This preview video covers how to build links and drive traffic to your site using directories and social bookmarking sites. This is kinf of cool comparosin of the old school method of link building and the new world of utilizing social bookmaring.
How To Build Links Through Directories & Social Bookmarking - The funniest movie is here. Find it
Friday, March 28, 2008
Link Building Methods
Monday, March 24, 2008
Social Networking - Changing The Internet Marketing Landscape
One of the most compelling utility mechanisms of social networking websites is how they introduce a paradigm shift in the way internet marketing is conducted. Simply put, internet marketing means publicizing your business over the web. There are several ways to do so, like, link building, article marketing, search engines and not to forget, social networking.
One of the most compelling utility mechanisms of social networking websites is how they introduce a paradigm shift in the way internet marketing is conducted. Simply put, internet marketing means publicizing your business over the web. There are several ways to do so, like, link building, article marketing, search engines and not to forget, social networking.
Social media lays the emphasis on bettering your relationship with clients in the markets you target than bettering your rankings in the search engines or the gathering of links.
Social media can assist you in making money in three ways:
* To begin with, welcome your readers to contribute and share articles or files from your site. You might know about RSS feed and social book-marking buttons. These two elements are utilized in encouraging visitors to borrow content from your site and apply it in other ways. Maybe they will insert an article in their book-marks index, or on their own website. It is not at all difficult to build sharing buttons since all that you require is to register yourself with an aggregation site or social book-marking.
* Create the content of your website as a well documented and creative package. Use your instinct to select your subjects with wisdom and go for those subjects that are rarely found anywhere else. Intriguing content is one of the first things that strike a reader of a website. Issues that are in the limelight are also fascinating topics, but when writing on them ensure that what you say is original and fresh and not repetition of what others have to say.
* More over, design an interactive page. For a better social media profile, drive your visitors to become participants. Put a chat box on your homepage where they can drop messages for you. Nowadays developing blog pages on the website itself is a wise decision where readers can openly or anonymously share their thoughts.
What makes social networks perfect for businesses?
Most of these social networking websites do not charge the potential member anything for joining the site. Hence people can get connected to each other with almost no investment on their side. This harbors good news for low-profile business persons and amateur entrepreneurs who do not have much financial backing but want to raise their business leads and grow their client base. The social networking websites serve the purpose of becoming the company’s strategy for relationship management. Since these companies generally have a global outreach, they can get in touch with other clients who are based elsewhere on the globe.
These social networking websites which are also maintaining the profile of semi-business networking sites are guided by the customary face-to-face principles of networking of business net-workers who come from other different sectors.
What makes social networking websites perfect for customers?
You are probably already aware that the internet can be a very effective medium of communication. Generally, before they begin to purchase or endorse any product or service, they normally take resort to discussion forums and blogs to get genuine opinions from people who have themselves experienced the goodness of the services and products.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Five Reasons Why Blogging Is The New Internet Marketing Tool
A very useful take on the way blogging can be used to enhance any online business
Blogging is a concept which started in the late 90s. It used to be a way to comment upon an existing webpage, an opportunity for visitors and readers to react or express their opinion on the said page. What started as a single-sentence commentary has evolved into pages of personal take on just about anything and everything under the sun. As it continues to move forward, online advertising has tapped into the blog’s potential. Here are 5 reasons why you should use blogging as an Internet marketing tool.1.Blogging is simple. The simplest way to get your piece on the net is through blogging. No skills are necessary… an average adult can read and type, or at least click a mouse. It’s like having a virtual piece of paper and you just write your ideas, experiences, new products, and hope that the truth behind your articles comes out and thus entices your reader to try your product. If you have a PC and an Internet connection (who doesn’t?) then you can blog and advertise.
2. Blogging is authentic. In this day and age where advertising saturates our lives, we question the credibility of promoters’ claims. However, in blogs, real people share their real-life experiences, unscathed by paid advertising. Reading blogs about first-hand product use is like talking to people about their first-hand experience. You definitely want to buy a tried and tested product.
3. Blogging is free. Because blogging is yet to be proven as a mainstream online advertising media, most sites see it as something to augment current marketing tools and thus offer it for free. Any opportunity for free webtime is definitely a bonus especially to businesses that are starting up. Needless to say, paid blog pages can generate more income for your seriously growing business.
4. Blogging builds credibility. As you get more and more into writing your experiences on a particular product or industry, your readers come to realize that they can depend on your posts for their own information needs. As such, you become an expert on it; as a consequence, more readers visit your site and more bloggers link to your blogs. As companies and professional organizations notice the growth of your readership base, they may soon get in touch with you for advertising on your blog page, or make you an affiliate, which pays for every referral generated from your blog site.
5. Blogging builds your market. Unless you are a Hollywood star, chances are, only your Mom reads your posts. Mom has a lot of friends, so she lets her friends know how interesting your blog site is. But you need not depend on Mom to increase your readership base. Look into the following ways to build your market through blogging:
-By using your e-mail. Today, blogging is overcoming e-mail popularity in quickly and effectively reaching and expanding a market. In this age of speed and quick access, logging in and downloading e-mail is simply taking longer than clicking into a blog site. Let them explore your site by using a short e-mail message as a teaser to your blog site. If your e-mail is on an entirely different subject, use your e-mail signature to give a link to the site.
