Saturday, March 25, 2006

The Seven Characteristics of Incredibly Successful Web Sites

If you want to do business online, you need a web site.

Your web site will be your advertisement, your storefront, your salesperson, and your cash register! That’s why it is so important to pay careful attention to every aspect of your web site’s development.

1. It has its own domain name.

Having your own domain makes your web site easier to find and more likely to come up in search engines.

It also demonstrates an image of stability and that your business is a serious one. Make sure the domain name is catchy, easy to remember, and suitable for your business.

Forget about .net, .org, or .biz! Everyone remembers .com more than .net. It’s that simple. It’s positioning!

A good .com domain name is going to pay for itself a thousand times over.faster than any .net or .org address ever could.

I know that all of the good .com domain names are gone; however, just get creative with your .com name. Register your domain name now. You should not pay more than $10 for a domain name. Shop around. I use godaddy.com.

2. It has fast loading web pages.

If your web site loads slowly, your prospective clients may not be willing to wait and may never come back to your site. Web surfers are extremely impatient.

Remember that not everyone is using cable or DSL.

There are still a lot of people out there using 28.8K, 33.6K, or 56.6K modems. Just look at how many people are using AOL’s dial-up service - 35 million members!

Unless you don’t want to do business with those 35 million people, don’t overload your web site with fancy graphics that are slow to load. Get out a timer and stare at your screen for 10 seconds.

It seems like forever, doesn’t it?

How long does it take for your home page to load? What can you do to make it load faster? Bottom line: You cannot have a home page that loads too fast.

3. It includes an opt-in email list.

Do this as quickly as possible.

From your home page, give your visitors a good reason to give you their email addresses. Offer them a free report, a free sample, a free newsletter, or free information updates.

Get their email addresses and their permission to contact them. What do you do after you capture their email addresses?

Regularly send them valuable information, offers, sales, ads, and more! If subscribers don’t buy from you now, they might do so eventually. It’s common to hear from new customers: “I’ve been getting your newsletter for years and figured it was time to buy.”

A good email list collected by your web site is priceless. I know a consultant who generates six figures in sales every year with her home-grown email list.

She simply attracts people who are interested in getting the information, puts them on her list, and sends them good information on a regular basis.

Your email list becomes a continuous source of sales for you. Do you want to know how successful online businesses stay profitable year after year?

They have a good list.

Do you want to know why so many online businesses fold within months of starting?

They don’t have a list. It’s often as simple as that.

4. It targets a specific niche.

Don’t try to be a jack-of-all-trades, or else you will end up being a master of none.

The most ineffective sites try to put together a hodgepodge of information on many different subjects and topics.

The key to success online is to focus.

You need to make sure that your whole web site only focuses on one niche market.

Don’t sell computer software and Dragon Ball trading cards on the same site! Don’t try to mix up 20 different affiliate programs on your site.

It simply won’t work.

Don’t confuse your visitors. The confused mind always says NO.

Sell one lead-generating product and get them into your marketing funnel so that you can offer them additional products afterwards.

Don’t buy into Internet offers. Just because someone else made $100,000 last month with a specific product doesn’t mean YOU should be selling it.

You can make money with anything online if you position it correctly.

You just have to find a product that is fun for you and whose market you know how to target.

The most successful people are almost always the ones who have chosen the product they LOVE selling.

5. The pages are easy to navigate.

Your web site should be easy to navigate.

Don’t make your visitors jump through hoops before you give them the information they need.

Make it easy for your visitors to move through your site. They’ll stick around longer and will be more likely to visit your site again.

Provide text links or icons on each page so that people can easily click back and forth through your site without having to use the “back” and “forward” buttons on their browsers. Include well-labeled navigation buttons along the top, bottom, or side of each page to allow visitors to easily return to your home page.

The same goes for making it easy for them to find your order forms or other product information. That’s because some visitors may arrive at your web site at a page other than your home page.

Are you making it easy for them to find their way around the rest of your web site?

Check out Seth Godin’s book The Big Red Fez. It is a great book on how to make any web site better and an excellent place for anyone to start.

6. It lets visitors know who the business owner is.

Include your name, company information, email address, complete address (not P.O. box), phone, and fax numbers.

Remember, people tend to be skeptical on the Internet. You can boost your credibility instantly by letting people know exactly who you are and how they can contact you. Real phone numbers, real names, and real addresses make a HUGE difference!

7. It offers a simple way to make a purchase.

Do you have a merchant account?

Do you accept all major credit cards online?

Do you have a secure ordering method?

By accepting credit cards online, you can dramatically increase the number of orders you receive.

I am amazed at how many web sites make it tough to order from them.

You have to sign up first before you can order.

They don’t accept all major credit cards. You have to go through 10 steps to place your order. And this is at the point when you are trying to give them money!

You should be ready to take money from your customers in any form whether it is by phone, fax, online, or money orders or checks in the mail.

Why say no to a sale? Make it easy and fast for your customers to order from you. You may have heard that it’s tough to get a merchant account. Forget about getting a merchant account from your local bank. They don’t understand e-commerce.

If you want to know which one I use or recommend, send me an email. I can point you to one of the nation’s largest issuers of merchant accounts.

Their approval rate is 99 percent. Their accounts are very easy to set up and very inexpensive, usually less than $100.

Spend some time and do some planning. Make sure your web site will deliver results!

Don’t overlook these simple habits. Don’t lose sight of why you developed your site in the first place.

Every aspect of your site should somehow contribute to your goal-be it to sell, inform, or simply entertain.

Tips for Improving AdSense Performance

Tips for Improving AdSense Performance
DailyIndia.com, NY - Mar 7, 2006by Will Spencer. Remove borders on your AdSense ads. ... Removing borders from your AdSense ads can lead to a significant boost in CTR. ...

Complexity Compels Changes for SEO Firms
SEO Blog, Canada - Mar 15, 2006... Some of these practitioners had moved to the AdSense-rich environment of the blogosphere over the past two years, prompting stricter rules designed to ...

Google gives guidance, but doesn't
Computer Business Review, UK - Mar 9, 2006... The presentation noted that "AdSense margins will be squeezed in 2006 and beyond". AdSense is Google's contextual advertising system. ...

Google Stock Takes Hit After Web-Posting Blunder
E-Commerce Times - Mar 8, 2006... The notes also said that "strong competitors are attempting to aggregate traffic" with the result that "AdSense margins will be squeezed in 2006 and beyond.". ...

Google Accidentally Reveals Revenue Prediction
WebProNews, KY - Mar 8, 2006... Also the tough days ahead for the AdSense division is actually expected; I've noticed the shrinking AdSense margins in almost every quarterly report yet. ...

Top Earning Keywords For AdSense Success
E-book shows step-by-step how to find keywords that'll trigger coveted high earning keywords in Adsense. With Marketing Kit.

Making Money With Your Blog

While the internet has been evolving in so many ways, many tools have also been created to achieve financial success in e-commerce.

Since search engines have been constantly changing their algorhthms, many webmasters have also been trying to find more ways to promote their online businesses. These strategies are created in order for a site to survive even without being too dependent on the search engines.

Blogs have now become popular to publish the writer's ideas. Yet some creative webmasters have also taken advantage of this opportunity to use blogs as a marketing tool to promote products and services and to easily earn money from blogs using Google AdSense Ads within.

To make money with blogs is taught now by many ebooks such as Blog Profit Ideas Exposed. Certainly, if blogs can also be used as an effective tool, then isn't it wise to take advantage of it as well?

Perhaps, internet marketing or any kind of businesses can also be compared with war. To win a war, it does not mean that armies will only be using pistols. Armies should be able to learn how to use other armaments such as rifles, bayonets, grenades, tanks, lasers, and more.

The same thing holds true with internet marketing. Webmasters should not depend on search engines only. If other webmasters have succeeded in making a profit out of blogs, why can't you?

VMT Singuillo is a freelance writer and has written articles about strategic internet marketing solutions, grandfather clocks, cheap hotels and cheap motels and many more.

Discussion Thread for Adsense Revenue Sharing

Blogger Help : How do I put AdSense on my blog?
Push-Button Publishing. How do I put AdSense on my blog? Adding AdSense to your blog is easy. Go to the Template tab in Blogger and you'll see an "AdSense ads" tab below it: ... If you don't have an AdSense account already, you can sign up for it right ...

LifeLaw.org - Discussion Thread for Adsense Revenue Sharing
LifeLaw.org - Life Law , Discuss, Advocate, Learn. A forum on abortion, the death penalty, capital punishment, euthanasia, and other topics of life and law. ... If you have a Google Adsense account, you have the unique opportunity to share in the ad revenue ... an account at Google Adsense Homepage ( google.com/adsense ) Please note, you ...

