Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Saturday, 30 of June , 2007 at 2:42 pm
I couldn’t agree with this post more. True SEOs don’t need to keep secrets or engage in questionable practices. There are enough legitimate SEO techniques that one doesn’t need to do such things. But this really irks me. The original article appeared on Forbes’ website two days ago. What’s worse, Forbes seems to be endorsing his unethical practices:
If your online business, like thousands of others on the Web, relies on Google searches for traffic, then Brendon Scott is a good person to have on your side.
That’s a problem. When a well-respected news source such as Forbes endorses unethical practices they give such practices power. When unethical practices get enough power then you get an onslaught of high profile people and companies engaging in such practices (remember Enron and WorldCom?). That’s not what we want on the Web.
As someone else pointed out, it’s just a matter of time before we start seeing lawsuits about this. I’d hate to be involved in one of those. That’s why you won’t catch me anywhere near these unethical pretenders, and I highly recommend you get as far away from them as you can as well.
Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.
Category: SEO
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Saturday, 30 of June , 2007 at 11:13 am
Found an excellent article on social media marketing. You’ve got to read this. I’m not going to recount the whole article, but I do have a few useful comments.
A key concept to social marketing is that it is not designed to immediately provide business but instead it provides the visibility your brand needs to ultimately convert fans into buyers. I often get clients saying “I don’t think being on MySpace will sell anything”. The truth is that often they are correct. Having a commercial presence on MySpace that provides great content and interesting free tools (aka. widgets) serves to raise the awareness of your brand so that users remember your service for later and/or provides you with a podium to share the benefits of your brand. In short, it is important not to forget this essential concept: social media marketing drives brand awareness which later translates into sales.
How true. In social marketing it’s all about getting your name out there. It’s not about making sales. In pre-Internet days it was called “top of mind awareness.” Companies spent thousands of dollars - and still do - to put their names on billboards, run television ads, radio commercial spots, and huge magazine ads, not because they thought those particular media would bring them business but primarily because they understood that each time a potential customer saw their company name that it would “stick” in their mind and be readily available whenever the customer needed it. It’s all about planting seeds.
Imagine this: A customer is reading her favorite magazine and sees and ad for Zales jewelry. Later in the day she is at the doctor’s office and watching the TV in the waiting room. A Zales jewelry commercial comes on and she remembers the ad in the magazine. She’s not interested in jewelry at the moment, but she is a huge fan of lapis. On her way home from the doctor’s office she hears a radio commercial from Zales. Similar instances of this type of marketing reaches her over the course of the next several weeks. Finally, a handsome young man she has adored for years asks her out on a date. She needs a new necklace to impress her date on Friday and today is Thursday. Where does she go? As she is headed to the mall, the only place she knows exactly where to find a piece of jewelry, she passes by a Zales. Suddenly, she remembers all of those ads she has seen and heard over the last couple of weeks and nearly runs two cars off the road to get over and go inside. That’s top of mind awareness.
The same type of thing happens online. Every time your name appears somewhere people will notice. They may not be ready to buy right then, but when they are ready to buy the name they have seen the most will likely be the one they remember the most. That is the importance of social media marketing. The more you do it, the more likely you are to attract new customers.
Types Of Social Media Marketing Online
When it comes to social marketing, there are various media that you can use. They all serve a useful purpose and will result in varying degrees of success. Some may be appropriate for your business while others may not be so good. You’ll just have to explore the possibilities. Nevertheless, here are a few methods you can try:
- Social Networking Sites
- Business Networking Sites
- Social (Collaborative) Bookmarking Sites
- Content Voting Sites
- News Sharing Sites
- Collaborative Directories
- Video Sharing Sites, and
- Photo Sharing
I recommend all of these methods, but if one doesn’t work for you or fit your business then don’t waste your time on it. Photos sharing is a great way to get your name known if you are a photographer. On the other hand, if you’ve never taken a picture in your life and your business has nothing to do with this visual medium then don’t feel like you have to rush right out and start taking photos.
The Difference Between Social Networking And Business Networking
The difference between social networking and business networking is minimal. They achieve the same purposes for different types of businesses. Do you teach dance lessons? You might do well with social networking because dancing is a social activity. Once you meet enough people who share your enthusiasm for dancing and they learn that you are the world’s foremost authority on the can-can then when they want to learn how to can-can who do you think they will call? Just because you put up a profile on MySpace and Facebook, however, doesn’t mean you can’t also put profiles up at LinkedIn and Ryze. The more places you put your face and name up for people to see the more you increase your chances of being noticed.
