Archive for October, 2009

Traffic Building 101 — Pay Per Click

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 11:39 am  
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Pay Per Click (PPC) is an effective way to get traffic. While article marketing is free (except for the cost of your time), Pay Per Click costs money.

The most well known service is Google Adwords. Yahoo and MSN also have their own PPC networks. And, there are many smaller pay per click networks that have shown promise.

So, how does pay per click work? Basically, you pay for every visitor that you receive to your website through the pay per click service.

You'll create a text ad that entices people to click on it. Your ad will appear for searches based on the keywords you have chosen. It can cost anywhere from five cents per click to several dollars per click. This figure depends on the niche you’re in and how many other people are bidding on the same keywords at that time.

It’s easy to “lose your shirt” if you’re not careful. That’s why it’s best to learn as much as you can about this useful traffic generation tool – especially how to track your results so that you can quickly find out which ads are working and which aren't and adjust your spending accordingly. The greatest thing about PPC is that the results are nearly instant. As soon as you put up your ad, you can start getting traffic.

Tip #11 – Plan carefully

As I mentioned earlier, it’s very easy to get carried away and pay too much for your PPC advertising. That’s because your ad might be shown more than you expected, and a lot of people click on it. If you haven’t tested this you can lose a lot of money.

The absolute best thing you can do is to plan ahead and learn all you can about this method of traffic generation. The first step in planning is doing proper keyword research. You want your ads to be highly targeted so that when people search and your ad pops up, it entices them to click.

For example, if you are selling a certain brand of MP3 player you wouldn’t want your ad to pop up for the search term "CD player." Instead, you would select keywords that are targeted to strictly to MP3 players.

Before you even start your campaign you need to use the Google keyword tool ( or something similar) to determine what your keywords should be.

The Google keyword tool can be found here:
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

This careful planning will help you earn money instead of losing money.

Tip #12 – Test first

The best thing you can do after you’ve selected your keywords is to test them out. Don’t start out with a huge bid amount because you can quickly lose money that way. You’ll want to start off with a lower amount to see how many clicks you end up getting. It could be that you’re not getting as many as you expected, so you'll want to increase your bids. Or, you might find that you're seeing some traffic and high returns.

Don’t worry — testing doesn’t take long. You can determine within a few days whether or not you should discontinue your ads, tweak them, or keep them going as they are. Being cautious is the best thing at this point, because there are way too many people who dive in headfirst with PPC and then end up with a huge bill that just didn’t pay for the kind of traffic they received. If you do this right, on the other hand, the results from PPC can be faster and more profitable than they are with article marketing.

Tip #13 – Split test your ads

Sometimes, people don't click on our ads even when we think they're great. There are many different reasons for this, and that’s why it’s so important to split test your ads. Pay Per Click engines like Google Adwords actually make this easier than ever. You can set up two or more different ads so you can see what is the better performer over time. I recommend that you take advantage of this because you might find that one ad never gets clicks and the other gets great clicks and conversions. Once you have these results, you can delete the non-performer and concentrate on the one that’s giving you the level of traffic and sales that you want.

It’s important to keep in mind that if people are searching and your ad pops up it should contain the keyword you’re targeting. That’s because the search engines highlight the keywords in your ad, which makes them stand out more to your prospects. This is a great way to get more clicks and more traffic.

Tip #14 – Make sure your landing page is relevant

One mistake that manypeople make is sending their PPC traffic to an unfocused or bad landing page.

You want the landing page to be relevant to what that person searched for. This will ensure that your visitor doesn't simply click away the second they land on your page.

People are often trying to find something very specific, and if it’s not clear that you have what they want you'll lose that visitor fast. If you make an effort to customize a landing page that is relevant to your website you will find that your traffic converts a lot better.

This often means sending visitors to different web pages depending on the keyword they clicked on.

For example, if one of your keywords targets "natural acne treatments for sale," you want to make sure the page people come to clearly showcases these natural acne treatments.

If a different ad created references "homemade recipes for acne," that landing page had better show some homemade recipes.