Google AdSense - Overview
AdSense Overview. Quick Tour. AdSense for Content Overview. AdSense for Search Overview. Ad Review and Filtering Process. AdSense Blog - Privacy Policy - Terms & Conditions - Program Policies. 2006 Google

Google Adsense Tips
... A quick guide on earning more revenue with Google AdSense ... success with out petition to either get our. Adsense accounts back online, or to get enough names to present a ...

Google Cash
eBook - How to Earn Thousands Writing Google AdWords Part-Time.

How to optimize blog for AdSense

AdSense Money, Blog
How i optimize my blogs for AdSense and have a good CTR with user friendly enviorment. I saw a lot of talking around this topic How to optimize AdSense for blogs

Robert McLaws: FunWithCoding.NET - Longhorn Edition : AdSense in RSS
When I look I discover it's the old articles with new ads. I'm all in favour of AdSense within RSS feeds, but these wrinkles do need to be ironed out somehow

AdSense-Deluxe WordPress Plugin Acme Technologies Zeitgeist
AdSense-Deluxe is a WordPress plugin offering advanced options for managing the automatic insertion of Google AdSense and Yahoo! Publisher Network ads to your WordPress posts

AdSense - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
AdSense is an advertising program run by Google . Website owners can enroll in this program to enable text and image advertisements on their sites. These ads are administered by Google and generate

Adsense-Mastery.com
Tired of hearing about people making HUGE Google Adsense checks each month while your ongoing efforts amount to nothing

Get Targeted Traffic With Google Adwords
Information products for Internet Marketers.

Google AdSense Tips

AdSense allows website publishers to display contextually relevant advertisements on their website. If a web visitor “clicks” on an advertisement, the web publisher will earn a percentage of the advertising revenue generated as a result of the click. Many webmasters have built content websites around the Google AdSense model. In many cases the specific intent of the webmaster is to profit from Google AdSense.

Other webmasters use Google AdSense to supplement their revenue. Regardless of the webmaster’s intent, the following tips will help webmasters looking to profit from AdSense.

Top AdSense Tips:

1. Niche Sites.

Targeted niche sites that have a clear theme, tend to generate more advertising revenue simply because it is easier to achieve decent search engine placement. Be warned though, you want to chose a niche where there is a sufficient number of advertisements available.

2. Target Keywords.

When determining the sites focus, consider how much the advertisers pay for the advertisements. If the site is focused on ringtones, like Ringtone Central http://www.ringtones-central.com the payout per click is going to be very small, as ringtones are not high ticket items, advertisers will not spend a lot on pay per click advertisements. With less obvious markets use Overture to determine how much advertisers pay per keyword, it is usually similar on Google. Search Overture for a keyword then click “View Advertisers’ Max Bids” in the top right corner. This will show the Overture inventory and how much is paid per keyword. Because the market has become very competitive, it will be difficult to rank well in search engines with a new website that is optimized for the terms that have the highest payout. Consider targeting terms that are moderately priced.

3. Aged Sites / Time.

Over time as a website is spidered by Google, advertisements will generally increase in relevance. In general, older websites will rank better in search engines. The closer the advertisements relate to the webpage’s content; the higher the “click-through” the publishers will see.

4. Coding.

In order to minimize a websites maintenance place the Google generated AdSense code in the website template or an include file. This will allow you to easily experiment with different advertisement sizes and ad placement, and keep the web maintenance to a minimum.

5. Tracking Channels.

In order to know how effective a specific website or ad placement is use distinct channels and subchannels within Google. This will allow you to discern what performs best on a specific website. Using channels will tell you what sites are making money, what advertisements are making money and what ad position is the most profitable on a specific website. Keep in mind that you should run an advertisement for a full week, in order to properly test its effectiveness, different days of the week will vary the web traffic so comparing one week to another will give the most accurate reflection of how effective a campaign performs.

When testing different advertisement sizes, placement or color schemes be sure to leave campaigns in place for one week, different days will often result in web traffic fluctuations. Comparing web traffic, week to week will give a clear indication of what ad formats perform the best.

6. Integrated Ad Placement.

Many webmasters have been successful at integrating advertisements into a website. The easiest way to integrate an advertisement into a website is to remove the advertisement border. This will allow the ads to better blend with the webpage. Google recommends contrasting the link colors with the website colors to increase click-throughs. It is also suggested that webmasters randomize the color of the advertisements, so that frequent users will not naturally “filter” the ads.

Example of integrated ad placement:

http://www.golf-clubhouse.net or http://www.security-protection.net

7. Number vs Value of Advertisements.

Up to three advertisements can be listed on each page. This decreases the value of the advertisements served, so publishers should cautiously add advertisement units, as it dilutes ad inventory. In other words you want to serve the most expensive ads at all times.

8. Hot Spots.

Like web copy above the fold holds true with AdSense as well. This means that advertisements that appear without having to scroll will be read more frequently. Hot Spots are areas on a web page that result in a higher percentage of click-throughs. According to Google the highest paying advertisements are located on the hot spots.

Hot Spot Map -
http://www.small-business-software.net/heat-map.htm

Google does not indicate if image advertisements or text ads perform better, so webmasters are encouraged to experiment with both.

9. Highest performing Ad Sizes.

According to Google the 336 x 280 rectangle, the 300 x250 rectangle and the 160 x 600 sky scraper result in the highest number of click-throughs. Depending on the website’s design and layout, publishers may experience different results with different ad sizes, placements and color schemes. Expirement and track the results for each website to maximize the AdSense payout.

Other Adsense Tips Site

Google Adsense Tips
... A quick guide on earning more revenue with Google AdSense ... success with out petition to either get our. Adsense accounts back online, or to get enough names to present a ...

Adsense
Adsense. The best links to learn more about Ad Sense. Monday, December 05, 2005. Google announces image ads for AdSense. I've read up on most of the post on "How to place Google Adsense ads next to your text". More. ... its AdWords program. More. AdSense Can Make You A Huge Heap Of ...

Gmail: Help Center - What's with the ads and related information in Gmail?
... search results and, through the Google AdSense program, on content pages across the ... contextual advertising technology that powers our AdSense program. This technology enables Google ...

" AdSense " InsideGoogle " part of the Blog News Channel
By Nathan Weinberg. Google is testing a new box that displays related content, like searches, news and web pages. Basically, you get a box that, like Chitika ads, shows tabs, and you can switch between the tabs for different content. ... Anyway, one guy found a great way to solicit AdSense clicks. He's running a supposed survey website, that ...

Top Paying Keywords
The biggest and best paying keyword list +44000 words to maximize profits from google adsense.

AdSense Tips For Bloggers

If you have joined the blogging revolution that is sweeping the net, and you think you might want to make a little revenue - or a lot of revenue - from your blogging efforts, you need AdSense tips for bloggers. Blogging has opened up an entirely new way of how non-technical people interact with the Internet, and now, anyone can publish anything about any topic - without having a website - and anyone can profit without even having a product!

Adsense for blogs make perfect sense. Google's advertising programs are designed to work with sites related to the keywords for the ads that are being presented. Each time you add content to your blog, the Google spiders gobble it up. The more you update, the more the Google spider visits your page. Ultimately, you move up in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) for the topics that you write about. You see where this is going. The higher your search ranking, the more traffic you receive, which ultimately leads to higher revenue from AdSense ads.

The beauty of blogs is their potential for rapid growth. If you become known as an expert in your area of expertise, word of mouth spreads quickly and your blog can become very popular. So it is vital that you always teach something with every blog entry. You want your readers to come back frequently and they will if they know they will learn something. Not only will your readers bookmark your blog and return often, but they will link to your blog enthusiastically as well. People in forums will refer to your blogs and discuss what they learned. Websites will link to you as a valuable resource. In short, an informative blog can grow very quickly if the information it provides is valuable.

It is important to write about specific topics, and sprinkle your blog entries with specific keywords to get the best results - and the highest revenue - with your Google AdSense ads. There is a method to the madness. Start your revenue generating blog by testing the waters.

Decide what area you would like to write about and then do some keyword research. Research is easy if you use Google's keyword tools found at https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordSandbox . The keyword tools are located in your Google AdWords account. Yes, you need a free AdWords account to be successful but you don't have to fund it to use the keyword tools. Look for keywords related to your subject that are high paying. These are keywords where the bid amounts are high. Make a list of the top paying keywords, and use that list to determine what topics you will write about.

Remember, you want people to visit your blog time and time again, and build up a readership, make sure that your blog is well written and informative. Don't just target keywords for the sake of targeting keywords - the writing needs to make sense! Writing valuable content is the first step to generating traffic to your blog, and traffic is needed to profit from AdSense ads!

