Register a Free Top Level Domain Name – Subdomains Can Damage Your Business

Everyone likes a good deal. It's even prudent to keep one's costs down. On the other hand, you can be so discounted that you cut your own throat.
In this article you will learn that why you should avoid registering a Free Sub-Domains name offered by free web hosting providers or internet service providers (ISP).


1. You Must Have Your Own Top Level Domain (TLD) Name


Do you want that your online business become successful? YES… than your website should unquestionably have its own top level domain (TLD) name. This means a name like yourcompany.com. It doesn't mean a sub-domain of someone else's domain name, such as yourcompany.someisp.com.


Occasionally persons dither to register a proper domain name because of cost, lack of familiarity, or indecision. However, now you can get your own top level domain for free even ‘free for life' by registering with one of the top web hosting providers you will learn this in the end of this article keep reading, and your own domain name can reap rich dividends.

A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or Internet address like (ignoring the http part) someisp.com/hosting-accounts/yourco/, or yourcompany.someisp.com, just doesn't look as professional as yourcompany.com, no one respect long free sub-domains even Google disrespect them.


Think about: If you put your URL on your letterheads, business cards, signs, etc, which Internet address looks more professional? Long sub-domain or professional top level domain name: if you mention your URL on your radio advertising or to a customer over the phone, which one will be easier to remember?


As well, what if your web host goes out of business or you make your mind up that you want to change to another hosting provider. Now, you need to inform everyone that you have now changed to yourcompany.someotherisp.com. You will moreover need to change all your stationery, signs, and advertising to reflect the change.


On the other hand, the domain name yourcompany.com could be transferred from one web host to another simply by informing your domain name registrar of the change.
Therefore, to avoid losing business and lay yourself open to unnecessary additional costs, be sure you have your own top level domain name.


"Summary"


Hope now you have learned the disadvantages of free sub-domain but did we mention that in fact it is possible to get a Free Top Level Domain yourcompany.com even Free For Life. Now you can register a Free Domain Name compare top web hosting providers find out which web host suits your website.


To remind; if you are really serious about starting a successful business than as an expert I suggest you avoid free sub-domains and register a Top Level Domain Name, let Word Wide Web and every one respect your business.


Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/domain-names-articles/register-a-free-top-level-domain-name-subdomains-can-damage-your-business-549383.html

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Cheap Domain Names

In order for people to access a website, they must first enter in its associated domain name.  This is a word or phrase that denotes the name of the site and/or summarizes what it is about.  Even free web hosting companies offer domain names, but there's an essential difference.  With free web hosting companies, the domain names offered are in the form of third level domain names.


This means their domain name must be included when a person is trying to access the third level domain.  The only problem with this is that it makes a domain name long and hard to remember.  For this reason it's best if a person considers just buying their own domain name.  And with the availability of cheap domain names, it is possible to get one that is very affordable.


Cheap domain names can range from being completely free to around $6.95.  Usually free domain names that are worth anything are included with a web hosting package.  So, a customer is technically still paying a fee.  The other types of domain names that require a fee can be purchased separately without a web hosting package.  The prices for these start at $1.00 and go up from there. 


When a person purchases a cheap domain name, the overall registration process is the same as it would be for regularly-priced domains.  This means that first they would have to see if their domain name is available.  To do this they must enter in their desired domain name in a special text box, then select the extension they want.  If the domain name is available, they are free to purchase it.  If it is not available, they will have to choose another domain name.  Cheap domain name companies will offer suggestions on alternative domain names when this scenario occurs. 


Are there any downsides to using cheap domain names?  Unfortunately, yes.  If a cheap domain name company is unscrupulous, a person may never receive a domain name at all.  What happens is the company tells the customer to wait a few days for the domain name to become active.  However, at the end of the timeframe, the domain name still doesn't work.  And since the company is unscrupulous anyway, emailing customer service won't do anything.


How can a person ensure they don't encounter a fraudulent cheap domain name company?  First and foremost they need to check to see if it is registered with the Better Business Bureau.  This is an organization that ensures businesses are operating in a legitimate manner.  Secondly, they need to see if the company has normal contact information, such as an address and a telephone number.  Thirdly, they should see if the company has a bad reputation on message board dedicated to webmasters.  Of course, one may not always get an opinion on a particular company but if they do they will know to stay clear of it. 


Yet, if a cheap domain name company is legitimate, there is no other disadvantage to getting a discounted domain name.  They work just like regularly priced domain names, so if a person has one available to them they definitely need to take advantage of it. 

