You finally realize that you need a good opt-in list. After reading countless articles and seeking expert advice and having read many success stories of people creating a small fortune with opt-in lists you finally decide to have one of your own. Then it happens, you thought you knew everything there is to know about opt-in lists and have followed all the advice to the T and you still aren’t able to make a profit.
In fact, you may be losing money. You maybe hiring writers to help you out, or there are some expenses incurred, even if you have a big list, but only a very small percentage actually buys from you, you’re still losing profit. So what could have gone wrong? Why have others succeeded where you have failed? You chose a niche that you thought could be quite popular and would earn you money. The thing is just because you wrote people from the list, doesn’t mean they are going to buy instantly.
Here is some advice, for those who have started an opt-in list and have not made money, and for those who are starting.
Three quick and easy ways to build a profitable opt-in list:
1) Get your customers to trust you and your products first. Just launching your opt-in list would not make you an expert and a believable seller. Write several articles first before you start an opt-in list. Write to people who have used your site and about topics you know. Try to gain knowledge about your customers about their wants and needs and target those wants and needs.
Join forums from other sites as well. Provide expert advice and recommendations. When you feel that people trust you already, you will be able to start your own opt-in list. You can build a base as well with other forum users. You can ask them to join your list. Friends are always good customers. Put up a link to your site so that they may be able to see what your business is all about.
The truth is, the money will only come in when the consumers and subscribers believe and trust in you. People are not going to buy something out of your recommendation if they don’t know you.
2) Find a product or service that people want and need. Although it may not be your forte, if you provide a service or product that you have researched and learned about well, you can carry it forward. But only invest your time, effort and money on a service or product that your opt-in subscriber list can and want to use and that you can sell as well.
While it is true that it is best to sell something that you have interest in, there are not many people who have the same interest as you if you decide to sell something that is not entirely popular or profitable. Do your research well and you would see the profits come in. Also provide your subscribers with promotional material that they could actually use and spread around.
3) Make friends with other opt-in list users. This is only beneficial if it is someone who has already launched their own successful opt-in list. These are people who have experience in this venture and experience is still the best teacher. While there are many articles available for you on the internet to use, there is nothing like getting a first hand account from someone you trust.
Experienced opt-in list users will be able to tell you what to do and what not to do because they have gone through it. While different situations occur for different people, the general concepts are still very helpful. There are many things to avoid and these people will be able to tell you which ones.
Building a profitable opt-in list doesn’t just happen overnight. There are many things to do to be truly successful and as your list grows, you should also maintain the quality of your list. Keep it organized and manageable. Get or hire help if need be, just make sure that your subscribers are happy and satisfied and they will be willing to buy from you.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Website Traffic is Essential
Here are Five Ways to get Traffic at Low Cost
When it comes to making money from your Website there is one rule that must be obeyed. That rule is that you must be able to generate a steady stream of Visitors. It stands to reason that you will not be able to make any money if no-one arrives at your site to see what you have to offer.
This has been the demise of many a fledgling online business. They have tried but without success. It is a fact that you require money to advance an income generating Website. It is also the fact that it takes capital to make money. And this is where many have failed. They have not had the cash to invest in getting traffic to their site.
HOWEVER
Generating traffic to your website does not take a huge bundle of cash if you know how to go about it.
It is true that the "Big Guns" can drive huge amounts of traffic to their online businesses by investing very large amounts of money on sophisticated advertising campaigns and the many different marketing schemes available and even by using gimmicks. For them this is definitely worth the money they spend after all this is what has got them to the point they are today - with high volumes of traffic and huge profits they have become online Mega sites.
But don't be discouraged. You don't have to spend mega bucks to succeed if you don't have the necessary resources. Sadly there have been many people who have 'lost the very shirt off their backs' because they have depended on using high cost ways of promoting their website when they really could not afford it.
This does not need to be the case as there are several ways to generate traffic to your website without spending the fortune that you can't afford or do not have. Here are 5 Ways to Generate Traffic at Low Cost.
These methods could vastly improve your website traffic statistics. If only a small percentage of visitors convert to becoming clients it works well especially if your traffic is way beyond your present levels.
