RakanWebAnda: November 2010

Monday, November 15, 2010

Pay Per Click Madness

Having been on the Internet for close to ten years the affiliate market has changed dramatically. It wasn't that long ago that several large online sites held command of the affiliate universe. Even today they still have the largest number of affiliate memberships. What has changed is that just about anyone can have an affiliate program due to the emergence of sites like ClickBank and Azoogle. The affiliate member has the opportunity to share in the profits by as much as 70%! Azoogle's business model is different in that you either display html ads on your web site or you can get html to paste into an opt-in email campaign. With Azoogle you get paid for the amount of information the individual, the person who clicks on the ad, provides. This could be just a zip code or an email address. The pay-off is commensurate with the amount of information.

This, of course, is just for placing a link on a website or sending an email with a link to a landing page. (If you don't know what a landing page is, read on.) The reason that just about anyone can be an affiliate today is because PPC or Pay Per Click advertising has changed the landscape quite considerably. Google and Overture (These two account for about 90% of all PPC traffic.) have changed the affiliate marketplace because if you are smart enough you have figured out that you can buy keyword advertising from Google or Overture and advertise someone else's product, provided you are an affiliate for that product. You don't need a website because when the individual clicks on the PPC ad, it is directed to the affiliateï¿½s web page or landing page. You collect the commission if that person buys the product or service. Sounds easy, it is, but as with all good things there are some catches.

You can get caught up in the bidding that takes place for top keywords. Example: say for instance you find a product on Clickbank that you would like to be an affiliate for. You sign up for a Google account, it's free, and you construct your PPC ad for the Clickbank affiliate you have opted to become. ClickBank's sign up is free as well. Back to Google: Google Adwords now requests that you provide them with a list of keywords for your product. You think of about ten keywords that are associated with your product. You list each of them within your Google ad. Google then asks you what's the maximum price per click you'll pay. Being an astute businessperson, you decide that you can afford $.10 per click with a maximum of $25.00 per day. This would give you 250 clicks on your ad per day. That doesn't mean that 250 people will buy, it just means that 250 people have looked at the "landing page." How many of the 250 will buy? Good question. I knew you were paying attention. The answer is: your guess is as good as mine. It could be 10% of the 250 clickers or 1% of the clickers or .1%.

Now comes the fun part. Remember that I said you decided to put your maximum per click price at $.10 per click (see the previous paragraph) and your maximum daily amount at $25.00? Let's say that one of your top, top keywords, the one that you really felt was going to bring in the big clicks, was not available because your maximum per click was only $.10 and the going rate was over $2.00 per click! (Google will not divulge the top price but only indicate if your maximum is too low.) $2.00 per click you say, "I can't afford that!" Well that's how it works. This type of thing happens everyday. Should you quit the PPC game? Absolutely not! Then how does one on a limited budget play in the PPC market? There are a number of ways to break in without depleting your bank account.

You can test your way in by utilizing alternate PPC networks. There are several. You can also find niche markets for keywords that are far less expensive than the more obvious ones. There are alternatives but you must get grounded first and then proceed.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

E-Commerce Solutions

You know what kind of online business you want to start. Now you need to know more about choosing an E-Commerce solution for your business. Here are some things to look for if you want an all-in-one provider.

Look for a site that offers a wide range of templates. Though you can usually customize templates, you need to start with a variety to choose from.

When choosing an E-Commerce solution for your business, look for one that has a good wizard that walks you through everything. Ease of use is important so you can get your site up fast and professionally and make later changes easily.

Look at the possibilities for importing and exporting data. If you already have a database and choose a vendor that does not allow you to import it, you will have to retype everything. Export capabilities save you that same hassle should you ever choose a new vendor.

Then choosing an e-commerce solution for your business, look for hosts who offer a variety of marketing options, payment options for your customers, and automated shipping options. If the client can't pay the way he wants, he won't buy. If shipping doesn't happen quickly, he may not be a repeat client.

Look for a site that allows you to analyze traffic flow. In order for your business to grow, you need to see what kinds of marketing are working for it.

