Legal Resources for Internet Marketers (Video + Downloads)
If you’re an internet marketer or online business owner, then you need to know how to protect your sites, copyrighted content, brand, and how to defend yourself. Shoemoney, one of the top internet marketers just released a vast amount of legal resources that includes video and downloadable example policies.
If you want to get legal advice for the online world, learn how to protect your online business and get insight from someone who’s dealt with more legal issues than just about anyone else online, then grab his FREE Legal Resources.
He’ll walk you through policies and things you should have on your site that you probably didn’t even know about.
Learn how to persue someone who steals your stuff, what kind of emails to send, costs and other legal actions to take if they don’t respond.
Shoemoney and his company has spent enough money to buy a small island just dealing with online legal issues. He goes into detail about his experiences, what he and his company went through and how he fought back to protect and defend his business.
Click here, signup and you’ll also have access to 3 other kick ass videos for FREE:
- Weapons of Marketing – every marketer needs to see this, really entertaining and goes into how Big Brands and Famous Celebrities market their brands and much more
- Adversity is Opportunity – Pretty much talks about how he, Shoemoney, has faced so much adversity to get to where’s he’s at today online.
- MyAds Mini Mastery – not available yet but soon will be. Just signup and you’ll get notified.
I’ll be honest, I don’t come across to many things online that are FREE that I actually download or signup for since it’s usually a waste of my time. These vids and downloads were very informational and high quality. Yeah, he’s pushing his Shoemoney system with all of these freebies so take advantage and grab them while you can.
I heard the FREE videos will only be available for a very short amount of time!
Can You Make Money Online in a Recession?
I’ll be honest, when the recession first hit us pretty hard a few years ago. I really was wondering what impact it would have on the internet and for internet marketers. I personally thought the internet would lose popularity and the seasoned pros in the internet marketing world would totally dominate the web. Any scraps that were left, would be fought over by everyone else. The outlook didn’t look to promising for a newbie internet marketer like myself, or anyone else without a high skill level online. Instead the opposite happened. The internet marketing world is still thriving, and many more people including myself started making money online from home.
Why is this?
It actually made a lot of sense. Many people started losing jobs. I’m sure you know some people the recession has affected, and prices started to rise for just about everything. Which gave people more stress, free time, boredom and etc. but what does that lead to? More people being home and depending on their electronics more than ever. Like their televisions, but more importantly their computers and internet. Whether it’s for entertainment or social purposes, to make a little money or to find a new job. People are still finding ways to get online and use the internet.
According to a article in the U.S. News that I thought was quite interesting, titled 10 things we can’t live without, nearly half of the things were either internet or computer related. It even included a story about a girl named Brianna Karp, who was homeless and started a blog called The Girl’s Guide to Homelessness. The blog attracted attention, helped land her a part-time magazine internship, which lead to an offer to write a book about her story. There’s a chance it may even get turned into a movie. I bet she never was expecting all that, while homeless and writing in a blog just to share her experience.
It’s sometimes frustrating when I see all these shows on television that are on the effects of the recession. I see all of these intelligent go-getters who are going bankrupt and losing their homes. Like one show that I saw bits and pieces of. It was about young business owners who were struggling to make enough money to pay their bills, let alone keep their business alive. Some of these people were going to extreme measures just to make a single dollar. Many of them were even selling all of their most prized possessions for pennies on the dollar.
It made me think, if only they knew about internet marketing and all the endless possibilities the internet has to offer to make real money online. With their intelligence and motivation, they should be able to find some sort of income on the internet rather quickly.
In conclusion, there is no better time to make real money online then right now, despite the recession. Many people, including myself are making money online, or starting their own online business during the recession that has hit us in the 21st century. Though, you may have to evolve and adapt to the current economy to succeed online.
What to Write About in a Blog – How to Create Killer Content
One of the first questions a new blogger asks is, what to write about in a blog? I had the same question when I was a beginner, and it’s actually one of the reasons that kept me from creating a blog in the first place. I want to share some ideas and tips on how to create killer content for your blog or website, that have helped me.
What knowledge do you possess and what can you leverage right now?
When you are first starting out, you should think of your skills, (writing it down would be even better) hobbies, passions, connections and knowledge that you already have that you can leverage for your blogs content. This will give you ideas on what you could or may want to write about for a blog. The more you know about something, will allow you to be more credible when you are writing your content about your chosen topic. This will allow you to look like an expert right off the bat, without having to do to much research first. However, choosing something you are interested in but don’t know to much about can work too. Maybe you have sources and connections that can teach you more about your topic and give you insight.
