and tools that help you build your platform and get known as an expert in your field. Sign up for her frëe ezine, Expert Status, and receive her frëe report, "25 Top Self Help Literary Agents"
Until Next Time
Stefani Partin
AmeriPlan® Independant Business Owner
http://www.mommyenterprises.simpleasabc.com
Sunday, October 17, 2004
By Sandi Smith
You've built your Web site, you've implemented your SEO ideas, and people are actually visiting your site. Are your visitors turning into clients? Perhaps some are, but surely you'd like to have more. Here are some tips to get your Web visitors off the couch and calling you, sending you emails, and buying your products or services:
1. Make sure every page of your Web site has a call to action listed at least once.
Your pages should be carefully designed to drive the visitor into taking the action you want them to. That could be buying a product,calling you, setting an appointment, signing up for your newsletter, or taking a quiz.
Calls to action look like the following:
--For more information about our work, please call or email
--Sign up for a free information session
--Register for our newsletter
--Read more
--Click here
--Add to Cart
--Register now!
--Get started today by contacting __ at __.
It might be a no-brainer to have these calls to action listed on yourproduct or service description pages, but what about your other pages?Do you have them listed on your articles pages? Right after you'vedemonstrated your incredible knowledge is a perfect time to mentionthings like "Do you have questions? Email us at ___." Or better yet,say "This is a tip from our ebook. Want more?", then send them toyour ebook product page.
Take a look at all of your pages and see what calls to action area ppropriate for each one.
2. List enough information to let the visitor make a decision about your business.
You want to list everything you can think of when you're developing your products and services pages. Here is a generic list:
1. Describe the product or service physically if possible, and includea photo.
2. Include benefits, value, features, and what's different about your product that other products don't have:
--What pain will it ease?
--Who usually buys it?
--What type of customers benefit from it?
--Is there a guarantee?
--What will the buyer experience when working with the product or service?
--Are there instructions?
--How does a customer get started with it?
--What results will it produce?
--Is there a methodology or philosophy?
--How can a visitor learn more
There's a reason why those long sales letters work. In addition to evoking emotions, they confront every objection a buyer has by givingthem more information -- enough to make a purchasing decision.
3. Create a sense of urgency with a deadline or special offer.
If visitors feel like they'll be missing out by not acting now, they will be more likely to get off the couch.
4. Mention pain.
I just wrote an article last week called "Avoiding Major Pain in Web Design." Years ago, I wrote an article similar to "Twelve Steps to Recovery for Executives in Denial of the Internet." For some reason, I get the most reader response to these negatively worded titles. Mentioning pain that evokes guilt or greed gets people off the couch.
5. Create actionable content.
As you write your Web copy, use phrases like "Have you thought about___?", "You owe it to yourself," and other language that invokes interaction on the part of the visitor. Include lots of "you" statements, making it about the reader. Your reader should relate towhat you're saying and even empathize with your words. It's all about getting your visitor to take the first step towards starting a relationship with you. Then you'll have a chance down the road to turn them into a customer.
These ideas on getting more business from actionable content havecertainly helped my clients, and I hope they will help you as well!
Sandi Smith
http://www.sandismith.com
Hope You Enjoyed This Article!
Until Next Time
Stefani Partin
http://www.mommyportal.com
Monday, October 11, 2004
Google Page Rank - Important or Just Another Number?
Google Page Rank - Importantor Just Another Number?
By Richard Grady (c) 2004
In my last newsletter, I wrote about how your website's Alexa rating is not actually that important to the success of your online business. In this issue, I want to look at another popular statistic - Google Page Rank - and ask a similar question - is it that important?
First a quick overview as to what the Google Page Rank actually is...
Google Page Rank (or PR as it is often referred to as) is simply an indication of the number of websites that link to a specific website. It also attempts to indicate the quality of those links. PR ranges from 0 to 10 (with 10 being the 'best' PR and 0 being the 'worst'). The vast majority of small business websites will usually find they have a PR of between 0 and 5.
To calculate a particular sites PR, Google uses a fairly complicated algorithm based on the number of web links that it is aware of that link to the site in question. This algorithm will also take into account the PR of the page that is providing the link. Thus, a link from a web page that has a PR of 7 will be considered more valuable than a link from a page with a PR of 4.
