From site design, to site promotion, marketing, to search
engine optimization, everything you do to improve your site
will also improve your Adsense CTR. While it seems like a
lot of work, if you build a professional site, do the research
on how to bring traffic to it, and keep it a place visitors want
to return to, AdSense will blend right in and be successful
almost immediately.
Increasing your CTR comes during, in between, and after
building your site and its targeted traffic. It’s going to be a
lot experimentation and tracking. And it’s going to be
increased revenue for your site. You’re on the right path
now.
Good luck!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
See What People Are Looking For
Always be aware what shoppers and surfers are looking for.
Check out the top rated sites that might compete with yours
in searches. Keep up to date on the most popular keywords.
This will keep your site content up-to-date, you site
competitive, and your content and keywords fine-tuned to
get the most traffic and highest search engine ratings
possible. You must remember that the more targeted and
repeat traffic you receive, the higher you CTR are going to
be.
Trial and More Trial
As you can now see, SEO and AdSense go hand in hand, and
how important the former is to the latter. Maybe you need
to reinvent your site or start an SEO program. Perhaps
you’ve gotten ideas about AdSense ad placement or size and
are anxious to try them out.
Whichever the case may be, as you set out to increase your
CTR, be ready to create a strategy and track the results.
Take into consideration your niche, your targeted visitors,
and a realistic goal. Figure out your CTR percentage and
begin to implement SEO techniques and AdSense strategies
to raise it. You’ll start to see what works for you and your
site as opposed to what doesn’t. Before you know it, you’ll
be one of the success stories.
Check out the top rated sites that might compete with yours
in searches. Keep up to date on the most popular keywords.
This will keep your site content up-to-date, you site
competitive, and your content and keywords fine-tuned to
get the most traffic and highest search engine ratings
possible. You must remember that the more targeted and
repeat traffic you receive, the higher you CTR are going to
be.
Trial and More Trial
As you can now see, SEO and AdSense go hand in hand, and
how important the former is to the latter. Maybe you need
to reinvent your site or start an SEO program. Perhaps
you’ve gotten ideas about AdSense ad placement or size and
are anxious to try them out.
Whichever the case may be, as you set out to increase your
CTR, be ready to create a strategy and track the results.
Take into consideration your niche, your targeted visitors,
and a realistic goal. Figure out your CTR percentage and
begin to implement SEO techniques and AdSense strategies
to raise it. You’ll start to see what works for you and your
site as opposed to what doesn’t. Before you know it, you’ll
be one of the success stories.
Give the Ads Space
Leave a lot of free space around the ads. Even though you
want the ads to blend in with your page, you also want them
to be noticeable. Giving them plenty of free space allows
the visitor’s attention to be drawn to them. You just have to
direct their attention. Once a visitor reads that ads, since
the ads are targeted, there’s a good chance they’ll click
through.
Use Eyetracking
In general, people scan a web page the same way every
time, no matter what site they visit. Tracking these habits
can help Webmasters place important content, or even
AdSense ads, right where visitors will most likely see it. An
Eyetracking map and more information are available at
http://www.poynterextra.org/eyetrack2004/main.htm
Experiment with Colors
Experiment with the colors you use on your page and where
the colors are placed. It could be that some of your colors
divert your attention away from your AdSense ads or,
hopefully, to the ads. Use AdSense Tracker and your site
states to see which colors are helping to increase your CTR.
Don’t Label Them as Ads
Don’t label them as ads or sites sponsors. Although these
are the only two terms allowed by Google, there’s no need
to point out that these are ads. It will just prevent them
from blending in with the content of your site.
The AdSense ads are labeled as
ads; therefore, set apart from the rest of the page’s content.
Someone comes to this site looking for resources or
products. Chances are, they’re not going to click on text
that’s labeled as an advertisement. If the Webmaster feels
it’s just an ad and not helpful information, why should the
visitor feel any different?
want the ads to blend in with your page, you also want them
to be noticeable. Giving them plenty of free space allows
the visitor’s attention to be drawn to them. You just have to
direct their attention. Once a visitor reads that ads, since
the ads are targeted, there’s a good chance they’ll click
through.
Use Eyetracking
In general, people scan a web page the same way every
time, no matter what site they visit. Tracking these habits
can help Webmasters place important content, or even
AdSense ads, right where visitors will most likely see it. An
Eyetracking map and more information are available at
http://www.poynterextra.org/eyetrack2004/main.htm
Experiment with Colors
Experiment with the colors you use on your page and where
the colors are placed. It could be that some of your colors
divert your attention away from your AdSense ads or,
hopefully, to the ads. Use AdSense Tracker and your site
states to see which colors are helping to increase your CTR.
Don’t Label Them as Ads
Don’t label them as ads or sites sponsors. Although these
are the only two terms allowed by Google, there’s no need
to point out that these are ads. It will just prevent them
from blending in with the content of your site.
The AdSense ads are labeled as
ads; therefore, set apart from the rest of the page’s content.
Someone comes to this site looking for resources or
products. Chances are, they’re not going to click on text
that’s labeled as an advertisement. If the Webmaster feels
it’s just an ad and not helpful information, why should the
visitor feel any different?
Build a Discussion Group
As you know, repeat visitors are who sustains your traffic.
Without them, once you saturated your targeted market,
there wouldn’t be any visitors. They are the ones interested
in your site and what it offers and return often for updates.
Create an online community for your site where your visitors
can interact. Create topics that relate to your site. This will
get more visitors returning, some even more than once a
day!
Use Pictures
By using an AdSense banner ad with small pictures above it
that relate to the ads, you are not violating Google’s TOS,
but you are drawing attention to the ads. Google does not
yet have a problem with this as long as you do not use
animated pictures or Flash.
Don’t be Afraid of AdSense
Think of your AdSense ads as your business partner, not a
competitor. Don’t be afraid that your visitors will choose to
click through an AdSense ad over buying your product or
service. Even if you don’t make a sale, if they click through
an ad, you’re still making money.
Take AdSense Into Consideration
When updating your content, keep your AdSense ads in
mind. Can you refine your content to make the AdSense
ads more appealing to your visitors? Doing things like this
could increasingly boost your CTR.
Without them, once you saturated your targeted market,
there wouldn’t be any visitors. They are the ones interested
in your site and what it offers and return often for updates.
Create an online community for your site where your visitors
can interact. Create topics that relate to your site. This will
get more visitors returning, some even more than once a
day!
Use Pictures
By using an AdSense banner ad with small pictures above it
that relate to the ads, you are not violating Google’s TOS,
but you are drawing attention to the ads. Google does not
yet have a problem with this as long as you do not use
animated pictures or Flash.
Don’t be Afraid of AdSense
Think of your AdSense ads as your business partner, not a
competitor. Don’t be afraid that your visitors will choose to
click through an AdSense ad over buying your product or
service. Even if you don’t make a sale, if they click through
an ad, you’re still making money.
Take AdSense Into Consideration
When updating your content, keep your AdSense ads in
mind. Can you refine your content to make the AdSense
ads more appealing to your visitors? Doing things like this
could increasingly boost your CTR.
Ads that don’t look like Ads
Take away the border and background colors of your
AdSense ads. These make them stand out as ads rather
than information your visitors will be interested in. As said
earlier, your ads should blend into the page. By making
them appear as information you’re providing, you’re giving
them another point of interest rather than an ad that many
people might shy away from.
The ads are
framed in a column as the rest of the page’s information is.
It is not made to stand out. They blend in and become part
of the content.
Treat AdSense Like a Business
Your AdSense ads are not just ads you are displaying on
your age in hopes of making a few extra cents. Many
webmasters enjoy thousands of dollars a month and more in
revenue from AdSense. Those webmasters, however, treat
it like a business of its own. They monitor traffic and where
it comes from, key phrases that draw in more traffic. Don’t
just track your site’s content, product, or service success.
Track AdSense as well and make it work for you.
Talk to Other Webmasters
Google and private individuals offer several forums where
AdSense Webmasters can discuss their success or
shortcomings with the program. The day you sign up to
participate in AdSense, sign up for at least one of these
discussion groups as well. The more experienced members
will provide tips and strategies that have worked for them,
and might work for you too. It’s important to listen to the
Webmasters who are receiving high click-through rates. The
benefits to your AdSense experience and your revenue
depend on it.
Stay Up-to-Date On AdSense
Read and pay attention to all updates you receive about
Google’s AdSense. Knowledge is power; it also can translate
into more clicks and revenue. Take the time every now and
then to do a search for AdSense articles. Since AdSense is
the most popular advertising program on the ‘net,
Webmasters and SEO experts like to write about it
frequently. There may be a tip you can use to increase your
revenue.
Visit other AdSense Webmasters’ Sites
If you read about someone who is earning a lot of money
with AdSense and seems to know how to get a high CTR,
visit his or her site. Look at how their ads are placed in
relation to their content. What are they doing different than
you? Of course, what works for one site may not work for
yours, but taking into consideration what’s working for
others can only benefit you. If you have questions, email
the Webmaster. Address them by name so they know
you’re not spamming them and include a URL to your site.
They may be able to provide a lot of insight.
Use AdSense Tracker
As you move the ads on your page or make other changes,
follow your CTR using your AdSense tracker. Note the
changes you’ve made and when you’ve made them. This
enables you to see what works and what does not work.
Move the Ads
Sometimes return visitors only see what’s new or what’s
changed. Move your ads from time to time, especially if you
notice your CTR dropping. More often than not, you’ll see
an increase again as those same return visitors notice
something in a different place and actually start to click
through the same ads they didn’t “see” last week.
Automatic Insertion of AdSense Codes
If your web server supports SSI, you can create an
adsense.txt file for your ads and upload it to the root
directory of your website. Then, just call the code on other
pages using SSI. To learn how to use SSI, go to
Few Competing Hyperlinks
If you provide links to other products and services on your
site, make sure they don’t compete with your AdSense ads.
The last thing you want to do is sacrifice CTR because you’ve
provided the visitor with so many choices, they didn’t choose
the ads on your page.
AdSense ads. These make them stand out as ads rather
than information your visitors will be interested in. As said
earlier, your ads should blend into the page. By making
them appear as information you’re providing, you’re giving
them another point of interest rather than an ad that many
people might shy away from.
The ads are
framed in a column as the rest of the page’s information is.
It is not made to stand out. They blend in and become part
of the content.
Treat AdSense Like a Business
Your AdSense ads are not just ads you are displaying on
your age in hopes of making a few extra cents. Many
webmasters enjoy thousands of dollars a month and more in
revenue from AdSense. Those webmasters, however, treat
it like a business of its own. They monitor traffic and where
it comes from, key phrases that draw in more traffic. Don’t
just track your site’s content, product, or service success.
Track AdSense as well and make it work for you.
Talk to Other Webmasters
Google and private individuals offer several forums where
AdSense Webmasters can discuss their success or
shortcomings with the program. The day you sign up to
participate in AdSense, sign up for at least one of these
discussion groups as well. The more experienced members
will provide tips and strategies that have worked for them,
and might work for you too. It’s important to listen to the
Webmasters who are receiving high click-through rates. The
benefits to your AdSense experience and your revenue
depend on it.
Stay Up-to-Date On AdSense
Read and pay attention to all updates you receive about
Google’s AdSense. Knowledge is power; it also can translate
into more clicks and revenue. Take the time every now and
then to do a search for AdSense articles. Since AdSense is
the most popular advertising program on the ‘net,
Webmasters and SEO experts like to write about it
frequently. There may be a tip you can use to increase your
revenue.
