Google recently filed a US patent which reveals a great deal of how they rank your web site. Some of it you could never have guessed at... By Darren Yates, 6/11/2005
Google recently filed a US patent which reveals a great deal of how they rank your web site. Some of it you could never have guessed at... How many years did you register your domain name for? If it was only one then Google could hold that against you. Why? Because the majority of Spam websites only register a domain name for one year. A domain name registered for a longer period implies that the owner is more likely to be legitimate and serious about their web site. This is just one of the unusual factors possibly considered by Google when indexing and ranking a website. Factors you could never even have guessed at in some cases. How do I know this? Google recently made public, March 31 2005, the contents of their filing of United States Patent Application 20050071741. In which many of the search giant’s secret ranking criteria is revealed and it makes very interesting reading. You must read this if you are serious about ranking well in Google. The days of Spamming Google are drawing to a close. With this patent they reveal just how hard they're coming down on Spam sites. You Do Not want to get caught out. Listed below you will find the hard facts, I recommend that you bookmark this page now. You will need to reference it each time you optimize a new site. • Links. It's common knowledge that Google relies heavily on inbound relevant links to rank a site. Now they explain exactly how it works. As well as the number, quality and anchor text factors of a link. Google seems to also consider historical factors. Apparently the Google 'sandbox' or aging delay begins count down the minute links to a new site are discovered. Google records the discovery of a link, link changes over time, the speed at which a site gains links and the link life span. With this in mind, fast link acquisition may be a strong indicator of potential search engine Spam. Gone are the days of pages and pages full of links. You must grow your links slowly to stay below the radar and be careful who you exchange links with. That means no more buying hundreds of links at once or other underhand tactics. PR is now very valuable. Your link anchor text should vary but remain consistent with your site content. No more using your main keywords on every link exchange you gain. That's 'anchor Spam'. Instead vary them around your top five to ten keywords. Link exchanges are still very important but you must work and utilize them ethically. If you don't and you get caught, the recovery from a ban can be months and your host and IP may also be recorded. Softly seems to be the message. The fact is fewer but better quality links will benefit you more and they will be much more likely to be over the long-term which is good too. • Site click through rates (CTR) CTR may now be monitored through cache, temporary files, bookmarks and favorites via the Google toolbar or desktop tools. Many have suspected for some time that sites are rewarded for good CTR with a raise in ranking. Similar to how Adwords works. CTR is monitored to see if fresh or stale content is preferred for a search result. CTR is also analyzed for increases or decreases relating to trends or seasons. • Web page rankings are recorded and monitored for changes. • The traffic to a web page is recorded and monitored over time. • Sites can be ranked seasonally. A ski site may rank higher in the winter than in the summer. Google can monitor and rank pages by recording CTR changes by season. • Bookmarks and favorites could be monitored for changes, deletions or additions. • User behavior in general could be monitored. As Google is capable of tracking traffic to your site you should closely monitor the small amount of copy returned in search results. Ideally you will want to integrate a call to action in there to increase your listings CTR. Clicks away from your site back to the search results are also monitored. Make your site as sticky as possible to keep visitors there longer. As mentioned above it may also help if you could get your visitors to bookmark you. • The frequency and amount of page updates is monitored and recorded as is the number of pages. Mass updates of hundreds of files will see you pop up on the radar. On the other hand, few or small updates to your site could see your rankings slide --unless your CTR is good. A stale page that receives good traffic may hold it's own and not require an update. So don't update for the sake of it. Depending on your market, fresh content may not be a requirement. If the information your pages contain do not go out of date then updating may not be necessary. If your market is more news based for example, then changes regularly are a must. In general changes don't necessarily have to mean fresh content. They could involve simple edits to current content. A further indicator that Google is really cracking down on Spam is made clear in the following extract from the Patent. Reference is made to changing the focus of multiple pages at once. Here's the quote - "A significant change over time in the set of topics associated with a document may indicate that the document has changed owners and previous document indicators, such as score, anchor text, 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 set of one or more topics over what may be considered a ’stable’ period of time and then a (sudden) spike occurs in the number of topics associated with the document, this may be an indication that the document has been taken over as a ‘doorway’ document. Another indication may include the sudden disappearance of the original topics associated with the document. If one or more of these situations are detected, then [Google] may reduce the relative score of such documents and/or the links, anchor text, or other data associated the document." There's still more to look out for:- • Changes in keyword density is monitored and recorded as are changes to anchor text. • The domain name owner’s address is considered, most likely to help in a local search result. • The technical and admin contact details are checked for consistency. These are often falsified for Spam domains. • Your hosts IP address. If you are on a shared server it's possible somebody else on that server is using dirty tactics or Spamming. If so, your site will suffer since you share the same IP. The impression I get here is that Google has learned from the Spam 'attack' they suffered in early 2004 and they are determined to eradicate it from their listing results. So what do you do? There's a lot to take onboard here and consider. But you can't go far wrong with your SEO if you try to grow your site as organically as possible. If you know what you are doing you can take short cuts. Carry on with link exchanges but consider each site carefully and slow down in your gathering of them. Vary your anchor text. Add small amounts of good quality content to your site regularly. Check your search engine listings and edit your site to include a call to action in them if possible. Make your site more 'sticky' to encourage visitors to stay a while. Encourage visitors to Bookmark your site. Oh, and register new domain names for at least two years. Before you do anything remember to reference the above info first. It may just save you months of misery as your site gets banned and 'Sand boxed'. Overall keep it ethical and you can't go far wrong. Do not be tempted to Spam. Stick to the guidelines above and you are much more likely to outlast and out rank your competition.
1.Include your logo in all pages. Position it at the top left or each page.