Viral Video Marketing Is The Next Big Thing
I think video viral marketing is the next big thing. It’s already catching on with the popularity of YouTube and Google Video. It’s not hard to do, but any time of social media marketing can be time consuming. That’s why you might want to hire an expert to help you with your goals. If you think of video advertising as somewhat like TV advertising (only less expensive) then you can get a little bit of an idea of what viral video marketing is. You put your video out on the Web and promote it like you would your business. If done correctly, viral video marketing can be a powerful force in promoting your business and getting your name out all over the Internet. If you create one video that is entertaining and delivers a powerful message then your video can be distributed to millions of people worldwide, promoting your name and business with every new viewer.
I hope this helps give you a little overview of social media marketing and the possibilities. I recommend taking one half day out of your schedule each week to pursue a few social media marketing opportunities and maintaining your profiles wherever you build them. In time, your name can be known as an expert in your field.
Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.
Category: Social & Viral Marketing
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Friday, 29 of June , 2007 at 10:30 am
On the Paris Hilton SERP (you know, the one with the bunny suit pic), just above the sexy photos on the blue bar where the number of results returned is shown, you’ll see four links
Those are the Google verticals from which the results for Google Universal are retrieved. If you click on any one of those links then you’ll get the results just for that vertical. In other words, if you really like looking at Paris Hilton photo images then you can click on “Images” and see all you want. By the same token, you can click on “Videos” and watch the moving pictures. Want to catch up on the latest news?
So I clicked on News (no, seriously, I did - right after I clicked on “Images” and watched half a dozen videos of Paris gyrating while eating fruit). It was pretty cool. Of course, you get all the latest stories of Paris Hilton’s jail experiences, gossip, more photos, and all the sweet little Paris Hilton news you can handle. On the left side of the screen are more links.
Here’s a list of the links, from top to bottom:
- Browse Top Stories
- Last hour
- Last day
- Past week
- Past month
- Archives (with a red “New!” beside it)
- Blogs (with a red “New!” beside it)
- News Alerts
If you click on “Archives” you can go back and read news stories of Paris Hilton as far back as 2003. Cool or what?
And if you click on “Blogs” you can see a long list of blogs that talk about Paris Hilton. 3.8 million results - just for blogs. Can you believe it?
You’ll see everything from blogs on Paris Hilton’s sex video to a fictional account of an intimate dinner involving Paris Hilton and Ann Coulter (I wonder what that would be like!). You’ll see blogs from the UK and blogs with URLs like 10marshmallows.com and 10zenmonkeys.com (where’s the banana?).
Can you see how you might use Google Universal now? Each of these individual verticals are another way to get listed in the search engine. Get your videos listed and for every video indexed on Google Video, that’s just one more way to be found by someone searching for your information. Get written about a lot in the news and for every news story that mentions your name that’s one more way you can be found in Google Universal. With Google Universal the goal will be to appear in as many verticals as you can rather than simply try to appear on the top page of the results with your website.
What’s good? More people will have a chance to be No. 1. What’s bad? It will mean more work to get there. Overall, I’d say it’s a net positive. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to search for Nick Stamoulis and I hope, by God, I don’t see myself in a bunny suit.
Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.
Category: SEO
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Friday, 29 of June , 2007 at 9:55 am
It seems that everyone is talking about Universal Search now. How will it change SEO? What will I as a webmaster have to do differently? Yada yada yada
Same ol’ same ol’ …
Well, let me ease a few of your worries. Google’s Universal Search, if it catches on, won’t change SEO too much. It will change it really from one perspective and it’s not really a change. And, by the way, I expect the other major search engines (I don’t need to name drop do I?) will follow. But keep in mind that Google is just testing its Universal Search. It remains to be seen that searchers will like it and want to keep it. A really interesting scenario would be if Google ditches it based on feedback from users and Yahoo et. al. (oops, slipped out) rolls it out to a dissatisfied search public (can you hear me snickering in the background?).
