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Archive for May, 2009

Cracking The Google Code… Under The GoogleScope

Google’s sweeping changes confirm the search giant has launcheda full out assault against artificial link inflation declaredwar against search engine spam in a continuing effort to providethe best search service in the world… and if you thought youcracked the Google Code and had Google all figured out … guessagain.

Google has raised the bar against search engine spam andartificial link inflation to unrivaled heights with the filingof a United States Patent Application 20050071741 on December31 2003. On March 31 2005 is was available online for thefirst time.

The filing unquestionable provides SEO’s with valuable insightinto Google’s tightly guarded search intelligence and confirmsthat Google’s information retrieval is based on historical data.

What exactly do these changes mean to you? Your credibility andreputation online are going under the Googlescope! Google hasdefined their patent abstract as follows:

A system identifies a document and obtains one or more types ofhistory data associated with the document. The system maygenerate a score for the document based at least in part onthe one or more types of history data.

Google’s patent specification reveals a significant amount ofinformation both old and new about the possible ways Google canand likely does use your web page updates to determine theranking of your site in the SERPs.

Unfortunately the patent filing does not prioritize orconclusively confirm any specific method one way or the other.

Here’s how Google scores your web pages.

In addition to evaluating and scoring web page content theranking of web pages are admittedly still influenced by thefrequency of page or site updates. What’s new and interesting iswhat Google takes into account in determining the freshness of aweb page.

For example if a stale page continues to procure incominglinks it will still be considered fresh even if the pageheader LastModified: tells when the file was most recentlymodified hasn’t changed and the content is not updated orstale’.

According to their patent filing Google records and scores thefollowing web page changes to determine freshness.

middot;The frequency of all web page changes middot;The actual amount of thechange itself… whether it is a substantial change redundant orsuperfluous middot;Changes in keyword distribution or density middot;Theactual number of new web pages that link to a web page middot;Thechange or update of anchor text the text that is used to linkto a web page middot;The numbers of new links to low trust web sitesfor example a domain may be considered low trust for havingtoo many affiliate links on one web page.

Although there is no specific number of links indicated in thepatent it might be advisable to limit affiliate links on new webpages. Caution should also be used in linking to pages withmultiple affiliate links.

Developing your web page augments for page freshness.

Now I’m not suggesting that it’s always beneficial or advisableto change the content of your web pages regularly but it isvery important to keep your pages fresh regularly and that maynot necessarily mean a content change.

Google states that decayed or stale results might be desirablefor information that doesn’t necessarily need updating whilefresh content is good for results that require it.

How do you unravel that statement and differentiate between thetwo types of content?

An excellent example of this methodology is the roller coasterride seasonal results might experience in Google’s SERPs basedon the actual season of the year.

A page related to winter clothing may rank higher in the winterthan the summer… and the geographical area the end user issearching from will now likely be considered and factored intothe search results.

Likewise specific vacation destinations might rank higher inthe SERPs in certain geographic regions during specific seasonsof the year. Google can monitor and score pages by recordingclick through rate changes by season.

Google is no stranger to fighting Spam and is taking serious newmeasures to crack down on offenders like never before.

Section 0128 of Googles patent filing claims that you shouldn’tchange the focus of multiple pages at once.

Here’s a quote from their rationale:

“A significant change over time in the set of topics associatedwith a document may indicate that the document has changedowners and previous document indicators such as score anchortext etc. are no longer reliable.

Similarly a spike in the number of topics could indicate spam.For example if a particular document is associated with a setof one or more topics over what may be considered a ‘stable’period of time and then a sudden spike occurs in the number oftopics associated with the document this may be an indicationthat the document has been taken over as a ‘doorway’ document.

Another indication may include the sudden disappearance of theoriginal topics associated with the document. If one or more ofthese situations are detected then Google may reduce therelative score of such documents and/or the links anchor textor other data associated the document.

Unfortunately this means that Google’s sandbox phenomenonand/or the aging delay may apply to your web site if you changetoo many of your web pages at once.

From the case studies I’ve conducted it’s more likely the ruleand not the exception.

What does all this mean to you?

Keep your pages themed relevant and most importantlyconsistent. You have to establish reliability! The days ofspamming Google are drawing to an end.

