Does Your Business Need A Website?

May 16th, 2008 DeePower Posted in Internet No Comments »

Have you asked yourself the question: Does my business need a website? Every business these days needs a website, so the short answer is yes, but before you start hiring programmers and graphic designers, decide what objective you would like your website to accomplish.

If the primary purpose of the website is to communicate company contact information and tell the world what your business does rather than actually sell products, you don’t need lots of fancy bells and whistles.

Keep the feel of your website appropriate to the type of business you have. Bright primary colors, lots of graphics and a font that looks like writing in crayon may work for a site that sells children’s products but wouldn’t convey the image of a professional.

Think about your customer and what they would like to know as well as what you want to tell them. Place a “contact us” link on every page. Don’t make your visitors hunt for it. When you do get an email respond to it as soon as possible. 24 hours doesn’t seem unreasonable but the longer you wait to respond the higher the probability your visitor has found what they wanted on a competitor’s site.

When designing the website, ease of navigation should be a high priority. Confused customers will leave a site in frustration and that means you may have lost a sale. Keep the navigation as consistent as possible across all your pages. Always have a clearly marked link that gets back to your home page.

Fancy graphics and flash may look pretty but if they take too long to load it irritates visitors. Keep graphics appropriate and don’t overuse them. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.

Write the content of your website for human readers not search engine spiders. Keep the paragraphs short. The length of the web page should be about 350 words. If you have more to say on the subject, continue on a separate page. Check the grammar and spelling. Errors say you’re sloppy and careless and that’s probably not the image you want to portray to potential customers.

Use headings and subheadings to break up your written content. Many people will prefer to skim the page to find what they’re looking for rather than read every word. Make it easy for them by using the headings. Vary the look of the page by using bullet points, check marks, changing fonts and indenting content, but don’t get carried away. Too many variations and the page starts to look cluttered.

Use white space around the content and graphics. Don’t let your text bump up right next to a graphic, that makes the text hard to read.

If your site is a storefront where you sell products, make sure your shopping cart software, credit card processing and gateway processor are all coordinated to work with each other. Most do, but not every piece of software will communicate with every other piece of software. Select the software based on ease of customer use as much as ease of use for you.

Always keep your customer in mind when designing your website.

Dee Power is the author of several nonfiction books. Ryan Jensen is a website designer Find more finance and business tips Visit Dee’s party site Party Ideas Kids

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How To Be An Affiliate Marketing Powerhouse: Part 2

May 16th, 2008 PhilLancaster Posted in Internet No Comments »

Affiliate marketing is one of the most lucrative sales models available on the Internet. But only if it’s done properly. This article, which follows on from Part 1, focuses on eleven more essential things that you need to get right.

You can make a lot of money as an affiliate marketer for other people’s products. Or… you can be left wondering why, despite all your efforts, no one has purchased this great product through your link. Here’s eleven more things you need to have right.

Be Diverse but Uncluttered

By all means promote more than one affiliate program, but in the same general area. The should solve the same (or better still) closely related problems. Be honest in your review of why one product might be better in Situation A and another product in Situation B. Don’t clutter your site with links to affiliate programs all over the place. Opt for a moderate number of links to related products.

Try to Fool Them and They’re Gone

Be honest in all your dealings. Make sure that your readers know what type of links they are clicking on and what they can expect at the other end. Otherwise, they will unsubscribe quicker than you can blink.

Keep Adsense Off Your Affiliate Promotions

Adsense is a shotgun. It needs thousands of pages, each bringing in a trickle of income. Affiliate marketing is a laser. You’re aiming at a very specific target with a very specific aim. Sell this product now and other related products later. Don’t mix the two.

Don’t Overdo It

Don’t over stretch yourself by taking on more than 4-5 products at the same time because you also need to find time to research and analyze the products before actually marketing them.

Track, Test, Improve

If the affiliate program comes with a tracking device or package, use it to keep a tab on the most active and least active links. Use the knowledge gained to improve both this and future affiliate programs.

