Approaching retirement age I was made redundant last year and decided to create my first web site, initially knowing little about it. I hope that, by reading about my experiences, that I may save you both time and money if you ever find yourself in the position of wanting to build a site with little initial knowledge.

eBooks
I bought five or six ebooks on how to make my web fortune from the one-page web-sites that you see on the web. The prices ranged from .95 to .95. It would be unfair of me to say that they were of no use, as you can always pick up the odd pointer, or contact. However, with the benefit of hindsight I would not have purchased any of them. Instead there are free, better written books which give you at least the same pointers, and often have more substance. You can download from my web site, for free, two excellent books by Ken Evoy, which will provide you with a good basic knowledge to move forward. Don’t get carried away with the sales hype contained in some of these “get rich quick” single page sales letters that offer huge free bonuses and an imminent price increase.

Universities and colleges
There are various colleges and universities on the web which promise you the ultimate in web creation, site marketing, search engine optimization and much more, “all under one roof” They usually have libraries of “how to” books and membership is by monthly subscription with some offering a lower fee for the first month. Have a look, by all means, I looked at three and claimed my refund within the stated period. I found that I could obtain similar information offered for free with a little searching, and that what they really offered was convenience.

Web Design software
I initially purchased a web site building package for .95 and was soon disappointed by its lack of functionality. I then looked over the shoulder of a friend whilst they showed me the workings of a top-end product costing nearly 0.00 but I found it to be too complicated with too steep a learning curve too be quickly productive. I posted a request for help on the Warriors forum and there were more recommends for a particular product than any other. So I decided that my first web site would be a review of that product, which I would create as a trial, before I went on to build a site that would aim at generating income.

What should the web site be about?
Several of the books that I read suggested that the subject matter should be about something that you enjoy doing and therefore you will create your site with more passion and enthusiasm. Whilst this is sound advice I found that the need to create a trial site, which would force me to learn the basics, was more than a sufficient driving force.

Domain name & Web hosting
Go for a dot com registration and pay no more than per annum. Don’t go for free hosting, you get what you pay for. I looked at hosting sites that offered complete package with hosting, autoresponders, SEO and linking software and much more. Whilst everything was conveniently in one place they failed to convince me that each product would stack up well if they were competing in each niche market. I therefore opted for the best of breed approach and a little less convenience.

Search Engine Optimization
This was probably the subject that I was most worried about as I new that it referred to making a web site as easy as possible for the search engines to find, but I had no clue as to how to go about it. I have a free ebook that you can download entitled “Search Engine Optimization Made Easy” which will give you the basics to carry out this process. The book is really a plug by the author of SEO software for his excellent product. I was fortunate in that the web design software I selected also, somewhat unusually, held my hand through this process, carefully pointing out page, by page, what I needed to do.

Article Distribution
I was aware that, in order to succeed, I should submit articles to the numerous Article Directories present on the Internet. There are two ways to do this. By purchasing one of the two major pieces of software to assist me in doing it myself, or to use a company to do it for me. I looked at each way and found that, whilst both software solutions cut out some of the tedious manuals tasks of submitting to over 150 directories, it was still time consuming. Having examined the market place carefully, discounting any company who charged for a fixed number of submissions, I opted for one who for a fixed quarterly fee would submit any number of articles.

Link software
Again, so that I would get more site traffic, I new that I should get other sites to link to mine and that I would have to manage those links and the emails back and forth etc. I initially started to design an Excel spreadsheet linked to Microsoft Word but decided that I would still have to create the links pages by hand. My advice is to obtain software which houses all your links in a searchable database, handles all of the emails, including template housing, and that automatically creates the HTML link pages for you.

Oct

8

0

10 Mistakes to Avoid When Setting Up a Link Directory

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10 Mistakes to Avoid When Setting Up a Link Directory

When adding a link directory to a web site there are important
mistakes to avoid, or else you’ll be storing up big problems for
later on. I know, because I made some of these mistakes and
didn’t have anyone to offer any advice or tell me what I’m about
to tell you.