2.Complement your logo with a tagline or catchy sentence that summarizes your business purpose. For example "Always low prices" is the tagline for Wal-Mart.
3.Create a favicon. A favicon is that small graphic that appears next to the URL in the address bar.
4.Have a consistent look and feel in all your pages. Use a color scheme and layout that are clearly recognized across your site.
5.Have an About Us section that includes all relevant information about you and your business.
6.Include a copyright statement at the bottom of each page.
Tips on website navigation
7.Design your pages to load in less than 10 seconds (50Kb maximum size, including pictures).
8.Group your navigational options in relevant categories.
9.Use common names for your menu options: Home, About Us, Contact Us, Help, Products. Avoid "clever" or "trendy" alternatives.
10.If your site uses Flash, provide also an HTML version for users who prefer a less fancy, faster site.
11.Provide simple text navigation links at the bottom of long pages, so users don’t need to scroll back up.
12.Link your logo to your homepage, except in the homepage itself. Put a link to your homepage on all your internal pages.
13.Display a "breadcrumb trail"; it is basically the path from the homepage to the page where you are. A breadcrumb trail looks like this: Home > Section > Sub-Section > Page, and it greatly facilitates navigation.
14.If your site is too big, provide Search capabilities. Include a search box in the upper right corner of your homepage, and a link to a Search page from your interior pages.
15.Set your search box to search your site, not to search the web.
16.Create a custom error page that displays a simple site map with links to the main sections of your site. That way, you will not lose visitors that have followed a bad link to your site or who have misspelled your URL.
Tips on Layout and Content Presentation
17.Save the top of your page for your most important content. Remember: good content must flow to the top.
18.Lay out your page with tables, and set the width in percentage terms instead of a fixed number of pixels. That way, your page will always fit the screen, without the need to scroll horizontally.
19.Optimize your page to be viewed best at 800x600 (the most popular resolution at the time of this writing).
20.Use high contrast for the body of your page: black text on white background, or white text on black background work best.
21.Don’t use too many different fonts in one page. Also, avoid using small serif fonts (like Times Roman): they are difficult to read from a computer screen. Verdana is the most web-friendly font, since it is wide, clean and easy to read.
22.Avoid long blocks of text. Use tools that facilitate scanability, like bullets, subtitles, highlighted keywords, hyperlinks, etc.
23.Avoid amateurish features like: numeric page counters, wholesale use of exclamation points, all caps, center justified blocks of text, excessive animated gifs, busy backgrounds, etc.
24.Don’t use pop-up windows. They distract your visitors and are immediately dismissed as ads.
25.Test your site so that it looks good in different browsers and resolutions.
Tips on Writing for the Web
26.Write in layman’s terms so that everybody can understand your content, unless you’re running a technical site for technical people.
27.Reading from a screen is painful: use 50% less words than you would use on print.
28.If a page is too long, break it into several pages and link to them.
29.Don’t use font sizes smaller than 10pt. for the body of your page. Specify your fonts in percentage terms instead of pixels, to let users set their own size preferences using their browser’s text view options.
30.Use a spell checker. Spelling mistakes are embarrassing and hurt credibility.
Tips to Know Your Customers
31.Ask for feedback: include a feedback form in your Contact Us page.
32.Publish an ezine and include a subscription form in your homepage. Give your customers valuable information and encourage them to contact you.
33.Include polls and other tools to gather market intelligence.
Tips on Linking
34.Make your links descriptive. They should indicate what the user will be linking to, as opposed to just saying "click here".
35.Don’t underline anything that is not a link.
36.Underline your links and use a consistent color for them across your site (preferably blue).
37.Use a different color for visited links, so that your visitors know where they’ve been (preferably purple or a more subdued tone of the unvisited links color).
38.When linking to a non-HTML file, such as Excel, Word or Acrobat, make it evident, by including a small icon next to the link.
39.Don’t link to "under construction" pages.
40.Make sure that your links work and that you don’t have broken links. There are free online tools that can help you with this.
41.If you use graphic links, don’t forget to use the ALT attribute. The ALT attribute should describe what are you linking to.
Tips on how to use graphics
42.Optimize your graphics. Use only .gif and .jpg formats. Make your image files as small as possible while maintaining acceptable quality. Use a free online graphics optimization tool.
43.Use thumbnails (miniature versions of a picture) and make them clickable to the actual size picture.
44.Avoid graphics that look like ads. People ignore them.
45.Use the ALT attribute on pictures, even the image is not a link. It helps users with disabilities and people who have turned off graphics.
Tips to optimize your site for the search engines:
46.Create short, descriptive page titles, to entice search engine users to click on your links.
47.Create a site map containing all your pages, and link to it directly from your homepage. Search engine robots will follow the link to your site map and will most likely add all your pages to the index.
48.Decide what the two or three main keywords are for each page (the words you believe search engine users will type to find your page) and repeat them often in your page title, description meta tag and page body.
49.Create a Links page and call it Resources. In it, place links to those sites that have agreed to place a reciprocal link to your page. The more inbound links you have from quality sites with a topic related to your site, the better your site will rank with the search engines.
50.Use more text than graphics, and minimize the use of Flash and JavaScript. Search engines heavily favor text and will crawl and index your site faster.
Why Blogs Have Become the Search Engine Optimization Equalizer
Blogs Are The Great Equalizer
Blogs are the great equalizer because they simplify the task of adding content to a website on a daily or weekly basis. They make it simple for the average joe to add content to their site on a daily basis with just a few clicks of the mouse.
What is more, the spider search engine companies recognize this and make it a point to spider the blog networks on a regular basis, sometimes a daily basis.
