While many people consider SEO to be complicated I believe that SEO is nothing but an extension of traditional marketing. Search engine optimization consists of 9 main steps
1. market research
2. keyword research
3. on page optimization
4. site structure
5. link building
6. brand building
7. viral marketing
8. adjusting
9. staying up to date
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Market Research
Do you have what it takes to compete in a market?
I recommend: using SEO for Firefox and searching on major search engines to get an overview of how competitive a marketplace is.
The first step is to search the major search engines to see what types of websites are ranking for words which you deem to be important. For example, if mostly colleges, media, and government institutions are ranking for your most important terms it may be difficult to rank for those types of queries. If, on the other hand, the market is dominated by fairly average websites which are not strongly established brands it may be a market worth persuing.
You can extend out the research you get from the search results by using the SEO for Firefox extension with the Firefox browser. This places many marketing data points right in the search results, and thus lets you see things like
- site age
- Google PageRank
- inbound link count
- if any governmental or educational sites link at their site
- if they are listed in major directories
- if bloggers link at their sites
Keyword Research
What keywords are people searching for?
I recommend: Using the SEO Book Keyword research tool to search for popular and Long Tail keywords related to your industry. This tool cross references Overture, the Google Keyword Tool, Wordtracker, and other popular keyword research tools.
Keyword research tools are better at providing a qualitative measure than a quantitative measure, so don't be surprised if actual traffic volumes vary greatly from the numbers suggested by these tools. When in doubt you can also set up a Google AdWords account to test the potential size of a market.
In addition to looking up search volumes for what keywords you think are important also take the time to ask past customers how they found you, why they chose you, and what issues were important to them in chosing you.
You can also get keyword ideas by doing things like
- checking your web analytics or server logs
- looking at page contents of competing websites
- looking through topical forums and community sites to see what issues people frequently discuss
Site Structure
How should you structure your site?
I recommend: Before drafting content consider what keywords are your most important and map out how to create pages to fit each important group of keywords within your site theme and navigational structure based on
- market value
- logical breaks in market segmentation
- importance of ranking in building credibility / improving conversion rates
You may want to use an excel spreadsheet or some other program to help you visualize your site structure.
Make sure
- your most important categories or pages are linked to sitewide
- you link to every page on your site from at least one other page on your site
- you use consistant anchor text in your navigation
- you link to other content pages (and expeically to action items) from within the content area of your website
If you are uncertain how deep to make a portion of the site start by creating a few high quality pages on the topic. Based on market feedback create more pages in the sections that are most valuable to your business.
On Page Optimization
How should you structure your on page content?
I recommend: Using unique descriptive page titles play a crucial role in a successful search engine optimization campaigns. Page titles appear in the search results, and many people link to pages using the page title as their link anchor text.
If possible create hand crafted meta description tags which compliment the page title by reinforcing your offer. If the relevant keywords for a page have multiple formats it may make sense to help focus the meta description on versions you did not use in the page title.
As far as page content goes, make sure you write for humans, but also use heading tags to help break up the content into logical sections which will improve the scanability and help structure the document.
When possible, make sure your page content uses descriptive modifiers as well.
Each page also needs to be sufficiently unique from other pages on your site. Do not let search engines index printer friendly versions of your content, or other pages where content is duplicate or nearly duplicate.
Link Building
How do I build quality links?
I recommend: In this post Matt Cutts suggested that Google is getting better at understanding link quality. Search engines want to count quality editorial votes as links that help influence their relevancy algorithms.
Here are a few tips for building links
- submit your site to general directories like DMOZ, the Yahoo! Directory, and Business.com
- submit your site to relevant niche directories
- here is more background on directories and SEO
- if you have a local site submit to relevant local sites (like the local chamber of commerce)
- join trade organizations
- get links from industry hub sites
- create content people would want to link at
- here is a list of 101 useful link building strategies
Other link building tips
- try to link to your most relevant page when getting links (don't point all the links at your home page)
- mix your anchor text
- use Yahoo! Site Explorer and other tools to analyze top competing backlinks
- don't be afraid to link out to relevant high quality resources
Brand Building
How does brand relate to SEO?
I recommend: Brand related search queries tend to be some of the most targeted, best converting, and most valuable keywords. As you gain mindshare people will be more likely to search for your brand or keywords related to your brand.
A high volume of brand related search traffic may also be seen as a sign of quality by major search engines.
If you build a strong brand when people search for more information about your brand other websites will have good things to say about your brand, thus reinforcing your brand image and improving your lead quality and conversion rates.
Things like advertising and community activity are easy ways to help improve your brand exposure, but obviously branding is a lot more complicated than that. One of my favorite books about branding is Rob Frankel's The Revenge of Brand X.
Viral Marketing
How does viral marketing relate to SEO?
I recommend: Seth Godin's Purple Cow is a great book about being remarkable. Links are nothing but a remark or citation.
Link building is probably the single hardest and most time consuming part of an effective SEO campaign, largely because it requires influencing other people.
The beautiful thing about viral marketing is that creating one popular compelling idea can lead to thousands and thousands of unrequested links.
In SEO many people create content based around linking opportunities. Many of us refer to this as Link Baiting.
You can learn link baiting tips from
- SEO Book
- Stuntdubl
- Copyblogger
- Wolf Howl
You can search social news or social bookmarking sites like Digg or Del.icio.us to see what stories related to your topic became popular.
You can also hire Chris Angus, Todd Malicoat, or Brent Csutoras to perform link baiting services.
Measuring Results
How can I tell if my SEO campaign is effective?
I recommend: The bottom line is what counts. Is your site generating more leads, higher quality leads, or more sales?
Search engines lag market activity though, so it may take a while for them to fully analyze how authoritative your site is after you work to target new markets and build linkage data and brand value.
You can look at your server logs and an analytics program to track traffic trends and what keywords lead to conversion.
Outside of traffic another good sign that you are on the right track is if you see more websites asking questions or talking about you. If you start picking up high quality unrequested links you might be near a Tipping Point to where your marketing really starts to build on itself.
Depending on how competitive your marketplace is it may take anywhere from a few weeks to a couple years to establish a strong market position.
In my SEO tools I also offer Google Gadgets, which make it easy for you to embed keyword, competitive, and link research tools inside any webpage.
Keeping up to date
How do you track the changes in the SEO market?
I recommend: You can track your ranking changes using this free keyword rank checker. Remember that the perspective of only one site is probably not enough to understand all the changing market dynamics though.
Regards,
Senthilkc
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Wife of American who went missing at lake pleads for help
(CNN) -- Authorities in the Tamaulipas state attorney general's office gave conflicting information Monday over whether authorities are pursuing a pair of suspects in the case of a U.S. citizen who disappeared during a sightseeing trip on the U.S.-Mexican border in South Texas.
While Luis Homero Uvalle, a spokesman for the office, told CNN the suspects are two brothers who are "well known to this area" -- identifying them only as "El 27" and "El 31" -- Ruben Dario-Rios, the chief spokesman for the attorney general said, "We have nothing official about suspects in the disappearance of David Hartley. I do not know where that is coming from."
Dario-Rios said the lead investigator, Rolando Flores, has not indicated that there are suspects.
David Michael Hartley went missing September 30. His wife, Tiffany, told authorities her husband was shot and killed during a sightseeing trip on Falcon Lake, which bisects the international border.
On Monday, Tiffany Hartley, along with David Hartley's mother, Pam, appeared on several morning talk shows asking for information that will help investigators find those responsible for David's death and find his body.