Be Community Active

Join forums and community groups related to the problem that the affiliate products are aimed at solving. This helps you talk about your business and advertise it but most importantly helps you see the problem from the consumer’s viewpoint. Then target your solution to the problem. Don’t just be a salesperson or you will get yourself banned.

Become an Editor

Ezine popularity shows no sign of waning. Anything well written and passionately presented is always of interest to someone. Start your own and build a loyal subscriber base. They will take your recommendations seriously and your affiliate profits will soar.

Sell in Only One Third of Your Emails

Always send out at least two emails with free content to your subscribers for every one that is promoting an affiliate product for which you will get paid. Never promote a product that you haven’t either researched thoroughly, tried yourself, or both.

Knock ‘Em Out with Your Sales Page

A strong sales page is essential to sell your product. From the viewpoint of making sales, it’s more important than the product itself. Look at your sales page as if you were a prospective user. Does it make you want to buy? Remember, a good sales page sells product, a good product minimizes refunds.

Don’t Sell, Pre-Sell

Pre-sell your visitors by giving an unbiased review of the product. Naturally, it has to be a positive review, but otherwise you wouldn’t be selling the product, would you? Pick up on two or three really great features and expand on them.

You’ve Got One Chance to Get Their Details

Turn your visitors into prospects by including a sign up form on your review page. The steps involved should be they read the review, sign up to get something for free which, ideally, complements the product you want them to buy and then they get redirected to the merchant’s page (with your affiliate link, of course) automatically.

See Also: How to be an Affiliate Marketing Powerhouse: Part 1 (available on the Traffic Floodgate website)

Phil Lancaster is recognized as one of the leading experts on getting new websites indexed and ranked quickly and then driving free, targeted traffic to them. To get his very latest resource and learn everything there is to know about getting an unstoppable flood of traffic to your website, visit: www.trafficfloodgate.com

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Starting Your Own Forum Online

May 16th, 2008 UchennaAni-Okoye Posted in Internet No Comments »

Have you ever visited an online forum, one that is highly active with engaging members? One that you enjoyed because of the sense of community you experienced while there?

Have you ever visited an online forum where everyone seemed to be trying to get a one up on each other, where that sense of community didn’t exist and everything seemed chaotic?

Have you ever thought of the possibility of running your own forum and now you think you’re ready to step into the deep end?

Online forums today, are very popular and that is primarily due to the reason I describe below:

1. They are a new method of acquiring new members or clients

2. Excellent Advice

3. Excellent information or support

4. They are an excellent place to advertise your products and/or services.

But, you may have stopped to think about what it truly takes to get a forum up and running? Starting a forum is one thing, anyone can do it. However, on the other hand, to setup a successful forum, one that people enjoy and keep coming back to, where your members feel at home, a sense of community, that requires extensive planning, research, patience and more patience.

Ask anyone who is currently running a forum online if it is or is not a satisfying or profitable venture and they will inevitably say yes. Running your own community online can be very fulfilling and, if done correctly, very lucrative. However, executing your online forum can be a very difficult task to accomplish effectively. Most visitors to frequent ‘just launched’ forums, tend not to stay or engage or become members to what they may see as a quasi community without any consistency.

There are at least five basic reasons why people may seek out an online forum:

1. To seek advice or ask a question

2. To give advice or answer questions

3. To gain recognition or status or get support

4. To collaborate with forum members on project or to play games

5. To do business or acquire new clients (or subscribers/members)

If we consider that these are the primary reasons forums exist, then we can understand why no one stays – no one likes taking advice from themselves. While the vast majority of forums online continue to be free, there are more paid, private membership type forums coming online each day. So the big question is, how does one launch and establish a self sustaining and thriving online community?

Community vs. Forum

A forum is, pretty much, a community and starting a new community, whether off line or online, takes time to build up. But, while it may be true that a forum is a community, a community is not a forum.