It may take a spider search engine up to three months to spider your site if you go directly to their submission page to add your domain to their database. On the other hand, with a blog, you can put a story about your domain on a blog with a link to your domain, and your website can generally get crawled within a week or so of putting your link on the blog.
Blogs Require A Commitment On Your Part
Daily additions to your blog should be your goal. If you do not have time to do daily additions, you should at worst do a weekly addition to your blog.
Just like in the real world of websites, if you don't update your blog on a regular basis, the spiders will save their time and resources by not spidering your blog on a daily basis. If however you do update on a daily or near daily basis, then the spiders will visit your blog with the same fervor you bring to your blog.
Additionally, it sometimes seems like the search engine spiders are giving some additional weďght to the results culled from the blogs. The point in this additional weighting is that blogs are filled with personal comments and recommendations rather than salës pitches.
Blogs Are Easy To Set Up, Even For The Rank Amateur
There are in fact several blog programs available that you can either load into your own domain or that you can use from a third-party, remotely-hosted server.
To see a list of the blogging programs that are available, check-out this link:
My personal favorite is Blogger.com which happens to be owned by Google. Blogger allows you the ability to use the software from their servers or to integrate the blog software into your own site with very little effort on your part.
I was able to integrate their software into our own site and to customize the display of the blogger to fit our domain's format, and I was able to pull that task off in just about 30 minutes --- with most of that time dedicated to the custom display of our blog.
Add to the simplicity of setting up the blog, the fact that since blogger.com is owned by Google.com, they will always be very keen to spider our blog on a regular basis.
From launch of our website, to the spidering of our site by Google took just about ten days. Within three days of the launch of our site, Google had spidered the main page of our site. Within ten days, Google had already spidered the whole of our website.
Compared to other websites we have launched, this was the fastest turn-around time from new release to traffďc from the search engines. We believe the difference in this case study had to do more with the addition of the blog on the day of our launch than anything else we may have done to promote our domain.
Equalize Your Site With The Sites Of The Big Boys
The big sites on the internet got to be that way because they consistently add new, original, and exclusive content to their websites.
While you and I may nevër have as much content on our sites as the big boys do, we can benefit from the lessons they teach to us.
Now that you have also learned this important lesson, it is time to put this knowledge into action. Make it part of your daily or weekly schedule to add fresh, interesting content to your website. Your banker will thank you.
About The Author Hunter Waterhouse is one of the editors at: KeywordText.com. "Keyword Text" managed to bring together several writers and editors to provide a few low-cost writing services for those who are working hard to become more profitable. They offer Content Creation Services which include: Exclusive WebPage Content and Reprint Articles. Keyword Text also offers very attractive Volume discounts. Compare us to our competition, you will be surprised. http://keywordtext.com/dir.pl/ktc/index.html
The Secret Sauce in Web Site Marketing By Scottie Claiborne
Web site marketing is about getting people to your site, then convincing them to take action: buy, join, subscribe, read more, etc. I'm going to give you the secrët to unlocking the potential in your website. Right now. Absolutely for frëe. (Of course, if you WANT to send monëy, feel frëe to do so!
The Secret is Words
Hmm ... not very exciting, is it? You were expecting something flashier and unexpected probably... like special meta tags or coding or a secrët search engine ranking recipe. The truth is that many websites just need more descriptive copy.
When many business owners set out to build a website, they start by looking at images, themes, and color schemes. They worry over technology like flash and javascrďpt, wanting their site to be "cool" and outdo the competition. Their focus is on the visual and the interactive elements of the site. They pony up thousands of dollars to designers and coders to get that cool, interactive site they feel they must have, then they get someone in the office who's not busy at the moment to throw together some copy. It's almost an afterthought.
All You Need is Words
Ok, maybe that isn't all you need, but words are The Most Important aspect of your site. The professional that most people think they can do without -the copywriter- is the one who can have the biggest impact on the success of your site. No matter what your website looks like, plain and simple or a triumph of visual graphic art, if the words are right it will convert.
Search Engine Rankings & Customer Conversions
Search engine spiders can't read pictures. They can't read Flash very well, although they are making strides in that direction. The same goes for javascrďpt and other non-html technologies; for the most part search engine spiders ignore what they don't understand and look for what they do understand- text.
The words that are visible to people reading the page are the key element that search engine spiders use to determine what your page is about. (The other key element is links- we'll cover that in a future article.) Once the engine knows what the page is about, they can show that page to people who are searching for the words found on that page. That sounds pretty simplistic, but it's amazing how many pages only contain a picture and a few words, or flash animations, or other non-text items.
Sometimes the text on the page is really an image and not text at all, making the information virtually invisible to search engines. Some designers will tell you that putting the text from the image into the alt attribute of the image will solve the problem, but alt text is virtually ignored these days by the major engines. It's too easy to put irrelevant information in an alt attribute.
While the site owner often thinks the picture says it all and the web designer thinks it is cutting edge, the customer wants to know more. The web is a research tool as well as a marketing medium and when viewing a commercial site people want to know all the benefits, sizes, colors, and configurations.
Words Make All the Difference
A company rents cotton candy machines in Kalamazoo, SC. Their Cotton Candy Machine page has a big picture of a Cotton Candy Machine with "Cotton Candy Machine- $45" under it. Their page title says "Cotton Candy". That's all. A searcher typing in "cotton candy machine rental Kalamazoo" will not be able to find this page, because the search engine doesn't know that is what the page is about!
A potential customer who does find the page may look at it and think, "Hmnn... the other rental place has their machine for $40, I'll call them instead."
You need pictures and words in order to sell effectively.
Let's take our cotton candy example and redo that page in order to get more search hits and more customers calling to book it:
Title: "Cotton Candy Machine Rental in Kalamazoo, SC"
Picture: Nice photo that we already had.
