The Turnfire Internet Marketing Blog - Learn More, Grow and Compete Online. SEO | Domain Names | Affiliates | Niches

Nearly two years ago my very own mother decided to start a blog.  The real-estate markets were steady and any guerilla marketing tactic seemed like a new and exciting new idea at the time.  My mom has always been a natural marketing talent (probably where I got my own interest in marketing) and she loves connecting with people.  However, she doesn’t have much of a tech background.

When I say she doesn’t have much tech background – I mean that I was plugging in printers and installing CD’s for her since I was about 8 years old.  Now with a blog, venturing onto the World Wide Web full of code and critics - I was both concerned and curious.

I remember her telling me from the very beginning that she was just going to persevere with the blog and at that exact moment she made the commitment to manage her blog for 1 full year no matter how it went.

So What Next?  Did it Top the Charts or Flop to the Bottom?

Now, nearly two years later I cannot help but be amazed by the results of her hard work and perseverance.  In our last time together we briefly looked over her blog, the successes and pitfalls, and discussed her journey from a lonely collection of articles to a first page blog that really connects with the real-estate market.  I asked her a couple questions, questions like:

Do you know much about SEO? “No”
Do you understand keyword relevance? “Not sure”

How about title tags? Anchor text? Outbound Links!? No, No, No.  Then the next question I was far too afraid to ask out loud – so I wondered silently, “what do you know?” I just kept asking myself, “how does a mother and real-estate agent with no technology background build a first page blog?”

The Layman’s Secret to SEO Success

After some thought, I realized that she didn’t need to know the exact ins and outs of the search engines just to become popular, build a reader base, and even climb positions.  No, all she needed was the three things she had all along: a passion for perseverance, the drive for self-improvement, and the patience for trial and error.

Over the years that she worked with her community real-estate blog, my mother developed many skills great for internet marketing and even SEO, without even knowing it.

The internet is changing daily, and more and more the people are starting to hold the power.  Web 2.0 is all about meaningful connections with such a negative connation on spamming that I dare even say the word.  So why make this point? It’s because a meaningful connection with someone can do wonders for a website at times, and you’ll never need to be a webmaster for that!

Alright so you can make meaningful connections, but what else could someone with no technology background possibly offer to the SEO table?

Quality.  I could write a thousand articles stuffed with keywords at every angle but the simple fact is that no one will end up reading the material if it isn’t relevant, useful and informative.  I sometimes ponder on that too.  How many wasted articles have been spammed with keywords, only to be rejected endlessly by the flowing crowds of uninterested prospects because it just wasn’t very good?

The Big Picture

It doesn’t take a webmaster to write gripping content; in fact, the best content will connect with the readers and leave little for them to ask – but with plenty to take away.

The big secret is that anyone is capable of smashing the online barriers and building a presence on the net.  You don’t need a background in technology, or programming, or internet marketing.  You only need some perseverance, the will to learn, and the courage to try.

I guess the truth is I’ll never stop learning from my mother.

Visit the blog that inspired it all: http://blog.collingwood-bluemountain.com

Regards,

Kris Scheben-Edey

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You could spend hours, or even months bringing traffic to your website and yet you aren’t making much money.  You can generate lots of traffic with the optimization you’ve done… but they just don’t seem interested in what you have to offer.  Well, it’s time to learn why.

Want to Know Why I’m Not Interested in What You Have?

Put yourself in the shoes - or in this case the computer chair – of one of your prospects.  You’re clearly searching for something, and maybe you found this site after looking at countless others to no avail, or maybe you followed a network of links here.  Either way, you’re there – but what is going to make you want to reach for your wallet – or subscribe to the newsletter?

That is what’s missing - a persuasion to act.  You could have a thousand visitors but if there if the value in your offers are not properly communicated, then you have little chance of making a single sale.

Want to Turn Clicks Into Clients? Here’s the Key to Converting Your Prospects!

You need to communicate value in your offers, provide incentives and guarantees.  You can connect with your prospects through stories or by connecting to their emotions of greed and passion.

It sounds like a lot, but you can achieve all of these goals, and you can learn how to really connect with your prospects and convert their slight interest into a bigger bottom line.  The first thing you’ll need to do is get familiar with copywriting.

Below are my favourite 5 copywriting articles and resources – the ones I had bookmarked for 2008 and constantly found myself using:

SEO Unique Blog
This article is a great checklist when developing any website.  It’s my quick fix for SEO Copywriting, and it’s a great article containing “20 SEO Copywriting Hints.”

Marketing Words Blog
The Marketing Words blog is a great copywriting resource, with regular posts and an excellent knowledge base.  Lots of information can be found here, just try not to spend all day reading and make sure you put the pen the paper once or twice for good measure.

