|
Site Navigation
|
 Home
+ Contact Us
 Email Us
or Call Us at:
(405) 385-7038
+ Ebooks
+ Blogs
+ Social Media
+ About Us
+ Extra Pages
|
|
Article Directory
|
+ Authors
+ Articles
|
|
|
|
Successful SEO Begins With Keyword Research and Analytics
Copyright (c) 2008-2010 Bill Platt
Many webmasters / online marketers make a common mistake when they begin doing business online. Often times, people do the processes necessary for their success - backwards. Rather than starting at the beginning and working forwards, they start at the end and work backwards. As a result, they waste more money and resources, often breaking the back of their business, well before they start to see any real success in their business.
In my years of helping online marketers promote their businesses, I have seen business models that seemed to have all of the elements necessary to ensure great success. And unfortunately, I have seen many of these perfect business models fail miserably, because their owners failed to honor their business with a realistic promotional plan.
Putting The Cart Before The Horse
When people begin to promote their new business, this is where most people begin to err.
Just recently, I spoke with an individual who started a business in a pretty competitive field. I don't view heavy competition as being a bad thing. In fact, I find that there are often enough customers in any niche to support the additional competitors, especially when a new competitor answers a need not served by the current players.
The individual to whom I refer made his mistake by focusing 95% of his advertising budget on Search Engine Optimization (SEO), before he even knew what keywords would help him to be profitable in his business! He has so far blown $9,500 of his $10,000 to optimize his website for the search engines, and he still does not know what keywords will drive traffic to his website, leading to sales conversions for his website.
His "backwards" approach has left him with only $500 in his budget, with little hope for his future. He now emails me 4-5 times a week, always in a state of utter panic for the prospect of his future. All I can tell him is to be patient, since he has to learn how to "bootstrap" his way to success, now that he has no budget left to build strong and fast.
Test Your Copy First
Search Engine Optimization should "never" be a business' first step in the promotion process. Although SEO can bring great rewards, it can also be very expensive to implement. Look at it this way. What good is search optimization if you have optimized for the wrong keywords?
The first step in the promotion of any business should be focused on attracting potential customers to one's website.
The marketer needs to put human eyeballs on the website, so that they can test and tweak their sales copy for greater sales conversion.
Until a website has seen several hundred visitors, the sales copy should not be changed or tweaked. Sales copy should always be tested against a large statistical group of visitors, in order to ensure that the copy is given a fair and realistic test.
If the online marketer has a bit more money to start the process, often the best spent money will be to hire a professional copywriter to write the sales copy for the website. Professional copywriters have a skill, and that skill is to create the words that will drive people to buy what you are selling.
"Test Traffic" Is Important To The Process
Most Internet Marketing newbies are still focused on getting those first few hundred visitors to their websites.
At this point, there are systems like Link Referral, Traffic Swarm and Traffic And Subscribers that can help the new business owner bring in a bit of traffic to their website. In a test with Link Referral, I am seeing 400 visitors per month. The neat thing about systems like these is that other members will review your website and offer good advice on how to improve your website, if necessary. Membership is free for all three systems, with an option for paid upgrades.
The Law Of Attraction
While the traffic exchange systems mentioned above can send some traffic to your website, you are not going to get rich participating in those systems.
Once you have positioned your website to convert visitors to buyers, it is time to start attracting a larger number of visitors (potential customers) to your website.
There are a number of ways to do this, but two of the most effective are: Article Marketing and Pay-Per-Click Advertising.
Article Marketing
Mark Silver recently produced an exceptional home study course about writing articles that will help you be much more successful in your article marketing activities (http://thephantomwriters.com/heartofarticlemarketing).
Just last week, a friend of mine told me that he has not promoted his website in over a year, yet he noticed that his website has a steady stream of traffic to it, from the three-dozen articles that he wrote and distributed in 2006 and 2007. He said that his ebook continues to produce new sales each and every month, and the only thing he can really attribute those continuing sales to is the articles that are available on the Internet that are promoting his website and ebook.
