By Roger Dodger
With the growing number of unemployed, the interest in Internet Marketing is also growing at a fast pace. Every year the number of new websites taking advantage of marketing online, through Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising, grows exponentially.
When marketing online, driving traffic to your website is critical. And PPC advertising is the quickest way to drive traffic to your website. But the growth in online marketing also results in increased competition, making it more difficult to become profitable. The direct result is increasing costs per click, reducing profit margins, and causing ad campaigns to become unprofitable.
It is no surprise then that alternative means for driving traffic cheaply to your website is being sought, and this leads to the growing importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
SEO vs. PPC
Both SEO and PPC rely on Keywords: one or more words that a potential customer would type into the Search Engine (like Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.) to locate information or products of interest. For example, if your online store is selling Strollers, then some keywords you would bid for in PPC would be the types of strollers (Canopy, Jogging, Tandem, Twin, Sit N Stand, etc.) and the brands of strollers (Graco, Perego, Jeep, Maclaren, Bob, etc.). So a keyword might be: Cheapest Graco Strollers.
With PPC, the cost (or bid price) for each click on a specific keyword depends on how competitive or in-demand that keyword is and the Search Engine your advertising with. If your bid is too low, you will find that your ads will not show up on the 1st page; instead they could show up on the 2nd page or lower, or not show up at all.
SEO is different. It relies on search engine site ranking (for that keyword) to determine where a description of your website will appear (again, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd page etc.). For ranking, the search engine will review the content on your website (on-site SEO), and the number of links from other sites that point to your website (off-site SEO). More specifically, you can improve your rank by optimizing your website for content specific to the keyword of choice, including meta tags and description, adding both inbound and outbound links, and adding quality content on a regular basis.
The advantage of SEO is two-fold: First, it is relatively cheap. You are not paying for clicks when someone clicks on the description of your website. And second, its impact is longer-lasting which will enable your website to maintain its rank and continue driving traffic.
On-Site vs. Off-Site SEO
When you optimize your website to improve search engine ranking for a keyword, it is called on-site SEO. The techniques associated with on-site SEO are too numerous to mention in this article, but the most important is your content. For each keyword you want to rank for, it is best to have a separate page of content specific to that keyword. Within the page, the keyword should be in your H1 title and included a few times within the body of the content. It also helps to have an internal link using the keyword (perhaps in your menu), and an outbound link to other websites related to the topic of the keyword.
Off-site SEO techniques are also numerous, but the objective is to build links from external websites that point directly to your optimized page. In my opinion, this would best be accomplished by submitting articles to the top three article directories, which include the links back to your page. These links are best placed in the Resource box of the article.
Article submission is a powerful technique when done properly. Submit only quality content, on topics of high long-term interest. This will ensure that the article will be passed around and picked up by the search engines quickly. As time goes by, the links generated by your article will grow, and this will improve the ranking of your page and website.
Conclusion
Improving the profitability of your online business will require developing ways to reduce costs associated with driving traffic to your website. SEO represents an ideal way to accomplish this.
The author is an accomplished internet marketer; employing both PPC and SEO techniques in various market niches, including diet, weight loss, and health and fitness. You can also check out his latest website on Cheap ATV Tires which provides sources for competitively priced tires for your All Terrain Vehicle. This site is located at: http://CheapATVTiresCenter.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Roger_Dodger
Saturday, October 31, 2009
CHOOSING A DOMAIN NAME
Weather you are into affiliate marketing, promoting your own website or want to start up a blog it is important to pick a good domain name. The more relevant it is to you site and the content the better the search engines can find your site. You should try to make the domain name yourself, but you can also buy a domain name if you really find the one you must have. When you are in the stage of making and your name and there are a few things to remember about the way your name will appear when it is listed.
One of the first things I found out was about using numbers in place of the words. I wanted to market tools for affiliates so I tried using tools4affiliates.net. What I found out was that people were looking for the word “for” when I was talking to them about the site. Also with this there were other options to “four, for, 4 “ all seem to be the same in sound but mean different when spoken or when the search engines look at you site. Some others are “to, too, two, 2” I think buy now you can see the difference by avoiding this kind of wording.
The use of capital letters for each word in the name will help to separate the name parts and the use of hyphens will also increase search engine recognition. The search engine can more easily identify the words in the title when hyphens are used. “Domain-Name-Registration” “DomainNameRegistration” The first two names are lot easer to read then when it is in this form “domainnameregistration” Buy taking a little time and thinking through this you should be able to come up with a great name that will help to brand your site and bring targeted traffic to it.