This is just a start of what to look for when choosing an e-commerce solution for your business. You also need to look at such things as cost and customer service. Choosing the right hosted solution can take some time, but getting it right the first time is important. Take the time to choose a provider who will help your business grow.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Effective Search Engine Optimization Strategy

Any successful SEO implementation strategy should include the following:

1. Extensive Keyword Research - Research specific keywords or keyword phrases that will most likely bring the most relevant/targeted traffic to your website. Compile a list of relevant keywords/keyword phrases to optimize for on your home page, landing page, and any other pages of your website. Never try to shoot for very general keywords such as "jewelry" or "furniture". Rather, shoot for more targeted keyword phrases such as "M2 design Bracelets" or "swivel recliner".

2. Site Design Geared Towards Targeted Audience - Design your site content and navigation according to your keyword research and for your target market/audience. Never design your site just for the search engines, rather design your site for your "live" audience (visitors). When it makes sense to do so, plug your keywords into your navigation or web content. Your keyword research will reveal what people are searching for in various ways. Make sure your sites navigation and content showcase the various ways in which people are searching for what you have to offer. Make sure you also include your keywords/keyword phrases in the title/meta/keyword/ALT/Heading tags.

3. Website That Is "Spider/Crawling" Search Engine Friendly. - Use a Free HTML Validator to ensure your site is browser friendly and has no broken links. Having links that don't work will greater reduce your credibility with any potential prospects that tour your site. Make sure your site is more rich in content and less in fancy flash animations/javascript and images. Its not that these don't serve a purpose or should never be used its just that search engines cannot interpret Flash and graphics. Having a large number of images can also slow down how fast your site loads. Use the Website Speed Test found at www.iwebtool.com/speed_test to see how fast your site pages load. Its also a good idea to use HTML links in the top-level main navigation on each of the pages of your site.

4. Descriptive Anchor Text (visible text within a click-able text link) For All The Internal Links Of Your Site - Good descriptive navigational links will help your visitors find their way around your site and find what their looking for. Make it as easy as possible for your visitors to find their way around and use "call to action" links/buttons to get your visitors do what you want them to do once they find what their looking for. Do this and you will see a vast increase in conversions/sales and a greater ROI (return on investment) for your business.

5. Site That Is "Link-Worthy" - Having other sites link to yours is a vital element of any successful search engine optimization, as all of the major search engines place a good deal of emphasis on your sites overall link popularity.

Finally, is your site full of great content and information about your products/services? Does it clearly state the benefits and how it solves your target market/audience problem or problems? Is it a great resource for others? As a visitor can I easily find my way around your site? Does it capture my attention enough to keep me on the site or will I get bored and leave right away? Will other website owners be inclined to link to your site? These are the type of questions that you must answer in order to have a site that others will want to link to.

Any good web analytics tool will measure these results and give you a good indication of how your site measures up to desired results. If you hire an SEO consultant or SEO firm make sure they set you up with one. Eliminate the guesswork as much as possible and make decisions based on monitored website behavior.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Starting an Internet Business - Get the Basics Right

Many aspiring online entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the vast cyber market that has been created by the advent of the internet.

Whilst, innovative entrepreneurs have discovered a wealth of opportunities to be converted into viable businesses in cyberspace, many are seeing little or no return for their efforts.
The common misconception they labor under is that they expect the internet to make them money, when in actual fact their strategy should be to use the internet as a vehicle to market their goods and services to the cyber market, known as the world wide web.
However, because internet businesses can be set up at virtually no cost or with no risk, more and more people are seeing the internet as a good way to making money easily and quickly.
Well, the reality is that most of these would be internet marketers are not getting the basics right, get disheartened with the lack of activity & money being generated by their businesses and end up quitting with barely making a dollar.

Getting these basics right will at least afford your business a decent chance of longevity and success.

1. Mindset
Often the wrong mindset creates unrealistic expectations in terms of returns and the amount of input required.
So, prior to launching your business you need to understand that success wonï¿½t come easily, you wonï¿½t earn money in the short term and that you more than likely will not get rich quickly.
Depending on your product, service, market, niche, etc, online businesses generally take a reasonable length of time to become established before they start generating any sort of income.
You also need to understand that despite putting in the long hours day in & day out, that this alone wonï¿½t guarantee results ï¿½ persistence, testing and continually trying different strategies are also some of the requirements.