Universal Search is really Google’s attempt to make all search queries relevant for all media. In other words, if you search for “tree stump removal” you’ll likely get an image of a tree stump being pulled out of the ground by one of those big John Deere thingies (I’m real technical) and videos depicting lumberjacks at work (that would make most of you ladies - and some of you guys - quite happy, I’m sure). The question is, will searchers want those “extras” showing up as a part of their queries. Remember this, for every image, blog entry, video, etc. that shows up in the top 10 of a search query, that’s one less web page that will show up there. Is that good?
According to one SEO, it’s a serious drawback:
The problem with Universal Search is that it can muddy the results, and it can also introduce irrelevant results that a searcher cannot use. A search for “Paris Hilton” (ever heard of her?) will bring up news, videos, and other information about the heiress. But it will also bring up a map of the city of Paris showing locations of Hilton hotels, something most searchers that typed that exact phrase probably did not have in mind.
I agree that it is a drawback, but allow me to correct some misinformation. I just searched for Paris Hilton. Besides the super revealing photos at the top of the page (Wow! And I mean they made my eyes hurt - in a good way, of course), there were no photos of the Eiffel Tower or other buildings in Paris, France, and no map either. In fact, there was no result for Paris, France on the first page at all. Everything was all about Paris Hilton - proof that being rich and beautiful is over rated. But I was amused to find that Paris Hilton does have her own MySpace page. A search for “Paris,” on the other hand, brought up all kinds of information about Paris, France, and the sexy photos of Paris Hilton, of course, though they were at the bottom of the page rather than the top (along with a photo of the Eiffel Tower).
So what does all of this mean? Not much in my book. It’s search as usual. Google starting including photos in its search results long before it announced Google Universal. The reason the search engine decided to start including other types of information in its search results is because people were not using Google Images, Google Photos, Google Blog Search, and the other Google flavors (I see Baskin Robbins blushing). Google Universal is a way to promote these other search verticals to all Google users without sacrificing too much in the process. So how does it affect the SEO will be done in the future?
If Google Universal catches on (and I think it will in some sectors and won’t in others) then SEOs will have to include more photos, videos, and alt tags in their web pages. SEO work will become slightly more tedious as we will have to determine for all of our clients just what elements are best suited for their websites. If you are a clown or some other entertainer then you may want to include photos and videos of your performances on your website, complete with alt tags to increase your SEO advantages. On the other hand, if most of your customers are still on dial up then they likely won’t care about your videos because they won’t be able to watch them any way. My SEO friend agrees:
Many of these people are likely not interested in videos or other results that require much bandwidth, and such users may turn away from Universal Search entirely - there are, after all, other search engines. No, really - there are.
Well, yeah, but if they’re all bringing up universal search results as well then it won’t matter. And I highly doubt that very many people will abandon Google if they don’t like Universal Search. They will likely just grow used to it and as the search engine improves they will gradually start to enjoy it. They may even search more often for Paris Hilton just so they can see those photos of the hotel heiress in her bunny suit.
I must be hopping along now - to search for Uma Thurman.
Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.
Category: Search Engines
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Thursday, 28 of June , 2007 at 8:41 am
If you are planning to build your website with a template you’ll have to make sure you get the right kind of template. Some templates may look pretty but are sorry SEO templates and will hurt you in the search engines.
One such template is the CGI plug-in type. It’s written in PHP, but the title of the document is taken from a CGI plug-in. Beside the security issues associated with this template, all the pages share the same title, description, and keyword meta tags. That’s bad for SEO. Ideally, your template should include separate meta tags for every page on the website. If your website has just one title, description, and meta tag then you will not be able to customize each page’s content for maximum SEO benefit with the search engines and that will hurt you in the rankings.
There is another type of website template where each page has its own filename and this will make your website more friendly toward the search engines, but this is a little illusion. While each web page has a unique filename, the entire website will share the meta tags. Again, that will limit your SEO mojo. You can create secondary files on your server and put in code to require it to look in that secondary for unique meta tags on every page. Really, though, that’s a pain in the royal arse and you’re much better off just using a simple template where all the elements are in the right place.
The Body-Only Template is the one you want. This template is written in PHP, but each individual web page is written with unique page titles, descriptions, and keyword meta tags so that you get all the SEO benefits you deserve. You can recognize this template by finding the code for the element in the body of the template rather than the head of the template. The code between the head tags tells the template to include the information on every page, but that same code written between the body tags will allow each web page of your website to be unique in all the important ways.