If you require multi page content changes implement the changesin segments over time. Continue to use your original keywords oneach page you change to maintain theme consistency.

You can easily make significant content changes by implementinglateral keywords to support and reinforce your verticalkeywords and phrases. This will also help eliminate keywordstuffing.

Make sure you determine if the keywords you’re using requirestatic or fresh search results and update your web site contentaccordingly. On this point RSS feeds may play a more valuableand strategic role than ever before in keeping pages fresh andat the top of the SERPs.

The bottom line here is webmasters must look ahead plan andmange their domains more tightly than ever before or riskplummeting in the SERPs.

Does Google use your domain name to determine the ranking ofyour site?

Google’s patent references specific types of informationrelating to how a document is hosted within a computer network’that can directly influence the ranking of a specific web site.This is Google’s way of determining the legitimacy of yourdomain name.

Therefore the credibility of your host has never been moreimportant to ranking well in Google’s SERP’s.

Google states they may check the information of a name server inmultiple ways.

Bad name servers might host known spam sites adult and/ordoorway domains. If you’re hosted on a known bad name serveryour rankings will undoubtedly suffer… if you’re not blacklistedentirely.

What I found particularly interesting is the criteria thatGoogle may consider in determining the value of a domain oridentifying it as a spam domain; According to their patentGoogle may now record the following information:

middot;The length of the domain registration… is it greater than oneyear or less than one year?

middot;The address of the web site owner. Possibly for returninghigher relevancy local search results and attachingaccountability to the domain. middot;The admin and the technicalcontact info. This info is often changed several times orcompletely falsified on spam domains; again this check is forconsistency! middot;The stability of your host and their IP range… isyour IP range associated with spam?

Google’s rationale for domain registration is based on thepremise that valuable domains are often secured many years inadvance while domains used for spam are rarely secured for morethan a year.

If in doubt about a host’s integrity I recommend checking theirmail server at www.dnsstuff.com to see if they’re in the spamdatabase. Watch for red flags!

If your mail server is listed you may have a problem rankingwell in Google!

Securing a reputable host can and will go a long way inpromoting your web site to Google.

The simplest strategy may be registering your domain severalyears in advance with a reputable provider thereby demonstratinglongevity and accountability to Google. Google wants to see thatyou’re serious about your site and not a flash in the pan spamshop.

http://www.tkqlhce.com/click160430210294265

Googles Aging Delay has teeth… and they’re taking a bite out ofspam!

It’s no big secret that Google relies heavily on links when itcomes to ranking web sites.

According to their patent filing Google may record thediscovery date of a link and link changes over time.

In addition to volume quality the anchor text of linksGoogle’s patent illustrates possible ways how Google might usehistorical information to further determine the value of links.

For example the life span of a link and the speed at which anew web site gets links.

“Burst link growth may be a strong indicator of search enginespam”.

This is the first concrete evidence that Google may penalizesites for rapid link acquisition. Whether the “burst growth”rule applies to high trust/authorative sites and directorylistings remains unknown. I personally haven’t experienced thisphenomenon. What’s clear for certain though is the inevitableend to results orientated link farming.

I would point out here that regardless of whether burst linkgrowth will be tolerated for authorative sites or authorativelink acquisition webmasters will have to get smarter and workharder to secure authorative links as their counterparts becomereluctant to exchange links with low trust sites. Now Page Rankreally has value!

Relevant content swaps may be a nice alternative to the standardlink exchange and allow you some control of the link pageelements.

So what else does Google consider in determining the aging delay?

middot;The anchor text and the discovery date of links are recordedthus establishing the countdown period of the aging delay.middot;Links with a longterm life span may be more valuable thanlinks with a short life span. middot;The appearance and disappearanceof a links over time. middot;Growth rates of links as well as the linkgrowth of independent peer pages. Again this suggests thatrapid link acquisition and the quality of peer pages aremonitored middot;Anchor text over a given period of time for keywordconsistency. middot;Inbound links from fresh pages… might beconsidered more important than links from stale pages. middot;Googledoesn’t expect that new web sites have a large number of linksso purchasing large numbers of brokered links will likely hurtyou more than help you. Google indicates that it is better forlink growth to remain constant and naturally paced. In additionthe anchor text should be varied as much as possible. middot;New websites should not acquire too many new links; it’ll be toleratedif the links are from trusted sites but it may be consideredspam.