As I mentioned before, people tend not to join empty and inactive forums. In fact, one of the primary factors in running a successful web-based community is activity. Since there are literally tons of forums on any given topic online today, people have plenty to choose from. Why would they choose to join a forum that’s empty and/or inactive? The most logical action is for them to join an online community that they perceive to be successful. In most cases, people join forums that have a large membership base, are more active and have a greater number of interesting posts. Remember, people seek out forums because of their needs, they maybe searching for a specific resource, they want advice or they need support whether emotionally or otherwise.

The bottom line to it all is that, no matter the reason, a successful form requires human interaction and participation.

Uchenna Ani-Okoye is an internet marketing advisor. If you would like more information on forums, then visit my site at: Free Affiliate Programs If you

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What Separates The Rich Internet Marketers From The Poor Ones?

May 16th, 2008 SergeDandelin Posted in Internet No Comments »

This is a question that has been around a long time, and the answer is very simple. However, there are two different answers, and they both go hand in hand. The first thing that you are going to notice is that the rich Internet marketers know how to market their product or service. That’s pretty much it in a nut shell. It’s hard to get started on the Internet, and the rich ones have found out how to get noticed. The first thing that you have to get is a great business name that people will remember easily. Choosing the right business name is not always easy.

Next, you have to know where most of the people hang out on the Internet. The key is to identify who and where is your targeted audience. By knowing your targeted audience, You will be able to place ads where they can see your product or service. That will result in more hits that converts in more sales on your website. The next thing that you need to know is how to get your website noticed by the search engines. This is one of the most important things. Whenever people search for something on-line, they like to use search engines; this is a fact. Getting your site ranked high on these search engines is going to do wonders for your on-line business. So make sure to use the latest search engine optimization techniques on your website.

The next thing that you will need in order to get away from being a poor Internet marketer is to be able to market something that people want. It sounds silly and like a no-brainer, but you would be amazed at how often people try to market a product or a service that people do not want or need. For example, if you are trying to market something like an e-book on how to use the Internet, you are going to have a few sales, but not many.

That’s because people who are able to find this e-book already know how to use the Internet. Now, suppose you are marketing a service, like web hosting. Now that is something that people need and want. Everyone knows that the Internet is the way of the future, and because of that, everyone wants to have a website. Because everyone wants a website, which means that everyone is looking for web hosting. Thus, you have a service that a lot of people want and need.

So the fact is you can not market something that people do not want, and expect to get rich out of it.

Is there really a market for your product or service? That’s a question you must ask yourself before starting a new online business. However, at the same time, you could have the best product or service in the world, but if you do not know how to market it, it’s not going to sell a thing. All in all, you need both of these things to be able to become rich using the Internet.

To Your Success!

Do you want to learn more about Internet Marketing? I have just completed my brand new guide to Search Engine Marketing Success: ”How To Consistently Drive Thousands Of Targeted Visitors Every Day With Search Engine Optimization”.Download it free here: Search Engine Optimization Success. Serge Daudelin Affordable Search Engine Optimization Services.com Serge Daudelin is a Search Engine Optimization specialist and consultant who has written over 300 articles in print and 5 published ebooks. Serge is dedicated to helping others and offering the best information on how to make more money online.

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The One Mistake Most Internet Marketers Always Make, And How To Avoid It

May 16th, 2008 SergeDandelin Posted in Internet No Comments »

Whenever you are looking to advertise your business on-line, you know that you are going to have to play around with Internet marketing before you get a great site up and running. There is one mistake, however, that a lot of Internet marketers make, and it can be avoided. This is that they do not put enough time in developing order pulling ads with strong headlines. If you fail to capture your audience attention, you may forget about making any kind of money with your online business.

Most people that are starting up an internet based business think that they can just post their URL all over the place and people are going to come from miles around to click on it. That is not true. You have to put some time (and yes, money) developing and posting your ads. This is the sad truth to it, and a lot of people do not know this. When you place your ad on-line, the better the ad, the more traffic it is going to bring to you.

