


Archive for May, 2008
Since Google’s Jagger update, during 2005, the internet has become a fermenting ground for pundits advising us on how and why we are going to be penalised by Google if we continue using tried and tested techniques that previously worked well.
Most of this advice is pure mythology. So, it is time to examine these myths and discuss why they are myths.
Firstly, let us be clear about one thing: everything said about how to improve Google ranking is theory, unless Google says it themselves. The problem is that some of the theories are just plain wrong.
Myth 1) Linking from link farms will get you penalised by Google. WRONG. It may well be that it does your website absolutely no good at all, but why should Google penalise a website when, if this were the case, a competitor could add links to your site from link farms? I do not believe that Google, or any other search engine, will penalise a site because of what an unscrupulous competitor may do.
Myth 2) Involving your website in reciprocal link trading will get your website penalised by Google. WRONG. There are legitimate reasons for sites linking to each other, therefore, why would a site be penalised for what may be a perfectly legitimate link exchange? Reciprocal linking does not carry anywhere near the weight it used to do, it has been downgraded by Google, but reciprocal links will not harm your website, and in fact, maintain some value, though much reduced.
Myth 3) If sites that are considered “Bad neighbourhoods” link to your site, you will be penalised by Google. WRONG. Webmasters have absolutely no control over who links to their site. It would be unethical for Google to penalise a site due to the actions of other third party sites.
So why does this confusion exist?
Most of what I’ve said above is self explanatory, but maybe a little more comment is needed on the subject of bad neighbourhoods.
Bad neighbourhoods are websites that have been penalised or banned by Google. If you link TO a bad neighbourhood site you are, in the eyes of Google, guilty by association. And may be penalised. But, as I’ve already said, if they link to you it is out of your control; they are associating with you, not you with them.
So how do I know if a website is a bad neighbourhood? Simple, first you need to download and install the Google toolbar. As, no doubt, you are already aware, the Google toolbar shows the page rank (PR) of any website you visit. If the website you wish to link to has a PR allocated you are safe. If the PR is zero, but the indicator bar is just a white background, then you are safe. But beware; if the indicator background is grey, this means Google will not even allocate a PR=0 to this site, you are looking at a bad neighbourhood website &ndash do not link to this site.
General Considerations.
Although links from link farms will not get you penalised, they are of no value, so why bother?
Although reciprocal links have been downgraded, they still have some value. So, link wisely to related content sites only. The importance of the site linking to you will be of more value to your site than a less important site, but personally, I do not mind linking to a related site with a PR=0, it is probably a new site that is still in the Google sandbox, and may gain a high PR at some future date.
It is a good idea to periodically check whether the sites you are linking to are still safe &ndash avoid greyed out PR indicators.
And finally, the best advice of all, generate one way links to your website. One way links are the most important links you can have. But even these vary in importance according to the PR of the linking sites, the wise use of anchor text, and the relevance of the linking page/site.
I will have more to say on that subject in a future article.
Email is the main method of communicating in the 21st century. Instead of asking for a telephone number or a street address, people now ask for your email address. No one writes a letter and sends it in the mail anymore and very few invitations or birthday cards come through snail mail. You can even get your monthly statements for cable or Internet through email, so why do we need a post office anymore.
Email is now just a part of everyday life as the post office. However, we do need the post office to receive the packages that we order through email. When you shop online, you do need a way of getting what you paid for, so yes we still need the postal system. What email has helped to do is reduce the amount of paper that we have to recycle or throw away, thus helping the environment. It has also reduced the number of trees that need to be destroyed in order to make the paper. There is a downside to this as well. This reduction in paper production has meant the loss of many jobs in the paper and logging industry.
Email makes it possible to get messages instantly without having to wait days or weeks for a reply. It is an exceptional way of sending money to children in college because with online banking you can now send money to anyone in the world. Even if this is a complete stranger, neither person has any idea of the bank account or even the name of the bank that each one deals with. You simply get a message that someone has sent you money and you follow the steps to deposit the money right into your bank account.
With email, the world has a much smaller place. You can communicate with someone thousands of miles away in a matter of seconds. It has also reduced the cost of long distance telephone calls between business associates, friends and family. Send and receive pictures through email and keep in touch 24 hours a day.