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Choosing a Free Myspace Tracker

Finding a free tracker for myspace has become a hot topic amoung bloggers and disgruntled myspace users. We have tested and tried all of the free myspace trackers and have only found 1 that is worth our members' valuable time. Finding a worthy myspace tracker was a task in itself, and we can only hope that readers will utilize the information provided to make their decision. Please note that most of these myspace trackers are fake, contain spyware, exploit myspace security holes or are completely useless. Below is a list of fake myspace tracker services and their actual function.


Adware merchants such as Myfriendspy.com was one of the worst adware sites to hit the myspace community. This site tricked users into downloading spyware brought to you by 180 Solutions, Inc. However note, this site no longer distributes adware, at least not for the time being.


Fake Bulletin Websites: Spyspace, Viewtracker and other dumb tracker names are basically just a trick to get users to repost a bulletin to increase traffic. These are highly successful for the owner in terms to traffic production, however are frowned upon by myspacers everywhere. (example: www.ryanchunn.com) Do not participate in these as they only make you appear stupid.


Now that we have gotten the spamming scams out of the way, let's go over some of the tracking websites that actually provide tracking.


ProfilePeep is soon becoming one of the most popular profile trackers, not because of their features but because of their marketing efforts. The service and information this website provides is useless. It does not sort by visitors, but instead by hits. There is no incentive to upload photos and the geolocation database is weak. They do not provide tools for their members to get better results except for 1 link. They also reveal IP which is very neglegent. 95% of users cannot find use for IP. The other 5% would only use this information maliciously. Read Privacy Policy regarding what they do with your email.


WhosOnMyPage.com is probably the most useless of the tracking breed. This website provides less information than profilepeep and because of its status with Myspace is non-functional. Once insterting the code into your page, myspace.com automatically deletes the code, making this myspace tracker useless. This website rarely works. Read Privacy Policy.


WhosOnMyProfile.com is a sham and a scam. During registration you are forced to complete a survey which asks for personal information such as street address and phone number. Once completed you are brought to a screen that says 'The code no longer works on myspace.' This website is a scam and will steal your time as well as your contact information. Read their privacy policy.


Beyond these scams, shams and lies there is actually a free myspace tracker worth your precious time. The tracker that stands above there rest is definatly http://www.TheSpaceTracker.com. The Space Tracker provides comprehensive visitor tracking and traffic statistics. These statistics are of premium grade and help greatly with friend tracking, marketing or overall entertainment. This myspace tracker WILL NOT tell you who every single person that visits your site is, expecting this feature in any free tracker or paid tracker for that matter is unrealistic. But if you have some patience, The Space Tracker provides tools that greatly improve your tracking results with minimal participation. If you want a free tracker for myspace, TheSpaceTracker is it! No other tracker can currently sort visitors by time, consistancy, users, month, hour and geographical location. The space tracker is the only solution that actually offers some structure. Users can now control what information they reveal about themselves and in turn those settings dictate the information that is provided from results. For example, if a member does not have a photo uploaded, then that member will not be able to view photos in their tracker. This makes for a better community as it definatly entices action by the user. No other free myspace tracker has ever tried so hard to provide members with decent statistics. According to TheSpaceTracker.com's admin, they are trying their hardest not to get zapped by myspace by providing the most myspace compliant tracker available. This tracker was also mentioned in The Washington Post blog and has gotten great reviews across the board.


All in all, TheSpaceTracker the only myspace tracker worth joining. TheSpaceTracker does not spam, install spyware or steal your myspace information. A free tracker for myspace is hard to come by without the correct knowledge, but with some helpful tips your free tracker for myspace is just a click away!


http://www.thespacetracker.com


Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/free-articles/choosing-a-free-myspace-tracker-32239.html

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Outsourcing Search Engine Optimization Services to India

Achieve Top Rankings for Your Company's Website in Major Search Engines.

Focus is a byword with the majority of the companies right now. To attain these rankings inside the industry, which make you stand apart, outsourcing Seo services to India shows the way. It's a considerably better way towards the maintenance of one's official web site because it takes bulk of one's advertising and marketing burdens on itself. Regardless of how effective your in-house staff may be, it nonetheless takes for a expert to arrive at a logical resolution. For an organization, marketing and advertising could be the helpful tool to reach towards the masses and carve out a profitable industry for itself. The visibility factor of a organization is at play right here as well as a quantity of well-liked search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, Blekko and so on. result inside the purposeful search final results. Algorithms are an successful strategy to enhance the search engine rankings as well as to run an e-commerce site. Because the modifications are occurring at a rapid pace, it pays to get a web site to stand out amidst the list of productive search engine results.


