Use Keywords In Page Titles
July 20, 2009
It is recommended to use keywords in page titles itself. This title tag is different from a Meta tag, but it’s worth considering it in relation to them. Whatever text one places in the title tag (between the <title> and </title> portions) will appear in the title bar of browsers when they view the web page. Some browsers also append whatever you put in the title tag by adding their own name, as for example Microsoft’s Internet Explorer or OPERA.
The actual text you use in the title tag is one of the most important factors in how a search engine may decide to rank your web page. In addition, all major web crawlers will use the text of your title tag as the text they use for the title of your page in your listings.
If you have designed your website as a series of websites or linked pages and not just a single Home Page, you must bear in mind that each page of your website must be search engine optimized. The title of each page i.e. the keywords you use on that page and the phrases you use in the content will draw traffic to your site.
The unique combination of these words and phrases and content will draw customers using different search engine terms and techniques, so be sure you capture all the keywords and phrases you need for each product, service or information page.
Arguably this is more important than placing your business name or firm name in every title of every page because most of your prospective customers do not bother to know the name of your firm until after they have looked at your site and decided it is worth book marking. For branding reasons however, I think it’s best to use both.
So, while you want your business name in the title of the home page, it is probably a waste of valuable keywords and space to put it in the title line of every page on your site. Why not consider putting keywords in the title so that your page will display closer to the top of the search engine listing.
Dedicating first three positions for keywords in title avoiding the stop words like ‘and’, ‘at’ and the like is crucial in search engine optimization.
Features Your Website Must Have
July 18, 2009
Just don’t focus on the home page, keywords and titles.
The first step to sales when customers visit your site to see the products they were looking for. Of course, search engine optimization and better rankings can’t keep your customer on your site or make them buy. The customer having visited your site, now ensure that he gets interested in your products or services and stays around. Motivate him to buy the product by providing clear and unambiguous information. Thus if you happen to sell more than one product or service, provide all necessary information about this, may be by keeping the information at a different page. By providing suitable and easily visible links, the customer can navigate to these pages and get the details.
Understanding Your Target Customer
If you design a website you think will attract clients, but you don’t really know who your customers are and what they want to buy, it is unlikely you make much money. Website business is an extension or replacement for a standard storefront. You can send email to your existing clients and ask them to complete a survey or even while they are browsing on your website. Ask them about their choices. Why do they like your products? Do you discount prices or offer coupons? Are your prices consistently lower than others? Is your shipping price cheaper? Do you respond faster to client questions? Are your product descriptions better? Your return policies and guarantees better than your competitor’s? To know your customer you can check credit card records or ask your customer to complete a simple contact form with name, address, age, gender, etc. when they purchase a product.
Does your website give enough contact information?
When you sell from a website, your customer can buy your products 24 hrs a day and also your customers may be from other states that are thousands of miles away. Always provide contact information, preferably on every page of your website, complete with mailing address, telephone number and an email address that reaches you. People may need to contact you about sales, general information or technical problems on your site. Also have your email forwarded to another email address if you do not check your website mailbox often. When customer wants to buy online provide enough options like credit card, PayPal or other online payment service.
The Importance of Search Engines
July 18, 2009
It is the search engines that finally bring your website to the notice of the prospective customers. When a topic is typed for search, nearly instantly, the search engine will sift through the millions of pages it has indexed about and present you with ones that match your topic. The searched matches are also ranked, so that the most relevant ones come first.
Remember that a prospective customer will probably only look at the first 2-3 listings in the search results. So it does matter where your website appears in the search engine ranking.
Further, they all use one of the top 6-7 search engines and these search engines attract more visitors to websites than anything else. So finally it all depends on which search engines the customers use and how they rank your site.
It is the Keywords that play an important role than any expensive online or offline advertising of your website.
It is found by surveys that a when customers want to find a website for information or to buy a product or service, they find their site in one of the following ways:
- The first option is they find their site through a search engine.
- Secondly they find their site by clicking on a link from another website or page that relates to the topic in which they are interested.
- Occasionally, they find a site by hearing about it from a friend or reading in an article.
Thus it’s obvious the the most popular way to find a site, by search engine, represents more than 90% of online users. In other words, only 10% of the people looking for a website will use methods other than search engines.
All search engines employ a ranking algorithm and one of the main rules in a ranking algorithm is to check the location and frequency of keywords on a web page. Don’t forget that algorithms also give weightage to link population (number of web pages linking to your site). When performed by a qualified, experienced search engine optimization consultant, your site for high search engine rankings really does work, unless you have a lot of money and can afford to pay the expert. With better knowledge of search engines and how they work, you can also do it on your own.