CopyBlogger
I regularly check here for updates, in addition to a comprehensive archive of articles on SEO copywriting.  Follow this link and check out their “10 Step Copywriting Tutorial” a great guide designed to get you up and running with the basics of writing great copy in ten easy lessons.

Clayton Makepeace Blog
This is my favourite copywriting resource, hands down.  With almost daily articles you can bookmark this one with ease, because the knowledge in every article is based on the success of some of the top copywriters in the world.  Find thrilling articles written by the likes of Clayton Makepeace, Daniel Levis, Julie McManus, and over 20 other successful copywriters.   This is a must have for any business builder.

Copywriting.com
I remember the first day I learned about copywriting.  I spent hours on Copywriting.com just browsing the beginner’s articles, the blog posts and the excellent copywriting resources.  At the end of that day, I was inspired, and I recommend that anyone who likes to be inspired read the works of Miguel Alvarez here on Copywriting.com.  Another must have resource for your online business builders.

It would take months to read all of those articles, but the key is practice.  Learn something new, apply it and learn how to master it – then move on to the next thing.  First, you learn how to get the traffic, and now it’s time to learn how to convert it.

At many times content is king, and copywriting your content would be the ace.  Check back soon for an article on how a mother and real-estate agents – with no technology background – built a first page blog.  Until next time, enjoy converting your traffic!

Regards,

Kris Scheben-Edey

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Your Guide to Google AdWords Keyword Tool – Defining Your Market Online

Everyone throws around the term “SEO,” how to use it there, apply some there – but what’s the benefit in all of this?  It’s getting your website to the first page!

Take a moment and think about what happens when you search Google (or whichever your choice search engine might be) and the results are listed for your search.

First, you’ll immediate look at the top result – does it appear to be relevant and useful?  Maybe one of the top three results?

At that point searchers might scan the rest of the results, and even dig a bit deeper – but the rest of them refine the search terms and look for a better list of results.

Getting to the First Page with Keywords

Keywords are the first step to many successful SEO campaigns, and when using them properly – you’re site can hit the first page in a matter of weeks.  Keywords help the search engines determine relevancy, and understanding how to target the keywords in your niche will give you a major advantage online.

How to Make Keywords Work for You

First, make a list of the top 10 keywords relating to your niche.  Use the Google AdWords Keyword Tool to pick keywords that have “exact” search traffic.  This guide will tell you everything you need to know about the keyword tool. (link to guide)

Next, take your list of 10 keywords and refine it down to three of four.  Write them down and memorize them, because you’ll be needed to reference them.  It’s important to target your campaign to keywords with traffic, so make sure you write down and use the “exact” terms you chose from the keyword tool.

Finally, optimize your site based on those keywords!  Immediately you can change title tags, descriptions, category or page names and you can even rewrite current content to include your 3 or 4 top keywords.  Optimizing your own site and content with keywords can quickly boost your search engine positions.

From this point forward use those keywords in all your new content, but don’t spam it – I’m talking about using these keywords about once per paragraph (on average).

Allow anchor text on all your links and images that reference the keywords, and before you know it you’ll be rising in the ranks for your chosen keywords. If you want to track your positions in Google based on keywords – then try using the link on the right side “Google Position Tracking.”

My Site Has Keywords… But It’s Still Not on the First Page!

Some keywords are more competitive than others, just like industries in business.  So how can you compete against the big guns?  Well, they pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into keyword advertising at times and the truth is you might have a tough time.  You’re not done yet though, you’ve still got two options to beat these guys.

Have you heard of the phrase, “If you can’t go through it, then go around it?”  Well if you can’t beat them on the top keywords you can go around them, and find the “long tail” tail keywords they haven’t targeted.

Go back to the keyword tool and repeat your search, now look at the top 10 keywords and the total search traffic they receive.  Now scroll down and look at the 40 keywords below that you didn’t want to list before.  Well, guess what… if you didn’t think to target them then chances are that no one else did either.

Long tail keywords like “marketing domains to end-users” are easier to capture and control than broad keywords like “domains.”  So find the long tail keywords that receive searches, and use them to your advantage, because in accumulation they often provide more traffic than trying to compete on the big keywords.

Your other option is to compete, to try and take them head on.  If you plan to do this, then you’ll need to be willing to learn as you go and put in a minimum of an hour a day towards marketing and promoting your website.

Aside from optimizing your own web page content for keywords, other factors play a big role in your search engine positions.  Let’s talk about linking.

Internal links on your site are the ones that source other pages on your website, and the internal link structure needs to be solid if you plan to compete.

Draw out your site, generate a sitemap and submit it into the Google webmaster tools.  Providing a solid and stable website structure is not only important when the search engine spiders crawl your site, but your visitors will appreciate it also.

Next on your list if you want to compete is networking, mainly online social networking.  By meeting new people and creating a band of followers on social networks like twitter, digg, and facebook you are also creating a network of links to your site and building awareness.