So be sure to use the right kind of template for your website and if you have a web designer or consultant building your website for you be sure to ask them if they are using a template that is proper for SEO. When you ask, ask them if they are using a Body-Only Include, Template As Include or a CGI argument. You want the Body-Only Include. If they don’t understand this terminology then ask them where the code for the meta tags is located. If they say it’s in the head of the template then ask for a template that includes in the body, or find another designer.
Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.
Category: SEO
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Wednesday, 27 of June , 2007 at 6:44 pm
Wonderful!
I was going to post on things to keep in mind while performing social media marketing. I was going to copy and paste a few comments from another blog that had addressed that very topic. Then I was going to link to it (you know, it’s always nice to give attribution!). Well, something came up and instead and I’m going to tell you the one thing you should NEVER do.
I went to copy and paste and I couldn’t. The blog owner had inserted some security code that prevents people from copying his content. How stupid is that? Well, he won’t get a link from me.
The funny thing is he has the AddThis bar at the end of his post AND is giving great advice on how to conduct social media marketing. I thought he knew what he was doing. Until I tried to help him spread his message.
No. 1 Thing NOT To Do On Your Website Or Blog:
(Drum roll please)
Don’t be so caught up on protecting your content that you won’t let people use it for themselves. In essence, I’m telling you to let people STEAL your content. In fact, reward them for doing so. It’s the law of the universe.
When you write content that people like they will use it, and they will link back to you as the original source. You get a link back (a valuable one-way link) and credit for coming up with the idea. Are there people who will snag your stuff and not credit you with attribution? Yes, but those are fewer in number and you have recourse with those people. Go to Copyscape and run your content through their filters. If you find a non-attributing content lifter send them a cease and desist letter. If they don’t respond positively then report them to their ISP. Honestly, you have a lot more to lose by discouraging back links than you do by letting people steal your content.
So who is this mystery blogger that doesn’t want my linkage? Huh-huh, huh-huh, huh-huh (nervous laugh) … I’ll never tell.
Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.
Category: Social & Viral Marketing
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Wednesday, 27 of June , 2007 at 8:25 am
I didn’t come up with this list, but I should have. It’s one of those things you see and say, “Well, ‘I wish I’d thought of that.” Truth is, this list makes a lot of sense.
10 reasons to hire an SEO company:
- Search Engine Optimization Takes Time, Effort, & Dedication
- SEO Tools, SEO Strategy, & SEO Experience Goes a Long Way
- Search Engine Optimization Is Not Easy
- SEO Services Do Not Have to be Very Expensive
- Search Engine Optimization Can Take Your Website to New Heights
- Professional & Experienced SEO Services Can Be the Difference Between You and Your Competitors
- Search Engine Optimization Gets You the Best Bang for Your Buck
- SEO Services Can Help Increase Business Sales Drastically
- Professional Search Engine Optimization Can Increase Your Search Ranking in a Shorter Time Period
-
Treat Your Website Like a Business
Search engine optimization does take time and it’s not easy. You can’t just sit down over a weekend with a case of beer and kick out a 12-point strategy for taking over the World Wide Web. That’s not how it works. Rather, you do need a plan, but experience and knowledge goes a long way.
The time it will take you to learn how to do proper SEO (if you are a newbie and just starting out) could be the difference between life and death on the Web. Within a year you could rise to No. 1 in the search engines for one or more important keywords. If you’ve never done it before it will take you that long to learn the basic concepts enough to employ them successfully. Be sure you make the right choice.
One misunderstanding about SEO services is that they are expensive. They don’t have to be. In many cases you have your website SEOd or have a ghostwriter write you articles and a blog for a decent price and promote your business online. Don’t go for the high dollar services. There are other services online that are less expensive and more than adequate.
Without search engine optimization you are likely just going to be another website in an overcrowded field. A real search engine optimization specialist will help you perform the right research and find a niche within your area of interest so that you don’t spend all your time chasing the leader. What you want to do is find a profitable niche. Do that and you’ll be successful online. It takes some know-how to find the right niche and as more businesses go online to build websites and seek a successful implementation of their Internet marketing strategies this will become even more difficult.