Outsourcing Search engine optimization (seo) assists you in grasping the complexities of link building method within a fairly uncomplicated way. Management of the writing process as with the content is tied up with the profitable method with the enterprise. It really is because the content material is the informative way to catch hold with the visitor attention at the web. The Search engine marketing is an expert who understands every single project on the basis of your needs as well as elements involved inside the competitors and comes up with a sound approach. Outsourcing Search engine optimization services assists in keyword optimization, density, rewriting the text, description, meta tags. These are valuable tools for generating site visitors within the web sites. The style of each site is special to ensure that desired result is obtained and in this method browser control for Internet explorer, Fire fox, opera are involved. Outsourcing is accomplished with an eye on streamlining the method of company operations and consequently to save the surplus amounts which you'll be able to use in other valuable elements of company.


The seo processes entail marketing and advertising, promotion and ranking your website. Outsourcing Seo in India is a practical strategy to setup realistic goals for your business because the operate completed is very methodical in its approach. As the approach takes its time, the gap among undertaking the projects and finishing them is utilized in developing workable strategies for your firms. These help in raising the rankings of your web site as high as you possibly can by taking the support of link exchange campaigns. Every Search engine marketing campaign is therefore special requiring total website optimization. A search engine Optimizer has the main job of integrating various aspects like content optimization, search engine rankings and correct keyword choice using a host of skills for both on page and off page seo optimization.


Decreasing the expenses of the advertising campaign may be the main aim due to which, you're in a position to develop other priorities inside your organization. Outsourcing Search engine optimization services to India therefore is very profitable for the organization because it provides the permanent boost you badly demand. The advantages are many along with the guarantees of success, a promised factor. Select an Search engine optimization consultant who is an expert and well known for its abilities in website optimization in the online marketing. Via SEO outsourcing to India, you might be in a position to tank up your resources to additional objectives to get a profitable venture.

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5 Tips to Becoming a Work From Home Success

"I'm ready." You say. "I'm ready to do this work from home thing." I can see the glimmer of fear in your eyes, hear the slight shake in your voice.


It is o.k. I understand, you see, several years ago, I was where you are right now. My job got outsourced to a foreign country and I was faced with taking a demotion...starting all over again...or really giving working online a shot.


Hmmm...that was a while ago, looking back. 2007, it was. I didn't make my first dime until almost six months later. Since then, I've never really looked back.


When I remember how scary it was, to take such a risk, when I had so very much to lose, I sat down and decided to write you this list of 5 tips that will put you well on your way to becoming a work from home success story.


1. Set a Work Schedule and Stick to it.
This might sound overly simple, or obvious, but for those staying home for the first time, with no boss to motivate them, the basics are necessary to a strong foundation. Whether you are working in your spare time or full-time, once your set your schedule, try to focus your attention only on building your business during that time.


On the flip side, be sure to give yourself some down-time. It might seem like the longer you work the sooner you will achieve your goals, but, the opposite is often true. A tired mind makes mistakes. Mistakes can cost you time and money that you may not have in abundance.


2. Be Organized.
You will be glad you took the time to set up dated files when you have to search through 500 documents for one you wrote 6 months ago. If you have multiple clients, make a separate file for each one. When you need to invite a large group of potential partners, create a spreadsheet to simplify the task.


Another area to focus on is your time. If you have given yourself 4 hours a day to work on your business, you want to ensure that you get the highest return on that investment of time. What tasks will give you that result? Make sure you do them first.


3. Know what Motivates You
As time passes, you may find it harder and harder to keep yourself at a task. Do not let yourself be one of the thousands of business owners who quit right as they are on the brink of the "true" success that they desire.


The way to overcome this is to remind yourself why you are doing this in the first place. For some it is to prove themselves...others want...need...the financial rewards...and more do it for a loved one. Why ever you do it; keep reminding yourself when things get tough.


4. Know what Motivates Others


With this at the front of your mind, your message will come across loud and clear.


* What do your customers want? 
* What do your partners want?


Answer these two questions for your business. This is what you need to give them to achieve the success that you desire.


OR


Know and Budget Your Resources.
Time. Money. Assistance. If you have more of one resource than another, use it to gain what you need.


For example: Joann has a $50 a month budget and only 32 hours to work...she might decide to use what is left after paying her bills to buy an article pack with Private Label rights, to save her time for other tasks.