Keyword Density 101
July 17, 2009
Keyword density is an indicator of the number of times the selected keyword appears in the web page. But mind you, keywords shouldn’t be over used, but should be just sufficient enough to appear at important places.
If you repeat your keywords with every other word on every line, then your site will probably be rejected as an artificial site or spam site.
Keyword density is always expressed as a percentage of the total word content on a given web page.
Suppose you have 100 words on your webpage (not including HMTL code used for writing the web page), and you use a certain keyword for five times in the content. The keyword density on that page is got by simply dividing the total number of keywords, by the total number of words that appear on your web page. So here it is 5 divided by 100 = .05. Because keyword density is a percentage of the total word count on the page, multiply the above by 100, that is 0.05 x 100 = 5%
The accepted standard for a keyword density is between 3% and 5%, to get recognized by the search engines and you should never exceed it.
Remember, that this rule applies to every page on your site. It also applies to not just to one keyword but also a set of keywords that relates to a different product or service. The keyword density should always be between 3% and 5%.
Simple steps to check the density:
- Copy and paste the content from an individual web page into a word-processing software program like Word or Word Perfect.
- Go to the ‘Edit’ menu and click ‘Select All’. Now go to the ‘Tools’ menu and select ‘Word Count’. Write down the total number of words in the page.
- Now select the ‘Find’ function on the ‘Edit’ menu. Go to the ‘Replace’ tab and type in the keyword you want to find. ‘Replace’ that word with the same word, so you don’t change the text.
- When you complete the replace function, the system will provide a count of the words you replaced. That gives the number of times you have used the keyword in that page.
Using the total word count for the page and the total number of keywords you can now calculate the keyword density.
How Do Search Engines Work – Web Crawlers
July 17, 2009
It is the search engines that finally bring your website to the notice of the prospective customers. Hence it is better to know how these search engines actually work and how they present information to the customer initiating a search.
There are basically two types of search engines. The first is by robots called crawlers or spiders.
Search Engines use spiders to index websites. When the search engine finds a link t your site, the search engine spider will index your entire site. A ‘spider’ is an automated program that is run by the search engine system. Spider visits a web site, read the content on the actual site and follows the links that the site connects. The spider then returns all that information back to a central depository, where the data is indexed. It will visit each link you have on your website and index those sites as well.
The spider will periodically return to the sites to check for any information that has changed. The frequency with which this happens is determined by the moderators of the search engine.
A spider is almost like a book where it contains the table of contents, the actual content and the links and references for all the websites it finds during its search, and it may index up to a million pages a day.
Example Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask
When you ask a search engine to locate information, it is actually searching through the index which it has created and not actually searching the Web. Different search engines produce different rankings because not every search engine uses the same algorithm to search through the indices.
One of the things that a search engine algorithm scans for is the frequency and location of keywords on a web page, but it can also detect artificial keyword stuffing or spamdexing. Then the algorithms analyze the way that pages link to other pages in the Web. By checking how pages link to each other, an engine can both determine what a page is about, if the keywords of the linked pages are similar to the keywords on the original page.
Is Article Writing Your Key To Success?
June 21, 2009
Have you wasted valuable time and money trying to promote your online business? If you’ve spent hard-earned cash buying ads on ezines or on websites, you may have been disappointed with the results.
There’s a better way to advertise your business or website!
Article writing is for you if you want great benefits that don’t cost anything.
By submitting quality articles you’ll get lots of exposure and publicity — without a financial investment! You’ve probably realized by now that the internet is about information, so content brings visitors to your site. That’s a no-brainer!
Consider the possibilities of regularly writing for the internet.
Your work may be seen by millions. Articles written today can quickly appear on over 100 websites.
Search engines are constantly looking for new content to feed content-hungry readers. Why not yours?
By keeping your work before the public, your website will keep getting new visitors who become buyers. As your words are spread all over the internet, your targeted traffic will increase. That’s how to reach lots of qualified buyers. Previous customers will be motivated to become repeat buyers.
By writing regularly, you can reach affiliates or joint venture partners who can help your sales’ potential.
- Your articles can be permanently displayed on the internet.
- Your reputation can spread all over the internet and beyond. Think of the reach just one article can have!
- Your influence could span the globe!
- What you’ve written can show up in the most surprising places.
- Your words may wind up on on a number of publishers’ home pages.
- You could get featured in a large ezine with thousands of subscribers.
- Your work could be published in a book or in magazines.