So how do you build your link popularity / Page Rank and avoidpenalties?

When it comes to linking you should clearly avoid the hocuspocus or magic bullet linking schemes. If you participate inquick fix link exchange scams use automated link exchangesoftware or buy hundreds of links at once chances are Googlewill interpret your efforts as a spam attempt and actaccordingly.

Don’t get caught in this trap… the recovery period could besubstantial since your host and IP range are also considered!

When you exchange links with other web sites do it slowly andconsistently.

Develop a link management and maintenance program. Scheduleregular times every week to build the links to your site andvary the anchor text that points to your site.

Obviously the links to your site should utilize your keywords.To avoid repetition use lateral keywords and keyword phrases inthe anchor text since Google wants to see varied anchor text!

Your sites click through rate may now monitored throughbookmarks cache favorites and temporary files.

It’s no big secret that Google has always been suspected ofrewarding sites with higher click through rates very similar towhat Google does with their AdWords program so it shouldn’tcome as a great surprise that Google still considers sitestickiness and CTR tracking in their criterion.

What’s interesting though is Google is interested in trackingthe behavior of web surfers through bookmarks cache favoritesand temporary files most likely with the Google toolbar and/orthe Google desktop search tool. Google’s Patent filingindicates Google might track the following information: middot;Clickthrough rates are monitored for changes in seasonality fastincreases or other spike traffic in addition to increase ordecrease trends. middot;The volume of searches over time is recordedand monitored for increases. middot;The information regarding a webpage’s rankings are recorded and monitored for changes. middot;Clickthrough rates are monitored to find out if stale or fresh webpages are preferred for a search query. middot;The traffic to a webpage is recorded and monitored for changes… like Alexa. middot;Userbehavior may be monitored through bookmarks cache favoritesand temporary files. middot;Bookmarks and favorites could be monitoredfor both additions and deletions and; middot;The overall userbehavior for trends and changes.

Since Google is capable of tracking the clickthrough rates toyour web site you should make sure that your web pages haveattractive titles and utilize calls to action so that websurfers click on them in the search results.

It’s also important to keep your visitors there so make your webpages interesting enough so that web surfers stay some time onyour web site. It might also help if your web site visitorsadded your web site to their bookmarks.

As you can see Google’s new ranking criterion has evolved farbeyond the reliance of criteria that can be readily or easilymanipulated. One thing is for certain with Google whateverdirection search innovation is going; you can trust Google to bepioneering the way and setting new standards

Daniel Katz Business Development Manager at Compucall Web Marketing Ltd. experts in International Search Engine Optimization.

PayPal Dedication Can Leave Your Business Exposed!

To many web users PayPal is not the kind of pal they hadenvisioned when starting their online business. Long on trackhistory but overwhelmingly unpopular among merchants and buyersone is left to wonder why PayPal has continued to grow.

Ignorance and lack of knowledge has a lot to do with PayPal’sgrowth. Many merchants are not aware of the potential problemsthey can encounter depending solely on PayPal for their onlinepayment processing. That is until they encounter potentialcustomers that won’t use PayPal to purchase their products orservices. Or worse they have their PayPal merchant accountsuspended and funds frozen without notice effectively shuttingdown their business.

If you really want to get some idea as to the depth of PayPal’sunpopularity you need only to do a search on Google. Type in”PayPal Complaints” and click enter and see what happens. Over335000 results and still counting. No other online merchantprocessor comes close to having this many dissatisfied customers.

‘Phishing’ is another reason many customers and potentialcustomers are steering clear of PayPal. Not that PayPal is doingthe ‘Phishing’ but they are certainly not making a big enougheffort to stop it. And why should they? They are not ‘Phishing’and they are not losing money. Only the customer is. Virtually100 of online ‘Phishing’ associated with merchant accounts isdone using the PayPal name. And even seasoned web users arebeing scammed by this technique.

Customers can eliminate most if not all of the ‘Phishing’associated with online purchasing by simply using a differentservice. It is that simple! And there are plenty of goodalternatives to PayPal out there that are hungry for yourbusiness. None are as big as PayPal and few have been around aslong as PayPal. But they are reputable and offer a wide varietyof services. And you most likely will never receive any’Phishing’ messages using their names.