Don’t create a directory page with all your links on one
page. You should have no more than 30 – 40 links to a page.
The reason is that some sites will not link to you if a page you
put their link on has too many links, because it dilutes the
value of the link to them. To understand why, you need to know
about Google Page Rank and how it’s passed to another site from
your link page. That’s a subject too lengthy for this topic.

Plan your link directory on paper first and decide what
names you are going to give each category in your link
directory. Make the names fit with the theme of your site and
try to avoid adding categories which are nothing to do with what
your site is about.

For example if your site is about Making Candles and Candle
Accessories, don’t have link categories for Computers &
Games, or Search Engine Optimization etc. The reason is that if
you want your site to achieve a good ranking with the search
engines your site should be built tightly around your theme, in
this example Candles.

Only link to web sites that relate to your site theme and
have something to offer your visitors. This refers to item 2. If
you don’t have categories for unrelated topics, you’ll be less
tempted to link to them because you don’t have a category to put
them in.

Choose names for link categories that you want to use now and
in the future, because you can’t easily change them later
on. Once the pages are created by your link manager software, it
will use the category names you give it. So if you have a
category called “Candle Power” it will create an html page
called Candle-Power.html or something similar, using your
category name. Once this page is found and indexed by the search
engines, in time it will gain Page Rank.

If later, you change the category name to “Candle Lights” the
link manager software will create a new page called
Candle-Lights.html and you will lose the page rank you had
gained for the earlier page. If your link partners linked to you
because the page you put them on had a good page rank, renaming
the page will cause this page rank to fall to zero. As a result
your link partners may drop the link they have back to you,
which is not what you ever want to happen.

Avoid having sub-categories or sub sub-categories in your
directory from your main category pages. The reason for this
is again to do with how search engines will rank your directory
pages. If your directory pages are more than two levels or two
clicks away from your main index or home page they will either
not be indexed by some search engines, or if they are indexed
they will achieve a lower ranking. Some web sites will not link
to you if the page you are to put the link on is more than 2
clicks away from your home page because these webmasters know
what I’ve just told you.

Ensure each page of your link directory has a link back to
your home page. Once again the reason for this is to do with
how search engines will rank your directory pages, so make sure
these links are in place.

Don’t be obsessed at linking only to web sites that have a
good ranking with the search engines. Look first at whether
the site has anything to offer your visitors. If it has poor or
unrelated content don’t link to it. If it has good related
content that compliments your own content but has zero or low
page rank, consider linking to it. Later on you may be glad you
provided a link, when it’s page rank improves.

Don’t use link directory software that doesn’t automatically
check links to your web site are still present on the other
sites. Doing link checking manually can be tedious and you have
to remember to do it. Software that you can set a schedule to
check links and automatically send out emails to webmasters when
links are not found will save you a lot of time. Link management
software that will automatically suspend links and delete them
if they are repeatedly not found is an added bonus.

Don’t use standard templates that come with any link
manager, link directory management software. You need to
modify these templates to match the look and design of your own
web site. This requires you know something about editing a web
page using an HTML editor. Also don’t use the standard email
templates, personalize them in some way, even if it’s only to
add your name.

Don’t assume you’re finished once you’ve set up your link
directory and done all the things I’ve said. You must test
and retest every aspect to ensure everything is working
properly, before visitors arrive.

This means making an add a link request, as if you were a
visitor to your own web site. Setting up test links and making
sure these links are being checked by the software so it detects
when links are removed or defective. Making sure it sends out
email notices correctly and check the formatting is correct when
they are received. You should also check you can make backups of
your link directory database and be able to restore it in the
event of a problem.

Tony Simpson, Has been doing Web Site Design, Promotion and
Optimization for 5 years. He provides advice, product reviews
and products at Web Page
Add Ons to Make Automation of Your Web Site Work for You.

