Web Site Optimization

All optimization is not equal. There is such a rush to optimize a website for search engines that people don't realize that some SEO techniques can be self-defeating. Either a lot of work will go into a particular type of optimization that is fruitless or it can be downright harmful for search engine ranking. A high search-engine ranking is the holy grail of search engine optimization, but make sure you put your energy in the right place.

The first two issues involve web design: don't use flash or frames when designing a website. These won't get you banned by search engines; but the site might be ignored entirely. While you can use some flash animation within a site, overuse of flash should be avoided. Search engines like text, not fancy graphics. A flash-heavy site could be passed over. The same goes for a site written with frames;frame-heavy sites confuse search engines so the sites are not properly indexed. The text on a framed site is hidden within the frame, so even if there is ample content within the frame, it will not be read correctly. Verdict: avoid it.

When writing content, make sure the content makes sense. In the early days of the web, people went keyword crazy. They would cram a huge paragraph of keywords throughout a page. This worked for a little while. Now search engines are wise to it and this technique can lead to a site being banned. Website owners try to trick search engines by including the keywords within actual content, but if the keywords are too close together, this could also lead to problems.

Another issue is spamdexing. Never use keywords that don't apply specifically to a site. This can most often be seen with site owners using adult-themed keywords to bring in unrelated searches. This will cause a site to be quickly red-flagged. Using invisible text is a bad idea as well. Invisible text is the same color as the background. It can be read by spiders, but can't be read by human eyes. The problem here is that spiders now recognize this technique and it will be red-flagged.

Generally, content should be useful and informative. You can include specific keywords within content, but if you provide enough content, these keywords will be covered automatically without jeopardizing the site with picky search engine spiders. The use of quality content is two-fold: it's a better way to optimize with search engines and web surfers will spend a longer time on the site reading articles or other content. The trick is to create trust; both with spiders and real people

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What Custom Content Can Do For You

In an increasingly crowded web marketplace, it can be difficult to separate from the pack. Sometimes even having a good page rank is not enough. You could have a number one ranking, but if your site is uninformative or poorly designed, web surfers are going to click and run. With the number of affiliate sites now entering the field, there is even more competition for web surfers' time. To succeed on the web, your site needs to be an absolute authority in a particular field.

A website is the best promotional tool an e-business can have. The business can advertise all over the web and set up pay-per-click campaigns, but if the site itself is weak, you cannot expect web surfers to stick around or come back a second time. Custom content is all about keeping surfers on site and coming back for more.

The more content you have, the more chance there will be that a surfer will type in that keyphrase that matches content found in content. However, keep in mind that web surfers can smell fake content— content that is purely used to generate traffic, with awkwardly phrased keyphrases and grammatical oddities. Your better bet is to write content that is factually relevant: informative content, rather than just keyword-driven content. In relevant content, a large number of keyphrases will be covered, in addition to being a trusted source on the topic.

A hundred pages of informative content can be far superior to a hundred pages of keyword-driven content. If a spider detects that too many keyphrases are mashed together on a page, the site could be red-flagged, or even banished to a permanent low ranking in a search engine. In the past, a website owner could write the same keyword over and over again at the bottom of the page. Spiders got wise to this and now this tactic can be more of a detriment than a benefit. Relevant, custom content will never be red-flagged by search engine spiders.

Custom content can lead to sales or new clientele. Think of two sites: one site offers little to no information on a topic. Another site addresses any and all topics affecting an industry. Which site do you think a potential customer is going to trust? Content is not just about ranking high in search engines via page ranking, but about providing a quality website. Custom content should be a mixture of both naturally keyword-rich content as well as highly useful information.

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Why Custom Content Is So Critical

Think of the alternatives to custom content: no content at all or content that has been taken from another site. If those two options seem unusable, you're getting a good idea of why custom content is so important. Looking at it another way: not having content is like designing a web site with the exact same layout as Amazon. This just isn't done— your site needs to be unique to be effective.

The two keys to custom content are uniqueness and authority. An informed buyer is an active buyer. Don't make a web surfer go elsewhere to find information on products and services. Everything a customer needs to know should be found on your site: informative articles, glossary definitions, reviews of products, answers to Frequently Asked Questions, and more. When all of this content is in place, a site will rank more highly in search engines, so a potential customer will have a better chance to come to the site and start perusing the information.