You are allowed to use the AdSense ad units in two different places on each page. You can accomplish this in a couple of different ways. First, you can add the AdSense ad code to the template for your blog. This is done through the control panel for your blog, and some knowledge of HTML is needed. The other option is to paste the AdSense code directly in your blog post each time you submit a new post. You can use it once at the top and once at the bottom, or once after a few paragraphs of the post, and again after a few more paragraphs.

Get that code in there however you see fit - but then pay close attention to the results so you can see what is working and what isn't. Tracking is everything if you want to make real money!

Of course, you need to advertise your blog as much as possible as well. Make sure that you provide Trackbacks to other people's blogs as often as possible, and that you visit blogs, leave comments - and leave a link for your blog as well!

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Use These Hot Tips To Increase Your Google Profit

Every Time you set up a new campaign, use
This checklist to help improve your bottom line:

1. terms you must know to succeed with Google
Cash:

"broad match" (also known as default) given
the keyword phrase "tennis shoes" , shown to
anyone searching for "tennis" and "shoes" in any
order, and possibly with other terms (red tennis
shoes, etc). General or broad keywords will
generate many impressions with few results.
However, with a small niche, broad match gives
You the most exposure. The downside is that
Your cost/click will be higher at first.

Larger markets require highly targeted
Keywords.

---"negative keyword" uses a minus sign in front
of the phrase. This stops your ad from being
shown if somebody searches using that term
(e.g. -red)

---"phrase match" is a phrase enclosed in quotes.
Shown to anyone searching for "tennis shoes" but
Only in that order, with possibly other terms
Included, e.g. red tennis shoes.

---"exact match" Enclosed in brackets [ ] Only
shown if searched in that order (e.g. [tennis shoes])
with no other terms.

--- Consider spelling variations. Rock star Britney
Spears has more than 500 variations searchers use.

2.Here are 3 numbers you MUST understand
In order to succeed:

a.Conversion rate--the number of visitors who
Actually buy something. With 100 visitors and
3 sales, your conversion rate is 3%.

b.Return on Ad spend--how many dollars you
Take in vs how much you spend on advertising.
If you spend $1,000 and take in $5,000, your
Return on ad spend = 500%

c.Return on investment--If you spend $1,000 to
Get $50,000, and you make 50% profit on each
Sale ($25,000), the return on your investment (ROI)
Is 2500%

2.Start your bids high to see where the traffic is.
Then cut back for economy.

3.If most bids are 25 cents and one top bid is $5.00,
The top bidder is trying to control the #1 spot. Bid
$4.99 and you will pay only 26 cents. Check your
bid regularly to make sure #1 does not underbid you.

4.Having said that, try not to get caught up in a
Bidding war. There are ways to drive traffic to you

Avoid These Fatal Online Mistakes

Newbies commonly fall prey to the following
Online mistakes. I suggest you put this list up
On a wall and consult it every time you want to
Make a business move.

1.Lumping all your keywords for a given
Campaign into a single group

O.K., so you found 100 keywords you think
Will work for your campaign. The things is,
They can usually be broken down into subgroups
That are more sharply related to each other.

For example, your subject may be tennis, but
Related keywords include tennis equipment,
Tennis clothes, tips on particular strokes, etc.

Break your list down into highly related
Sub groups and you'll reach a more targeted
Audience. Those people looking for tennis
Equipment can hone in on your ads that offer
That.

Breaking down your master list into sub groups
Enables you to have separate landing pages for
Each sub group. Which will help more prospects
Respond to your offers.

2.Not using square brackets around keywords
Or phrases
For example, putting brackets around the
Phrase [antique tennis racquets] will show your
Ad if and only if the keyword phrase antique
Tennis racquets is searched for. Other related
Tennis terms are eliminated.

3.Not tracking your results
Google Adwords is not a set-and-forget
System. You need to know which keywords are
Profitable and which are not. Once you know
This, shift your budget so you can put more
Emphasis on the most profitable keywords.

4.Having a sloppy web site
A sloppy web site leaves a bad taste in
Reader's mouth. If you don't have time to pay
Attention to detail on your site, how can he
Trust you to take care of him?

On your site, that means taking care of
Proper grammar, and making sure all the links
Work. Speaking of links, please note: The
More times you ask reader to click away to
Hear an audio, or click to a list of testimonials,
Or anything that requires him to click away
Before getting to the end of your message,
The higher the likelihood that you will lose
Him. Keep your pages simple.

5.Not using the review technique to sell
Something

If reader perceives you as a reviewer, he
Views you as more objective, less biased, and
More likely to be telling the truth. For example,
When promoting an affiliate product or service,
Write like a reviewer might and watch your
Sales rocket up.

Even many pros miss this point.

6.Receiving traffic from UNTARGETED
Sources like pop-unders, safelists, free for all
Links, etc.
You waste your time and reader's if your
Traffic is not targeted, that is, from someone
Looking for your exact product or service.

7.Failing to plan
Do you slap up a Google Ad or minisite,
Then sit back and wait for a response? Not
Good enough. In order to succeed, you need a
Plan. For example, when you receive an
Order, do you direct customer to your
Autoresponder series?

Or, when you get a
Question, do you direct reader to your FAQ
Page? Do you try to upsell existing customers?
Do you know the number of messages you
Want reader to be exposed to? If so, set them
Up in advance.

8.Over analyzing
You just finished reading an ebook about
Writing a sales letter. It seems complete. It
Walks you from A-Z.

But instead of writing a practice letter
To see to see the response and determine
How much you learned, you begin a one-year
Hunt for everything about writing a sales
Letter.

Sometimes you learn by doing. Granted,
You can never learn too much. But enough
Is enough.

Of course, it is fear that keeps you from
Getting on with it. You must recognize that
And press on if you really want to get
Somewhere with your business.

9.Not focusing
You've got a system down well enough to
Improve profits. But suddenly you receive
Another email promising you the sky.
Trouble is, this new subject has nothing to
Do with the original subject.

So instead of getting on with the first
Subject, you waste months or years chasing
Rainbows.

Put the new things on hold. Focus and
Learn to do one thing at a time. Then take
What you learn and apply it to the next thing,
But (a very important but) only after the
First project is on autopilot.

10.Not being organized
Even if you use a cardboard box, get a
Bunch of 8 ½ x 11 manila folders and (very
Important) keep every single subject related
To your topic in a separate and labeled
Folder. That way you don't waste needless
Hours hunting for things.

11.Giving up too soon
Succeeding requires patience. As long as
You are moving in the right direction, that is,
Building your business, press on. It is
Natural that things are slow at first. But you
Have to crawl before you can walk.

Sometimes, it is best to keep what you are
Trying to accomplish to yourself. Negative
People (and there are plenty of them) can
Throw you off track and hold you down.
Refuse to let that happen.

Avoid these costly mistakes and watch
Your business grow.

"Wordtracker: A MUST-HAVE Tool For Your Online Success

To succeed online with Google Cash, you
MUST become familiar with Wordtracker
(www.wordtracker.com )

What is Wordtracker and why is it so
Important? Targeting the right keywords
For your online business is critical. Target
The wrong keywords and you are out of
Business. Wordtracker helps you target
The right (that is, profitable) keywords.

Wordtracker is a database of words and
Phrases people use when they want
Information. With Wordtracker, you enter
A keyword or phrase and Wordtracker
Tells you how often people search for it.
They also tell you how many competing
Sites use your keyword.

Wordtracker also helps you find all the
Keyword combinations that bear any
Relationship to your keyword, many of
Which you may never have considered.

Of course, what you are after is a keyword
Or phrase that doesn't have too much
Competition, but one that many people are
Searching for.

Enter KEI (keyword effectiveness index),
To my mind the most valuable part of
Wordtracker. KEI refers to the number of
Times a given keyword has appeared on
Wordtracker. The higher the KEI, the more
Popular your keyword is and the less
Competition it has.

I cannot overstress the importance of the
KEI number. It will dramatically cut down
On wasted money by eliminating
Unprofitable keywords and phrases.

According to Wordtracker, you want
Keywords with a KEI of 11 or higher. A KEI
Of 11-100 is good. A KEI of 101-400 is
Great. A KEI over 400 and you are in
Heaven.

Now for an example. Your business has
To do with tennis.

1.Go to http://www.googlecash.com/wordtracker
2.Click on "tour."
3.Now type in the keyword "tennis."
Wordtracker will present you with a list of
Related words.
4.Click on any related keyword, e.g.
"tennis apparel."
5.Now click on keywords on the right
To add to your "basket"
6.Next, email the keywords in the basket
To yourself.
7.Then do a "competition search." You
Will get a KEI of 14.609 for "tennis apparel."
That KEI is greater than 10, so it is a
Potentially profitable keyword phrase.