OR


Steve has just enough to cover operating costs and is willing to work as much as necessary...he's pulled an all-nighter before. He might choose to spend long hours garnering free traffic by clicking at manual traffic exchanges while he email-markets to his list to bring in revenue.


OR


Sherry has her business running on auto-pilot, she just needs to get things done in a timely manner. She might choose to spend some of her time and money to hire an assistant to see to the tasks.


Your situation will be specific to you. Take a bit of time to decide what you have and how you can use it to get what you need.


5. Run Your Business Like a Business.
You are not only the one answering the phone and the email and the hundred of messages on skype...you are also a business owner. This means setting up processes for getting things done as well as the doing of them.


When the phone rings, how do you answer it?


* Have you considered your company branding? 
* Do you sound professional? 
* What message will the caller get from your greeting?


Start Developing your company culture even if you operate alone. Larger businesses will respect you and smaller ones will look up to you. And when you are ready to expand to include others, your legitimacy will be firmly established.


These are my top 5 tips to follow, though I know that there are many others that are of value to a new or even established work from home business owner. They cover all of your basic groundwork so you can focus on growing your business the way you envision it.


So take a deep breath and go for it. You can be well on your way to becoming the next work from home success story.


About the author: Karen Gross is an article writer for the Affiliate Work Home resource web site. She has worked from home since 2007 and loves to share what she has learned with others. Please visit our web site to access the Free Marketing Membership & Newsletter.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Karen_Gross
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6984641

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Increasing Link Popularity

Search engines are the gateway to the Internet; they are
the first tool that potential customers use to find the
products and services they need. This is why link
popularity is so imperative. If the customers do not find
your website, you have no possibilities of making any
sales.


You're probably wondering what the blazes is popular about
a link! Well, in a word - plenty! Link popularity refers to
the ranking assigned to your website by the search engines,
and it determines the ranking your page gets when keywords
are entered into a search engine. So, you're probably
wondering, how do I make my link popular?


Search engines are discretionary, giving status and ranking
to sites that have links to their pages from related,
quality sites. It's a simple formula, but a very important
one. Google created the system, and now virtually all the
most popular search engines employ it to rank your web
pages in their indexes.


The more commonly used your keyword is, the harder it will
be to achieve link popularity, but without achieving this
step, it is almost certain your site will never rank highly
on any search engine. But don't be discouraged; there are
tried and true ways of achieving link popularity using the
most competitive keywords.


There are a few things you should be aware of. The first is
that just linking up with a large number of other websites
will not achieve link popularity. In fact, it may have
quite the opposite effect. This is particularly true when
pertaining to websites that are nothing more than "link
farms" - pages containing line after line of indiscriminate
links. Search engines may aggressively discriminate against
your website if you are associated with a link farm, so
steer clear of them!


The next thing to bear in mind is the quality of the site
you are linking to. Never link to a page you have
reservations about your visitors seeing. The last thing you
want your website to appear as is indiscriminate and cheap.
Linking to sites of poor quality will only lessen your link
popularity, if not completely destroy it.


So let's get to what you need to do to achieve supreme link
popularity and improve your rankings to stellar status on
all the popular search engines.


The first step, and the fastest way to get your foot in the
door, is to get a listing in a popular directory, such as
Open Directory Project and Yahoo. If your site is
business-related, you will want to be listed on Yahoo, and
despite the fact that it will cost you around $300 a year,
it will be money well spent. If your site is
non-commercial, the listing will be free, but it will take
time and follow-up to actually get it listed. Open
Directory is gives you a free listing whether you are
business-related or non-commercial, but be prepared to make
a lot of follow-up inquiries before you see your site
listed.


You are aiming to get listed in the highest level of
appropriate category, and this just takes some common
sense. For example, if your company ships Alpaca wool from
an Alpaca farm located in the middle of Nowhere, Tiny
State, do NOT submit your listing to "Retailers from
Nowhere, Tiny State." BIG MISTAKE! All you have to do is
look a little deeper - and submit your listing to the "Fine
Alpaca Wool" category. You will not only associate yourself
with culture and quality, but you will be listed in a
national category.


The next step after you have attained directory listings is
to locate other quality sites that will increase your link
popularity. Try to find sites that are in some way related
to yours, so not only will your link popularity increase,
but your customer base may also be expanded. You want to
avoid your competitors and look for sites that are useful
to your site's visitors. Let's look at the Alpaca Wool site
example. Linking up to a site that sells knitting supplies
would be helpful to your visitors, and the chances of the
knitting supply site wanting to link up to your site are
also greater. By linking to a related site that will be
relevant to your website's traffic, you are increasing both
of your site's business prospects - and both of your sites'
link popularity.