Everybody has picked up the trend of blogging. And blogging has picked up the money-making scheme.
If you have a blog and have not used that to make money online, then you are being left behind by the others who are already making some good profits from blogs.
How do they do that?
Selling advertising though blogs.
This is the most common ways of making blogs produce income. The process is simple. If your blog is one of those more famous and well-read, you can it to sell ad space all by yourself. But for those not so famous blogs, there are services that can be used to set up an ad program. The widely used one is Adsense.
Adsense lets you choose some ads that are somewhat related to what your site is about. You are then paid based on the number of the readers that clicked on the ads to check them out. Why people opt for Adsense is because they can get it for free.
Blogs as an affiliate program.
This is another one of those click-through opportunities. This allows blogs to serve as a medium between the affiliate sites and the readers. When a visitor became interested on something that you have promoted on your blogs, they can click on the link that you have provided that will lead directly to the affiliate site.
Once the customer has decided to buy or avail of what is offered, you will get a commission based on the sale made.
Soliciting though blogs.
As opposed to the first two mentioned, you are not offering something to your readers. On the contrary, you are counting on their kindness and seeking out their help. You can ask for contributions, whether money or goods, for a certain cause.
If your readers are taken or is moved by what you have written, there is a likely possibility that they will be more than willing to help you.
Blogging to market.
Blogs are a way of generating new businesses and getting potential customers. If you already have a product or service being offered, you can try and offer more and new things though blogs.
They can be your own or in reference to other site or business that you want to offer your readers.
With the publicity that blogs are getting nowadays, there is no doubt that it has become one of the most effective income generating tool online today.
For the last 10 years I have been using the internet as a source for information, sometimes this is vital information about phone umbers, location of places and breaking news alerts, and sometimes I am just surfing the net in search of some product or service that I think would be nice for me to get.
A few years ago I started encountering a strange phenomena, the empty site, these sites came up in the search engines and when I clicked them they led me to an almost empty page, with little or no information on the thing I was looking for, which was the reason for me being on that same page. These empty pages soon evolved into a mini search engine page, that was a little better than before but with all honesty, I didn’t want to be sent yet another search engine once I entered my search term and clicked the search button.
It took me some effort and experience to start recognizing these sites before even clicking them, and so I became partially blind to those empty sites, recognizing them by their domain name or by the page description below the sites address. But it seemed that whatever I did or how much smarter I had become did not matter much to the creators of these pages, they had now started paying attention to their sites names, and they have started putting in a word or two on the page, sometimes I would find dozens of completely unrelated words crammed up on the bottom of the page. And so this personal disliking had started to evolve into a much more sophisticated war like situation each time I sat down in front of my computer trying to look something up on search engines.
Today I am writing this to tell you about a new site, its dedicated to advice and tips, information at its best, for everyone to use. It is not an empty page, but a set of articles about different topics, from tips and advice about home improvement to information about skin treatment and shopping, this site is a great starting point in your search for what you need to find.
How many times did you answer the phone only to discover the there is a telemarketer on the other side, and not someone who is genuinely calling to talk with you? This is exactly what the people behind this new site are doing, eliminating the empty pages, providing information and thinking about you first, not about scamming you into clicking into their site for whatever reason.
This site has only been launched a short time ago, the creators promise to keep it as personal as they can, and provide as much information they can find about every single different topic. These are two internet veterans that have seen the internet grow from a tiny community into a huge money making machine, and they want to bring something back into this community, a true and honest set of sites that will not manipulate you, the visitor, but respect your needs and your time.
I strongly recommend that you pay a visit to this site, just to see that things can be different, and that the internet can also be a place where people provide information and advice one to the other, because its possible.
Since the advent of the Internet, computers have changed the way people work, play and communicate.
Today’s children are learning by computer games. Today’s businesses are building stronger relationships and experiencing significant change in organization and filing, research and operation - and even advertising and marketing - through their desktops.
There are more than 200 million Internet users, according to NielsenNetRatings. To keep up with the rapidly expanding Internet marketplace, many businesses are turning to companies like Centale Inc. (OTC BB: CNTL), based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., which helps communicate, market, brand and advertise on the Internet.