I just wanted to add, most successful bloggers online started off writing about something they have a passion for. It’s pretty easy to get burned out really quickly if you are just trying to make some quick money online. Blogging and making money from a blog can be a lot harder than it looks.
It doesn’t really matter if you can write or not. The more you practice (what better way than by writing in your own blog) and the more you read, the better you’ll become. I totally sucked when I first started blogging, just read some of my first posts on this blog. The more I blogged and read other blogs, I now actually produce some decent content.
Choose one niche or topic
If you don’t have experience as a blogger, then starting your blog off in one niche or topic would be best. Once you’ve narrowed it down to a small list of things you are either interested in or already have knowledge about, it’s time to choose one for your blog. Staying within one topic will help you to get visitors that are interested in the same things and then you can start building a community for your blog. Your blog should also show up in the search engines faster for keywords related to your niche.
Make sure it is a niche or topic that will give you plenty to write about and expand. For instance, this blog “mathewday.com” is about internet marketing and ways to make money online. There are a ton of things for me to write about, all the way to blogging to affiliate marketing.
Unless you purposely want to make a small targeted niche blog with maybe only a few pages for one specific thing. You could also create a personal blog, where it’s more like your journal of rants, opinions and thoughts.
Your first blog posts should include…
You need to remember you are writing for other people, not yourself. Create ORIGINAL and VALUE in your content that others would want to read and share. In your writing, make the person feel as though you are talking to them or like your telling a story. You want to affect your readers in some way through your writing, inspire, help, humor, teach, vent and share your personal experiences. Let them get to know the real you and your personality. Being creative and doing something totally different or in a different way, will get you attention and traffic. Think outside the box.
When you are first beginning your blog, you should begin by adding content that explains what your blog is about. Start adding structure to your blog, you need to build the foundation with Pillar Articles. This would include longer posts that outline your expertise or research for a specific topic. The content should be timeless, informational, factual, and attract other bloggers to link to you as a reference.
If you want to be successful with your blog, you need to take ownership and act as if you are an expert in your field. Do whatever it takes to get there, research, network, learn, experiment, until you have the confidence to become an authority figure in your niche. Now it’s time to put in the work….
Motivation is going to eventually be the #1 factor on whether you continue to add content to your blog regularly and whether you reach success with your blog. I found what works for me is to write down a list of achievable goals you want to reach and when you want to reach them by. Also, write down things that motivate you or why you do anything in Life. It could be for your family, yourself, God, your kids, just to be the best dam blogger in the entire world, or etc….
It also matters on the type of blog or niche you choose to write about. For instance, if it’s a humorous blog, then starting with funny posts right off the bat would be ok.
Ideas to Create Killer Content
- Write informational and helpful posts about your topic.
- a tutorial on how to do something
- a factual post about your niche, include references
- throw in some humorous posts once in awhile
- Start a little controversy by disagreeing with something a expert wrote about in your niche and sharing your view point on the matter.
- Case Study showing what you did, how you did it and what the results were.
- Add something personal about you, anything, it’s your birthday, your kids, latest event you went to, etc…..
- debunk a myth on your topic
- compiled list of several resources and references on just one thing pertaining to your niche
- a list of resources, explaining a little about each one
- list of helpful references and links
- list of helpful ideas, tips and tricks
- the latest buzz in your niche
- you can do a review on just about anything
- product or service review
- something you just learned
- sharing your expertise
- giving your opinion or looking at something at a different angle and sharing your thoughts
- look at your competition and see what they are writing about, good way to get ideas
- write posts for the beginners
- write posts for the experienced
- share your latest experiment or experience
- compile a post with links to your best articles
- write about your failures or what not to do
- a post that inspires your readers
- answer a question from one of your readers
- link baits – posts specifically made for getting backlinks to your blog
- do extensive research on just one particular thing and write about what you learned and found, include references
- write about your success and how you achieved it
- Allow others to Guest Post on your blog
- an interview with an expert or authority figure in your niche
- answer a question someone would be looking for
- do a collection of posts from other bloggers all on the same topic with small descriptions and links to them
- latest current events for your niche
- compare two or more things together and show their likenesses and differences
Don’t forget to add some video and images to your blog too.
Include Keywords and SEO
While writing your content for your blog, make sure you are implementing the correct on site SEO, adding keywords to your titles and throughout your content. Go here if you have no idea what I’m talking about, learn how to get traffic to your blog for FREE and about SEO.
How often should I write?
Just about everyone has a different opinion on this matter. However, I’ve learned that the search engines, like Google, will start to love and visit your blog more often if you post regularly and often. I don’t think posting daily is necessary but if you can keep up with it, then do it. I suggest adding a new post at least once every few days and then sticking to that routine.
