by Nick Throlson | Dec 7, 2012 | Guest Post, Web Design
Through your ecommerce website, you likely have grand dreams of turning a large, steady profit. An ecommerce website acts as a virtual storefront, and when effective, it can entice consumers to make purchases and can process a sales transaction without effort required on your part. However, in order to be effective, an ecommerce site has to receive focused traffic. Many savvy website owners have decided to use a blog to drive traffic to their website and generate interest. Here are a few secrets that you can put to use to enjoy better results from your blogging efforts.
1. Make Regular Posts
One of the key benefits associated with blogging is that it can boost your website?s search engine rankings. Search engine rankings are determined by several factors, and two of those factors are the age of your posts and the frequency that new posts are added to the site. In order to enjoy the benefits of a business blog, you will need to make at least two to three new posts per week. You can write these yourself, or you can outsource the work to a freelance writer.
2.Use SEO
Your blog posts should be written with SEO strategies applied. You should research the top keywords that customers are searching for when looking for your company?s offerings. Then, target these keywords in your writing. Each post does not have to focus purely on those topics, but the words can be intermingled throughout the text to boost search engine rankings when the words are queried.
3.Evoke an Emotional Response
The best blog posts may be written with SEO strategies in mind, but they also are written with the knowledge that your potential consumers will be reading them. With this in mind, they should be written in a manner to create an emotional response to buy The best blog posts will stir emotions that may relate to the desire to have the latest and greatest equipment, to look beautiful and stylish, to provide for a family, and other related emotional responses.
4.Show Value
Customers may want to buy what you are offering, but they also want to know that they are getting a great deal on their purchase. Consider using your blog posts to describe key features that make you products better than the rest, to talk about sales and promotional offers, to describe how these products can save a consumer money or time with use and other value-added benefits.
5.Address Your Customers? Needs
Consider what needs your customers have when buying your products and create blog posts that describe the needs as well as how the products fill those needs. If your products are functional in nature, such as if you are selling vacuums on your ecommerce site, this may not be difficult to do. If your products are luxury items, you will have to appeal to the perception of needs or to emotions. For example, a customer may buy a luxury watch because of the desire to look distinguished or to enjoy the finer things in life.
Your ecommerce website?s blog can be put to great use to drive traffic to your website and to convince customers to make a purchase. Put these secrets of blogging to use today, and watch the incredible results take hold!
Written by Warney Boyd
Warney writes about small business tips. He recently attended a business presentation by?Brett Kelly??the CEO of?Kelly+Partners in Sydney, and found him to be one of the most motivational?speakers he has come across.?
by Nick Throlson | Dec 6, 2012 | Guest Post, SEO, Web Design
The growth of the Internet has been staggering, and many companies are able to survive solely off of traffic and conversions generated online. Achieving a sustainable stream of revenue, however, requires work and dedication. The best way to achieve result, however, is to hone a website for attracting eyeballs and converting visitors as effectively as possible. Here are five tips for achieving this goal.
1. Run a blog
A website must be the central location of an online campaign, but it needs other properties to support it. One of the best properties is a blog. While website content must be carefully crafted, blogs allow website developers more freedom. By encouraging those who visit the blog to visit the main website consistently but not incessantly, blogs can be a great way to generate the traffic necessary to succeed.
2. Launch a forum
One of the best ways to attract attention is to foster an online community. While forums are widely considered to be old web technology, they are still incredibly popular, those who can create a top forum in particular field will generate significant traffic. Forums are also self-sustaining, and they will continue generating more traffic once they reach a critical mass.
3. Integrate social media
In the past, most Internet users would first load a major search engine when getting online. Today, however, many start with social media. Because of this, those who want to attract attention must have a social media presence. By creating informative, interesting posts, website operators can leverage the power of social media to fuel a website's popularity. Further, good post will likely be shared by followers, which can spread a company or brand name across social media ecosystem.
4. Each page should encourage a sale
Websites must be informative, but the purpose of most websites is to generate revenue. When crafting each page, special attention should be paid to ensuring that it encourages visitors to purchase a product or service. It is important to be subtle, however, as being too pushy can cause visitors to look elsewhere. It is also important to remember that sales do not have to occur instantly, and an effective website will encourage those who did not buy a product or service today to come back and reconsider making a purchase tomorrow.
5. SEO from day one
Many website operators create a website and then worry about SEO. While SEO can be successfully added to website, and as far more effective to consider SEO from the beginning. By finding target keyboards before creating any content, those who run websites can prepare themselves to skyrocket up the search engines. Today, search engine algorithms place an emphasis on good content over the sheer number of links a website has, so creating top-notch content and honing it for SEO is becoming increasingly important.
The web is highly competitive, but the rewards for those who succeed can be high. By taking time to create the best website possible and giving it useful, supportive Internet properties, website operators can increase their odds of succeeding.
