Tips for Effective Search Engine Optimization

Building an online business takes many hours of planning, designing and promoting.  From the very beginning of the Internet until now, the most effective way to attract targeted visitors to a site has been the search engines.  When your customers are searching for ideas or products, you want to be there - listed on the front page.  Search engine optimization is one way you can secure your spot on the front page of search engines without spending a fortune.  Here are some great optimization tips below.

To Better Optimize for Search Engines, Know Your Market

Before you begin the optimization process, you should carefully study your market.  Who are your targeted customers?  What do they look for in searches?  Are they looking for products or simply free information?  Once you know who your target audience is and what they’re looking for, you can design your site accordingly.

Research Keywords and Key Phrases

Do research using online tools to find hundreds or thousands of keywords and key phrases that are directly related to your products or services.  You need to know the most popular keywords of your field or specialty so you can incorporate them into your site.  If you’re not sure how to do this, you can hire a search engine optimization firm to help with this project. 

Some search engines, such as Overture and Google, provide a keyword research tool for advertisers.  Even if you don’t pay to advertise through the paid search engines, you can still use these free tools to find popular keywords.  When searching for keywords, type in a main word to get other suggestions.  You’ll learn how many people have searched for the popular terms.  Also, you’ll see related keywords that you may or may not think of on your own. 

Keywords that are not very popular, but have a steady stream of searches (50 to 300 per month) are worth your focus as well.  It’s often easier to get listed under these keywords than the most popular ones because competition is less.  Your focus should be on targeted traffic, not traffic volume.  What good is one million visitors if none of them are interested in your products?

So, your first goal is to build a list of keywords that are targeted for your niche market and have a decent flow of traffic in the search engines.  You should also record popular keyword phrases as you find them.  Phrases are used in the search engines now more than ever because surfers have learned the time-saving benefits.  A phrase can be used to narrow a search and render results that are more relevant to the subject.

Once you create a list of targeted keywords, there are four main areas where these keywords and phrases should be incorporated.

1)  Metatags - Be sure to include keywords in your title, description and keyword sections of your metatags (within the raw HTML code of your page).

The title should be written as a compelling headline because it will be the title of your search engine listing in most cases.  Limit the title to 15 words or less.  The description will be listed under the title in the search engine results, so make it appealing as well. The keywords help the search engine to determine what your site is about, so be sure they are all targeted.  List keywords in a row with a comma and space in between.  Other punctuations or capitalization are not necessary.

*Example:  web design training, learn web design, course, beginners web design, web, design, training, computer training, learn graphic design, graphic design training, graphics course, graphics, course, graphics for beginners

2)  Site Content - Incorporate keywords and phrases into all your content, whether it’s an introduction, article or product page.

3)  Links - Use keywords in your link text from page to page as much as possible.  These are noticed by the search engine spiders, so it will help to create links with popular keywords included in the linked text.

*Example:  Click Here for Site Promotion Tips  (keyword is “site promotion tips”)

4)  ALT Text in Graphics - All graphics and clipart should contain ALT text.  ALT text appears as a title for the graphic.  For example, a clipart image of a cat with a ball of yarn might be used on a site about knitting.  Instead of using “Cat with Yarn” as the ALT text, use “Knitting Made Easy” or something similar that uses your related keywords.  Search engines use ALT text along with your content and links to determine the keyword relevancy of a site.

Maximize Content

Content is invaluable to your site’s success.  Every page of content (articles) you create provides you with a brand new opportunity to be recognized by the search engines.  If you create five different Web pages with five different articles - all relevant - you now have five unique pages you can submit to the search engines.  Maximize the listing potential of each page by following the four “keyword” steps above for each and every content page.  Never assume a page will be recognized - optimize every page thoroughly!

Final Tip

Be sure every page on your site looks neat and professional.  It doesn’t have to be fancy, but should be well-organized and easy to navigate.  This might not affect your search engine rankings, but it will determine how long your visitors hang around.

Use the tips above as a guide to gain popularity with the search engines and start building your successful online business today!

Three Simple Ways to Rank Highly in Search Engine Results Pages

Many Bloggers and Internet marketers use complex software to help them achieve high rankings in search engine results pages while others prefer to engage the services of search engine optimization professionals. However, these two options require large sums of money. If you are new to the field of Internet marketing and do not yet have a lot of resources to spare for search engine optimization, there are a number of things you can do to improve your search engine rankings. A few of them are listed below:

1) Make Use of a Keyword-Rich Domain Name

Determine what your main keyword is and make sure that it is what your target market uses to search for whatever it is that you offer. Including that keyword in your domain name will enhance the perceived relevance of your website for that search term, increase your quality score, and consequently allow you to rank highly in search engine results pages. Your website will also be more likely visited by your target audience especially if your competitors’ sites don’t have keywords in their domain names.