2. Plan
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!
Success often comes about when a good opportunity is intercepted by a good plan.
Often internet entrepreneurs are opportunists who reap the rewards when theyï¿½re in a position, i.e. have planned & are prepared, to convert opportunities into good money.

3. Web Presence
Your web presence has to portray your business as a professional organization that is geared and prepared to add value to anyone who visits your site.
As there is so much competition on the internet trying to attract your site visitor, your site needs to be innovative, functional, properly structured and well optimized.
Also, whilst your domain name needs to be properly researched and appropriate to your business, your web host needs to be of high enough caliber to ensure 100% uptime and rapid response.

4. Reach and Develop your Target Market
Having a great website without visitors wonï¿½t do much for your bottom line so it needs to be properly optimized for search engines (a whole topic on itï¿½s own), popular and very sticky, i.e. your site visitors need to want to come back time and again.
Furthermore, pay per click campaigns, offline marketing and other methods can be employed to drive targeted traffic to your site.

5. Legal Issues
Aside from adhering to the normal legal requirements that need to be adhered to for setting up a business you need to take cognizance of those issues that pertain specifically to Internet Law as well.
For example not checking that your chosen domain name may infringe on a legally protected trademark or other intellectual property rights can cost you a lot of time and money in the long term.
Whilst there are many other aspects that are key to the success of an online venture, the above basics all need to be maximized to give your business a shot at internet success.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Kelas Bina WeBlog Yang TERMURAH Di Dunia Hanya RM 20 sahaja

Telah diadakan pada 31hb Oktober 2010, full house....tp ada juga beberapa org yg sesat jalan dan miss the class....
Please see their weblog :-

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

10 Blog Traffic Tips

In every bloggers life comes a special day - the day they first launch a new blog. Now unless you went out and purchased someone else''s blog chances are your blog launched with only one very loyal reader - you. Maybe a few days later you received a few hits when you told your sister, father, girlfriend and best friend about your new blog but that''s about as far you went when it comes to finding readers.

Here are the top 10 techniques new bloggers can use to find readers. These are tips specifically for new bloggers, those people who have next-to-no audience at the moment and want to get the ball rolling.

It helps if you work on this list from top to bottom as each technique builds on the previous step to help you create momentum. Eventually once you establish enough momentum you gain what is called "traction", which is a large enough audience base (about 500 readers a day is good) that you no longer have to work too hard on finding new readers. Instead your current loyal readers do the work for you through word of mouth.

Top 10 Tips

10. Write at least five major "pillar" articles. A pillar article is a tutorial style article aimed to teach your audience something. Generally they are longer than 500 words and have lots of very practical tips or advice. This article you are currently reading could be considered a pillar article since it is very practical and a good "how-to" lesson. This style of article has long term appeal, stays current (it isn’t news or time dependent) and offers real value and insight. The more pillars you have on your blog the better.

9. Write one new blog post per day minimum. Not every post has to be a pillar, but you should work on getting those five pillars done at the same time as you keep your blog fresh with a daily news or short article style post. The important thing here is to demonstrate to first time visitors that your blog is updated all the time so they feel that if they come back tomorrow they will likely find something new. This causes them to bookmark your site or subscribe to your blog feed.

You don''t have to produce one post per day all the time but it is important you do when your blog is brand new. Once you get traction you still need to keep the fresh content coming but your loyal audience will be more forgiving if you slow down to a few per week instead. The first few months are critical so the more content you can produce at this time the better.

8. Use a proper domain name. If you are serious about blogging be serious about what you call your blog. In order for people to easily spread the word about your blog you need a easily rememberable domain name. People often talk about blogs they like when they are speaking to friends in the real world (that''s the offline world, you remember that place right?) so you need to make it easy for them to spread the word and pass on your URL. Try and get a .com if you can and focus on small easy to remember domains rather than worry about having the correct keywords (of course if you can get great keywords and easy to remember then you’ve done a good job!).