"Until we have him back, it's not final," Tiffany Hartley said on NBC's "The Today Show."
On Sunday, the U.S. Border Patrol, the Coast Guard, and Parks and Wildlife officials were back on the U.S. side of the lake searching for new evidence in the case, Gonzales said. Mexican authorities were searching their side of the lake as well, he said.
Authorities from both nations are conducting separate searches and are coordinating and holding regular meetings, State Department spokeswoman Virginia Staab said. But because the disappearance happened on the Mexican side of the border, the United States cannot prosecute or make arrests in the case, the sheriff said.
Tiffany Hartley was on several CNN shows Thursday recounting what happened on Falcon Lake. She also talked about her feelings about people doubting her account of the alleged attack.
Hartley said on HLN's "Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell' that "I know what I know."
"As long as I know the truth, God knows the truth," she added. "And other than that, it almost doesn't really matter to me, because I know what happened that day."
Falcon Lake is on the Rio Grande in Zapata and Starr counties in South Texas. The U.S.-Mexican border runs through the middle of the lake.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, says 60 Mexican personnel, three boats and a helicopter have taken part in the search.
Despite the dangers on the Mexican side of the lake, Texas officials on Thursday said that the U.S. side of the body of water remains safe.
"It's is just as safe now as any other time. However, there is a threat," said Rep. Ruben Hinojosa D-Texas.
Thanks cnn
Senthilkc
While Luis Homero Uvalle, a spokesman for the office, told CNN the suspects are two brothers who are "well known to this area" -- identifying them only as "El 27" and "El 31" -- Ruben Dario-Rios, the chief spokesman for the attorney general said, "We have nothing official about suspects in the disappearance of David Hartley. I do not know where that is coming from."
Dario-Rios said the lead investigator, Rolando Flores, has not indicated that there are suspects.
David Michael Hartley went missing September 30. His wife, Tiffany, told authorities her husband was shot and killed during a sightseeing trip on Falcon Lake, which bisects the international border.
On Monday, Tiffany Hartley, along with David Hartley's mother, Pam, appeared on several morning talk shows asking for information that will help investigators find those responsible for David's death and find his body.
"Until we have him back, it's not final," Tiffany Hartley said on NBC's "The Today Show."
On Sunday, the U.S. Border Patrol, the Coast Guard, and Parks and Wildlife officials were back on the U.S. side of the lake searching for new evidence in the case, Gonzales said. Mexican authorities were searching their side of the lake as well, he said.
Authorities from both nations are conducting separate searches and are coordinating and holding regular meetings, State Department spokeswoman Virginia Staab said. But because the disappearance happened on the Mexican side of the border, the United States cannot prosecute or make arrests in the case, the sheriff said.
Tiffany Hartley was on several CNN shows Thursday recounting what happened on Falcon Lake. She also talked about her feelings about people doubting her account of the alleged attack.
Hartley said on HLN's "Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell' that "I know what I know."
"As long as I know the truth, God knows the truth," she added. "And other than that, it almost doesn't really matter to me, because I know what happened that day."
Falcon Lake is on the Rio Grande in Zapata and Starr counties in South Texas. The U.S.-Mexican border runs through the middle of the lake.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, says 60 Mexican personnel, three boats and a helicopter have taken part in the search.
Despite the dangers on the Mexican side of the lake, Texas officials on Thursday said that the U.S. side of the body of water remains safe.
"It's is just as safe now as any other time. However, there is a threat," said Rep. Ruben Hinojosa D-Texas.
Thanks cnn
Senthilkc
Obama seeks bipartisan support for infrastructure upgrade
Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama called Monday for Congress to approve a $50 billion plan to begin upgrading the nation's crumbling infrastructure, saying such an investment is vital to creating much-needed construction jobs and keeping the nation competitive in the global economy.
In a Rose Garden statement at the White House, Obama called for bipartisan support when Congress returns after the November 2 mid-term elections so that the first phase of a proposed six-year infrastructure development plan can begin.
"We've always had the best infrastructure," Obama said, noting that one in five construction workers are unemployed right now. "This is work that needs to be done. There are workers ready to do it. All we need is political will."
The president first announced the plan on Labor Day, and present and former Cabinet members as well as some governors and mayors around the nation joined him to support the initiative.
Despite their call, it remains uncertain if the issue can overcome the deep partisan divide in Congress, especially after an election expected to erode Democratic majorities in both chambers or even return Republicans to control.
The main Republican campaign theme for the upcoming election has been excessive government spending under Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress that has failed to lower the unemployment rate below 9 percent. In particular, Republicans say the $787 billion economic stimulus bill passed last year has failed to bring promised jobs and other economic benefits.
Obama and Democrats say the stimulus bill prevented the recession that began in the previous administration from worsening into a full economic depression.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood responded sharply on that topic when questioned by reporters Monday about whether new infrastructure spending would provide better results than the stimulus bill.
Noting that the $48 billion in stimulus money for the transportation sector funded 14,000 projects that employed thousands of people, LaHood said that Americans know the bill worked "because they see their friends and neighbors working on roads and bridges and transit systems."
"The idea that our stimulus didn't work is nonsense," he said.
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat and strong Obama supporter, called stimulus spending on infrastructure "the single best job creator we can do in this country."
"It created well-paying jobs that can't be outsourced," Rendell said. "It's just what the economy needs."
A study by the Department of Treasury and the Council of Economic Advisers shows a majority of infrastructure-related jobs would come in the construction field, followed by manufacturing and retail.
LaHood added that Congress has traditionally passed transportation bills containing infrastructure investment with strong bipartisan support.
"There are no Democratic or Republicans bridges or roads," he said, adding that Democratic Rep. Jim Oberstar of Minnesota, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told him there is Republican support for new infrastructure investment.
Obama and LaHood said the cost of new investment would be paid for, rather than adding to the debt. However, LaHood stopped short of offering specific ways to do so, saying only that a number of options were being considered.
Senior administration officials say private funds also would be used for the infrastructure overhaul. They suggested the $50 billion from Congress could be paid for by closing loopholes in the tax code related to oil and gas production or through other cost-cutting measures.
Thanks cnn
Senthilkc
In a Rose Garden statement at the White House, Obama called for bipartisan support when Congress returns after the November 2 mid-term elections so that the first phase of a proposed six-year infrastructure development plan can begin.
"We've always had the best infrastructure," Obama said, noting that one in five construction workers are unemployed right now. "This is work that needs to be done. There are workers ready to do it. All we need is political will."
The president first announced the plan on Labor Day, and present and former Cabinet members as well as some governors and mayors around the nation joined him to support the initiative.
Despite their call, it remains uncertain if the issue can overcome the deep partisan divide in Congress, especially after an election expected to erode Democratic majorities in both chambers or even return Republicans to control.
The main Republican campaign theme for the upcoming election has been excessive government spending under Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress that has failed to lower the unemployment rate below 9 percent. In particular, Republicans say the $787 billion economic stimulus bill passed last year has failed to bring promised jobs and other economic benefits.
Obama and Democrats say the stimulus bill prevented the recession that began in the previous administration from worsening into a full economic depression.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood responded sharply on that topic when questioned by reporters Monday about whether new infrastructure spending would provide better results than the stimulus bill.
Noting that the $48 billion in stimulus money for the transportation sector funded 14,000 projects that employed thousands of people, LaHood said that Americans know the bill worked "because they see their friends and neighbors working on roads and bridges and transit systems."