Heading: "Cotton Candy Machine Rental"
Copy:
Add excitement to your next party or event with our Cotton Candy Machine for rent! The sweet aroma and taste of fresh cotton candy can turn any party into a festival.
You can also raise funds for your organization with our Cotton Candy Machine! Sell cotton candy at your next carnival, festival, or even gatherings such as school PTO meetings or church get-togethers.
The low rental price of just $45 includes delivery, and we can even supply you with cotton candy flosssugar and cones.
Why Rent a Cotton Candy Machine from Our Company?
We are the only company in Kalamazoo, SC that offers a cotton candy machine with a safety bubble for your protection. Our Cotton Candy Machine is cleaned and sanitized after every use and inspected for proper operation before delivery. We'll even review the operating procedures with you when we drop it off.
Page footer on every page: Our Company Party Rentals in Kalamazoo, SC. Call us today! (999) 999-9999
The Payoff
A search engine will know that page is about cotton candy machine rental in Kalamazoo and your customers will know the benefits of renting from you. By taking the time to put all the information about a product or service and repeating the key terms where they make sense you can:
Help search engines to know what the page is about
Give people a reason to buy
Reinforce your company services or offerings
Spend less time on the phone/sending e-mails giving out basic information
Identify the location for local businesses
None of that requires a special copywriter, designer, or programmer. You can do it yourself!
Don't be tempted to sneak in extra words... hidden text is penalized these days and stuffing words in your image alt attributes is a waste of time; most engines completely disregard it. And semi-visible or tiny text looks very unprofessional to your clients- it's just not needed. If you can't work it into the visible copy, you don't need it on the page.
Write a page title that reflects what the page is about, a good meta description, keywords that appear on the page, then put all the information you have about the product or service on that page in visible text for your visitors to read. If your writing skills are lacking, hiring a web copywriter, or even better an SEO copywriter. It may very well be the best investmënt you can make in your web marketing strategy!
About The Author Scottie Claiborne is the owner of Right Clďck Web Consulting and the facilitator of the Successful Sites Newsletter. She is a speaker at the Search Engine Strategies conferences and the High Rankings Seminars as well as the administrator of the High Rankings Forum.
When you're searching through the Internet you will find endless amounts of information, about everything, and all at your fingertips. The Internet is the largest source of knowledge in the world. Why is this? Because anyone can get their information on there. All you need is a web site and a resource generous web hosting company.
Many people think that getting their website on the Internet is an expensive venture, fortunately though, this need not necessarily be true; if you find the right web host, the benefits of having a web site will definitely outweigh the costs.
There are many different ways to benefit from having a web site, whether it is for personal gain, or to aid your business success. Those who have their own personal websites generally use them to further an interest or a hobby; having a web site is a great way to share and exchange knowledge with others. Businesses on the other hand use a website to promote and market their goods and services, while cutting back on such expenses as postage, couriers and advertising, etc.
These are but a few key benefits of owning a website:
Increased awareness of products and services - Businesses can now greatly expand their markets, no need to constrain the focus to only the local scene, but by using the Internet, businesses can venture into international and regional markets, with greater ease. This dynamically changes the nature and the marketing activities of some businesses, possibly encouraging the business to expand the diversity of its products and services, to meet these new markets. Websites, in their nature, allow hundreds and thousands of items to be on view 24/7; thus encouraging wider viewing, and extended trading hours.
Freedom - With the freedom of being able to post your information on your website, hence on the Internet, at any time of the day; available information of all variations is increasing at a huge rate. The freedom to browse anywhere and interact with anyone is enough to tempt the smallest of businesses and the most introverted of people to get on the Net; hence Net users are increasing in numbers, at an alarming rate, approximately 50,000 per day. Businesses are buzzing on the Net, they have found a way to compete on an even field, with even the largest of corporations; and within a daily increasing customer marketplace.
Cost advantage - Net businesses are extremely aware of how they can profit by being on the Internet; they can advertise their products and services without the huge costs, and delays of printing, publishing and distribution. The market is a global one, which adds greater value to the costs outlaid for promotion and marketing; compared to the limits of offline. E- commerce facilities can be incorporated into the website, transforming 2D screen visuals into user reactive models, for example, consumers can order their products and services online, greatly reducing administration expenses. Reduction of telephone calls to potential customers; follow ups by email; newsletters digitally made, promoted by email or downloadable from the website, with reduction of distribution costs; less promotional material sent out, printed and wasted; extended trading hours without a human presence; are just a few ways to cut costs.
The current opinion is that any business not on the Internet now or in the near future is not only missing out on the rewards of this new and vibrant industry, but is adding itself to the list of "the forgotten".Don't waste time scratching your head wondering what the Internet can do to benefit your business, you will be left behind; instead, think about how you can take advantage of this new and cheap form of industry awareness. Look for a web designer, or web developer, get a quote, and tell them what you need.
A press release is pseudo-news story, written in third person, that seeks to demonstrate to an editor or reporter the newsworthiness of a particular person, event, service or product.
How is a press release used?
Press releases are often sent alone, by e-mail, fax or snail mail. They can also be part of a full press kit, or may be accompanied by a pitch letter.
What does a press release look like?
Here's a template you can use to format your press release correctly:
Note: The three #'s mark the end of the press release.
What should I put in my press release?
Stop right now and click here to read our in-depth advice about packaging yourself as newsworthy. This is an important step – so don't skip it!
Let's stick with the theme presented in that report: you run an vitamin web site specializing in weight-loss products. Through the process described in the report, you've nailed down a nice, newsworthy topic – teenagers and how they deal with issues of weight. But that's a broad topic, not a story.
In the report, we provided a number of ideas for potential stories. Let's pick the first one and craft a press release.