See Lesson 4 of this ecourse for how to
Use Wordtracker most effectively.

Wordtracker offers a free trial version.
I suggest you go there:
http://www.googlecash.com/wordtracker

And tinker around with this valuable tool.
Then order a trial version for a day, week, or
Longer.

The trial versions present you with only
30 related keywords for any given keyword
you punch in. Paid versions give up to 1500
for the same word or phrase!

O.K. ... get tinkering...and watch your
Profits grow.

"Create Your Personal Cash Cow With Niche Marketing

Niche marketing involves finding tiny
But popular niche markets that have little or
No direct competition, then selling products
And services to these niches.

What are the benefits of niche marketing?
Less competition. Not having to compete
Against the big guys with more money.
Coping with competitors not nearly as savvy
About web marketing as you will be after
Reading this ecourse. And the ease with
Which you can find potential customers.

So, how do you find red hot, profitable
Niches? Here are 4 important things you
Need to know before deciding on a niche:

1.Is the market easily defined and reachable?

2.Is the niche small enough not to have too
many competitors, but large enough to make
a profit?

3.Are other advertisers spending money
On this niche?

4.Are there a significant number of prospects
Passionate about the topic?

Here's one approach to finding killer
Niches:

1.Visit your local bookstore or library.
2.Write down topics with "how to" "for
dummies" "idiot's guide to" in the title.
3.Note any perennial best sellers
4.Study magazine racks for hobby-related
Magazines. You are hunting for anything
That solves a problem.

Here's another approach:

1.Look inside yourself for things you enjoy.
2.Make lists of keywords that describe
These interests
3.Determine the Internet supply and demand
For each keyword (Wordtracker willIndicate this)
4.Survey the competition. How can you do
It better, faster, cheaper, etc.

Now...define your paying niche. Don't
Target a market that is too broad. If you like
Tennis, that's too broad a term. What about
"antique tennis racquets"? That's more
specialized and narrow.

At least at first, avoid niches that are too
Saturated, like "making money online."

To determine demand for your niche subject:

1.Go to the Overture Suggestion Tool
(http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/ )
2.Type in "tutorial" then paste the results into
A spreadsheet or copy them into "my documents"
3.Do the same for "guide" and "how to"
These lists show what people are looking for
Online.

Next...type in all the words closely related to
Your master list of words. For example, for
The master word tennis, related words might be
Tennis racquets, tennis balls, tennis stars, etc.
Checking these terms out on Overture gives you
An estimate of the overall demand for your
Subject niche.

To get the available supply, go to Google.com
And type in each phrase separately. You might
Type in "tennis" and Google will give you over
14 million listings.

Now...determine the advertising cost for each
Word or phrase. Go to www.Overture.com and type
In each word or phrase. Click "view advertiser
Maximum bids" found in the upper right hand
Corner, which will show you the maximum bids
Each advertiser is willing to spend.

Go through this procedure with each word or
Phrase, and write down the top 3 bids for each.

From there, you can select a hot, in-demand
Keyword or phrase to build your business
Around.

Profitable Keyword Research

When doing keyword research, most users
Use the Overture Suggestion Tool. It's free.
And it gives useful information. IF you use
It properly.

But it has flaws. Keyword research is
Critical if you want your ad to get on the first
Page of Google results. The more accurate
Your keyword research, the better your
Ranking. With the Overture Suggestion Tool,
You are leaving room for error.

Here's why. Overture assigns a search
Count for each of the terms in its database.
Problem is, these numbers are skewed. When
You use ANY automated keyword search
Tool (like Overture), the numbers for each
Term or phrase increase. Inflating these
Numbers, as Overture does, gives you false
Information.

Another flaw: Search terms are often
Mixed up with the originally searched term.
For example, if you were to type in "8 hour
Work day" you could get a result that
Reveals "8 day work hour." The result?
You might have a #1 ranking for your search
Phrase yet still get little or no traffic.

So...how to properly do keyword
Research?

1.You need the paid version of Wordtracker.
(http://www.googlecash.com/wordtracker )

2.Normally, use the "keyword universe"
Feature on Wordtracker. Start with
"comprehensive search" if you are beginning
with a generic keyword (e.g. tennis).

3.Input your starting keyword into the
"keyword universe" search box.

4.Now scroll down in the results that appear
Below this box and look for the top 3-5 terms
That best fit what you are looking for.

5.Click on the first of those 3-5 terms

6.Navigate through each of the resulting
Terms and add any to your list that you find
Possibly beneficial.

7.Wordtracker allows you to put these results
Into a "basket" so you can use them for
Additional research.

8.After going through each list for your 3-5
Terms, continue with the "competition search"
Function on Wordtracker.

9.Now use the "export to email" function
And email yourself the results.

10.Now you have a list ofKeywords to work
with.

"The Insider's Guide To Choosing an Avilliate Program

Becoming an affiliate is a critical step
Toward earning BIG MONEY on the
Internet. As an affiliate, you advertise the
Products or services of others. Convenient
Because you don't have to go through the
Rigmarole of creating your own products.
You simply place a Google Ad which
Directs reader to the website you are
Representing.

But which company? Choosing an
Affiliate company to promote deserves
Serious consideration. Some Tips:

1.Join for free. Associate with a company
That doesn't charge a monthly fee.

2.Don't waste time with low commission
Programs. Your time is valuable. As an
Affiliate, it's just as easy to earn $20 as it is
To earn $1

3.Study the company's web site. Does it
Look professional? Does it do a good job of
Convincing people to buy? A good site with
A great sales pitch or letter will make money
For you.

4.The best sites: 1) offer a moneyback
Guarantee 2) have testimonials from satisfied
Customers 3) accept online payments 4) offer
Secure online ordering.

5.Choose companies that pay every 2 weeks
(vs those that make you wait 2-3 months)

6.Do you just want to make money, or do you
Want to go with a product or service
Related to your personal interests? A
Combination of the 2 is ideal.

7.Company statistics (tracking your sales)
should be in real time and available 24/7

8.Set up should be easy. For some programs,
You can take up to an hour just trying to figure
Out how to sign up. Not worth the hassle.

9.Look for companies that offer lifetime
Commissions. When a customer you referred
Buys again, you get paid.

10.Do a Google search and find out what other
Affiliates think about the company. Punch in the
Company name and study the reviews.

11.Preferably the company you join offers
Products or services people need and use.

12.Go with what is popular. What is popular
Offline will be popular online, like golf, weight
Loss, etc. WOrdtracker
(http://www.googlecash.com/wordtracker)
will show the Popularity of your product or service.

13.Join the 2 biggest affiliate networks:
Clickbank and Commission Junction. By signing
Up ONCE with either of these, you have access
To thousands of programs.

Clickbank offers digital products,
Downloadable in minutes. Some other Clickbank
Advantages: 1) high commissions, up to 75% of
Product's value 2) real time stats, 24/7 3) sends
Checks every 2 weeks.

Commission Junction offers physical goods
Available via snail mail.

14.You want to be able to reach someone at
The company if you have questions. Send a test
Question via email. 24 hours or less to respond
Is good.

15.Don't dilute your focus by signing up with
Too many companies at once. You spread
Yourself too thin and end up doing a little on each
One. As a beginner, FOCUS. Iron out the kinks
Then move on to the next program once the first
One is on autopilot.

16.Companies to avoid: 1) get-paid-to-surf
Programs 2) programs that offer guaranteed
Traffic 3) send-cash-in-the-mail programs
4) gifting programs 5) chain letters.

17.Be willing to be offbeat. The subject of
Online marketing is saturated and the competition
Is stiff. Look for hidden nuggets, subjects where
The competition is not as tough.

18.Go with a program that pays you to recruit
Others. That way, you double your efforts.

19.Here's my favorite: Programs that only
Require reader to sign up or register. Reader
Doesn't have to buy anything! For example,
Lending programs that pay you when reader
Only fills out an application.

20.If you already have a web site, choose a
Program that complements your site.

21.Contact the top affiliates in your chosen
Program. Let them be your mentors. They
Can show you how it's really done.

some ways to put some life into

1. Treat the resource box like a powerful
Classified ad. It has to make reader want to
Do as you ask. It is the reason you wrote the
Article.
2. Be conversational. Don't talk down to
Your readers like a professor. Feel free to
Use slang terms and street language.

3. Most important, make sure there is a
Benefit involved when reader takes action by
Going to your site. "Learn how to lose 25
Pounds in 25 days or less at www. ..."