"The idea that our stimulus didn't work is nonsense," he said.
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat and strong Obama supporter, called stimulus spending on infrastructure "the single best job creator we can do in this country."
"It created well-paying jobs that can't be outsourced," Rendell said. "It's just what the economy needs."
A study by the Department of Treasury and the Council of Economic Advisers shows a majority of infrastructure-related jobs would come in the construction field, followed by manufacturing and retail.
LaHood added that Congress has traditionally passed transportation bills containing infrastructure investment with strong bipartisan support.
"There are no Democratic or Republicans bridges or roads," he said, adding that Democratic Rep. Jim Oberstar of Minnesota, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told him there is Republican support for new infrastructure investment.
Obama and LaHood said the cost of new investment would be paid for, rather than adding to the debt. However, LaHood stopped short of offering specific ways to do so, saying only that a number of options were being considered.
Senior administration officials say private funds also would be used for the infrastructure overhaul. They suggested the $50 billion from Congress could be paid for by closing loopholes in the tax code related to oil and gas production or through other cost-cutting measures.
Thanks cnn
Senthilkc
Hurricane Paula spins toward Mexico's east coast
(CNN) -- The weather system once known as Tropical Storm Paula is now Hurricane Paula after picking up brawn near Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Tuesday morning.
As of 5 a.m. ET, Paula was about 230 miles (370 kilometers) south-southeast of Cozumel, Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida. The storm packed maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) and was headed northwest at 10 mph (17 kph).
The center of the hurricane is expected to approach the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula on Tuesday night.
A projection map shows Paula swiping past the Yucatan's coast on Wednesday. The storm is forecast to swing east toward Cuba by the end of this week.
A hurricane warning is in effect along the coast of Mexico from Punta Gruesa north to Cabo Catoche. The warning area includes Cozumel, Mexico.
Paula could dump 3 to 6 inches of rain over northern Belize, eastern parts of the Yucatan Peninsula and parts of western and central Cuba.
"Isolated maximum amounts of 10 inches are possible," the hurricane center said. "In areas of mountainous terrain, these rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides."
Thanks cnn
Senthilkc
As of 5 a.m. ET, Paula was about 230 miles (370 kilometers) south-southeast of Cozumel, Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida. The storm packed maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) and was headed northwest at 10 mph (17 kph).
The center of the hurricane is expected to approach the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula on Tuesday night.
A projection map shows Paula swiping past the Yucatan's coast on Wednesday. The storm is forecast to swing east toward Cuba by the end of this week.
A hurricane warning is in effect along the coast of Mexico from Punta Gruesa north to Cabo Catoche. The warning area includes Cozumel, Mexico.
Paula could dump 3 to 6 inches of rain over northern Belize, eastern parts of the Yucatan Peninsula and parts of western and central Cuba.
"Isolated maximum amounts of 10 inches are possible," the hurricane center said. "In areas of mountainous terrain, these rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides."
Thanks cnn
Senthilkc
Google PageRank
What is PageRank?
PageRank is the algorithm used by the Google search engine, originally formulated by Sergey Brin and Larry Page in their paper The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine.
It is based on the premise, prevalent in the world of academia, that the importance of a research paper can be judged by the number of citations the paper has from other research papers. Brin and Page have simply transferred this premise to its web equivalent: the importance of a web page can be judged by the number of hyperlinks pointing to it from other web pages
So what is the algorithm?
It may look daunting to non-mathematicians, but the PageRank algorithm is in fact elegantly simple and is calculated as follows:
* PR(A) = (1-d) + d (PR(T1)/C(T1) + ... + PR(Tn)/C(Tn))
where PR(A) is the PageRank of a page A
PR(T1) is the PageRank of a page T1
C(T1) is the number of outgoing links from the page T1
d is a damping factor in the range 0 < d < 1, usually set to 0.85
The PageRank of a web page is therefore calculated as a sum of the PageRanks of all pages linking to it (its incoming links), divided by the number of links on each of those pages (its outgoing links).
And what does this mean?
From a search engine marketer's point of view, this means there are two ways in which PageRank can affect the position of your page on Google:
* The number of incoming links. Obviously the more of these the better. But there is another thing the algorithm tells us: no incoming link can have a negative effect on the PageRank of the page it points at. At worst it can simply have no effect at all.
* The number of outgoing links on the page which points at your page. The fewer of these the better. This is interesting: it means given two pages of equal PageRank linking to you, one with 5 outgoing links and the other with 10, you will get twice the increase in PageRank from the page with only 5 outgoing links.
At this point we take a step back and ask ourselves just how important PageRank is to the position of your page in the Google search results.
The next thing we can observe about the PageRank algorithm is that it has nothing whatsoever to do with relevance to the search terms queried. It is simply one single (admittedly important) part of the entire Google relevance ranking algorithm.
Perhaps a good way to look at PageRank is as a multiplying factor, applied to the Google search results after all its other computations have been completed. The Google algorithm first calculates the relevance of pages in its index to the search terms, and then multiplies this relevance by the PageRank to produce a final list. The higher your PageRank therefore the higher up the results you will be, but there are still many other factors related to the positioning of words on the page which must be considered first
So what's the use of the PageRank Calculator - if no incoming link has a negative effect, surely I should just get as many as possible, regardless of the number of outgoing links on its page?
Well, not entirely. The PageRank algorithm is very cleverly balanced. Just like the conservation of energy in physics with every reaction, PageRank is also conserved with every calculation. For instance, if a page with a starting PageRank of 4 has two outgoing links on it, we know that the amount of PageRank it passes on is divided equally between all of its outgoing links. In this case 4 / 2 = 2 units of PageRank is passed on to each of 2 separate pages, and 2 + 2 = 4 - so the total PageRank is preserved!
Note: There are scenarios where you may find that total PageRank is not conserved after a calculation. PageRank itself is supposed to represent a probability distribution, with the individual PageRank of a page representing the likelihood of a 'random surfer' chancing upon it. I have discussed this concept in more detail here).
On a much larger scale, supposing Google's index contains a billion pages, each with a PageRank of 1, the total PageRank across all pages is equal to a billion. Moreover, each time we recalculate PageRank, no matter what changes in PageRank may occur between individual pages, the total PageRank across all one billion pages will still add up to a billion.
Firstly, this means that although we may not be able to change the total PageRank across all pages, by strategic linking of pages within our site, we can affect the distribution of PageRank between pages. For instance, we may want most of our visitors to come into the site through our home page. We would therefore want our home page to have a higher PageRank relative to other pages within the site. We should also recall that all of the PageRank of a page is passed on and divided equally between each of the outgoing links on a page. We would therefore want to keep as much combined PageRank as possible within our own site without passing it on to external sites and losing its benefit. This means we would want any page with lots of external links (ie. links to other people's web sites) to have a lower PageRank relative to other pages within the site to minimise the amount of PageRank which is 'leaked' to external sites. Bear in mind also our earlier statement, that PageRank is simply a multiplying factor applied once Google's other calculations regarding relevance have already been calculated. We would therefore want our more keyword-rich pages to also have a higher relative PageRank.
Secondly, if we assume that every new page in Google's index begins its life with a PageRank of 1, there is a way we can increase the combined PageRank of pages within our site - by increasing the number of pages! A site with 10 pages will start life with a combined PageRank of 10 which is then redistributed through its hyperlinks. A site with 12 pages will therefore start with a combined PageRank of 12. We can thus improve the PageRank of our site as a whole by creating new content (ie. more pages) and then control the distribution of that combined PageRank through strategic interlinking between the pages.