Article marketing, in and of itself, is a promotional tool that will allow a marketer to bring regular visitors to his or her website, and if the website does its job well, then the website will be able to convert those visitors to buyers. This is important, because all businesses need money coming into a website early, to ensure that the business can survive financially, until the long-term "recipe for profit" can be found and duplicated reliably.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is a process where you bid on keywords in the major search engines, through Google Adwords, Yahoo Search Marketing, etc. You tell the search engine companies what words you desire to bid on and how much you are willing to pay for a visitor, and the highest bidders for that keyword phrase will be shown above and to the right of the free results in the search engine results pages.
Keyword research, utilizing systems like Word Tracker, or my favorite, NicheBot will enable you to brainstorm keywords and get a good idea of which keywords might be more profitable for your business.
By utilizing Google Analytics or Yahoo's Panama Full Analytics (traffic analysis), an online marketer can follow a visitor from the search engine to the marketer's sales page. Where this is important is it enables an online marketer to uncover the essential business knowledge of which "keywords" will bring people into a website and help convert those visitors into customers.
Essential SEO Knowledge
What one must keep in mind is that some keywords will deliver visitors who will never buy, while other keywords will deliver visitors who are extremely likely to buy. This one paragraph holds within it the secret to a successful SEO strategy. This is the essential knowledge that a marketer should have, before engaging in any Search Engine Optimization campaign.
Like I said previously in this article, "Although SEO can bring great rewards, it can also be very expensive to implement."
If you are going to spend a lot of money to optimize your website for the search engines, doesn't it make much more sense to target the keywords that will actually help you to earn back your investment?
The Backwards Thinking
The backwards thinking I referred to in the beginning of this article was the idea that many people put SEO in front of their keyword research, keyword tracking and keyword conversion statistics.
An industry I like to pick on is the travel industry. In order to rank well for the solitary keyword "travel" in the search engines will require an astronomical SEO budget. But most people seeking travel information are looking for something just a bit more specific, like: Disney vacations, Hawaii vacations, and European travel.
So long as a keyword has been proven to convert visitors and sales, then it makes sense to optimize for that keyword. But you will never truly know which keywords will convert visitors and sales, until you have invested some of your budget into pay-per-click advertising and traffic analysis.
Once the necessary "keyword" knowledge is in hand, then the marketer can make an investment into search engine optimization for those keywords that can actually make them money, and with good SEO deployment, the marketer can find that they can actually capture a lot of the search engine traffic for specific keywords through the search engines' free listings.
Follow "The Phantom Writers" on Twitter
(@phantomwriters)
to be notified when new articles are made available.
VOTE ON THIS ARTICLE
Needs Work >>
0 -
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5
<< Excellent Article
Tell our authors what you think about their article.
|
Top-Level Category: Business Online Articles
10 Most Recent Articles Written by Bill Platt
The Road To Online Marketing Success Requires Commitment
Written by: Bill Platt |
Distributed: 2010-02-09 |
Word Count: 1552 |
Page Views: 58
Unsuccessful online marketers are notorious opportunity
seekers - giving an opportunity only a couple of weeks to
start showing results, before changing directions to chase
the next flavor of the week. It almost seems that the
majority of online marketers are chasing get-rich-quick
schemes, rather than trying to develop a legitimate
business. Those who are successful online, are the kind of
people who make a solid commitment to a particular business
model and make a long-term commitment to a realistic
marketing plan.
Four Tips For Creating An Effective Authors' Resource Box
Written by: Bill Platt |
Distributed: 2010-02-03 |
Word Count: 1669 |
Page Views: 43
| Votes: 2 |
Rating: 2.50
In article marketing, there are many factors that will
affect your articles' ability to promote your website in
the most effective manner. In this article, we will briefly
discuss a couple those factors, before we dive into how to
create an effective Authors' Resource Box, also known as
the About The Author Information.
Top 10 Reasons Why Online Marketers Fail With Article Marketing
Written by: Bill Platt |
Distributed: 2010-02-01 |
Word Count: 1025 |
Page Views: 96
| Votes: 1 |
Rating: 4.00
If you've been marketing products online for any length of
time, you've likely heard people talk about the power and
promise of article marketing for the promotion of your
online business. Unfortunately, many online marketers have
tried to utilize article marketing to benefit their online
business and failed. In this article, I document the top ten
reasons why people fail to find success with article
marketing... And how to fix your article marketing
campaigns...
