The Present and the Future of Keyword Ownership

Have you ever seen an add that offers you ownership of a keyword? If you’re on the internet much, or if you have an email account, the answer to that question is almost certainly a yes.

There are many services out there that offer to sell you keyword ownership – specifically premium keyword ownership – for the cost of a few hundred dollars every year. The primary selling point used by these companies is that if anyone happens to type the keyword you have purchased into the address bar of their internet browser, then they will automatically be sent directly to your website. There are, in fact, about 2 percent of internet users around the globe who have this ability enabled on their computers, since it specifically requires certain element such as Internet Explorer. Studies have shown that approximately 4 to 7 percent of all search queries are done by way of a keyword being entered into the address bar of the internet browser being used. For Internet Explorer users, any search queries performed using the address bar are defaulted to an MSN search. However, over time, most of us have installed a good deal of additional software onto our computers, allowing for such searches to be re-routed to other search portals.

This is often a sign of having installed a file sharing software. Among the spyware and potential for viruses, worms, and other undesirable additions to your computer, by installing a program such as Limeware, Morpheus, or Kazaa, you may have altered your default search in your address bar from MSN to a different portal altogether.

Of the queries that are entered into the address bar, approximately 50 percent of them are the result of having accidentally mistyped their desired URL, therefore instigating a keyword search. This accounts for the between 2 and 4 percent of internet users who actually use the address bar to perform their searches.

To understand the way that this functions, it is important to know how address bars work. There are many different companies offering the ownership of keywords. So many, in fact, that they are able to compete with each other, and even sell the very same keywords, only to different search companies. This being said, it means that if you buy a keyword, then depending on the company you buy it from, they may only make the search available to those specific internet users who have installed that company’s unique proprietary address bar plug-in. This makes the total number of people quite low for entering your keyword into the address bar and then find your site.

Though it is up to you whether you choose to use keyword ownership among your online marketing techniques, it is vital that you keep yourself informed of the actual potential that this method will offer you. Never hesitate to ask questions of the company you’re considering, and if anything looks fishy or not as appealing as it should, simply walk away. There is lots of competition out there, and there is surely someone who will be willing to make you a better deal.

A marketing strategy based on keyword ownership is difficult to measure. After all, many of the tools for the process are not interchangeable, there are many competing companies all selling the same companies to your competition, and your target of internet users is quite small in the first place. It can easily happen that all of the money you spend on such keyword ownership will lead to absolutely nothing.

In competition with these keyword ownership businesses are the search engines themselves; specifically those who have their own toolbars. Many of the major search engines offer a downloadable toolbar that allows you to enter keywords and run searches quickly and easily. You are then presented with that search engine’s range of closest matches from all of their indexed websites. Not only does this not cost anything, but more than one keyword possibility can lead to your site.

As you can see, it is quite clear that keyword ownership can be quite the tricky business and must be managed with the utmost research and technical knowledge if any notable gains are to be witnessed.


Written by Mark Nenadic
Courtesy
http://www.teawithedge.com

Content For Web Sites: Why Content Is King... And Where To Get Web Site Content

Getting content for web sites is one of the challenges every webmaster faces. I'm sure you've heard the saying, "Content is king." Have you ever wondered why content is king? And have you ever wished it was easier to find content for web sites?

Content is king for one reason: People surf for content. Each of the major search engines is only successful to the extent that it helps people find the web site content they are looking for. Whichever search engine helps people find that web site content the quickest becomes the most popular. The more popular the search engine is, the more money it makes from advertising. That last paragraph contains the secret of why content is king. Search engines make money from advertising. And they make more money from advertising if they consistently help people find the web site content they are searching for.

Now that you know why content is King, the next question is: Where can you find content for web sites?

The two easiest sources for content for web sites are article directories and private label rights.

Article directories are huge directories of articles. In most cases, you are free to publish articles from the article directories on your web site and in your newsletters or ezines. Be sure to read each article directory's terms of service, because some have limitations. But in general, article directories exist to give writers a place to publish their articles and to give publishers a place to get content for web sites and newsletters.

Article directories like EzineArticles.com and ElectricText.com provide content for web sites on almost any topic you need. You can also find hundreds of article directories that provide content for web sites with a simple search for "article directories" in any search engine.

There are two advantages to getting your web site content from article directories rather than from private label rights articles and eBooks:

1. Articles from article directories are normally free - you do not have to pay anything for the rights to publish the articles.