1. Get Good Quality Links pointing to your site: Well how do you do this? - Exchanging links is still a useful method. It is very rare that you come across a site that has no link to another site. Exchanging Links enables web-masters to expose their site to the net more readily and thus ensuring that their site comes to the fore in the public eye. Perhaps a more desired linking method these days is One way Linking. This is where you encourage other good quality, high ranking websites to link to your site. One excellent way of doing this is submitting your site to as many Directory sites as you can. There are usually several Directories in most niche subjects.
Most online marketers are willing to exchange links and Directories will usually accept your submission but a VERY IMPORTANT factor is that you link to "relevant" sites i.e. ones that fit with what you are promoting. It will be detrimental if you link with a company promoting "pig food" if you are trying to sell high quality jewelry or if you submit your site to a Directory promoting "belly dance costumes" if your niche is gardening. Your traffic will not appreciate that.
It is important that linking sites have a common purpose, a continuity in the provision of information or a service that interests their target traffic. If you ignore this factor the Search engines won't like it either and you will fail to make any headway.
One of the key benefits of linking strategies is that the Search engines put a high significance on your linking popularity. They see all the "back links" and consider you to be an important site to be reckoned with. As a result they increase your ranking and you move up their listings. As you move higher in the rankings your site will be seen by more surfers and you will get more "organic" traffic that doesn't cost you anything.
2. Write Your own Articles and Submit them to E-zines - If you search the internet you will find many online encyclopedias and e-zines which allow you to submit articles for free. If you cannot write yourself there are my freelance writers who, for a small fee, are willing to write articles for you. However if you want to save money you can write them yourself.
Once again it is important to stress that any article you write should coincide with the theme of your site. Everyone has expertise on something - write about what you know. If you do this those that read your articles will "feel" your knowledge and will eagerly visit your site. It is a good idea to write articles that contain guidelines or tips on the subject matter of your website. Write an interesting, information packed, article and they will be hurrying to your site for more.
All that you need to do then, and this is very important, is to provide a resource box at the end of your article that links them back to your website. You could write a little about your site or you could simply place a link.
3. Traffic Exchange - What is "Traffic Exchange"? The principle of traffic exchange services is that a website set up for the purpose receives submissions from web-masters that join the network. The person who submitted the website then earns credits by browsing other member sites on the exchange program. These credits then allow the web-master to have his site viewed by other members in the system. This means that all of the sites involved have an increases in the number of visitors to their sites.
There may be a cost involved but very often these web exchange sites are free. Generally traffic exchange programs are used by small business owners who are working on a low budget and need free or low cost advertising. And they can be a good source of traffic if used correctly.
There is a note of caution however. You should choose carefully which traffic exchange site you use. It has been said that the usefulness of some of these programs is doubtful as sites are forgotten by many people once the time limit is up. Also some say it is risky to use these as it can get you banned ~from some advertising packages and some traffic exchanges use forms of advertising that are banned. However if you choose carefully there shouldn't be any problem.
4. Create a Newsletter - Your first thought might be that this sounds like hard work. It is true that you do need to use a lot of articles to successfully build a Newsletter. But contrary to what you may think this is not difficult.
There are many websites and copywriters who are more than eager to provide you with free articles. Their only stipulation is that you place their name at the foot of their article. Your Newsletter brings you more traffic and gives the copywriter more advertising.
Your letter gets passed around and as it does more and more people become aware of your internet presence. Producing a Newsletter is great as, when folk sign up, it builds an "opt-in" emailing list of interested parties who can revisit your site time and time again.
5. Online Communities and Forum Memberships - Joining these sites does not cost you anything but your time. You share your expertise and knowledge on your website - why not with online communities and Forums. As before, choose Forums that deal with the same niche or subject as your own website.
Publish your two cents worth and amaze other members with your knowledge about your particular subject. This has the effect of building your reputation. Then as your reputation grows so does the reputation of your website. Your Website eventually becomes known for the honest and reputable business that you have known it is all along. It will then begin to be trusted and visited by many relevant visitors who, because they have come to trust you will take advantage of what you offer.