The sooner you will be able to develop order pulling ads, the sooner your business is going to start making money. There are a few things that you have to think about when you are making your ad to make it loud.

First of all, when making your ad, you have to have a very eye grabbing opening. This means that the first few words (the headlines) that you are going to put out there have to tell the person what you are selling, but at the same time, convince them that your product or service will greatly benefit them. One of the best ways to do that is by asking a question. For example, if you see the ad, “Do Want to lose extra weight?” You are going to know right away that the company is selling something that can make you lose weight, and at the same time, you feel like you want to click on the ad to learn more.

You just killed two birds with one stone there. This is what you have to do when you are advertising on-line. That’s because you have to be able to show people what you are selling; and get them to want to learn more about it; and you have to do all of this in just a few words. It’s very hard to do. In fact, it’s so hard to do that that a lot of people hire freelance copywriters to do it for them.

The last thing that you have to have in your ad is, of course, the call to action tag. This is a tag that goes at the end of your ad that begs the reader to ask more questions and want to know more about your product. This is usually done by asking them a question. When your ad is done, review your ad and check to see that all the important ingredients of a good ad are present.

To your Success!

Do you want to learn more about Internet Marketing? I have just completed my brand new guide to Search Engine Marketing Success: ”How To Consistently Drive Thousands Of Targeted Visitors Every Day With Search Engine Optimization”.Download it free here: Search Engine Optimization Success.Serge DaudelinAffordable Search Engine Optimization Services.comSerge Daudelin is a Search Engine Optimization specialist and consultant who has written over 300 articles in print and 5 published ebooks. Serge is dedicated to helping others and offering the best information on how to make more money online.

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SEO And Pay Per Click Downward Economy Tips

May 16th, 2008 K.Hanks Posted in Internet No Comments »

Many marketing managers have found the first half of 2008 has been nerve wrenching. Turn on the television, radio or open a newspaper and you’ll see that consumer confidence is down, inflation is creeping in and overall confidence in the economy is reaching historical lows.

It is not your fault the market is in its current condition. How could you have forecasted these figures when you submitted your budget last year? Reaching sales goals that were established in an optimistic economy is probably more obtainable than in a downward economy.

You can not control the macro factors of the economy, but as a professional it’s your job to find ways obtain your committed numbers. Before you start waving the white flag, consider these handy search engine marketing steps you can implement.

Determine Seasonality:

Each company tends to have a unique season. For retail, its Q4 where consumer accounting services is Q1. Tourism peaks in the summer months of Q3. Consider your industry, your company and the brand(s) you are responsible for. What is your busy season? How do you define your busy season? Do you define it by an increase in revenue, an increase in transactions or both?

Many managers are finding awkward meetings with senior management based around decreased financial performance. How can you quantitatively explain a decrease in financial performance year over year, or against your sales plan.

If you can’t justify performance, outside of kindly asking senior management to turn on the television and look at the various news stories about the downward economy, what can you do?

There are various programs that can help you determine seasonality. Unfortunately not all programs will provide current seasonality (including paid services). You may find the closest seasonality trends you can obtain will focus around the previous calendar year (example January 2007 - December 2007).

Applying Seasonality to Pay Per Click:

If you haven’t paid attention to pay per click seasonality trending in the past, now you understand the importance. To further stretch your budget in a downward economy think of the application of your pay per click resources. Why distribute your ad spend in perfect twelfths across the course of a year when you know you have a few months that are particularly busy.

To be better prepared for this busy period consider the length of your sales cycle. Shift resources to strong performing keywords at the beginning of the sales cycle. For example if you find your busy season is October and November and you have a 60 day sales cycle, be prepared to increase your ad spend in August. This means your ads and a revised strategy should be ready no later than mid-July.