2. There are tens of thousands of articles available for web site content on virtually any topic you may need.

Private label rights can be acquired in a variety of ways . In general, private label rights mean you have the right to put your name on the product as the author. You can get private label rights articles, private label rights eBooks, even private label rights software and scripts.

For web site content, you want private label rights articles and eBooks. You can get private label rights articles and eBooks from membership web sites such as Gigantic Resale Rights.com that specialize in resale rights and private label rights products. You can use the articles for web site content more directly. And you can use many of the eBooks as content for web sites by breaking them up into articles or web pages.

There are two advantages to getting your web site content from private label rights articles and eBooks rather than from article directories:

1. Generally you can put your name as the author. You can include it as regular web content or as an article with your resource box at the end. Check the terms of service of the private label rights to determine your rights in using it as web site content.

2. Generally you can also (and in some cases must) edit and modify the text to make it unique. This is especially true if you have a private label rights eBook that grants you the rights to break it up into articles or pages as content for web sites. Again, be sure to check the terms of service of the private label rights to determine your rights.

Breaking up private label rights books into articles is a great way to get content for web sites. Why? Because it takes effort. Most people will not take the time and effort. If you do, you will have more unique content on your web site. Unique content is another aspect of "content is king."

Search engines hunger for content. With articles from article directories and private label rights articles and eBooks, you can feed that hunger with an unending supply of content for your web sites. As the search engines gobble up your web site content, it won't take long to understand why content is king!


Written by Mike Adams
Courtesy
http://www.teawithedge.com

How to Create Your Own Link Campaign

There are many different reasons out there fore creating a link campaign; after all, it can benefit you in so many different internet marketing strategies. In fact, links –especially one way links, but all links do count – are among the most determining factors for your rank among search engine spiders and indexers.

Since links are one of the vital components to the algorithm used by Google and the other big search engines, the creation of links for your website should be a major part of the efforts that you put forward. The first step to accomplishing this is to understand that there are different kinds of links, all with their own values, strategies, and uses. While all links do have their importance, some create better results than others. By understanding them, you’ll be able to ensure the right kind of link campaign is working in your favor.

  • Reciprocal links – these types of links occur when two sites exchange links so that each one has a link to the other’s site.
  • One-way links – also known as inbound or in-bound links, these occur when a site links to another’s without receiving a link in return.

One of the most common strategies for links is reciprocal linking. When done correctly, however, this link strategy can be extremely time consuming. It has to do with searching throughout the internet for sites that are relevant to your own website’s cause, and then contacting their webmasters to request an exchange of links.

This communication has to be a personalized e-mail to each and every one of the webmasters, not just a spam-style form letter. Naturally, they will all have the same elements to them, but they all need to be geared directly toward the site in question, or no webmaster will even consider it.


An example of a successful reciprocal link request email can be as follows:

Dear Mr. Doe, webmaster of gwidgetsRus.com,

As I searched through quality sites with topics relevant to my own for a link exchange, I came across your Gwidgets R Us website. I am writing to request an exchange of links between your site and my own. Below is my site’s information. Please feel welcome to have a look at what we are all about before making your decision.

Title: Online Gwidgets

URL: http://www.onlinegwidgets.com

Description: Online Gwidgets provides educational information about gwidgets to its visitors, and sells both gwidgets and their parts for fair prices.

If you are indeed interested in this link exchange, please reply with the precise information you’d like me to post on my site, and where you’d like it placed.

If you are not interested in this link exchange, your lack of reply will be enough to make your intentions known.

Thank you kindly for your attention and time.

Bob Smith
bobsmith@onlinegwidgets.com

This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it www.onlinegwidgets.com

When and if you receive some replies to your email, it is important that you add their links as quickly as you can, and confirm this addition by sending them another email with a link to where they can find their addition.

Of course, you will need to check the sites of your partners as well, to make sure that they have added the link when they said they would. Furthermore, you’ll need to check up on them frequently to make sure that they continue to link you, and that they have not dropped your link over time, or closed down altogether. While the majority of webmasters are completely honest individuals, there are those out there who will try to take advantage of your partnership to create a one-way, not reciprocal link to their own sites.

In-bound or one way links are the most coveted links as they give the best results with search engines. However, many people find them too daunting to try to achieve. The truth about inbound links, however, is that they’re not at all difficult to obtain.