So there you have it. Five very useful ways to increase traffic to your site. On Ebooks in Abundance I am using all five strategies to great effect. Why don't YOU Start today, don2019t delay and you will definitely see your business grow.
"No sales without traffic"
When it comes to making money from your Website there is one rule that must be obeyed. That rule is that you must be able to generate a steady stream of Visitors. It stands to reason that you will not be able to make any money if no-one arrives at your site to see what you have to offer.
This has been the demise of many a fledgling online business. They have tried but without success. It is a fact that you require money to advance an income generating Website. It is also the fact that it takes capital to make money. And this is where many have failed. They have not had the cash to invest in getting traffic to their site.
HOWEVER
Generating traffic to your website does not take a huge bundle of cash if you know how to go about it.
It is true that the "Big Guns" can drive huge amounts of traffic to their online businesses by investing very large amounts of money on sophisticated advertising campaigns and the many different marketing schemes available and even by using gimmicks. For them this is definitely worth the money they spend after all this is what has got them to the point they are today - with high volumes of traffic and huge profits they have become online Mega sites.
But don't be discouraged. You don't have to spend mega bucks to succeed if you don't have the necessary resources. Sadly there have been many people who have 'lost the very shirt off their backs' because they have depended on using high cost ways of promoting their website when they really could not afford it.
This does not need to be the case as there are several ways to generate traffic to your website without spending the fortune that you can't afford or do not have. Here are 5 Ways to Generate Traffic at Low Cost.
These methods could vastly improve your website traffic statistics. If only a small percentage of visitors convert to becoming clients it works well especially if your traffic is way beyond your present levels.
1. Get Good Quality Links pointing to your site: Well how do you do this? - Exchanging links is still a useful method. It is very rare that you come across a site that has no link to another site. Exchanging Links enables web-masters to expose their site to the net more readily and thus ensuring that their site comes to the fore in the public eye. Perhaps a more desired linking method these days is One way Linking. This is where you encourage other good quality, high ranking websites to link to your site. One excellent way of doing this is submitting your site to as many Directory sites as you can. There are usually several Directories in most niche subjects.
Most online marketers are willing to exchange links and Directories will usually accept your submission but a VERY IMPORTANT factor is that you link to "relevant" sites i.e. ones that fit with what you are promoting. It will be detrimental if you link with a company promoting "pig food" if you are trying to sell high quality jewelry or if you submit your site to a Directory promoting "belly dance costumes" if your niche is gardening. Your traffic will not appreciate that.
It is important that linking sites have a common purpose, a continuity in the provision of information or a service that interests their target traffic. If you ignore this factor the Search engines won't like it either and you will fail to make any headway.
One of the key benefits of linking strategies is that the Search engines put a high significance on your linking popularity. They see all the "back links" and consider you to be an important site to be reckoned with. As a result they increase your ranking and you move up their listings. As you move higher in the rankings your site will be seen by more surfers and you will get more "organic" traffic that doesn't cost you anything.
2. Write Your own Articles and Submit them to E-zines - If you search the internet you will find many online encyclopedias and e-zines which allow you to submit articles for free. If you cannot write yourself there are my freelance writers who, for a small fee, are willing to write articles for you. However if you want to save money you can write them yourself.
Once again it is important to stress that any article you write should coincide with the theme of your site. Everyone has expertise on something - write about what you know. If you do this those that read your articles will "feel" your knowledge and will eagerly visit your site. It is a good idea to write articles that contain guidelines or tips on the subject matter of your website. Write an interesting, information packed, article and they will be hurrying to your site for more.
All that you need to do then, and this is very important, is to provide a resource box at the end of your article that links them back to your website. You could write a little about your site or you could simply place a link.
3. Traffic Exchange - What is "Traffic Exchange"? The principle of traffic exchange services is that a website set up for the purpose receives submissions from web-masters that join the network. The person who submitted the website then earns credits by browsing other member sites on the exchange program. These credits then allow the web-master to have his site viewed by other members in the system. This means that all of the sites involved have an increases in the number of visitors to their sites.