I hope this article helps and gives you ideas on what to write about in a blog. What are some things or ideas that help you to create Killer content?
A common question, especially for new internet marketers and bloggers is, how to get web traffic to your website or blog for FREE? I decided to write a short post on the best ways that I get FREE traffic to my sites. Even though I also get a majority of my traffic from PPC with Google Adwords, it’s not really a recommended method for beginners trying to increase their traffic, so I only listed FREE methods that I and just about every other successful blogger or internet marketer uses too.
Killer Content – Yeah, this is pretty much a no brainer, I had to add it in here somewhere. I’ve learned from my experience that Content is really where everything begins. Without original, valuable, engaging and high quality content, then there’s really no reason to get traffic in the first place. No one is going to read it, suggest others to read it, or link to it as a source/reference. Great content even for a 500 word landing page (lp) is crucial because you need to pre-sell your visitors by engaging, connecting with them and that’s pretty much all done through your content. Killer content, just by itself can lead to a ton of targeted traffic to your websites from visitors letting others know about it.
SEO – Search engine optimization consists of several things. It basically means optimizing your website and content so people can find it on the Search Engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. The search engines will probably eventually be your #1 source of FREE targeted traffic.
How do you get your website on the front page of the Search Engines?
- Keywords (KW) – are very important because this is how your website will show up on the front page of the search engines or search engine results pages (SERP’s). When you “Google something” the words or phrase you entered would be considered keywords or a “keyword phrase”. Now there are “keywords” and there are “Long Tail keywords” (consist of 3 or more words and creates a “keyword phrase”). Now long tail keywords will have less competition and will be much easier for a beginner to get on the front page of the search engines. “Long tailed Keywords” will bring in targeted traffic because they are searching for something in particular, not just using a broad keyword. A competitive KW like “Money” would be very hard to get on the front page of the serp’s, but a “long tail keyword” like “make money at home for beginners” has much less competition and would be so much more easier to land your site on the front page for that search term. You need to make sure you are adding the keyword or long tailed keywords throughout your content, but making it look natural and not forcing your KW’s all over. Adding no more than a 5% keyword ratio to regular words in your content, and make sure you use them in your titles.
- Backlinks – The more backlinks you get from other relevant and high PR websites will give your site more authority and credibility from the search engines. This will help move your site closer to the front of the serp’s. Include the keywords in your “anchor text” (words used in link) for your links pointing back to your sites, which will give your website more authority for those keywords, and help boost your site to the front page of Google for those KW’s.
Social Media – This is the Hottest method of getting traffic, currently. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Stumbleupon and etc… can bring a lot of traffic quickly and for FREE. The social media sites are so powerful and effective because people spread information virally. It takes just one person to visit your site or blog and they could start a chain reaction from telling their friends on social media sites. Make sure you get your best articles/sites bookmarked in some of the popular social media sites, and make it easy for your visitors to do the same with “bookmark buttons” and apps. Becoming a Authority figure, being helpful and interacting with as many people as you can, will greatly increase your fan base or follower count. Obviously the more loyal followers the better for your business.
Communities – Networking and engaging with other like minds is crucial for success online. This will also lead to targeted traffic from referrals and recommendations from others who know you. It will also give you connections and open opportunities that you may have never gotten before. There are so many different communities out there, just join some and get involved. Social media and networking sites are great places for you to join, blogging communities, forums etc… Some examples: squidoo, hubpages, blogcatalog, mybloglog and Linkedin.
Viral – Getting traffic virally is just smart and effective marketing. One of the best ways of doing this is by creating a Ebook or Report and giving it away for FREE. People will most likely tell others about it and it just keeps on spreading like a wild fire. Just make sure they clearly know who you are and what you’re main sites are in the ebook/report. This will also allow you to build a list quite easily with a high quality ebook.
Article Directories – Are great to get traffic and backlinks to your websites. Just write some relevant and beneficial articles with keywords in your anchor text for your links pointing back to your sites. Probably the most popular and powerful article directory is Ezine Article’s, but here’s a sweet list of dofollow article directories for ya to use.
Blog Commenting – Works like a charm, if done correctly. Make sure you are leaving helpful and beneficial comments on relevant blogs. Engage the blog owner with what you thought about the post or add relevant feedback about it. Not just “good post”. Become a regular to the blog and leave comments often and on as many blogs as you can find that are relevant. Some of the Blogs are Dofollow and you get PR juice from the backlink from them.
