Submitting your site to online directories

Saturday, January 28, 2006

When promoting your site, you'll want to submit it to as many legitimate resources as possible. This can be an impossible task as there are so many resources. There are three free directory submission managers that we've found and use ourselves:

Direcory Submission Manager by 123promotion.co.uk
Directory Tracker by submissiontracker.net
Directory Tracker by articletrader.com

The latter two are owned by the same people but seem to contain different directories, so they might both be worth looking at separately.

Labels: linking

Check your website popularity with us!

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Link popularity checking is a quick and easy way to see how "visible" your website is on the Internet. It is a measure of the total number of links that a search engine has found for your website. Obviously this will change between search engines, so the top engines are queried for a collective result.

To use the link popularity tool, go to our resources page and complete your URL in the form of www.yourdomain.co.uk, and if there is a competitor you want to compare yourself with, enter their domain as well. Next, complete the access code given to you and finally press the 'generate' button.

Marketleap provide the data for this tool, and will give you a comparison table for where you stand on the internet, from a limited presence to the "900 lb gorilla" category! It will also collect your data over time, so you can see how well your web promotion is going!

Labels: linking, resources, searchengines

6 free high quality SEO tools

Sunday, January 15, 2006

SEO (search engine optimisation) is always going to be a hot topic for any webmaster, especially where online sales are concerned. The problem is, especially when you are starting out, that there are many different tools offered, and they all cost an arm and a leg. HOWEVER, I have used the following free SEO tools, written and given away by Shawn Pringle, and recommend them (please note that descriptions are condensed descriptions from Shawn's website):

Link fetcher

Link Fetcher goes out and automatically fills in reciprocal link forms for you, and creates link pages based on your specifications. Saves you a ton of time and gets you as many links as you need/want.

Barrier To Entry Analyzer

Well, this wicked app takes your keyword(s) and does a custom analysis to see if it is a competitive keyword or not. It tells you how many searches per month that keyword gets, and tells you how many other sites are actively optimizing their pages for this exact keyword. If they are optimizing their content for it then they are your competition.

Authority Site Finder

An "Authority Site" is simply a site that the search engines feel is an authority on a subject, with loads of relevant content and lots of one-way links pointing to it. This tool finds these sites based on your keywords, and tells you which top 15 results for that keyword have links from these authorities.

On-Site Analyzer

It looks at the top 10 pages for your keyword and tells you all about their on-site optimization. No other tool goes into this much detail. You have to try it to see what I mean. It does a lot of analysis, and quickly too. It gives you a chart comparing every aspect of your site to each of the top 10 pages for that phrase.

True Backlink Counter

Ever noticed that Google reports different backlinks for a site than Yahoo and MSN? They all show different backlinks, so how do you really know how many backlinks a site has? Answer: use this tool.

Rank Finder

Ever wonder where your site sits in the rankings? Plop in your keywords, or just put in your URL(s) and have the program find your keywords and your rankings itself.

Get your free SEO tools from here

Labels: resources, seo

Ebay auctions - win more and improve your listings!

Friday, January 13, 2006

Knowing how frustrating it can be to lose an eBay auction in the last few seconds (sad but true, if it's something I really want, I'll sit there constantly hitting 'refresh', adrenalin pumping, until the end), I discovered AuctionSniper. This is a brilliant online program, that you input your eBay details, the item details and your maximum bid. At your specified time before the auction ends (around 5 seconds is normal), AuctionSniper places a bid on your behalf! It obviously can't guarantee you'll win, but does improve your chances, and is particularly good if an auction ends when you can't be at your computer. Also, you can set up 'bid groups' which means that for a particular item, you list all those items available on eBay, how many of them you want, and your maximum price, and AuctionSniper does it on your behalf - magic!

The next item I recommend if you are an eBay seller is Auctiva - it's free and gives you image hosting, scheduled listings etc...If you are bored of the eBay templates that you pay for, definitely give Auctiva a go - it'll give your auctions a better air of professionalism.

Labels: ebay, resources

Google AdSense versus Yahoo Publisher Network

Thursday, January 12, 2006

There's loads of information about Google AdSense which has been the market leader for quite some time. Now, Yahoo Publisher Network is in testing phase and early results look promising. An excellent review can be found at Vaughn's One-Page Summaries, and it certainly makes interesting reading.

Labels: adsense

AdSense related products

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

If you have a website, you should consider using Google AdSense to generate revenue. It won't suit all webmasters - if LittleFish Web Design used them, we could be doing ourself out of business! If you haven't already signed up, use the button in the left hand menu.

To help you understand how to maximise your AdSense revenue, we've compiled a quick list of various e-books and software that can help:

Top Paying Keywords - Quadruple Google AdSense revenues overnight with our database of the 15,000 most expensive search keywords. Huge Conversions!
CBProSense - Adsense like content sensitive CB Ad feeds. Turn your web pages into money makers, automatically & instantly. Guaranteed.
The Lazy Pig - Undisclosed Revolutionary 7 Step Adsense Marketing System. Convert $1 to $85 In Just 45 Days!
The AdSense Jerk - The Adsense Jerk, Totally loaded by using a 7 day Google Adsense System!
AdSense Cash
Highest Paying Adsense Keywords - Why settle for pennies when you could make over $50.00 per click with certain keywords!
Top Google Adsense Keywords - Top paying Adsense keywords - maximise your adsense income
AdSense PowerPack, Niche Riches
Latest Income Generating Marketing Tools - The Latest Tools to Generate a Massive Income - Learning and Earning from Google, AdSense, Blogs, Affiliates and your Computer
AdSense Gold-Your Fast Track To Profits - Triple your Ctr, skyrocket your Epc, track your clicks by search engine, referrer and more! Learn how to join the AdSense Elite.
Google Adsense Secrets - Second Edition - Incredible Google Adsense secrets revealed by Pro who earns over $500/day - Breakthrough best-selling eBook - Instant download!
Make More Money With Google Adsense - The guide to increasing your Adsense Income with Url Filtering
The Definitive Guide To Google AdSense - 43 Chapters, 101 pages+ of AdSense Insider Secrets with in-built $30 a time affiliate program
Google Adsense Keywords. Earn $1000/day - Boostup Your Adsense Revenue by Highest Paying Keywords ! Affiliates Earn $30+ Per Sale