I Am Not A Golfing Instructor, But I Played One On The Internet
Written by: Bill Platt |
Distributed: 2010-01-29 |
Word Count: 1990 |
Page Views: 64
| Votes: 1 |
Rating: 2.00
I have a unique job, as a professional article ghostwriter,
which forces me to do research on topics that I may not
normally be interested in learning. Certainly, golf was one
of those topics I thought I would never learn about in my
life. Now that I have taken the time to learn about the
fundamentals of golf, I am glad that I did... But you will
be surprised as to why...
Stop Wasting Time and Money With Your Article Marketing
Written by: Bill Platt |
Distributed: 2010-01-27 |
Word Count: 1014 |
Page Views: 54
| Votes: 2 |
Rating: 3.50
Online marketers are always arguing for or against the value
of article marketing. Many will argue that article marketing
could provide real traffic and sales to ones' website, and
furthermore, article submission has the potential to offer
some serious SEO value to the marketers' websites. Many
more will tell you that article marketing is an utter waste
of time and money... The difference between those who do
well with article marketing and those who do not is usually
a matter of education, or lack thereof...
The Six Degrees of Internet Marketing
Written by: Bill Platt |
Distributed: 2010-01-26 |
Word Count: 991 |
Page Views: 96
| Votes: 1 |
Rating: 4.00
The theory behind the Six Degrees of Separation is that all
people on earth can be connected together in as little as
six steps. Now, I know what you might be thinking at this
juncture... That sounds fun and interesting, but what does
that have to do with Internet Marketing? That is a great
question that I am going to answer for you in this
article...
A Recent Issue Of Playboy Revealed...
Written by: Bill Platt |
Distributed: 2010-01-19 |
Word Count: 1658 |
Page Views: 111
| Votes: 1 |
Rating: 4.00
If you have ever spent money trying to use article
marketing, and you failed to generate any measurable success
with your articles, then this article will show you why you
most likely failed to see your articles generate a solid
return-on-investment for your online business...
Are You Paying Too Much For Traffic? Increase Clicks 40-Fold With This PPC Strategy
Written by: Bill Platt |
Distributed: 2010-01-14 |
Word Count: 1567 |
Page Views: 167
| Votes: 3 |
Rating: 4.00
In any business, if you can reduce your effective
advertising expenses, you will increase your profits. Many
business owners will opt to push the additional savings into
more advertising, and if you are utilizing the information
described in this article, you could feasibly increase your
paid traffic by 40-times, with the exact same advertising
budget. But before I can show you how to reduce your
advertising expenses and increase your traffic, it is
important for you to learn about proper keyword research...
What Kind Of Backlinks Are Best At Helping Your Website In Google?
Written by: Bill Platt |
Distributed: 2009-11-09 |
Word Count: 439 |
Page Views: 502
| Votes: 4 |
Rating: 4.75
I was in the Warrior Forum, and someone asked what kinds of
Backlinks are worth pursuing. This is my answer to that
query.
How Many Links Does It Take To Get To The Middle Of Google Page One?
Written by: Bill Platt |
Distributed: 2009-10-29 |
Word Count: 1030 |
Page Views: 436
| Votes: 6 |
Rating: 3.17
Everyday it seems, people are asking me the optimum numbers
of inbound links they need to acquire for their website in
order to rank well in Google. My answer is going to seem a
little flip, but it is the honest, best answer.
All of Author's Articles on this site: Bill Platt Articles
Most Recent "Business Online" Articles
Free Fax Trial - Is This A Rip-Off Or Not?
Written by: Titus Hoskins |
Distributed: 2010-02-09 |
Word Count: 584 |
Page Views: 36
Free Fax Trial - Many people are very wary of anything
offered for free on the web, but this is one case where
trying a free fax trial could prove very beneficial for
everyone concerned. Find out why by reading this informative
article...
The End Of Dumb Affiliate Marketing
Written by: Willie Crawford |
Distributed: 2010-02-09 |
Word Count: 921 |
Page Views: 73
One of the saddest things that I witness day after day is
affiliate marketers who really struggle to make sales. They
send out email after email, promotion after promotion, yet
often make very few sales. This is not only sad, it's also
needless "practice bleeding." Making affiliate sales is
easy when you know the secret. It's even very scientific
and does have fairly predictable results.