The easiest source of inbound links is by using directory submissions. There are a large number of free directories out there where you can submit your site. This submission is worth the time and effort for as many as you can.

There are also fee-based directories out there. Depending on your budget, this may be worth your while as well, as long as they have categories relevant to the subject of your website.

Press releases and articles that mention your site are also valuable sources of exposure and one-way links. Find free submission sites all over the web and start writing!

Written by Mark Nenadic

Courtesy http://www.teawithedge.com

Persist Or Perish, The Choice Is Yours: Learn The Rules Of Online Business

Everybody wants quick profits. The phenomenon is more prevalent on the net as compared to offline business. The situation is only worsened by those ever coming awe inspiring success stories where previously ‘a nobody’ made millions overnight. While these stories may invigorate the desire to be rich overnight, there is always ‘the other side’ that is never brought into the picture and never asked too.
Until and unless you are highly gifted or have a knack of making money the quick profits are no more than folklore. If you are new to online business you must first understand the rule of the business before fueling the ever expanding expectation.

The so called overnight success stories just present the tip of iceberg. Firstly very few people achieve that kind of success. Secondly more often than not there is an equivalent amount of hard work which has been put in before the guy became a success.

The person in question might have been on the net for quite some time before he hit the idea that led to profits. Nobody tells this when success stories are written. And surprisingly nobody searches too. But that is the usual case.

Online business is a business after all. One needs to study the market and understand the tools and techniques before he can shoot. Like everything else there is a learning curve. That may be shorter in some cases. It too depends how much time you put in to understand that. And it depends on your background.

One thing is for sure. Nobody can wake up one fine morning, jump into foray of online business and expect windfalls.

No! It will not happen. The chances of this happening are as remote and bleak as your driving a car when you do not know how to drive. You need to learn the thing first. There will be frequent stalls and rough rides before you gain the control. Then you need to learn the traffic maneuvers. But by and by one gains control.

Many magical products have failed before they fell into the competent hands. So when you read a story and get inspired, just pause and think.

Starting an online business is damn easy. In couple of dollars everything from products to website will be yours. After this comes the difficult part of making the sales. There are a lot of things you need to know, assimilate and apply before you can bang. Every thing takes time. Here is where the experience counts. If internet is a new world to you then you need to hang on and learn before you can raise your graph to the desired level.

You need to be persistent. You need to be perseverant. You need to learn and apply. It is much easier to do business on the net than the offline business.

But it is not a cakewalk either.

You need to stay and spend time on the net before you become proficient. The quick profits will not come until you have learned to breathe in the new environment and mastered some of the marketing techniques. Till that time you should carefully put a lid on your expectation.

After that it is all fun!


Written by Arun Pal Singh
Courtesy
http://www.teawithedge.com

Myths and Misconceptions About Starting an Online Business

Are you trying to start an online business? Are you overwhelmed with the many online business programs available or concerned that you'll lose money by investing in them? While many offers sound too good to be true, there are some very good ones available - but how can you be sure? Learning to read 'between the lines' will better prepare you for what's really involved.

Why do most people fail with their online business? In the first 3 months usually?

It is because they fail to plan and plan to fail. You need to determine what you want to sell first, it doesn't even have to be your own product. Find some good resale right products that you can sell just like your own. Expect to succeed! Put the time, effort and whatever money is needed and test your promotions. Always test to find out what works and what doesn't. That is another subject for another day.

Here are some common phrases used to promote online businesses and what they really mean:


1 - Simple & Easy

Simple and easy depends on who's speaking. A doctor may tell you it's only a 'simple procedure' but that doesn't mean that you should attempt it yourself. Many online businesses ARE simple to operate. If you understand how it works you will be amazed at the simplicity - but getting to that point will require time and experience. You may just need to try a few to get a 'feel' for the business before deciding which one is easiest for you.

Those who have learned from experience can look back and see how simple it COULD have been if they'd known what to do all along. Finding a trustworthy guide can be a great assistance to your business efforts.


2 - Anyone Can Do This

Sorry - starting a business of any kind is stressful and requires a learning curve. If you are attempting an online business out of desperation or the belief you will make easy money you will face enormous obstacles. On the other hand, if you are truly seeking a business you can learn, work at and make a living from, you will find something online that fits your needs.