If you treat your website like a business - and I mean treat it like a business and not just another aspect of your existing business - then you’ll make the right decisions. You have to think about your return on investment with every activity. If something isn’t making you money then you shouldn’t be doing it. The one activity online that has the potential to make you the most money for the least outlay of cost is search engine optimization. That’s right - in a word, SEO has the potential to present your business with the highest ROI. I can’t think of any better reason to hire an SEO firm, can you?
But there is one more reason why you should hire a professional search engine optimizer to help catapult your website to the top of your niche: Nick Stamoulis is a swell guy. Don’t believe? Just ask my mother.
Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.
Category: SEO
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Tuesday, 26 of June , 2007 at 10:21 pm
I found the following sentence tucked away into a Jordan McCollum blog post at Marketing Pilgrim:
MySpace users, according to the BBC, tend to be minorities and get jobs straight out of high school, while Facebookers tend to be white, go to college and come from wealthier homes, being part of a more “aspirational class.”
It struck a nerve with me because, as you know, I’m real big on social marketing and super big on targeted marketing. Jordan’s comment hits right at home with me. No matter what kind of marketing you are doing, you need to know your target market.
I haven’t studied the demographics of Facebook versus MySpace, but if this is true then you certainly want to pick the right social marketing tool. If you have a universal product, or one that would appeal to multiple markets then you might target your message to your particular audience in both social marketing platforms using a different approach for each. This is an old-fashioned marketing strategy that advertisers have used in print and other media for years. It will work online too. Know your market and hit your market where they work and play. That’s the rule.
Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.
Category: Social & Viral Marketing
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Tuesday, 26 of June , 2007 at 7:34 am
This article at SiteProNews should be read by everyone, in or out of the real estate industry. It’s the perfect article for learning how to do link building the right way. Below are a few snippets from the article and my comments:
Google loves links and they admit it. Webmasters figured this out and came up with all kinds of different techniques for getting links to their sites - link baiting, reciprocal links, ninja links, 3 way links, one way links, contextual links etc. The problem is a lot of the techniques are frowned upon by Google. They want you to get links the natural way and not to try to cheat the system.
I hate to say it, but SEO gurus have killed SEO. Early webmasters figured out how to get ranked by playing around, experimenting with this, jostling with that, tweaking and retweaking - you know, like a 4-year-old with Lego blocks. It worked. We all learned how to win at Google (and if you don’t win at Google, you don’t win online - right?).
Well, we decided to start teaching everyone else how to win too. Now, the whole world wants to win at Google. How do you win at Google? Links, links, and more links!! So the whole world is chasing links - hot links, cold links, chain links, kinky links, whatever kind of links we can get. And that’s not good.
Look at this way. You’ve got a hot date on Saturday night. You find out that your date really likes pizza. So you drive all over town sampling the pizza at every place you can find that sells pizza. You get so riled up about pizza that you rush and rush and rush to get to as much pizza as you can find that you don’t have time to talk to and get to know your date a little bit. No time for conversation, you reason, we’ve got to get to the pizza! Fun date? Doubtful.
Those who are chasing links in this manner are missing the point. Whether you are lusting after pepperoni and mushrooms or links on rye, you aren’t doing yourself any favors by pigging out. Eventually, it will catch up to you and you’ll look like Elvis Presley just before he croaked. Yes, you’ll have left the building (figuratively speaking). But I digress ….
Links. Need ‘em? You bet. Need ‘em all? Not on your life. which ones are right? Well, let’s see ….
* Don’t participate in link schemes designed to increase your site’s ranking or PageRank. In particular, avoid links to web spammers or “bad neighborhoods” on the web, as your own ranking may be affected adversely by those links.
* Avoid tricks intended to improve search engine rankings. A good rule of thumb is whether you’d feel comfortable explaining what you’ve done to a website that competes with you. Another useful test is to ask, “Does this help my users? Would I do this if search engines didn’t exist?
It’s getting harder and harder to tell a bad neighborhood. But you can still spot them. If you see a web page with a lot of unrelated links on it, it’s not good. Get away from there! Like Jed in Beverly Hills.
Secondly, think about your customers. What do they want? Have you asked them? You should.
I am so amazed at the number of business that do things without getting feedback from their customers. Will they benefit from your actions? Will they get angry and go somewhere else? Will they think you’re a goober who has flipped his lid? You probably shouldn’t do it.
So, that takes care of what not to do. What about the shoulds?