Your resource box is much more important
Than the article you are submitting. A great
Resource box may result in reader receiving
An autoresponder series that eventually sells
Him valuable information. Both you and your
Reader profit.

How long should your article be? About
500 words is plenty. You're not writing
"War And Peace." You're just trying to pass
on info vital enough to make reader want to
click to your minisite.

7-step formula for writing your

1.Target your audience. Know to whom you
Are writing.

2.Use an attention-grabbing headline.
Extremely important because your headline
Is what baits reader into reading your article.

Use the BIG BENEFIT headline as a way
To attract readers. For example: "Here's How
To Avoid Probate--Pass On Your Estate
Quickly To Your Heirs--And Keep The
Government From Taking 70% Of Your
Estate When You Die!"

Or... substitute your topic in any of the
Following headline formulas:

--- the truth about ....
--- (number) ways to ...
--- the complete guide to ...
---How to ... and ...
---What your ... isn't telling you about ...
--- How you can ..... in .....days
--- Who else wants to ... using ...
--- Here's how you can ...in ..... without...
--- Get rid of ....forever
--- Here's the quickest, cheapest way to get
rid of ...once and for all
--- Get rid of ...in .... Or less...guaranteed
--- New .......cures....or your money back

3.Briefly introduce the subject or problem
And state your position about it.

4.Outline the main points you want to cover.
3-7 is plenty.

5.Elaborate briefly on each point.

6.State your conclusion. Why is this article
important? What action should reader take?

7.(EXTREMELY CRITICAL) Lay out your
resource box. A resource box, or signature
file, is the contact info you provide after your
article. You provide this contact info because
you want reader to do something. Phone you,
go to your website, ask for a free sample, etc.

A typical resource box might read as follows:
"Joe Blow is a marketing specialist. Contact
him at www.joeblow.com" Can you spell
B-O-R-I-N-G? Somebody slap me awake!

How To Write Traffic-Sucking Articles

You've created a minisite dedicated to a
Certain topic, and now you want to get traffic
To that site. One powerful way to go about it
Is to write short articles related to the subject
Of that site.

The benefits are numerous, including:

Writing articles creates the traffic you need to
Make money. And it's free.

Articles are a way to get UNLIMITED
Traffic. You can submit your article to
Ezine publishers and directories, which can
Expose you to tens of thousands of readers.
Of the thousands who read your article,
Some will click the link in your article,
Visit your site, and purchase products.

Articles build trust and credibility.
Readers who do click to your site are pre-sold
Because they see you as an expert.

The worst thing that can happen is that you
Build your reputation and credibility with
Your target audience. As your credibility
Increases, joint venture partners contact you,
Thus expanding the exposure you receive.

Super Affiliate Secret Weapon

If you just want to be a regular affiliate and
Make some money, you don't need a website.
But if you want to be a SUPER affiliate and
Make tons of cash, use the super affiliate secret
Weapon: mini websites.

What IS a mini website? It's a small (usually
2-5 pages) site that promises just one product or
a small number of highly-related products. The
mini website has a single purpose and doesn't
try to be all things to all people.

Bottom line, the purpose of a mini site is to
Get reader to make a decision. It says "Here's
What I've got. Here's what it can do for you.
Yes or no?"

The mini site is used by super affiliates to
Outsell everyone else.

Here are a few of the benefits:
1.Mini sites sell products like crazy.

2.Surfers don't have to wade through a ton of
crap to find what they're looking for.

3.The mini site acts like a traffic magnet.

4.It takes advantage of search engine secrets
used by the pros.

5.You can create your own site within hours.

6.It's easier to keep your costs to a minimum.

Here are the 4 types of minisites, in order
Of their importance:

1.The site used purely to collect an email
Address. It offers something free (newsletter,
Ecourse, etc.) to entice reader to give up his
Address. It's most important because, with
The email address, you can make repeated
Offers. Extremely important!

2.Selling your own product or service.

3. Making referrals to an affiliate link to
someone's product or service you are
promoting. You can create a site for each
sponsor.

3.article archives.

Your mind goes numb at the thought of
Setting up a website? Not a problem. Minisite
Construction can be done by the complete
Dummy. If you know the difference between
Right and left click on your mouse, know
How to create a Microsoft Word document,
Know how to copy and paste, you can create
Your own site. Simply go to www.google.com
And type "how to build a mini website" in
The search bar. You'll be bombarded with
All kinds of brief tutorials. Skip the paid ones
And go with the free ones.

Still intimidated? Take comfort. There
Are products that can take you by the hand and
Walk you through the whole setup process,
Like "Easy Landing Pages":
http://www.affiliatejackpot.com/landingpage

Promoting your site is easy, too. Simply
Borrow articles from others related to your
Topic and post them on your site. All this to
Collect an email address. A win-win
Situation for you and the author. It's easy and,
Best of all, free.

Promoting Clickbank Products

Promoting products on ClickBank can be very lucrative for the affiliate marketer.

Unfortunately, ClickBank does not provide a way to properly track sales. To get around this limitation, you can create multiple ClickBank accounts and use each account to promote a specific Adwords campaign or a specific Adwords adgroup. You will then be able to tell from which adgroup or from which campaign your sales are coming from and adjust your budgeting and adjust your cost per clicks accordingly.

Name Capture Page

Try driving your traffic to a name capture page where potential customers are forced to enter their email address for a free report, mini course, or some other bonus before moving on to your sales page or landing page.

If done properly, well over 30% of your traffic will sign up for your free report or free bonus without seeing a huge decrease in sales. If someone wants your product, and you send the right offer, people will give you their address and go on to your sales page and you can still get the sale. If you do not get the sale on the first visit, you now have their e-mail address and can follow up for days, weeks, months and even years on end to capture sales and repeat customers.

Did Google Raise or Lower their Prices?

Recently, Google made what may be the most significant change to their system since AdSense - they totally changed the way minimum bids are set on keywords.

This has a lot of people steamin' mad!

Chances are you had a lot of keywords inactivated, and the only way to re-activate them is to raise your bid price.

Or is it?

There are other methods, as well as the possibility of paying as little as 2 cents or 3 cents on some keywords. And as is always the case when things change, hidden opportunities.

Perry Marshall has been researching this and he's discussed these sweeping chan

Adwords Reporting Features

Are you making use of Adwords robust reporting features to analyze traffic patterns, click through rates, keyword performance, sales and impressions?

This will help you spot trends in sales over weeks, months, and even days. Use these important data mining features to increase your sales and conversions.


Test Competing Merchants

Do not become married to a specific affiliate program even if it has performed well for you in the past.

Always tests your options and always see if you can find a competing merchant that performs better for your affiliate marketing efforts. This does not mean you have to change all of your campaigns over to a new merchant. Just change a single adgroup or even a single ad within an adgroup and direct traffic to the new merchant.

If you find it converts better switch another ad or adgroup over and see if the conversion rate holds. If sales improve them you can make the switch, if not, you have learned a lesson and you know one more thing that does not work than you did before and become a better more informed affiliate marketer in the process!

Have you tried Findology?

Findology is a pay per click search engine network that serves two
billion searches per month. You can bid a minimum of $0.03 per
keyword phrase, and Findology also features automatic sign-up approval!

If you deposit $25 into a new Findology account through this promotion, you will receive a $75 credit for your campaigns. That's $50 in free credit! This is a great opportunity to test some of your Google campaigns that have experienced a drop in ROI due to keyword cost increases.

Keyword Matching Options

It is always a good idea to use all three of Google's keywords matching options; Broad, Phrase, and Exact Match for your keywords list.

This technique is especially important with very competitive key words or keywords that receive a lot of searches. By using all three keyword matching options, you can actually spread impressions of your keywords among all three keyword variations and help prevent your keywords from being disabled too quickly.

Must-Know Niche Marketing

A niche market is a focused market. Individuals
In this group have the same specialized interests
And needs. And they have a strong desire for what
You have to

Having a niche will give your marketing efforts
A natural, sharp focus.

Niche marketing saves time and money. You
Are not all things to all people, but many things
To a profitable number of people.

The more narrowly you define your market, the
Easier it is to cater to the specific interests of that
Market.

Pursue a niche that is growing in popularity.

Often, you can charge more because you are
Offering products or services customized to your
Customers' specific needs.

The benefits you promise must have a special
Appeal to your niche. What's new? Compelling?
Identify (via survey) the unique needs of your
Target market.

Extremely Important: Develop your own
Product, especially digital ones (ebook?) You'll
Make more money, and you can have affiliates
Who promote YOUR product.

Create your own USP (unique selling
Proposition). That enables you to stand out
From the crowd.