Studies of successful business people concur that those who make it have common qualities of persistence, patience and desire. These qualities are essential when trying to start an online business - do you have them?


3 - Turnkey

The term 'turnkey' use to mean that a business was set up and ready to go. You will find the term in business classifieds where the new owner can just step in and start running the business. Unfortunately some marketers use the term to suggest a business is fully automated - that thereis no work involved.
There is always work involved. If the business really is turnkey than you will begin work right away because it has already been set to go. If you want an automated business you will have to do the work to make it automated. Either way, nobody is going to give you an automated, turnkeybusiness that makes money - they had to do the work, so why would they share it?


4 - It Won't Cost Anything

You absolutely CAN set up an online business with no money, but be prepared that a combination of no money and lack of experience will stifle your efforts immensely. Most individuals who start or run a business with no money have learned how to make use of the best FREE techniques through experience. They have paid their dues by trying businesses that cost money. They have spent time in and around their industry or market and they've been able to see where they can cut costs.

If you are prepared to spend a LOT of time researching before starting your business you may be one of the few who does it right the first time. For most people though, expect to pay something towards your online business education before seeing results - you just can't buy experience.

Online business obviously has its share of work involved, but finding the right one has enormous payoffs many people are willing to sacrifice time and money to achieve. Running your own business is satisfying and can give you more time to do what you really want to do in life.

Creating a successful online business is within the grasp of nearly everyon^e who is prepared to stick to it. Face the task of starting your business with realistic expectations while continuing to dream big and you may just surprise yourself!



Written by Dan Farrell
http://www.teawithedge.com

7 Steps to Set Financial Goals for Your Online Business

Every internet marketer wants to make as money as possible. But how much money do you really need? What are the financial goals you want to achieve with your online business? These are the fundamental questions you have to answer when you start an online business.

Like many others you probably stumbled into the demanding task of managing an online business by accident. You bought some ebooks, signed up for multiple affiliate programs, set up your own website, subscribed to several membership sites and at the end of the day you realized that this all costs a lot of money.

You are in desperate need of more income from your business. Common sense tells you that you need to advertise for your business. So you go out there and buy any kind of advertising. This leaves you with even more expenses and like many others not much to show for.

Now you are at the turning point. You have substantial expenses, but not enough earnings to support these expenses. The foolish continue what they are doing and hope for the best. There’s a better way to get your business finances under control. The following 7 steps should give you an idea how to straighten out your business finances and how you can prevent a financial Waterloo for your business.



1. Create a business plan

This sounds like a broken record, but without a clear business plan you are setting yourself up for disaster. A business plan can be as simple as a few pages describing what you want to do, how you want to do it, how much profit you plan to make, how much money you have to begin with and how long you can survive before you run out of money or you break even with income and expenses.

The idea of a business plan is not to predict the future, but to create a roadmap for yourself, in case you get lost on your journey and need directions to save your business.


2. Separate your finances

It doesn’t matter if you operate your online business as a real incorporated business or if you just want to test the waters. Mixing your business finances with your personal finances is a bad idea period. Create a separate checking account. Use it to deposit the checks you will receive and as the linked account for your business PayPal account. Yes, a separate PayPal account is necessary to track your business finances and to provide a more polished, professional image for your business.

If you don’t have a separate credit card for your business, use one of your personal credit cards and use it for your business expenses only. This way you can easily track your expenses. Knowing the exact financial situation of your business is vital for your survival. If you’re loosing money you need to know right away to make necessary adjustments and if you’re making money you don’t want to wait until tax time to get a rude awakening.


3. Reinvest

A rule of thumb is to reinvest 75% of your earnings back into advertising for your business. In the beginning it can be as high as 100%, because you need to get the word out. Without customers you are not making any money. You do know that an online business is by definition a sales business? You are selling either a product or a service. If you don’t, you don’t have an online business.

Of course a startup online business has no income to be reinvested. However the same rules apply to the startup capital that every new business needs to get started. A new computer and a fancy new car won’t get you any new customers, but good advertising will.


4. Keep track

You need to know where you spend your money at all times. In order to do this, a simple spreadsheet will get you started. Later you need a little bit more help from a professional finance program. Either way this will keep you on track with your spending and you will know how well you’re doing at all times.