And this is the purpose of the PageRank Calculator - to create a model of the site on a small scale including the links between pages, and see what effect the model has on the distribution of PageRank.
How does the PageRank Calculator work?
It's very simple really. Start by typing in the number of interlinking pages you wish to analyse and hit 'Submit'. I have confined this number to just twenty pages to ease server resources. Even so, this should give a reasonable indication of how strategic linking can affect the PageRank distribution.
Next, for ease of reference once the calculation has been performed, provide a label for each page (eg. 'Home Page', 'Links Page', 'Contact Us Page', etc) and again hit 'Submit'.
Finally, use the list boxes to select which pages each page links to. You can use CTRL and SHIFT to highlight multiple selections.
You can also use this screen to change the initial PageRanks of each page. For instance, if one of your pages is supposed to represent Yahoo, you may wish to raise its initial PageRank to, say, 3. However, in actual fact, starting PageRank is irrelevant to its final computed value. In other words, even if one page were to start with a PageRank of 100, after many iterations of the equation (see below), the final computed PageRank will converge to the same value as it would had it started with a PageRank of only 1!
Finally you can play around with the damping factor d, which defaults to 0.85 as this is the value quoted in Brin and Page's research paper.
Why are there 20 lines of results?
Ever heard of the Google 'Dance'? You can see this demonstrated by looking at the differing results sets produced on www.google.com, www2.google.com and www3.google.com. If you study these results closely you will see that they change very slightly from day to day, and in particular during the period once a month when Google updates its index.
One of the reasons for this apparent dancing of results is because Google does not simply calculate the PageRank once for each page. After it has calculated the PageRank for the first time it will then put the resulting PageRanks back into the PageRank algorithm and calculate again. Google will go through this process of iteration many times before the results settle down to their 'true' values. When it has been completed, the results will then appear on the 'official' www.google.com domain.
(NB: While Google is updating its index, the updates also occur at different times across its various data centres. For a more in-depth explanation of the Google Dance, see the Google Dance Viewer.)
The PageRank Calculator defaults to 20 iterations, although you can increase this number should you choose. For a model of around 20 pages, 20 iterations is sufficient to see the PageRanks honing in on a single 'true' value. Google almost certainly performs many more.
Regards,
Senthilkc
PageRank is the algorithm used by the Google search engine, originally formulated by Sergey Brin and Larry Page in their paper The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine.
It is based on the premise, prevalent in the world of academia, that the importance of a research paper can be judged by the number of citations the paper has from other research papers. Brin and Page have simply transferred this premise to its web equivalent: the importance of a web page can be judged by the number of hyperlinks pointing to it from other web pages
So what is the algorithm?
It may look daunting to non-mathematicians, but the PageRank algorithm is in fact elegantly simple and is calculated as follows:
* PR(A) = (1-d) + d (PR(T1)/C(T1) + ... + PR(Tn)/C(Tn))
where PR(A) is the PageRank of a page A
PR(T1) is the PageRank of a page T1
C(T1) is the number of outgoing links from the page T1
d is a damping factor in the range 0 < d < 1, usually set to 0.85
The PageRank of a web page is therefore calculated as a sum of the PageRanks of all pages linking to it (its incoming links), divided by the number of links on each of those pages (its outgoing links).
And what does this mean?
From a search engine marketer's point of view, this means there are two ways in which PageRank can affect the position of your page on Google:
* The number of incoming links. Obviously the more of these the better. But there is another thing the algorithm tells us: no incoming link can have a negative effect on the PageRank of the page it points at. At worst it can simply have no effect at all.
* The number of outgoing links on the page which points at your page. The fewer of these the better. This is interesting: it means given two pages of equal PageRank linking to you, one with 5 outgoing links and the other with 10, you will get twice the increase in PageRank from the page with only 5 outgoing links.
At this point we take a step back and ask ourselves just how important PageRank is to the position of your page in the Google search results.
The next thing we can observe about the PageRank algorithm is that it has nothing whatsoever to do with relevance to the search terms queried. It is simply one single (admittedly important) part of the entire Google relevance ranking algorithm.
Perhaps a good way to look at PageRank is as a multiplying factor, applied to the Google search results after all its other computations have been completed. The Google algorithm first calculates the relevance of pages in its index to the search terms, and then multiplies this relevance by the PageRank to produce a final list. The higher your PageRank therefore the higher up the results you will be, but there are still many other factors related to the positioning of words on the page which must be considered first
So what's the use of the PageRank Calculator - if no incoming link has a negative effect, surely I should just get as many as possible, regardless of the number of outgoing links on its page?
Well, not entirely. The PageRank algorithm is very cleverly balanced. Just like the conservation of energy in physics with every reaction, PageRank is also conserved with every calculation. For instance, if a page with a starting PageRank of 4 has two outgoing links on it, we know that the amount of PageRank it passes on is divided equally between all of its outgoing links. In this case 4 / 2 = 2 units of PageRank is passed on to each of 2 separate pages, and 2 + 2 = 4 - so the total PageRank is preserved!
Note: There are scenarios where you may find that total PageRank is not conserved after a calculation. PageRank itself is supposed to represent a probability distribution, with the individual PageRank of a page representing the likelihood of a 'random surfer' chancing upon it. I have discussed this concept in more detail here).
On a much larger scale, supposing Google's index contains a billion pages, each with a PageRank of 1, the total PageRank across all pages is equal to a billion. Moreover, each time we recalculate PageRank, no matter what changes in PageRank may occur between individual pages, the total PageRank across all one billion pages will still add up to a billion.
Firstly, this means that although we may not be able to change the total PageRank across all pages, by strategic linking of pages within our site, we can affect the distribution of PageRank between pages. For instance, we may want most of our visitors to come into the site through our home page. We would therefore want our home page to have a higher PageRank relative to other pages within the site. We should also recall that all of the PageRank of a page is passed on and divided equally between each of the outgoing links on a page. We would therefore want to keep as much combined PageRank as possible within our own site without passing it on to external sites and losing its benefit. This means we would want any page with lots of external links (ie. links to other people's web sites) to have a lower PageRank relative to other pages within the site to minimise the amount of PageRank which is 'leaked' to external sites. Bear in mind also our earlier statement, that PageRank is simply a multiplying factor applied once Google's other calculations regarding relevance have already been calculated. We would therefore want our more keyword-rich pages to also have a higher relative PageRank.
Secondly, if we assume that every new page in Google's index begins its life with a PageRank of 1, there is a way we can increase the combined PageRank of pages within our site - by increasing the number of pages! A site with 10 pages will start life with a combined PageRank of 10 which is then redistributed through its hyperlinks. A site with 12 pages will therefore start with a combined PageRank of 12. We can thus improve the PageRank of our site as a whole by creating new content (ie. more pages) and then control the distribution of that combined PageRank through strategic interlinking between the pages.
And this is the purpose of the PageRank Calculator - to create a model of the site on a small scale including the links between pages, and see what effect the model has on the distribution of PageRank.
How does the PageRank Calculator work?
It's very simple really. Start by typing in the number of interlinking pages you wish to analyse and hit 'Submit'. I have confined this number to just twenty pages to ease server resources. Even so, this should give a reasonable indication of how strategic linking can affect the PageRank distribution.