After you have chosen your name and are ready to choose a domain hoist there are some things to remember. I would choose a domain host that has registered good sites that have good content in them and have reputable clients. I would not regester my site on a hoist that is has a lot of sex, violence, hate sites, or any thing that could damage my site reputation. Also the big search engines will look for this and if they see the hoisting site has a lot of banded sites with shady content like spamming or virus loaded complaints they will move away from your site and listings will drop.
Some of the other things to think about are misspelling a site name and how you can benefit from it. It might not be a big attention getter but it could drive a little more traffic to your site. Google keywords list 4,090,000 hits on “telefone” and another 1,000,000 hits on “fone”. And that was in just the month of September 2009. So it might be a good idea if you were to register a domain with name close to the spelling of yours and then when the person goes there and clicks on that site he is directed to your site through it.
When choosing a name it is best to have a name that people will not confuse another site and that is has a catchy title to it. It is getting increasingly harder to find sites with short catchy names, as the Internet has become a powerful tool used by business and private individuals all over the world. But with a little imagination and work it is possible to find one that will provide you with best branding and search results for you site. There are a lot of options when you start looking to host you site. The prices rang is enormous and you need to shop around and find the one that gives you all the functionality you need for your site. It is best to decide what you want to do with your site and the type of content and whom you are trying to attract to it. Then look for a web hosting that will provide you the features that you will need. With a little research you can find the right one and only pay for the features you need. Most will provide you with e-mail, loads of storage space and large band width, and applications. But there are a lot that offer a large amount applications that differ from each other and ease of use. The amount of experience you have working with different kinds of application could be a deciding factor in which one you would choose.
So search around and look at each one you find and write down what they have to offer and then compare that to your needs. With a little thought and time spent you can make a site that will be appealing and at the same time attract search engines and people to the site. In the article I will talk about using keywords and some of the tips about them and sites that you can to that will allow you to make list from keyword searches. Till then I hope you all have a great time and a wonderful time. And find this information helpful.
One of the first things I found out was about using numbers in place of the words. I wanted to market tools for affiliates so I tried using tools4affiliates.net. What I found out was that people were looking for the word “for” when I was talking to them about the site. Also with this there were other options to “four, for, 4 “ all seem to be the same in sound but mean different when spoken or when the search engines look at you site. Some others are “to, too, two, 2” I think buy now you can see the difference by avoiding this kind of wording.
The use of capital letters for each word in the name will help to separate the name parts and the use of hyphens will also increase search engine recognition. The search engine can more easily identify the words in the title when hyphens are used. “Domain-Name-Registration” “DomainNameRegistration” The first two names are lot easer to read then when it is in this form “domainnameregistration” Buy taking a little time and thinking through this you should be able to come up with a great name that will help to brand your site and bring targeted traffic to it.
After you have chosen your name and are ready to choose a domain hoist there are some things to remember. I would choose a domain host that has registered good sites that have good content in them and have reputable clients. I would not regester my site on a hoist that is has a lot of sex, violence, hate sites, or any thing that could damage my site reputation. Also the big search engines will look for this and if they see the hoisting site has a lot of banded sites with shady content like spamming or virus loaded complaints they will move away from your site and listings will drop.
Some of the other things to think about are misspelling a site name and how you can benefit from it. It might not be a big attention getter but it could drive a little more traffic to your site. Google keywords list 4,090,000 hits on “telefone” and another 1,000,000 hits on “fone”. And that was in just the month of September 2009. So it might be a good idea if you were to register a domain with name close to the spelling of yours and then when the person goes there and clicks on that site he is directed to your site through it.
When choosing a name it is best to have a name that people will not confuse another site and that is has a catchy title to it. It is getting increasingly harder to find sites with short catchy names, as the Internet has become a powerful tool used by business and private individuals all over the world. But with a little imagination and work it is possible to find one that will provide you with best branding and search results for you site. There are a lot of options when you start looking to host you site. The prices rang is enormous and you need to shop around and find the one that gives you all the functionality you need for your site. It is best to decide what you want to do with your site and the type of content and whom you are trying to attract to it. Then look for a web hosting that will provide you the features that you will need. With a little research you can find the right one and only pay for the features you need. Most will provide you with e-mail, loads of storage space and large band width, and applications. But there are a lot that offer a large amount applications that differ from each other and ease of use. The amount of experience you have working with different kinds of application could be a deciding factor in which one you would choose.