Determine Online Trends:

Determining online trending of web traffic is difficult. On the surface this seems like it should be as easy as counting inventory on a supermarket shelf. Senior managers, especially with a finance background tend to have a difficult time with online marketing efforts at times because of a lack of measurement in some areas. These professionals are correct to criticize. Getting industry-wide information that is dependable and updated to the present day is not easy.

Some qualitative measurements can be obtained, but reliable industry-wide quantitative statistics are not always available. This is because search engines do not make this information public and other available tools typically rely on sampling, i.e. the validity can be speculated and the information is not absolute (what senior managers are depending on).

Senior management and the marketing managers are going to need to take a leap of faith in some areas here. Past experiences and instincts will need to be considered along with various trending reports.

Reach Out to an SEO firm:

In a downward economy an SEO firm seems like the last area you would want to reach out to. Spending more money is sometimes the last thing a firm wants to consider when in a downward economy and facing inevitable decreased financial performance. For example, a good Atlanta search engine optimization agency will walk you through a series of exercises. You’ll want to determine your cost to acquire a new customer and spend accordingly. Also, you’ll want to ensure your “call to action” steps are well defined and pages such as “contact us” pages are designed for customer usability.

Optimizing your campaign can help you gain market share during a downward economy. While this might not be as glamorous as meeting and exceeding sales forecasts, this is a long term strategy. If you are able to gain market share while the economy is cold, you will be minimizing your loses during this time and positioning yourself to be in a stronger position when the economy turns around.

Keith Hanks is an Account Manager at Atlanta search engine optimization agency TwentySix2 Marketing. He believes that in a downward economy an SEO firm can with pay per click seasonality and online marketing trending.

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How To Easily Profit From Wholesale Video Games Business On Ebay

May 15th, 2008 JoaquinReveron Posted in Internet No Comments »

When you are planning to set up your wholesale business based on selling wholesale video games on eBay, you have to come up with a good business plan. You will face tough and pioneer competitors on the eBay market place that is why you should outsmart them in a way to lure the customers into your online store instead of theirs.

How do you exactly come up with a good business plan? The first thing you have to do is browse through the online store pages of your future competitors. You have to take note of the positive and negative attributes of each page. Do you think they have an easy to navigate store that lets customers easily find the products they are looking for?

Is the store home page catchy enough to attract the customers for them to linger around a bit more? Do your competitors provide payment options that allow everyone to purchase from them? Do they provide an interactive page for customer feedbacks and suggestions?

When you have gathered enough information about your competitors online stores and have surveyed them thoroughly through the guide questions provided, the next step is to set up your own online store. You have to incorporate all of the positive attributes about online stores you have gathered and improve them in your own point of view.

You should know all the contents of your online store and design it according to your will and uniqueness. Of course you have to consider the makings of a clicking wholesale business based on your research. If you do not know the proper computer designing language, you can hire a website designer who can fulfill the things you’d like to have in an online store.

Once your catchy online store is ready, you now adding the wholesale video games you would like to offer your customers should be a breeze. It is always a good idea to include some page links regarding game reviews about each video game you are selling. Great game reviews equals bigger sales and more positive feedbacks from your customers.

They will certainly come back for more once they have tried and tested one of the video games they bought from your online store. Your customers will also spread the word about you and your online eBay store and this would mean more profit for you.

You should also consider providing your customers with almost all payment options so that even those who do not have credit cards can purchase from your online store. If you are only selling in your own country, why not start an international selling gig for a change. The eBay market place is a safe gateway to sell your products internationally and this means that even the people from the far corners of the planet can enjoy the video games you sell online.

Probably, one of the most powerful tools used in getting high profits is instant communication between the seller and the buyers. You must incorporate this in your online store and you should be able to respond back ASAP to any queries your customers might have.

Prompt replies to the customers of your wholesale business make them feel they are important thus gaining their full trust. When you have gained the trust of your customers, your online store will surely overflow with new and old customers alike. Take it from many of us that have been successful in the wholesale video games business for years and it is no secret.