It might seem picky, but the more targeted your page is, the more likely your traffic is to convert into sales.

Tip #15 – Use negative keywords

Just like you’re concerned about getting the right kind of traffic, you should be just as concerned about getting the wrong kind of traffic. You, of course, want to avoid paying for ads that don't convert. That’s why you should make use of the negative keyword tools in your PPC engine. When you enter these, your ad will not show when your negative terms are searched for.

For instance, let's say that you are selling a topical acne treatment (a cream).

You might then choose to use "supplement," "pill," and related keywords as negative keywords so that your ad does not appear during searches that are done by people looking for an acne pill treatment (capsule).

This will save you a lot of money, which will allow you to focus on the words you really care about.

Tip #16 – Use phrase match, broad match, and exact match

There are three basic ways you can enter your keywords into the PPC engines as you bid on your keywords.

These three ways include:

  1. Phrase match
  2. Exact match
  3. Broad match

Let me define those for you.

Phrase match is when your ad would appear for your keyword, plus additions to that keyword.

For example, if you enter your keyword as cowboy boots your ads would appear when people search for cowboy boots, as well as blue cowboy boots. Your ad would not appear if someone searched for boots cowboy or cowboy shoes.

Broad match is actually the default and it will make your ad appear whenever your keyword is used in any order.

You may show up for for cowboy boots and boots cowboy.

Exact match is when you surround your keyword with brackets. That means you want your ad to appear only when someone searches for that exact term.

That means your ad will appear only for the keyword cowboy boots and never for anything else.

Of course, when you combine these matching methods your ad will appear for many different combinations. It’s all about testing and figuring out what will work best for you.

If you want to be completely targeted and spend as little money as possible you should stick with exact match for now. Still, you may be leaving a lot of money on the table by leaving out broad match and phrase match.

Tip #17 – Pay attention to other people’s ads

You can learn a lot by looking at other people’s ads. If you notice that a certain website always bids at the top spot, you can rest assured that they are making some money.

Take note of the phrases they are using in their ads. If they’ve been running their campaign for any length of time at all, the chances are good that they have been testing their click through rate as well as their conversion rate.

No — you don’t want to copy what they are doing, but there is nothing wrong with learning from successful people. Take ideas, and change them to make them your own.

There are always ways to improve on what is already working.

Tip #18 – Decide whether you want your ads to show up for content bids

In addition to showing up at the top and right side of the search engines for paid ads, you can also choose to show up inside other people's website content.

You’ve probably heard of Adsense. This is when web publishers (website owners and bloggers) put Google’s ads in their content.

Where do you think those ads come from? You guessed it. Adwords. So, yes, you can be on the other side of things and display ads on other people's sites.

This is called “content bids” and is a separate option in your Adwords dashboard.

There are benefits to doing this. Content bids can give you more traffic, especially since the ads show up among targeted niche content. Oftentimes, you can get content bids very inexpensively.

Before you decide to jump on this, consider the main drawback to content bids, too. That is that the people who are reading web content may not be looking to buy things. They may not be in as much of a “shopping” mentality as those searching on the search engines would be.

Many people choose not to turn on the content bids in order to save money. You’ll have to test to see if it works for you and is worth your money.

Tip #19 – Bid outside the box

In addition to the standard keywords, you also want to bid on other terms people might be searching for. One of the best strategies that professional PPC users use is bidding on terms that are highly specific.

Some examples would be:

  • Company URLs
  • Company names
  • Specific product names
  • Specific product names plus the word “review”

As you become more and more used to using PPC, you will find additional terms to bid upon. You will also find some duds, so it’s best to get rid of those as soon as you find out they are not working. Fine-tuning your search terms will help you increase your traffic and get targeted visitors.

Tip #20 – Optimize your bids

We don’t always see every possibility available to us, especially if we are new to doing something. That’s why it’s a great idea to use the tools that your PPC engine offers to help you optimize your campaigns.

Google's Adwords has an especially great interface for helping you get more traffic and leads for your business. They’ll even automatically go through your campaign to find ways you can optimize your bids, keywords, and other aspects of your campaign so you can get better traffic.