Because of the way in which links from higher PR-ranked sites are considered more important, many people are choosing to buy links from websites with high PR's just so that they can increase their own PR. I have seen sites selling a simple text link on their home page for over $700 a month purely based on the fact that they have a PR of 7 or above. This may seem like a lot of money but when you consider that the website owners who are buying these links often have websites that are in no way relevant to the content of the site linking to them, it is absolutely ridiculous.
Take this example, let's say you have a website about health and fitness and you buy a link for $500 a month from a random website because it has a PR of 7. This random website has no relevance to your health and fitness site so what is going to happen? Well, your own PR may increase as a result of the link. You may get a bit of extra traffïc but probably not much since people don't click on links that that they are not interested in. You will definitely be $500 poorer at the end of the month!
Instead, why not spend the $500 on pay-per-click advertising and benefit from some quality, targeted traffïc?
Of course, there is a bit more to it than that and the reason that most people want to increase their PR is because Google takes this statistic into account when determining where a website will be displayed in their search results. Many people assume that a high PR automatically equals a high search engine placement for their chosen keywords. Not so....
PR is just one of over 100 different factors that Google takes into account when deciding where your website will feature (and these factors and the main algorithm change on a very regular basis). It is perfectly possible for a website with a PR of 5 to get a higher ranking than a PR 7 site if it has better content or is more relevant for the search term in question.
Remember that relevance is all important with Google and a link from a website that is not relevant to your own site will be considered far less important than a relevant one (which makes buying links from random sites primarily because they have a high PR even more crazy).
I have read several rumours lately that Google hasn't updated PR's for a couple of months and they are considering phasing PR out or modifying it in some way. This is pure speculation but it wouldn't surprise me in the least. PR is easily manipulated (for example by purchasing links as described above) and Google doesn't like to have their calculations or search results manipulated. It stands to reason that they are looking at ways of preventing this.
Google Page Rank - Importantor Just Another Number? By Richard Grady (c) 2004 In my last newsletter, I wrote about how your website's Alexa rating is not actually that important to the success of your online business. In this issue, I want to look at another popular statistic - Google Page Rank - and ask a similar question - is it that important?
First a quick overview as to what the Google Page Rank actually is...
Google Page Rank (or PR as it is often referred to as) is simply an indication of the number of websites that link to a specific website. It also attempts to indicate the quality of those links. PR ranges from 0 to 10 (with 10 being the 'best' PR and 0 being the 'worst'). The vast majority of small business websites will usually find they have a PR of between 0 and 5.
To calculate a particular sites PR, Google uses a fairly complicated algorithm based on the number of web links that it is aware of that link to the site in question. This algorithm will also take into account the PR of the page that is providing the link. Thus, a link from a web page that has a PR of 7 will be considered more valuable than a link from a page with a PR of 4.
Because of the way in which links from higher PR-ranked sites are considered more important, many people are choosing to buy links from websites with high PR's just so that they can increase their own PR. I have seen sites selling a simple text link on their home page for over $700 a month purely based on the fact that they have a PR of 7 or above. This may seem like a lot of money but when you consider that the website owners who are buying these links often have websites that are in no way relevant to the content of the site linking to them, it is absolutely ridiculous.
Take this example, let's say you have a website about health and fitness and you buy a link for $500 a month from a random website because it has a PR of 7. This random website has no relevance to your health and fitness site so what is going to happen? Well, your own PR may increase as a result of the link. You may get a bit of extra traffïc but probably not much since people don't click on links that that they are not interested in. You will definitely be $500 poorer at the end of the month!
Instead, why not spend the $500 on pay-per-click advertising and benefit from some quality, targeted traffïc?
Of course, there is a bit more to it than that and the reason that most people want to increase their PR is because Google takes this statistic into account when determining where a website will be displayed in their search results. Many people assume that a high PR automatically equals a high search engine placement for their chosen keywords. Not so....