7. Start commenting on other blogs. Once you have your pillar articles and your daily fresh smaller articles your blog is ready to be exposed to the world. One of the best ways to find the right type of reader for your blog is to comment on other people’s blogs. You should aim to comment on blogs focused on a similar niche topic to yours since the readers there will be more likely to be interested in your blog.

Most blog commenting systems allow you to have your name/title linked to your blog when you leave a comment. This is how people find your blog. If you are a prolific commentor and always have something valuable to say then people will be interested to read more of your work and hence click through to visit your blog.

6. Trackback and link to other blogs in your blog posts. A trackback is sort of like a blog conversation. When you write a new article to your blog and it links or references another blogger''s article you can do a trackback to their entry. What this does is leave a truncated summary of your blog post on their blog entry - it''s sort of like your blog telling someone else’s blog that you wrote an article mentioning them. Trackbacks often appear like comments.

This is a good technique because like leaving comments a trackback leaves a link from another blog back to yours for readers to follow, but it also does something very important - it gets the attention of another blogger. The other blogger will likely come and read your post eager to see what you wrote about them. They may then become a loyal reader of yours or at least monitor you and if you are lucky some time down the road they may do a post linking to your blog bringing in more new readers.

5. Encourage comments on your own blog. One of the most powerful ways to convince someone to become a loyal reader is to show there are other loyal readers already following your work. If they see people commenting on your blog then they infer that your content must be good since you have readers so they should stick around and see what all the fuss is about. To encourage comments you can simply pose a question in a blog post. Be sure to always respond to comments as well so you can keep the conversation going.

4. Submit your latest pillar article to a blog carnival. A blog carnival is a post in a blog that summarizes a collection of articles from many different blogs on a specific topic. The idea is to collect some of the best content on a topic in a given week. Often many other blogs link back to a carnival host and as such the people that have articles featured in the carnival often enjoy a spike in new readers.

To find the right blog carnival for your blog, do a search at blogcarnival.com.

3. Submit your blog to blogtopsites.com. To be honest this tip is not going to bring in a flood of new readers but it''s so easy to do and only takes five minutes so it''s worth the effort. Go to Blog Top Sites, find the appropriate category for your blog and submit it. You have to copy and paste a couple of lines of code on to your blog so you can rank and then sit back and watch the traffic come in. You will probably only get 1-10 incoming readers per day with this technique but over time it can build up as you climb the rankings. It all helps!

2. Submit your articles to EzineArticles.com. This is another tip that doesn’t bring in hundreds of new visitors immediately (although it can if you keep doing it) but it''s worthwhile because you simply leverage what you already have - your pillar articles. Once a week or so take one of your pillar articles and submit it to Ezine Articles. Your article then becomes available to other people who can republish your article on their website or in their newsletter.

How you benefit is through what is called your "Resource Box". You create your own resource box which is like a signature file where you include one to two sentences and link back to your website (or blog in this case). Anyone who publishes your article has to include your resource box so you get incoming links. If someone with a large newsletter publishes your article you can get a lot of new readers at once.

1. Write more pillar articles. Everything you do above will help you to find blog readers however all of the techniques I’ve listed only work when you have strong pillars in place. Without them if you do everything above you may bring in readers but they won’t stay or bother to come back. Aim for one solid pillar article per week and by the end of the year you will have a database of over 50 fantastic feature articles that will work hard for you to bring in more and more readers.

I hope you enjoyed my list of traffic tips. Everything listed above are techniques I’ve put into place myself for my blogs and have worked for me, however it''s certainly not a comprehensive list. There are many more things you can do. Finding readers is all about testing to see what works best for you and your audience and I have no doubt if you put your mind to it you will find a balance that works for you.

This article was by Yaro Starak, a professional blogger and my blog mentor. He is the leader of the Blog Mastermind mentoring program designed to teach bloggers how to earn a full time income blogging part time.

To get more information about Blog Mastermind click this link:

www.BlogMastermind.com