Forums – Not only can you learn a lot from a forum and network with others, but most of them allow you to leave a signature or a link to your websites at the bottom of every reply or thread you leave. Give helpful advice, ask good questions and people will click on your signature and checkout your sites. Here’s a sweet dofollow forums list.
Guest Posting – This method alone could put you and your website on the map. If you get approved to guest post on the right blog, and given the right audience, then you’ll be engaging readers that probably would’ve never found your site. Not only does guest blogging give you a ton of exposure, but also gives you some nice backlinks from a relevant site. Guest blogging is very popular right now. Usually the popular blogs will have a page or link about how to guest post on their blog. If they don’t, then it doesn’t hurt to send them a quick email and ask. Use high quality, original and valuable articles for a guest post, but at the same time make sure it compliments their blog. You want to use your best articles for guest blogging, especially if you get on a authoritative blog for your niche.
Press Releases – There are several good FREE press release sites. Here’s a whole list of them FREE Press Release distribution sites. Press Releases will allow the media to learn about your websites, product or services, quickly. Write in a more professional and informational format for your press release. Not in a review or sales page style.
Pinging - A pinging service like Ping-o-matic, which is FREE, let’s multiple search engines and services know that you just updated your blog or added new content. The popular sites like Technorati, Sphere and many others, will be pinged every time you update your content and people at these sites will be able to read your latest posts. This is automatically done if you use WordPress. It’s under writing in your WP dashboard.
Those are my top FREE methods for getting unlimited amount of targeted traffic to my websites and blogs. Please share any other methods or sources that I’ve left out that helps bring FREE targeted traffic to your sites.
7 Sure-Fire Ways to Increase Your Conversions
Internet and Affiliate Marketers have two main goals in common, and that is to get more Targeted Traffic and Make More Sales. At the end of the day, for many of us, it’s a numbers game. Here are 7 sure fire ways to increase your conversions that have helped me close the sale in the past.
1. The Power of Presell – Don’t oversell your product or service. One of the first mistakes newbies make online is bombarding their visitors with affiliate links and banners. The more you help your visitor and give them actual value from your website, the more trusting they will become. You need to make them feel comfortable so they will let their guard down and indirectly sell your product or service. Give them some facts, resources, personal reviews and opinions. Answer any questions that might be on their minds, show them the benefits of the product/service and present information in a way that subdues all doubt. Show them firsthand what it could do for them and the value of the product or service.
2. Add a Bonus or Discount – This concept works like a charm. Whether you own your own product or a affiliate marketer, adding and using a discount or coupon code always tends to turn heads. It even works on infomercials that always have a special deal if they call within so many minutes. Checkout some Hot Products on Clickbank and you’ll see they utilize this concept. Making people feel like they are getting a special discount always makes them feel better on their purchase. If you’re a affiliate marketer, getting a exclusive promo code will always put you ahead of your competition and increase your conversions.
3. Visualize the Future – Thinking and planning ahead on your next project will put you way ahead of your competition. Creating and marketing a product/service before it’s HOT, will allow you to capitalize on it. I got lucky with the gas prices a couple years ago. Remember when the gas price was unbelievably high just a year or two ago? When they were just beginning to rise, I searched for gas saving products to market and I made a killing with them because I already had websites for those keywords before most of the competition caught on. Think about the person who created the first GREEN Environmental Product or Social Media Marketing site, you know they are getting plenty of business and sales right now. While most of us are trying to get to the top of those niches pushing those type of products and websites, they are already there.
4. Sell what people are desperate for – You want to make some easy conversions, then just start marketing things that people can’t wait to have. These type of products and services, people aren’t as cautious or indecisive about. They don’t have the luxury or time to compare or inquire for the best deal and value. Usually a firsthand experience on how or what the product/service did for you will close the sale. Think about it, there are more pawn shops and cash loan services than ever, even though they charge a HEFTY % for a loan. Why are they so in demand? When the human mind is in despair, Â people will do whatever to resolve the problem. Acne, money/credit saving services, and impotence products are just some of the niches that would fit in this category.
5. Create a Sense of Urgency (Call to Action) – Most people I’m sure you’ve seen firsthand like to check around, compare, and network with others before they make a purchase. The chance of you converting a visitor into a buyer the very first time they see your product on your site is very slim. People want the best value and deal, just like you and me. I know I put things off or wait to the very last moment before I take action on something. To increase your conversion rate though, create some sense of urgency and a call to action to your product or service. Use graphics and content that will make the visitor believe it’s a last minute deal or their going to lose out on something if they don’t take action now.