Always test market. Determine how to
Position yourself against the competition. Also,
Test to gauge the market's receptiveness to your
Product.

Segment your market, that is, zero in on
Your target market. Is your market national or
International? Is it in your own community?
Don't forget about the possibility of a
Secondary market.

Use demographics to segment your market.
Break down your market by age, gender, education,
Religion, marital state, ethnicity, family life
Cycle (e.g. more than one child, all have left home).
Gather this info via survey.

Determine your target market psychographics:
Lifestyle, social class, opinions, activities and
Interests, attitudes and beliefs.

Speaking of surveys, don't ask too many
In any one survey. 5-10 is fine.

There are 3 reasons consumers purchase a
Product: 1) to satisfy a basic need 2) to solve
A problem 3) to feel good. Know which one
Your product or service is the solution to. Can
Be more than 1.

Businesses, on the other hand, buy products
For 3 different reasons: 1) to increase revenue
2) to maintain the status quo 3) to decrease
expenses.

Learn how your prospects purchase:
Seasonally, locally, in volume. Who makes the
Buying decision (wife, manager, etc)?

Build and promote your mini website.
Create informative pages that attract visitors
And move them toward a purchase.

Provide as much info as possible. Include
Links to related subjects.

Use multiple websites to establish yourself
In each segment of your overall niche.

Say the right thing. Speak the language of
Your customers. Know their "hot buttons" and
Communicate as an insider.

On each mini site, promote only 1 thing at
A time.

Provide multiple ways for customer to
Order.

Encourage questions. This helps you become
More valuable in the eyes of your customers.

Tips To Increase Your Google

Every Time you set up a new campaign, use
This checklist to help improve your bottom line:

1. terms you must know to succeed with Google
Cash:

"broad match" (also known as default) given
the keyword phrase "tennis shoes" , shown to
anyone searching for "tennis" and "shoes" in any
order, and possibly with other terms (red tennis
shoes, etc). General or broad keywords will
generate many impressions with few results.
However, with a small niche, broad match gives
You the most exposure. The downside is that
Your cost/click will be higher at first.

Larger markets require highly targeted
Keywords.
---"negative keyword" uses a minus sign in front
of the phrase. This stops your ad from being
shown if somebody searches using that term
(e.g. -red)
---"phrase match" is a phrase enclosed in quotes.
Shown to anyone searching for "tennis shoes" but
Only in that order, with possibly other terms
Included, e.g. red tennis shoes.
---"exact match" Enclosed in brackets [ ] Only
shown if searched in that order (e.g. [tennis shoes])
with no other terms.
--- Consider spelling variations. Rock star Britney
Spears has more than 500 variations searchers use.

2. Here are 3 numbers you MUST understand
In order to succeed:
Conversion rate--the number of visitors who
Actually buy something. With 100 visitors and

3 sales, your conversion rate is 3%.
Return on Ad spend--how many dollars you
Take in vs how much you spend on advertising.
If you spend $1,000 and take in $5,000, your
Return on ad spend = 500%

Return on investment--If you spend $1,000 to
Get $50,000, and you make 50% profit on each
Sale ($25,000), the return on your investment (ROI)
Is 2500%

Start your bids high to see where the traffic is.
Then cut back for economy.

If most bids are 25 cents and one top bid is $5.00,
The top bidder is trying to control the #1 spot. Bid
$4.99 and you will pay only 26 cents. Check your
bid regularly to make sure #1 does not underbid you.

Having said that, try not to get caught up in a
Bidding war. There are ways to drive traffic to your
Site without killing yourself financially( for example,
With articles).

Study your competition, those who place on
Page 1 of Google. See what you can learn from
Their ads.

Don't just jump in and start bidding on keywords.
Use an action plan. Take advantage of the following
Tools, all of which are available free at
www.searchmarketing.yahoo.com/rc/srch/

a. Budgeting Tutorial
b. How to find more keywords
c. Tracking your results
d. Best practice (managing your campaigns)
e. Keyword selector tool
f. Bid tool
g. Return on investment calculator
h. Cost per thousand calculator

As a beginner, start small with geographic
Targeting.(e.g. U.S. and Canada only). Later
You can expand to other markets.

The more keywords you use, the better
Your chance of getting clicks at a cheaper
Rate, usually because many of the keywords
Are less popular.

Use keyword variations (e.g. tennis racket,
Tennis rackets, tennis racquet)

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: Collecting
Email addresses allows you to sell more than
One time. Collect email addresses with an
Exit pop up for those who do not buy. Offer
Something free for their email address.

As an affiliate, set up so each person
Clicking on your ad is taken to a newsletter
Sign up page. Offer valuable information for
Their email.

Don't assume customers will buy only
Once. Always collect those email addresses.

In your Google Ad, double check your
url to make sure those clicking will get through .

Monday, March 06, 2006

Finding valuable content

We discussed earlier how to extend your site from, for example, bird watching to bird watching holidays.

If you think a bit about your site's theme, try searching Google or other search engines for related keywords and phrases and see what is advertised.

If there are lots of ads, you are probably in an interesting and competitive territory. You then need to write new pages on your site that discuss these topics and link to them from your index page and site map.


High Paying Keywords

The other way is to buy one of the many lists available of high paying keywords. These lists are the result of research into the prices that advertisers are paying for specific keywords and the theory is that by writing about topics related to valuable keywords you are likely to attract high paying ads on to your pages.

What you need to do is search through these lists for keywords that pay the most and are related to your site. It makes sense: if you can find keywords that attract ads that pay several dollars a click you will probably make a lot more money than if you only get ads that pay a few cents a time.

This process of writing content to attract high paying keywords definitely works although you need to be careful not to be seen to be creating content solely for the purpose of boosting your AdSense income.

Incidentally, whilst these reports may seem expensive, if you consider that a few clicks on a really high paying ad can pay for a report quite quickly, you'll see that there is a good commercial case to be made for buying one.

To find out where to find vendors of these high paying keyword reports visit The AdSense Shop.

Promoting Clickbank Products

Promoting products on ClickBank can be very lucrative for the affiliate marketer.Unfortunately, ClickBank does not provide a way to properly track sales. To get around this limitation, you can create multiple ClickBank accounts and use each account to promote a specific Adwords campaign or a specific Adwords adgroup. You will then be able to tell from which adgroup or from which campaign your sales are coming from and adjust your budgeting and adjust your cost per clicks accordingly.

Did Google Raise or Lower their Prices?

Recently, Google made what may be the most significant change to their system since AdSense - they totally changed the way minimum bids are set on keywords.

This has a lot of people steamin' mad!

Chances are you had a lot of keywords inactivated, and the only way to re-activate them is to raise your bid price.

Or is it?

There are other methods, as well as the possibility of paying as little as 2 cents or 3 cents on some keywords. And as is always the case when things change, hidden opportunities.

Perry Marshall has been researching this and he's discussed these sweeping changes in a teleseminar which you can download as an mp3 file here:

http://www.affiliatejackpot.com/pmmp3

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

AUTOMATIC SITE ASSESSMENT

The answer is that in the first instance Google's own
spider, the software that scans your site, is the
first arbiter. If it 'thinks' your site is content rich
then you will pass the first hurdle. And this is where
some sites fail.

The spider is an automated system and it makes quick,
not always accurate judgements which gives you the
first clue about getting your site accepted:

If your site is rejected fast by which I mean within a
couple of hours or so, it has probably been rejected
by Google's spider on the basis that it doesn't
understand what your site is about too clearly or it
hasn't found much content.

So you will have to get to work and add content - write
further copy relevant to your main them, scan the web
and find good articles to post (but make sure you get
the appropriate permissions). All this will help.

And then submit again.

BE WARNED: there is a rumour going round that one site
was rejected and it simultaneously got dropped from a
previously high ranking on Google's search results
page. It's only a rumour, but be warned.

Similarly, if your site is accepted fast, it will
almost certainly have been accepted automatically.

******************
Human intervention
******************

However, there appears to be a middle case where the
spider is not sure whether your site qualifies or not.
And in this instance, the site is referred to a human
who makes the decision.

FactsAboutAdSense.com passed straight through the
acceptance process because it has a load of content
in it, has a clear theme running right through the
site and is designed to move up the search engine
ranks too.

TIP:

If you are thinking of applying for AdSense, check
out sites that compete with your own for traffic and
see if any of them have been accepted. If they have,
compare the content in them to your own to see if you
exceed theirs. (This is quite a subjective process
but it can help you)

If you are rejected, you can always apply again.

**************
Multiple sites
**************

Google actively discourages you from running several
AdSense accounts on different sites. I'm not clear
why they do this at the moment apart perhaps from
saving operational costs involved in printing and
posting checks.