So make the change now before it is too late. Our advice is toavoid PayPal if at all possible. And we also would advise you tooffer two different online payment options with at least oneproviding you with the ability to accept payments by check.

Following you will find the most complete listing relating toonline payment options. Brief outlines are meant only to giveyou an idea of what they have to offer. We would suggest takingthe time to visit each site. Your customers will thank you. Andyou will most likely eliminate a lot of headaches in the process.

2CheckOut 2CheckOut has been offering its services since 1999.2CheckOut charges 49.00 to open an account with transactionfees of 5.5 plus 45 cents. It does not charge an applicationfee nor does it impose any monthly or statement fees.http://www.2CheckOut.com

BidPay BidPay has been in business since 1999 and offersservices intended for those that buy and sell at onlineauctions. Sellers receive payments directly to their bank or viaWestern Unionreg; branded money orders. http://www.BidPay.com

BitPass No setup or maintenance fees for selfinstalledproduct. Fees for BitPass Professional range from 15 for itemspriced 0.015.00 up to 5 0.50 for items priced 5.00 andhigher. BitPass provides a platform for digital content commercethat bundles authentication payment and access control.BitPass enables a la carte and subscriptionbased purchases atany price point starting at just one cent. Digital content canbe Downloads Music files stock photography games softwaremovies mobile content crafts; Website Access Premium websitecontent Interactive games subscription sites online comicsblogs interactive panoramic photography; Streaming Mediainternet radio concerts webisodes movies; and Servicespremium database searches web hosting services webinarspremium customer support interactive learning and testing.https://www.bitpass.com

CCNow CCNow is the perfect low cost solution to selling yourproducts online. With CCNow you’ll avoid the upfront expenseand time required to set up ecommerce software merchantaccounts customer service and more. CCNow is a shopping cartsystem that will allow you to take all major credit cardswithout the need of a merchant account. http://www.CCNow.com

ClickBank If you have a unique product or service to sell andit is deliverable over the Internet itself via web pagesfiles or email then ClickBank is for you. They have 100000affiliates ready to promote your product. There is a onetimesetup fee of 50.00. Transactions are 1.00 plus 7.5.http://www.ClickBank.com

DigiBuy Using DigiBuy’s ecommerce service you can quickly andinexpensively build a secure shopping cart to merchandise yourproducts take orders online process payments and distributedigital products over the Internet. Transaction fee is 13.9with a 3.00 minimum. http://www.DigiBuy.com

Ibill In business since 2002 Ibill is perfect for merchantsthat sell services and subscriptions. Merchants can acceptpayments online by credit card check and phone. Has numerousfee schedules but the most common is for businesses that sell upto 9999.00 in a billing cycle. That charge is 15.19.http://www.ibill.com

Ikobo This is a money transfer service that has been providingservices since 2001. No application fee or setup fees andtransaction fees range from 1.99 2.99 plus 29 cents.Payments that are received are deposited to your Ikobo VisaDebit Card or your bank account. http://www.IKobo.com

Moneybookers Ltd. Moneybookers enables any business or consumerwith an email address to securely and costeffectively send andreceive payments online in realtime! Moneybookers delivers aproduct ideally suited for small businesses online merchantsindividuals and others currently underserved by traditionalpayment mechanisms. Does not charge for setup or applying andhas no monthly fee. Transaction fees range from 2 8depending on how payments are made. http://moneybookers.com

MonPay Monpay has been doing business since 2003. With it youcan sell products and services on web sites auctions and evenby email. It does not charge for setup or applying and has nomonthly or hidden fees. Transaction fees for checks or creditcards are 2.95 plus 55 cents. http://www.monpay.com/

PayMate Claims it is the fastest and safest global tradingservice on the Internet. It has no setup fees gateway feesetc. Has a very high User Satisfaction and continues to add newimprovements on a regular basis. Transaction fees for creditcard payments are charged at 2.4. Please visit their web sitefor more information on transaction fees.http://www.paymate.com.au