Wholesale Video Games online are one of the business components Joaquin serves as reference source, e-commerce coach and certified author. His focus today is assisting people receive extra income through the acquirement of a Wholesale Business

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Entrepreneurialism And Mama’s Snapshots

May 15th, 2008 ScottLindsay Posted in Internet No Comments »

Mothers market the birth of their babies. Dads are asked to call the grandparents, the aunts and uncles, the friends and extended family. Pictures are taken and many local newspapers will provide space for birth announcements. Moms enjoy that kind of publicity.

If the couple attends a church they will likely find that the child is introduced to the congregants.

Should the mom be on maternity leave she may bring her baby to the workplace for co-workers to admire.

This is a deep and abiding tradition of mother’s pride. She will not keep silent about her new baby and most people wouldn’t want her to. She has every reason to be proud. She has every reason to desire others share in her joy.

This is the passion that is often missing from online business. There seems to be an almost unnatural fear that somehow our exuberance over the business we have developed will be perceived as childish. We curb our joy in exchange for a nonchalant attitude about something that we might want to shout from the tallest building in town, “I’ve got a business and I’m really proud of it – can I show you the pictures?”

Why do we do that? Have we lost the thrill of childhood and the joy expressed in every new adventure that we just can’t seem to express the excitement we really have or are we really that ho hum?

Think about some of the most dynamic motivational speakers you have ever heard or read about. Did those men and women express themselves passionately or were they less inclined to show emotion?

We gravitate to men like Dale Carnage or Zig Ziglar simply because they believe in the impossible and they are willing to get excited about the idea.

This opposite happens when many employees hang around the office and downplay meaningful successes simply because there seems to be some unwritten rule that excitement is somehow a bad thing.

Yet those same guys that pretend not to care will sit down and watch a football game. They can get excited enough they spill chips and drinks and the neighbors can hear their excitement, but they could care less.

That picture is how moms feel about their children and how business owners should feel about the opportunity to serve the needs of others in a way that fulfills personal passion while they are paid to do it.

Now that’s exciting.

No business owner should apologize for being thrilled about his or her business idea. Yes, it’s true that not every idea will be successful and it may also be true that family and friends may not believe in the viability of the idea, but visionaries are often misunderstood.

Sometimes your detractors will be those most prone to jealousy over the successes of others. They will likely be much happier if they can convince you to lay aside your enthusiasm and remain sequestered in everything conventional.

If this is where you find yourself right now it may seem like you are standing in the open door of an airplane waiting to jump. You have a parachute, but the fear of that first step and the knowledge that the most intense adrenaline rush is about to begin fight for control of your actions.

Will you jump or will you simply take your seat and wonder what might have been?

Make A Website with HighPowerSites.com or Build A Website with BuildAGreatSite.com. Start a HOME BUSINESS and Resell Ebooks at BooksWealth.com.

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Internet And Business Online – A Tale Of Cause And Effect

May 15th, 2008 ScottLindsay Posted in Internet No Comments »

In fond remembrance of primary school lessons with Dick and Jane I present this tutorial on cause and effect.

In preparation for this lesson we need to know that cause is an action that results in a movement. You also need to know that effect is the end result of the action.

Okay, we’ll start off easy.

If the cause is a boy teasing a dog then the effect may be a dog barking at a boy.

If the cause is a student studying for a test then the effect may be a better grade than if they had not studied.

If the cause were a woman opening a bottle of water the effect may be access to liquid refreshment.

If the cause is a business owner marketing their website the effect may be more visitors and improved cash flow.

And finally, if the cause is a business owner who pays no attention to marketing the effect will be minimal visitation and very few sales.

All right the technical aspect of the lesson is over, now on to some practical applications.

Everything we do in life is subjected to the ebb and flow of cause and effect. Every action we can supply will result in a return answer for that action. Sometimes the effect is positive and sometimes it can cause us to revisit the cause.