What is not acceptable? I guess you have to ask yourself “Does this help my users?” It definitely is not a black and white situation and has plenty for room for interpretation.
Bottom line. You’re there to help people, right?
No matter what business you are in, you are in business to help others. Whether you are helping them buy real estate, trade currencies, purchase diapers that won’t burst mid stream (did I say that?), or drink the kool-aid (oops, slipped again), you are in business to help your customer get what she wants. Ask yourself on every link: Will this help my customers?
Reciprocal linking, in general, is a bad idea. That’s because one-way links are more valuable (and more natural) than reciprocal links. You want links from sites that are related to yours. That means giving them something to link to. You also want sites with a higher PageRank than yours. But to do that you have to attract their attention. Uma Thurman has attracted my attention and I guarantee you she didn’t do it chasing pizza. You get my drift, don’t you?
But I don’t want to say all reciprocal linking is bad. If there is another business related to yours that your customers would benefit from knowing about then by all means approach them with an offer (even outside of Vegas this type of solicitation is legal; just ask your attorney). If they say Yes,” link. But don’t go crazy with reciprocals. People will say bad things about your reputation.
What is the most valuable lesson to learn about links?
* Build a site with tons of unique content, provide lots of value to visitors and eventually links will come with time. I have received several one way links from the Sarasota Herald Tribune (my local newspaper) from articles they wrote about my website and blog. I imagine this is the way Google likes to see links built.
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.
Category: Link Building
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Monday, 25 of June , 2007 at 8:53 am
Affiliate marketing is a new concept for many people. The idea is to hire and train a sales force that you don’t have to pay until they make a sale. It’s an idea whose time has come and because of the Internet it is possible for any business. It is also desirable and can produce tremendous results for your business.
But let’s draw a distinction between affiliate marketing and reselling:
A reseller is someone who buys your product or service and sells it to another party with a markup. That’s how they make their money. This type of relationship works real well for service businesses.
By contrast, an affiliate marketer is someone who pre-sells a product or service for someone else then sends the customer to the company he is marketing for to by a product. The affiliate usually has a code that identifies him as the seller whenever a sale is made. The company then pays the affiliate based on total sales over a period of time.
Both types of relationships have their pros and cons. I personally like affiliate marketing because it allows you to track your sales and you have more control over your product or service. A reseller can always change your product or service without your knowledge, which could produce some credibility issues for you down the road. On the other hand, with affiliate marketing, since the customer always comes to you to buy, you stay in control.
Three things to keep in mind with affiliate marketing:
- Develop your program before you start it - I can’t stress this enough. If you get your affiliate marketing program running before you’ve fully developed it you’ll run into problems for sure. You need to think about how often you’re going to pay your affiliates, how much commission you’re going to pay them, and what kind of materials you’re going to support them with. Don’t underestimate prior planning.
- Support your affiliates with effective sales material - Your affiliates are working hard for you. Give them the materials they need to be successful and you’ll see tremendous results. Take the time to create banner ads, graphics, and sales letters that they can use in their marketing efforts. Also, by running specials periodically, you can keep your affiliates juiced up and motivated.
- Pay enough to make it worth their while - Don’t offend your affiliates with a small commission. If your affiliates only make 10% per sale, they likely will not be motivated to sell your product or service. I recommend at least 30% and for most products, especially digital products, 50% is not out of the question. If you pay your affiliates well they will be motivataed to sell your product.
Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.
Category: Affiliate Marketing
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Sunday, 24 of June , 2007 at 7:27 am
Should you list your blog in a blog directory. It really depends. I think some directories are good. Others are OK. And, of course, some aren’t worth the time it takes to drive by and look in the window.
I wouldn’t say don’t list in a blog directory, but I would say you should be selective about which blog directories you do submit to. I would caution you against submitting a business blog to any blog directory that requires you to link back to the directory. The reason for this is because you want people to stay on your website, not leave it. Some directories, like MyBlogLog and BlogCatalog, require you to link back to them and they have these huge banners that look gaudy and that serve as “black holes.” Sure, you might get some additional traffic, but will it be targeted traffic that is likely to buy from you?
If you want to link back to a blog directory then by all means, it’s your blog. Go right ahead. But in most cases I’d say don’t do it or, if you do, do it in such a way that you aren’t advertising reasons for leaving your blog. A small link at the bottom of your blogroll, for instance, is less noticeable and people will only click if they’re looking for an exit.