Not all sites want to link to other sites, so you will have
to do some research when you are looking for possible
linking partners. Google is an excellent starting place for
your search. Make sure you enter keywords that you think
quality customers will also enter to find your own site.
Remember, your criteria are quality, highly ranked,
non-competing websites that have a links or resources page.
Go to these sites and objectively assess them. Look at the
quality of the product, the graphics, and the ease of use.
Then check out the other sites they are linked to, and
determine if your own site would fit in with the crowd.


When you decide you have found a good prospect, you must
set out to woo them. The first thing to do is to add a link
on your own links page to their site. This is an essential
first step; it shows good faith, and ups your chances
significantly of their reciprocity. After you have added
their link, you must contact the webmaster of their site.
Since this is almost always done by email, you want to make
sure it is immediately clear that your message is not junk
mail. This requires that you tell them right off the bat
that you have added a link to their page on your site. A
hook like this almost always insures the reader will read
on.


Next, be sure to be flattering and let them know how much
you appreciate their website. Make sure you emphasize that
you have actually visited their site, and that their site
is not just a random pick. Give them the address of your
links page, and ask them to check out the link for
themselves. It's a good idea to mention that they will not
only benefit from the increased traffic your website will
direct their way, but you will also increase their link
popularity. Briefly, explain why link popularity is so
essential, but do this in a sentence or two so you don't
sound like a professor! Finally, tell them you would
greatly appreciate if they would reciprocally add a link on
their own links page to your website.


Go through this process with as many appropriate sites as
you can find, bearing in mind the criteria of quality and
non-competitiveness. After you have emailed all relevant
sites, be sure to check these website frequently to see if
they have added a link to your page. Give it about a month,
and if no link appears, try another charming email. Then
give it another month, and if your site is still absent
from their links page, it's time to remove their link from
your own links page. The only time you want to pursue a
link further than this is if you believe a site is crucial
to your link popularity and your business needs. Just
remember to keep all your communications complimentary and
cordial.


Then set up a schedule to check your ranking in search
engines frequently to see if your link popularity has
improved. This is not achievable in the blink of an eye. It
will take some time and a good deal of work. There is no
way around the labor-intensive quality of improving your
link popularity, which is why search engines regard it with
such importance.


By the way - make sure you have a beautiful, streamlined
site or you will never persuade anyone to link up to you.
Be prepared to keep plugging away at this process, as long
as it takes, until you achieve link popularity stardom!

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Increasing Your Search Engine Ranking

The methods employed to increase your search engine
rankings may seem like rocket science to you, so you have
probably avoided dealing with this issue. I am here to tell
you - the time has come to face your website! A high search
engine ranking for your website is so essential that if you
have the slightest desire to actually succeed in your
business, there is no way you can continue to avoid this
issue.


At least 85% of people looking for goods and services on
the Internet find websites through search engines such as
Google, Yahoo, and MSN. The idea of optimizing your pages
for high search engine rankings is to attract targeted
customers to your site who will be more than likely to make
a purchase. The higher your page comes up in search engine
results, the greater the traffic that is directed to your
website. That's what search engine optimization is about.


You can immerse yourself in all the technical information
available online to figure out how to optimize your web
pages to achieve higher rankings. Or you can look at a few
simple items on your pages, make some small adjustments,
and most likely see improved rankings quite rapidly. The
first item you should examine is the title bar on your
homepage.


The title bar is the colored bar at the top of the page.
Look at the words that appear there when you access your
home page. To increase search engine rankings, the words on
your homepage's title bar should include the most important
keywords or phrases, one of which would include your
company name.


Then click on all your links and examine the title bars on
the pages you access. Each title bar on every single page
of your site should contain the most important keywords and
phrases taken from the page itself. However, avoid very
long strings of keywords, keeping them to six words or
less. Avoid repeating keywords more than once in the title
bars, and make sure that identical words are not next to
each other.


The next item to put under your microscope is your website
content. Search engines generally list sites that contain
quality content rather than scintillating graphics. The
text on your site must contain the most important keywords
- the words that potential customers will be typing into
search engines to find your site.


Aim to have around 250 words on each page, but if this is
not desirable due to your design, aim for at least 100
carefully chosen words. If you want to achieve a high
ranking on search engines, this text is essential. However,
the search engines must be able to read the text, meaning
that the text must be in HTML and not graphic format.