Keep track of your advertising. You need to know if your advertising is working or not. Like a real store you need to know why a visitor entered your store and if they don’t buy get at least their contact information. Hardly anybody sells to first time visitors. Repeat business from visitors and customers are the bread and butter for any online business.


5. Organize

This is not only for tax purposes, but you need to organize everything you’re doing with your business. Nothing kills your business faster than not knowing what pays your bills and to whom you owe money. Imagine you forget to renew your domain name registration. A few bucks could cost you a million dollar business. So do yourself a big favor and get organized with your business.


6. Repeat

Readjust non working advertising immediately. If it is not working, dump it. On the other hand repeat a profitable advertising campaign. Rule of thumb, if it brings in more money than it costs to run, keep doing it. This seems to be a simple rule, but many online business owners simply ignore this rule. Instead they are chasing the white elephant and end up with nothing to show for.

If you have a successful advertising campaign, keep it running and build a new campaign next to it. Never drop a profitable campaign, always expand. This is your safety net. In case the new campaign fails. In marketing there’s never a guarantee. Be creative, track and repeat. That’s the only way to get something going.


7. Expand

If your business is not growing your business is dieing. Unfortunately this is reality in today’s business world. This means that you need to adjust your financial goals for your business to allow for expansion. Consult your business plan to determine what went well and what went wrong. Whatever you do, always aim higher.

There you have it, 7 steps to set the financial goals of your online business. I know that it takes more than filling out a membership application to run a successful online business, but you can do it if you keep these steps in mind.



Courtesy:
Peter Dobler
http://www.teawithedge.com

Eight Deadly Web Site Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Creating and maintaining an effective presence on the Web has become increasingly complex and challenging as the power of the Internet as a marketing tool becomes more and more necessary to entrepreneurs and emerging businesses.
Creating and maintaining an effective presence on the Web has become increasingly complex and challenging as the power of the Internet as a marketing tool becomes more and more necessary to entrepreneurs and emerging businesses.

The good news is that technologies that were only available to the big guys just a couple of years ago — audio, video, ecommerce, e-mail database management applications — are now affordable for almost everybody. The bad news is that the number of choices and opportunities can be confusing and overwhelming.

Here are my eight favorite tips to help you steer clear of some of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen people make when designing or re-designing their Web projects.


1. You begin without a marketing strategy.

Web sites, like brochures, newsletters, business cards, post cards and the like, are simply part of your marketing mix, not just something you build so you can say you have one.Before you begin, you need to ask yourself important questions about your Web site strategy beginning with why you want a Web site in the first place.

a. What are your objectives? To educate? Motivate? Inform? Attract new business? Serve existing clients? Be perceived a certain way, such as compassionate or trendy?

b. Who is your target audience?

c. What do you want your visitors to discover and/or do when they log on to your site?As the Cheshire cat explained to Alice — if you don't know where you're going, I can't tell you how to get there. So before you do anything else, make an Internet marketing plan for your site.


2. You have no Internet branding or inappropriate branding.


Once you know what your objectives are and have identified your target audience, your site needs to reflect that knowledge. A music site selling hip-hop to teens needs to look and feel a lot different from a health care site for seniors or a motorcycle site for guys that ride Harley Fat Boys.A good brand should repel as strongly as it attracts. Once you get the positioning and Internet branding right, your site will sort out your potential clients from the online crowd.


3. You buy the wrong technology for your goals and objectives.


There are two big, broad categories of Web sites — one that you own and one that you rent. The "rental" model is a site offered by what is called an Application Service Provider or ASP. You usually will pay a set up fee and a monthly fee ranging from $59 way up to hundreds of dollars depending on the sophistication of the Web site application.At the low end, you may see an ad for a "FREE WEB SITE." The company offers to build your site and then you "just pay" $59 per month— forever! With this model the site itself never belongs to you, only your content. If you leave the provider, you can't take the site with you.With the ownership model, you will hire a Web site designer, or do the work yourself, then pay an annual or monthly hosting fee — usually much smaller comparatively — and you own both the site and the content, which you can move to a different service provider if you wish.


4. You have no Internet marketing plan.


“We will build it and they will come,” has not worked for a long, long time. Budget the money necessary to promote your site and meet your objectives, or wait until you can. It doesn't have to be a very expensive plan. But do something! There are way too many "secret Web sites" out there in cyberspace. Start building your email database as soon as possible. Consider an eZine to keep you in front of your prospects on a regular basis. Offer a free report on your site. Put the offer on the back of your business card.If you want to do more, work with a Search Engine Optimizer (SEO), who will make your site attractive to Google and Yahoo and other top search engines. You may also want to consider pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to get you to the top of the search engine listings.