Sep

16

0

Common Seo Mistakes

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Common Seo Mistakes

A variety of small to large companies often seem to experience the same obstacles when going through their search engine optimization phase. Business-to-business marketers tend to fall behind in terms of methods and adoption of new marketing tools.

More and more marketers are beginning to take advantage of the high quantity and quality of business-to-business leads that often come from actually setting a search engine optimization plan. Innovative SEO programs have been made available to help companies prosper.

Unfortunately, there has been a mix of common mistakes that a lot of companies have made over time. Below is a list of the top common mistakes and different ways for new businesses to avoid them.

Content cannot be reached by search engines – your web site will perform poorly in search results if their crawlers are not able to conduct a thorough search. These crawlers need to be able to locate all of the links and content in order to index any web site. To avoid this mistake, be sure not to use complex URLs, use a 301 redirect to direct visitors from old pages to new pages, provide a navigational method.
No updated content – providing not only visitors but search crawlers with new and updated content is a great way to achieve high search rankings. Visitors need to know that you are serious about giving them current content.
Using keywords that aren’t customer-friendly – what a potential customer might type into a search box, such as Google or Yahoo, is what helps you and your web site be found. You should use these keywords and phrases to better optimize your site. Do not only use words that you think are correct. Conduct thorough research in order to locate the correct terms.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Link Building Tips to Avoid Mistakes

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Link Building Tips to Avoid Mistakes

The power of the Internet has created several revolutionary benefits and trends to the entire business world, especially in the field of Internet marketing. One of the most radical innovations is link building . Links are built by almost all websites to develop their visibility on the search engine results pages. Links are made all over the Internet which directs users as well as the search engine spiders to the linked website so that they are indexed in the first few pages of the search engine result pages.

With such a significant role played by link building and the Link building Services , it becomes essential to create good quality links so that you get a good position in the search engines, and thus become more visible to your prospective customers.

Here are some link building tips that many of the Link building Services are following and you should follow to create your links in a positive way and avoid the mistakes that most people do while building links:

1. Focusing on developing good quality content: If your site does not feature good quality content, then no one will want to link to it. Therefore, the best method for increasing the number of inbound links to your blog or site is to develop good quality content which is linkable.

2. Submitting online press releases: Do not forget to share your business events with the world. Submit your press releases over the Internet and build links through the system of press release syndication.

3. Adding industry related news events to your blog or website: This is one of the greatest ways to build your credibility in the market and attract an increased number of interested readers who are looking to link to the latest news in the industry.

4. Creating an account with article directories and syndicating your articles: Article directories are a perfect place to submit your articles so that more traffic and more links are driven to your website. These article directories actually rank high on the search engines and send good quality web traffic to your site.

5. Submitting your site to free forums, websites and directories: Do this to good quality ones only rather than wasting time on lousy ones. While choosing a forum, website or directory, check out its ranking on the search engines and go for the one that have a Page Rank of at least 4.

6. Sharing links with others: Develop quality content and build links to other blogs and websites over the Internet. Also ask other websites and blogs to do the same thing with your website. In this way, both of you will increase your link popularity in an easy and sustainable manner.

7. Social tagging: Social tagging sites such as Delicious, Digg and Technorati allow the users to tag the articles that they find interesting and useful. You can tag other people’s articles and also ask them to tag yours.

8. Adding your site to a government website: This is a great method of building links and also allowing the search engines to know that your site is o importance within your sector.

9. Creating a blog for your site: Blogs are one of the greatest ways of building industry-related content and driving targeted traffic to your site. By having a blog, you can also write about articles from other bloggers and build links to their blogs also. In return, they may start linking to your site.

By applying all these link building tips, you stand more chance of receiving high rankings in the search engines and achieve success over the Internet. Even some of the best Link building Services abides by these tips to deliver quality link building.

Website Marketing: Do You Make These 3 Mistakes With Free Offers?

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Website Marketing: Do You Make These 3 Mistakes With Free Offers?

Professionals — coaches, consultants, financial planners — want to help their clients. They also realize that clients often cannot imagine what service delivery feels like, let alone appreciate the benefits.