6. Testimonials and Firsthand Reviews - We all want to hear from others how the product/service worked for them and what value it will give to us. Naturally, we are all skeptical when we hear or read about something new. We don’t want to look like a fool or fall for a scam. We don’t just rely on a stranger telling and showing us what their product or service will do. We want to see proof and hear from others who have tried it out first. Having testimonials and having recognition from people who are established or have authority in the niche, greatly increases the conversion rate. The top selling infomercial products, internet marketers and bloggers all utilize this idea to the fullest. Just look at any of their products/services and you’ll see a ton of testimonials and gurus who endorse their product.
7. Be Aggressive with your ads – This technique is probably more for experienced marketers who already have some established sites. I don’t mean throw links in every sentence you write or throw adsense on your entire 500 word affiliate landing page either. Positioning ads where they can’t be missed will allow many of your visitors want to click on them. Web savvy people and marketers tend to naturally ignore banners and adsense on blogs/sites. We are blinded to them, so that’s when you sometimes need to put your ads right in the middle of your content, or at the very top of your posts. Blending in your ads is great, but experiment and be aggressive where you see fit. If you have loyal readers on your blog, then make sure you don’t impact them when you write new posts. Be aggressive with your adds on all of your older posts.
These are just 7 Sure-Fire Ways to Increase Conversions that I’ve learned and use. Many times if you just think like the consumer you are trying to engage, it can give you many great ideas on how to effectively market to them. If anyone can add to this list, please share.
Make Real Money with CashCrate – Multi Tier Referral Program
Just like many of you, I have heard of a company called CashCrate, but I’ve always wondered if Cash Crate was a Scam or Legit. I’ve been reading a lot of reviews lately of this so called 100% FREE to join membership program. Cashcrate, is a program that connects their members to money making opportunities from other businesses and websites. It’s just like any other “take surveys site” or “get paid for opinions” website, but this one is FREE to join, and has better offers.
You can take surveys, play games, review products and services, etc…. Just choose and find what you want to do.
As a internet marketer, I tend to stay away from, and not promote scammy websites or “survey companies”. They are usually a waste of my time, and produce small results. But I’ve been seeing some of the mega payouts that Cashcrate has been paying to some people I know, so I learned as much as I could about Cash Crate from them. I decided I better get on board this money train, instead of being left out, and regretting it later.
If you are wondering how Legit CashCrate is, and how dependable they are, then all you need to do is a search for “cashcrate review“, or talk to some people in their forum. You’ll see the proof, and a ton of positive enthusiasm from their members. Cash Crate has been around since 2006, and many ordinary people make good money from them.While the Super Affiliates are making a killing from them.
It’s a very easy program to join, they have a HUGE online forum and blog, so check them out Click here.
What are the requirements to become a member of CashCrate?
First off, it’s 100% FREE to join Cash Crate. You only have to be 13 years or older, and just about anyone from anywhere can join as well, but US and other English speaking countries will have more offers available to them. It’s simple, fun, and takes no time at all to sign up and be on your way to making some money today.
Cashcrate is Not a Scam and 100% FREE to join!
If you Google “online surveys”, then you will be bombarded with millions of results and 100′s of different websites wanting you to join their program. Now, almost all of them charge you money to join to do the same thing CashCrate does for FREE. Which is connect you to businesses who need reviews, opinions, and etc… in which you will receive some form of payment from. You will be able to see the offers and what form of reward, whether it be money, points, gift cards and etc..then just choose what you want to participate in. Better yet, you can make money just by referring your friends and anyone else who signs up thru your referral link. All of this is explained once you join. It’s a great program to make some money online in your spare time, or turn it into a full time gig.
Affiliates, this is for you!
Normally I don’t even write articles about programs like CashCrate on this blog, but what enticed me to join was their Multi Tier Referral program. Check this, anyone who signs up under you, make 20% from their earnings, and make another 10% off anyone who signs up under them. Thats how us experienced Affiliate Marketers can make a Ton of Easy Money Just from Referrals. It costs nothing to join, and has multiple ways to make money with referrals. Who wouldn’t want to join? Think about it, with your skills and connections, easily get a ton of sign ups under you and your Payout Percentage Increases after you reach 50 signups from your links. Once your referrals under you make $10 then you also get a $3 bonus.
I hope this review answered the question, is CashCrate a Scam or Legit? I’ve already made a few dollars just filling out my account and playing around a little bit in my membership dashboard and I’ll add updates to this post in the near future of my earnings.
Will Social Media Marketing Replace SEO?