-By using subscription. An easy way to get your readers e-mail is to give them an opportunity to subscribe to your blogsite. Keep some exclusive information for your subscribers to entice readers to subscribe and give their e-mail address. Just be responsible in using their e-mail address, as the last thing you want is a comment on your blog that you are a spammer.
-By understanding your readers. Conduct a simple survey for your readers to understand their profile and advertising preferences. Ask consumers to give you feedback on a post, an ad link, or a trial that you shared. In this way, it is like interviewing your readers without the commitment and intrusion of a face-to-face interview.
-By joining a blog network –A network of blogs maybe a collection of blog sites that share the same industry, interest, readership base, payment mode, etc. Consumers find credibility and convenience in clicking one link to several real bloggers about a single subject. Clearly, more bloggers are better than one.
-By using RSS. RSS is the fastest growing technology on the Internet today. As such, having RSS feeds to your blog is definitely another means of generating awareness for your readership base. Having a variety of feeds can add interest to your blog site.
Give your business a boost by effectively using blogging as an Internet marketing tool.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Squidoo And The Sucessful Internet Business
Using Squidoo effectively can be a great way to grow a successful internet business. Web 2.0- properties like Squidoo allow people to turn their passions into profits.
What is Squidoo?
It is a website through which you can build a page on a topic of your choice.
On it you can present your own ideas, suggestions and expertise.
It covers multiple topics like travel, games, entertainment, as well as serious topics. It can also provide references, inputs, summaries, etc. that can be of help in the topic.
These topics are covered by pages made by users. These pages are referred to as lenses. Which is an unusual way to refer to a page. The use of the word lens probably refers to the page containing information on a “focused” subject.
Parts of advertising revenue are given to the content creators, and some of it may also be given to charity.
Making money on Squidoo
The lenses are generate about $30 a month for lensmaster.
A real expert can generate many times that number by creating a blog, putting up simple Google adsense ads and some static content.
Google Slap!!!
Recently a drop has been noticed in the ranking for the lenses in Google’s search engine. The lab is trying to find its cause.
At this stage, the lab feels there are 3 potential causes :
1. Drop in lenses ranking is a result of a change in the method of indexing made by Google.
2. Google “slapped” a virtual penalty on the domain for reasons known only to Google.
3. Google is undergoing a re-indexing process that has resulted in unusual SERP rankings which
will re-assert themselves after the re-indexing has been completed.
Traffic Generation Strategy: Making Use of Squidoo
Squidoo resembles the site Myspace. It creates a lens that can be used for personal or business purposes.
It is easy and user-friendly so you do not have to be IT savvy. The lens you build can generate traffic.
A lens works in the same way as a blog. The main thing about a lens is that it is already integrated with web 2.0 features such as RSS, Tag and Ping and social bookmarking features such as faves and spurl.
Lens readers are alerted by RSS that you have updated your lens. Tag and Ping enable you to tag keywords that people use to come to your lens. Social bookmarking enables people to share sites with one another through networking.
It gives a lot of exposure to your lens which redirects to your website or blog the traffic received on your lens.
So you have to add modules first when you want to post something on your lens.
Every lens has its own rank.
To work your way up in Squidoo, you want to generate ‘stars ratings’ by other members, click through rates, lens updates and the people to go to your lens.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
The Future Of Internet Marketing: Market Presence Building
In today's competitive business world, small companies often get swallowed up. Making your presence known can be tough, but the Internet has changed all that. With the web, small business can now get their services out there and build a strong online reputation. It's call market presence building and more companies need to be doing it!
In today’s competitive business world, small companies often get swallowed up. Making your presence known can be tough, but the Internet has changed all that. With the web, small business can now get their services out there and build a strong online reputation. It’s call market presence building and more companies need to be doing it!Online market presence building is basically like doing web PR - getting your name out there in different ways. The Internet makes many things possible and your first step to having a strong market presence online is an awesome website. After all, this is the new millennium and having an interactive, fully-loaded website is a necessity.
A fully-loaded website shouldn’t just list your products and services. It needs good, strong content; interesting, compelling design; lead generation forms and of course an industry-related blog and forum. Both a blog and forum are key to market presence building, as blog posts and forum threads often get heavy circulation across the web.
In a way, market presence building is all about marketing your company and your website. Do you ever wonder what people find when they search you company online? Is it your website popping up, as well as favorable reviews, blog posts and articles by employees? Or does a search on your company yield Rip-Off Reports and Better Business Bureau complaints galore?
By constantly releasing new content, you can better control your company’s reputation online, and that’s really the meat and potatoes of market presence building. By releasing one or two industry-related articles a week to several hundred of the thousands of article directories out there, you can easily change the search results for your company’s name.
It’s also important to distribute press releases and blog regularly. They are an important addition to any market presence building plan. This leads to better brand recognition and therefore higher levels of lead generation.