So their offer all kinds of freebies to generate leads, convert visitors and attract clients: sample sessions, get-acquainted calls, bonus gifts, introductory and CDs. Being generous, they often toss off a free offer because “everybody does it.”

Free offers can be a rewarding investment of your time or a wasteful drain on your energies. Here are 3 of the most common freebie mistakes.

(1) Focusing on price, not value.

Does the back of your business card read, “Call me for a free 20-minute consultation?”

Some professionals tell me they gained clients this way… five or more years ago. Today, I believe you have to differentiate yourself based on benefits and based on your unique ability to out-perform the competition.

Experienced buyers expect the free call to be little more than a sales pitch. So your offer can actually signal that you don’t value your time *or* your prospect’s time.

(2) Not tying your freebies directly to your target market.

Will your freebies attract prospects who differ considerably from those who actually sign up for the regular-priced service?

When I first offered copywriting servies, I offered free trial consultations.

But I soon discovered a hard truth. Clients who grabbed my free offers were very different from clients who expected to pay for the diagnostic call.

And they didn’t understand what they were receiving. One early client even said, “Sure, after you wrote my copy, I filled my workshop. But I’m sure it was coincidence.”

Needless to say, my free offers are long gone, even for my very best friends, even if I still had time in my schedule.

Of course, few marketing strategies are universal. In some markets, you will profit greatly by offering free sessions.

One reason: That’s the only way your prospects can get a sense of what you offer. Some professionals offer services that are so confidential they can’t even get signed testimonials.

And in some markess, introductory offers lead to lucrative contracts. You have to test.

(3) Not incorporating your freebies into your overall marketing strategy

Decide what you will give away as part of your marketing efforts – and decide what you will demand in return.

Many marketers (including me) offer ezines, e-courses and mini-ebooks…if you agree to share your name and email address and receive future mailings, including product announcements.

Some coaches and consultants offer free consultations after the prospect completes a lengthy questionnaire or assignment. They find they attract strong prospects by creating these filters.

Others offer a reverse free offer: Pay for a short consultation and get a refund if you sign up for a larger project. Frankly, I like this system because your prospect gets a realistic experience with no sales pitch and no hassle.

Ultimately, the decision to offer a freebie – and the type of freebie you offer – can shape your marketing strategy and ultimately your ability to attract clients.

Don’t Make These Common SEO Mistakes

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Don’t Make These Common SEO Mistakes

Properly targeting your key audience and hoping to draw them in to your web site is one of the main purposes of search engine optimization (also known as SEO). The biggest challenges in search engine optimization centers around businesses not understanding the importance of this concept. SEO can be demanding at times if you are not familiar with its practices.

According to Wikipedia.org, search engine optimization (SEO) is defined as the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site or web page from search engines, such as Google and Yahoo. This can be done via natural or unpaid search results.

It is highly recommended to hire a professional search engine optimization professional if your company is not aware of the proper practices. Doing so will save you a lot of time and patience. The cost of an experienced SEO specialist varies, and it all depends on how successful you are aiming to become.

Below is a list of the top common mistakes made by companies during their search engine optimization. The items include:

Wrong Keywords – Choose keywords and phrases that are related to your web site.
Images instead of Headings – Search engines need to read actual content; try to avoid posting nothing but photos and images.
Backlink Spamming – Quality backlinks are much better than just having numerous backlinks. Before backlinking to a web site, check to see how high or low their PageRank is.
Ignoring Title Tags – A title tag is important because it shows in the search results as your page title. Add proper title tags when creating your web pages.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Aug

24

0

Practical Social Marketing Tips – 3 Deadly Facebook Marketing Mistakes and What to Do Instead

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Practical Social Marketing Tips – 3 Deadly Facebook Marketing Mistakes and What to Do Instead

Practical Social Marketing Tips – 3 Deadly Facebook Marketing Mistakes and What to Do Instead

Three Common Mistakes and What to Do Instead

1. No Facebook Fan Page. You start with a Profile Page, but you shouldn’t stop there. Create your Fan page for business and marketing, and use your Profile Page for friends and family.
You may be surprised to know that your Profile Page is limited to 5000 followers. While it might seem like a lot more than you could ever manage right now, you will need the room as your business grows. Marketing on your Profile Page is also discouraged.
Instead, create your Fan Page, where you can have an unlimited number of followers and can market freely.