The idea is not just to sell specific products, but to sell the website itself, as well as sell the entire company. All of these things work in conjunction with each other. If people trust the information on the site, they'll be more willing to make a purchase. In addition, there's an element of gratitude for having direct questions answered. A site should never cover the bare minimum, but the gamut—every possible piece of information surrounding an industry, no matter how small.

Along with custom content there should be content organization. Just plastering long paragraphs of text on the screen will exhaust a web surfer before he or she even starts reading. Content needs to be well organized with relevant links both within the article and on the sidebar leading to information that corresponds to the original article. Just as the content needs to be well informed and well written, it needs to be well presented, or a web surfer is going to click out and move on.

All of these issues can make a website stand out from the vast array of sites online. People are more and more looking to the web for both information and shopping. At a content-rich site, surfers can kill two birds with one stone. These days, web owners are hiring copywriters to handle the task of preparing custom content. Each site will have a different demographic and require a different type of writing—for instance, technical or conversational— so it is important to find a content writing firm that specializes in a wide variety of industries.

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Importance And Benefits Of Link Popularity

Everyone likes to be popular. In a way, the web is just like one big popularity contest. It wasn't fair in high school, and it might not seem so fair now. You can have the best-designed, most informative site online, but if no one links to you, you're going to have a harder time getting a high search engine ranking. Ranking high with search engines relies on two things: content and link popularity.

Of course, if you have the most informative site online, your job is half done. One of the keys to bringing in new links is having a well-designed site. If you go after link exchanges and your site looks like it belongs in the last decade, you're going to be hard-pressed to find any takers. People don't have all the room in the world to add links on their site. You need to provide a site that is worth linking to. On the flipside, you should find link partners with quality sites of their own.

Link popularity is not just about quantity, but quality. Certainly, it is a good idea to have a great number of links coming in, but search engine spiders also take into account the quality of those links: i.e. how many sites link to the site that links to you. Spiders hold a premium on sites that link to you without a corresponding reciprocal link. When search engine spiders surf your site, they're looking for the type of content that you have on your site and the number of links going both in and out.

An easy way to start building link popularity is to add your site to a number of directories. These directories may or may not require a reciprocal link. The higher the quality of the directory, the more the directory listing will be worth. Really, you should spend a good amount of time adding your site to as many directories as possible. Look for other immediate avenues for link building as well—post in forums, on blogs, or create a blog of your own. All of these will be indexed by search engines, which will help increase your ranking.

One of the major advantages of having a blog is you have one more place to add a link to your site. In addition, you have one more place where you can trade links— contact other bloggers in a similar field and trade links. You should not only be looking to increase link popularity for the host site, but for blogs and other sub-sites as well.

It is absolutely imperative that your site is useful. The more content you provide, the more you can get a foothold in your industry. When you write new content, promote it: Digg.com the article and add the article to directories and other sources. Websites can then potentially place the article on their sites, linking to the site where the article originated. A link doesn't necessarily have to be permanent—a temporary link to an article can help search engine ranking as well.

What this all means is that link popularity is an evolving process. You should always be corresponding with site owners looking for a link trade. And you should be frequently providing new content to ensure that your site is worth the link.

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Using Traffic Exchanges to Promote Affiliate Programs

If you're unfamiliar with exchanges, you will want to read this over carefully and consider printing it out. One of the best ways in which you can promote affiliate programs is through various traffic exchanges. Almost all well-defined, robust niches on the Internet have some form of traffic exchange. For instance, casinos, gaming sites, niche forums, and Internet marketing sites all have some form of traffic exchange system. IM, in particular, has dozens of exchanges.

A traffic exchange can serve multiple functions; however, in most cases, it does two important things:

1. It allows you to surf sites, gain credits, and then cash in those credits; and
2. It allows you to put banners or dynamically-generated link boxes on your site that will generate credits, which you can then cash in. Cashing in credits, with most exchanges, results in a certain amount of traffic being drive to your site via the exchange site or via banners on other sites that are members of the exchange.

