Website Promotion - The Stakes Are Rising - And So is the Cost

Over the past couple of months it has been quite noticeable that the amount of time and effort that is going into website promotion is rapidly rising and therefore so is the associated cost of keeping ahead of the competition.

More and more people are devoting more and more time to website promotion and it is becoming a feature of nearly all website promotion campaigns that they are embracing all known search engine promotion techniques instead of exclusively relying on one or two methods.

What we are seeing at the moment is a landshift change in promotion techniques. Only a year or so ago it was thought enough for a search engine optimization company to optimize the pages (on page optimization) and submit the website.

However now that the competition is becoming ever fiercer off page optimization is becoming a necessary requirement of any respectable website promotion campaign.

Let's examine these two terms and see what we mean my "on page optimization" and "off page optimization".

On page optimization is the process of tuning the page for a search engine or more usually trying to make it rank highly on a selection of search engines. It's no wonder that many search engine optimization engineers focus on Google exclusively as it certainly produces the most traffic of all engines, but will that always be the case? Things can change quickly in internet land.

Page optimization strategies generally consist of using your keyword or keyword phrases in all of the pages known "hotspots". The page title, meta keyword, meta description, alt tags, first heading and the body text. Subsequent "tweaks" can include bolding the keyword phrase, using the keyword phrase in a hyperlink and more.

To a point there is only so much that you can do to search engineer a page before it starts to look spammy, repeating the keyword phrase over and over. Of course some "optimizers" still do this but it's quickly becoming a frowned upon practice as it detracts sharply from a website wanting to produce a professional image, not to mention your chances of being banned from the search engine altogether.

This is where "off page optimization" takes over.

Both Google and Yahoo use a system of "ranking" websites dependent on several factors - one of which is how relevant the content appears to be to the key phrase searched for (on page optimization).

The second important criteria that your pages are judged on is how "popular" those pages are in comparison with your competition. Broken down into it's basest form it means that the more quality votes (links) that your page has then the more popular it must be and so is promoted higher up the search engine results. In Google parlance this feature is known as "pagerank" and pagerank is a vitally important part of your website promotion campaign. If you don't have any then you are standing naked in front of everybody and that's not a nice feeling!

Google pagerank is based on a scale of 1-10 where 10 has the most influence. The algorithm is configured on a sliding scale so that you only ever gain pagerank as a percentage of the full amount. As those with the highest pagerank are constantly adding more "votes" for their pages it makes sense that those at the bottom end of the scale are going to have to work ever harder to play "catch up" and that is where the extra cost is being factored in to website promotion campaigns.

However it becomes more complicated.

Not all links are equal.

Blindly rushing off and trying to get as many links as possible is not going to help you much. In fact it's one of the reasons why people are spending so much time and effort in their link exchange campaigns and finding they are getting nowhere.

Savvy online marketers have established that links from pages with a low pagerank are not as valuable as links from those with a higher pagerank. But also in paradox to this it is possible to get more value from linking to a page with lower pagerank than the higher one!

Confused! No wonder "off page optimization" is becoming such a sought after area of expertise.

The paradox occurs because built into the pagerank algorithm is a method of transferring the amount of pagerank "boost" a page gets by dividing up the total pagerank of a page by the number of links present. So a high pagerank page with 100 links on it is not going to give as much "voting power" as a low pagerank page with only one or two links on it.

Trying to make sense of this is at the heart of any "off page optimization" campaign. Sifting through links, setting up reciprocal link campaigns (the site you link to links back to you) getting links from directories and so on is a time consuming task, even when using some of the more advanced tools that take a lot of the manual drudgery out of the job.

Link exchanges are springing up all over the place offering to bring together people willing to exchange links and the humble text link is becoming one of the most valuable pieces of internet property. Costs for placing text links on higher ranked sites are escalating and it's becoming ever more important to network closely with other sites offering useful services to your visitors.

Throwing up a links page and asking all and sundry to link to it is not going to work - all that's going to do is give you an administrative headache and make your visitors wonder if they are making the right choice. Choosing quality link partners is a time consuming and therefore expensive business.