2. Inconsistency. The biggest downfall after people set up their Fan Page is inconsistency. You cannot show up now and then and expect to create a loyal following, participation and interaction.
The solution is being consistent. You do not need to post massive updates several times a day. Keep it simple, such as adding a great quote or a comment on a current issue and ask your followers what they think. Or, use regular features such as a poll every Tuesday; this will keep your current followers coming back for more and help you gain new ones.

3. Keeping Your Followers on Your Fan Page. By not inviting your followers to visit elsewhere, you are missing out on big opportunities. You might be leaving lots of traffic and profits on the table by encouraging your Fan Page traffic to visit elsewhere in your online world.
Rather, add an opt-in box to your Fan Page. Talk about and invite your followers to other virtual places and events, such as your blog and web conferences and podcasts, or to check out your other social marketing accounts they might also use such as Twitter and YouTube.

Aug

17

0

Common Backlink Building Mistakes to Avoid

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Common Backlink Building Mistakes to Avoid

Link Building is Very Powerful When Done Right

When it comes to improving your rank in the search engines, nothing is more important that link building. Yet you should not simply go out there and heedlessly build as many links as you can, for if you don’t do it the right way it can actually hurt your website. It’s all too common for beginners at internet marketing to spend many hours and possibly spend lots of money building links only to find that they were not doing it right. Link building can give you an advantage over your competition, but if you want long lasting results, you have to do it ethically and using time-tested strategies. Since link building is so important, you should know about the ways many new internet marketers err in this area of SEO. So look over some of these frequently made mistakes in building links and be sure you don’t make them yourself.

The most recognized type of links to help your site are one way backlinks; however, one automated yet still white hat way to build links is to use an ethical link exchange. Before buying links or subscribing to any services, however, do your research, as not all of these are legitimate. One common scam, for example, is getting you to pay for a backlink that quickly disappears or becomes “no follow,” which makes it useless to you. Unfortunately, it’s necessary to watch your links after you purchase them to verify that they are “do follow” and still in place a couple of weeks after you buy them. With so many people in the backlink business, you have to be careful and know who you’re dealing with.

Don’t make the most common backlink building mistake of all: simply getting as many links as you can without being concerned with their quality. You might assume that 10 links are better than 1. The search engines, however, do not treat all links as the same; some are considered more important than others. What matters when it comes to links is not quantity, but quality. As an example, having a large number of links from poorly regarded, spammy sites is not nearly as good as having one single link from an authority site with a high page rank. You may be tempted to get lots of low quality links because they are cheap, but a few links from well ranked sites in your niche will help you far more. Not only that, you can even get penalized for indulging into unethical practices if you go for too many low-quality links. Don’t try to find a quick fix when it comes to building links. If you want long term success, build it gradually by creating a high quality site and exchanging links with other good sites.

Another thing to watch for is the site’s reputation that you are linking to. Some good sites turn bad and might start participating in activities that are frowned upon by the search engines. That’s why it always makes sense to check where your outgoing links are leading to.

Link building mistakes can be very detrimental to the health of your website and internet business. Don’t ignore these simple tips that will save you from a lot of frustration.

Search Engine Optimization – 10 Common Mistakes to Avoid

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Search Engine Optimization – 10 Common Mistakes to Avoid

Every website, large small and in between needs traffic. There is absolutely no point in having the best looking, most interesting website in the world if nobody ever visits it. Your aim is to get a steady stream of visitors to your website and transform them into customers. To get the steady stream of visitors to your website, you need to make sure the website is visible to the search engines. This process is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Failure to attend to search engine optimization is the equivalent of opening an amazingly decorated, well-stocked shop and keeping the blinds down and the door locked.

