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.
Friday, October 10, 2008
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.
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