What this all means is that the cost of website promotion is constantly going up. And those companies with well networked sites and strategically placed links are in a much better position to help their customers than those who rely solely on pay per click campaigns and other expensive forms of advertising.

A website promotion campaign is still the best value for money form of advertising that there is in my opinion, it's just that the costs are rising and will continue to rise. But the rewards for those that get it right are greater in comparison.

To sum up, search engine optimization is becoming a more and more labor intensive exercise. There are more pages to be made search engine friendly and to gain top spots each page has to be tuned for a particular search engine. Gone are the days of "one size fits all".

In addition there is a large amount of work involved in linking strategies and building the "popularity" of a website so that it has a chance of making it into the top 10 results.

It's this combination of work required that is forcing up the costs of a search engine optimization campaign.

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Do Good Business Make More Money

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Source: ezinearticles.com

7 Tips for Better Communication on email

Working for yourself is a little different than working for a company. You can't rely on HR to take care of the details. You're not going to run into someone in the break room where you can say, "Hey did you get my email?" You have limited chances to communicate with your clients and collaborators, so you want to be as clear as possible. Here are some tips on proper email protocol that will help foster your business relationships and help people to remember you as an exceptional communicator!

1. Read the other person's email several times before writing your reply. Sometimes in our hurry to get things done, we glaze over important details and miss the message. Are you asking questions that someone already took their precious time to answer the first time around? Did you MISS their questions that require a response? Slow down, take your time, be thorough! Your clients will be glad for the specialized attention and great service.

2. Always include contact information at the end of your email. Even if you've talked to this person a thousand times before, they'll always appreciate easy access to your full company name, email address, phone and fax number. You want referrals, right? Think of how simple it will be for them to pass along your info to a new customer if it's right before their eyes!

3. Never assume that someone doesn't know something. Sure, you're a storehouse of handy information, but it's a little arrogant to assume that no one else on the planet knows what you know. If you want to offer an impromptu tutorial, great. But do tack on a friendly intro such as: "Maybe you already know this but," or "Ever try such-and-such?" If they haven't, they can say, "No... but thanks for the new ideas!" If they have, they can respond with an enthusiastic, "Yes I have, and I love it!"

4. Always let your colleague know that you've received an important message, and inform them of when you intend to respond. Example: "Thanks for sending the contract; I'll look it over this weekend and get back to you by Monday evening at the latest." Even if you're incredibly busy and not sure exactly when you'll be ready with an answer, don't leave anyone hanging indefinitely. For all they know, you never got the email!

5. Include the original transcript along with your reply. Imagine getting an email from your client out of the blue that says: "Yes, I totally agree"--and nothing more. HUH? Avoid the confusion of a delayed and incomplete reply. Instead, leave the original remarks in so you can trail the path of communication! If the conversation is lengthy, you may want to copy a snippet from their email, add a response of your own in a different font or color, copy another snippet, so on and so forth. This ensures that you won't miss any questions or remarks that require further comments.

6. Utilize your subjectline. The subjectline is there as a handy reference, so be consistent. Let's say you're sending a draft of web copy. Choose a naming convention, such as: Web Copy Draft 1, and stick with it. Your next draft should be named, Web Copy Draft 2 using the exact same punctuation and capitalization. Why? Because you'll be able to sort your emails later on and extract what you need when you need it.

7. Know when the conversation is over. We're all busy, so as much as you want to be attentive to your client's needs, you don't want to pester them incessently, either. Suppose you've already had five or six email back-and-forths. All relevant points have been made and you're dwindling down to "Thanks alot" - your cue that This Conversation is Ending. If they say, "OK, thanks-- I'll be in touch," don't reply with "Great! When?" Just let it go until next time.

Email is a handy tool that can make or break your professional relationships. Use it to your advantage with clear and concise correspondence. If you do, you'll be sure that clients and colleagues alike will regard you as an excellent communicator!