2) Make Use of Keywords in Different Parts of Your Website

Everything in your website should contain the keywords that you target. These include your header, description, navigation pane, footer, and main body as well as your metadata. Because most of your content will be placed in the main body, it is important to pay attention to details there. Try to reach a keyword density of about 3%. That means having your keyword appear three times for every one hundred words you publish. Just be sure that you integrate your keywords properly or your content will be considered low quality and your visitors will not enjoy going to your website for information. Proper use of keywords in your content will increase the relevance of your website to specific search terms and consequently increase your ranking in search engine results pages.

3) Make Use of Different Platforms to Create Back Links

Generating lots of back links is very important in achieving top rankings in the most popularly used search engines. Being active in forums, article directories, and similar sites will help you achieve this as long as you use your signature or by-line properly. Publishing guest posts in relevant blogs will also help. Other things you can do include listing your website in as many web directories as you can as well as posting it in classified ads sites. Doing all these will help you generate many back links as well as lead traffic to your website. Both of which increase your chances of ranking highly in search engine results pages.

Search engine optimization does not necessarily require huge sums of money as there are things you can easily do yourself to improve your rankings in search engine results pages. Implementing these three tips will ensure that you get to the first page of search engines easily, quickly, and inexpensively.

Should an Article Writer Accept $2 Article Jobs?

Everyone has their limit as to how low they’ll go with writing assignments, but lately there has been a lot of uproar about writers who take low paying jobs. We’re talking super low, $1-5 for up to 800 words! These are often keyword articles, ones that have super short deadlines and requirements that can stretch even the best writer.

Is it really that bad for a writer to take on the cheap keyword jobs? Some argue that the writing business will only suffer if people keep accepting these rock-bottom prices and that writers such as these will really drive the prices down on all assignments. Others stand by the fact that for some, these prices equal a decent wage. It all depends on where you live. For example, a writer in India might be quite pleased to have ten articles a day at $2, giving him a total of $20 per day. Where the cost of living is lower, it is easier and actually worthwhile for writers to take on these types of pay rates. But does that mean it’s a good idea?

It all boils down to what you feel your work is worth. Do you write at a $2 level? Then maybe you should stick to those lower paying jobs until you improve your skills. If you feel that you have what it takes to get higher paying assignments, go ahead and hold out for them. Self-confidence is extremely important when you are taking on jobs. If you are bidding on a project and you shoot out the lowest price possible, you won’t necessarily win, in fact, you may be doing more damage to yourself! Some companies overlook the super low bidders, figuring that you get what you pay for.

Think of it this way, you are building a brand . . . for yourself. Your name is going out there on job applications and bids and if you are constantly taking on the lowest paying jobs, that is what you will be offered in the future. If it is enough for you to live on and you are happy with this type of work, that’s fine. But, if you want to move on to higher paying jobs, it’s a good idea to be a bit more selective.

Sure, you might be desperate for some cash, so you take on a $2/article gig . . . but don’t just sit there. Keep looking for and applying for higher paying jobs and when you get them, drop the lower ones. Don’t feel that you have to stick with the company just because they gave you that first job. Drop all low paying jobs as soon as you can and keep climbing the price ladder.

By sticking to your integrity and striving to be the best you can, you will be able to command a higher fee. It might take some time, but with some hard work and patience, you will reach the level you want to be at.

Dropshipping: The Shortcut to Starting Your Business

Selling products online is one of the hottest business models right now. Everyone is discovering the benefits of shopping online, from grandmothers to preteens. Savvy entrepreneurs are picking up on this trend quickly and creating businesses to cater to every demographic. The smartest entrepreneurs are taking advantage of dropshipping to help them build their business and save money at the same time.

Problems with selling online
After your market analysis and business plan, you have to pick your products. You’ll soon begin to realize what challenges are created.

1. “What about storage? I don’t have space in my house to store a ton of inventory.”
2. “Wholesalers might not sell to me if I don’t have a retail outlet or warehouse… and what about minimum order amounts?”
3. “The shipping costs are going to be outrageous. I’ll have to pay to have stock shipped to me, and then pay to ship them to the customers.”
4. “Fulfilling orders is going to take a long time… finding products, packaging them (oh, there’s an extra expense), shipping them out individually, and making sure they get there fine.”
5. “What if the products never even sell in the first place?!”

Dropshipping solves all these problems and more at the same time.

How dropshipping works
Whenever a customer orders, you contact the distributor who dropships for you. You pay wholesale price for the goods, and the dropshipper will include your invoice and shipping label when they ship the products, just like it came from you directly!

Using dropshipping will eliminate the costs of purchasing inventory upfront and holding it until you sell, particularly if it never sells! You will pay some costs such as storage space and accounting fees, but the dropshipper will handle day-to-day operations that would take up valuable time and money if you did it yourself.

Also, if you took care of obtaining, storing, and managing inventory, shipping, and other aspects of order fulfillment yourself, you’d be paying whether or not you sell anything. With dropshipping, you’ll only pay if you do make a sale.

Problems with dropshipping
Some problems do crop up when you use a dropshipper, but you can avoid them if you’re careful.