If you've learned one thing from this section, it should be “test, test, and test some more”. Guessing is like shooting blindfolded. Testing gives you accurate, precise information that will enable you to see big profits much faster.

Traffic Building 101 — Article Marketing

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 11:18 am  
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Article marketing is one of the best ways to generate traffic to your website.

Here's how it works.

  1. You write an article.
  2. You submit it to article directories.
  3. Web publishers (website owners & bloggers) grab your article from the article databases and use your article on their sites free of charge.

Inside your article, at the end, you include a resource box that contains a link to your website. When the article is published, that portion must tag along and be published, too.

Your link tags along with your article and you get FREE advertising.

Want an example?

I'll give you a few.

Read the rest of this entry

Building Your Email List

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 4:57 am  
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4 Quick Tips for Growing Your List

There is no excuse not to have an email list. In fact, you don't even need your own product or service before starting a targeted list. All you need is an autoresponder and an opt-in box on your website.

Once you do create your own product or service, you’ll be happy that you already have your list in place. By then, you’ll already have readers who are interested in what you have to say. In fact, it will make it easier to sell those things when the time comes because a relationship will already be developed.

The Key = If you can get a targeted list of people who trust you, love your products and see you as an expert in your field your chances of reaching success have just skyrocketed above everyone else.

Quick Tip #1: Get Them to Opt-In

You should always offer quality content for free on your site so that when you do create an offer your readers are already confident that what you’re offering is worth their time & money.

Here are some ideas to entice your visitors to sign up for your list:

  • A Special Report – 7-10 pages in length
  • A Short eCourse – 5 to 7 days that will give you a chance to provide great information along with the ability to follow up in the future.
  • Informative Audio or Video – Make it one that can’t be found already on your site. Be sure to include transcripts for those who want them.

Make sure your free item of such great quality that your visitor could picture themselves paying for it instead of receiving it free.

Remember, not everyone on your list will be interested in buying your stuff immediately. Some just want to get your free information. That’s ok – the day may come when they need something you’ve got and they’ll know where to go. Plus, if you’ve built a relationship with them, they’re more likely to recommend you to others – growing your list even more.

Bonus Tip: Here’s a trick to help you separate the buyers from the freebie seekers.

Create a short report for your list. Offer your readers the report at a low price (no more than $5 or 10 dollars). Those who see the value in what you’re offering will gladly spend a few dollars. Have the customers opt-in for lifetime updates.

If you can, purge the new customers from your leads list. If not, don't worry about it. However, the great value in this method is that you’ll end up with a list of people who aren’t afraid to spend money — and that's where the real money is.

Quick Tip #2: Make it Easy

Your opt-in box gives you the opportunity to convert one time visitors into long term relationships through follow-up emails. Make sure you place your opt-in form on every page of your website so your readers have the opportunity to sign up without having to search for it.

Where can you put your opt-in form?

  • Pop-up or Pop-over forms hovering over your site
  • In-line forms near the top. These allow for easy access and are seen “above the fold” so visitors can sign up once they’ve read a bit of your content and find out they love you
  • Links. Place a link in the footer of every page of your site that directs visitors to an opt-in page

They all have their own benefits so you should test them to see which one converts best for you.

Don’t forget to create a strong call to action in the opt-in box text – tell them what to expect, and what to do next. Detailed instructions on how to check their email and click on the enclosed link to make sure they receive their freebie is always a good idea.

Quick Tip #3: Drive Targeted Traffic

You have an opt-in form, you have an offer and now you need traffic. The best offer means nothing if no one is visiting your site to see it.

There are many different ways to drive people to your site and using a variety of them will help you achieve the best results. A few to get you started:

  • Article Marketing – Share your articles on article directories. Make sure your author bio includes a strong call to action and a link to your site. Use keywords in your articles to make them easier to find by the search engines.
  • Leveraging Social Networks – Did you know there are over 600 bookmarking and social networking sites on the Internet right now? Twitter and Facebook might be the most popular, but don’t count out sites like StumbleUpon or Digg.