There may be a cost involved but very often these web exchange sites are free. Generally traffic exchange programs are used by small business owners who are working on a low budget and need free or low cost advertising. And they can be a good source of traffic if used correctly.
There is a note of caution however. You should choose carefully which traffic exchange site you use. It has been said that the usefulness of some of these programs is doubtful as sites are forgotten by many people once the time limit is up. Also some say it is risky to use these as it can get you banned ~from some advertising packages and some traffic exchanges use forms of advertising that are banned. However if you choose carefully there shouldn't be any problem.
4. Create a Newsletter - Your first thought might be that this sounds like hard work. It is true that you do need to use a lot of articles to successfully build a Newsletter. But contrary to what you may think this is not difficult.
There are many websites and copywriters who are more than eager to provide you with free articles. Their only stipulation is that you place their name at the foot of their article. Your Newsletter brings you more traffic and gives the copywriter more advertising.
Your letter gets passed around and as it does more and more people become aware of your internet presence. Producing a Newsletter is great as, when folk sign up, it builds an "opt-in" emailing list of interested parties who can revisit your site time and time again.
5. Online Communities and Forum Memberships - Joining these sites does not cost you anything but your time. You share your expertise and knowledge on your website - why not with online communities and Forums. As before, choose Forums that deal with the same niche or subject as your own website.
Publish your two cents worth and amaze other members with your knowledge about your particular subject. This has the effect of building your reputation. Then as your reputation grows so does the reputation of your website. Your Website eventually becomes known for the honest and reputable business that you have known it is all along. It will then begin to be trusted and visited by many relevant visitors who, because they have come to trust you will take advantage of what you offer.
So there you have it. Five very useful ways to increase traffic to your site. On Ebooks in Abundance I am using all five strategies to great effect. Why don't YOU Start today, don2019t delay and you will definitely see your business grow.
"No sales without traffic"
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Top 20 Contributing Factors For Google SEO
I read this article in Site Pro News By Jon Bergan (c) 2008 dated JULY 7, ISSUE #1112 and I thought it was really good.
Understanding Google is something that we all struggle to try and do. It is not easy as the ground is always shifting under us as they continually are shifting and changing the way they do things. So I thought that you all might like to read it.
Here is an excerpt from it that gives you the main points.
“Our journey begins by defining some of the key contributing factors that Google uses to determine a website's and webpage's ranking within its results. These factors range from keyword use to manipulating internal and external links and the líst goes on. To get you started, we have listed the top twenty factors that you should focus on in order to help get your website that little bit closer to the top of the search engine results listings.
Keyword Use Factors
The following components relate to the use of search query terms in determining the rank of a particular page.
1. Keyword Use in Title Tag - Placing the targeted search term or phrase in the title tag of the web page's HTML header.
2. Keyword Use in Body Text - Using the targeted search term in the visible, HTML text of the page.
3. Relationship of Body Text Content to Keywords - Topical relevance of text on the page compared to targeted keywords.
4. Keyword Use in H1 Tag - Creating an H1 tag with the targeted search term/phrase.
5. Keyword Use in Domain Name & Page URL - Including the targeted term/phrase in the registered domain name, i.e. keyword.com plus target terms in the webpage URL, i.e. seomoz.org/keyword-phrase.
Page Attributes
The following elements comprise how Google interprets specific data about a webpage independent of keywords.
6. Link Popularity within the Site's Internal Link Structure - Refers to the number and importance of internal links pointing to the target page.
7. Quality/Relevance of Links to External Sites/Pages - Do links on the page point to high quality, topically-related pages?
8. Age of Document - Older pages may be perceived as more authoritative while newer pages may be more temporarily relevant.
9. Amount of Indexable Text Content - Refers to the literal quantity of visible HTML text on a page.
10. Quality of the Document Content (as measured algorithmically) - Assuming search engines can use text, visual or other analysis methods to determine the validity and value of content, this metric would provide some level of rating.
Site/Domain Attributes
The factors below contribute to Google's rankings based on the site/domain on which a page resides.
11. Global Link Popularity of Site - The overall link weight/authority as measured by links from any and all sites across the web (both link quality and quantity).