Another thing I’d say don’t do is don’t list in general blog directories unless they don’t require you to link back and they have a large selection of business blogs. You want a dedicated section for business, or commercial blogs. After all, you are running a business blog. Aren’t you?
I have found two directories, and there may be more, but I have found two blog directories that I would recommend for most business blogs. Both meet the above criteria and it’s very easy to get your blog listed on both of them. In addition, both of these blogs have PageRank scores of 5 or greater so you get the benefit of a good link, especially if you have a new blog.
Both of these blog directories are really dedicated to business blogs so there’s a huge benefit. You’re not going to be listed, and run the list of getting lost, in the shuffle and buzz of porn blogs, hobby blogs that are a little too intimate and revealing, and wannabe gossip columnists who couldn’t get a job writing for their church newsletter. Not to be harsh, but you want your professional business blog to be viewed with clout. Directories you list it in will go a long way in attaining that perception.
Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.
Category: Blogging
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Saturday, 23 of June , 2007 at 10:23 am
SiteProNews is beating up on the search engines today. It must be National Beat Up On Search Engines Day on the Internet.
First, it was Yahoo. Then, Ask.com. In both cases the issue is customer service.
You’d think the search engines could get that part right. I mean, they are ones everyone else is following, or going to for the latest information. The Internet is, after all, an information medium. The search engines are like the library. Imagine a library that fails to satisfy its patrons most basic needs. Let’s say you walk in the door and the librarian ask’s you if you want a book with pictures of naked people in it, or they start telling you how wonderful their customer service is even while you are trying to ask them questions that go unanswered. Meet Ask and Yahoo, respectively.
Lisa Barone drones on about how Ask.com executives think she’s an idiot and only wants to see pictures of Kato Kaelin. She has a point. Then she picks on the ninjas, which is a bit overboard because I actually like the ninjas. Still, there’s only so much sword play I can handle - and I’m not talking about Kato Kaelin on that one.
Bad jokes aside, the good people at Ask should learn more about who their users are and what they want instead of offending them with ads based on assumptions. In fact, that’s a lesson we all can learn.
Yahoo’s chief executive, Terry Semel, recently resigned and was replaced by Jerry Yang. So one SEO firm decided to give poor Jerry some advice. Unlucky for him, the firm has made some good points:
# Work Out the Panama Kinks Please
When the recent Panama platform launched, our agency experienced an across the board loss in inventory and leads for our clients’ campaigns. While the reviews have been mixed and many advertisers and engineers applaud the new system, in the PPC trenches the story can be a bit different. We’re still struggling with managing the new interfaces (campaign set-up is laborious!) and the reporting just isn’t up to snuff.
- Give Us A Dedicated PPC Rep
- Don’t Keep Advertisers (or Employees) in the Dark
- Post To Your Blogs About Your Search Services
- Ask Us What We Need and Want
- Live Up To Your Values
- Lose the Attitude
Yahoo’s Panama is not without its problems. It isn’t easy to set up and if you ask for help you are likely to get a whack in the face with a baseball bat. Nice going, Yahoo. According to some people, the Yahoo people truly are yahoos. I could be one of them. As a big defender (and user) of PPC advertising, I think Yahoo could have something to offer the marketplace. Not everyone uses Google so an alternative would be nice, especially in certain industries (like certain retail sectors) where users may be more likely to make a search at Yahoo than at Google.
No. 4 and No. 6 are, again, two areas where you’d expect the search engines to get it right. We’re on your site and we know what we want. You don’t, so why not ask? Do you ask your site visitors what they want? If you don’t, you should. How else will you know? And for godsakes, lose the attitude. Really. It’s OK to be a little cocky because people like personality, but don’t stray too far from your roots. If you forget where you came from you’ll likely go back - and I mean the hard way.
I truly hope Yahoo and Ask get their acts together because I’m a big believer in competition. Right now, you’ll find me hanging out in Google’s backyard.
Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.
Category: Search Engines
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Friday, 22 of June , 2007 at 10:10 am
Two days ago I wrote about anchor text and why it’s so important to SEO. A reader commented that you can use a title attribute to increase your SEO benefits. Good point, Jim.