The company’s “next generation tools,” like Catalyst EV, Music On Demand for Windows Media Player, custom Web browsers, instant messengers, media players and toolbars are used in all types of organizations where the goal is to build a community; communicate with subscribers or customers; develop new revenue channels; and increase brand exposure, traffic and customer loyalty.
With Catalyst EV, businesses are building effective marketing campaigns through a programmable desktop application that can be distributed as an e-mail attachment or downloadable via the customer Web site. This cutting-edge technology has Centale customers communicating with their audience, one-to-one direct to the desktop in audio, video, rich media, animation or text format.
Centale’s universal instant messenger connects simultaneously to AOL, MSN, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber, IRC, Napster and other networks. Music on Demand is a desktop application that allows users to find virtually any song or video in the world and play it instantly without downloading any files. Centale plans to unveil an iTunes-compatible version of Music on Demand to attract digital-music listeners.
Music On Demand for Windows Media Player includes a publishing tool that allows webmasters to create and list their songs in the search directory.
Centale’s custom-made branded browsers offer Internet security that blocks pop-ups and sexually explicit material. The browsers include an efficient search engine, an easy-to-use interface for people who are visually and audibly impaired and multilingual menus and translators.
Ever wonder why most all of the teens today are addicted to the internet? Well it has everything a young exploring mind needs. From browsing the net for document researches, shopping, cooking, gaming, chat, and a whole bunch of stuff going inside a website’s offer.
Yep, all of these including one secluded part of a teen’s life which is their journal. Don’t believe me? Then try hooking up on the internet now and see how much there is that is available today.
Aside from being a window for the readers to see what’s on the author’s mind, a blog lets him elaborate on facts or scribble out whatever idea that pops out his head. A blog is a simplified term for “web blog”-a new generation medium for writing articles, essays, statements and the like.
It’s usually composed of texts or sometimes pictures and multimedia topics. If you’re tired of jotting down every single detail of your life’s worth on paper, why not try the new fad of journalism which is blogging. Blogging literally means sharing a comment of life through the internet.
It is an up-to-date source. A sequence of events. A timeless exhibit of creativity and style. An outlet for one’s self.
The popularity of blog comes in different areas. Anyone can write anything that comes out of his head. Whether a walk on a sunny day or a dip into California ’s wild waters, it serves as a diary and is readily updated. What’s good about blogging is that it is not bounded by editing and is cheap.
The commercial velocity of a blog depends on a writer’s instinct to create a worthy article. Either formative or informative, rational or irrational, for as long as the readers can visualize what the author has posted your blog’s a hit.
Technical specialties and skills, not necessary. Publishing freedom, an advantage. All that is needed is for you to have a witty mind, a desire to share ideas and part of your story, and a bit of knowledge to toggle into the internet. Grammatical errors are welcome. No editors and publishing companies to please. Journalism without rules or guidelines to follow and what’s best is that readers could post a comment or be inspired to write one too.
Blogging wouldn’t be difficult if you have the right recipes. Not just a simple-text article, a blog may be enhanced or converted into other types like an audio blog or a video blog. Nowadays, blogs are more sophisticated and advanced. Element of a blog starts from a good and captivating headline down to the author’s personal profile. Included herewith are the blog post, permalink (combined term for “permanent link”), and the reader’s comments.
A friend of mine is a blogger. She would entertain herself by posting blogs on her web page. She told me that blogging is an advantage for her to speak up to the world of the things that’s keeping her shut. And I quote, “I am an internet junkie. I am not a big fan of journalism or any kind of writing.
But it all changed when the blogging fever entered internet society. I appreciated it more when I felt everything that’s written are real and not just a compulsory decoy to deliver information. Right then, I became a part of a bigger picture.”
Trapped in a world of unwanted opinions, blogging is a benefit. But everything has its own consequences. Blogs are much harder to manage than that of the broadcast media. In politically sensitive issues, blogs can be considered as a political misfit. Results are triggered through suppression of bloggers and punishments were made. Another grave case is the issue of defamation and liability.
Nevertheless, blogging is still out there. So if you’re the type who has the snap for writing, give blogging a shot. You never know how much it would contribute to the society and to your pockets.