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Do Good Business Make More Money

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Source: ezinearticles.com

Public Domain Riches Revealed

Have you ever looked all over the house for an item and then when you finally found it the item was right under your nose all along?

If you have ever wanted to market a product or to make money selling information products, without losing your savings or spending thousands of dollars, then public domain might be the answer to your prayers.

It's everywhere you look but do you know what to look for? Everyday you and thousands of others come across public domain information and products without even knowing it.
Striking it rich on your first attempt using public domain is un-likely however let me give you a couple of examples of well-known people who have built financial empires using public domain.

Walt Disney - Do you think all of those cute little characters that made him rich were from his own brilliant mind? Not a chance.
Uncle Walts' early day fortune was created after he discovered the Grimm Fairy Tales, that were loved by so many, had fallen into public domain.
Other than making a few changes and updating the characters along with some of their names he basically copied them and made billions of dollars in the process.

Television media mogul Ted Turner created "Turner Classic Movies" known as 'TCM' was basically public domain tv because most all of the movies broadcast were in the public domain.
People's love for classic movies brought them to his TV network while also making Ted a fortune selling advertising.

These two cases might be extreme examples however they are proof positive that public domain profits and fortunes are available for the taking.
There is little doubt that thousands of examples from regular everyday people like you, and even some large companies, would fill volumes with their success stories of public domain profits.
So, what exactly is public domain and how do you know if something falls within your rights to use it?

The precise answer requires more space than this introductory article however here is a basic and general overview.

Public domain is most often referred to anything that does not fall under copyright laws including works that are not eligible for copyright or where copyright has expired.
You may only use the works of another once it becomes public domain, without obtaining permission of the original copyright holder.

Below are examples of just some of the works in public domain you might have seen or come across before without even knowing it.
Posters, books, reports, photographs, movies, tv programs, audio recordings, music, plays, manuals, courses of many kinds and much more!
So what are the benefits of you using public domain information, or works, to create your own products?

Here are a few ideas to get your mind racing.
* Low start up cost
* Eliminate paying royalties to others
* Quickly test a market's viability without a large investment
* Save money testing a market before further development
* Low investment of time - time is money
* You keep 100% of the profits!
* No copyright fees
* Thousands of works already exist you can use starting today
* Prior success of works usually is an indicator of future success i.e.: Grimm Fairy Tales!
As you can see the possibilities of using public domain for profits are limited only by your imagination.
The question should not be "can I start a profitable business using public domain?" but rather..
Are YOU prepared to do so?

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Do Good Business Make More Money

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Source: ezinearticles.com

8 Steps to Ruining Your Internet Business

You may not realize that there is a technique to failure. For those of you who can not fail properly, just follow these simple steps and I personally guarantee you to be a total wash-out.

1. Know hype as your friend: Earn $10,000 per hour while drinking lemonade and getting a massage. Gotta go for that one. It's a real bargain at $29.95.

2. Never research a program: For those who simply cannot accept hype as their buddy, fear not. Having no reliable information about a company works almost as well.

3. Never spend money: Hey, this is all free. If I wanted to make an investment, I'd open a store on Main Street with a $6,000 lease payment every month, $50,000 in inventory, and shell out $10,000 every two weeks in payroll. Yep, that's how I'd do it. But I sure won't spend $200 on an effective lead generator.

4. Do not take your business seriously: Who cares? I'd rather be playing free cell.

5. Get as many site hits as humanly possible: Use every advertising source available. So what if BuckHunter103 visits my site on banning all firearms in the world. My hit counter is spinning!

6. Have no plan: Flailing blindly in the dark is sure to waste lots of time and leave you discouraged. A must for failing.

7. Work as little as possible: Work is the ultimate enemy of failure. Where's that darn free cell bookmark?

8. Quit: If you've followed my plan so far, and it still seems you're on the verge of success, there's only one thing left to do. QUIT!

Over 90% of internet business owners have followed this plan and failed miserably in just a few short days or weeks. Are you next?

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Do Good Business Make More Money

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Source: ezinearticles.com