The story: What do kids think about a "thin is in" society?
As you sift through your message boards looking for quotes, you see a trend appearing. There are lots of messages criticizing Hollywood actresses and pop singers for being too thin. Many girls are saying that seeing these women make them feel bad about their own bodies. A number of the boys are pointing out that they don't find ultra-thin women appealing.
Now you've got your angle -- your hook that will grab a reporter's attention:
Teenagers think that a "thin is in" society pretty much stinks.
Now let's get writing.
Press Release Headline
Before you write a word, remember this:
The reporter isn't interested in helping you make money or driving visitors to your site. He's looking for a story that will be interesting to his readers and pleasing to his editor. He could care less about your great selection, super customer service and commitment to quality. He wants to know only the info that will help him craft a good story about teens and their weight.
Take your ego out of it. Take your natural inclination to sell, sell, sell out of it. Look at your story with a cold, objective eye.
OK, let's get to our press release headline.
State your most exciting news, finding or announcement in as few words as possible. Emulate the headlines you see in the newspaper every day.
Bad Press Release Headline:
NEW WEBSITE THAT OFFERS HERBAL WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAMS LETS TEENS SPEAK OUT ABOUT WEIGHT ISSUES
Good Press Release Headline:
TEENS: ULTRA-THIN MOVIE, POP STARS SET BAD EXAMPLE
Don't worry, you'll get to plug your website soon enough. In the meantime, you've just thrown a meaty hook at the reporter.
The Press Release Subhead
Subheads are remarkably useful tools, yet usually overlooked by press release writers. Basically, the press release subhead gives you the opportunity to flesh out your angle and further hook the reporter, without stepping on the drama of the press release headline.
Here's a headline/subhead combo I might use for this press release:
TEENS: ULTRA-THIN MOVIE, POP STARS SET BAD EXAMPLE
Website Forumgoers Weigh In: Teens Don't Find Ultra-Thin Celebs Attractive;
Girls Say Negative Self-Images Reinforced by Hollywood's Super-Skinny
The Press Release Lead
It's Journalism 101 -- the lead paragraph includes the who, what, when, were and how of the story. If the reporter were only to read the lead of a good press release, he'd have everything he needed to get started.
There's no room for BS, hype or sell. Just the facts.
Bad Press Release Lead
Recently on theplace4vitamins.com, an online store dedicated to selling the best herbal products, teenagers had the chance to say what they thought about weight loss and whether a society that pressures young people to be thin is a good thing or a bad thing.
Good Press Release Lead America's teenagers are angry at Hollywood for glamorizing ultra-thin bodies, and many girls say they feel too self-conscious about their bodies as a result of watching TV, movies and music videos. The findings are gleaned from more than six months of ongoing discussion and debate at the website theplace4vitamins.com. According to theplace4vitamins.com President John Smith, anger and resentment toward the Hollywood ultra-thin runs deep, particularly among teenage girls.
The Rest of the Press Release
The balance of the press release serves to back up whatever claims were made in the lead and headline. In this case, you'd pull some quotes from the message boards (an aside here: if you really were to pull quotes in this fashion, you should only use the poster's name or identifying information with his or her permission. Otherwise, simply say "a 14 year old boy said..." or "a 16 year old Midwestern girl added..." Also, if this technique appeals to you, be certain that a disclaimer appears on your message boards notifying posters that all posts become your property and copyright). Use enough supporting material to make your case, and to demonstrate that, whatever angle you're promoting, it wasn't something you slapped together carelessly.
Next, a quote will help put in some perspective:
"I was surprised by the level of anger expressed in these messages," Smith said. "Teenagers are far more clued into this issue than most people would imagine."
Or, you might ask an expert for a quote:
"This demonstrates once again the need to teach young girls and boys about how to develop a positive self-image," said Jane Doe, author of "I Like My Body Just As It Is". "theplace4vitamins.com has done a true service by bringing these attitudes to the public's attention."
Finally, spend a sentence or two describing your company and what you do:
theplace4vitamins.com was founded in 1997 to provide consumers with a wide choice of vitamins, supplements and herbal products. The site offers a range of articles, research materials and message forums for the health conscious consumer.
This paragraph is known as the "boilerplate" -- an old newspaper term meaning a block of standard text that's used over and over again (e.g. the explanation of symbols on the stock price page). In this case, it's text that you might use at the bottom of all your releases.
Place your boilerplate right above the # # #'s.
One more trick: below the ###'s, add a line that says something like:
If you'd like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with John Smith, please call Pat Brown at 555/555-2222 or e-mail Pat at pr@theplace4vitamins.com
Some Key Things to Remember
Stay away from hype-bloated phrases like "breakthrough", "unique", "state-of-the-art", etc.
Always write it from a journalist's perspective. Never use "I" or "we" unless it's in a quote.
Read lots of good newspaper writing, such as the New York Times or the Washington Post to get a feel for the style.
Shorter is better. If you can say it in two pages, great. If you can say it in one page, better.
There are many ways to build traffic. In this tip we will explain a couple free sure fire ways to increase your traffic.
– Add interactive features to your site, such as guest books, message boards, online polls, postcard services, or chat rooms. These features increase the "stickiness" of your site, that quality that causes user retention ... in other words, repeat traffic.
– Encourage your visitors to participate in the creation of your site. For example, add a classified ad section, or a links submission page, or a feedback form that allows users to post their comments.
– Provide valuable information. This may sound like an obvious piece of advice, but it is surprising how many websites really don't offer much else than a glowing tribute to themselves. Do some digging, offer real information about the topic of your site, like recipes for a cooking site, or a photo swap service for an automotive site.