Successful social networking can provide you with an expert status among your followers and allows you to promote your own content to the masses.  Never engage in social networking if you don’t plan to put some time aside for it.  It’s important to make meaningful comments, make positive connections, and provide value to your new band of followers through more than just spam.

Social networking can become addictive –so be careful, and yes I’m speaking first hand.  I look forward to writing an article on successful social networking in the near future, but for now there is countless articles that will enlighten you on the many niches of these networks.

Social networking is a great way to drive traffic, gain outbound links and boost awareness to any website.

Ok, I’ve Been Networking My Butt Off – And I’m Even Using Keywords, but I’m Still Not Seeing Results!

When building an effective search engine optimization campaign, it’s simply not enough to rely on keyword and links.  If you want to get you website to the first page, and if you want to dominate the competition then you need to have quality content.

Give your visitors a reason to come back and don’t make a sloppy first impression.  Keywords and links can get you onto that first page, but if you ever want to own your niche or category then you need to have quality content, and you should give every visitor a reason to bookmark or save your site for the future.

So there you go, you want to take your site from nothing to first page in a couple of weeks?  Then do these three things:

1. Chose 3-4 top keywords and optimize your site with keywords and internal links.
2. Capture and control you chosen long-tail keywords, and engage in meaningful social networking.
3. Create quality content, offer tool sets, or provide something completely unique.

Before you know it, you’ll be telling all your friends to search your keywords in Google – displaying your site proudly.

It’s your first website and you have no plans to settle for anything less than success.  So how do you make that happen?  How do I attract visitors and get to the front page of Google?

How does an hour a day sound?

Let’s get you started, because it starts here – and as I said, you’ve got an hour a day so I don’t want to take it all up.

Link building is one of the most effective strategies to expand your visitor base, boost Google rankings, and position your website in all corners of net.

The goal of a link building campaign is to acquire links from other websites that are linking to yours, known as outbound links.

The Top 8 Strategies for Effective Link Building

1.    Build a Blog – Building a blog and posting articles is a great way to build traffic.  Through article submission, which I’ll talk about a bit later, your blog can attract a lot of new visitors that might become regulars.

2.    Blog Commenting – You don’t need a blog for this technique - one that top link building specialists commonly swear by.  Find a blog that interests you, and post genuine comments on the authors content.  The majority of blogs have a text box that allows you to put in your website address – that will become a link attached to your comment.  So make your comments interesting and you’ll suddenly have a network of blogs with links to your website.

3.    Forum Posting – Forums are excellent at defining niches, providing target customers and they allow you to build an “expert status” if you take the time to answer questions carefully.  Put a link to your website in your forum signature, and with every new post you present an oppourtunity to boost your link campaign.  While this is generally temporary, because forum posts expire, the goal is to attract qualified traffic that will “want” to link back.  People link to useful information – so achieve that expert status and get link building with your niche.

4.    Asking For Linkbacks – It’s as simple as asking sometimes.  Find sites you like and ask for a link back to your site, possibly in exchange for a link on your website to theirs.  Ask 100 sites, if even 5 of them link back to you then it was a successful campaign.

5.    Social Networking – Facebook, Digg, Twitter, they are all social networks that can provide you with linkbacks and visitors.  Get familiar with these services and how they can be used for you – and don’t forget to post links to your website in all of your profiles.  This isn’t a brand new technique, and a lot of the giant networks have used a “no follow” tag so that your linkbacks aren’t effective.  However, they should all be used because you can draw a lot of visitors back, and many of them will provide you will effective links – or “do follow” links.  Here is a list of 27 Do-Follow Social Bookmarking Sites.

6.    Press Releases – Press releases are an excellent way to gain exposure, and to get links to your website.  Publish press releases regularly about you company or any interesting news you think you can draw readers with.  Create links to your website within the press release, and before you know it Google will index the press release, and you have qualified linkbacks to your website.

7.    Direct Submission – Submit your url in friendly directories.  There are many services and sites built around link submissions or url submissions – and they would love you to join.  Many of these websites won’t require you to sign up, and they are just a search in Google away.

8.    Guest Submissions – If you have a specialization or expertise then there is likely a blog to match.  Make some connections and look into writing guest articles and submit them to your blog authors.  A good article will not only give you that expert status but gives you the ability to direct traffic to your site, and the author might be more than willing to post a permanent link to your website.

Follow those 7 steps, and spend an hour or two a day on improving your links.  The difference is incredible and regularly spending just an hour or two will help you increase traffic, boost rankings, increase sales, or whatever your goal might be.

The Secrets to Link Building Success

You can spend countless hours on the steps above but I’ve got a couple secrets to make it more efficient – to pack that punch and make people WANT to link to you.  It’s viral, it’s about creating something that spreads and will continue to spread.