- An author may ask to use one or more of your articles in an e-book and you’ll be credited.
- You may get discovered and earn extra income through speaking engagements.
- You may be given the opportunity to speak on radio shows.
- You may even be interviewed for national newspapers.
You may not have to wait long before seeing amazing results.
As you submit your work to ezines and article directories, keep in mind that top-ranking sites are crawled by Google more often than other sites. When these sites publish your writing, you’ll soon see results.
With each article you submit, your reputation will grow. After you’ve submitted twenty or so, you may become a household name — at no charge to you!
An author’s works are often kept permanently on websites, so one keyword-rich article can bring thousands of hits for years to come.
Articles not only build your reputation, but are the best way to raise your search engine ranking.
Reciprocal linking is viewed as less important to Google than one-way linking. If numerous sites point to your website without you linking back, Google rewards you with a higher rank.
You get back links automatically by submitting articles and you don’t even have to bother with link exchanges to increase rankings. You also don’t have to worry about Google’s ever-changing algorithm changes that can dump your website several pages down in one day.
Your published works prove you’re an expert — at least in the eyes of readers who view you as knowledgeable. You also establish credibility and trust. Your words can create your own brand for your website and business.
The written word has clout, so you can clinch your point.
Writing brings personal satisfaction.
There’s a great sense of accomplishment from sharing your expertise with the online community.
Real people are sitting behind computers in their homes or offices reading what you’ve written. Through the right words you can build rapport with them.
You’ll probably get emails from time to time telling how something you wrote helped someone. And that’s satisfying!
So there you have it –
Writing articles can open surprising doors to success!
The 5 Benefits of Article Writing
June 17, 2009
Writing articles is a great way to promote your business, no matter what kind of business you are in, writing articles work for you.
Many people don’t realize the power of writing article, or the influence that an article could bring. It is common for people to hear about writing articles and submitting them to article directories, but it is not so common for people to do it.
Since even writing one article takes time, the lazy internet marketer won’t do it. But those that are willing to take time to write and submit them will truly generate a good amount of traffic to their website.
Article Authors recognize and understand that this technique is powerful, that’s why they will take their time and write a decent article and submit it to Article Directories.
Here are some benefits that you will get will you start now and submit your articles.
- Submitting your article to article Directories won’t cost you a dime
It won’t cost you anything to submit your articles to article directory. It takes time, but it won’t cost you anything other than that. But this method of driving traffic to your website will have a long term affect. - You will be recognize as expert in your field
When you write decent articles that filled with valuable information, people respect you, they will think you as a teacher because you know something that they don’t know. - You could generate more sales
Do you realize that writing an article is similar to writing a sales copy? Although both have different purposes, but it is the same principle “One drives traffic, another generate sales”. If an article would help you generate more sales, are you willing to do it? - You could build a good opt-in list
I really like this one, writing an article could help you build your opt-in list. You simple add your link to your article and grab their email address. Of course, you’ll need to be more natural way. A great example is www.articleunlimited.com; you’ll find an article e-course when you sign up for it. - An opening opportunity to do joint ventures or find a business partner
I know a friend of mine have used this method to find his partner. Since he wrote many articles, people who found his articles are interested in what he is writing, and they offer an opportunity to him to be joint ventures or business partner.
You could do much more with you article if you take the time to write one. It doesn’t have to be 1000 words long, it depends on the information that you gave out, that’s what all matter the most.
Writing articles is great way to drive traffic to your website. Don’t underestimate the power of article writings. The more you write, the more you enjoy writing it, and the better your article will be.
Article Writing – Increase Traffic and Drive Sales
June 16, 2009
Article writing is a great way to increase the amount of traffic to your website, more importantly increasing your exposure to the world. Writing articles is all about getting links to your website, usually done from within what a “resource box.” Your resource box should contain links back to your website, after someone reads your article if they are looking for additional information on the subject they are re-directed to your website.
Resources boxes play an important role in developing back links to your website, which are very important to search engines for ranking your site against your competition. Back links are one of the key factors that search engine use to rate your website based on relevance of a specific keyword, or topic. Creating an effective resource box will drive traffic to your website each time a reader would like additional information about the topic.
Article writing by far is the fastest way to build your back links, drive traffic to your website. Traffic is ultimately, what you want right. You did not build your website just to sit there and wait for people to stumble upon it occasionally. In addition, article writing is a fast and effective way to get your website indexed with the major search engines. When articles are published to directories that already have a lot of traffic your site is “picked” up by the search engines crawlers the next time they visit their web site, this means faster indexing and inclusion in search engines
Once you write an article you have to get it published, this is very easy to do, find article directories that are high traffic and user friendly. High traffic sites are your best option, your article spread around the internet much faster, and therefore getting you traffic faster.