The point is you should be creating relationships through these sites so don’t go in with your sales spiel guns shooting your links all over the place. Build relationships, create your bio and occasionally share a link or special offer to your site.

  • Blog Posts – If your website doesn’t have a blog create one and share quality information or recommendations in your posts.
  • Blog Comments – Make meaningful, relevant comments that provide good information (not just links to your site) on other blogs. Don’t comment just for the sake of commenting and don’t be afraid to comment on the blogs of your competitors. Competition is good and most realize the power of working together so while you’re helping with comments, you’ll build a relationship with them too.
  • Giveaways & Contests –Create traffic by hosting a giveaway or contest. Each has its own merits and you can work with other website owners to create traffic for everyone. For example, get 3 or 4 site owners with services or products they’re willing to donate. Those site owners each get to give away the “package” of 3 – 4 items. You can have your readers participate (which is always good) by visiting all of the sites and leaving comments or whatever you’d like them to do. Be creative but make it fun and easy.
  • Link Love Posts – Write a “round-up” post where you travel the Internet looking for great articles on your topic. Provide links to the articles on your site. Don’t forget to add your commentary and make it more valuable for your readers. Share the link to your post with the people you’ve linked to as a courtesy.
  • Guest Posts – Offer to write guest posts on complementary sites. Everyone is looking for fresh content. Especially, if it’s good quality and they don’t have to write it. You can find places that accept guest posts by doing a search or you can simply email your friends and competing site owners and make the offer to write a post. What do you get in return for your hard work?  A short bio/author resource box at the end of your post with your keywords and links back to your site.
  • Interviews – Find places to share your information via teleseminars, podcasts or email interviews. Often, these will provide you with the ability to get your name and URL out to many people, not already on your list, at one time.
  • Contributors – Look for people to contribute guest posts on your blog for fresh content with an eye to providing quality information to your readers. People are often willing to write a guest post for you as long as they can link back to their own site or product.
  • Brandable Reports – Look for products you can recommend (or create your own) that have brandable reports as a marketing tool. You can give away these special reports that include your own affiliate links making the benefits two-fold. You have content for your readers and the possibility of making money through affiliate sales. (Look at BrandableStuff.com for ideas.)

The Key = Find out what your target market’s intent is when searching for information in your niche. What, exactly, are they searching for? Give it to them.

Quick Tip #4: Test

No matter what you use to drive traffic to your site, you must test to see which offers convert and which are wasting your time. You want to turn visitors into list members AND you want to convert members of your list into buyers. But, the only way you’ll know what action is working best for you is to test them all.

You just need to start at the beginning and just get it done! Get your stuff out there and then test the heck out of it! Tweak & test again.

Now that you have the steps necessary to get your list started, growing your list should be a little bit easier for you. Just focus your efforts on designing a great offer, making your opt-in form easy to find and getting targeted traffic to your site so that your reader’s eyeballs see that opt-in box. Then, choose a few of the strategies to get traffic and see which ones work best for you. Remember to test and tweak your efforts until you get the best possible results.

If you want to learn more about building a profitable email list, look no further than List Profit System.

Tools: My Blog Log

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 7:13 am  
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In an online business, more information is usually better than not enough. Unless, that is, you get all tangled up in the details. Which is easy, because with tools like Google Analytics, there is SO MUCH information and there seems not to be much in the way of easy-to-follow documentation on how to use the tool.

MyBlogLog (an unusual name, for sure) is different. Essentially, you can see 3 things that are very important. It's a tool I use every day.

The 3 things are:

  1. How visitors got to your site
  2. What they looked at when they got to your site
  3. Whether or not they clicked something on your site

To me, it's critically important to find out where a user came from. Most of my traffic comes from search engines, most specifically Google. The cool thing about MBL is that it shows you the exact URL a visitor came from, which means you get to see the search term(s) that a visitor used to get to your site.

This is extremely valuable information.

You can do a lot with just this simple information. For example, you can build a page incorporating that exact search phrase. Then, you can link that new page to the page the viewer visited (link both ways). You can also tweak the original page to target that key phrase. Now, you have 2 potential pages that are reachable by that search phrase.