PaySat With PaySat you can sell your products/services Onlineand enjoy such features as: International Merchants Accepted;Instant Application Approval; Product and Recurring Billing;Easy To Use PlugNPlay Code; Flat Low Rates; No Setup Fee;Multi domain/brand support; and Intelligent Fraud DetectionSystem. PaySat is only in its 2nd year of operation but has apretty good reputation. Transaction fees are 5.3 plus 39 cents.http://www.paysat.com

Paystone Great service that started in 2002. Free to open anaccount with instant approval. Fees to receive payments rangefrom 2.8 0.10 for micropayments to 2.8 0.30 fortransactions over 5.00. There are no setup or monthly fees.http://www.paystone.com

PaySystems PaySystems Internet Merchant Account Solution isdesigned to meet the specific needs of Internet andmail/telephone order merchants. Available for U.S. andEuropeanbased businesses the PaySystems Internet MerchantAccount Solution allows merchants to expand their paymentoptions increase sales and focus their management efforts ongrowing their business. PaySystems has no application fees andno merchant account setup fees. Offers highly competitive rateson transaction fees but you must contact them using their onlineform at http://eforms.paysystems.com/ps/info/ for moreinformation. http://www.paysystems.com

ProPay USA With ProPay merchants can accept payments by creditcard on the Internet and by phone. There is no expensiveequipment no statement / gateway fees and no long termcontracts to use their service. Annual fees range from 34.95299.95 with transaction fees ranging from 3.50 plus 0.35 to2.69 plus 0.25 depending on the type of account you desire.http://www.ProPay.com

RegNow RegNow is the software industry’s premier registrationcommerce provider. RegNow makes running a successful onlineshareware or software publisher business easy by putting ahighly advanced platform customizable technology and powerfulresources right at your fingertips. No charge to apply but thereis a onetime account activation fee of9.95 and transaction feeis 16 with a 2.00 minimum charge. http://www.regnow.com/

RegSoft.com In business since 1998 RegSoft.com provides an easysystem for users to pay for software and data licensing fees byproviding a variety of payment methods. There is a onetimesetup fee of 50.00 and transactions are processed at 8.9 witha 3 minimum. http://www.regsoft.com

shareit! shareit! is used by over 30000 Software Publishersfor their eCommerce Solution. shareit! works on a commissionbasis. In other words after licensing your program they retaina service charge of either USD/EUR* 2.95 5 Pricing Model Aor 14.9 but no less than USD/EUR* 2.50 Pricing Model B andand forward the remaining amount to you. http://www.shareit.com

StormPay A very good service which has been around since 2002.Free to open an account with instant approval. Fees to receivepayments are 6.9 plus 69 cents. There are no setup or monthlyfees. https://www.stormpay.com

SWREG SWREG the oldest online software store in the world hasbeen in existence since 1987. All their prices include creditcard processing on their merchant account. Technically you sellto SWREG on consignment and they sell on to the end user. SWREGaccepts Micro Payments for 69 cents for items to 7 in value.Default discount is 1 6 with a minimum fee of 1.50 2surcharge for American Express. This account will be charged a20 monthly fee with the first payment to you each month madewith no transmission costs free wire for instance. Visithttp://www.swreg.org/pages/pricing.htm for complete pricinginformation. http://www.swreg.org

YowCow YowCow is a new company that offers online processing anda 5level deep affiliate program. No merchant account is neededand you can begin selling today with no monthly fees and a freeshopping cart. Has numerous account plans available. Pleasevisit http://www.yowcow.com/yowcow.php?module=pricing forindepth information. http://www.yowcow.com

Other Options Worth A Look:

Cardservice International at http://www.chargeitnow.comCharge.Com at http://www.charge.com/index.shtml Credit CardProcessing Services at http://www.mcvisa.com FreeMerchant.comat http://www.freemerchant.com Free Merchant Source athttp://www.freemerchantsource.com egold athttp://www.egold.com GreenZap athttp://www.greenzap.com/default.asp IntGold athttp://intgold.com Merchant Warehouse athttp://www.merchantwarehouse.com Peppercoin athttp://corp.peppercoin.com Total Payment Solutions athttp://www.totalpaymentsolutions.com VirtualBank athttp://www.virtualbank.com