Visit other AdSense Webmasters’ Sites
If you read about someone who is earning a lot of money
with AdSense and seems to know how to get a high CTR,
visit his or her site. Look at how their ads are placed in
relation to their content. What are they doing different than
you? Of course, what works for one site may not work for
yours, but taking into consideration what’s working for
others can only benefit you. If you have questions, email
the Webmaster. Address them by name so they know
you’re not spamming them and include a URL to your site.
They may be able to provide a lot of insight.
Use AdSense Tracker
As you move the ads on your page or make other changes,
follow your CTR using your AdSense tracker. Note the
changes you’ve made and when you’ve made them. This
enables you to see what works and what does not work.
Move the Ads
Sometimes return visitors only see what’s new or what’s
changed. Move your ads from time to time, especially if you
notice your CTR dropping. More often than not, you’ll see
an increase again as those same return visitors notice
something in a different place and actually start to click
through the same ads they didn’t “see” last week.
Automatic Insertion of AdSense Codes
If your web server supports SSI, you can create an
adsense.txt file for your ads and upload it to the root
directory of your website. Then, just call the code on other
pages using SSI. To learn how to use SSI, go to
Few Competing Hyperlinks
If you provide links to other products and services on your
site, make sure they don’t compete with your AdSense ads.
The last thing you want to do is sacrifice CTR because you’ve
provided the visitor with so many choices, they didn’t choose
the ads on your page.
Use Text Ads, not Image Ads
By far, more webmasters have had success with text ads
and not image ads. They look more like part of the
document and are more appealing to visitors. Feel free to
experiment with both, but text ads blend into your site
better and result in higher CTR.
Ad Placement
Many websites try to hide the fact they have ads. They put
them at the bottom of the page or only have one or two that
are so small, the rest of the page distracts from them.
While it’s okay not to want to bombard your visitors with the
site of ads, those ads are also a crucial part of keeping your
business functioning. If magazines tried to bury their ads
under all the content, they wouldn’t be in business for very
long, would they? Your site should be the same way. Place
ads where they can easily be viewed and where they’re
visible to your visitors.
Viewing the Ads
Since AdSense ads are targeted to your audience, it should
be easy to work them into a page so that they compliment
the content. You don’t want your ads to stand out, but
instead, to blend into the page. Your AdSense ads should
just be more information for your visitors. Think of it this
way: by having targeted ads, you are doing them a favor
and making their search a little easier. The ads will relate to
your content, so they are going to be of some interest to
your viewers. It’s important to place those ads on the page
where they can help your visitors.
Just remember, they should blend into your site. They
should not stand out or be hidden. They are simply a part of
the resources you offer your customers. If you think of
them that way when you place them on the page, you’re
going to pick the right spot every time. You’re giving your
visitors more information that they might need. You’re
giving yourself more AdSense revenue because your visitors
will be much more likely to click through the ad.
Where to Place the Ad
Of course, results will differ for different sites. Generally,
wrapping blocks of AdSense ads in between blocks of quality
content works well or placing them toward the top of the
page works well and boosts CTR. Another suggestion is if
you have links provided on the page, try placing your
AdSense ads on top of them. Since attention is
automatically drawn to links, having your ads above links
will help to increase your CTR.
Example: In this screen shot from
http://www.lockergnome.com/, notice how the ads are
wrapped in with the text. A visitor can’t help but notice the
ads. Also, note that the ads are directly targeted toward the
text. The ads offer resources for downloads and services
related to the world of technology that is spoken about in
the text. This wasn’t done on accident. The Webmaster has
optimized the site, using keywords and text targeted toward
visitors. Therefore, the AdSense ads easily blend in, not
only to the design, but the information on the page as well.
This site is an excellent example of successful SEO and
AdSense knowledge.
Vertical Ads
Place vertical ads on the right side of the page. Most surfers
tend to use their mouse to scroll down on the right side of
the page; so placing your tower (or vertical) ads on the right
gives it a higher chance of grabbing the visitor’s attention.
Small Ads
Studies say that the upper right hand corner is the first spot
on your site that someone sees. Try placing your small ads
at the top right hand corner. Grab the visitor’s attention
when they first come to your site with your AdSense ads. If
an ad interests them, they’re still going to browse through
your site, but they will come back to click through that ad.
Ad Format
Wider ads appeal to more visitors because they’re easier to
read. If something is easy to read, someone is more likely
to take the time to read everything rather than just glancing
at the first few words. However, it’s important to balance
your ads and the content on your pages. You’ll discover that
the way you think the ads should be for optimal CTR aren’t
always where they need to be. Monitor your ad placement
versus CTR and you’ll find the place and format that works
best on each page.
Size of Ads
Again, you’ll have to experiment on your site, but AdSense
webmasters and insiders all seem to agree that the following
ad sizes result in the higher CTR:
336 x 280 Large Rectangle
160 x 600 Wide Skyscraper
120 x 600 Skyscraper
These formats are easy to read and attract attention.
Color of Ads
Remember it’s very important for the ads to blend into your
site. Use the same background color for your ads that you
use on your site. However, don’t forget to change the color
of the links to match as well. This helps blend them even
more.
Amount of Ads
If you ever go through sales training for a job, you’ll learn
that the customer has to trust you in order to buy from you.
This isn’t any different with a website. It’s hard to build
credibility when you don’t have the chance to meet them in
person and let them see your smile or get to know you a bit,
but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.
Too many ads on a site are the equivalent of spam in email.
If your page has too many ads, it makes every ad you have
less credible. Instantly, your customers do not feel like you
are trustworthy, and they’ll probably leave your site
immediately for fear of adware being installed on their
computer. Your site should be about the content, not about
ads.
If your site is getting a lot of traffic, you’re going to be very
successful with targeted ads from AdSense. Stick with it
and don’t participate in every popular ad bank out there. It
will cost you ad revenue because it will make you less
credible.
Type of Ads
If you’re going to display other ads in addition to AdSense
ads, be sure those ads are just as credible because, again,
people have to trust you to some degree to click through. If
you’re advertising free adult shows on your homemade
jewelry site, nobody is going to trust any of the ads you’re
displaying. AdSense targeted ads help build confidence and
trust. Don’t discredit yourself by placing any ad that you
can find on your site. It will only cost you a high CTR. If
you want to put other ads on your site and on a page with
AdSense ads, make sure it’s not against Google’s TOS before
doing so.
Ads on Multiple Pages
Having AdSense ads on more than one page can increase
your CTR, but also adds more interesting information to your
site and offers more selection. Ads can be placed on forum
pages, article pages, and even merchandise pages if placed
correctly. Having different AdSense ads on different pages
offers your visitors more options. Of course, they are all
targeted ads, so you are providing them a service while
increasing your revenue.
Reduce Your Filter List
While your AdSense filter list filters out unwanted content, if
your list gets too large, it filters out the number of ads that
can appear. Instead of blocking a top-level domain from
appearing, only block the exact pages you don’t want.
Search Box
Put a Google search box on your site. You’ll be doing a
service for your customers by allowing them to search from
your site, but you’ll also be paid for every ad they click
through on the results page. This is an excellent way to let
your visitors find the ad that they want to click through.
How much easier can it get? They’re searching for
something that they’re determined to find; you provide the
vehicle for them to find it and be paid for helping them. Go
to Google and check out their AdSense for Search program.
and not image ads. They look more like part of the
document and are more appealing to visitors. Feel free to
experiment with both, but text ads blend into your site
better and result in higher CTR.
Ad Placement
Many websites try to hide the fact they have ads. They put
them at the bottom of the page or only have one or two that
are so small, the rest of the page distracts from them.
While it’s okay not to want to bombard your visitors with the
site of ads, those ads are also a crucial part of keeping your
business functioning. If magazines tried to bury their ads
under all the content, they wouldn’t be in business for very
long, would they? Your site should be the same way. Place
ads where they can easily be viewed and where they’re
visible to your visitors.
Viewing the Ads
Since AdSense ads are targeted to your audience, it should
be easy to work them into a page so that they compliment
the content. You don’t want your ads to stand out, but
instead, to blend into the page. Your AdSense ads should
just be more information for your visitors. Think of it this
way: by having targeted ads, you are doing them a favor
and making their search a little easier. The ads will relate to
your content, so they are going to be of some interest to
your viewers. It’s important to place those ads on the page
where they can help your visitors.
Just remember, they should blend into your site. They
should not stand out or be hidden. They are simply a part of
the resources you offer your customers. If you think of
them that way when you place them on the page, you’re
going to pick the right spot every time. You’re giving your
visitors more information that they might need. You’re
giving yourself more AdSense revenue because your visitors
will be much more likely to click through the ad.
Where to Place the Ad
Of course, results will differ for different sites. Generally,
wrapping blocks of AdSense ads in between blocks of quality
content works well or placing them toward the top of the
page works well and boosts CTR. Another suggestion is if
you have links provided on the page, try placing your
AdSense ads on top of them. Since attention is
automatically drawn to links, having your ads above links
will help to increase your CTR.
Example: In this screen shot from
http://www.lockergnome.com/, notice how the ads are
wrapped in with the text. A visitor can’t help but notice the
ads. Also, note that the ads are directly targeted toward the
text. The ads offer resources for downloads and services
related to the world of technology that is spoken about in
the text. This wasn’t done on accident. The Webmaster has
optimized the site, using keywords and text targeted toward
visitors. Therefore, the AdSense ads easily blend in, not
only to the design, but the information on the page as well.
This site is an excellent example of successful SEO and
AdSense knowledge.
Vertical Ads
Place vertical ads on the right side of the page. Most surfers
tend to use their mouse to scroll down on the right side of
the page; so placing your tower (or vertical) ads on the right
gives it a higher chance of grabbing the visitor’s attention.
Small Ads
Studies say that the upper right hand corner is the first spot
on your site that someone sees. Try placing your small ads
at the top right hand corner. Grab the visitor’s attention
when they first come to your site with your AdSense ads. If
an ad interests them, they’re still going to browse through
your site, but they will come back to click through that ad.
Ad Format
Wider ads appeal to more visitors because they’re easier to
read. If something is easy to read, someone is more likely
to take the time to read everything rather than just glancing
at the first few words. However, it’s important to balance
your ads and the content on your pages. You’ll discover that
the way you think the ads should be for optimal CTR aren’t
always where they need to be. Monitor your ad placement
versus CTR and you’ll find the place and format that works
best on each page.
Size of Ads
Again, you’ll have to experiment on your site, but AdSense
webmasters and insiders all seem to agree that the following
ad sizes result in the higher CTR:
336 x 280 Large Rectangle
160 x 600 Wide Skyscraper
120 x 600 Skyscraper
These formats are easy to read and attract attention.
Color of Ads
Remember it’s very important for the ads to blend into your
site. Use the same background color for your ads that you
use on your site. However, don’t forget to change the color
of the links to match as well. This helps blend them even
more.
Amount of Ads
If you ever go through sales training for a job, you’ll learn
that the customer has to trust you in order to buy from you.
This isn’t any different with a website. It’s hard to build
credibility when you don’t have the chance to meet them in
person and let them see your smile or get to know you a bit,
but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.
Too many ads on a site are the equivalent of spam in email.
If your page has too many ads, it makes every ad you have
less credible. Instantly, your customers do not feel like you
are trustworthy, and they’ll probably leave your site
immediately for fear of adware being installed on their
computer. Your site should be about the content, not about
ads.
If your site is getting a lot of traffic, you’re going to be very
successful with targeted ads from AdSense. Stick with it
and don’t participate in every popular ad bank out there. It
will cost you ad revenue because it will make you less
credible.