Next, for ease of reference once the calculation has been performed, provide a label for each page (eg. 'Home Page', 'Links Page', 'Contact Us Page', etc) and again hit 'Submit'.
Finally, use the list boxes to select which pages each page links to. You can use CTRL and SHIFT to highlight multiple selections.
You can also use this screen to change the initial PageRanks of each page. For instance, if one of your pages is supposed to represent Yahoo, you may wish to raise its initial PageRank to, say, 3. However, in actual fact, starting PageRank is irrelevant to its final computed value. In other words, even if one page were to start with a PageRank of 100, after many iterations of the equation (see below), the final computed PageRank will converge to the same value as it would had it started with a PageRank of only 1!
Finally you can play around with the damping factor d, which defaults to 0.85 as this is the value quoted in Brin and Page's research paper.
Why are there 20 lines of results?
Ever heard of the Google 'Dance'? You can see this demonstrated by looking at the differing results sets produced on www.google.com, www2.google.com and www3.google.com. If you study these results closely you will see that they change very slightly from day to day, and in particular during the period once a month when Google updates its index.
One of the reasons for this apparent dancing of results is because Google does not simply calculate the PageRank once for each page. After it has calculated the PageRank for the first time it will then put the resulting PageRanks back into the PageRank algorithm and calculate again. Google will go through this process of iteration many times before the results settle down to their 'true' values. When it has been completed, the results will then appear on the 'official' www.google.com domain.
(NB: While Google is updating its index, the updates also occur at different times across its various data centres. For a more in-depth explanation of the Google Dance, see the Google Dance Viewer.)
The PageRank Calculator defaults to 20 iterations, although you can increase this number should you choose. For a model of around 20 pages, 20 iterations is sufficient to see the PageRanks honing in on a single 'true' value. Google almost certainly performs many more.
Regards,
Senthilkc
Monday, October 4, 2010
Google Changes and Future of Seo
The imminent death of SEO has been a hot topic amongst SEO professionals for quite some time now. Some SEO professionals worry that their careers are in jeopardy since search engines are continually making improvements to their technologies. Search engines are in the process of completely revamping their ranking strategies to fight spammers and improve user experience. For example, Google is currently improving intent and behavior-based search in order to provide more relevant search results. So what does this all mean for the future of SEO? Is the death of SEO an inevitable outcome of the advancement of search engines?
People have been predicting the end of SEO since the very beginning. While it’s certain that things on the SEO front are always changing and that search engines are getting smarter, SEOs will continually adapt to these changes just as they have in the past. As long as search engines list websites without requiring the websites to pay a fee, SEO will exist.
Google’s Improvements and What They Mean for the Future of SEO
In the quest to fight spam and improve user experience, Google is in the process of implementing a series of changes in behavior and intent-based search. Every person who conducts a search for a particular term will have different results based on their location and search history. As a result of these changes, SEO has to switch from only targeting keywords to focus more on increasing traffic and conversions. A possibility is that link building will become far less important in the future of SEO because Google will determine the value of a website based on how visitors engage with it. The ultimate goal of websites will be to provide compelling content that entices visitors to read, share, bookmark, and so on.
Social input through voting is another feature that search engines are tinkering with in order to provide user-controlled rankings. Search engine users might have the chance to vote for sites they like and sites will get ranked based on such votes. The model will be similar what’s seen on social voting sites like Digg and Reddit. Of course, search engines will have to find a way to ensure that votes are made naturally in order to prevent black hat SEOs from fooling the search engine bots.
Google and other search engines are raising the bar in SEO. Initially, this will make it harder for SEO professionals to do their job but the end result is positive. Spammers and black hat SEOs will have more difficulty succeeding in their unscrupulous efforts and search engine users will be provided with content that is more relevant.
Humans, Not Machines
As always, the aim of webmasters and SEO professionals should be to appeal to humans. People spend so much time trying to trick the search engines that they forget who they are ultimately serving: people! Your site should be optimized but your priority should always be to fulfill needs and provide solutions. Considering the direction that SEO is going, human actions and behavior will ultimately determine rankings. Your SEO success depends on your ability to engage people through great content and social media marketing.
People have been predicting the end of SEO since the very beginning. While it’s certain that things on the SEO front are always changing and that search engines are getting smarter, SEOs will continually adapt to these changes just as they have in the past. As long as search engines list websites without requiring the websites to pay a fee, SEO will exist.
Google’s Improvements and What They Mean for the Future of SEO
In the quest to fight spam and improve user experience, Google is in the process of implementing a series of changes in behavior and intent-based search. Every person who conducts a search for a particular term will have different results based on their location and search history. As a result of these changes, SEO has to switch from only targeting keywords to focus more on increasing traffic and conversions. A possibility is that link building will become far less important in the future of SEO because Google will determine the value of a website based on how visitors engage with it. The ultimate goal of websites will be to provide compelling content that entices visitors to read, share, bookmark, and so on.
Social input through voting is another feature that search engines are tinkering with in order to provide user-controlled rankings. Search engine users might have the chance to vote for sites they like and sites will get ranked based on such votes. The model will be similar what’s seen on social voting sites like Digg and Reddit. Of course, search engines will have to find a way to ensure that votes are made naturally in order to prevent black hat SEOs from fooling the search engine bots.
Google and other search engines are raising the bar in SEO. Initially, this will make it harder for SEO professionals to do their job but the end result is positive. Spammers and black hat SEOs will have more difficulty succeeding in their unscrupulous efforts and search engine users will be provided with content that is more relevant.
Humans, Not Machines
As always, the aim of webmasters and SEO professionals should be to appeal to humans. People spend so much time trying to trick the search engines that they forget who they are ultimately serving: people! Your site should be optimized but your priority should always be to fulfill needs and provide solutions. Considering the direction that SEO is going, human actions and behavior will ultimately determine rankings. Your SEO success depends on your ability to engage people through great content and social media marketing.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Biggest Commonwealth Games kicks off in Delhi
NEW DELHI: The wait is finally over. The biggest Commonwealth Games so far was inaugurated by Prince Charles and President Pratibha Patil at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi.
An impregnable security blanket of 7,500 personnel, including commandos, has been thrown over the grand Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, the venue of today's opening ceremony of the 19th Commonwealth Games.
As one enters the stadium, the only thing visible are the gun-toting security personnel including many in battle fatigues standing besides banners with Games motto 'Come out and Play' written on them.
Numerous check points have been set up along the route with vehicles being strictly kept off from the vicinity of the stadium with 60,000 spectators including Prince Charles, President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and foreign diplomats among other VIPs.
Every residential building around the stadium has a sniper atop it keeping an eye out for any possible trouble.
Though security agency sources say that there is no specific security threat to the Games, nobody wants to take any chance.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram also visited the stadium to take stock of the situation.
Asked if he was satisfied with the security arrangements, a smiling Chidambaram told PTI, "Ask me on October 14 and I will tell you."
Army has also been kept on standby. While Delhi Police and CRPF personnel are present at very nook and corner inside the stadium campus, NSG commandos have also been pressed into action.
As a further step to thwart any possible aerial attack, the Delhi airspace would also be restricted during the period of the opening ceremony.
Indian Army helicopters with commandos in them were seen doing an aerial recce at regular intervals.
The helicopters will receive additional support from the three Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) which will also be pressed into service to carry out surveillance and keep vigil.
Moreover, sources said about 150 personnel of the Delhi Police's Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) have been trained by the Indian Air Force and the NSG to shoot down suspicious manned or unmanned "flying objects".