Does Your Web Site Pass the Title Tag Test?
Written by: Stone Reuning |
Distributed: 2010-02-09 |
Word Count: 694 |
Page Views: 42
When you call up your web site, what do you see in the top
of your browser? If your title tag simply reads "company
name" or "welcome", you're missing a big opportunity to
entice more visitors to your site from the search engines.
Four Warnings Regarding a Foreign-Sounding (or Foreign-Looking) New Business Name
Written by: Marcia Yudkin |
Distributed: 2010-02-09 |
Word Count: 726 |
Page Views: 44
| Votes: 1 |
Rating: 2.00
Foreign names for companies or products sometimes do very
well in the American market. We also see plenty of
pseudo-foreign names - created by misapplying spelling
patterns found in foreign languages. Use my four-point
checklist to make sure you're branding well by giving your
name a foreign flavor rather than burdening your creation
with a seriously disadvantageous name.
The Road To Online Marketing Success Requires Commitment
Written by: Bill Platt |
Distributed: 2010-02-09 |
Word Count: 1552 |
Page Views: 58
Unsuccessful online marketers are notorious opportunity
seekers - giving an opportunity only a couple of weeks to
start showing results, before changing directions to chase
the next flavor of the week. It almost seems that the
majority of online marketers are chasing get-rich-quick
schemes, rather than trying to develop a legitimate
business. Those who are successful online, are the kind of
people who make a solid commitment to a particular business
model and make a long-term commitment to a realistic
marketing plan.
Internet Marketing - Why 2010 Will Be A White Knuckle Ride For Web Marketers
Written by: Titus Hoskins |
Distributed: 2010-02-04 |
Word Count: 1193 |
Page Views: 60
| Votes: 1 |
Rating: 4.00
The coming year 2010, may just be one of the most
challenging times for web marketers, mainly because of new
FTC (Federal Trade Commission) Guidelines and "ALL" the
recent changes within Google. Read to discover what all
these new changes could mean for your own online
marketing...
Razor Blades And The Marketing Slippery Slide
Written by: Scott Bywater |
Distributed: 2010-02-04 |
Word Count: 558 |
Page Views: 29
| Votes: 1 |
Rating: 5.00
On Friday, I made a mistake which probably cost me a
thousand dollars or more. That's right. I gave you the
wrong number to call to listen into the replay of my
teleseminar about getting more customers last week. Now when
people are ready to take the next step with you, it is
always a big mistake to put anything in the way of them
doing so (as I did on Friday).
The Art of Working A Room -- Networking Skills for Small Business
Written by: K. MacKillop |
Distributed: 2010-02-04 |
Word Count: 1115 |
Page Views: 61
| Votes: 2 |
Rating: 3.00
Mastering the art of effective networking marks the
difference between merely successful entrepreneurs and
captains of industry - the better you are at networking, the
more power you wield. There are a few simple rules to follow
to be successful working the room, and anyone with a little
willingness can learn to be a master of networking.
Your New Business Name: Three Problems That Could Spell Trouble
Written by: Marcia Yudkin |
Distributed: 2010-02-04 |
Word Count: 596 |
Page Views: 58
| Votes: 1 |
Rating: 3.00
If customers, referral sources and media people can't
correctly translate the spoken version of your business name
into writing, or if they can't make sense of it when they
hear the name, word of mouth publicity hits a major snag.
Avoid these serious problems when deciding on your new
company name.
Online Fax And The Small Business Start-Up
Written by: Titus Hoskins |
Distributed: 2010-02-03 |
Word Count: 483 |
Page Views: 28
Many business start-ups are turning to the Internet to
handle all their faxing and phone needs. Online fax and
virtual PBX services are becoming extremely popular -
discover why by reading this informative article.
Most Viewed "Business Online" Articles
Attracting Readers to your Book
Written by: Alastair Hall |
Distributed: 2006-05-18 |
Word Count: 708 |
Page Views: 41438
| Votes: 9 |
Rating: 2.11
One of the common and obvious ways to market a self-published
book is having your own website. The harder part is how to
attract your target audience and then convert the sale.