A title attribute is a simple little phrase you can add to your links to get another keyword usage in there. It’s not spamming. It’s very helpful to the search engines because it tells them what the link is about. It’s really helpful when the page to which you are linking doesn’t have the keyword in the URL. You effectively can have two, or three, uses of your important keyword in the link itself. The title attribute looks like this:
title=”search engine optimization”
You put the title tag between the brackets of your a href tag but after the a href attribute itself, like this:
a href=”http://www.searchengineoptimizationjournal.com” title=”search engine optimization”
Enclose the above phrase in brackets with the < bracket in the front and the > bracket in the rear. That way you get your keyword phrase in the tag itself twice and if your keyword anchor text is itself the same keyword phrase, that’s three uses of the phrase. That will give you a big boost in SEO benefits. I’d add the title attribute to every link on your website.
Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.
Category: SEO
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Thursday, 21 of June , 2007 at 8:39 am
There is a lot of confusion about PageRank. Some people seem to chase it like it’s the banana. Well, there is a huge difference between Google’s PageRank and page rank. Here it is in a nutshell:
PageRank is Google’s patent protected determination as to the value of a web site. It’s based on incoming links, other off page factors, and on page factors. All it really means is that your website is worth a certain amount of clout in terms of its content and online reputation.
Page rank where your web page falls in the search engine results page for a given keyword query. In other words, if I search for “banana” and your web page shows up at the No. 5 position for that keyword then your page is ranked No. 5. Nice banana.
So which is better, PageRank or page rank? Personally, I’d rather have ten pages on the first page of a Google SERP (ranking in the top 10 for at least one important keyword) than 10 PageRank’s of 9 or 10. Yes, PageRank is nice, but you have a hight PR and still not have a high page rank for any of your important keywords or pages. If your PageRank is that high, however, it simply means that your content is sticky enough that you have people linking to you and that’s good. If that’s the case, you probably have lots of traffic. Still, sticky content and high traffic volume doesn’t guarantee sales.
On the other hand, if you have a high page rank for several of your pages then that means you are connecting with online searchers in the most meaningful way. Your organic search listings are hitting the target. Your keywords are targeted, your web pages are targeted, and you are reaching the people who are looking for your content. Again, that doesn’t mean you’ll make sales.
If you are hitting the right target organically (through high page rank) then you are doing something right - unless you are ranking highly for accidental keywords (that is, words you did not intend to and that don’t relate to your niche). If that’s the case then you need an overhaul on your content. But if you are ranking highly for your targeted keywords and not getting sales then all you need to do is tweak your content so that you still have high instances of keyword rankings, but your content needs to be rewritten to make the sale. That’s a lot easier than overhauling it to get the right keywords on the page.
When it comes to PageRank, see it for what it is. Don’t over rate it. Just use it as a tool.
Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.
Category: SEO
Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Wednesday, 20 of June , 2007 at 7:44 am
Search engines have long valued textual links. That’s why anchor text is one of the best ways to build your internal links. Sure, you can - and should - have a menu bar, either at the top of your web pages, on the side, or both. But a menu bar only takes you so far. I highly recommend in text links using keywords that will take your visitors from one page to the next.
You don’t want to overdo this though. Don’t put too many in at one time. One or two per page is the most you want to include. Otherwise, it will look like search engine spam.
So what’s an example of anchor text? Let’s say your keyword is search engine optimization. If you are building a website about Internet marketing and you have a page on PPC, another page on Affiliate Marketing, a third page on e-zine marketing, and a page on search engine optimization then those are the keywords that you will use for your respective pages. On each of your pages that aren’t about search engine optimization, you’ll want to include an in-text link to your search engine optimization page using those three words together as your link text, just like in this sentence.
Search engines view anchor text links as more valuable because they occur right in the middle of your content as you are communicating about your topic. Being surrounded by related content makes the link appear more natural and search engines like natural links. The link is said to anchor the text, or ground it if you will, to your page, making your content more solid. The reason you want to use a keyword - preferably a keyword that is important to the page you are linking to - is because that keyword tells readers and spiders what the page being linked to is all about. It serves a dual purpose: First, relevance, and secondly, a doorway for your targeted traffic.
There you have it. That’s the low down on anchor text. Now get out there and anchors away!
Affordable Internet Marketing Services, including SEO, Pay Per Click, Blog Marketing & More! For More Info Call Expert Nick Stamoulis at: 877-295-0620.
Category: SEO
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