Labels: adsense

Link Metro - free link and article exchange

Linkmetro (www.linkmetro.com) is a website setup by Brad Callen, who is famed for his "SEO Elite" software and SEO e-books. [SEO = search engine optimisation]. The basic principle is that by listing your website and your link text and any articles you may have written, other website owners can approach you for a link and/or article exchange.

Pros
- Free to join
- You have full control over which links you accept
- Simple way to link exchange with relevant sites, great for search engine rankings

Cons
- Can be time consuming manually entering the links (can upgrade to automated membership for about £10 per month)
- A lot of 'spammy' sites, not so good for search engine rankings

Labels: linking

Website Traffic Is Not The Key To Success

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Website traffic is deemed the single most important factor when it comes to the success of a website but that statement needs to be qualified. Although it's true that a constant stream of traffic is the lifeblood of a website, the quality of the traffic is far more important than the quantity.

Of course, any amount of website traffic is better than no traffic at all but even if you have the most perfect website, your site is doomed to fail if you are not getting visitors that are looking for the products or information you have available on your site.

It's easy to get caught up in a numbers game. It's exciting to see the number of visitors to your site climb from a few a day to a few hundred a day. On the surface, this looks like exactly what you want but if your visitors are looking for something other than what you are offering, for the most part, your website traffic is wasted.

You could have a great website design, compelling copy, the lowest prices and fantastic specials but all your efforts will be useless unless your website is drawing traffic that is interested in what you are providing or promoting.

What you need are visitors specifically interested in your product or service -- you need 'targeted traffic'.

Don't think of targeted traffic as a sub-category of website traffic because they really are two separate entities. If you're marketing plan is designed to drive as much website traffic as possible to your site, no matter what kind of traffic it is, then you're not making effective use of your time and you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

The web is a very different venue than a shopping mall. A shopping mall relies on unfocused traffic, wondering from store to store, not looking for anything in particular but willing to spend it's money on an impulse.

Believe it or not, people surfing the web will leave a website after viewing it for only about 2 seconds. They're looking for specific items or information and if they don't quickly find what they are looking for on your site, they'll click out of your site and go to one of the other millions of sites on the web.

That's why most of the successful websites are tightly focused on their 'niche' and their marketing plan is focused on driving people to their site that are looking for what they offer - they understand the importance of 'targeted traffic'.

Of course, targeted traffic and a website focused on a particular 'niche' go hand and hand. Think about your website. Does it really lend itself to a specific product or service, or is it so broad that it tends to confuse potential customers?

Here are a few tips to help you prepare your website for targeted traffic:

Design your website to promote one particular product or service as your main item.

Determine the type of people that will be interested in your product or service and adjust your website to be attractive to them.

Establish the items or services that are 'closely' related to what you're promoting on your website. If you think that they would be interesting to your visitors, offer those items on your website as well.

Keep a constant flow of free content, that your visitors will find useful, on your website and add new content and information often. Invite your visitors back to your site to see the new material you're constantly adding.

Keep in mind, a website that's focused on a particular 'niche' item or service lends itself to targeted traffic simply because there is something specific to target and the more targeted traffic your site receives, the more productive your site will be.

There are many conventional and many not so conventional ways to drive targeted traffic to your website but we'll explore them in other articles.

The purpose of this article is to point out the difference between website traffic and targeted traffic. More isn't always better and if you focus your marketing on 'targeted traffic' you'll quickly find that the hits your getting on your website aren't just empty numbers - they'll be potential customers and, more importantly, sales.

About The Author

Mike Burke is the author of numerous articles and has an affection for website marketing. Learn how to drive tons of targeted traffic to your site without spending a dime on advertising.

Visit us at http://www.starttheprofits.com

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To summarise - focus, refine and repeat! People are fed up of mass marketing, and as Mike mentioned, have a very short attention span when it comes to the Internet. The more relevant, and less 'spammy' your site, the better for your visitor and therefore the better for you.

Labels: seo

Does your site have a privacy policy?

Monday, January 09, 2006

If you have a non-personal website, but haven't yet put a privacy policy in place, make it a priority! As well as being a legal requirement, it invites trust from your site visitors, as they know exactly where they'll stand with regards to their information. It's not a long job as there are plenty of resources to help you.

Places to find sample policies include Business Link (UK site) and the Direct Marketing Association Privacy Policy Generator (US site).

Labels: legal, webdesign

Free Internet Marketing Courses

Thursday, January 05, 2006

If you've spent any time trying to work out how to make money from the Internet, you'll probably have come across Cody Moya. He has recently released five different Internet Marketing Courses, for free, that you receive daily by e-mail. After subscribing to a couple myself, I can recommend them, whether you're a complete "newbie" or more experienced on the net. They may seem a bit slow if you are more experienced, but revision never hurt anybody! So far, I've not come across any blatant links to purchase products either, which has boosted their integrity in my mind. Personally, I think there's nothing worse that a sales pitch disguised as something different!

The courses are:

Article Marketing

Earn As Affiliate

Web Site Traffic Generation

Internet Marketing

Find them all at http://freeinternetmarketingcourses.com/

Labels: biz

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