To find out if your text is in HTML format, take your
cursor and try to highlight a word or two. If you are able
to do this, the text is HTML. If the text will not
highlight, it is probably in graphic form. In this case,
ask your webmaster to change the text into HTML format in
order to increase your search engine rankings.


Next we come to what is called meta tags. I know this
sounds like something out of science fiction, but it is
really just simple code. Many people believe that meta tags
are the key to high search engine rankings, but in reality,
they only have a limited effect. Still, it's worth adding
them in the event that a search engine will use meta tags
in their ranking formula.


To find out if your page is set up with meta tags, you must
access the code. To do this, click the "view" button on the
browser menu bar, and select "source." This will pull up a
window revealing the underlying code that created the page.
If there are meta tags, they usually appear near the top of
the window. For example, a meta tag would read: meta
name="keywords" content=. If you do not find code that
reads like this, ask your webmaster to put them in. This
may not do much for your search engine rankings, but any
little boost helps.


Lastly, we come to the issue of link popularity. This is a
factor that is extremely important in terms of search
engine rankings. Almost all search engines use link
popularity to rank your website. Link popularity is based
on the quality of the sites you have linked to from your
links page.


If you type in "free link popularity check" in a popular
search engine, the search engine will then show you what
sites are linked to your site. In the case that there
aren't many sites linked up to yours, or that the sites
that are linked up have low search engine rankings,
consider launching a link popularity campaign. Essentially,
this entails contacting quality sites and requesting that
they exchange links with your site. Of course, this
requires checking out the rankings of the websites you want
to link up with. Linking to popular, quality sites not only
boosts your search engine ranking, but it also directs more
quality traffic to your website.


Search engine rankings are extremely important for a
successful Internet marketing campaign. Before you go out
and hire a search engine optimization company, try taking
some of the simple steps listed above, and see if you can't
boost your rankings yourself. Don't ever ignore this
all-important factor in Internet marketing. Remember, the
higher your search engine ranking, the more quality
customers will be directed your way.

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Search Engine Keywords Selection

Search engines are the vehicles that drive potential
customers to your websites. But in order for visitors to
reach their destination - your website - you need to
provide them with specific and effective signs that will
direct them right to your site. You do this by creating
carefully chosen keywords.


Think of the right keywords as the Open Sesame! of the
Internet. Find the exactly right words or phrases, and
presto! hoards of traffic will be pulling up to your front
door. But if your keywords are too general or too
over-used, the possibility of visitors actually making it
all the way to your site - or of seeing any real profits
from the visitors that do arrive - decreases dramatically.


Your keywords serve as the foundation of your marketing
strategy. If they are not chosen with great precision, no
matter how aggressive your marketing campaign may be, the
right people may never get the chance to find out about it.
So your first step in plotting your strategy is to gather
and evaluate keywords and phrases.


You probably think you already know EXACTLY the right words
for your search phrases. Unfortunately, if you haven't
followed certain specific steps, you are probably WRONG.
It's hard to be objective when you are right in the center
of your business network, which is the reason that you may
not be able to choose the most efficient keywords from the
inside. You need to be able to think like your customers.
And since you are a business owner and not the consumer,
your best bet is to go directly to the source.


Instead of plunging in and scribbling down a list of
potential search words and phrases yourself, ask for words
from as many potential customers as you can. You will most
likely find out that your understanding of your business
and your customers' understanding is significantly
different.


The consumer is an invaluable resource. You will find the
words you accumulate from them are words and phrases you
probably never would have considered from deep inside the
trenches of your business.


Only after you have gathered as many words and phrases from
outside resources should you add your own keyword to the
list. Once you have this list in hand, you are ready for
the next step: evaluation.


The aim of evaluation is to narrow down your list to a
small number of words and phrases that will direct the
highest number of quality visitors to your website. By
"quality visitors" I mean those consumers who are most
likely to make a purchase rather than just cruise around
your site and take off for greener pastures. In evaluating
the effectiveness of keywords, bear in mind three elements:
popularity, specificity, and motivation.


Popularity is the easiest to evaluate because it is an
objective quality. The more popular your keyword is, the
more likely the chances are that it will be typed into a
search engine which will then bring up your URL.


You can now purchase software that will rate the popularity
of keywords and phrases by giving words a number rating
based on real search engine activity. Software such as
WordTracker will even suggest variations of your words and
phrases. The higher the number this software assigns to a
given keyword, the more traffic you can logically expect to
be directed to your site. The only fallacy with this
concept is the more popular the keyword is, the greater the
search engine position you will need to obtain. If you are
down at the bottom of the search results, the consumer will
probably never scroll down to find you.