Type of Ads
If you’re going to display other ads in addition to AdSense
ads, be sure those ads are just as credible because, again,
people have to trust you to some degree to click through. If
you’re advertising free adult shows on your homemade
jewelry site, nobody is going to trust any of the ads you’re
displaying. AdSense targeted ads help build confidence and
trust. Don’t discredit yourself by placing any ad that you
can find on your site. It will only cost you a high CTR. If
you want to put other ads on your site and on a page with
AdSense ads, make sure it’s not against Google’s TOS before
doing so.
Ads on Multiple Pages
Having AdSense ads on more than one page can increase
your CTR, but also adds more interesting information to your
site and offers more selection. Ads can be placed on forum
pages, article pages, and even merchandise pages if placed
correctly. Having different AdSense ads on different pages
offers your visitors more options. Of course, they are all
targeted ads, so you are providing them a service while
increasing your revenue.
Reduce Your Filter List
While your AdSense filter list filters out unwanted content, if
your list gets too large, it filters out the number of ads that
can appear. Instead of blocking a top-level domain from
appearing, only block the exact pages you don’t want.
Search Box
Put a Google search box on your site. You’ll be doing a
service for your customers by allowing them to search from
your site, but you’ll also be paid for every ad they click
through on the results page. This is an excellent way to let
your visitors find the ad that they want to click through.
How much easier can it get? They’re searching for
something that they’re determined to find; you provide the
vehicle for them to find it and be paid for helping them. Go
to Google and check out their AdSense for Search program.
Use an Autoresponder
When someone makes a purchase, let him or her know
about future sales or events that will happen on your site by
using an autoresponder and promise to keep them updated.
After all, these are already satisfied customers. Why not
keep them coming back? You can also use it on an order
page, to keep them coming back.
Use Quizzes to Build a Mailing List
By having the answers to your quizzes using an
autoresponder, you will gather email address to use for
future site updates. Just be sure to let them know, with the
answers to the quiz, that you will be contacting them to
notify them of new quizzes and future updates to your site
for their convenience. You want to gain visitors, not
enemies, so give them a way to be removed from your
mailing list at any time.
Use Surveys
Surveys should be kept short and sweet, but are an
excellent tool to discover what people are looking for and
what you might be able to provide to keep them coming
back. Use yes/no questions or multiple choice so it doesn’t
take a lot of their time. Also, offer an incentive for taking
the quiz, like a free e-book or a discount on their next
purchase on your site. Not only will you receive their email
address for future updates and lead them to return to your
site, you’re also learning what your targeted audience is
searching for. This will help you expand your site and
increase your visitors, therefore CTR.
Be Ready for the Weekends
Web traffic is usually higher on the weekends, so have your
site ready. Perhaps have a weekend sale or have an article
that is published on your site every Friday night, in time for
the weekend rush. By providing fresh content or weekendonly
opportunities, you’ll give all those weekend surfers a
reason to come to your site and click through your ads too.
Add Pages
Expanding your site and adding pages should go hand in
hand. However, expanding your site could just mean adding
and refining content. It’s important that you add pages with
quality content as well. This increases your search engine
ranking and gives more pages for AdSense ads.
Build a site per month
If you can’t broaden your niche in order to place more ads
on your site, build other sites. This gives you more pages to
place ads on and, in turn, more revenue from AdSense. Just
make sure you maintain quality content and your keywords
are targeted to the content on each page as to get the most
targeted ads possible.
Page Generators
Page generators can generate a page for you in seconds.
This can save you time and allow you to instead spending
your time creating quality content. All you do is turn text
files into already highly optimized, ready to publish, web
pages. You can supply the software with your AdSense
codes as well. You can try the Page Generator at
http://www.web-positiongold.com/The-Page-Generator.htm
freefor 30 days.
Keep Your Site Focused
Don’t stray from the focus of your site or let your ads stray
either. The key here is target. You always want the target:
the target audience, the target ad, and the target content.
Don’t stray from that. If you’re a game site, you don’t want
to start offering dating advice and ads that relate to dating.
Keep on the track you set yourself on, both for your site and
AdSense. Nobody ever travels north by going south. Don’t
do that with your site.
Target Your Niche
Choose a broad niche for your site, then break it down into
smaller niches. This is also site organization and will help
you place better targeted ads. For example, if you have a
computer site, break it down into sub niches: repairing
computers, new computers, used computers, software, etc.
If you lump things together on one page and don’t organize,
you’ll find that your CTR will be lower because your content
is unorganized and scattered; therefore, your ads aren’t as
helpful to the visitor as you may think.
Don’t Chase the Million Dollar Keywords
Don’t try to compete with the experts for the $100 keyword.
It may work from time to time, but you’ll have more success
with mid-range keywords, and less competition too. By
using mid-range keywords, you are more likely to achieve
success over the long term. Remember that success in
driving targeted traffic to your site by being ranked high in
the search engines will increase your CTR with AdSense.
In order to find the most popular keywords and key phrases,
go to the sites listed below … they offer 100% free access:
http://www.keyword-list.com
http://www.keywordsense.com
http://keywords.clickhereforit.com/2.htm
HINT: there are several services out there that gives you
access to TOP paying AdSense keywords for a monthly FEE.
Why pay, get them for FREE at the sites above!
Here’s a page where you can get 100 TOP categories
you can target:
http://www.prnetfirms.com/tpk52.htm
Let me give you some examples from the site above:
1. Structured settlements
2. Mesothelioma
3. Life Insurance
4. Cosmetic Surgery
5. Death Insurance
6. Car Insurance
7. Asbestos
8. Ecommerce
9. Dental Plans
10. Private Jets
IMPORTANT: it IS impossible to determine the exact price
that a click will pay. You can, however, get a general idea
of which keywords are likely to pay more than others.
about future sales or events that will happen on your site by
using an autoresponder and promise to keep them updated.
After all, these are already satisfied customers. Why not
keep them coming back? You can also use it on an order
page, to keep them coming back.
Use Quizzes to Build a Mailing List
By having the answers to your quizzes using an
autoresponder, you will gather email address to use for
future site updates. Just be sure to let them know, with the
answers to the quiz, that you will be contacting them to
notify them of new quizzes and future updates to your site
for their convenience. You want to gain visitors, not
enemies, so give them a way to be removed from your
mailing list at any time.
Use Surveys
Surveys should be kept short and sweet, but are an
excellent tool to discover what people are looking for and
what you might be able to provide to keep them coming
back. Use yes/no questions or multiple choice so it doesn’t
take a lot of their time. Also, offer an incentive for taking
the quiz, like a free e-book or a discount on their next
purchase on your site. Not only will you receive their email
address for future updates and lead them to return to your
site, you’re also learning what your targeted audience is
searching for. This will help you expand your site and
increase your visitors, therefore CTR.
Be Ready for the Weekends
Web traffic is usually higher on the weekends, so have your
site ready. Perhaps have a weekend sale or have an article
that is published on your site every Friday night, in time for
the weekend rush. By providing fresh content or weekendonly
opportunities, you’ll give all those weekend surfers a
reason to come to your site and click through your ads too.
Add Pages
Expanding your site and adding pages should go hand in
hand. However, expanding your site could just mean adding
and refining content. It’s important that you add pages with
quality content as well. This increases your search engine
ranking and gives more pages for AdSense ads.
Build a site per month
If you can’t broaden your niche in order to place more ads
on your site, build other sites. This gives you more pages to
place ads on and, in turn, more revenue from AdSense. Just
make sure you maintain quality content and your keywords
are targeted to the content on each page as to get the most
targeted ads possible.
Page Generators
Page generators can generate a page for you in seconds.
This can save you time and allow you to instead spending
your time creating quality content. All you do is turn text
files into already highly optimized, ready to publish, web
pages. You can supply the software with your AdSense
codes as well. You can try the Page Generator at
http://www.web-positiongold.com/The-Page-Generator.htm
freefor 30 days.
Keep Your Site Focused
Don’t stray from the focus of your site or let your ads stray
either. The key here is target. You always want the target:
the target audience, the target ad, and the target content.
Don’t stray from that. If you’re a game site, you don’t want
to start offering dating advice and ads that relate to dating.
Keep on the track you set yourself on, both for your site and
AdSense. Nobody ever travels north by going south. Don’t
do that with your site.
Target Your Niche
Choose a broad niche for your site, then break it down into
smaller niches. This is also site organization and will help
you place better targeted ads. For example, if you have a
computer site, break it down into sub niches: repairing
computers, new computers, used computers, software, etc.
If you lump things together on one page and don’t organize,
you’ll find that your CTR will be lower because your content
is unorganized and scattered; therefore, your ads aren’t as
helpful to the visitor as you may think.
Don’t Chase the Million Dollar Keywords
Don’t try to compete with the experts for the $100 keyword.
It may work from time to time, but you’ll have more success
with mid-range keywords, and less competition too. By
using mid-range keywords, you are more likely to achieve
success over the long term. Remember that success in
driving targeted traffic to your site by being ranked high in
the search engines will increase your CTR with AdSense.
In order to find the most popular keywords and key phrases,
go to the sites listed below … they offer 100% free access:
http://www.keyword-list.com
http://www.keywordsense.com
http://keywords.clickhereforit.com/2.htm
HINT: there are several services out there that gives you
access to TOP paying AdSense keywords for a monthly FEE.
Why pay, get them for FREE at the sites above!
Here’s a page where you can get 100 TOP categories
you can target:
http://www.prnetfirms.com/tpk52.htm
Let me give you some examples from the site above:
1. Structured settlements
2. Mesothelioma
3. Life Insurance
4. Cosmetic Surgery
5. Death Insurance
6. Car Insurance
7. Asbestos
8. Ecommerce
9. Dental Plans
10. Private Jets
IMPORTANT: it IS impossible to determine the exact price
that a click will pay. You can, however, get a general idea
of which keywords are likely to pay more than others.
Give Away Free Content
If you have articles on your site, as you should, and write
them yourself, consider allowing your visitors to use those
same articles on their sites or in their e-zines. In exchange,
you just ask for a link back to your site when they publish
the article.
Offer Discounts to Newsletter Subscribers
If you have a hard time getting visitors to sign up for your
newsletter, try offering them a discount on your product or
services as an enticement. The whole purpose is to get
them to keep coming back to your site for updates;
therefore, increasing the chance that they will not only
become a customer, but click through an AdSense ad.
Be Helpful to Your Visitors
Again, targeted ads provide a service to your visitors by
providing them with links to more information and products
closely related to your site.
Create a feedback page on your site. Ask your visitors what
they liked, what they’d like to see that you don’t have, and
try to gain more perspective on your average visitor’s
preferences. This will help you create new and quality
content and target your visitors with that content and
AdSense ads as well. Your helpfulness and concern pays off
for your visitor and for you.
them yourself, consider allowing your visitors to use those
same articles on their sites or in their e-zines. In exchange,
you just ask for a link back to your site when they publish
the article.
Offer Discounts to Newsletter Subscribers
If you have a hard time getting visitors to sign up for your
newsletter, try offering them a discount on your product or
services as an enticement. The whole purpose is to get
them to keep coming back to your site for updates;
therefore, increasing the chance that they will not only
become a customer, but click through an AdSense ad.
Be Helpful to Your Visitors
Again, targeted ads provide a service to your visitors by
providing them with links to more information and products
closely related to your site.
Create a feedback page on your site. Ask your visitors what
they liked, what they’d like to see that you don’t have, and
try to gain more perspective on your average visitor’s
preferences. This will help you create new and quality
content and target your visitors with that content and
AdSense ads as well. Your helpfulness and concern pays off
for your visitor and for you.
