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Blogging – Ways To Improve Visibility

Minggu, 26 Oktober 2008


Let’s say for the sake of argument that you have a business blog. You have participated in online forums in your industry and now want to pass along information in a more personally directed format.

Your blog is new and site visits are not as strong as you would like. You post a link to your blog in the signature line of forum posts, but you are still hoping more people will drop by.

Starting a business blog can be a bit like starting a website – it can take a while for it to gain a following or even for search engines to index and rank the blog site.

There are a couple of things you can do to improve the visibility of your business blogging missives.

1) Duplicate posts on one or more social media blog. This idea is useful when you have social media pages that include the ability to blog. Your presence on these sites may align you with a different audience than those who might visit your primary blogging site. In many cases you can cut and paste information and allow it to reach out to other potential customers.

With the linking capability in social media it is entirely possible your blog may be visited by those outside your network of friends as visitors click from one profile to the next in search of something interesting. Perhaps they will find something used on your social media blog.

2) Use your established connections on forums or message boards to your advantage. Beyond simply placing a link in the signature line of your forum posts make sure to see if there is a ‘water cooler’ or ‘open line’ section on your favorite forums. If so you have the capability of posting a summary or teaser in those general discussion areas with a link to your blog. This may resonate with those who are already familiar with your personality on the forum and they may be inclined to learn from your expertise. Make sure you abide by the rules of any forum you may use to implement this strategy.

You may encounter forums that do not allow outside links in posts or any posts that gives the hint of being business oriented. Know the rules of the forum before you utilize this strategy.

Your business blog can be an important way to reach out to others. This is true for those who may already know of your business as well as others who convey trust based on the sense of trust already extended by other forum members.

In essence you can use social media and forums to grow your blog presence as you wait for search engines to help make it easier for others to find you online.

The growth of business blogging would seem to be a strong indicator that this form of information marketing is not only a valuable resource, but also a great way to improve site traffic to your primary business site.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies remain the most useful key in the visibility of any site, but while you wait why not use every available tool at your disposal. In this case that would be forum and social media for improved blogging visibility.

by: Scott Lindsay



MAKE YOUR BUSINESS WITH "CLICK"

Sabtu, 25 Oktober 2008

PPC stands for Pay Per Click - a popular advertising technique on the Internet. Found on websites, advertising networks, and especially on search engines, PPC advertising involves sponsored links that are typically in the form of text ads. These are usually placed close to search results, where an advertiser pays a particular amount to visitors who click on these links or banners and land on the advertiser's web page.

In essence, PPC advertising is all about bidding for the top or leading position on search engine results and listings. Advertisers do this by buying or bidding on keyword phrases that are relevant to their products or services - the higher the bid, the higher the spot on the search results, the more the people will find the ad (and click on it) to go to their websites (this is why some people call it "keyword auctioning"). Advertisers would then pay the bidding price every time a visitor clicks through the website.

PPC advertising is also known under the following names/variations:

· Pay per placement
· Pay per performance
· Pay per ranking
· Pay per position
· Cost per click (CPC)

PPC advertising is usually done with the following standard procedures:

1. Setting up an account and/or deposit funds.

2. Creating a keyword list.

3. Choosing (and setting up) an account with a PPC search engine.

4. Bidding on the ad placement, including the search result words or phrases.

5. Writing out an ad copy.

6. Setting up the 'landing pages' for your ads.

7. Placing the advertisement in the search engine.



There are many benefits to Pay Per Click advertising, making it an effective way of promoting a business 'online'. Some of them are listed below:

· Get launched immediately. PPC advertisements are implemented very quickly - they can go 'online' within an hour after winning the bid and paying for it.

· Obtain specific, pre-qualified, and quality traffic. PPC provides you with a quality or a well-targeted traffic. Visitors are narrowed down into 'qualified' people who are actually looking for specific products and/or services that you offer - those who are more likely to become a 'lead' (a convert) and complete a transaction (either by buying your product or subscribing to the service that you are offering.

· Widen your reach. PPC advertising provides additional traffic to your site, aside from the natural or "organic" search engines.

· Track your investment. PPC advertising makes use of a tracking system that will determine exactly who comes to the website and what they do once they arrive - the length of their stay on the site and the number of pages (including the actual pages) that they view. These are valuable tools in determining statistics such as return on investment (ROI), acquisition cost-per-visitor, and conversion rates (the percentage of visitors who are converted into customers or leads).

Below are some important things to consider when planning on a pay per click campaign:

1. Know your product. Take an inventory of the product and/or services that you have to offer (before anything else).

2. Stay within the budget. Determine your daily or monthly budget; and stay with it. This means keeping your budget in mind, avoiding bidding wars if possible.

3. Bid just right. Know how to bid right - a bid that is too high can exhaust all of your money, while a bid that is too low can make you lose that spot.

4. Watch the bottom line. Measure your profit margin against your spending or expenses. Know when to stop and terminate your PPC program - if you spend more on advertising but have little or no sales at all.

5. Find the right keywords. Decide which keyword phrases to opt and bid for. Do some keyword research, either by actually looking at existing search terms or with the use of online keyword suggestion tools, to know which terms are mostly used when searching for items that are related to your business. Focus on specific keywords, not on general ones.

6. Write effective ads. A good PPC ad is that which can persuade and move a searcher. There are several approaches to this:

· Discount offers
· Testimonials
· Celebrity/famous endorsers
· Money-back guarantees
· Free trials or sample offers
· Freebies
· Reverse psychology
· Major benefits ("Lose weight")
· Direct instructions ("Click here")

7. Maintain a professional-looking site. Your web content should be regularly updated and checked for spelling and grammatical errors. There should be no broken links or images. The website should be simple - designed in such a way that it will be easy for visitors to navigate and load. Include contact details to create a good impression among potential customers.

Done properly, PPC advertising can be an effective marketing tool that will maximize the return on your investment.