Popularity isn't enough to declare a keyword a good choice.
You must move on to the next criteria, which is
specificity. The more specific your keyword is, the greater
the likelihood that the consumer who is ready to purchase
your goods or services will find you.


Let's look at a hypothetical example. Imagine that you have
obtained popularity rankings for the keyword "automobile
companies." However, you company specializes in bodywork
only. The keyword "automobile body shops" would rank lower
on the popularity scale than "automobile companies," but it
would nevertheless serve you much better. Instead of
getting a slew of people interested in everything from
buying a car to changing their oil filters, you will get
only those consumers with trashed front ends or crumpled
fenders being directed to your site. In other words,
consumers ready to buy your services are the ones who will
immediately find you. Not only that, but the greater the
specificity of your keyword is, the less competition you
will face.


The third factor is consumer motivation. Once again, this
requires putting yourself inside the mind of the customer
rather than the seller to figure out what motivation
prompts a person looking for a service or product to type
in a particular word or phrase. Let's look at another
example, such as a consumer who is searching for a job as
an IT manager in a new city. If you have to choose between
"Seattle job listings" and "Seattle IT recruiters" which do
you think will benefit the consumer more? If you were
looking for this type of specific job, which keyword would
you type in? The second one, of course! Using the second
keyword targets people who have decided on their career,
have the necessary experience, and are ready to enlist you
as their recruiter, rather than someone just out of school
who is casually trying to figure out what to do with his or
her life in between beer parties. You want to find people
who are ready to act or make a purchase, and this requires
subtle tinkering of your keywords until your find the most
specific and directly targeted phrases to bring the most
motivated traffic to you site.


Once you have chosen your keywords, your work is not done.
You must continually evaluate performance across a variety
of search engines, bearing in mind that times and trends
change, as does popular lingo. You cannot rely on your log
traffic analysis alone because it will not tell you how
many of your visitors actually made a purchase.


Luckily, some new tools have been invented to help you
judge the effectiveness of your keywords in individual
search engines. There is now software available that
analyzes consumer behavior in relation to consumer traffic.
This allows you to discern which keywords are bringing you
the most valuable customers.


This is an essential concept: numbers alone do not make a
good keyword; profits per visitor do. You need to find
keywords that direct consumers to your site who actually
buy your product, fill out your forms, or download your
product. This is the most important factor in evaluating
the efficacy of a keyword or phrase, and should be the
sword you wield when discarding and replacing ineffective
or inefficient keywords with keywords that bring in better
profits.


Ongoing analysis of tested keywords is the formula for
search engine success. This may sound like a lot of work -
and it is! But the amount of informed effort you put into
your keyword campaign is what will ultimately generate your
business' rewards.

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Selecting a Search Engine Optimization Company

A Search Engine Optimization Company can be an invaluable
asset in your Internet marketing campaign. They specialize
in knowing how to raise your search engine positions,
monitoring those positions on the regular basis, and
adjusting their strategies to account for undesirable
results in any given month. Since this takes a lot of time,
effort, and specialized knowledge, it can be in your best
interest to go to an outside source rather than try to
maintain high search engine positions on your own.


However, like every business, there are good companies and
there are lemons. Knowing the right questions to ask and
the criteria to look for will help you in choosing an
affordable, effective search engine optimization company.


When looking at different companies, begin by considering
the approach they employ to raise your search engine
positions. Steer clear of companies that use cloaked,
doorway, or bridge pages to raise your positions. These
techniques violate most search engine policy, and in the
worst case scenario, will only get your website severely
penalized, if not removed entirely from a search engine's
index.


A cloaked page is a page that is created which is invisible
to the regular visitor to your website. The cloaked page is
coded to detect a search engine spider and divert them to
this special page, which is set-up to artificially boost
your search engine position. Doorway or bridge pages
utilize the same concept, but often reside on an entirely
different server. Google, one of the largest and most
important search engine on the Internet, will remove your
website from their index if they detect you have cloaked
pages. Never, never employ any company that uses this
technique!


Another important element is to get a guarantee that the
company you hire will not work with your competitors while
they are working for you. Obviously, this would seriously
compromise the effectiveness of the search engine
optimization campaign. Be aware that some companies will
use the success they achieve for your website to sell their
services to your competitors. So get your guarantee in
writing, and make sure it is legally binding.