5. You have no way to measure your site's effectiveness.


Remember that old saying: "If it's not broken; don't fix it?" Well you will need a way to know if your site is working for you or not. Make sure that your service provider offers site statistics, to let you know who is visiting, how often and if your traffic is growing.Use an email sign-up form to build your database, and keep an eye on your progress. Track what works and what doesn't, and make changes as you get feedback.


6. Your technology doesn't match the target audience.


We've all had the experience of landing on a Web site, only to get a message saying that we don't have the right plug-in to view it. Sometimes the site designer has a link letting you know that since you are among the "great unwashed" without the "right" browser of technology, you must go download it to view the site. Don't expect that potential visitor to stick around!Research your target audience to make sure your site considers their technology level. Don’t use images that are too large to load in a reasonable amount of time if your users don't have a broadband connection, for example.


7. You let your users get lost in Cyberspace.

Your navigation system needs to be clear, and intuitive. Links should be in the same position on each page. There should always be a "home" button. Confusing navigation drives potential clients and users away.


8. You play hard to get.

Don't make it hard for your clients and prospects to communicate with you. Make sure your contact information is on every page and is easy to access. Let your visitors know what you want them to do, like: “Call me!” or “Sign Up for My E-EZine.”



About the author:
Marcia Torrey-Jay is a Web designer, writer, and Internet marketing professional
http://www.visionquest.tv/

10 Tips on Generating More Internet Sales Leads

Many millions of dollars are being wasted on promoting and sending traffic to ineffective lead generation websites.

Here are top 10 tips to make your site generate more leads for you and your company.


1. Keep it clean

A busy, cluttered website will drive visitors directly to your competitor. Make sure your site is easy to navigate and clutter free. We've all been to websites that are awash with information. While you need to get your message across you don't want to scare your potential customers away. Make sure your site looks tidy, with as few colors as possible. Too many flashing banners and ads will undoubtedly detract your visitors from the actual content on your site. Don't include too much highlighting. If you highlight every word in your text, it isn't highlighted it's simply bold.



2. Make it quick

Studies have shown that the average surfer will give any site only 3 to 4 seconds before they formulate that all important first decision. Don't forget that first impressions last so you need to dispense with graphics that take too long to load, ensure that any necessary pictures are of a minimal file size (picture size is irrelevant here) and definitely do not have an all graphics site; they take an age to load, not to mention the search engines can not do anything with them.


3. It's all about conversion.

Paying for a PPC campaign is a very popular way to get visitors to your site, but you have to be careful that you manage your account for conversion not clicks. Spend money only on those keywords that convert to leads. Use the conversion tracking offered by Google and Yahoo! Search Marketing (formally Overture). Or use some other ad tracking software. The main point here is your ad campaign should be an investment, not an expense and if you are not tracking your conversion rate how will you know which it really is?


4. Create trust

You will not generate leads from a website that does not radiate trustworthiness. Use third party trust indicators liberally on your site, for example testimonials, membership organization logos, and endorsements. Also if you state something that may be hard for your visitor to believe, explain to them the details so you build credibility.


5. Copy is the key.

Your website copy needs to be compelling, informative and lead the reader to take your desired action. Do not list facts and features, state benefits. You reader doesn't care if your widget does the quarter mile in 2.5 seconds. They want a widget that "Does the job so fast they can get done and take off early to go fishing"... See the difference?


6. Pre-qualify leads with content not questions

If you need a certain demographic lead, make sure your copy spells it out clearly. Clearly explaining the details about who is qualified for you product or service will keep you from having to screen out unqualified leads with too many questions on your form. Which brings me to my next point...


7. Shorter forms actually make for better leads

Highly qualified and highly educated prospects guard their personal information closely; keep forms short and only ask the minimum number of questions. Long forms with too many personal questions tend to reduce the quality and quantity of your leads. When someone is willing to share all their personal information there is a good chance that person has nothing to lose. You have to consider what information you really need from your leads. If you don't need to know then don't ask. You can always send a follow up email. This will act not only as a good fact finder but also as your next step in creating rapport.