Specially trained canines held firmly by their handlers can be seen roaming around sniffing for anything suspicious.
Regards,
Senthilkc
An impregnable security blanket of 7,500 personnel, including commandos, has been thrown over the grand Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, the venue of today's opening ceremony of the 19th Commonwealth Games.
As one enters the stadium, the only thing visible are the gun-toting security personnel including many in battle fatigues standing besides banners with Games motto 'Come out and Play' written on them.
Numerous check points have been set up along the route with vehicles being strictly kept off from the vicinity of the stadium with 60,000 spectators including Prince Charles, President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and foreign diplomats among other VIPs.
Every residential building around the stadium has a sniper atop it keeping an eye out for any possible trouble.
Though security agency sources say that there is no specific security threat to the Games, nobody wants to take any chance.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram also visited the stadium to take stock of the situation.
Asked if he was satisfied with the security arrangements, a smiling Chidambaram told PTI, "Ask me on October 14 and I will tell you."
Army has also been kept on standby. While Delhi Police and CRPF personnel are present at very nook and corner inside the stadium campus, NSG commandos have also been pressed into action.
As a further step to thwart any possible aerial attack, the Delhi airspace would also be restricted during the period of the opening ceremony.
Indian Army helicopters with commandos in them were seen doing an aerial recce at regular intervals.
The helicopters will receive additional support from the three Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) which will also be pressed into service to carry out surveillance and keep vigil.
Moreover, sources said about 150 personnel of the Delhi Police's Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) have been trained by the Indian Air Force and the NSG to shoot down suspicious manned or unmanned "flying objects".
Specially trained canines held firmly by their handlers can be seen roaming around sniffing for anything suspicious.
Regards,
Senthilkc
Friday, October 1, 2010
1,200 NASA workers to be laid off
(CNN) -- More than 1,200 NASA workers will be laid off Friday, despite Congress passing a $19 billion budget for the space agency two days earlier.
Lori Garver, NASA's deputy administrator, said Thursday she didn't believe the bill would affect planned layoffs, "certainly not for tomorrow."
Thursday was the last day for laid-off employees to report to their workstations. Shuttle workers on their last day were to receive their final paperwork.
Many of the departing workers have worked on the shuttle program since its beginning in the early 1980s.
Late Wednesday, the House passed the NASA Reauthorization Act following the Senate's approval, giving NASA the authority to move forward with President Barack Obama's strategy for the agency.
The bill overwhelming passed both houses of Congress and Obama is expected to sign it. The exact amount of money each NASA program receives will be decided by congressional appropriations, but not until after the November elections.
The bill authorizes an additional shuttle launch, extending the retirement date of the shuttle program from February 2011 until June 2011. The NASA administrator said an additional shuttle mission could help stock additional supplies on the international space station. The bill extended the space station's life until 2020.
It's expected as the shuttle program comes to an end that more than 9,000 shuttle workers will lose their jobs.
Regards,
Senthilkc
Lori Garver, NASA's deputy administrator, said Thursday she didn't believe the bill would affect planned layoffs, "certainly not for tomorrow."
Thursday was the last day for laid-off employees to report to their workstations. Shuttle workers on their last day were to receive their final paperwork.
Many of the departing workers have worked on the shuttle program since its beginning in the early 1980s.
Late Wednesday, the House passed the NASA Reauthorization Act following the Senate's approval, giving NASA the authority to move forward with President Barack Obama's strategy for the agency.
The bill overwhelming passed both houses of Congress and Obama is expected to sign it. The exact amount of money each NASA program receives will be decided by congressional appropriations, but not until after the November elections.
The bill authorizes an additional shuttle launch, extending the retirement date of the shuttle program from February 2011 until June 2011. The NASA administrator said an additional shuttle mission could help stock additional supplies on the international space station. The bill extended the space station's life until 2020.
It's expected as the shuttle program comes to an end that more than 9,000 shuttle workers will lose their jobs.
Regards,
Senthilkc
Top 10 Commandments of Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate programs can be a big source of revenue. The key to maximizing your earnings is engaging your readers. Unlike traditional ads where you are paid for impressions or clicks, affiliates are only paid when/if a specific action is performed. The action might be a purchase or signing up for a newsletter, but regardless, you are not paid until you've compelled your readers to act.
With that in mind, here are the Top 10 Commandments for affiliate marketing success.
1. Know Your Audience
The most successful way to use affiliate programs is to anticipate and meet the needs of your readers. Consider why they are coming to your site. What are you providing that they are looking for? Make sure the affiliate products you are promoting provide a solution to your audience's problems.
If you are writing about sports, don't put up affiliate ads for printer toner just because everyone has a printer and those programs have a high payout. The people who are coming to read commentary or get stats for their favorite teams aren't thinking about those things when they're on your site.
2. Be Trustworthy
Readers are savvy. They know an affiliate link when they see one. If you break their trust by promoting a product you don't believe in or take advantage of their visit with too many ads, they will leave and never come back.
It is your repeat visitors that will drive traffic. They are the ones who will give you linkbacks, spread the word, and recommend your site as the go-to place for valuable content. You need to build a relationship based on genuine content.
If your visitors don't think you're being honest, they won't read anything else you have to say.
3. Be Helpful
Think of affiliate ads as additional resources that complement your content. Give value to your content by making it helpful, useful, and informative.
Don't put up a list of your favorite books, hoping people will click on the affiliate link, purchase the books (just because you listed them), so you can cash in on a sale. Take some time to write a detailed review, and use affiliate ads to point them in the right direction if they decide to act on your information. That's what affiliate ads are for. If you write a great review recommending a book and readers buy the book because of it, you should get something for that.
But just throwing out links to products with no rhyme or reason will result in a quick exit by visitors.
4. Be Transparent
Always disclose your affiliations. Your readers will appreciate your honesty, and will feel better about contributing to your earnings. If they sense that you are being less than honest about your affiliations, they are savvy enough to bypass your link and go directly to the vendor just to avoid giving you referral credit.
Honesty and full disclosure is a necessary part to building a loyal reader base. They know they are supporting you by using your referral links. Make them happy and eager to do so.
5. Select Carefully
Take the time to go through all the different options for products or services available through the programs. Put some thought into which products or services your readers may need or like. Also, change the ads around often, try different ones, and use different graphics and text to see which are the most effective.
It may take some time before you figure out the best formula, and you may also find that you need to continually rotate ads to attract more attention.
6. Try Different Programs
If one particular program doesn't seem to be working for you, try another one.
Affiliate programs don't look the same. They offer different products, services, and payment structures. Some programs will have a lifetime payout on sales while others will limit it to 30-90 days. Some programs allow much more flexibility in the types of ad units available, as well as colors and design so it fits better on your site's layout.
Also, check your favorite vendors to see if they run their own affiliate program. Sometimes you can go directly to the source. You're not limited to big affiliate networks.
Integrate systematic ad testing into your strategy to maximize your profits.
7. Write Timeless Content
Your old content can still be valuable even though it's no longer on your front page. Take advantage of the long term opportunities by making sure you provide timeless content.
If visitors come across your older content first, and find that it offers dated information, they will leave right away. Of course, information moves forward, so relevant content changes quickly. You can make your content timeless simply by adding links to your updated articles on your old ones.
Many platforms allow you to show "most recent" or "most popular" or "related articles" on every page, so no matter how old the article is, it will always show access to your new ones. Your old content can make money for you indefinitely.