Of course, one of the most important factors you want to
check out is the company's track record of results.
However, don't take the company's word for it. They will
undoubtedly be slanting their results in order to sell
their services to you. To go beyond their simple statement
of success, ask them a few pertinent questions, and verify
their answers.


Ask them which engines they have achieved the best results
on. The ones that are important are the most popular
engines, and these are the ones you want to see good
results on. Since the popularity of search engines can
change with the landscape of the overall Internet, check
out the Nielsen Netratings page at Search Engine Watch. You
can access this at
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/article.php/2156451.


Next, find out what keywords and phrases they are claiming
great results with. It's easy to get high rankings with
unpopular words. For instance, the keyword "cat leashes"
will get high popularity ranking because no one else would
think of using it. What you are looking for is good results
using popular keywords. Check out the software Wordtracker,
available at www.wordtracker.com. You can order a free
trial, or a subscription ranging from 1 day to 1 year. This
software rates the popularity of keywords and phrases based
on actual search engine use.


Next, look for good results over an entire site that the
company claims to have successfully worked for. You want to
see a wide range of positions over a number of different
search engines using different keywords or phrases for the
entire site. Request a report for any client the company
claims to have done well for. This report should show good
positions on a number of the most popular search engines
for a variety of different, popular keywords and phrases.


When you are checking out search engine optimization
companies, make sure they have actually done the work they
are claiming to have done. Some companies will use other
company's results in order to get you to sign on with them.
If you are in doubt, call the company they are showing you
results for, and ask for the name of their search engine
optimization company.


It's important to keep in mind that a successful search
engine optimization campaign will result in maximum
exposure across a wide range of popular search engines
using a variety of keywords and phrases. This is the
formula for a successful campaign, and you should keep it
always in the forefront of your marketing strategy.


Ask the search engine optimization company you are
considering for a report that shows you rankings across a
number of popular search engines for a period of at least
six months. Remember: search engine marketing is a process
that is continual, and you need a company that not only
understands this, but keeps constant tabs on your search
engine positions. That company must also be able to adjust
its strategy in the event that search engine rankings drop.


Since search engine marketing is an on-going process, your
positions must be constantly monitored. If you want your
search engine optimization company to do this for you,
request a sample of a monthly report. It is essential that
this report should show rankings for the most popular
search engines. Don't be impressed by a report that only
shows great results for a limited number of small search
engines. These are fairly easy results to acquire. Also
confirm that the popular search engine results they are
showing you are indeed the popular search engines
currently.


Be sure the sample report the company shows you is in a
format that you can easily understand. For example, it
could be in the form of a chart that covers a period of at
least six months and presents data such as the top 50
positions broken down on a monthly basis or the top 5 pages
each month. Then, ascertain that the company you are
considering actually monitors these positions or pages
every month, and that the sample report they show you
includes findings and recommendations for the specific
site. This insures that the company will actively monitor
and make adjustments to their strategy on a continual basis
rather than simply gather statistics on your positions. You
need a company that is actively participant in your search
engine marketing campaign, not just an information
gatherer.


Obviously, your finances have to figure into your choice of
company, but bear in mind that a search engine optimization
company is crucial the success of your marketing campaign.
It is not just a casual accessory. If you cannot afford a
company that will do a thorough and reliable job for your
website, you might consider waiting until you do have the
finances in place.


If you have to find a company and can't wait for your
finances to catch up, you may be able to find an affordable
company that will also be able to supply quality, reliable
work, such as a fairly new company. Just remember that
there are risks involved with using a company without a
proven track record - and that risk is your money! Don't
take that leap unless the company can supply you with a
least a few references.


References are the most reliable indicator of a good
company. Don't use a company that won't show your
references because of any reason, confidentiality included.
Remember - even doctors will provide references! The firm
you choose should provide you with a minimum of two
references, one that is from the past, and one that is
current.


When you contact these references, be prepared to ask
precise, specific questions so that neither of your time is
wasted. Ask them what their experience was like with the
company, such as their availability to answer questions and
deal with problems and their ability to meet deadlines. Ask
the reference to rate the overall performance of the
company.


Find out if the company requested that the reference make
significant changes to their web pages that affected the
visitors coming to their site. You are looking for a search
engine optimization company that can balance the needs of
both search engines and site visitors without compromising
either.


The most essential question to ask is whether the work of
the search engine optimization company resulted in higher
profits for the reference. Without profits, it doesn't
matter whether your positions are at the top of the list or
not.

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