Whether you’re a blogger, or internet marketer, getting more traffic is always on the back of your mind. It wasn’t to long ago when Social Media Marketing (SMM) was just beginning to blossom into the powerhouse it has turned into today, and what it will become in the near future. Many people are spreading rumors and posting articles about the death of search engine optimization (SEO), and talk about how Social Media is going to replace SEO completely. I think they are taking it a little to far, or are they just trying to start a little controversy??
I remember it was just a few years ago when I first got into Internet marketing, and everyone use to preach about search engine optimization should be my main priority, especially for getting quality traffic. No one really mentioned social media or using it as a way to get traffic to my mini niche sites.
The Power of Social Media has really swept over the world and internet, in a short amount of time. It’s always been around, but now it plays a major role for getting quality traffic to your sites, as much as SEO can. Social Media obviously is also a major factor in creating or continuing a successful business, online or offline.
Thanks to some Brilliant Minds like, Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook creator) and Jack Dorsey (Twitter creator), everyone and there grandma loves social networking.
How Popular and how Fast is Social Media Growing?
Compete’s top 50 list for Dec. 2009 -Look at how many social networking sites are on the list, and their stats!!
Alexa’s Top 15 list again many of them are social media sites.
- Google.com
- Facebook.com
- Youtube.com
- Yahoo.com
- Live.com
- Wikipedia.org
- Blogger.com
- Baidu.com
- MSN.com
- QQ.com
- Yahoo.co.jp
- Twitter.com
- Google.co.in
- Myspace.com
- Google.cn
According to Emarketer, a survey was done on senior marketers Top Priorities for 2010. The results are shown below on the chart.
Their number one priority is social networks and applications, so even the top experienced marketers are changing gears over to social media marketing.
Why should you start putting more effort into social media marketing?
Social Media is Awesome because it spreads virally. It takes just one person to go to your site and spread the word about your great post or product, then all of a sudden you get a BLAST of traffic from just one person who started the viral effect. It’s one of the cheapest and most effective ways to get traffic to your websites. Just make sure you work on your Social Media Optimization (SMO) by making your websites compatible for social networking sites. Such as the type of content, adding functionality with rss and social bookmarking buttons.
I found that websites that have been around for a good while and have authority, get more traffic from search engines, rather than from social media. However, newer sites can easily get traffic quicker and faster, if you utilize social networking before the seo kicks in.
Now, to utilize social media to the fullest it takes time, a lot of effort continuously networking and giving value to others first.
Why does social media work so well for conversions?
You get to meet and network with like minds which can lead to connections, opportunities and more traffic.
People can easily learn more about you, build a relationship with you, which may lead to trust, and ultimately more money in the bank.
Word of mouth advertising, testimonies, trust and recommendations are some of the top reasons people make a purchase. We’ve all seen it used on infomercials, websites and other forms of advertisements, why? It’s a proven method of convincing someone to believe in your product or service and ultimately let their guard down and make a purchase.
Isn’t that what social media is all about, interacting and hearing what others have to say about things they’re interested in. I believe it’s human nature to naturally put up a barrier before we make a purchase or decide on something. We want to find the best value, and we don’t want to look like a fool because of past scams, phonies, and b.s. that we’ve seen or gone through before.When we see a testimony from someone who already tried something out, or hear a recommendation, then we tend to let our guard down and we believe in the product or service more.
Social Media allows people to hear feedback on just about anything, almost instantly. I know some Top Internet Marketers who create something valuable, whether it be a elaborate post or product. It takes just one person who finds it and spreads the word using social networking and they get so many visitors that they max out their servers within a few hours. Word of mouth works online, and the majority of us are just figuring this out.
Are you looking for More Loyal, Repeat visitors?
Ad network Chitika, did a study in which they analyzed their traffic for over 33 million unique visitors over the course of September 2009. Their study was to see out of their Big 6 Traffic sources who brings in the most “loyal visitors” – meaning a person who came back to the referred site 4 or more times in the same week. Even though the majority of their unique visitors come from Google, some of the social networking sites bring in more loyal users as you can see on their chart below, and Loyalty is a Great thing for us bloggers in so many ways. Facebook was #1 with over 20% of all visitors from Facebook visited the referred site 4 or more times in a week.
I believe in order to be successful at just about anything, learning to adapt is crucial. Everything changes constantly online, seo and social media will continually evolve so we have to move with the times. It’s now time to focus more on social media marketing if you haven’t already, but continue with SEO just like before.
Another interesting tidbit that many people have reported is that social media traffic tends to bring in more long term users and buyers. While search engines bring in more short term users and clickers. You should plan ahead on what kind of traffic you are going after depending on what your site is about, and what form of monetizing you are doing. I believe social media plays a major role now for getting targeted traffic and to make or continue a successful business, but search engine optimization (SEO) will be around for a good while as the front runner for website traffic.