Boosting Your AdSense CTR Rate
In addition to a good SEO program, there are ways you can
maximize your CTR with AdSense as well. Factors like
targeted traffic, where you put your ads on the page, how
many pages you have them on, things you have on your
page, and even the width of the ads all may affect your CTR.
Increasing your CTR rate is trial and error, with what works
for some not working for all. But there are some
techniques, as listed below, that work with almost all
AdSense webmasters.
Monitor Traffic
Just as your ads from AdSense are targeted to your
audience, the traffic you attract should be targeted to your
site. The more targeted your traffic is, the more success
you’re going to see with AdSense. Monitor your site stats
and traffic logs so you know where your traffic is coming
from and can relate that to your CTR (click through rate).
That will enable you to see what marketing that you’re doing
is working and where your focus needs to lie.
Targeted Content
Keep the content on each page of your website targeted
toward the keywords for that page. By doing this, your
AdSense ads will be better targeted to your content. If you
do not do this, you’ll find you have a lower CTR because
your ads are not as related to the content as they could be.
The site below has ads targeted to a visitor’s general
interest, but not to the page content. Visitors on that page
want to learn about tools.
By optimizing keywords to reflect
knitting needles, the ads would be more targeted and
receive a higher CTR than they already are.
Quality Content
Good site content builds credibility and lends to a higher CTR
rate. Keep your visitors interested so they return. You want
them to add your URL to their favorites and come back
often. Those returning visitors will lend to a higher CTR and
increased revenue. Keep the quality content fresh too, so
they always have something new to read.
Sticky Content
Sticky content on your site and keywords related to that
content. Find the higher rated keywords and key phrases
for what your site offers and create sticky content around
those.
maximize your CTR with AdSense as well. Factors like
targeted traffic, where you put your ads on the page, how
many pages you have them on, things you have on your
page, and even the width of the ads all may affect your CTR.
Increasing your CTR rate is trial and error, with what works
for some not working for all. But there are some
techniques, as listed below, that work with almost all
AdSense webmasters.
Monitor Traffic
Just as your ads from AdSense are targeted to your
audience, the traffic you attract should be targeted to your
site. The more targeted your traffic is, the more success
you’re going to see with AdSense. Monitor your site stats
and traffic logs so you know where your traffic is coming
from and can relate that to your CTR (click through rate).
That will enable you to see what marketing that you’re doing
is working and where your focus needs to lie.
Targeted Content
Keep the content on each page of your website targeted
toward the keywords for that page. By doing this, your
AdSense ads will be better targeted to your content. If you
do not do this, you’ll find you have a lower CTR because
your ads are not as related to the content as they could be.
The site below has ads targeted to a visitor’s general
interest, but not to the page content. Visitors on that page
want to learn about tools.
By optimizing keywords to reflect
knitting needles, the ads would be more targeted and
receive a higher CTR than they already are.
Quality Content
Good site content builds credibility and lends to a higher CTR
rate. Keep your visitors interested so they return. You want
them to add your URL to their favorites and come back
often. Those returning visitors will lend to a higher CTR and
increased revenue. Keep the quality content fresh too, so
they always have something new to read.
Sticky Content
Sticky content on your site and keywords related to that
content. Find the higher rated keywords and key phrases
for what your site offers and create sticky content around
those.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Register with Search Engines
Take the time to submit your URL to all search engines. Do
this yourself. The submission services that promise to
submit your sites to hundreds of major search engines are
bogus. There aren’t hundreds of major search engines.
Submitting your site does not guarantee a listing, and it
certainly doesn’t give you a high ranking, but it’s one of the
first steps in any SEO program. Manually submitting your
site to the search engines is the most effective way.
Discussion Groups
Discussion groups or forums are places where people get
together and talk about a common interest. If you sell
bodybuilding products, you may want to get involved in
bodybuilding and weight lifting forums. Most of these
forums have strict regulations against advertising and spam.
Be sure to read, then obey their guidelines.
Become part of the group. Participate in discussions with
credible information and opinions. Don’t participate in
heated debates or mudslinging. What you want to do is
build a reputation for being someone they like and trust.
In your signature, include a link back to your site. As
the members get to know and trust you, they’ll start to visit
your site, ask you questions about it, and become
customers.
Webmaster Forums
Share what you’ve learned in the process of designing your
site and building traffic by joining Webmaster forums.
Include your site URL as your signature, once again. You
can also use your URL for reference. In addition to placing
these links and sharing your information, you can also pick
up helpful tips from other webmasters.
E-zines
Subscribe to the best marketing e-zines on the net.
Subscriptions are free, and some of the marketing
techniques you’ll learn to boost traffic to your site will help
your CTR. In addition, you just may be able to translate
some of that into your AdSense program and increase CTR.
Stay up to date with what’s working for others and what’s
not!
Continuously Build Your Website
Keep planting the seeds of success by letting your website
evolve. If you cut off the website’s potential growth, you
are also limited the number of visitors and the ones that will
return. Adding new sections that will interest your visitors
also gives you more AdSense ads that you can use and
profit from.
Easy Navigation
Make sure all the pages on your site can be navigated to
from your home page; otherwise, they may not be indexed.
You have more chance of a higher search engine ranking
and a better shot at a higher CTR if crawlers index all your
pages.
Get Legit Traffic
Don’t waste time with link farms and classifieds. Not only is
it a waste of money, search engine’s algorithms are
extremely complex and will catch on. You’ll be banned from
the search engines. The best way to build traffic and boost
your AdSense CTR is to create and expand quality content,
focus on popular keywords, and implement the tips listed
above like newsletters, etc.
Use a Catchy Domain Name
Domain names are getting harder and harder to come by,
especially the ones that seem the most catchy. However,
spend some time doing a search and try to find one that a
visitor would easily remember. If you owned an online
health food store and called it Jack’s, which domain name
alone would give you more traffic? Would it be Jacks.com or
healthfoods.com? It would be the second choice, of course.
Someone is likely to find your site by its domain name by
simply typing it into a search engine since your domain
name is also a frequently used search term.
this yourself. The submission services that promise to
submit your sites to hundreds of major search engines are
bogus. There aren’t hundreds of major search engines.
Submitting your site does not guarantee a listing, and it
certainly doesn’t give you a high ranking, but it’s one of the
first steps in any SEO program. Manually submitting your
site to the search engines is the most effective way.
Discussion Groups
Discussion groups or forums are places where people get
together and talk about a common interest. If you sell
bodybuilding products, you may want to get involved in
bodybuilding and weight lifting forums. Most of these
forums have strict regulations against advertising and spam.
Be sure to read, then obey their guidelines.
Become part of the group. Participate in discussions with
credible information and opinions. Don’t participate in
heated debates or mudslinging. What you want to do is
build a reputation for being someone they like and trust.
In your signature, include a link back to your site. As
the members get to know and trust you, they’ll start to visit
your site, ask you questions about it, and become
customers.
Webmaster Forums
Share what you’ve learned in the process of designing your
site and building traffic by joining Webmaster forums.
Include your site URL as your signature, once again. You
can also use your URL for reference. In addition to placing
these links and sharing your information, you can also pick
up helpful tips from other webmasters.
E-zines
Subscribe to the best marketing e-zines on the net.
Subscriptions are free, and some of the marketing
techniques you’ll learn to boost traffic to your site will help
your CTR. In addition, you just may be able to translate
some of that into your AdSense program and increase CTR.
Stay up to date with what’s working for others and what’s
not!
Continuously Build Your Website
Keep planting the seeds of success by letting your website
evolve. If you cut off the website’s potential growth, you
are also limited the number of visitors and the ones that will
return. Adding new sections that will interest your visitors
also gives you more AdSense ads that you can use and
profit from.
Easy Navigation
Make sure all the pages on your site can be navigated to
from your home page; otherwise, they may not be indexed.
You have more chance of a higher search engine ranking
and a better shot at a higher CTR if crawlers index all your
pages.
Get Legit Traffic
Don’t waste time with link farms and classifieds. Not only is
it a waste of money, search engine’s algorithms are
extremely complex and will catch on. You’ll be banned from
the search engines. The best way to build traffic and boost
your AdSense CTR is to create and expand quality content,
focus on popular keywords, and implement the tips listed
above like newsletters, etc.
Use a Catchy Domain Name
Domain names are getting harder and harder to come by,
especially the ones that seem the most catchy. However,
spend some time doing a search and try to find one that a
visitor would easily remember. If you owned an online
health food store and called it Jack’s, which domain name
alone would give you more traffic? Would it be Jacks.com or
healthfoods.com? It would be the second choice, of course.
Someone is likely to find your site by its domain name by
simply typing it into a search engine since your domain
name is also a frequently used search term.
Reciprocal Links
Reciprocal links are easier to get placed, but you want to
make sure where you’re placing them receives adequate
traffic. When you request a reciprocal link, remember that
you are going to place a link to them on your site as well.
Again, find similar sites that do not compete with yours. Be
sure that the sites you contact are ones you’d recommend to
your customers. If a customer clicks that link on your site,
they might hold you partially responsible if they have a bad
experience, so it’s worth the time to research for the best
sites.
When asking for a reciprocal link or a one-way link, it’s a
good idea to have testimonials from your customers. Those
establish you as a reputable site and business, and offer an
extra incentive to do as you have asked.
Write Articles
Writing articles can go hand in hand with your site’s
newsletter or stand alone. The articles you write should
correspond to your site content, offer insight, and be
informative and interesting. You can submit these articles to
e-zines or use a reputable article submission service. Make
sure you place a link back to your site at the top or bottom
of your article so you reap the benefits of your hard work.
You can buy software like Article Announcer to submit your
articles all over the net, or try free services like that offered
at …
http://ezinearticles.com
http://www.goarticles.com
Write an article a day
Keep expanding your site with quality content related to
your niche. Write an article a day or add some new
information for your visitors. Remember, the more pages
you have, the more you can place targeted ads on, and the
higher your search engine ranking will be too.
Write Product Reviews and Testimonials
Even if you only sell a service, there are surely some
products that are related to the service you offer. Review
some of those products and offer them as testimonials to
the manufacturer. If you don’t sell the product yourself,
offer it to sites that do. Always provide a link to your site to
be published with the review or testimonial you’re
submitting. Be a voice in whatever industry your site is
involved in. The louder and more intelligent your voice is,
the more traffic you’ll see on your site. People buy from
those they trust. If you’re new to writing product reviews
and want to learn how before you try, visit
http://www.possi.org/extended_attributes/2000/11/bitstream/view.
Book Reviews
You keep up-to-date with the industry, products, and
information that relates to your site. That means you
probably read books. Whenever you read a book that
relates to your industry or site, write a quick review on it.
You can submit that review to e-zines or magazines, or just
post it on Amazon. It’s a free link back to your site! To
learn how to write a red-hot book review, go to:
http://www.library.dal.ca/how/bookrev.htm.
Get Site Reviews
Do a search on magazines, discussion groups, and sites that
provide site reviews. They usually have ways that you can
submit your site for review. Their editorial staff or their
members/visitors will take some time to surf your site and
provide a review for it. That review will then be posted or
published. If you have an organized, nicely designed,
professional site with interesting content, site reviews could
bring you a lot of traffic. Also, when your site review
appears, it will appear with a link back to your site. That’s
just another one-way link for you.
Get Product Reviews
Why not get the product you’re selling from your website
reviewed? Approach the higher ranked e-zines that fit into
your sites niche. Offer them a free sample to review.