A good place to start when working with traffic exchanges is to determine which ones are most reputable and which ones have reasonable point systems. For instance, some traffic exchanges allow users to cheat and some have bad systems of exchange, which heavily favor paying members over non-members. You will want to find the best possible exchange given the amount of money you are willing to spend and the product you are marketing.

I suggest using the following sites, which list top traffic exchanges. Additionally, you may want to talk to friends to see if any particular exchange has worked well for them:

• http://www.paramind.net/paramindtrafficexchanges.html
• http://www.trafficexchangelist.com/

Once you have selected an optimal exchange, you will want to determine the best way in which you can use it to maximize the amount of high-quality traffic you extract from it. You will want to answer the following questions to aid yourself in determining this: do I earn credits from impressions or clicks? And do I lose credits based on impressions or clicks?

This is important to ask, as different exchanges have different policies on this issue. If you lose credits based on impressions, you will want to make sure that you get the absolute largest amount of clicks per impressions. This will involve over-hyping your ads and creating flashy banners (if they allow them).

In contrast, if you are getting charged per click, you will want to make sure your ads ONLY appeal to the most interested buyers. Whichever route you take, make sure that it is matched up with a model for maximum revenue generation.

The last thing you will want to consider when using a traffic exchange is precisely what you should promote. You already have a product in mind – probably an affiliate product – but how will you promote it? Will you direct visitors to the affiliate page? Will you direct them to a page on your site, which features the product? Or will you direct them to an opt-in form, which will capture their information and then coax them into buying over a period of time?

I personally suggest doing the last or the second – and avoiding the first whenever possible.

Solo Ads – Outmoded or Back in Style?

For years, Internet marketers have asserted that solo ads are simply outmoded – they're a dinosaur that no longer has the potential to reap any profits; however, another group of Internet marketers knows that the exact opposite is the truth: solo ads can reap massive profits, but in order to do so, they must be engineered perfectly, as must the selection of the solo ad distributor.

A solo ad can be a number of things. Usually, it is a large ad between 200 and 300 words that is placed at the very center of a page. The rate on solo ads is higher than on all other potential options, but it also captures readers' attention the most by far. If you have the money to spend on a solo ad, it can be an excellent investment. However, as with all investments (and advertisements for that matter), you must conduct your due diligence. This involves a considerable amount of research.

Now, when conducting research for a solo ad, there are two things you will want to look at:

1. The first is a list of your potential advertising outlets (in this case, probably e-zines)
2. A list of potential approaches you can take on your solo ad.

Let's start with the first part – finding a list of e-zines in which you can put a solo ad. I personally suggest starting with Directory of E-zines, which you can find at the following URL: http://www.directoryofezines.com/

This is the ultimate resource for advertisers who want access to all e-zines and also want tips for advertising in them. If you don't have any money to spend, I would suggest starting here instead: http://www.ezine-dir.com/

Once you have selected reputable e-zines to advertise in, you will then want to begin creating your solo ad. There are a number of writing “formulas” you can use to do this; however, you will always want to keep in mind what it is that your potential customer wants most.

In advertising, it is often easy to project our own wants in a given product onto potential buyers; however, it is important – when communicating with them – that you talk about their wants, not yours.

Now, when it comes to creating solo ads, I personally suggest that you spend some time at the following URL, learning about what it takes to convert readers into buyers: http://www.copywritersboard.com/.

Furthermore, I suggest that you go beyond simply writing copy and write as you would in the specific medium. For instance, if your solo ad will be featured in an e-zine, then you will want to write as if you are contacting members of a mailing list about a special offer or something similar. You may even want to refer to the owner of the list by his/her first name if (s)he allows that.

Keep all of these skills in mind when conducting solo ad campaigns. All you have to do is select the right advertising mediums and create an excellent ad – and your effort will pay off three fold.

Using Classified Ads To Generate Sales

The process of using classified ads to generate sales for any product whether it be an original product or an affiliate product is often over-simplified and discouraged. This is, in part, because it actually is one of the harderst ways in which you can advertise. It requires you to use a small amount of words to communicate an important point, which will either make or break your ability to garner interest in the product in question. In most cases, supposed experts will discourage you from using classified ads because they themselves have never had much luck using them, NOT because classified ads aren't a viable method of advertising.