===================================================================== About the Author: Drew Michael is a webmaster and marketer.He is the owner of The Business Junction athttp://www.thebusinessjunction.com a major software andentrepreneur directory. For a free subscription to The BusinessJunction Newsletter and free software downloads subscribe at:http://thebusinessjunction.com/Newsletter_Subscribers_SignUp_Page..htm

You may reprint this article so long as this resource box isleft intact and all links remain live. Please send an email to:newsletteratthebusinessjunction.com and a copy of yournewsletter containing this article would be appreciated.====================================================================

Want even more high traffic sites to market on? Jinger Jarrett will show you how to market your business online to hundreds of high traffic sites for free. Grab a subscription to her premium ezine for just 5 per month. This is a limited time offer. http://www.smallbusinesshowto.com/SpecialOffers.html.nbsp;

A Website Is Not Enough

Your small business needs an appealing and professional website but that is just the beginning. If no one visits your website and more importantly if it does not bring in new customers and allows you to sell more to your current customers then your site is not effective. What do you need to improve your online marketing efforts?

The first step is to decide on a primary goal for your website. Is it to directly sell products or services through ecommerce? Or is the goal to capture leads so you can followup and make the sale by email and phone?

For ecommerce you need a website design with a shopping cart system that encourages people to purchase products using the shopping cart. Both the design and written content should maintain this focus.

If your goal is to capture leads the key is to have the content that provides initial information about your products and services that interests prospective customers. It should be easy for the prospective customer to fill out a contact form and hit the submit button or call your 800number. The form should be submitted to a contact management system such as Salesforce or SugarCRM.

Getting it Done

Your business needs a professional website which can cost between 2000 15000 to design. This is not only more than most small businesses want to spend but also unnecessary to succeed on the Web.

For small business there is usually little need for an elaborate expensive website. You can get an appealing and professional website design for as little as 250.

The key to a professional website design is to work with a good designer who takes the time to listen to you and translate your vision into an effective website. Your designer must be as skilled in listening as in design.

Once the site is completed there must be an easy way for you or someone on your behalf to maintain the website. The designer should provide you with an easytouse content management system CMS enabling you to edit your website without having to contact your designer. This saves you money.

Once you have a professional website you have the foundation for marketing online. You can build on that foundation and use the Internet as an effective marketing tool.

Search Engine Marketing

Search engine marketing can be divided into two main categories: Search Engine Optimization SEO and Pay Per Click PPC.

Please do a Google search right now for something pretty popular e.g. coffee. The results on the left side of the browser window that reach down to the bottom of the page are the organic search results. The top results are generally the more popular sites. The highest ranking sites are those sites that have the most links from other websites especially other high ranking sites. In a sense other people have voted for the high ranking sites by linking to them. Often the high ranking sites are the most popular but there is also a lot of gaming of the system. You cannot however pay Google to increase your site’s ranking.

On the right side of your search results and sometimes up at the top of the page are the “Sponsored Links.” These links are paid advertising through a system called Google Adwords. Look for the “Sponsored Links” heading and compare how these links look with the nonsponsored organic links.

Search Engine Optimization

To increase your search rankings in Google and other search engines you can do a number of things. We will focus on Google because of its dominant position as a search engine.

The truth is that it is a crowded field out there for most keywords. Your best bet is to find some niche keywords and work on those. It would be very difficult to achieve a high ranking for the keyword “coffee” but if you have a more specific niche you have a better chance of succeeding.

For example and this is just an example for illustration not necessarily a good keyword combination “Guatemalan shade grown coffee” would be an easier space in which to compete. You would have a chance of rising to the top or at least getting on the first page of results.

The primary way to increase your ranking is to have other high ranking sites establish links to your site and have those links associated with specific keywords such as “Guatemalan shade grown coffee” as in our example. What follows is a few ideas on how to do that in an ethically and effective way. Don’t be tempted by gimmicks because Google and other search engines are becoming more savvy and can penalize sites that try to game the system too much.

First submit your site to as many directories and other clearinghouse type sites in your industry as you can. That should probably be your first step in SEO. Again use the keywords that you are most interested in associating with your site.

Submit your site to general directories that are organized by topic. Some sites charge money for fast consideration of your submission and are probably worth it. For example Yahoo Directory charges 300/year for expedited consideration of your submission. For other highly prized directories such as the Open Directory Project you just have to submit your site and hope it will be considered reasonably soon.