Everyone likes something free, don’t they? They get
something free, and you do too. You get a rave review on
their site! That review will bring visitors, and those visitors
will not only turn into customers, but also a higher CTR.
Directory Listings
Directories such as www.DMOZ.org and others group sites
by content and products. It only takes a few minutes to
register for a listing with these free directories. (Do a
search to find directories pertaining to your site content).
Most require approval, so your site won’t be included
immediately, but if you categorize your site correctly and
have a decent site, you will be accepted more often than
not. Directory listings can bring you more targeted traffic.
All you have to do for it is register once.
Paid Inclusion
Some directories, such as Yahoo, require that you pay for a
listing. However, when you pay, the listing is usually
‘guaranteed’. Depending on your SEO budget, you may or
may not choose to use paid directory listing services. Before
paying for any listing, make sure the directory is reputable
and is ranked high in the search engines.
make sure where you’re placing them receives adequate
traffic. When you request a reciprocal link, remember that
you are going to place a link to them on your site as well.
Again, find similar sites that do not compete with yours. Be
sure that the sites you contact are ones you’d recommend to
your customers. If a customer clicks that link on your site,
they might hold you partially responsible if they have a bad
experience, so it’s worth the time to research for the best
sites.
When asking for a reciprocal link or a one-way link, it’s a
good idea to have testimonials from your customers. Those
establish you as a reputable site and business, and offer an
extra incentive to do as you have asked.
Write Articles
Writing articles can go hand in hand with your site’s
newsletter or stand alone. The articles you write should
correspond to your site content, offer insight, and be
informative and interesting. You can submit these articles to
e-zines or use a reputable article submission service. Make
sure you place a link back to your site at the top or bottom
of your article so you reap the benefits of your hard work.
You can buy software like Article Announcer to submit your
articles all over the net, or try free services like that offered
at …
http://ezinearticles.com
http://www.goarticles.com
Write an article a day
Keep expanding your site with quality content related to
your niche. Write an article a day or add some new
information for your visitors. Remember, the more pages
you have, the more you can place targeted ads on, and the
higher your search engine ranking will be too.
Write Product Reviews and Testimonials
Even if you only sell a service, there are surely some
products that are related to the service you offer. Review
some of those products and offer them as testimonials to
the manufacturer. If you don’t sell the product yourself,
offer it to sites that do. Always provide a link to your site to
be published with the review or testimonial you’re
submitting. Be a voice in whatever industry your site is
involved in. The louder and more intelligent your voice is,
the more traffic you’ll see on your site. People buy from
those they trust. If you’re new to writing product reviews
and want to learn how before you try, visit
http://www.possi.org/extended_attributes/2000/11/bitstream/view.
Book Reviews
You keep up-to-date with the industry, products, and
information that relates to your site. That means you
probably read books. Whenever you read a book that
relates to your industry or site, write a quick review on it.
You can submit that review to e-zines or magazines, or just
post it on Amazon. It’s a free link back to your site! To
learn how to write a red-hot book review, go to:
http://www.library.dal.ca/how/bookrev.htm.
Get Site Reviews
Do a search on magazines, discussion groups, and sites that
provide site reviews. They usually have ways that you can
submit your site for review. Their editorial staff or their
members/visitors will take some time to surf your site and
provide a review for it. That review will then be posted or
published. If you have an organized, nicely designed,
professional site with interesting content, site reviews could
bring you a lot of traffic. Also, when your site review
appears, it will appear with a link back to your site. That’s
just another one-way link for you.
Get Product Reviews
Why not get the product you’re selling from your website
reviewed? Approach the higher ranked e-zines that fit into
your sites niche. Offer them a free sample to review.
Everyone likes something free, don’t they? They get
something free, and you do too. You get a rave review on
their site! That review will bring visitors, and those visitors
will not only turn into customers, but also a higher CTR.
Directory Listings
Directories such as www.DMOZ.org and others group sites
by content and products. It only takes a few minutes to
register for a listing with these free directories. (Do a
search to find directories pertaining to your site content).
Most require approval, so your site won’t be included
immediately, but if you categorize your site correctly and
have a decent site, you will be accepted more often than
not. Directory listings can bring you more targeted traffic.
All you have to do for it is register once.
Paid Inclusion
Some directories, such as Yahoo, require that you pay for a
listing. However, when you pay, the listing is usually
‘guaranteed’. Depending on your SEO budget, you may or
may not choose to use paid directory listing services. Before
paying for any listing, make sure the directory is reputable
and is ranked high in the search engines.
Participate in Affiliate Programs
In an affiliate program, you agree to run an ad, usually a
small banner ad, on your site that links back to the
sponsor’s site. The ad will contain numbers or words in the
link that will enable the sponsor’s site to recognize anyone
that clicks through the ad as a visitor referred by your site.
If that visitor buys anything from that site once they click
through, you receive a commission off that sale.
Finding affiliate programs are easy to do. Look for sites that
offer products or services that compliment yours, but don’t
compete. Check their site for affiliate programs. Don’t sign
up for just any affiliate program, however. Again, you want
to make sure the site already gets plenty of traffic, that they
have a good reputation, and whatever product or service
they’re offering goes with your site.
Google AdSense is very discriminating about having other
ads appear on the same page as theirs. Affiliate ads which
contain graphics and not text are usually okay, but be sure
to read your Google TOS thoroughly so that you are not in
violation.
Create Affiliate Programs
You can’t beat someone placing your ad on his or her site
free, can you? But how do you do that? If you’re selling a
product or service, you can do this by creating your own
affiliate program. It works the same way as participating in
someone else’s, but this time, you offer a commission to
sites whose visitors click through your ad, then buy
something.
To do this, you’re going to need to set up an organized
system to track your click through rate and sales, set
commission rates that you can afford and are willing to pay,
and a system to pay your affiliates. It will take thought and
a lot of time to get this rolling, but getting affiliates can be
rather easy and you can be less picky than if you were
buying ad space on their sites.
You can find your affiliates by simply searching for sites that
you think would be ideal. Send them an e-mail, introduce
them to you and your site, instruct them on what you’re
offering, and how they can sign up.
Target higher ranked sites at first because those sites are
more likely to bring you sales. In addition, those sites will
be the first to be able to offer testimonials about your
affiliate program. That will draw in more affiliates.
Again, just make sure you can afford to pay what you say
you will. The worst thing you can do is make your affiliates
mad, or, worse, put yourself out of business.
Web Rings
Web rings are simply common sites that link together using
a service such as http://www.ringsurf.com/. You display an
ad at the bottom of your index page stating that you are a
member of the ring. Visitors can click through other ring
member sites and see sites that are related to yours.
Depending on the size of the ring, this can bring you an
extra few hundred unique visitors a day.
Beware of joining too many rings because it makes
your page look tacky. Do your homework and find the
best ring you can with the largest number of members. You
can even contact some of the ring members and ask them
how much traffic it brings them. If you’re selective and do
the research, a web ring can work well for your site.
One Way Links
One-way links are links to your site placed on other sites,
without you having to return the favor by placing a link to
their site on yours (reciprocal links). These are harder to
get than reciprocal links. The more legitimate links you
have back to your site, the higher you’re going to rank in the
search engines and the more traffic you’re going to receive.
You do not want to contact any site that could be in
competition with yours at all. Instead, you want to target
sites whose visitors would also be interested in what you
offer. For example, you own a gift basket site. That’s all
you do. You want to place one-way links on other sites.
Don’t target sites that sell the products you put in your gift
baskets or sites that sell different types of gift baskets than
you. Look for sites that sell other gift ideas, like online
flower shops or singing telegram sites.
These sites in no way compete with yours, but you can offer
their visitors other interesting options. Approach the site
owner or Webmaster with that in mind. Tell them how
placing a link to your site would benefit them and their
customers. “Your customers may want to send a gift along
with flowers, and would appreciate that you made their
search easier for them.” You may even want to offer them
a discount on your site or a free sample of your products.
When looking for sites, notice the ones that have a section
for recommended sites. Those are usually one-way links,
and those sites will probably be willing to add yours to the
list if you can present them with a reason why they should
recommend your site to their visitors.
small banner ad, on your site that links back to the
sponsor’s site. The ad will contain numbers or words in the
link that will enable the sponsor’s site to recognize anyone
that clicks through the ad as a visitor referred by your site.
If that visitor buys anything from that site once they click
through, you receive a commission off that sale.
Finding affiliate programs are easy to do. Look for sites that
offer products or services that compliment yours, but don’t
compete. Check their site for affiliate programs. Don’t sign
up for just any affiliate program, however. Again, you want
to make sure the site already gets plenty of traffic, that they
have a good reputation, and whatever product or service
they’re offering goes with your site.
Google AdSense is very discriminating about having other
ads appear on the same page as theirs. Affiliate ads which
contain graphics and not text are usually okay, but be sure
to read your Google TOS thoroughly so that you are not in
violation.
Create Affiliate Programs
You can’t beat someone placing your ad on his or her site
free, can you? But how do you do that? If you’re selling a
product or service, you can do this by creating your own
affiliate program. It works the same way as participating in
someone else’s, but this time, you offer a commission to
sites whose visitors click through your ad, then buy
something.
To do this, you’re going to need to set up an organized
system to track your click through rate and sales, set
commission rates that you can afford and are willing to pay,
and a system to pay your affiliates. It will take thought and
a lot of time to get this rolling, but getting affiliates can be
rather easy and you can be less picky than if you were
buying ad space on their sites.
You can find your affiliates by simply searching for sites that
you think would be ideal. Send them an e-mail, introduce
them to you and your site, instruct them on what you’re
offering, and how they can sign up.
Target higher ranked sites at first because those sites are
more likely to bring you sales. In addition, those sites will
be the first to be able to offer testimonials about your
affiliate program. That will draw in more affiliates.
Again, just make sure you can afford to pay what you say
you will. The worst thing you can do is make your affiliates
mad, or, worse, put yourself out of business.
Web Rings
Web rings are simply common sites that link together using
a service such as http://www.ringsurf.com/. You display an
ad at the bottom of your index page stating that you are a
member of the ring. Visitors can click through other ring
member sites and see sites that are related to yours.
Depending on the size of the ring, this can bring you an
extra few hundred unique visitors a day.
Beware of joining too many rings because it makes
your page look tacky. Do your homework and find the
best ring you can with the largest number of members. You
can even contact some of the ring members and ask them
how much traffic it brings them. If you’re selective and do
the research, a web ring can work well for your site.
One Way Links
One-way links are links to your site placed on other sites,
without you having to return the favor by placing a link to
their site on yours (reciprocal links). These are harder to
get than reciprocal links. The more legitimate links you
have back to your site, the higher you’re going to rank in the
search engines and the more traffic you’re going to receive.
You do not want to contact any site that could be in
competition with yours at all. Instead, you want to target
sites whose visitors would also be interested in what you
offer. For example, you own a gift basket site. That’s all
you do. You want to place one-way links on other sites.
Don’t target sites that sell the products you put in your gift
baskets or sites that sell different types of gift baskets than
you. Look for sites that sell other gift ideas, like online
flower shops or singing telegram sites.
These sites in no way compete with yours, but you can offer
their visitors other interesting options. Approach the site
owner or Webmaster with that in mind. Tell them how
placing a link to your site would benefit them and their
customers. “Your customers may want to send a gift along
with flowers, and would appreciate that you made their
search easier for them.” You may even want to offer them
a discount on your site or a free sample of your products.