How To Make Visitors Bookmark Your Site
Written by: Cheryl Miller |
Distributed: 2006-10-10 |
Word Count: 536 |
Page Views: 33717
| Votes: 13 |
Rating: 2.38
When visitors bookmark your site it is a sign that you have built
a great website and are pleasing them. Visitors think highly
enough of your site to want to return and possibly tell others
about it. You are not only increasing traffic from your existing
clientele you are encouraging new traffic by means of viral
marketing.
Treat Online 'Guests' With Respect
Written by: Rick Sloboda |
Distributed: 2007-07-27 |
Word Count: 472 |
Page Views: 26106
| Votes: 23 |
Rating: 3.65
Does your website show your customers lack of respect? Review the
following checklist to find out.
How I Got 70,000 Useless Visitors To My Site In One Day! (One Internet Marketer's Analysis of Social Bookmark Traffic)
Written by: Titus Hoskins |
Distributed: 2007-11-06 |
Word Count: 1545 |
Page Views: 22722
| Votes: 8 |
Rating: 2.13
Is social bookmark traffic useless? Is it even worth cultivating
for your site? Can it be used from an online marketing
perspective? Read to discover one Internet Marketer's analysis
of social bookmark/media traffic...
Tips For Building Your First Website
Written by: Benny Tsabba |
Distributed: 2007-05-30 |
Word Count: 1511 |
Page Views: 12979
| Votes: 9 |
Rating: 2.00
New people are coming online everyday. And many of those people
desire to turn their spare time into spare cash. So begins their
journey.
Increasing Productivity In Your Online Business
Written by: Willie Crawford |
Distributed: 2006-06-14 |
Word Count: 1407 |
Page Views: 3416
| Votes: 32 |
Rating: 3.72
Running an online "empire" of approximately 1600 websites and
blogs, selling a variety of products, services and ideas, I
have to be much more productive than the average person in a
"regular job."
A New Home Business
Written by: Angela Recchia |
Distributed: 2006-09-08 |
Word Count: 319 |
Page Views: 3218
| Votes: 7 |
Rating: 2.57
When joining a new affiliate program, many people do not know
where to go next. They join thinking that's all that is needed
without a plan of action. What is needed is promotion of your
program and getting others to join you. If you are motivated and
have the drive and knowledge to get you started. Then you are on
your way.
Credit Card Growth
Written by: Scott Burke |
Distributed: 2006-07-05 |
Word Count: 384 |
Page Views: 3011
| Votes: 9 |
Rating: 2.44
Industries that expand at such a rapid rate often are vulnerable
to fraud schemes devised by those seeking to capitalize on
newfound criminal opportunities, dated security measures, and
outdated laws. The credit card sector is no exception.
Click Fraud: Defining the Context of a Problem (Part 1)
Written by: Jim Hedger |
Distributed: 2006-10-12 |
Word Count: 1426 |
Page Views: 3010
| Votes: 11 |
Rating: 2.55
Everyone involved in search marketing considers Click Fraud a
problem issue though to what degree problems exist depends on who
is looking at the issues. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) search advertising
is the golden goose that makes the major engines financially
viable but the success of the PPC model, mixed with the nature of
the 'net can make PPC advertising a double-edged sword for
advertisers.
Who Else Wants to Know How-To Write an Effective Advertisement?
Written by: Bill Platt |
Distributed: 2007-11-09 |
Word Count: 1431 |
Page Views: 2990
| Votes: 20 |
Rating: 2.40
Webmasters struggle everyday with the question of how they should
advertise their website. There are so many advertising venues; it
is hard to know which is the right venue or the right combination
of advertising venues.
Highest Ranked "Business Online" Articles
Making Money with High Paying Adsense Keywords
Written by: Blake Evans |
Distributed: 2008-12-18 |
Word Count: 536 |
Page Views: 358
| Votes: 5 |
Rating: 4.20
Google was ingenious when they came up with Adsense. Not only do
they get an opportunity to make additional money from their
search engines, but they also allow Internet marketers a chance
to make money in an easier manner. Why is this so? Well, with
traditional affiliate marketing, you must make a sale before you
receive commission. But with Adsense, all you have to do is
create content that will produce ads that readers will click on.