Written by Monica Chamber
Monica is an online marketing
specialist and also teaches part-time in Google?Adwords course??in Sydney. Monica has worked in New York for five years in a national search marketing agency prior to relocation to Australia.
by Nick Throlson | Oct 25, 2012 | Guest Post
Log on to your computer and?you've?got the world at your fingertips; but as you know, the world is full of both good and bad things. If you don?t use the internet wisely, it could come back to haunt you. Here are three important lessons on the rule of responsible computer use.
1.) Don?t Take Your Passwords Lightly
To say that your password needs to be unique is an understatement. Use a variety of characters?letters, numbers, and even symbols, if it?s allowed. Make it something specific to YOU and nobody else! Stay away from words or numbers that you know people would probably guess first, like your birthday or your middle name.
Just as important as the good passwords are the bad ones. In fact, if you do a simple web search, you will see compiled lists of the most common (and easy to guess) password names?in other words, ones that you should never, ever use. Some of the most popular ones include:
- (a) ?password?
- (b) your username for that account
- (c) any consecutive numbers or letters (12345, abc, etc.)
Here?s another great pointer: Change your passwords every so often. By doing this, you?re more efficiently protecting yourself from hackers. Maybe you update it once a month or once every other month.
2.) A Truth about Virus Protection Scanning
Regularly running a virus scan on your computer can be a huge help; but know the limitations. First of all, running two scans simultaneously actually works?counter productively? so don?t do it! Secondly, always remember that these scans don?t pick up everything, so it?s vital to practice safe internet use in order to avoid bugs.
There are some downsides to using virus scanners, like the costs of renewal and scam programs masquerading as protection programs. Also, scanners can sometimes recognize programs as viruses when they really?aren't. You go and remove them, and your computer can?t function anymore.
When in doubt, choose judiciously. Don?t assume that just any old program is safe to use. Read online reviews, ask your friends, and contact the computer experts. Some are better than others.
3.) The Footprints You Leave Behind?
A lot of people don?t like to believe this, but it?s true: Once you put something on the internet, it will always be there. It?doesn't?matter if you delete it. Somewhere out there in the World Wide Web, it still exists. Plus, with the diffusion of information down to less than a second, you won?t be able to see it before potentially millions of people can access it.
Long story short, if you?re not positive you want the world to see it, don?t post it!
The dangers lurking behind your computer screen can be intimidating, but if you click and type with caution, you?ll stand a better chance of staying out of harm?s way!
George Travis writes for several tech blogs and recommends finding out how to transfer files here on the internet.
by Nick Throlson | Oct 16, 2012 | Guest Post
Recently, Matt Cutts answered a question sent to him about the future effectiveness of guest blogging. That question is certainly not a new one, as a lot of SEO professionals use guest blogging as an effective link building tool, and have long wondered about how long it will remain effective. What is the most poignant part of this debate is that while there is a link building strategy behind guest blogging, it is also a very legitimate resource. What is important to remember is how to remain effective as a guest blogger to make sure that your efforts aren't made irrelevant. To do this, guest bloggers really need to follow the rules that have been around the entire time of guest blogging. You have to avoid spinning articles, writing low value and low word articles, and remember to put effort into your posts. If you do all these things, your guest posting efforts will not go to waste.
No Article Spinning
This, again, is nothing new. Spinning articles (slightly rewording an article to get it reaccepted) has never been an acceptable way of guest blogging and getting links. Not only are you hurting your link building campaign, but you are also hurting the sites that you post on. This not only will get your links unnoticed by Google, but you are also running the risk of of getting your links penalized. Furthermore, if you spin articles, places will not want you to post on their site. This will kill your guest posting quicker than anything else; not having a site to write for.
Avoid Low Word Count Articles
This is another tactic that will hurt your guest posting very quickly. Google sees really short articles as simply link bait, and does not give your link credits.The fact is there are article “farms” out there that spin out these articles to simply put links out there. If you want to differentiate yourself from these writers, then you have to make sure that your articles are substantial. There are certain topics that are?inherently short in nature, and in that case you have to make sure you exhaust the topic. Most blogs have word limits anyways, but even if they don't, or have low word limitations, make sure you go above and beyond the limits.
High Quality
This also seems like a no-brainer, but you have to make sure that you put full effort into your articles. This means that if it takes some time and rewrites, make sure you are putting out the best quality you can. With the newer Google updates, the crawlers have gotten better about picking up on content. Part of this is in an effort to make sure that your content is relevant to any links in the body. It is also a way to try and qualify what is in your article. This has made it even more important to make sure you churn out the best content you can, and to get all the benefits from your writing.
So in short, guest blogging is not dead, but it has become a lot tougher to pull off. In a way, this is a good thing for us quality guest writers. With all the other stuff out of the way, our content comes to shine, and credit is given where it is deserved. There will always be benefits for guest blogging if you put in your time and effort. With crackdowns like this though, it's good to know that what we see online has become more legitimate.