A lot of us are starting to shop more and more on the internet. We may have been initially reluctant or resistant to shopping on the net, but, after making a few purchases, we’ve become more confident. Well, that’s good isn’t it? We’re now moving into the millennium. Yeah, it is good, but, we could still use some helpful tips while we’re trying to shop, so here they are!
1) Do your research on the items you’re thinking about buying. You will find there are lots of companies vying for your money so make sure you check a few to get the best deals! Just key in the item you’re looking to purchase via your internet service provider and voila you should be able to check the prices, features and compare the items overall.
2) Before purchasing the product you plan to buy, check the company’s policy on how they will handle returns if you need to return the item you have ordered. How long do you have to return the item and how soon will you be credited or refunded your monies paid.
3) Be careful about how you are paying for your purchase. Make sure the provider company or payment servicer taking your credit or debit card is legitimate and well known! This will alleviate future problems down the line if you have a return and need a refund. A good way to check out the provider, company or payment servicer, is via the internet. Do a search to see if there are any complaints listed for the company.
4) Check on what you’re being charged for shipping costs! Make sure you’re getting a good deal on the product you’re ordering overall including any shipping costs being charged. It is noted that some companies don’t charge shipping costs if you order a certain amount product, are a new customer, or maybe they have a special promotion going on at the time where no shipping costs are charged.
5) When you are considering purchasing a product from a company, look on their website for business seals of approval from companies such as; Bizrate.com or the Better Business Bureau. This usually means that the company you’re thinking about purchasing from has a good customer satisfaction rating.
6) Make sure when you place your order that you keep copies of your online purchase receipts and any email confirmations of your order. Keep these records at least until you have obtained confirmation from your credit or debit card company showing a confirmation of the purchase made.
Shopping on the internet has made it possible for the consumer to have access to literally millions of products at your fingertips. It’s timesaving and easy to do in most cases! So, go ahead and enjoy your internet shopping experience today!
So, What Is ‘Inside The List’?
You have no doubt heard the saying “The money is in the list”, well this product claims to teach you how to set up subscriber lists and how to market to them in order to get the cash rolling in!
The pair who have written this book are also responsible or the highly respected ‘Beating Adwords’ and ‘Wealthy Affiliate’ membership site. I know for a fact that his pair use these techniques to generate incomes in excess of $30,000 a month. The question is have they managed to translate there considerable knowledge into ‘Inside The List’? Read On!
So, Does Inside The List Actually Work?
Anyone with a decent amount of experience knows how to build an opt-in list, so why should anyone want to part with there hard earned in order to read about it? Well, it is the techniques that Inside The List teach for selling on to all those potential customers and turning them from subscribers into paying customers. Creating solid customer relationships that you will be able to sell to again and again, enabling you to generate instant cash at will. Inside The List achieves all of this and more. Some of the stuff in there was an absolute revalation… seiously!
I know that for some of you the thought of building your own customer base may seem a bit complicated, but don’t be put off. The methods can easily be adopted and put into action by beginners. Everything that you need to know is in this book. Inside The List even includes web page templates for those without web page design skills.
Bottom line Caiden… Should I Invest In Inside The List?
If Your looking to make sustainable and, once set up, instant large sums of cash then there is no better way of doing it than owning your own opt-in list. So, as there is no better opt-in list resource currently on the web than Inside The List it most definatley comes highly recommended. All that is required is that you implement the methods yourself to reap the benefits, after all they can’t do the work for you!
Thanks For Reading
Caiden Felix
9/10 times your web site visitors won’t stay for more than 15 seconds. This is how you get them to stay, or should I say, get them to come back!
For most of you, your web site is a great brochure. It probably outlines your services very well. There’s nothing wrong with that what-so-ever!
but…
There are creative marketing strategies that you can implement so that you don’t entirely loose your clients, you just need to keep them in the loop for when the time comes for them to buy.
“Marketing Online - Is about creative patience”
Being creative with your web marketing ventures is crucial but it doesn’t necessarily react like print magazine ads or like newspaper press releases. No, it takes time for something to kick into full force.
This is why you should always keep on top of creating something new because, just like regular marketing, if you don’t have another campaign ready to go when your done this one, you’ll start to loose prospects on the way and create a slow period for your business.
You want your world online to consistently grow. Don’t grow too quickly, just grow and keep growing with all your marketing efforts.