8. Make it easy

Have a form on every page, or at least on every page that it makes sense to have it on. Visitors to your site won't take the time to trawl through 12 pages of website content to find your form and fill it out. I have seen a tremendous increase in leads when I added the form to every page of a site. I would caution you about having a form too prominent on you home page though, it tends to scare some visitors off.


9. Sweeten the deal

Give away free information to entice visitors to fill out your form. Throughout time people have always loved a bargain. The feeling of getting something for nothing is usually enough to help persuade the unsure, and will often lead to extra leads and extra sales. Make sue that you give away something with a high perceived value, no one is enticed with junk.


10. Communicate in the right language and add personality.

Using plain language that communicates the personality of you and your company will build trust and rapport. Don't use technical jargon if you are trying to reach the masses. Very few people are likely to know industry buzz words. Keep it simple and informative and add personality at the same time. Try and answer questions before they are asked.


Use these 10 tips and generating sales leads from your website will become much easier and a lot more profitable.



About the author:
Bryant Jones is a lead generation consultant, S.E.O. expert and the managing partner of
http://www.leadssolution.com/

How to Pick Keywords That Will Deliver Hot Targeted Traffic for Free

I recently delivered a talk to a small group of budding entrepreneurs. The subject was becoming an online business owner. I worked closely with 5 individuals who were looking to make a living from the Internet. They all had varying interests and varying levels of technological experience. The only thing they had in common was a passion to live a better life.

During our small group discussion I hit on several points. However no one single point was stressed more than keywords and search engine ranking. Before you close out on this article give me a few minutes to explain how I am going to shed some light on this topic- light that will help you deliver hot, targeted traffic to your business for free.

This is not generic information. It is not designed to aggravate you or frustrate you. This article is designed to inspire you to think differently about keywords and search engine rankings. Let's start with some basics and move forward from there.

There are two kinds of keywords- the kind that people search for and the kind that people do not search for. A keyword can be defined as a word or phrase that someone would enter in to a search box at Google or Yahoo. It is the search term or query. This keyword is very important for you to know as an online business owner.

You must know this search term for two reasons.

1) You must have a page that is dedicated to that search term. Choosing search terms is rather easy. Just ask yourself what word or term you would use to find your product or service.

2) You must know if it is possible for you to rank well at search engines for that keyword or search term.

Determining if you can rank well is very difficult. After all, no one knows the exact algorithms Google, Yahoo, MSN or any other search engine uses to rank websites. Let's throw in some examples. I have a website dedicated to strength training for women. I can safely assume that "fitness" is a word that people use as their keyword or query at Google. So I have now picked my keyword. Simple enough. However, I need to rank well for that search term. Otherwise what is the point? If no one is going to see my page on fitness then why create a page using the keyword "fitness"?
I can check out my competition by doing a quick search at the major search engines. If I type the word "fitness" (without the quotes) into the Google search box, it returns 799,000,000 search results. Gulp. How can I ever compete for a position in the first 3 pages of Google? The chances of me ranking well for the keyword "fitness" are very, very slim.

The fact of the matter is that most generic terms are going to be difficult to rank well for. You need to narrow your search terms down. You need to get nichier with your terms. You can spend most of your day picking search terms and then checking the competition numbers. This eats a lot of your valuable time. I built my online business by using a hosting company that completely eliminates this tedious process of keyword and search engine ranking data mining. I simply enter in my site concept and within 20 minutes I have an entire list of related keywords and how much competition there is. Perhaps the biggest plus to having this type of data is that I am now free to build my online business and rank very well for excellent search terms that I would have never thought of. I have an instant blue print of my website and all of its related content.

If you do not have excellent search terms that you can rank well for, you are doomed from the start. No one will ever find your site at the search engines if you do not rank well. That means the only people visiting your site will be friends, family, co-workers and those whom you had to reach by paying additional money for advertising. It's much better to rank well for excellent keywords. This gives you a never-ending stream of hot, targeted leads for free.

My best advice to anyone looking to start a profitable online business is to use the absolute best tools. It makes no sense to spend hours and hours picking search terms and doing half-hearted research. In the end you will lose out on a lot of money and a lot of time. Pick your hosting company wisely and be sure you get the added benefit of the keyword selector and competition analyzer tool as an added bonus for free.



Written by Lynn VanDyke
Courtesy
http://www.teawithedge.com

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