– Offer links to other sites that offer services you may not be able to provide. An example might be a link to a free search engine submitter for a webmaster-related site; or a link to a currency converter on a travel site; or a link to a mortgage calculator on a real estate site. It's amazing but true that people will remember your site as if you were actually providing the service.
– Join a traffic exchange program. Most of these programs work by exchanging links, or popunders with other sites, which in turn increases your overall number of "unique" visitors.
– Increase word of mouth. Don't ever underestimate the power of word of mouth. You can help this process along by using a tell-a-friend service, where users can quickly and easily email your website URL to their friends, without leaving your site.
With these tips, you will have your counter spinning in no time at all!
Electronic Newsletters or Ezines are a must have for any growing online enterprise. A well-planned ezine is a way to build your website's traffic base, as well as generating income through advertising.
Success for any ezine rests chiefly on growing your readership. Here are five ways to do that:
Include a link or form within the navigation menu on your site, ensuring maximum exposure and build your list.
Add a link to your ezine subscription on all outgoing e-mail with a signature file.
Trade ad spots in other ezines to promote your website. Track subscribers if possible.
Post articles to other ezines, with a link back to your site to generate interest in your own ezine. As well as increasing your link-backs, for online publications.
Encourage your subscribers to refer and/or forward the publication to their friends.
Make the newsletter useful and unique. Be sure that the newsletter provides a service or information that is in demand.
Comply with anti-spam regulations. The last thing you want is to have your list blacklisted due to being considered spam.
For a list of some of the Ezine Submission Sites and Ezine directores from around the Web, visit TrafficZap.com
What are conversions? A conversion is when you take a raw visitor, and turn them into a buyer, member, or reader, depending what your final goal is. Increasing your rate of conversion is pivotal in running a successful web site. Here are some tips on how to increase your conversion rate.
– Explain your product in detail. Shoppers do not want to ask questions if they do not have to. Give the shopper all the information they need to make the decision to purchase. Some shoppers will leave if they do not find the information they are looking for.
– Include your phone number, or a link to your contact page on all pages throughout your site. It is especially important to include it on all product information pages and payment pages.
– Price your product according to the market. Do some research; make sure your product is competitive in the market. It is extremely easy for someone to shop the competition online, so make sure you know what they are going to find elsewhere, and that your product is better.
– Make sure your site is attractive. A user needs to feel secure if they are going to buy online, if your site is not attractive, they will not feel secure, and will not buy.
– Provide multiple payment methods. Allow a user to pay in many ways, such as PayPal. Consider allowing checks, and use a payment provider that allows for e-checks.
Following these very simple tips will help you increase the effectiveness of your online marketing campaign.
Affiliate Marketing - The best way to market your products.
You may not know this, but lately We've been researching how to successfully grow a business on the Internet. And through this research, We've uncovered an extremely powerful marketing technique that we knew you'd want to hear about... It literally allows you to advertise your business all over the Web, on thousands of web sites, absolutely FREE!
You only pay when you make a sale... and that means you ONLY PAY FOR ADVERTISING THAT WORKS! It's called an "Affiliate Program" (also referred to as a Reseller or Associate Program), and it simply involves allowing other people to promote your product or service in exchange for a small commission each time they make a sale. These people, referred to as "affiliates," send visitors to your site using banner ads, text links, personal letters of recommendation, etc... and for every visitor they send you that buys, you pay the affiliate a small percentage of the profits you make (called a "referral fee"). Pretty impressive, right?
We thought so too... It is quite literally the ultimate performance-based advertising because YOU ONLY EVER PAY FOR RESULTS! Hundreds, even thousands, of people can promote your products on every corner of the Web, and you only ever pay them when they make a sale!
However, even though Affiliate Programs are... A HIGHLY PROFITABLE MARKETING TOOL ... a critical point we've realized from the research is that your Affiliate Program can only be as good as the software that is running it for you!
If you want to be the biggest and best -- and literally BLOW PAST YOUR COMPETITION with an army of affiliates that only get paid when they make a sale -- you had better have software that is GUARANTEED to track every visitor your affiliates send you ... no questions asked! But do you need to spend $2,000 to $10,000+ on Affiliate Program software... and then hundreds of dollars a month thereafter... in order to build a successful Affiliate Program?
At first we thought so (a lot of the so-called "experts" will tell you this is the only way to go), but then we discovered this powerful software that blows its overpriced competition out of the water. Honestly, if you're interested in starting your own Affiliate Program and advertising your business on thousands of web sites for FREE -- only paying when an ACTUAL SALE is made -- then we'd highly recommend checking out the following web site:
Here you'll find *accurate* information (along with some really VALUABLE MARKETING TIPS) about how you can start your very own successful Affiliate Program using software designed by a highly-respected Internet marketer who has one of the most successful Affiliate Programs on the Web. (This guy got frustrated by those $2,000 to $10,000+ options and decided to take matters into his own hands... with impressive results!)
After all the research we've done, this is truly the best information we've found for starting your own Affiliate Program -- and that's why we wanted to make sure you have the same opportunity to profit.
What better way to start the new year than with more traffic to your web site. Web traffic is a critical part of your internet business and it is imperative that you design it to bring you the most amount of traffic possible.
Designing your site for traffic includes offering good content, easy navigation and a logical flow. Additionally you must also build your site to draw traffic from the search engines because if you can obtain high search engine ranking, you can enjoy free traffic.
It's important to note, however that good ranking won't do you much good without a well designed site and a well designed site can't bring you visitors if no one knows it's there. Both high ranking and good design need to work together.
How do we pull all this together? Let's take a look.
-A Word About Design-
A huge mistake I see many website owners make is that they get caught up in making their site cute. They love the little animations, buttons and dramatic backgrounds. What they fail to consider is that these things are worthless if you don't offer good content, easy navigation and a logical flow.