So how can you use classified ads correctly to generate a considerable amount of traffic to your affiliate product sales page?

The first step entails finding viable places to advertise. Again, many of the so-called experts will jump in and either tell you to use free sites or that free sites never work. The truth here, too, is somewhat in between: free sites can work, but you must use them carefully. For instance, if you want to generate traffic from sites that allow you to post free classifieds, you will have to find ones that actually receive traffic themselves.

One example of a site that receives a massive amount of traffic, but also allows you to post classified ads for free is craigslist, which you can find at the following URL:

http://www.craigslist.com

As long as you post classified ads in the proper section, you can do it completely free of charge. Additionally, you can do this on each of the craigslist sites for the metropolitan areas in the United States. Another place you can post free classified ads is Yahoo. You can find this feature at the following URL:

http://classifieds.yahoo.com/

Again, as long as its on topic, you can post a classified at for whatever you want. Now, with this in mind, you will want to consider the best way in which you can construct your classified ads. I personally suggest creating a headline or first line that uses psychological triggers.

Remember! With classifieds, you're not paying by the click. It's either free or you're paying for a certain period of time or impressions, so your goal should be to generate as many clicks as possible, so use words like “cheap,” “free,” “proven,” and “shocking” to draw attention to your ad.

Once you have successfully drawn attention to your ad through the headline, you will then want to seal the deal by providing viewers with a reason to click through, provided that your affiliate product is something they will want to buy. You can do this by explicitly stating a quantifiable benefit in the second line of the classified ad – and then stating a crucial feature in the third line. Once you have gained some experience posting ads on free classified ad mediums, you will want to move on to major electronic publications, including large e-zines and authority sites; however, before you do this, you could be confident in the classified ad and your conversion rate.

Build Your Own Mailing List… Even Though You’re an Affiliate!

Today, I want to share with you one of the biggest mistakes affiliates make. I want to share this with you so you wont make the same mistake: The one major mistake many affiliates make is NOT setting up a mailing list!

Affiliates will often send traffic that they generated to affiliate links, rather than a list. When they do this, they are unknowingly making a bet that visitor will buy on first contact. Unfortunately, this is generally not the case. Visitors often need to be warmed up to a product – through the course of multiple visits and additional information – before they are willing to purchase from a person or a business. This is where building a list comes into play.

By building a list, affiliates can fix this problem. Additionally, they can retain traffic, warm it up, and then direct it to different purchases in the future. This means that it isn't a one shot deal: instead, they can attempt to sell the same person multiple products over the course of time. Now, in order to do this successfully, the affiliate in question must purchase the necessary tools. I personally suggest using http://www.aweber.com for the actual auto responder service.

Aweber is relatively inexpensive ($20/mo.) and comes with a formidable range of services, including spam checkers and macros. Best of all, it is whitelisted by many email clients and boasts a delivery rate of 99%. This service will not only manage your list, but it will also help you build it. It includes free tools that allow you to create web forms, pop-ups, and hover-ins – all of which can be used to increase your opt-in rate.

Now, in addition to purchasing the auto responder service, you will need to setup your own site if you do not already own one. If you already own a related site, you can simply add your opt in form to a page on your existing site. If not, I suggest purchasing cheap domain and hosting and using this to host your list forms.

Http://www.27hosting.com currently offers some of the cheapest hosting available on the market. Once you have your site and your auto responder setup, there are only two steps left: the first is building a course of some sort that is related to the affiliate products you will sell; and the second is creating an opt-in form that converts.

The first part is relatively easy. Start by determining your topic and then outline it over the course of five to seven days. Remember that everything should be written as if you are talking to a person, rather than as if you were writing a formal article. If you don't feel comfortable writing these articles yourself, you can always hire a ghostwriter at http://www.elance.com for $5-15 per issue, depending on the size.

Once you have created your autoresponder series, you will want to feed it into your auto responder, setup advertisements in the text for the affiliate product you are planning to sell, and then create an opt-in form for your list.