8. Be Patient
Affiliate revenue grows and builds up with time. Remember that some programs offer lifetime payouts. If you refer a visitor, you may continue to make money from that one visitor even if he doesn't come back to your site. Also, as long as you have referral links still active in your old posts, they may still payout for you.
Affiliate programs aren't a get rich quick plan, but it provides opportunity to make passive income in the future.
Sponsored Links
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9. Stay Relevant
Keep up to date on the latest offerings of your affiliate programs. New ad units, advertisers, and tools are constantly being added to improve usability and be more visually appealing. Small changes go a long way in motivating action by readers. You may be left out in the dust by being complacent with your strategy.
Don't get lazy about monitoring trends and exploring new opportunities.
10. Content Comes First
Above all else, your content must be your highest priority.
Regards,
Senthilkc
With that in mind, here are the Top 10 Commandments for affiliate marketing success.
1. Know Your Audience
The most successful way to use affiliate programs is to anticipate and meet the needs of your readers. Consider why they are coming to your site. What are you providing that they are looking for? Make sure the affiliate products you are promoting provide a solution to your audience's problems.
If you are writing about sports, don't put up affiliate ads for printer toner just because everyone has a printer and those programs have a high payout. The people who are coming to read commentary or get stats for their favorite teams aren't thinking about those things when they're on your site.
2. Be Trustworthy
Readers are savvy. They know an affiliate link when they see one. If you break their trust by promoting a product you don't believe in or take advantage of their visit with too many ads, they will leave and never come back.
It is your repeat visitors that will drive traffic. They are the ones who will give you linkbacks, spread the word, and recommend your site as the go-to place for valuable content. You need to build a relationship based on genuine content.
If your visitors don't think you're being honest, they won't read anything else you have to say.
3. Be Helpful
Think of affiliate ads as additional resources that complement your content. Give value to your content by making it helpful, useful, and informative.
Don't put up a list of your favorite books, hoping people will click on the affiliate link, purchase the books (just because you listed them), so you can cash in on a sale. Take some time to write a detailed review, and use affiliate ads to point them in the right direction if they decide to act on your information. That's what affiliate ads are for. If you write a great review recommending a book and readers buy the book because of it, you should get something for that.
But just throwing out links to products with no rhyme or reason will result in a quick exit by visitors.
4. Be Transparent
Always disclose your affiliations. Your readers will appreciate your honesty, and will feel better about contributing to your earnings. If they sense that you are being less than honest about your affiliations, they are savvy enough to bypass your link and go directly to the vendor just to avoid giving you referral credit.
Honesty and full disclosure is a necessary part to building a loyal reader base. They know they are supporting you by using your referral links. Make them happy and eager to do so.
5. Select Carefully
Take the time to go through all the different options for products or services available through the programs. Put some thought into which products or services your readers may need or like. Also, change the ads around often, try different ones, and use different graphics and text to see which are the most effective.
It may take some time before you figure out the best formula, and you may also find that you need to continually rotate ads to attract more attention.
6. Try Different Programs
If one particular program doesn't seem to be working for you, try another one.
Affiliate programs don't look the same. They offer different products, services, and payment structures. Some programs will have a lifetime payout on sales while others will limit it to 30-90 days. Some programs allow much more flexibility in the types of ad units available, as well as colors and design so it fits better on your site's layout.
Also, check your favorite vendors to see if they run their own affiliate program. Sometimes you can go directly to the source. You're not limited to big affiliate networks.
Integrate systematic ad testing into your strategy to maximize your profits.
7. Write Timeless Content
Your old content can still be valuable even though it's no longer on your front page. Take advantage of the long term opportunities by making sure you provide timeless content.
If visitors come across your older content first, and find that it offers dated information, they will leave right away. Of course, information moves forward, so relevant content changes quickly. You can make your content timeless simply by adding links to your updated articles on your old ones.
Many platforms allow you to show "most recent" or "most popular" or "related articles" on every page, so no matter how old the article is, it will always show access to your new ones. Your old content can make money for you indefinitely.
8. Be Patient
Affiliate revenue grows and builds up with time. Remember that some programs offer lifetime payouts. If you refer a visitor, you may continue to make money from that one visitor even if he doesn't come back to your site. Also, as long as you have referral links still active in your old posts, they may still payout for you.
Affiliate programs aren't a get rich quick plan, but it provides opportunity to make passive income in the future.
Sponsored Links
Dun & Bradstreet ReportsGet D&B ® Business Credit Reports Online In 3 Easy Steps! Start Now.SmallBusiness.DNB.com
PPC Management with FizzCan't make sense of AdWords? We Can Help. Call us Now!OrangeSoda.com/PPC
9. Stay Relevant
Keep up to date on the latest offerings of your affiliate programs. New ad units, advertisers, and tools are constantly being added to improve usability and be more visually appealing. Small changes go a long way in motivating action by readers. You may be left out in the dust by being complacent with your strategy.
Don't get lazy about monitoring trends and exploring new opportunities.
10. Content Comes First
Above all else, your content must be your highest priority.
Regards,
Senthilkc
Affiliate Marketting Tips
This information is aimed at people who are new to affiliate marketing. Most of these tips are widely known and we don't pretend to have the "Big Secret" to success. If there really is a big secret at all, it undoubtedly would have to be: "work hard." We hope that the information provided here helps you get rolling down the road to affiliate marketing success. We also hope it will save you a little time and money in the process. Some of the below suggestions are pretty obvious ones, but sometimes it's nice to have someone else tell you that the obvious answer is a good one. Please also feel free to visit our 10 page Affiliate Training section.
Choose a topic you know. The most common question asked by people new to affiliate marketing is "What should I start with?" We believe it is best to start with an area you know well. Doing this may not be the best converting, provide you with the highest commission, or even be the best managed program. But it is easy for you to build a site, and it's a subject you know and are interested in. That means you can add your own personal touch and opinions to the site. If you try to build your first site from something in which you have no personal interest, the site soon becomes a painful and boring task. Stick with what you know initially and then grow from there.
Banners, Banners, and More Banners. If success at affiliate marketing could be achieved from throwing up pages of banners - then the world would have many more millionaires. A site with pages of banners or rows banners stuffed under content, not only doesn't make a person want to click the banner; it also has the added bonus of making your site look pretty ugly.
There is no Best Merchant Program. Some people can succeed with a merchant where many others have failed. It is often true that some do poorly where others are making a fist full of dollars. Forums are full of posts that begin with, "My Sales this month for Merchant Program X are very poor." These same posts usually end with some one else posting, "Funny my sales are great." Remember that for your first site select a merchant based on what you know. In the early days, when you have just one small site, it will be easy to swap out all the links if the chosen merchant doesn't work out.
Use multiple merchants in the same niche. As suggested, select a merchant based on what you like, or better yet select a few. Promoting 3-4 merchants on the same site gives your site visitors a variety of destinations to choose from. Doing this provides you with data on what your visitors want to see, and can provide you with important information on how well the different merchants perform against each other when put head to head.
There is no Best Network. Another question commonly asked is, "What is the best network?" Everyone has their own reply to this question, and ultimately there is no best answer. This is especially true when you consider that many great programs don't even belong to a network at all. Every network has its strong points. Make your network selection based on the tools it provides for you. Also take into consideration if the network has the merchants you want to work with. Sometimes joining an undesirable Network is necessary because they have a merchant you really want to sign up with. Our recommendation is to try a merchant from all the main networks, see what works for you, and then focus your time accordingly.