Search Engine Optimization sounds as if it should be a task best reserved for a specialist. It is, however, something all webmasters should tackle as a matter of course. The first time webmaster will probably not have a natural ability to send his website to the top of the search engine lists in a matter of days. He should, however, do sufficient optimization to ensure that nothing on his website is actually working against his success with search engines.

As a first step in the search engine optimization of your website, check to make sure you are not making any of these common mistakes.

1. Failing to use the right keywords. Take advantage of the tools available online to research the right keywords for your website. You need to have keywords real visitors will be searching for. An example of good keyword/bad keyword is an airline using the keyword phrase “low cost tickets” when its visitors would be searching for their product using the words “cheap flights”.

2. Keyword Spamming. If you use the same keyword too many times, there is a danger the search engines will consider this to be spam and will penalize your website accordingly. Keyword spamming can relate to phrases used in your website meta tags as well as to the anchor text on your website.

3. Keyword Stuffing. This is similar to keyword spamming. The offence is frequently found in “alt” tags where the website owner places keywords in the tags instead of an accurate description of the graphic.

4. Using Keywords Unrelated To Your Website. Inserting popular keyword search phrases that have nothing to do with your website content into your meta tags is a sure way of getting dumped by the search engines.

5. Using Hidden Text. Unscrupulous webmasters have been known to repeat keywords on backgrounds the same color as the text so that the words are invisible to visitors but will be read by the search engines. Newsflash: search engines are not stupid enough to fall for this trick.

6. Using minute text. This is a variation of using invisible text. Instead of making the text and the background the same color, the text is reduced to a size too small to be read by human visitors. Adding a string of tiny keywords does not work, the search engines can recognise when keywords are being used naturally and not just placed on a web page in a list.

7. Having broken links. Make sure you regularly check all links on your web pages. A bad link is a sure way of upsetting the search engine bots when they come to visit. If you are marketing affiliate products, keep an eye on the links to the vendors’ sites. When you delete of move things on your website, remember that one small change can have all sorts of repercussions if your housekeeping results in a broken link on another page.

8. Not Using Alt Tags. The search engines cannot see graphics, they rely on text. Therefore, you should use an “alt” tag for every image. The tag should accurately describe the image. The “alt” tags are also beneficial to blind or partially sighted visitors who rely on audio assistance to “see” your web pages.

9. Not Using All The Meta Tags Correctly. Make sure you use each and every recognised meta tag and use them correctly. Search engine fashions are subject to change: at one time the “keywords” meta tag was vital, then the experts told us Google no longer relied upon it. Have all your tags properly completed in readiness for them coming back into fashion. Also remember that what one search engine ignores, might be vital for listing by other search engines.

10. Using Free Hosting. Free website hosting might be perfectly adequate for a hobby website but it will not impress the search engines. The search engines look at where your site is hosted. They also take note of the length of time for which your domain is registered. A professionally hosted site with a domain name which is registered for two years or more will be given greater importance than a site hosted free with a domain name registered for only one year.

These mistakes can all be rectified very simply. Don’t be afraid, search engine optimization is much easier than rocket science and assistance is readily available. There are plenty of resources online to help you understand what is required and there are also resources to help you check that your optimization efforts are taking you in the right direction. Many of these resources are free.

Are You Making These 3 Web Marketing Mistakes?

Some Newbie Mistakes With Web Design

10 Mistakes to Avoid When Setting Up a Link Directory

Common Seo Mistakes

Link Building Tips to Avoid Mistakes

Website Marketing: Do You Make These 3 Mistakes With Free Offers?

Don’t Make These Common SEO Mistakes

Practical Social Marketing Tips – 3 Deadly Facebook Marketing Mistakes and What to Do Instead

Common Backlink Building Mistakes to Avoid

Search Engine Optimization – 10 Common Mistakes to Avoid

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