What the heck are you talking about? I’ve tried before and I don’t really know what I could do to make it spread like wildfire!

Ask yourself one question, did you offer something that your traffic would need more than once?  That’s the key.  If not, here are three ways to make your website one that people WANT to link to their websites:

First, Offer Quality Content
It’s a matter of quantity versus quality – and quality is king.  Take time when writing and designing your website so that it looks resourceful, so that it’s easy to navigate, and fill it with refined content that you didn’t just throw together.  Put some thought into your work and your readers will too.

Second, Offer Tools and Resources
Take a look at your bookmarked websites right now – how many of them are tools, or references, or guides, or specific resources?  Build a tool section, a resource base or something that people will regularly use.  Everyone loves a good resource, provide something that’s comprehensive for people to remember it, bookmark it, and most importantly share it.

Finally, Make Dates with Your Traffic
You don’t need to actually ask them out on a date, but you should set some dates.  Give a reason, a time and a place (your website) for your visitors to be there.  This could be as simple as the revealing of a “big secret” or as exciting as a giveaway or contest.  Make it enticing and people will link to your website just for the event.

Now you know how to build links, how to get traffic and how to get your site closer to that top position on the first page of Google.  The hardest part for me, is limiting myself to only an hour a day – because it’s fun.  That’s right fun; and it’s a bit like a game where there is even a way to keep score.

You can put all this time in and assume you’re getting great link backs – but before your notebook becomes slurred with tally marks, let me introduce you to a couple easy ways to check your backlinks.

You can always check in Google, by searching the phrase “link:YourDomainHere.com”, but this only gives you a snapshot and there are more complete resources.  My recent favourite is an all-in-one checker here at www.urlmetrix.com.  I love it because you get more than backlinks, you find out Google PageRank, and everything from twitter tweets to technorati reactions.

Now go and spend the rest of your hour link building, and come back tomorrow to remind yourself of the easy way to link build.  Good luck Business Builders.

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Marketing research for internet marketers – keyword research is a powerful tool for online marketing.  With a suite of free online tools, Google has provided numerous services to increase the scope and depth of keyword research within their search engines.

So how am I supposed to use these services?
The Google AdWords Keyword Tool(https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal) is one of the most useful tools for keyword research, and Google provides it for free.  When you first enter the page you can enter keywords or keyphrases and the Keyword Tool will provide you with search data based on your chosen keywords.  I know it sounds a little tricky right now, but I promise by the end of this, you’ll be an expert.

After entering your keywords, which you can separate by hitting enter, or breaking the line – press the “Get Keyword Ideas” button to start the search.  You can also choose to “Use Synonyms” which will give you a broader range of keywords in your search, related to your chosen keywords.  There are a few ways to filter the search results, you can explore them if you choose but they are not generally needed.

Ok I have a list of words and numbers, but how can I use them?
The first thing you should do when you’re getting started with the Keyword Tool, is to change your search results to only show the keyword and the approximate average search volume columns.  You can change these in the “Choose columns to display” drop-down box.

After you have a simple two column chart it makes things a little clearer, where the numbers represent the average monthly search volume (in Google) for the keywords on the left.  Note the drop-down box above the results on the right, which currently says “Broad.”  Change this to “Exact” and resubmit your search.

Changing the “Match Type” to exact will give you a more accurate snapshot of the keywords you’re interested in.  The difference between broad and exact, is that broad will display data that is reflective of anytime your keyword was used.  For example if our keyword was “Marketing” and the match type was broad, then it would display results on that keyword for any phrase including Marketing.  This could be anything from “domain name marketing” to “marketing my banana flavored gum.”

When you change the match type to exact the data is reflective of the exact keywords, so if it says 450,000 beside the keyword “marketing” then that means 450,000 searches are completed monthly, on average – and for the exact keyword “marketing.”

Alright it’s making sense, so how can I optimize my results to reflect what I really want to know?
That all depends on what your goal was with the keyword research.  The main reason for researching keywords is to optimize a website or internet material for search results.  Assuming that the overall goal is optimization – keyword research plays two crucial roles in search optimization:

1)    When a search spider is crawling your site, keywords are a major source in determining relevancy.  As a result when you type your search into Google, most of the sites you find are planning to be there – through use of the common keywords in their website content.
2)    When planning for a website or online campaign, domainers (domain dealers/marketers/developers) use keyword strength to select a formidable domain name.

With this new knowledge you should have the ability to understand your markets, what they are searching for – and how many of they there are.  Monitoring and performing keyword research is the key to connecting with customers, establishing a strong online presence and optimizing your content for search engines.

Check back this week for an exciting post, “First Page Frenzy – The Steps to Effective SEO,”
on how to optimize your site for the search engines.