First of all don't try to be everything to everyone. Design your site around a theme, preferably a niche theme. Don't confuse your readers with links all over the page. Design a logical flow. Lead your viewers to where you would like them to go. Leave plenty of white space and keep your pages organized. Clearly state at the top of your pages what you are about and what you would like your viewers to do.
Secondly, I don't recommend pop-ups. I find that the majority of internet users find them annoying. The demand for pop-up blockers is a good indication that viewers don't want to see them.
Thirdly, offer good content. Provide information on your site that will help viewers solve a problem. Offer information that they might not get elsewhere. Write reviews regarding your products. Write newsletters and articles and most importantly offer something of value for free. Give your viewers a reason to come back. It will also build trust in you.
-Traffic Builders-
Good search engine ranking can bring lots of visitors to your site. It often takes a few months to rank well but the payoff is lots of qualified traffic. While it's not practical to depend solely on search engines for traffic it can complement your other advertising campaigns nicely. Aiming for high search engine placement is always a plus.
Keep these in mind when developing your site for the search engines:
- Domain Names
Choose a domain name that has your site keywords in it. For example, if you're a site about pet care, try to include the words "pet care" or words related to pet care in your domain name if you can.
- Keywords
Keywords require research and there are several tools to help you out in this area. These are my favorites:
I suggest focusing on only one keyword or keyword phrase per page of your website. This may not seem like a lot but if your site has 20 pages you can focus on 20 keywords. Each page should be considered a landing page for your site. If you have proper navigation on your pages, it will easily allow viewers to see everything you have to offer.
Include your keyword or keyword phrase at the top of your page as well as in at least one header phrase. Also work the keywords into the body of your text as often as you can without sounding redundant.
Your keywords should be in the Title tag as well as in your page description tag. Many search engines no longer look at the keyword tags, but I recommend using them and including the plural forms as well.
- Alt Tags
Search engines don't index images, therefore any text on your site that is presented in image format won't get indexed. To solve this problem, you can enter the image description in the ALT tag. To be sure that the search engines recognize all the content on your site, fill in your ALT tags with your keywords. This will boost your keyword frequency and help your site achieve better ranking.
- Linking
Search engines will rate your site by who is linking to your site, so it's important to establish quality, related links. This can be accomplished in a few ways. One way is to establish reciprocal links with other like sites. When exchanging links be sure to include your keywords in your site title.
Review the page you are exchanging links with. Be sure it is a site that you find easy to navigate and informative. I also recommend that the site's index page have a Google PR rating of at least one. This ensures that the site is not being penalized by Google. If it is a penalized site then you could be penalized as well for linking to it.
- Include a 'tell a friend' and 'bookmark' script on your site.
This gives viewers an easy way to bookmark you and most of all return to your site.
- Include a Site Map
Site Maps let visitors know what information you have, how it's organized, where it is located with respect to other information, and how to get to that information with the least amount of clicks possible.
Site maps also provide spider food for search engine robots. This can increase your chances of becoming indexed because a site map allows the search engines to easily visit every page of your site.
A site map works best if you include a link to your site map in the navigation of every page on your site.
Finally, don't let your site become stale. I have found that my search engine rankings improve when I periodically add new pages to my site and keep the content new and fresh. Follow these tips and 2005 may be
your year for traffic.
About The Author
Elizabeth McGee has spent 20 years in the service and support industry. She has moved her expertise to the world wide web helping businesses find trusted tools, enhance customer service, build confidence and increase sales. You can visit Elizabeth's sites at: HomeNotion.comPro-Marketing-Online.com
Those @yahoo, @gmail or @hotmail.com addresses just don’t cut it in business.
When a business establishes a website yet operates from personal Yahoo!™ or Hotmail™ email accounts, it sends a certain message to the customers. In a word: unprofessional. Customers need to feel your services are credible and that your company will be there long term. The importance of email accounts with your business name help convey a sense of legitimacy.
Legitimize Your Business Just as you would set-up a separate bank account for your company, differentiating business email accounts from personal legitimizes your business correspondence and makes maintenance and customer care easier. A business based email also creates brand identity and awareness
What To Do with 1000 Email Accounts? (Much Less 500) The real values in today’s cheap web hosting market are the many services and features bundled into hosting packages. Email accounts are not only part and parcel of most packages but many offer a number of free email accounts, some as many as 1000. At first glance this might seem excessive but consider the many uses and benefits of multiple accounts and you’ll see how valuable they can be.
Market Your Business Business based emails offer a myriad of opportunities to market your company, including: newsletters, customer service inquiries, promotions, coupons, service announcements, new product announcements, seasonal or holiday promotions, greetings, and invitations. Email marketing is also a great way to save money on the cost of printing collateral such as brochures.
Grow Your Business As your business expands, you should have enough email accounts to support the growth. Email accounts can be set up for employees, departmental lists, project-specific groups for sharing of information or even separate business ventures. Many resellers use their multiple accounts to sell to and set-up email for their many clients.
The Bottom Line It’s cheaper to take advantage of bundled email accounts. Not only do they legitimize, market, and grow your company but bundled email accounts are more cost effective than adding them as you go.
Over 1,000+ PAGES of the Hottest, Proven Profitable Internet Business Secrets Broken Down Into An EASY-TO-DUPLICATE System... and split into 3 easy monthly payments so you can pay from the profits you earn!
Corey Rudl is the owner of four highly successful online businesses that attract more than 6,000,000 visitors and generate over $5.2 million each year. He is also the author of the #1 best-selling Internet Marketing course online.