100 Top SEO Tips-Tricks and Resources for 2009
I learned a great deal about search engine optimization (seo) tips and techniques in 2009. It also changed quite a bit this year as in search engine algorithms and social media coming up as a major player for traffic and the way it will change SEO in the near future. I know I love huge lists with valuable information, facts and resources that help me get more traffic and ultimately achieve more success online.
That’s why I decided to go out with a bang for the end of 2009 and compile a Huge List of search engine optimization tips/tricks, resources, changes and some new things I learned this year. Much of this list separates myths from facts and what and what not to waste your time on.
1. – Use the nofollow attribute (rel=”nofollow”) when needed
2. blog commenting is worthwhile but leave good genuine and helpful feedback
3. meta descriptions and their keywords dont matter and don’t boost position
4. post tags or tag clouds are still worth including
5. The Title tag to a post or article is most important, then heading tags is next in importance <h1><h2>
6. use keywords in permalink
7. don’t pay for links or be subtle about it
8. be cautious who you do reciprocal links with
9. use good seo tools to keep up with your competition and see what they are up to
10. post at least one new post to your blog everyday
11. get backlinks from relevant sites and content
12. pay for seo
13. use article marketing
14. most directories are worthless for PR Juice but can confuse your competition via link count
15. submit to “Yahoo directory”
16. submit to “Dmoz directory”
17. use keywords in titles of your images
18. use relevant sigs in forums
19. submit articles to “ezines”
20. interlink pages but in moderation
21. search spiders don’t like flash so use minimum amount as possible
22. implementing links with javascript don’t get spidered
23. create a sitemap
24. create a robots.txt
25. create account with “technorati” and claim blogs
26. create account with “blog catalog” and claim blogs
27. do guest posts on relevant blogs
28. social bookmark your great posts and have others do it as well
29. use “Twitter”
30. make it easy for people to bookmark your articles, with WP, just add a plugin
31. write pillar posts
32. create value in your content
33. don’t create mirror sites
34. stay away from black hat strategies
35. white hat seo methods is the way to go, especially for longevity
36. don’t try to trick search engines, especially Google
37. Google is still King
38. treat Google like a family member
39. hiring a good, legit and professional seo firm should cost thousands a mth. or a few hundred an hour, concentrate on ROI not the cost
40. read problogger
41. read doshdosh
42. read dailyblogtips
43. read dailyseotips
44. read google blog
45. read Matt Cutts blog
46. use wordpress
47. “all in one seo plugin” for WP is Awesome
48. “xml sitemap plugin” for WP is Awesome
49. don’t allow spam comments with permalinks to irrelevant sites
50. use link baits – examples: tutorials, vast collection of resources, solution to a common problem
51. use videos
52. use images
53. add titles in images, and keywords in your image alt or description tags
54. use “blogger”
55. read search engine land
56. read seomoz
57. Build the Perfectly Optimized Web Page
58. 301 redirect (permanent redirect) link it’s pointing to gets credit as the “real url” not the requested link (shortened link)
59. 302 redirect (temporary redirect) the requested link (shortened link) gets credit as the “real url” not the link it’s pointing to
60. SEO and search algorithms change constantly, stay on top of it
61. content is king as well as self promotion
62. use a good keyword tool, Google keyword tool is O.K. but a little behind on stats
63. anticipate what people will search for or “The Next Big Thing”
64. be careful of duplicate content, especially with your url’s
65. watch your Anchor text, don’t use “click here” use your keywords
66. stay focused on creating awesome content not “adding as many keywords you can”
67. only link to sites you feel worthy of linking to
68. Awesome Complete Search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO) lists and resources Top Rank Blog
69. Publish at least one killer blog post or article per week
70. spend one hour a day brainstorming and researching to write your pillar articles and link baits
71. network with other like minded people, marketers and bloggers daily
72. promote your killer articles and blog/sites everyday
73. consistently give value to your readers daily
74. shorter the url or domain name the better
75. personalize your content in your blogs and let your readers get to know the real you
76. build trust and create value
77. use Facebook
78. social media marketing is the future
79. 20 Top SEO plugins for WP mashable
80. use pinging services, like “pingomatic”
81. link build daily
82. every page should target a tight collection of keywords, around 3 to 5 all relevant to each other
83. create content that starts conversation or controversy
84. create content that drives conversions (sales)
85. keywords should be spread throughout content naturally, seen by search engines but not obvious to your readers
86. domain name registration length is a (SEO Myth)
87. Bold your keywords so they stand out
88. the first words of your content should include Keywords relevant for that page
89. All the SEO resources and tips/techniques for your “Videos” Reelseo
90. In SEO, keywords and branding don’t mix, optimize for your keywords to get traffic and your site should naturally rank for your brand name
91. don’t use tiny url’s to often, it can scare away some and not good for branding
92. use squidoo and hubpages
93. Anchor text links – keep under 8 words and 55 characters
94. search engines bring in most of the traffic to most sites but social media brings in more returning traffic to a website
95. use white space effectively in your web design
96. moonlighting in other areas can be a positive thing, example: you’re a pro. SEO and you also moonlight as a affiliate marketer and social media
97. adaptability and diversity will help you succeed and good for longevity
98. Top 50 SEO Blog Posts for 2009 Evancarmichael
99. Read as much as possible about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) from credible sources
100. – Experimenting on your own is the best way to master SEO!