So search around and look at each one you find and write down what they have to offer and then compare that to your needs. With a little thought and time spent you can make a site that will be appealing and at the same time attract search engines and people to the site. In the article I will talk about using keywords and some of the tips about them and sites that you can to that will allow you to make list from keyword searches. Till then I hope you all have a great time and a wonderful time. And find this information helpful.
GETTING TRAFFIC TO YOUR SITE
Most of us struggle getting the traffic to our sites and then to keep them coming back. I will write for the next few weeks about some of the ways to get the traffic and how to keep it. Most of us have the will and the desire to have a successful online marketing system. The techniques and ideas that I will be talking about will take work and time to develop and some hard work will be needed. But in any case many people get into affiliate marketing programs and fail because they believed it would be easy to make a million dollars with no effort. That is good news for us because it leaves more of the market open for people like us who are willing to work hard and learn. By working hard and putting forth the effort you will explode your business ahead of the others that are just lazy. So let get started with building traffic to your business.
Recently I posted an article from another author about Search Engine Optimization and how it has become more important today because of pricing. But the reason I wanted to learn how to get my site rated higher was because then it works for me with while I find the time to do other work promoting my affiliate business. Just think of a search engine as another tool you are using to promote your business online 24 hours a day.
One of the most important aspects of your website should be the quality of the content that you place on it. More and more people are just setting up sites that are poorly designed and have little content to attract visitors and search engines to the site. As time goes on it will be more important to a have well established large site with good content in it then many small sites with poor content in them.
Keywords go hand in hand with all areas of your site from the domain name to the content of the site. By using keywords and phrases in the content of the site the search engines can easily find your site and direct more traffic to it. It is also important to have the content rich in information for the reader and easy for them to find. By developing a high quality web site you are investing into your future as a affiliate. The time spent will be paid back as people start to talk and pass around your site and link to it with out even having to ask them to. Google even tells you in there forums that there webmaster guidelines advise site owners to have a well written and content rich site to rank higher in the search.
If you read about keyword and keyword phrases in Googel they say there are over 2 billion searches done a day for keywords and keyword phrases. What this does for us in the marketing business allows us to write articals and place information in our sites that can bring visitors and allow us to lure them to our best landing pages or to sign up for a news letter. Then it should be understood that the more pages you have rich in keywords and keyword phrases the more traffic you will have.So the idea is to think BIG and generate the content rich pages for your site. Also the engines favor the sites that have new and up to date information posted on them often. You should post at least once a week and and twice would be great. And adding new content daily is the best. What I am saying is that more you update and richer the content the more visitors you will get.
In the next article I will talk about domains and domain names and some of the thought that you need to give them for optimizing your site.
Recently I posted an article from another author about Search Engine Optimization and how it has become more important today because of pricing. But the reason I wanted to learn how to get my site rated higher was because then it works for me with while I find the time to do other work promoting my affiliate business. Just think of a search engine as another tool you are using to promote your business online 24 hours a day.
One of the most important aspects of your website should be the quality of the content that you place on it. More and more people are just setting up sites that are poorly designed and have little content to attract visitors and search engines to the site. As time goes on it will be more important to a have well established large site with good content in it then many small sites with poor content in them.
Keywords go hand in hand with all areas of your site from the domain name to the content of the site. By using keywords and phrases in the content of the site the search engines can easily find your site and direct more traffic to it. It is also important to have the content rich in information for the reader and easy for them to find. By developing a high quality web site you are investing into your future as a affiliate. The time spent will be paid back as people start to talk and pass around your site and link to it with out even having to ask them to. Google even tells you in there forums that there webmaster guidelines advise site owners to have a well written and content rich site to rank higher in the search.
If you read about keyword and keyword phrases in Googel they say there are over 2 billion searches done a day for keywords and keyword phrases. What this does for us in the marketing business allows us to write articals and place information in our sites that can bring visitors and allow us to lure them to our best landing pages or to sign up for a news letter. Then it should be understood that the more pages you have rich in keywords and keyword phrases the more traffic you will have.So the idea is to think BIG and generate the content rich pages for your site. Also the engines favor the sites that have new and up to date information posted on them often. You should post at least once a week and and twice would be great. And adding new content daily is the best. What I am saying is that more you update and richer the content the more visitors you will get.
In the next article I will talk about domains and domain names and some of the thought that you need to give them for optimizing your site.
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