To check out his site that's jam-packed with THE EXACT INFORMATION YOU NEED to start, build, and grow your very own profitable Internet business, we highly recommend visiting:
So you've done all the research, built your website and you're ready to show it off to the world and make your Internet fortune. "Whoa," not so fast there, Mister. If you haven't included an ezine, your site is missing out on a major online marketing tool. Here's why the decision to include one or not can lead to your website's success or ultimate failure.
FIRST TIME VISITORS
Let's face it: the first time someone comes to your website, the odds are they're going to be leary and not buy from you right away. By giving them the chance to subscribe to your newsletter you're actually giving yourself another chance to sell to them down the road. Your ezine will give them multiple incentives to visit your site and make a purchase.
BUILD AN OPT IN LIST
There's a reason why off-line marketers have done direct mailings for years: they work. Collecting email addresses of visitors to your website allows you to compile a list of people who want to hear from you. By signing up for your newsletter, you're given permission to market to these people on a regular basis. Your list will become your most precious marketing commodity.
ESTABLISHES TRUST
The truth is, your site visitors have no idea if you're an upright business person or some mad hacker in a dark basement out to grab their credit card number. By giving them the opportunity to subscribe to your ezine you'll be able to establish a "relationship" where your subscribers will come to trust and rely upon you. By providing them with helpful information on a consistent basis you'll become someone they turn to when in need of the types of products/services you sell.
ESTABLISH YOURSELF AS AN EXPERT
Let's say you're an accountant and I'm considering using your services. How do I know you're any good? Well, if you had been publishing a newsletter with helpful accounting tips and tax saving information all along, you would have established yourself as an expert in my mind.
By sharing your knowledge with others, you'll establish yourself as an expert in your field. An ezine helps you to establish credibility in your chosen subject and distinguishes you from others online who may be working in a similar vein. Be the one people turn to, become the EXPERT.
SELL BACK END PRODUCTS
As long as your ezine supplies helpful information, you can actually pitch your sales talk softly between the lines. As long as your ezine is not 99% ads, you can use it to plug any product or service you sell. If you don't have your own products/services, you can plug affiliate programs you may be involved with as well. Just try to keep everything you promote related to the theme of your newsletter. If your ezine is health related you should only include health related products to keep it on topic for your target market. As you run sales or specials you'll also want to make your subscribers aware of them. Remember, your ezine is a marketing tool; use it as such.
DRIVES TRAFFIC
There are millions of websites out there, so what's going to bring me back to yours? An ezine, of course! By emailing your subscribers a newsletter which always includes a link back to your site, you're reminding them to come back again and again -- driving traffic on a consistent basis. How many times have you gone to a website and signed up for their ezine and forgotten about the site? I know I have, but when their ezine shows up in my mailbox it reminds me of how much I enjoyed their site and usually results in my re-visiting. This is POWERFUL STUFF.
These are just some of the reasons why you need to be publishing an ezine. A website needs a newsletter and a newsletter needs a website. They just go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly. One without the other is a weak link in the online marketing chain. Don't underestimate the importance of your very own ezine. As your list grows you'll have a very powerful marketing tool on your hands, one you can sell to again and again!
The end does not justify the means. In permission marketing, truer words were never spoken. Don't kid yourself - just because you collect an email address, doesn't mean you have really gained permission to use it.
You may think the definition of permission is pretty straightforward, but there are many marketers out there claiming to be practicing true permission marketing who are really not, and there is plenty of controversy around what constitutes permission in the first place. Here are some tips on permission - the right way to get it and the right way to use it.
Be Respectful Above all, no matter what, and I cannot stress this enough, in every single email communication, always provide a clear and easy way for individuals to "opt-out" or unsubscribe and make sure you follow through. Better still, give them an easy way to change or refine their areas of interest. Get more information gradually. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither are great relationships.
Be Straightforward Placing a "Join Our Mailing List" tag on your homepage or other appropriate pages of your website is about as clear as you can get. The visitor knows, without question, that when they input their email address they are giving you permission, subscribing or "opting-in" to receive emails from you.
Be Precise When people sign up, allow them to select precisely their areas of interest, be it newsletters, sale notifications or new product or service announcements. You can attract even more interest by specifying what the customer will receive and when they will receive it (e.g. "Sign up for Our Weekly Concert Announcement"). Be as specific as you can to get the most targeted audience you possibly can.
Be Clever Remember that when visitors opt-in, they are telling you exactly what they want - to place an order, to get more in-depth information on a specific topic or to know when their favorite instructor is teaching a Yoga class - and giving you permission to communicate on that subject. This is excellent stuff! You know their email address, have permission to send them what they asked for, and you know something about them. There is no harm in suggesting an accessory on the order confirmation, announcing a "webinar" on your white paper topic or including a compelling description of your newsletter at the bottom of the Yoga schedule. Ask for their permission again. You will be surprised at the response.
Be Careful Gratuitous emails are not met with gratitude. My advice is to think twice about how many, and what kind of communications you send to your subscribers. You already have the relationship after all. Who wants to chance losing it? So before you press the send button on that email of your most recent press release, ask yourself how many people on your list really care to see it.
Beware When considering renting, much less buying a list, the rule is buyer beware. If the list is too inexpensive, if the provider won't share the source of their email lists with you, if anyone claims you can "Blast your ad to over 1000 safe addresses for only $5.00!," or "Buy a CD with 10,000,000 email addresses for only $99!" - this is too good to be true. Consider this, the offer probably arrived as SPAM in your very own inbox in the first place.
Ultimately, you need to ask yourself: "Do I want to be an honest-to-goodness permission-based email marketer?" To be, or not to be, that is the question.
Ekhwan Web Solutions - Brotherhood Beyond Boundries Your Gateway to Establishing an Online Presence. http://www.ekhwan.com/