PR is just one of over 100 different factors that Google takes into account when deciding where your website will feature (and these factors and the main algorithm change on a very regular basis). It is perfectly possible for a website with a PR of 5 to get a higher ranking than a PR 7 site if it has better content or is more relevant for the search term in question.
Remember that relevance is all important with Google and a link from a website that is not relevant to your own site will be considered far less important than a relevant one (which makes buying links from random sites primarily because they have a high PR even more crazy).
I have read several rumours lately that Google hasn't updated PR's for a couple of months and they are considering phasing PR out or modifying it in some way. This is pure speculation but it wouldn't surprise me in the least. PR is easily manipulated (for example by purchasing links as described above) and Google doesn't like to have their calculations or search results manipulated. It stands to reason that they are looking at ways of preventing this.
So, in summary, is Google Page Rank important to your business?
Well, it is a good indicator of how many other sites link to yours and how important Google considers your site to be, but I personally don't place too much importance on this statistic and I certainly won't be paying out for a link from a website just because it has a high PR.
As I said above, Google changes it's rules on a regular basis and I see little point in chasing a particular PR on the basis that it might get you higher search engine rankings. If Google does decide to do away with PR, all your work will have been for nothing.
Instead, concentrate on building quality, relevant links from sites that are connected in some way to your own site content. This will ensure that any traffïc you receive via these links will at least have an interest in your site. Building links on this basis will automatically increase your PR over time (without the need to pay out for overpriced, irrelevant links). If you do things this way and Google does scrap the PR indicator, it shouldn't affect you in any way and the links you have in place will continue to benefit you.
Remember, in the same way that a low Alexa rating doesn't guarantee traffïc or sales, neither does a high PR. Sure a high PR is a 'nice to have' but lots of traffïc and high sales is even nicer :-)
About The AuthorRichard Grady has been helping people earn online since 1998. Find out more about Richard at: TheTraderOnline.com.Fr-e-e wholesale search engines: UK- Wholesale 118and US- TheWholesaleTrader.com
Until Next Time
Stefani Partin
Mommy Enterprises
http://www.mommyenterprises.com
Sunday, October 10, 2004
Free traffic for your blogs
I just logged into my BlogExplosion account and I already have a downline of 15 under me. That is exciting! Looks like a few in my downline haven't surfed with the program yet but a pretty good percentage of them have. Everytime anyone in my downline surfs up to three levels deep, I earn credits towards my blog on someone elses screen.
Just an idea on getting a few extra hits to your blogs!
Until Next Time
Stefani Partin
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Mom's Traffic Tip ~ ~ #2
Place a "Tell A Friend" script on your website and let your visitors advertise for you. I know I have used these in the past and I am sure lots of other people in this BIG world do too.
There are many websites that provide free scripts to do this for you. I have found a pretty neat looking one called TellaFriends.com. I am installing it on MommyEnterprises to give it a try. The TellaFriends program allows a visitor to enter in the email addresses of their friends or family that they would like to tell about your web site they have just discovered. It will then send that person an email inviting them to your website. Most of these programs you can customize the email that is sent to the people you invite.
This is a great way to get some word of the mouth referrals :)
Until Next Time
Stefani Partin
http://www.mommyportal.com
Sunday, October 03, 2004
A Tip To Get Others To Publish Your Aticles
For those that write articles about your own products you could offer them the right to replace your affiliate link or your link with their own affiliate link. This is a win, win situation. You get your article published with your bio at the bottom with your link and the other person gets great content plus the posiblity of making a sale.
Until Next Time
Stefani Partin
Mommy Portal
The Web Portal For The WAHM
http://www.mommyportal.com
Monday, September 27, 2004
Link Popularity
I have been slowly but surely gaining inbound links to Mommy Enterprises through link exchanges, advertising, etc.
On 09/19/04 I checked my link popularity with Market Leaps Link Popularity tool. On the 19th this tool told me that I had 1,954 links to Mommy Enterprises. Eight days later, I check to again see how popular I am!!
Wow, as today Mommy Enterprises now has 2,427 links to it. Pretty impressive huh? That is 473 more links in just eight days.
How am I doing it you ask? Well I am always looking for ways to get my link out there. I have signature files in all my mailing lists, discussion groups, forums. I also have a link directory for link exchanges.