However, it does mean that once in, you're in. For
example, I run a website called CommercialReality.co.uk
which is where I sell my consultancy services and I
host some AdSense ads there on the page
http://www.commercialreality.co.uk/marketingtools.htm

I suspect though that there is inherent danger in taking
your successful application from one site and stretching
it across to a very poor site because Google will always
be jealous of its brand image. If I get any more news on
this I'll let you know.

There's something else to think about too. Google is most
likely to place HIGHER earning ads on your site because, whilst
on Google's own page there can be up to 8 ads, with AdSense
there can only be a maximum of 5.

If you were Google, what would you do? Place the lower
bidding ads, or the higher ones?

Don't forget however that not all AdWords ads are
syndicated out into the AdSense program.

Implementing AdSense into Your Site.

Of course, you first of all need to get accepted into
the AdSense program.

Assuming your site has made the grade, you will get an
email from Google with the title Welcome to AdSense.

This will include a link to a page on Google where you
enter your username and password.

Make your password non-obvious because when
you log on to your account, you say where the
money goes and you don't want someone else
redirecting it do you?

Included in your AdSense control panel is a form where
you specify what shape of ads you want to display and
when you make your selection, some JavaScript code
appears in a box below. All you need to do is cut
and paste this code into your site.

But there are some decisions you need to make first.

There are three steps.

1. Decide which pages you want to place AdSense ads on.

2. Decide what format ads you want on each page.

3. Paste the code in the site

***********************
Where to place your ads
***********************

Do you want AdSense ads on your home page?

This depends on what your site is about. Remember,
unless you are writing a site specifically to get
AdSense revenues, the main aim of your site is not
going to be getting clicks that TAKE PEOPLE AWAY from
your pages!

The best place to put ads is on content-rich pages
that you already have but which are not producing
any revenues for you already.

***************
AdSense formats
***************

Google offers lots of formats for your ads. We can't show
them in this email but you can find out more about them at
http://www.factsaboutadsense.com/
adsenseformattingguide.htm

You should pick the one that fits in best with your
existing page structure unless during the review
process you decide to undertake a major re-vamp!

Google allows multiple formats across your site but
until recently only allowed you to place one block of ads
on each page. This has now increased to 3 blocks on the
same page.

*************
Color schemes
*************

Google lets you specify what colors the ads will appear
in and there are two schools of thought about what is
best.

You can design ads so that they fit well with your
existing web design.

Or you can make the ads stand out strongly by
choosing a marketedly different color palette.

You can now get sufficiently
high resolution statistics from Google to find out
which ads work best on your site.

I cover this in detail in my book
The Definitive Guide to Google AdSense.

************
Pasting code
************

This is either easy for you or difficult! If you
routinely look at the HTML in your web pages, the
process is straightforward: just locate where in the
page you want the ads to go and paste the code in.

If HTML is a foreign language you'll need some help
to begin with.

Practically, the best way forward is to experiment a
bit. Put the code in, have a look at the page (and
Google will immediately start posting ads on the page
although they may not be context-targeted to begin
with - more on this later.) If you like what you
see, stick with it. If not, move it around, use a
different format (go back to your AdSense control
panel) and do it again.

*****************
What happens next
*****************

As soon as your new page is viewed (even if you
preview it in FrontPage), Google gets alerted to
its existence and sends out some ads.

Now if Google doesn't know anything about the page
you will see so-called Public Service ads which are
about charities and so on.

However, in around 15 minutes (it's that fast)
you will start to see ads that are context-targeted.
They will be more relevant to your page.

But this will only happen if Google can work out what
your page is about, so check that the copy makes it
clear and that the page title, headings and meta tags
are consistent and valid.

*******************
Rejected by Google?
*******************

If you can't get into the AdSense program, don't
despair! There are things you can probably do to
improve your chances and you can re-submit your site.

Look carefully at the criteria for acceptance again on
Google own site.

Make sure you have relatively clean content, with lots
of text (Google can't "read" the content of a picture
and it doesn't deal well with Flash animations) and focus your
copy on the theme of the web page.

You will also need to ensure that your site is big
enough so that it isn't regarded as too trivial.

Some people say you should go for at least 20 pages
but in our experience you don't need that much - you
just need good content.

Monday, February 20, 2006

Page Traffic

I don't know how much traffic your site currently gets
but you probably want more. However, there are two
different sorts of traffic: the casual visitor who is not
going to do much, is click/trigger happy and won't hang
around and doesn't come back.

Then there's the keen, genuinely interested, active site
participant. This is the sort of traffic you want to get and keep
because your job is to develop a relationship
with this type of visitor - not a one-night stand.

Why?

Because people who visit your site frequently are going
to be interested in what is on it and this interest will
extend to your AdSense ads - that's what Google
does for you automatically.

Interest = clicks. Clicks = money.

They'll also come back of their own accord and each time
they do, they might see another interesting ad too.


That thinking has helped us define who we want but we now
have two tasks ahead:

1. Getting these people to visit your site the first time.

2. Getting these people engaged in the site so that they
remember it, like it and come back frequently


Let's look at the first of these.

******************************
Getting the first time visitor
******************************

You are going to have to promote your website to people
who you know are likely to be interested in the contents
of your site.

There are 8 standard strategies:

1. Advertise your site offline using postcards, printed
ads, signs on your car etc. BUT GIVE PEOPLE A GOOD
REASON to visit in your ad.

2. Advertise your site online with AdWords and other pay
per click systems such as Overture - but watch you don't
spend more than you earn.

3. Get your site high on search engines (by building
excellent content - that's what they look for).
This is FREE and is the best method although it takes
time for a new site to get noticed. People searching
on a search engine are ACTIVELY looking for stuff
which means they are more likely to become active
visitors, visitors who return and click - if they
like what they find.

4. Promote your site in an ezine about your subject
matter (but make your writing interesting) and send it
to your regular customers or visitors.

5. Enter comments into discussion forums and include a short
link to your site. We did this for FactsAboutAdSense.com
in a brand-marketing forum and started getting visits
almost immediately - for ZERO cost.

6. Use PR techniques to get your site mentioned in the Press.

7. Include your web address in your email signature ALWAYS.
Again, this won't cost you anything but will increase the
visit rate - and it can work very well if you do more than
just put your web address on it - give them a reason to
visit. ("You could get paid by Google. Visit
FactsAboutAdSense.com to learn how" is what I use. It works.)

8. Publish an ebook about your subject and give it away but
include links to your website in it.


******************************
Keeping the relationship going
******************************

How does your site keep people engaged?

You need to give people

a * REASON, and

a * REMINDER,

to * RETURN


How do you do this?

***********
The REASON
***********

Make your site genuinely useful and informative about your
theme, product or service.

************
The REMINDER
************

You can't remind people to visit unless you know who they
are. So you need to get their contact details in return for
permission to keep in touch and an effective way to do this
is to give something away like a tip sheet, a guide, insider
knowledge and so on.

But, again, make sure it is useful and has value.

Now use this contact information to remind people about
your site.

The easiest way to do this is by email, but it is good to
vary the media sometimes and use snail mail too (so make
sure you get address details too.)

If you use email, you are probably going to need to automate
the process, otherwise you'll spend all day at your PC, and
the best way to do this is to use an autoresponder.

What an autoresponder does is send out emails automatically
when it receives new contact details but good ones do much
more than this.

I use one to distribute this AdSense Insider course and
I have programmed it to send out the 5 lessons in the course
automatically in sequence.

Here's some more info about it
http://www.factsaboutadsense.com/autoresponders.htm

Your autoresponder should be easy to use, and provide you
with detailed testing and reporting capabilities as well as,
crucially, a facility that makes it easy for people to opt-
out from your mailing list. You must do this to avoid
being accused of spamming.

This is yet another reason why content is king. Keep
providing information, information, information otherwise
they'll sign off - for good.

************************
Your visitors' behaviour
************************

How do people behave when they visit your site?

First time visitors make an extremely quick judgement about
your site, in fact you typically have just 10 seconds or
so to make a positive impression.

So you have to explain immediately why people should stay.

Don't worry about not catching everyone because you only
want targeted visitors anyway. The low interest types are
not going to help drive up your AdSense revenues.

A great way to do this is to put your number one benefit
statement into the headline on your home page.

Does FactsAboutAdSense.com do this?

You judge.

*******************************
The dreaded Corporate Yawn-fest
*******************************

What doesn't work is a corporate yawn-fest on a web site
that starts off with something like "We've pride ourselves in
providing you, the customer, with excellence in everything
we do..."

Apart from anything else, why would you believe them?

Now IF you get someone to stay on your site, they typically
have a little look round first before delving more deeply
into what you're offering.