Search marketing through Google, Yahoo and other pay per click programs is a good way to supplement your market presence building. Basically, you build a campaign of keywords and ad text so when a user types in your keywords, your ad and website pop up. You only pay when the user actually clicks on your ad, which can better target your market and save you money on marketing.
SEO (search engine optimization) is another way to bolster your market presence building. It involves techniques (a lot of site optimization and link building) that will lead to your site popping up in organic search results. This all depends on your keywords and what words people use to link to you. SEO tends to be a longer process but in the end can be cheap and send a ton of traffic to your site.
Market presence building is key to having a good reputation online and generating your company more leads. Whatever plan you develop, be sure to involve several aspects, whether SEO, article writing, pay per click or press release distribution. It isn’t a process that will happen overnight, but once you get it going, it is definitely a snowball affect!
Friday, March 7, 2008
How To Promote Your Online Presence
Most of us are aware of the many benefits to having an internet presence. These days a website is an essential element of your public relations and marketing mix. Particularly for small businesses, it establishes you as a leader in your area of expertise and provides you with a competitive advantage. But you need to promote it.
By Sue Currie
Some websites are designed as an on-line brochure for your business, yet others really drive the customer to make their buying decision. But what is the point of having a fancy brochure if no one is buying your product or service. A website can be a cost effective public relations tool for your business. It can help you attract prospective clients who may not hear about you otherwise and increase sales without adding overhead.
Don’t just launch your site and then wait for business to come knocking at the door – it may not turn up. If you’re looking at creating a website or wanting people to know more about your on-line presence, here’s a few public relations tips to promote your site on and off-line.
One of the first things you need to do is look at who your ideal customer or client is and who you want to attract to your site. It is important to know your audience so you can target your public relations campaign to them.
Send out a media release to attract interest to your site through the appropriate media. Is it a business magazine or a women’s weekly? Perhaps the ideal avenue for you is your local newspaper. Of course just issuing a media release doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get a run so let’s consider a few other points.
Spread the Word Off-line
* Put your web address on all your communication collateral such as brochures, newsletters and on business cards, postcards, flyers about your products, catalogues and posters
* Don’t forget to include it on letterhead, fax cover sheets and invoices
* On stickers used for mail outs, packaging and products
* Include it on promotional products such as pens, caps, coffee mugs, fridge magnets, t-shirts or uniforms and key rings
* In your voicemail messages or your on hold message service
* Mention your website address during radio or TV interviews and speaking engagements
* At meetings suggest to clients they can find out more information about your company by visiting the site
* Put it on all media releases
* Include it in all your advertising – print, TV and radio
* On the company car or van
* Yellow pages, white pages and other business directories
* All your email signatures
Think back to your target audience and include your website address anywhere a potential customer is likely to see it.
You’ve sent out your media release but don’t forget to let existing clients know your site is now up and running. Use direct mail, send them a note – a good reason to communicate with them – or send them an e-newsletter with the latest news. Or perhaps use in-store posters to announce the site launch to your existing customer base.
Consider running ads in the local paper or business magazines if that is where you attract your customers. In short, keep doing what you’re doing to attract clients or customers to your business but add your website address to the mix.
How to Find You On-line
The way most companies promote their websites is by search engine submissions, but search engines and their effectiveness can be a bit of a maze. It does pay to talk to the experts on this one, try your web designer or web host first, as just registering with search engines does not guarantee you traffic. Also just because you have a lot of “hits” on your site doesn’t necessarily mean they are your ideal target market.
Most search engine traffic comes from Google and Yahoo! By using a combination of these search engines and using the right words and phrases on your site you would optimise your chances of being found. You don’t need to spend a great deal of money as some sites don’t charge at all and others charge a nominal fee. Perhaps you could explore Google Adwords. Again it pays to seek advice from your web expert.
Once you do get that traffic to your site, here are a few ideas to keep them there and to encourage them to visit again and again.
* Keep your site interesting. Commit to updating on a regular basis
* Optimise. Again talk to your web expert on this one but make sure your site is user friendly so visitors don’t log out because it’s too hard to find the information they want or it takes too long
* Portray a professional image. Ensure consistency of your web design with your other marketing materials and don’t forget to include your logo
* Present interactive features that keep visitors returning, perhaps a competition or an on-line survey. And don’t forget freebies. You must give your visitors something of value such as articles or e-books
* Send out a regular e-newsletter to your data base that offers tips and information and a link back to the site
* Post articles on other websites with links back to your site
* Explore online advertising or sponsorship on another busy website
* One of the most effective PR tools to drive customers to your website is through link exchanges with sites of similar interest. Locate sites that make a good match to your own and contact the owner to ask if they’ll link to your site in exchange for you linking to theirs
Like any public relations campaign, attracting visitors and potential clients to your website will take hard work, creativity, perseverance and commitment over an extended period of time. But don’t let your website just sit there – make it work for you so you can allow your expertise to shine.
Sue Currie, the director of Shine Communications Consultancy and author of Apprentice to Business Ace – your inside-out guide to personal branding, is a business educator and speaker on personal branding through image and media. Sign up for free monthly tips on personal and professional PR at http://www.shinecomms.com.au/contactmanager/default.cfm and learn more about how you can achieve recognition, enhance your image and shine.
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