Want to build your link popularity? A few things you might want to try are:
- Add a link directory on your site. Make sure to add a page just with a variety of image and text links for your site that other webmasters can use.
- Join a few discussion groups/forums and become an expert in your area. Make sure to include your signature file, if permitted on these forums you join.
- Write your own articles and include your website info in your bio. After writing your articles, submit them to related websites to be published.
- Browse related websites and sign their guestbook if they offer one. Most guestbooks include an entry for your website url.
- Take advantage of free advertising. Some webmasters will offer free advertising spots when they are new to the web.
There are many more ways to increase your link popularity out there. The methods I mention above are the methods that I have tried and are proven to be working for me.
Until Next Time
Stefani Partin
Mommy Enterprises
http://www.mommyenterprises.com
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
$110.00 in FREE PPC Advertising Money
I have heard that advertising on Overture can be expensive. I myself have not tried Overture but am in the process of experimenting with Google and the smaller engines to test the waters. As some of these smaller PPC search engines don't provide the large amount of traffic that the search engine giants provide, the smaller engines give you free advertising money. Some give you $5.00 to open account where I have seen others offer $25.00 in free money.
I found a few of them that offer free advertising money just for opening an account. There is no money required to open an account. This money is completely FREE.
A1 Search - Offering $25.00 free
911 Search - Offering $5.00 free
Combustive.com - Offering $10.00 free
Federacy - Offering $10.00 free
KwickSearch - Offering $20.00 free
My Town Search - Offering $10.00 free
Below are a few offering free money but you have to put a deposit money first before you can receive your free bonus.
$10.00 free with Dot Surf. This one requires a $10.00 deposit
Jumpfind is also offering $25.00 free with a $25.00 minimum deposit.
Wow, that is a total of $110.00 in FREE PPC advertising money for you to practice with. Have fun!
Until Next Time
Stefani Partin
Mommy Portal
http://www.mommyportal.com
Sunday, September 19, 2004
Want to build your list of subscribers
Here are a few ideas to get you going to build your subscriber list.
* Free Stuff - Offer your subscribers a free gift for joining. Heck, you might want to offer them several free gifts. Some free great gifts are free ebooks, free reports or maybe free advertising in your newsletter. There are a ton of ebooks online that you can download and brand with your website name to give away.
* Ad Swaps - Look online for newsletters that have an audience that would enjoy what you have to offer and ask the publisher to swap newsletter ads. There are forums/boards online just for this ad swap purpose. Here is a forum on Internet Based Moms that serves just for ad swaps.
* Contests - Offer a monthly or weekly contest for your newsletter. Make the prize available to those who are members of your newsletter. You can also ask others to sponsor your contest and provide the winner with the prize. Of course you would give the contest sponsor free advertising somewhere but I heard contests bring in lots of new subscribers.
* Ezine directories - Get your newsletter listed in as many online ezine directories as you can.
* List Building Services - There are services online that can help with adding to your subscriber list too. One of the services I recommend is ListInferno. How these services basically work is you put a line of code on your site. This line of code produces a list of newsletters. As you receive hits to your page with that code on it, your newsletter is then shown on others list of newsletters, easy enough!
There are plenty of other ways of gaining subscribers to your list. Just practice with different methods and find the ones that work for your newsletter.
Until Next Time
Stefani Partin
Partyswap
Direct Sales Resources
http://www.partyswap.com
Friday, September 17, 2004
Mom's Traffic Tip ~ ~ #1
Get as many links as you can to your site. Im talking thousands and thousands of links.
I would suggest adding a link directory on your websites and exchange as many links as you can with other sites in your niche.
I love Google! So I am always trying to find Google tips. If you are looking rate high on Google and you want your site to get indexed more frequently work on getting more links to your site. Google's bots are going from webpage to webpage via hyperlinks. So the more links you have going to your site, the more likely you are to be found by Google. Make sense?
You can use MarketLeaps Link Popularity tool to keep track of your incoming links to your site too!
Have a great weekend
Stefani Partin
Mommy Portal
The Web Portal for the WAHM
http://www.MommyPortal.com