There you have it, my list of 100 to end this year. I hope this list and sources will help you out in some way since I’ve learned so much from others who write great and valuable content. I know I’m looking forward to 2010 and ready to improve my seo skills and implement what I’ve learned. Feel free to add anything you’ve learned this year or anything I might have missed.
Happy New Year!
4 Key Ways to Become a Successful Blogger
I am a self taught Internet Marketer for nearly 2 years now, who started blogging a little over half a year ago. There are many reasons why I chose to and why you should start a blog if you haven’t already, but I’m not going to get into that in this post. Through trial and error, research and observation. I now know there are only “4 key ways to become a successful blogger” or make a blog successful. Especially now, with the new flood of wannabe Pro Bloggers and people who want their share of the cash cow that blogging has created.
4 Ways to Have a Successful Blog
1. Valuable Content – Your blog contains content that is helpful, unique, has value and over delivers with information about the topics you write about. It could also have really great and valuable videos or pictures.
It took a little while for me to finally catch on to this concept. You see, when I first started blogging I use to spread news and blog about things all the Big Blogs were blogging about as it happened. If you’re new to blogging and have a new blog, you’re not going to be able to compete with the accomplished blogs with huge lists of followers and authority.
Why would people come to my blog if I’m writing about the same things other people are or even if I’m changing it up a little with my own opinions? There still no reason for them to recommend or ever come back to my blog. You gotta give people something different, original, informational, helpful and eye popping content that is different than everyone else.
2. Awesome SEO – Your blog is successful because you get huge amounts of traffic from the SERP’S or search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing.
I keep track of many different groups of keywords, but one of my main groups of keywords I watch carefully is the “Make Money Online” keywords. Many times I checkout the sites and blogs that are on the front pages of Google for Mega Keywords like “make money” which is searched in the millions per mth. Think of the traffic you would get if you had a blog on the front page of some keywords like that. Yeah, I know it would be nice.
Anyways, some of the blogs that are on the front pages for mega keywords are some of the cheesiest sites that I’ve ever seen. Even the design, functionality and content of their blogs suck. After reading a few posts I can tell right off the bat that they really have no clue on what they are talking about. So how did they get on the front page of Google then? They have hired a SEO team or they used proper seo techniques and gotten themselves on the front of the serp’s probably over a long period of time.
3. Big Name or Big Brand – It’s pretty simple, you already are a Huge well known Brand Name or you are already a well known famous person and you start a blog.
The chances are it’s not going to take you to long to get traffic to your blog and become successful. Many people who have a huge audience and authority in another field start blogging because they know or hope that they can expand their already big name or business into the blogging world.
Many of the Big Time Bloggers like “Problogger” have worked their butts off and used their skills, experience and intelligence to create a Huge Brand Name. It’s pretty safe to say, anything “Problogger” touches or endorses will be successful.
4. Tons of Exposure – I’ve seen other groups of blogs that do well and primarily are successful because they are forever promoting and marketing the heck out of their blog and name. Any chance they get they promote. Whether it be blog commenting, to putting their name out on articles and on other sites. They promote all the time for more exposure.
I don’t know about you but the type of blogs I like reading have original and unique content that helps me become a better blogger and person. All the three other reasons I listed have really no affect on me as in returning to their blog other than for networking purposes. I now know that’s what I need to do with my blogs in order for me to reach my goals and to get the exposure that I want to get.
If you want to actually be a successful blogger and I’m talking like “six figures a year” then you better be doing one or all of the 4 ways of becoming a successful blogger above…. or you just have Mad Skills that not even I can comprehend. What are your thoughts on this post or does anyone have anything to add?