Online business is constantly subjected to the world of cause and effect. These two terms are inextricably linked.

Did you know that even inaction is a cause and it usually has a negative effect when applied to business?

The role of online business is to use the greatest cause to exact the greatest effect. In other words if you want a positive outcome you must enact a cause that corresponds well with a positive effect.

Sometimes we sabotage our own efforts by setting a negative cause in motion and then wonder why we see very little beyond a negative ending.

If you want your business to succeed you need to work to ensure you set in motion those things that will contribute to your overall success. That means that you don’t simply ‘wing’ it, rather you devise a plan that considers what effect will likely occur in response to the cause you enact.

Your decisions need to be forward thinking. If, when you follow a decision to its logical conclusion you determine it will have a negative effect then the idea should be abandoned even if it seemed initially positive.

For instance you might envision a contest for your website, but the structure of the contest could result in misunderstanding and accompanying liability. In this scenario dropping the idea and finding a new cause with a better effect might best serve you.

What that means is your business should have strategic planning that will enable you to move forward having looked at your actions from multiple angles. Only then should you make a decision based on that information.

This whole article boils down to the old adage, “A failure to plan is a plan to fail.”

Learn How To Make A Website with HighPowerSites.com or Build Own Website at BuildAGreatSite.com. Make Money Selling Ebooks at BooksWealth.com.

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How To Link Bait

May 15th, 2008 StevenBalfour Posted in Internet No Comments »

Interesting News Articles

The first step to generate links to your website is to create a useful resource that people trust and rely on. There is no easier way to do this than by providing up to date news and information targeted towards a particular industry. If people see your website as an authority within your industry (or at least a useful resource) because of the news and information you provide then you will begin to generate incoming links, not only from forums and blogs, but from other highly respected websites who wish to source information (such as the BBC).

Controversial News Articles

Controversy will always kick up a storm. By writing a news article that directly disagrees with someone or something or by publishing something no other website would dare to write, you can quickly attract attention to your own website and again have other websites linking into your own. It is a fine line when trying to get this right without over stepping the mark, you could easily end up with egg on your face if you get it wrong, potential customers may think you have gone crazy or, at worst, you could even end up with a court battle. But if you get it right it will quickly generate a lot more links that a regular news article ever would.

Website Tools

Can you as a company or individual provide something that no other else can? Develop something new and exciting, something that is unique to your market. Can you create some kind of calculator which generates positive results (example: www.oneaccount.com) that will not only attract visitors but will encourage other websites to link to you because it is a useful resource? Offer these tools for free on your website, encourage visitors to use them. The more unique these tools are the more links they will generate.

Usable Scripts or Design Templates

Similar to the above but this time allow other websites to freely use scripts and/or design templates created by you or your company. Again this could be a simple calculator which you could allow webmasters to add to their own websites by simply dropping in a line of code, or it could be template designs for popular content management systems such as WordPress or osCommerce. The trick is to offer these items for free but require that a simple text link be added from their website to your own website to acknowledge the original source.

Competitions & Games

Everyone likes the chance to win stuff so running competitions will always attract attention. By making the competitions regular and by offering interesting and industry relevant prizes, you can quickly build up interest in your website.

Really good games created in something like Flash can in some instances become bigger than the actual website itself (thinking back to the coptor game), add a scoreboard and make it competitive, allow the option to invite friends and create banner links for other webmasters to add to their own website. Again target the market that your website is aimed towards, for an IVA website could you create a IVA/Debt Management game that asks visitors to play out their own real life situation, ending in a positive solution?

Make it Easy

Offer text links, banners etc. on your website. Encourage visitors to link to your website by simply adding some text such as “if you like our website, link to us with the following code…”, provide the HTML code so that it is simply ready to copy and paste.

Steven Balfour wrote this article for search engine optimization company Position Gold Ltd.

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