How to Keep Your Article Content Fresh and Interesting
Written by: Craig Ritsema |
Distributed: 2006-08-29 |
Word Count: 699 |
Page Views: 1161
| Votes: 17 |
Rating: 4.18
Webmasters everywhere are constantly on the lookout for fresh and
interesting content for their website. Along with these content
qualities is the requirement that it be unique. Everyone wants
their website to stand out above the others in the search engine
results. So what is the trick for you to keep a steady supply of
this quality content coming your way?
The Importance Of Effective Follow-up
Written by: Kate Smalley |
Distributed: 2007-01-15 |
Word Count: 493 |
Page Views: 602
| Votes: 6 |
Rating: 4.17
Marketing experts say that following up with clients is crucial
to successful selling because most prospects do not buy the first
time, according to Aweber, a leading autoresponder company.
People must encounter a marketing message multiple times before
making a purchasing decision.
Is Your Business 'Out Of Site'? Employ The Ultimate Marketing Tool
Written by: Rick Sloboda |
Distributed: 2007-01-09 |
Word Count: 445 |
Page Views: 1229
| Votes: 17 |
Rating: 4.06
With the rapid expansion of the digital economy, the web site is
conceivably the most powerful marketing and sales tool you can employ.
Find out what a web site can do for you.
How To Use Your Race To Get Rich
Written by: Herbert Harris |
Distributed: 2009-07-07 |
Word Count: 1407 |
Page Views: 1528
| Votes: 40 |
Rating: 4.05
Amid recent news reports that there continues to be an ongoing
and substantial gap between the net worth of Whites and other
racial groups, it is easy to be distracted and overwhelmed by the
raw data. However, I am immediately reminded of a quote offered
by an economic expert from the past... "There are lies, damned
lies, and statistics!"
Secrets of Domain Parking - An Innovative and Easier Way to Make Money
Written by: John Khu |
Distributed: 2009-02-27 |
Word Count: 484 |
Page Views: 294
| Votes: 7 |
Rating: 4.00
Using a good domain parking services to monetize expired domain
names seems to be a neglected aspect with a number of domain
names traders. Domain parking is also an unfamiliar concept to
many inexperienced domain name traders. Read this article to
better understand domain parking and how it can be of benefit to
you.
Expired Domain Gains - Simple Ideas to Create an Income Base
Written by: John Khu |
Distributed: 2009-07-31 |
Word Count: 549 |
Page Views: 2188
| Votes: 14 |
Rating: 4.00
You can use a number of simple methods and plans to create a
solid income base that earns a monthly ongoing income base.
For many expired domain entrepreneurs (both full-time and
part time), expired domains offer an opportunity to
supplement their current income with money earned out of
dealing with expired domains.
The Most Important Ingredient for Info Product Success (is You)
Written by: Judy Murdoch |
Distributed: 2008-04-15 |
Word Count: 981 |
Page Views: 465
| Votes: 13 |
Rating: 3.92
Last week I was attending a conference and mentioned to someone I
help small business owners create information products. The other
person was very friendly until I said "information products."
Then the temperature in the room dropped about 10-degrees
How To Build A Website That Will Rank Well In The Search Engines?
Written by: Fred Schebesta |
Distributed: 2007-04-23 |
Word Count: 1064 |
Page Views: 1179
| Votes: 9 |
Rating: 3.89
Redeveloping your website can be a real challenge when you assume
your web designers and developers understand search engine
marketing. Unfortunately this is not usually the case. Most
designers are great at making pretty pictures and developers are
great at making great technology. But pretty pictures and great
technology don't necessarily give you great search engine
results.
How to Prosper Beyond Virtual Real Estate
Written by: Kamau Austin |
Distributed: 2006-10-17 |
Word Count: 1263 |
Page Views: 851
| Votes: 7 |
Rating: 3.86
We explore virtual real estate (VRE) sites as sites primarily
embedded with Google Adsense(tm) or Yahoo Publisher's Network (YPN)
ads.
|
|
|
Article Reprint Rights
|
This work is
licensed under a
Creative Commons
License
You are not required to show the creative commons license notice when you reprint this work.
|
|
for Writers
for Publishers
Article Directory
Article Search
Get RSS Feed