A few dropshippers claim to be selling at wholesale prices, but they actually charge closer to retail prices. Look into the average wholesale price for an item before agreeing to pay a dropshipper for it, or you could end up really cutting into your profit margin.

Another problem is that margins aren’t very good in some markets, such as consumer electronics, so you probably shouldn’t get into those areas unless you have previous experience and a solid budget. Research your area thoroughly before committing, including the expected profit margins and experience necessary to succeed in it.

Overall, dropshipping is a perfect solution to reducing inventory and overhead costs associated with selling products online. It also helps you save time so you can do what’s important, like attracting customers and researching new niches to sell to.

Article Writing Master Class – Ideas

by Allison Whitehead www.constant-content.com

Ideas are behind every successful article sale.  Ideally we will have an abundance of them in reserve, so we will never be short of articles to write.

Here are some pointers to ensure you’ll never run out:

1 – Where to find them.

Answer – everywhere.  But the best and most convenient place to look is in your immediate vicinity.  You can get ideas from friends, family, your own experiences, work, hobbies, your daily newspaper, magazines, problem pages, and so on.

The key is to start being aware of your surroundings, and opening your eyes to the possibilities of the things you see.  Asking yourself ‘what if’, ‘why’, ‘how’ and so on, is also a good way to get ideas, but you need to train yourself to spot what’s all around you.

2 – Developing them.

It’s not enough to look at something and think you want to write about it.  You need to develop that idea.

What angle do you want to approach it from?  If you’re writing about teabags, to pick a mundane subject, are you going to write about a specific type, or how they are made, or how tea was discovered, or how many people drink it compared to coffee, or is it good for you?

Writing about teabags in general is too unfocused to make a knock-em-dead article.  Narrow the focus – specifics are more interesting.

3 – Angling them to a specific market.

Ten different magazines could do an article on the same subject, but they would all be vastly different, because they would all be angled to a different readership, and this is the rule to bear in mind when offering an article for sale.

Sometimes the article idea will come first, and you can look for a suitable magazine to target; other times you will find a magazine you would like to write for and think of an appropriate idea for it.  Whichever way you approach an idea for a market, make sure the angle is specific to that market, and can be written for that audience.

4 – Make the ideas unique to you.

Ever heard people say, ‘only so and so could have done that’?

Well you can aim for this in your writing too.  Make your approach or angle something that editors won’t see from anyone else.  This is harder than you might think, but if you can make it unique in some small way, it will stand out and get you noticed by the editor.

This will develop in time, this way of looking at an idea from your unique point of view, but it’s a skill that’s well worth developing.

5 – Matching an idea to a length of article.

Again, this is a skill that will come with practice.  Obviously, if you want to write a piece on the history of the American elections, for example, you’d be hard pushed to cram it into a 500 word piece.  You’d be better off concentrating on a single aspect or election for a length like this.  Conversely, if the article length is 2000 words, you know you can fill it with much more information.

A word of warning here – don’t offer a long article until you’re sure you’ll be able to get the information you need to fill it.

6 – Different types of article from the same idea.

This is a good multiple sales technique.  Gaining the most out of each block of research is one of the secrets to fast sales.

Let’s take dreams – I sold an article on erotic dreams, another on naked dreams, and I have more ideas for precognitive dreams, animals in dreams and their meanings… and so on.

You can also do a humorous article, a practical article on dealing with nightmares and bad dreams, a first person piece on your own dreams, and what you’ve learned from them… the list goes on.

7 – Maximum mileage from a single idea.

Think of all the different articles you could write from a single idea – and think of as many angles as you can.  This is more of a case of the same type of article (practical, for example) slanted towards different markets.

This is especially good to do with a familiar subject, like your hobby – try and think of as many different magazines you could slant your hobby towards.

8 – Brainstorming.

A fantastic way to come up with ideas, and also to develop them.  Pick up a magazine at random and open it to the first word you see.  Use this as a starting point, and see where it leads you.

Alternatively, write down as much as you can think of to do with your work or hobby, and see where it leads you.  Write down everything you can think of, however silly – it lets your mind wander and encourages creativity, so let it express itself.

The silliest idea can often trigger something else, or generate an article idea that is within your grasp to write, and is worth writing about.

9 – Try word association and other methods.

Word association can generate lots of ideas for subjects to write about.  This is an easy way to start with some fresh ideas.  Reading news stories, problem pages and surfing the net are other fast ways to get the initial germ of an idea.

You will still need to develop it, but writing non newsy articles that are inspired by news stories is a great way to take advantage of using ready made news stories as a springboard to some original material, using the original story as research.

10 – Knowing what to reject.

Unless you know you can get an interview with a world famous star, it’s probably not a good idea to develop an article around that.  An idea that is workable must be one you can research without too much difficulty.

Either that, or find an angle on a subject that you know you can do.  Sometimes it can be a case of just altering your focus, or narrowing it, to get the article idea to a size you can write about.

Provided that doesn’t ruin the whole drive of the article, that could be your best bet.  So recognise whether or not your enthusiasm matches your ability to write the article… before you offer it.