12. Age of Site - Not the date of original registration of the domain, but rather the launch of indexable content seen by the search engines (note that this can change if a domain switches ownership).
13. Topical Relevance of Inbound Links to Site - The subject-specific relationship between the sites/pages linking to the target page and the target keyword.
14. Link Popularity of Site in Topical Community - The link weight/authority of the target website amongst its topical peers in the online world.
15. Rate of New Inbound Links to Site - The frequency and timing of external sites linking in to the given domain.
Inbound Link Attribute
These pieces affect Google's weighting of links from external websites pointing to a page and ultimately will assist in the ranking of that page.
16. Anchor Text of Inbound Link.
17. Global Link Popularity of Linking Site.
18. Topical Relationship of Linking Page.
19. Link Popularity of Site in Topical Community - The link weight/authority of the target website amongst its topical peers in the online world.
20. Age of Link.”
Well it was worth the read wasn’t it? If you want to read the whole article you could go to Web Pro News and check it out.
“SEO done right makes a difference”
Understanding Google is something that we all struggle to try and do. It is not easy as the ground is always shifting under us as they continually are shifting and changing the way they do things. So I thought that you all might like to read it.
Here is an excerpt from it that gives you the main points.
“Our journey begins by defining some of the key contributing factors that Google uses to determine a website's and webpage's ranking within its results. These factors range from keyword use to manipulating internal and external links and the líst goes on. To get you started, we have listed the top twenty factors that you should focus on in order to help get your website that little bit closer to the top of the search engine results listings.
Keyword Use Factors
The following components relate to the use of search query terms in determining the rank of a particular page.
1. Keyword Use in Title Tag - Placing the targeted search term or phrase in the title tag of the web page's HTML header.
2. Keyword Use in Body Text - Using the targeted search term in the visible, HTML text of the page.
3. Relationship of Body Text Content to Keywords - Topical relevance of text on the page compared to targeted keywords.
4. Keyword Use in H1 Tag - Creating an H1 tag with the targeted search term/phrase.
5. Keyword Use in Domain Name & Page URL - Including the targeted term/phrase in the registered domain name, i.e. keyword.com plus target terms in the webpage URL, i.e. seomoz.org/keyword-phrase.
Page Attributes
The following elements comprise how Google interprets specific data about a webpage independent of keywords.
6. Link Popularity within the Site's Internal Link Structure - Refers to the number and importance of internal links pointing to the target page.
7. Quality/Relevance of Links to External Sites/Pages - Do links on the page point to high quality, topically-related pages?
8. Age of Document - Older pages may be perceived as more authoritative while newer pages may be more temporarily relevant.
9. Amount of Indexable Text Content - Refers to the literal quantity of visible HTML text on a page.
10. Quality of the Document Content (as measured algorithmically) - Assuming search engines can use text, visual or other analysis methods to determine the validity and value of content, this metric would provide some level of rating.
Site/Domain Attributes
The factors below contribute to Google's rankings based on the site/domain on which a page resides.
11. Global Link Popularity of Site - The overall link weight/authority as measured by links from any and all sites across the web (both link quality and quantity).
12. Age of Site - Not the date of original registration of the domain, but rather the launch of indexable content seen by the search engines (note that this can change if a domain switches ownership).
13. Topical Relevance of Inbound Links to Site - The subject-specific relationship between the sites/pages linking to the target page and the target keyword.
14. Link Popularity of Site in Topical Community - The link weight/authority of the target website amongst its topical peers in the online world.
15. Rate of New Inbound Links to Site - The frequency and timing of external sites linking in to the given domain.
Inbound Link Attribute
These pieces affect Google's weighting of links from external websites pointing to a page and ultimately will assist in the ranking of that page.
16. Anchor Text of Inbound Link.
17. Global Link Popularity of Linking Site.
18. Topical Relationship of Linking Page.
19. Link Popularity of Site in Topical Community - The link weight/authority of the target website amongst its topical peers in the online world.
20. Age of Link.”
Well it was worth the read wasn’t it? If you want to read the whole article you could go to Web Pro News and check it out.
“SEO done right makes a difference”
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