The more articles that you write the more traffic you drive to your website. A good number to start with is five articles, write and publish a minimum of 5 per day, or at least 150 per month. In the right directories and distribution, you can build thousands of back links a month.
How To Make Your Article Creative And Interesting
June 14, 2009
Oftentimes when it comes to article writing, the end result can be pretty mundane. In many instances, there is nothing that prevents you from getting creative in your article writing. There are some pointers that will be helpful to you when it comes to getting creative in your article writing. By understanding these pointers, you will end up making your article writing more useful and more powerful.
Article writing can be extremely boring at times, especially if you are shooting for a specific number of articles written each day.
So it is easy with article writing to get sloppy, to forget to make the article interesting, or to not do a good job of teaching whatever it is you are teaching in the article.
So how do you make an article interesting, interesting enough that the reader sticks with you through to the end of the article and clicks on your web site?
The must fundamental factor that you need to master when it comes to getting creative with your article writing is your choice of words. While you do not want to utilize a “big&” word when something more concise will do, you will want to use interesting words whenever possible.
Another fundamental factor that you will want to need to appreciate when working to make your article writing more creative is the manner in which you structure a particular article. Long blocks of text are far less compelling than a pithy, direct and smartly written sentence or paragraph. Don’t use five words when one will do.
One of the easiest ways to do this is to write a “how to” article much like this one. By writing a how-to article, you are specifically dealing with exactly what the title indicates, and you are meeting a need of your reader. The nice thing about a how to article is that only people interested in learning “how to” do something specific will read your article — and as long as you stick to the topic and teach them how to do it, you will succeed at writing an interesting article, at least to them.
Another way to create an interesting article is to include a story of how what you are writing about has helped someone else — how your technique has benefited someone else.
And still another way that you can keep your article interesting is to offer information that is rarely found elsewhere — and possibly even only information that you alone can offer
3 Effective Email Marketing Tips For Business Expansion
June 13, 2009
Email marketing is the best way to communicate with your subscribers to build strong relations with them. It is very much important the way you communicate with them, which can bring repeat in your business. The communication is effective when you are not trying to ‘fake’ it.
Analyze the emails written to a client compared to the emails written to your friends and family. Notice the casual way of talking when you’re writing to friends and family; while the emails written to your client would be formal and somewhat tensed. You see you are trying to sell to the client and you’d never be talking in a casual way.Try out by writing an email to a group of friends asking them to check out the hot VPS Hosting Plans you have seen on bodhost.co.uk. Put your affiliate link in the URL and send it to your friends. You will find that most of your friends will open the email from you. They will checkout the hosting plans you are recommending and they will definitely make up their mind to buy it if they want one.
The conversion rate will be high because the way you recommended the product in a casual way will grab their attention. So the point is never sell a product to your subscribers; recommend it in a way that would make them open their wallets and buy the plans.
The fact is that subscribers no matter who they are don’t want to be sold to. They’ll simply whine and unsubscribe instantly if you try to hard sell because they don’t know you in person, hence, they don’t trust you.
So the first and the leading rule is to build trust like you’d build a friendship with a group of people. To build trust, you need to follow these 3 effective email marketing tips.
Never sound like a salesman – Never, ever sound like you’re selling them stuff. You might have experienced this yourself in the real world. What do you do if a person knocks at your door and try to sell you a product right on your doorstep. You’d ignore him and close the door immediately. But when you get a call from your friend about a hot product he purchased today, you’d definitely want to check it out.
Always build trust first – Building trust is a tricky thing. You might wax a lot of people in the process. But don’t give up. If some people unsubscribe from your list, that’s fine. Don’t worry about them. They won’t buy from you no matter what you do. So it’s good to ‘clean’ your list in the process.
One way to build trust is to send product review emails of the famous products in your niche. Don’t become their affiliate in that process. Just give you honest opinion about the products. Give them things of great value. For example, you might have some old report lying waste on your hard drive. Brush it up and edit it accordingly. Remember, it should have good value. Good information.
Communicate in a casual way – Be casual. Communicate as if they are friends with you. Use casual words like “hey check this out” as a subject of the email. Don’t try to increase your conversions by selling hard. Don’t pound them with offers; inform them. Tell them about your stuff. Make them look at your sales page and the sales page will do the conversions. Don’t try to make your email a sales pitch.
Hope this article has been helpful to you and good luck with your email marketing.