When looking for sites, notice the ones that have a section
for recommended sites. Those are usually one-way links,
and those sites will probably be willing to add yours to the
list if you can present them with a reason why they should
recommend your site to their visitors.
Newsletter
Of course, you’re very knowledgeable on the content of your
site and the products or services you sell. Why not create a
newsletter for your visitors? Even if a visitor bookmarks
your site, there’s no guarantee they’re going to visit again.
But if you can offer interested articles and tidbits in a
newsletter that you send via email weekly, bi-weekly, or
monthly, you can keep them coming back. You’re providing
them with information that is of interest to them and, in
return, you’re gaining a regular visitor to your site who, if
isn’t a customer at the time, will probably turn into one.
It’s a good idea to put a privacy policy on your site that
applies to customers and subscribers. This way, they
know when they purchase something or sign up for a
mailing, that you’re not going to use their email address for
spam, sell it to other websites, or otherwise find ways to
make them regret ever visiting your site. Free newsletter
templates are available at
http://www.newz2me.com/templates/newsletter-templates.htm
The screen shot below is from
http://www.lockergnome.com
This site has several different newsletters, each targeted to
a subject matter that their visitors will be interested in. The
offer for free newsletter is visible to everyone that lands on
this page. A web developer, for example, would
immediately notice the offer for more information and sign
up. It’s too easy and free not to! And what does
Lockergnome get for this? Repeat visitors, increased
traffic, and, ultimately, a higher CTR with AdSense.
Advertising on Other Sites
We know you have ads on your site to make money. Those
that have ads on your site are paying for them so traffic
comes to their site and they make money too. You’re going
to want to do the same.
It’s your turn to use the search engines. Find high ranking
sites whose content is related to yours, but isn’t a
competitor. Let’s go back to the basket-weaving example.
If you have a basket-weaving site, advertising on a site that
sells products to basket weavers would be excellent
exposure for you.
Just remember that advertising does not have to be
expensive, but that the cheapest advertising can sometimes
cost you the most. Beware of placing ads on sites that
aren’t ranked that high with search engines or who
don’t have a lot of traffic. Even though their cost for you
to advertise on their site may be low, if you’re not going to
get any traffic from it, you’ve wasted your money.
After you’ve found some good sites for your ads, make sure
you’re happy with their ad placement. Observe their site
design and content much like you have your own in the
previous paragraphs. Some sites put ads on the bottoms of
their pages. Is there anything that’s going to direct the
visitor to the bottom of your page? You want your ads to be
visible and to blend into the layout of the page. By doing all
of this, you’ll do as much as you can to insure the ad you
place is worth your money.
Google AdWords
Google Adwords is a way for you to advertise your site.
Registration is comprehensive and is not something you
should rush through. They will allow you to pick keywords
and key phrases and set the price you’re willing to pay per
click. Unlike other sites that are mere ad banks, Google
AdWords allows you to target your audience in the same
way they do with AdSense. Your ad will only appear on
search pages and websites related to your site, using the
keywords and key phrases you’ve chosen. The higher your
click-thru rate and click-thru price is, the higher you’ll rank
in their ads.
The screen shot below shows an example of Google
AdWords. The sponsored links on the right of the page are
paid for by websites and Webmasters through AdWords. Of
course, in this instance, one of the keywords they used was
‘google.’ The Webmaster will pay a set amount per click for
each visitor that clicks through the ad below to his/her site.
Sponsored Ads
Like Google, http://www.linkshare.com and other programs
allow you to pay for sponsored ads. Those ads are placed
on sites whose visitors are likely to be interested in your
site. With sponsored ads, you can target your audience and
achieve more success for your dollar.
site and the products or services you sell. Why not create a
newsletter for your visitors? Even if a visitor bookmarks
your site, there’s no guarantee they’re going to visit again.
But if you can offer interested articles and tidbits in a
newsletter that you send via email weekly, bi-weekly, or
monthly, you can keep them coming back. You’re providing
them with information that is of interest to them and, in
return, you’re gaining a regular visitor to your site who, if
isn’t a customer at the time, will probably turn into one.
It’s a good idea to put a privacy policy on your site that
applies to customers and subscribers. This way, they
know when they purchase something or sign up for a
mailing, that you’re not going to use their email address for
spam, sell it to other websites, or otherwise find ways to
make them regret ever visiting your site. Free newsletter
templates are available at
http://www.newz2me.com/templates/newsletter-templates.htm
The screen shot below is from
http://www.lockergnome.com
This site has several different newsletters, each targeted to
a subject matter that their visitors will be interested in. The
offer for free newsletter is visible to everyone that lands on
this page. A web developer, for example, would
immediately notice the offer for more information and sign
up. It’s too easy and free not to! And what does
Lockergnome get for this? Repeat visitors, increased
traffic, and, ultimately, a higher CTR with AdSense.
Advertising on Other Sites
We know you have ads on your site to make money. Those
that have ads on your site are paying for them so traffic
comes to their site and they make money too. You’re going
to want to do the same.
It’s your turn to use the search engines. Find high ranking
sites whose content is related to yours, but isn’t a
competitor. Let’s go back to the basket-weaving example.
If you have a basket-weaving site, advertising on a site that
sells products to basket weavers would be excellent
exposure for you.
Just remember that advertising does not have to be
expensive, but that the cheapest advertising can sometimes
cost you the most. Beware of placing ads on sites that
aren’t ranked that high with search engines or who
don’t have a lot of traffic. Even though their cost for you
to advertise on their site may be low, if you’re not going to
get any traffic from it, you’ve wasted your money.
After you’ve found some good sites for your ads, make sure
you’re happy with their ad placement. Observe their site
design and content much like you have your own in the
previous paragraphs. Some sites put ads on the bottoms of
their pages. Is there anything that’s going to direct the
visitor to the bottom of your page? You want your ads to be
visible and to blend into the layout of the page. By doing all
of this, you’ll do as much as you can to insure the ad you
place is worth your money.
Google AdWords
Google Adwords is a way for you to advertise your site.
Registration is comprehensive and is not something you
should rush through. They will allow you to pick keywords
and key phrases and set the price you’re willing to pay per
click. Unlike other sites that are mere ad banks, Google
AdWords allows you to target your audience in the same
way they do with AdSense. Your ad will only appear on
search pages and websites related to your site, using the
keywords and key phrases you’ve chosen. The higher your
click-thru rate and click-thru price is, the higher you’ll rank
in their ads.
The screen shot below shows an example of Google
AdWords. The sponsored links on the right of the page are
paid for by websites and Webmasters through AdWords. Of
course, in this instance, one of the keywords they used was
‘google.’ The Webmaster will pay a set amount per click for
each visitor that clicks through the ad below to his/her site.
Sponsored Ads
Like Google, http://www.linkshare.com and other programs
allow you to pay for sponsored ads. Those ads are placed
on sites whose visitors are likely to be interested in your
site. With sponsored ads, you can target your audience and
achieve more success for your dollar.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Contests on Your Site
Freebies from contests or from drawings keep people coming
back. Everyone wants something free. But in addition, it
can also bring people in. Employ this marketing technique
that you now use for your current visitors and customers to
your search engine optimization program.
Have a contest that lasts for a few months. Give away a
prize related to the products or service your site offers. For
example, if you’re an accounting site that sells software,
offer a free software package for the winner. Then, change
your keywords (key phrases) to reflect free accounting
software. I think everyone searches for free products and
services from time to time, if not frequently. Don’t you?
Why not lure more traffic in by giving away something free
yourself?
Sales and Specials:
If you’re selling something from your site, which you
probably are, you have sales and specials from time to time.
Why not update your tags to reflect this? Sales and specials
should not only be available to your current customers and
visitors, but used to also bring new ones in. Updating your
tags to reflect this is a free form of advertising and gives
you another way to rank in the search engines.
Give away free trials too, if you can afford to do so.
Companies that offer free trials of their software are doing
it, convinced that you will buy it once you try it, but it also
attracts search engine customers looking for something free.
The more your site comes up in the search engines, the
more successful you’re going to be.
Opt-in Mailing List:
Creating a chance for your customers and visitors to stay up
to date with site changes, sales, specials, and contests is a
great way to increase traffic to your site. Visitors who do
not buy anything can sign up, and this provides you with a
way to keep them coming back to your site. You could also
create a survey that they receive when they sign up. Just
be sure they know this and that the survey is optional.
Getting visitor feedback about their experiences on your site
can be invaluable. By doing this, you’ll learn what the
majority want and be able to keep your site in tune with
your visitors’ needs.
There are several software programs that you can pay for
which will help you set up and organize a mailing list. You
can also do it yourself for free by creating simple HTML
forms on your site. The results can be stored in a database
or emailed directly to you. Visit http://www.htmlbasix.com
for a free e-mail form html code.
You can also use Yahoo groups as the site below has done.
This gives your visitors a chance to interact, and it’s a way
for a Webmaster to keep them updated.
back. Everyone wants something free. But in addition, it
can also bring people in. Employ this marketing technique
that you now use for your current visitors and customers to
your search engine optimization program.
Have a contest that lasts for a few months. Give away a
prize related to the products or service your site offers. For
example, if you’re an accounting site that sells software,
offer a free software package for the winner. Then, change
your keywords (key phrases) to reflect free accounting
software. I think everyone searches for free products and
services from time to time, if not frequently. Don’t you?
Why not lure more traffic in by giving away something free
yourself?
Sales and Specials:
If you’re selling something from your site, which you
probably are, you have sales and specials from time to time.
Why not update your tags to reflect this? Sales and specials
should not only be available to your current customers and
visitors, but used to also bring new ones in. Updating your
tags to reflect this is a free form of advertising and gives
you another way to rank in the search engines.
Give away free trials too, if you can afford to do so.
Companies that offer free trials of their software are doing
it, convinced that you will buy it once you try it, but it also
attracts search engine customers looking for something free.
The more your site comes up in the search engines, the
more successful you’re going to be.
Opt-in Mailing List:
Creating a chance for your customers and visitors to stay up
to date with site changes, sales, specials, and contests is a
great way to increase traffic to your site. Visitors who do
not buy anything can sign up, and this provides you with a
way to keep them coming back to your site. You could also
create a survey that they receive when they sign up. Just
be sure they know this and that the survey is optional.
Getting visitor feedback about their experiences on your site
can be invaluable. By doing this, you’ll learn what the
majority want and be able to keep your site in tune with
your visitors’ needs.
There are several software programs that you can pay for
which will help you set up and organize a mailing list. You
can also do it yourself for free by creating simple HTML
forms on your site. The results can be stored in a database
or emailed directly to you. Visit http://www.htmlbasix.com
for a free e-mail form html code.
You can also use Yahoo groups as the site below has done.
This gives your visitors a chance to interact, and it’s a way
for a Webmaster to keep them updated.
More Than One Site
If you have more than one site, link them together so your
sites share traffic. Some Webmasters believe that having
more than one domain for their single site increases their
search engine ranking, but they are wrong. Crawlers usually
only index information once, and so that just may be a
waste of your time and money.
However, if you do have more than one complete site, by
linking them together, you can increase traffic to both, and
by doing that, raise your ranking. There isn’t any magical
formula to increase your ranking, so if it seems easy and too
good to be true, like in life, it probably is.
Google Site Maps:
Site maps are not only a way to let your customers know
exactly is what on your site and where, it also helps the
Google spiders index your site. By going to
http://www.google.com, you can find out how to create a
site map. They will ask you to upload a blank file to your
site for verification purposes. After that, you will let Google
know exactly where your site map is and your site will be
indexed accordingly.