Once you have setup your opt-in form, the only remaining step is to drive various traffic sources to your opt-in list, collect their email addresses – and then wait for the commissions to roll in!

Generate Traffic and Affiliate Sales with Free Viral Reports

Did you know that the free viral report is quite possibly the most deadly weapon in an affiliate marketer's arsenal?

It allows him o her to quickly multiply his or her efforts while slashing down on marketing costs. All the marketer has to do is develop a viral report for little or no cost, embed an affiliate link in said report, and then find various avenues of distribution that will ensure that the report is perpetuated as far as possible, from group to group to group.

Now, with this being said, when it comes to developing free viral reports, a considerable amount of precise calculation and back-end system setup is needed. Simply jotting down garbage, tossing in an affiliate link, and then attempting to send it to everyone you know in .txt format isn't likely to gain you anything; nor is it likely to multiply your efforts by inducing other marketers to redistribute the report for you.

Instead, you must start from a different point. You must determine what topic people are looking for related to your specific affiliate product.

For instance, do they need more information about the product itself? Do they need to know how to use that product effectively? Whatever your angle happens to be, make sure that it lines up with the wants of your customers and also ties in nicely with your affiliate product.

Next, create the actual viral report and embed your affiliate link in multiple places. If you have a site and a list, you may want to instead post a link to your list – and then use back-end mechanisms to make the sale.

Your last step is to actually ensure that this viral report:

1. Gets into as many people's hands as humanly possible; and
2. Gets into the hands of people who will definitely redistribute it to others without charging any fees. This is where the art of free viral report distribution comes into play.

A good way to distribute your viral report is to create a buzz on forums. You will want to discuss some specific experience you had related to the topic you will cover in the report – and you will want to do it well in advance of your release date.

You will then want to start talking up your release – and also explain that the report will be completely free. Furthermore, you may want to even start locking people in for immediate distribution via email by getting them to join a list. To learn more about viral marketing through this method, you may want to check out some of the case studies at the following URL: http://www.marketingsherpa.com/.

Additionally, you may want to check out http://www.viralPDF.com, which is an excellent tool you can use to create the actual viral reports.

Once you have begun building a forum buzz for the report, you will want to go to e-zine owners in your particular niche and ask them if they are interested in getting a free report on whichever subject you are marketing. The distribution effect will multiply, subsequently multiplying your sales.

Free virals reports is one of the must use strategy every affiliate marketing must use in order to achieve the super affiliate level. Don't miss the chance to learn about it further and also actually do it.

Affiliate Marketing:The Reward Of Direct Referals

Aside from the profit potential of affiliate marketing from your own efforts, you can also earn money from “direct referrals”. When you introduce a new affiliate to the program, they become your direct referral, or sub-affiliate. Affiliate programs will pay you a commission for every direct referral you make. This is sometimes called a “residual” to distinguish it from the commissions paid in relationship to product or service.

While direct referrals are the most common type of residuals you can earn, you can find some affiliate programs that will pay you a residual on different levels, also called “tiers”.There are affiliate programs that have an unlimited number of tiers. These are Multi-Level programs. Tiers are just like steps, in a 2 tier program; your referral link is tier one, the visitor who clicks the link they find on your website and becomes an affiliate of the company is your direct referral or sub-affiliate. When they place their referral link on their own website, their referral link becomes tier two. The commission for each sub-affiliate usually is not as generous as for your own direct sales.

In a 3 tier program, the same process is extended; you are paid a commission or residual when your direct referral’s link is clicked on their website and as a result another person becomes an affiliate of the company. You now in a position to earn commissions three different ways:

1. By referring visitors to the company website that results in a preferred action
2. Through a referred visitor who becomes an affiliate of the company
3. Through payment of a certain percentage from the first referral, a smaller percentage from the second referral and on through the number of tiers in the program for each sub-affiliate.

Depending on the number of tiers in an affiliate program, and the promotional efforts of your self and your sub-affiliates, residuals can add between 5-10% to your overall commissions.

You can create your own websites that can systematically generate income for you day or night, even while you sleep. You can link your web sites to the Online Merchants you represent, and earn commissions from the visitor traffic you “Drive” to them.