Here are some of the marketing strategies you can implement:
- Create an online newsletters
- Give something away for free
- Create online questionnaires
- Engage yourself into discussion groups
- Write helpful tips
- Create local resources for others
- Have a section of tips from others in your field
- Create a forum on your site
As you can see, these are all marketing strategies that ingage people in some way. The key is to create emotion through your visitors. Once you’ve engaged someone from your site, your site will be imprinted on their mind. It may take them a year to buy something from you but once in a while, maybe even weekly, they will keep coming back to your site.
The important thing to remember is that, eventually, we loose all of our visitors, even more important is to find marketing ventures that keep them coming back from time to time.
Just because someone saw your service today, doesn’t mean that he/she is ready to buy what you are offering. Many people “Shop For Tomorrow”. They like to browse around, see the options out there before they dig into their wallet.
I hope this article will spawn off some ideas for you!
Bottom Line: If your website and emails are silent, you’re leaving money on the table! Its that simple.
More and more online marketers and business owners are seeing the light and recognizing the tremendous benefits of incorporating multimedia into their online marketing strategy. It’s a proven fact that multimedia more easily and effectively captivates your audience and grab’s the attention of your prospects, visitors, subscribers and customers. Time and time again research has shown that using multimedia in the form of video and/or audio advertisements increases conversation rates, buy rates as well as subscription rates for a product or service.
If studies consistently show the advantage of incorporating multimedia into your online marketing campaign, then those who have not yet added multimedia to their advertising need to seriously rethink and reinvent their marketing strategy.
“As traditional banner ads continue to decline in their effectiveness…leading companies..[will turn] to streaming media to juice up their online advertising. These initial trials are just the beginning of what industry experts believe will be a huge market…Streaming media has a 70% response rate for content, a 60% response rate for advertising information, and a 49% “buy” rate for online merchandise. (Source: Hostcentric Streaming Media: Industry Outlook).”
When you look at the above statistics put together by leading authorities, can you really afford not to jump at the chance to use Multimedia as an advertising strategy?
Look at it this way, without Video and/or Audio your site appears static to the visitor and after seeing hundreds of these types of sites, your customer becomes desensitized which is why sales conversion rates have systematically dropped over the last couple of years all over the Internet.
Savvy Internet Marketers know this and have already seen the light. You’ll notice that many of these “Gurus” are lending voice to their sales copy in an effort to increase their conversion rate and many have incorporated video into their marketing. In essence, they are re-inventing themselves, recognizing the tremendous power and benefits inherent in multimedia and using it to captivate their intended audience and to convert prospects into subscribers and customers.
Think about it…you can convince your prospect to buy your product or service or subscribe to your ezine or newsletter much more easily with a 3 minute video as opposed to a long winded sales page that doesn’t convey your passion for your product, service or publication. The human voice has the power to influence, motivate, and persuade prospects to take action with much less resistence and reluctance.
These days there are scams all over the Internet and as a result people are very skeptical of many sites and ultimately the “online” business owners behind these websites. By using multimedia in the form of video and audio messages, you leave visitors with the impression that you are a “real” business and someone they CAN trust.
By using multimedia, you can also communicate better with people, specifically prospective customers, allowing you to get your point across much easier which all leads to one end result- MORE SALES!
There are many others benefits to speak of which include the following:
1. Explain selling-points much more easily and clearly to captivate your potential buyer.
2. Describe your product or service and the benefits of using it clearly and concisely.
3. Video and Audio conveys PROFESSIONALISM and most importantly it provides you with something that is essential in any business- CREDIBILITY. With credibility, you can sell more of your product or service, build that sacred opt-in list much more quickly and convince visitors to click on a link to an affiliate program you are advertising.
Therefore, as an increasing number of online business owners and marketers recognize the competitive advantages of multimedia and its power as a communication vehicle, multimedia content will become an integral part of the web experience.
Again, the question asked is “Why do I need Video and Audio on my Website?”
The simple answer: Multimedia is quickly becoming a necessity to the sustainability and future of online businesses. Very soon, all online business owners and marketers without exception will need to incorporate multimedia into their marketing strategies to maintain the continued existence of their online presence.
Do advertisers on TV try to sell you their products and services by using written text?
I rest my case.