Google is Webmaster and search engine optimization
friendly in addition to being one of the most popular search engines. Be sure to take advantage of every tool they offer
you to increase your ranking with them.
sites share traffic. Some Webmasters believe that having
more than one domain for their single site increases their
search engine ranking, but they are wrong. Crawlers usually
only index information once, and so that just may be a
waste of your time and money.
However, if you do have more than one complete site, by
linking them together, you can increase traffic to both, and
by doing that, raise your ranking. There isn’t any magical
formula to increase your ranking, so if it seems easy and too
good to be true, like in life, it probably is.
Google Site Maps:
Site maps are not only a way to let your customers know
exactly is what on your site and where, it also helps the
Google spiders index your site. By going to
http://www.google.com, you can find out how to create a
site map. They will ask you to upload a blank file to your
site for verification purposes. After that, you will let Google
know exactly where your site map is and your site will be
indexed accordingly.
Google is Webmaster and search engine optimization
friendly in addition to being one of the most popular search engines. Be sure to take advantage of every tool they offer
you to increase your ranking with them.
Update Regularly
Updating your site with fresh, new content not only keeps
the visitors and customers you have coming back, it also
gives you a chance to rank higher in the search engines.
During updates, you should not only update content, but
also your keywords (key phrases), description, and title.
Sometimes as sites grow, they expand their subject matter
and products and transform. This should be reflected in
every aspect of your pages, not just the parts the public
views, so your traffic (visitors and customers) increase as
your site grows. Remember, more traffic not only means
more business for you. It also means more people can click
on your AdSense ads, which makes money for you.
Appropriate Page Names:
Search engines index pages, which means your page could
be pulled up in a search by the name. If you have a page
about antique sofas, title the page antique sofas or be even
more exact than that, if there’s a certain type of sofa on that
page. This makes your page more searchable and can give
you more targeted traffic.
Marketing:
How does marketing your site help your advertising
revenue? It’s simple. By marketing your products or
service and bringing people to your site for those products
or services, you are increasing the number of visitors. The
ads on your pages are targeted for your content and what
your site offers, so when you bring in targeted visitors
through your marketing campaigns, those visitors are likely
to click through your ads.
Marketing is a trial and error procedure. Certain methods
work well for some sites, and not so well for others. Monitor
your site stats and traffic logs with each new marketing
campaign you try. See what works well for you, and
permanently implement the programs that bring you more
traffic as well as higher CTR or click through rates.
Page Title:
Let’s take a step back to page architecture for a minute.
While whether you build your site using CSS or frames
doesn’t have an impact on your site’s success, other factors
do.
A lot of webmasters use the title tag in each of their pages
to name their website or company so that it appears at the
top of the visitor’s browser. It looks good, but it does
nothing for the site’s success. Use your title tag to give a
brief description of what your site offers.
A potential new customer is not going to type the name of
your site into a search engine, but they will type in the products or services you offer. For example, Joe’s Place
sells used car parts online. So does Albert’s Virtual Garage.
Joe’s Place has “Your online stop for foreign and domestic
used car parts” as his title. Albert’s simply has “Welcome to
Albert’s Garage” When someone types “used car parts” into
a search engine, who are they more likely to find? Joe’s
Place, of course.
the visitors and customers you have coming back, it also
gives you a chance to rank higher in the search engines.
During updates, you should not only update content, but
also your keywords (key phrases), description, and title.
Sometimes as sites grow, they expand their subject matter
and products and transform. This should be reflected in
every aspect of your pages, not just the parts the public
views, so your traffic (visitors and customers) increase as
your site grows. Remember, more traffic not only means
more business for you. It also means more people can click
on your AdSense ads, which makes money for you.
Appropriate Page Names:
Search engines index pages, which means your page could
be pulled up in a search by the name. If you have a page
about antique sofas, title the page antique sofas or be even
more exact than that, if there’s a certain type of sofa on that
page. This makes your page more searchable and can give
you more targeted traffic.
Marketing:
How does marketing your site help your advertising
revenue? It’s simple. By marketing your products or
service and bringing people to your site for those products
or services, you are increasing the number of visitors. The
ads on your pages are targeted for your content and what
your site offers, so when you bring in targeted visitors
through your marketing campaigns, those visitors are likely
to click through your ads.
Marketing is a trial and error procedure. Certain methods
work well for some sites, and not so well for others. Monitor
your site stats and traffic logs with each new marketing
campaign you try. See what works well for you, and
permanently implement the programs that bring you more
traffic as well as higher CTR or click through rates.
Page Title:
Let’s take a step back to page architecture for a minute.
While whether you build your site using CSS or frames
doesn’t have an impact on your site’s success, other factors
do.
A lot of webmasters use the title tag in each of their pages
to name their website or company so that it appears at the
top of the visitor’s browser. It looks good, but it does
nothing for the site’s success. Use your title tag to give a
brief description of what your site offers.
A potential new customer is not going to type the name of
your site into a search engine, but they will type in the products or services you offer. For example, Joe’s Place
sells used car parts online. So does Albert’s Virtual Garage.
Joe’s Place has “Your online stop for foreign and domestic
used car parts” as his title. Albert’s simply has “Welcome to
Albert’s Garage” When someone types “used car parts” into
a search engine, who are they more likely to find? Joe’s
Place, of course.
Keyword Rich Content
Implement as many keywords as you can into your content.
Crawlers search content as well, and the more popular
keywords you can work in, the better. Remember that you
are going to have a better CTR for AdSense if you have
more visitors. To have more visitors, you must have quality,
optimized content in order to gain, then maintain a good
search engine ranking.
Keywords:
Meta Tag keywords are placed in the header of your
webpages and represent the content of that page using
single words or brief phrases. The words or phrases used
are ones search engine crawlers will pick up when they index
your site and also the ones someone using a search engine
might type in to find your site.
It’s obvious to say that you should use Meta tag keywords
that are relevant to your site’s content. Don’t add any
keywords that have nothing to do with your site. Crawlers
may be essentially robots, but they do surf content as well,
and you can be banned from search engines.
List your products or services, any other applicable terms,
and even well known competitors if you want. It’s important
to have good keywords (or key phrases). There is software
out there that helps you pick keywords and allows you to
maximize your keywords so that the ones you use are theones most frequently used by search engines, just research
before you buy.
Keyword Generators:
The best way to select keywords is to choose ones that are
already searched for frequently. There's no need to pay for
a keyword generator unless you want to. Overture will give
you the top 25 keywords that were typed into search
engines for the previous month. Just enter a term related to
your page. Bookmark this site for whenever you create a
new page:
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion
Descriptions:
Meta tag site descriptions are not read by Google crawlers
because they generate their own descriptions for the page,
but other search engines still use them. The best way to
come up with your site description is to use the first one or
two sentences of text on the page. It’s worth your time to
use this tag because it gives you some control with various
crawlers.
Geo Targeting:
If you offer a product or service to a certain city or
geographical area, you can specify that in your keywords
and description. Doing this may be very crucial in drawing
in targeted traffic from search engines. However, avoid just
naming small areas because that limits the customers that
can find you. If you’re a northern California chiropractor,
don’t just list the county or city your business is in. Always
aim for the larger audience to get the maximum results from
search engines.
Robot Tags:
Robot tags let you specify what pages on your site are
indexed. Robot tags go in your header, but you can also
create a text file. The text file will be the first thing they
“read” when they’re on your site. By using the text file, you
can specify which pages not to index and insure only the
content you want in the search engines will appear. To
create a robot.txt file, go to
http://www.1-hit.com/all-in-one/tool-robots.txt-generator.htm
Crawlers search content as well, and the more popular
keywords you can work in, the better. Remember that you
are going to have a better CTR for AdSense if you have
more visitors. To have more visitors, you must have quality,
optimized content in order to gain, then maintain a good
search engine ranking.
Keywords:
Meta Tag keywords are placed in the header of your
webpages and represent the content of that page using
single words or brief phrases. The words or phrases used
are ones search engine crawlers will pick up when they index
your site and also the ones someone using a search engine
might type in to find your site.
It’s obvious to say that you should use Meta tag keywords
that are relevant to your site’s content. Don’t add any
keywords that have nothing to do with your site. Crawlers
may be essentially robots, but they do surf content as well,
and you can be banned from search engines.
List your products or services, any other applicable terms,
and even well known competitors if you want. It’s important
to have good keywords (or key phrases). There is software
out there that helps you pick keywords and allows you to
maximize your keywords so that the ones you use are theones most frequently used by search engines, just research
before you buy.
Keyword Generators:
The best way to select keywords is to choose ones that are
already searched for frequently. There's no need to pay for
a keyword generator unless you want to. Overture will give
you the top 25 keywords that were typed into search
engines for the previous month. Just enter a term related to
your page. Bookmark this site for whenever you create a
new page:
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion
Descriptions:
Meta tag site descriptions are not read by Google crawlers
because they generate their own descriptions for the page,
but other search engines still use them. The best way to
come up with your site description is to use the first one or
two sentences of text on the page. It’s worth your time to
use this tag because it gives you some control with various
crawlers.
Geo Targeting:
If you offer a product or service to a certain city or
geographical area, you can specify that in your keywords
and description. Doing this may be very crucial in drawing
in targeted traffic from search engines. However, avoid just
naming small areas because that limits the customers that
can find you. If you’re a northern California chiropractor,
don’t just list the county or city your business is in. Always
aim for the larger audience to get the maximum results from
search engines.
Robot Tags:
Robot tags let you specify what pages on your site are
indexed. Robot tags go in your header, but you can also
create a text file. The text file will be the first thing they
“read” when they’re on your site. By using the text file, you
can specify which pages not to index and insure only the
content you want in the search engines will appear. To
create a robot.txt file, go to
http://www.1-hit.com/all-in-one/tool-robots.txt-generator.htm
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Have the Right Amount of Content
At the same time, don’t put too little on a page. Having one
paragraph on a page makes it look like your site has nothing
to offer, and the customer has little to gain by venturing to
other pages. Address the topic of the page and cover it well.
It’s crucial to successful ad revenue to organize your pages
well. If you have ads ¾ of the way down the page, but
you’ve bored the customer before he got halfway down the
page, then you’ve lost ad revenue. For the same reason, if
you don’t have enough information and the customer
doesn’t click through to other pages where there are ads,
again, you’ve lost revenue.
Think of your website as a book. There always has to be
enough to make them turn the page, but not so much that
they know how the story ends after reading the first
paragraph.
This site below doesn’t have enough content on the page to
support Google AdSense. Half the page is blank. The
solution here would be to move the ads up into the content
or move them to another page. To a visitor, the site looks
like it’s missing something it needs. Besides that, the ads
really stand out as just that: ads.
Free Content for Websites
There are sites that will provide you with free content for
your site, including articles, polls, quizzes, etc. You can use
those that relate to your site’s content in exchange for a link
back. Articles and quizzes can draw more visitors to your
site, but remember the content must be quality. If you wrap
up a big box for a Christmas present for someone, but fill
the box with garbage, they’re not going to be impressed.
It’s the same way with content.
Remember that the more quality content you have, the
more your visitors are going to trust that the ads you display
are quality, as well. And the more interesting content you
have, the more keywords you’ll use. It’ll make your site
more prominent in the search engines. All this translates to
more visitors and a higher CTR with AdSense.
http://www.freshcontent.net and http://www.pollhead.com
are two of many sites that offer free content to Webmasters.
Use the Best Software and Tools
Let’s start with the basic design of your site. Don’t take
shortcuts or look for quicker ways to put it together that are
going to ultimately result in a poor site design or bad
content. Being an amateur is no excuse for poor quality.