BIll Thomas is an SEO blogger and content creator for?Aspire Direct. He enjoys writing, and always emphasizes the importance of quality content.
by Nick Throlson | Jun 23, 2012 | Guest Post, Web Design
When it comes to being an entrepreneur, you need every tool at your disposal to succeed. Millions of people will start their own companies this year, and most of them will fail. Of the ones that do succeed, many of them will be gone within a few years. Give yourself the advantages that you need to prevail in today's competitive marketplace with one simple task that will help your start up succeed.
Marketing is the facet of entrepreneurship that many new businesses overlook. They pump money into fancy inventory, snazzy signage, custom built websites and fancy business cards. They spend money on supplies and frills, but cut back in the area that is the lifeline of any business. The one simple task that will divide the line between success and failure is marketing. It doesn't matter if you have great products or can perform a great service if nobody knows you exist.
Marketing your business can be easy if you know the rules of the road for an Internet business. The first step is to make your website visible to the search engines. As this is often the first stop that shoppers make when they search for a product. If your website is buried on page five of the search results, then you're not likely to get many visitors. An SEO company UK can design a custom plan for getting your business the maximum search engine visibility that will send clients to your site.
There are many marketing tips & tools that will help bring more customers to your business. The first step is to add new content. This may seem obvious, but there are many businesses out there that have outdated information on their sites. Adding new content weekly or even daily is a great way to get search engine visibility. An SEO company will make sure your site has fresh content in the form of articles, blog postings, polls and product descriptions. These marketing specialists can also add video, podcasts, webinars and pictures to your site. Your SEO Company UK will be knowledgeable about creating meta tags, image tags and keyword headers in order to enhance your site.
Marketing your business for the Web takes time. Most business owners are saddled with multiple daily tasks and can't devote hours to business marketing. SEO companies do it all, making your job easier while promoting your site.?By using effective marketing techniques, you will enjoy continued success as an entrepreneur.
Kate Ford is Tech writer from the UK. Catch her?@thetechlegend?on Twitter
by Nick Throlson | Mar 19, 2012 | Affiliate Marketing, Guest Post, Off Topic, Web Design
Joining a make money affiliate marketing program can prove to be beneficial if you want to earn money using the Internet. The popularity of affiliate marketing has risen with the steady increase in online marketing. Sometimes, websites are created for the purpose of affiliate marketing only. However, you can very well create a blog and use it for the same. Make your blog a lucrative medium for earning dollars through affiliate marketing by extending it beyond a space for publishing personal posts.
Affiliate marketing can be of 3 types. It is important to have a clear understanding of each type before a blog is created for this purpose. The 3 types of affiliate marketing are:
1.) Pay-per-click affiliate marketing ? In this case, you will be paid by an merchant company/advertiser if the ad or link displayed on your blog is clicked by a visitor. Just a click on the ad or link will earn money for you. It is the easiest money earning medium, out of the 3 types of affiliate marketing.
2.) Pay-per-lead affiliate marketing ? This type involves payment based on leads. A lead can be of many types such as filling out a form for receiving newsletters, downloading software, providing information about oneself and one?s contact details etc. All of this is done on the advertiser?s website. If your blog acts as a medium in making this possible, you will get paid by the advertisers.
3.) Pay-per-sale affiliate marketing ? As the term implies, payment is based on sales made by the advertiser. If using your blog, a visitor goes to the advertiser?s website and buys a product or service, the advertiser will pay you.
Chances of earning from a make money affiliate marketing program depend on your ability to promote and popularize the products and services of the company you are working for. The following steps can prove to be helpful:
a.) Chatting – You can chat with people through blog comments/posts to build network. Your aim will be to convince your viewers about a product or service. Also, through chatting, you can answer their questions if they have any query regarding anything.
b.) Using images ? In order to attract visitors to the advertiser?s website, use appealing pictures of their products or services on your blog.
c.) Selecting proper keywords ? Perhaps this is the most important requirement for popularizing your blog and thus making money. You need to have a good knowledge about keywords. You can learn about this on the Internet. Use keywords which are popular and which increases the visibility of your blog on search engines. Not only it will attract more advertisers, but also it will increase the chances of getting paid by the merchant companies.
Whether you need money or just want to earn some extra dollars, joining a make money affiliate marketing program can prove to be beneficial. Using your blog for this purpose makes it all the more easy.
Recently, Matt Cutts answered a question sent to him about the future effectiveness of guest blogging. That question is certainly not a new one, as a lot of 
When it comes to being an entrepreneur, you need every tool at your disposal to succeed. Millions of people will start their own companies this year, and most of them will fail. Of the ones that do succeed, many of them will be gone within a few years. Give yourself the advantages that you need to prevail in today's competitive marketplace with one simple task that will help your start up succeed.