Only if they continue to be interested are you likely to
get their attention enough to get their contact details.

And you may well not get them first time, which is why your
site must also give them a reason to return unprompted.

And the reason is

Content - again.

But when they do come back, they'll really have a good look
around and start to engage in the site.

And that is when you'll get the AdSense clicks.

*****************************

It's been quite a long session today and I hope you've taken
it all in. Do check out the Autoresponder info if you
haven't already got one because getting one is essential to
any half-decent web marketing plan.

Tomorrow we are going to look at the format and styles of
AdSense ads - Google offers a surprising degree of control
over ad placement and appearance.

High Value Keyword Report Download

First an apology: there's a bit of math ahead!

Yesterday we looked at AdWords and learnt how AdSense is
Google's AdWords syndication program that posts AdWords ads
on context-targeted websites:

Ads about binoculars appear on web pages with information
about binoculars on them.

It makes sense doesn't it!

Today we are going to look at the factors that affect how much
money you will get from Google if you sign up (and are accepted
for) the AdSense program, paying detailed attention to those
areas that are controllable - because many aren't.

****************************
The AdSense revenue equation
****************************

Revenue is generated for you when someone clicks on an AdSense
ad on your site. Google charges the advertiser for the click
thru and shares this revenue with you.

The amount you earn from an ad is given by the following equation

Income PER AD=

Click thru price X
Fractional pay out X
Click thru rate X
Page traffic X
Appearance frequency

The CLICK THRU PRICE is the price the advertiser is bidding to
place an ad under the AdWords program and is determined by a
complex real time automatic auction process: Google advertisers
set a maximum price they are prepared to bid for keywords
and they usually pay less than this.

The FRACTIONAL PAYOUT RATE is the percentage of its revenues
that Google pays out to AdSense partners. THIS FIGURE IS NOT
DISCLOSED BY Google. However, anecdotal evidence suggest the
payout rate is good and competitive systems such as 7search.com
payout around the 50% mark.

CLICK THRU RATE is the number of times the ad is clicked on
divided by the number of times it is displayed ("impressions").

PAGE TRAFFIC is the number of times people visit your web page.

APPEARANCE FREQUENCY is the number of times a particular ad
appears on your page (remember that ads are rotated by Google
automatically and successful ads are shown more often.)

To repeat: this is income PER advertisement, so to calculate
your total AdSense income you need to evaluate this equation
for each ad on all your web pages and add up the results.

By the way, Google saves you the bother and tells you the
answer.

But already the complexity of the process is apparent and of
these factors, some are completely out of your control:
Fractional payout rate and Appearance frequency being two.

So let's look at those three factors that are at least
partially within your control.

****************
Click thru price
****************

The Click thru price, whilst fundamentally determined by the
advertiser, CAN be influenced by the content of your website:
if you can modify your site so that it includes more content
related to higher value keywords, you are more likely to get
higher value click thru prices.

For example, if you run a site about Bird Watching you may
get ads posted about Bird Watching books. But why not
extend the site to include content about the best binoculars
for bird watchers?

Dedicate a page to this topic and you could find higher
value ads running on that page because binoculars sell for
more than books and businesses advertising binoculars may be
willing to pay more for keywords relating to them.

You could also run some pages about travel and hotels in
exotic locations where rich bird watchers like to take their
holidays.

It's all content relevant to your site but it is likely to
increase your AdSense revenues too.

-----------------------------------------------------------
TECHNOLOGY NOTE
-----------------------------------------------------------

The ads you get on different pages of your site will vary
according to the content of the page.

AdSense is that clever!
------------------------------------------------------------

If you've already got a site, you can get a tool from Google
called the AdSense preview tool. This lets you see what sort
of ads you'll get even if you haven't signed up for AdSense
yet.

You can get it here
http://www.factsaboutadsense.com/adsensepreviewtool.htm?2


If you get ads that don't seem relevant there are 2 possible
causes:

1) Google doesn't know what your page is about, or
2) Google has never heard of your site.

Uh-oh!

We'll discuss how you get round these problems later on.

****************************
Estimating click thru values
****************************

Visit
http://uv.bidtool.overture.com/d/search/tools/bidtool/
to find out how much keywords are being bid for on Overture,
a competitor to AdWords. This will give you an INDICATION
of the prices people are bidding on Google which in turn will
give you some idea about the click thru value of AdSense
ads relating to those keywords.

The rule is: aim high.

Alternatively if you already have an AdWords account you
can use the Keyword tool to find out the exact price of
any keyword - but remember AdSense is about content, not
keywords so, again, this is only going to be an indicator.

***************
Click thru rate
***************

Can you influence this?

YES.

You can. Here's how.

You use your page to sell the products and services that
are likely to be shown in the ads. To follow our binocular
example, if you post content about the benefits of excellent
(and expensive) binoculars and how they enhance the bird
watching experience, readers are going to be more
interested in buying binoculars than if you simply post
content about the different types of binoculars available
and they will consequently be more likely to click an ad.

http://www.factsaboutadsense.com/zeiss_binoculars.htm?2

You have to write sales copy that focuses on the generic
benefits of the products and services likely to be advertised
on your pages.

************
Page traffic
************

This is what web marketers fight hardest over.

No traffic means no clicks means no income. So you have to
maximise the number of people visiting your site.

About Adsense

AdSense is Google's syndication program for its AdWords
advertisements so first up, you need to understand AdWords
to make sense of AdSense.

*******
AdWords
*******

AdWords are small text-only ads that sometimes appear on the
right hand side of Google's search results page when you do
a search.

They are extraordinarily powerful - MUCH more so than you'd
think at first sight - for 5 reasons.

1. They are 100% targeted: the advertiser chooses which
keywords have to be entered before their ad is shown.

This means that you can make your ad appear ONLY in front
of people ACTIVELY LOOKING for information about a topic.

You sell binoculars? Then you can set up your AdWords ads
so that they show up ONLY when someone enters "Binoculars"
into Google's search box.

You can also restrict your ad coverage to specific countries.


2. You only pay for click thrus. If no one clicks on your ad
you don't pay anything but...


3. Google penalises ads that don't work well because it wants
only ads that are RELEVANT to the viewer to be seen. Poorly
performing ads get disabled automatically. This protects
Google's brand from being sullied by irrelevant ads.


4. Google lets advertisers rotate different ads for the same
keywords and AUTOMATICALLY shows the most effective ad more
often. Thus there is an in-built survival of the fittest
process going on where fitness is judged by real consumers
voting in real time.

If they click, your ad stays. If they don't, it doesn't.

Evolution can be extremely brutal - and fast!


5. Google gives advertisers incredibly detailed near real-time
response data so you can monitor and adjust your ad without
wasting much money.


*******
AdSense
*******

So where does AdSense come in this?

Well, Google has taken their excellent AdWords program and
extended it to non-Google web sites and branded it AdSense.

***************
Key distinction
***************

However, AdSense differs from AdWords in that Google, instead
of looking at the search terms entered into its search box
to determine what ads to show, looks at what keywords would
be relevant to the web site the ads are to go on.

Example:

If you have a site rich in content about binoculars, AdSense
technology determines that it would be an appropriate site to
post AdWord ads about binoculars on. (Google uses its existing
page ranking technology to assess a site's content.)

There's a good example of AdSense in action here on a web page
about web hosting.

http://www.1stprofitprograms.com/Web_Hosting.html?1

This AdSense technology is called "content-targeting".

*******************************
How you make money with AdSense
*******************************

The process is simple.

You sign up for AdSense and if your site is accepted,
(we'll cover this process later in the course) Google
gives you some code to paste into your web pages. It's
JavaScript stuff that you can simply add into the HTML
of your page.

When someone views your page this JavaScript fetches ads from
Google. If they then CLICK on your ad, Google charges the
advertiser a click thru fee and shares it with you.

This is entirely AUTOMATIC so if you have a content rich site
with lots of traffic that is not currently making you any money,
AdSense is something you should seriously consider.

Now maximising this process is much harder and it raises what
I call the content dilemma which we'll explore later too:

Is your site designed to earn AdSense revenue or
is its main objective something else?


So that's the background to AdSense.

***********

Tomorrow we'll look at ways to maximise the amount of money
that Google sends you.

There are two pretty complex processes going on behind the
scenes that we will examine, paying particular attention to
those things that are within your control. Not everything is!

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy for http://betteradsense.blogspot.com/

If you require any more information or have any questions about our privacy policy, please feel free to contact us by email at qinai_qiaoni@yahoo.com.

At http://betteradsense.blogspot.com/, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us. This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by http://betteradsense.blogspot.com/ and how it is used.

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