Do your research. Stay on top of products and software that
will benefit you and your website. After all, if you walk into
a clothing store and all the clothes are hanging from
clotheslines, are you going to buy anything there? What
about if all the clothes are strewn all over the floor? Of
course not. You don’t want your visitors to experience a
similar experience and navigate away after seeing your site.
If you choose, you can use a free template for your site.
However, you want your site to look professional, so look at
some related sites before you decide.
There is also software that can help you design your own
professional site with little or no HTML skills. Programs like
Microsoft FrontPage make it easy. If you aren’t going to hire
someone to do your site, consider using a professional
template or software. Putting your best effort into doing it
without any help is admirable, but if you fail in creating a
good site, your efforts won’t be rewarded with returning
visitors and a high CTR.
Take the time to do it right the first time. If you don’t have
Microsoft FrontPage, you can always use a professional
template. By signing up for an http://www.bravenet.com
membership, you have access to free professional templates
as well as other useful resources.
Websites should have a clear, clean design with the focus
being on the information, product, or service you offer. Put
away those fancy backgrounds because they just distract
from the text.
The content on your site should stand out, not the
background. Any colors you use should be pleasing to the
eye and not clash. Take the time to visit some larger sites
on the Internet for different companies and corporations.
While you may be just one person or a small company, you
should display the same level of professionalism in your
design.
Stick with the traditional light or white background for text.
Other darker colors should be used for side columns and to
dress up the white, not to take over and distract the reader
from what you really want them to notice.
It’s important to remember that you’re bringing the visitor
to your site to read the content, not to be blinded by your
incredible use of color or the beautiful background. So,
focus on the content. Make it visible and make it the focus.
Site Content:
Your site’s content is very important to your search engine
ranking. If you’re an online florist, do not type online florist
repeatedly on your first page with the hopes of tricking the
search engines into giving your site a higher ranking. You’ll
just be banned. However, it’s very important to have
keywords placed in your legitimate text because spiders and
crawlers will pick those up.
Quality content can help you rank higher in the search
engines, but it also keeps visitors coming back. Site traffic
is not only essential to the site itself and the business it
represents, but also to your AdSense CTR. A certain
percentage of your traffic will ultimately click through your
ads. The more traffic you have, the more visitors that will
click through your ads.
Don’t Clutter Pages with Too Much Information
More content on a single page is not better in all cases.
When it comes to how much information you place, there
should be some basic rules in place. Don’t try to jam pack
too much on one page. Different topics should be on
different pages. You shouldn’t have any page so cluttered
with information that it’s hard to read any one thing.
If you have a lot of information that must be put on the
same page, make sure it keeps the readers attention or
gives them a way to easily return to the top, such as with
FAQ pages.
shortcuts or look for quicker ways to put it together that are
going to ultimately result in a poor site design or bad
content. Being an amateur is no excuse for poor quality.
Do your research. Stay on top of products and software that
will benefit you and your website. After all, if you walk into
a clothing store and all the clothes are hanging from
clotheslines, are you going to buy anything there? What
about if all the clothes are strewn all over the floor? Of
course not. You don’t want your visitors to experience a
similar experience and navigate away after seeing your site.
If you choose, you can use a free template for your site.
However, you want your site to look professional, so look at
some related sites before you decide.
There is also software that can help you design your own
professional site with little or no HTML skills. Programs like
Microsoft FrontPage make it easy. If you aren’t going to hire
someone to do your site, consider using a professional
template or software. Putting your best effort into doing it
without any help is admirable, but if you fail in creating a
good site, your efforts won’t be rewarded with returning
visitors and a high CTR.
Take the time to do it right the first time. If you don’t have
Microsoft FrontPage, you can always use a professional
template. By signing up for an http://www.bravenet.com
membership, you have access to free professional templates
as well as other useful resources.
Websites should have a clear, clean design with the focus
being on the information, product, or service you offer. Put
away those fancy backgrounds because they just distract
from the text.
The content on your site should stand out, not the
background. Any colors you use should be pleasing to the
eye and not clash. Take the time to visit some larger sites
on the Internet for different companies and corporations.
While you may be just one person or a small company, you
should display the same level of professionalism in your
design.
Stick with the traditional light or white background for text.
Other darker colors should be used for side columns and to
dress up the white, not to take over and distract the reader
from what you really want them to notice.
It’s important to remember that you’re bringing the visitor
to your site to read the content, not to be blinded by your
incredible use of color or the beautiful background. So,
focus on the content. Make it visible and make it the focus.
Site Content:
Your site’s content is very important to your search engine
ranking. If you’re an online florist, do not type online florist
repeatedly on your first page with the hopes of tricking the
search engines into giving your site a higher ranking. You’ll
just be banned. However, it’s very important to have
keywords placed in your legitimate text because spiders and
crawlers will pick those up.
Quality content can help you rank higher in the search
engines, but it also keeps visitors coming back. Site traffic
is not only essential to the site itself and the business it
represents, but also to your AdSense CTR. A certain
percentage of your traffic will ultimately click through your
ads. The more traffic you have, the more visitors that will
click through your ads.
Don’t Clutter Pages with Too Much Information
More content on a single page is not better in all cases.
When it comes to how much information you place, there
should be some basic rules in place. Don’t try to jam pack
too much on one page. Different topics should be on
different pages. You shouldn’t have any page so cluttered
with information that it’s hard to read any one thing.
If you have a lot of information that must be put on the
same page, make sure it keeps the readers attention or
gives them a way to easily return to the top, such as with
FAQ pages.
Preparing Your Site for Ads
How much traffic does your site receive per month? How
many are unique visitors and how many are returning?
What keywords are you using? How high does your site
rank in the search engines?
Being successful with AdSense goes hand in hand with
website success. The better your site is organized and the
higher you’re ranked, the more visitors you have. The more
professional of a job you do, the more you’re going to see
success with AdSense. There are ways to construct your
site and things you can do to bring more visitors and keep
those same ones returning. Also, there are things you can
do to make more visitors click through your AdSense ads.
Know your traffic stats and your search engine rankings.
Those are the numbers you want to improve and the first
steps to success with AdSense. It’s time to start your own
SEO campaign. You won’t see the results over night, but
you will see them.
If you don’t have traffic monitoring software on your site,
you can get a free one at
http://www.precisioncounter.com/
many are unique visitors and how many are returning?
What keywords are you using? How high does your site
rank in the search engines?
Being successful with AdSense goes hand in hand with
website success. The better your site is organized and the
higher you’re ranked, the more visitors you have. The more
professional of a job you do, the more you’re going to see
success with AdSense. There are ways to construct your
site and things you can do to bring more visitors and keep
those same ones returning. Also, there are things you can
do to make more visitors click through your AdSense ads.
Know your traffic stats and your search engine rankings.
Those are the numbers you want to improve and the first
steps to success with AdSense. It’s time to start your own
SEO campaign. You won’t see the results over night, but
you will see them.
If you don’t have traffic monitoring software on your site,
you can get a free one at
http://www.precisioncounter.com/
SEO: Search Engine Optimization
Couple Google AdSense with a good search engine
optimization program, or SEO, and what do you get? You
get a site with high click through rates and revenue from
AdSense. While every site should have some sort of SEO
strategy, it’s not essential to having a site. However, it’s
essential if you want your site to be successful with
AdSense. SEO brings targeted traffic to your site. AdSense
displays ads that will interest your targeted traffic.
Discussed below are tips and techniques designed to boost
your traffic and your click through rate (CTR).
As said before, click through rates with any ad program,
especially AdSense, depend on the number of visitors you
have to your site. The more visitors you have, the higher
the number of visitors who are going to click through an ad.
That is just common sense.
Search Engine Optimization or SEO involves your site’s page
architecture, content, links to your site, and other
determining factors that rank your site higher with the
search engines. Things like popular keywords and key
phrases help you gain higher rank as well. By doing all of
this and learning how to optimize your site, you are going to
increase targeted traffic to your site. Increased targeted
traffic means a higher CTR for you.
There are companies out there who will provide SEO
services to you and your site. They will optimize your
pages, build links, and get your site ranked higher in the
search engines. Prices for these services vary based upon
experience. If you’re going to hire someone to optimize
your site, check them out and ask many questions. It’s
recommended that you learn basic SEO on your own so that
you can easier spot a qualified company.
In addition to the tips listed below, you can download a free powerful e-book
on SEO by visiting this site:
http://www.rlrouse.com/SEO.html
optimization program, or SEO, and what do you get? You
get a site with high click through rates and revenue from
AdSense. While every site should have some sort of SEO
strategy, it’s not essential to having a site. However, it’s
essential if you want your site to be successful with
AdSense. SEO brings targeted traffic to your site. AdSense
displays ads that will interest your targeted traffic.
Discussed below are tips and techniques designed to boost
your traffic and your click through rate (CTR).
As said before, click through rates with any ad program,
especially AdSense, depend on the number of visitors you
have to your site. The more visitors you have, the higher
the number of visitors who are going to click through an ad.
That is just common sense.
Search Engine Optimization or SEO involves your site’s page
architecture, content, links to your site, and other
determining factors that rank your site higher with the
search engines. Things like popular keywords and key
phrases help you gain higher rank as well. By doing all of
this and learning how to optimize your site, you are going to
increase targeted traffic to your site. Increased targeted
traffic means a higher CTR for you.
There are companies out there who will provide SEO
services to you and your site. They will optimize your
pages, build links, and get your site ranked higher in the
search engines. Prices for these services vary based upon
experience. If you’re going to hire someone to optimize
your site, check them out and ask many questions. It’s
recommended that you learn basic SEO on your own so that
you can easier spot a qualified company.
In addition to the tips listed below, you can download a free powerful e-book
on SEO by visiting this site:
http://www.rlrouse.com/SEO.html
About Google AdSense
If you’re new to Google AdSense, it’s important to first
realize how the program works and why it works so well. All
AdSense ads are targeted to your website’s niche. For
example, if a new computer site has AdSense ads on its
pages, the ads will have something to do with computers
and will be targeted to the information about computers
contained on the page.
Targeting ads toward a visitor’s interest raises the chance
that they will click through the ad. After all, not many
visitors looking for a new computer are going to care if an ad
is offering free poker chips.
You are paid per click, which means for each ad on your site
that is clicked through by a visitor, you will be paid a
specified amount. The more clicks, the more money you
make.
All of this is why AdSense is the most successful advertising
program on the Internet today. Websites that place
AdSense ads on their site enjoy revenue in the thousands of
dollars and higher per month. But, again, simply signing up
for the program and placing those ads on your site will not
guarantee success.
Here IS the official Google AdSense Program page:
https://www.google.com/adsense/
realize how the program works and why it works so well. All
AdSense ads are targeted to your website’s niche. For
example, if a new computer site has AdSense ads on its
pages, the ads will have something to do with computers
and will be targeted to the information about computers
contained on the page.
Targeting ads toward a visitor’s interest raises the chance
that they will click through the ad. After all, not many
visitors looking for a new computer are going to care if an ad
is offering free poker chips.
You are paid per click, which means for each ad on your site
that is clicked through by a visitor, you will be paid a
specified amount. The more clicks, the more money you
make.
All of this is why AdSense is the most successful advertising
program on the Internet today. Websites that place
AdSense ads on their site enjoy revenue in the thousands of
dollars and higher per month. But, again, simply signing up
for the program and placing those ads on your site will not
guarantee success.
Here IS the official Google AdSense Program page:
https://www.google.com/adsense/
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