Next talk to your vendors and people in related industries and see about arranging for link exchanges or perhaps even success stories that include a link. They link to you and in exchange you link to them.

Then start writing articles. The key to articles is to write about something you know and that has information that is genuinely interesting to your audience. Publish your article in publications that are related to your industry. If your article is published in web publications you will not only get direct sales leads from your article but your article will also help your search engine position.

For example our fictional coffee vendor could write an article on exactly why shade grown coffee is superior to nonshade grown coffee. Or better yet why “Guatemalan Shade Grown Coffee” is truly the best. The article would have to include facts to support this claim and not just fluff. Maybe the next article could be on how to make the perfect cup of coffee. I would be first in line to read that one.

The key thing to remember is that SEO is a long process. You rarely get instant results. It can take 812 months to see any significant progress. You have to keep at it.

Pay Per Click PPC Advertising

There are a number of PPC providers but we will focus on Google Adwords as they are currently the dominant PPC system.

First you decide on the goal called a conversion of your Adwords campaign. Is it a direct signup? Is it capturing sales leads?

A conversion when the goal is achieved and Google Adwords keeps a running tally of your conversions and the cost per conversion. You can see the cost of obtaining a lead or the cost of getting a customer. You can determine if Adwords is working for you and whether you should make adjustments or discontinue it completely. Generally it takes a bit of experimentation to get it right but it can be a steady source of business for you. It is worth some effort as once it is set up well it runs and can bring in a steady stream of business.

You set a daily budget say 35 and a maximum bid on specific keywords say 2.75. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad click. So if you are bidding 2.75 you might only pay an average of say 2.60 per click. It depends on the keywords and how much you want to bid. Spend some time choosing good keywords. Google Adwords has tools to help you choose the most powerful keywords. You will also need to embed some special code in your website to enable Google to track conversions.

Google Adwords really works. Try it and see if it will work for you. It does not require a big investment to get started. In fact some web hosting and design companies offer a coupon so you can get started with Adwords for free. Google Adwords is easier to use than you might think.

PermissionBased Email Marketing

Spammers have given Email marketing a bad name in much the same way that unethical salespeople have given sales a bad name. This is unfortunate as a knowledgeable salesperson can be an essential part of making good buying decisions. The same is true of good email marketing.

With permissionbased email marketing as opposed to spam the receiver of the email has expressed interest. Think of spam as the wily salesman in the polyester suit and think of permissionbased email as the knowledgeable salesperson we respect.

For example I am on an email list at a bookstore that I frequent. I look forward to the enewsletters as they often have interesting content and good discounts. I enjoy receiving this enewsletter and the bookstore gets more business from me as a result. I rarely go anywhere else to buy books. They have retained me as a customer and I buy more often at least in part because of their enewsletter.

Email marketing can help you increase customer retention and help you earn more revenue from each customer by crossselling and upselling to your current customer base. It can also help you expand your client base.

Email marketing is becoming crucial to online marketing and when done ethically and well can be extremely effective. Sign up for a free trial with an email marketing service and see if it works for you. If not try another service. Find a service that meets your needs.

You can grow your own email newsletter list with a sign up form on your website and by asking for optin in your signup and lead capture forms.

What to look for in an Email Marketing Provider

At a minimum an email marketing service should make it easy for you to create eyecatching emails manage multiple email lists and place newsletter signup forms on your website. There should be powerful list management robust reporting and reliability. Your provider must also have excellent customer service.

Your email marketing service should include an easy way to track the results of your email campaigns. Who opened your email how many times and when? Did they click on the link you provided? Did they purchase anything or submit a lead? The service should enable you to track message reads in real time and read detailed reports online or export them to a spreadsheet.

In addition your email marketing service should give you the ability to manage multiple lists and divide lists into multiple segments.

Conclusion

Obtaining a website and marketing your products or services online does not have to be expensive. An economical way to accomplish these goals is to hire a company to design your website and provide you with bundled web hosting and permissionbased email marketing services. It would be an added bonus if they can get you started using Google Adwords with a free coupon.

About the writer:  Shawn Hickman is the internet marketing manager for Web Solutions of America. Visit our online portfolio and seo results for clients at wsoaonline.com