You now also know what potential customers are looking for. Why not write a short report (that's an affiliate link to an awesome report on how to write short reports that sell) that addresses this most obvious need?

MBL also has a neat social networking aspect to it. Your visitors can join your "community" and you can send public and private messages. You can use this small subset of your readers (face it, not everyone will sign up to join your community) as a test bed for offers, as a way to find out what your readers really want, or a host of other things. The potential is limitless.

You can also connect with your readers by adding them to your contacts. You can quickly amass hundreds of contacts, and you know what? Because all of your sites are posted on your profile page, your contacts see them all and — more importantly — they visit!

MyBlogLog is a fantastic way to accomplish multiple things with one tool: It's a social networking tool, it's a stats package (albeit not fully-fleshed out in the free version, which is the version I use because a) I'm cheap and b) it's all I need for now), and it's a great way to find like-minded individuals who write some incredible blogs.

I encourage you to check it out.

By the way, I get nothing out of recommending MyBlogLog, other than you might happen across my profile and connect with me. There is no financial incentive.

10 Tips for Becoming a Better Blogger

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 1:04 pm  
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blog_iconJust imagine if you developed one of the most popular blogs in your niche. Think of how much money you could make selling your products or affiliate products.

Imagine how big your list would be. And when you were ready to exit the business, just imagine how much money you’d make selling your corner of the web.

All of this is within your reach – especially if you follow these 10 tips for becoming a better blogger…


1. Survey your readers to find out what they want.

Adding a poll or short survey to your blog not only makes your blog interactive (which is a good thing), it also gives you an idea of what kind of content and solutions your readers are looking for.


2. Give your readers info that they’d gladly pay for.

Just because your blog is free doesn’t mean you should post content that’s not worth anything. On the contrary, you should post valuable content – the kind of solutions your market is already paying for – on your blog. That way you can build trust and establish yourself as an expert in your niche.


3. Write about hot or controversial topics to spur discussion.

When there’s a controversy going on in your niche, decide which side you're leaning towards and blog about it. Push a few emotional buttons. Then create a call to action at the end of your post where you specifically ask your readers for their opinions and feedback. The more emotionally charged the post, the more likely it is that you’ll get comments.


4. Join the blogosphere discussions.

Your blog is not an island. Start visiting other blogs in your niche and join the community discussions. You can comment directly on their blogs. Or better yet, write a response on your blog using a trackback link.


5. Optimize your posts for the search engines.

You don’t have to optimize every post you make. But if you make a point to optimize at least one post per week, you’ll see a steady increase in traffic.

Tip: Use a tool like WordTracker.com to uncover your niche keywords. Choose words that have low competition. Then include your keywords two or three times for every 100 words of content.


6. Arouse curiosity with password-protected posts.

Your visitors can see that your blog has a lot of good content. But then they notice that you lock up your best content behind password protected posts (with the passwords only being available to your subscribers). You can bet curiosity will get the best of many of your readers… and they’ll subscribe.


7. Learn to create killer headlines.

People will decide whether to read your post based on your headline. As such, use headlines that include power words like “how to,” “amazing,” “secrets,” and “discover.”


8. Vary your posting style (some long, some short, etc).

Don’t always post a 400 word “how to” article. Instead, mix things up by posting articles of different lengths and different styles.


9. Interact with your readers by answering their comments.

Your comment section isn’t just a place for your readers to talk amongst themselves – it’s also a great place for you to interact with your readers. In fact, if you're not responding to comments on your blog, you're missing out a huge opportunity. Since people buy from those they know, like, and trust, this simple act of interacting will grow your income.


10. Make blogging a part of your daily routine.

Add “write a blog post” to each and every daily to-do list until it becomes a habit. If you write just one short blog post per day, in a year you’ll have 365 blog posts – and a whole lot more readers, subscribers and income!

In sum: Creating a big, popular blog isn’t a matter of doing one thing. Instead, you can create a better blog (and become a better blogger) by consistently taking a series of smaller steps.

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