What are Content Sites. If you visit affiliate marketing forums you'll hear people talk about "content sites." These are sites that provide potentially educational and topical content about the products they are promoting, or appear to promote products as a side focus. Content sites are easier to build when you know about the products you are promoting, or the merchant makes content available to you. However, don't forget the goal of your site is to make your site visitors click off of your site onto a merchant's store. No click-through means no sale.
What are Data (Product Info) Sites. Data driven sites are generally limited to pure product data, prices, images, descriptions, there's no illusion of education here. It's all about promoting the product and making the visitor get off your site as fast as possible and onto the merchant's store. Data driven sites generally require access to data feeds and some knowledge of programming or access to software (or scripts) which can produce web pages from the data feeds.
Parasites and how they affect you. You will see a lot of sites that talk about "Parasites", "ParasiteWare" and "ScumWare." All of these are applications that can redirect, overwrite, or intercept your visitors (and therefore YOUR commission) and change your visitor into their visitor. The majority of these masquerade as shopping support software, file sharing applications, browser help objects (BHOs), and even hidden applications installed on a user's PC via drive-by installs or in bundled software packages. To learn more, and there is an awful lot to learn, please visit www.parasiteware.com. Most ParasiteWare also has various traits of SpyWare. Also click here to learn how you can help consumers protect themselves and your affiliate marketing revenue
Building your first Site. It does help to know HTML and the ability to use graphics software. Knowledge of these areas gives you the ability to add small touches of class to your site. However don't be discouraged if you have no skills in these areas. It is not always necessary to be skilful as there are a number of tools and merchants around that can help you get your first site up and launched. These include page generation tools and fast launch sites. These tools are great for getting rolling but always remember to do some customization of anything you get automated to ensure it is uniqueness to you. Search engines and directories will remove duplicate content.
Buying a domain name. Geocities and Homestead undeniably have their place in the Internet world; however, registering a domain with them generally is not a very wise decision. Many search engines and directories won't list such sites because of their transient nature. In addition to the pitfall of not showing up in search engines, some affiliate managers will skip over your site as they deem it to be a "Personal home page." It is best to get a top level domain (TLD) name and some cheap, but reliable, hosting. When considering a domain name, first think about what you are going to promote and then base your domain name on it. Don't buy the domain name first and then later think about what you'll promote on the site.
Work at it. While it is the ultimate aim of every affiliate partner not to have to do any work, the reality is, especially early on, there's a lot of work to be done. Whether it's in the site's design, updates, education or reading stats, there is a lot to do. The pay-offs aren't instant and it can take a fair few months before you're even making enough to even cover your costs. It takes perseverance, dedication and patience to succeed, don't quit if your first attempts don't pay off.
Educate yourself. Education is an immensely important part of affiliate marketing. There is a heck of a lot to learn. Educating yourself on basic principles of HTML, programming, data feed manipulation, creating custom links, or learn how to identify a good niche in a way that others have overlooked. The affiliate forums are certainly one of the best places to start this education. Invest in and read affiliate marketing books by affiliates such as James Martell
The next step. Once you have that first site up and it's making money, then it's time to start to expand. Using what you have learned by building that first site, move on to a new project. Leave the first site to keep making money, making adjustments, and any needed updates, but generally letting it do its thing. Your next site is likely to be a site in an area you've seen other affiliates having lots of success. It makes sense to follow the money, but remember it can be a crowded market place when everyone is after the same thing. Don't overlook small niche products, items that might not get the huge traffic but should convert well due to limited availability or being in a special interest group. These markets can often be far less crowded and easier to make quick sales on compared to the bigger more crowded programs.
Regards,
Senthilkc
Choose a topic you know. The most common question asked by people new to affiliate marketing is "What should I start with?" We believe it is best to start with an area you know well. Doing this may not be the best converting, provide you with the highest commission, or even be the best managed program. But it is easy for you to build a site, and it's a subject you know and are interested in. That means you can add your own personal touch and opinions to the site. If you try to build your first site from something in which you have no personal interest, the site soon becomes a painful and boring task. Stick with what you know initially and then grow from there.
Banners, Banners, and More Banners. If success at affiliate marketing could be achieved from throwing up pages of banners - then the world would have many more millionaires. A site with pages of banners or rows banners stuffed under content, not only doesn't make a person want to click the banner; it also has the added bonus of making your site look pretty ugly.
There is no Best Merchant Program. Some people can succeed with a merchant where many others have failed. It is often true that some do poorly where others are making a fist full of dollars. Forums are full of posts that begin with, "My Sales this month for Merchant Program X are very poor." These same posts usually end with some one else posting, "Funny my sales are great." Remember that for your first site select a merchant based on what you know. In the early days, when you have just one small site, it will be easy to swap out all the links if the chosen merchant doesn't work out.
Use multiple merchants in the same niche. As suggested, select a merchant based on what you like, or better yet select a few. Promoting 3-4 merchants on the same site gives your site visitors a variety of destinations to choose from. Doing this provides you with data on what your visitors want to see, and can provide you with important information on how well the different merchants perform against each other when put head to head.
There is no Best Network. Another question commonly asked is, "What is the best network?" Everyone has their own reply to this question, and ultimately there is no best answer. This is especially true when you consider that many great programs don't even belong to a network at all. Every network has its strong points. Make your network selection based on the tools it provides for you. Also take into consideration if the network has the merchants you want to work with. Sometimes joining an undesirable Network is necessary because they have a merchant you really want to sign up with. Our recommendation is to try a merchant from all the main networks, see what works for you, and then focus your time accordingly.
What are Content Sites. If you visit affiliate marketing forums you'll hear people talk about "content sites." These are sites that provide potentially educational and topical content about the products they are promoting, or appear to promote products as a side focus. Content sites are easier to build when you know about the products you are promoting, or the merchant makes content available to you. However, don't forget the goal of your site is to make your site visitors click off of your site onto a merchant's store. No click-through means no sale.
What are Data (Product Info) Sites. Data driven sites are generally limited to pure product data, prices, images, descriptions, there's no illusion of education here. It's all about promoting the product and making the visitor get off your site as fast as possible and onto the merchant's store. Data driven sites generally require access to data feeds and some knowledge of programming or access to software (or scripts) which can produce web pages from the data feeds.
Parasites and how they affect you. You will see a lot of sites that talk about "Parasites", "ParasiteWare" and "ScumWare." All of these are applications that can redirect, overwrite, or intercept your visitors (and therefore YOUR commission) and change your visitor into their visitor. The majority of these masquerade as shopping support software, file sharing applications, browser help objects (BHOs), and even hidden applications installed on a user's PC via drive-by installs or in bundled software packages. To learn more, and there is an awful lot to learn, please visit www.parasiteware.com. Most ParasiteWare also has various traits of SpyWare. Also click here to learn how you can help consumers protect themselves and your affiliate marketing revenue
Building your first Site. It does help to know HTML and the ability to use graphics software. Knowledge of these areas gives you the ability to add small touches of class to your site. However don't be discouraged if you have no skills in these areas. It is not always necessary to be skilful as there are a number of tools and merchants around that can help you get your first site up and launched. These include page generation tools and fast launch sites. These tools are great for getting rolling but always remember to do some customization of anything you get automated to ensure it is uniqueness to you. Search engines and directories will remove duplicate content.
Buying a domain name. Geocities and Homestead undeniably have their place in the Internet world; however, registering a domain with them generally is not a very wise decision. Many search engines and directories won't list such sites because of their transient nature. In addition to the pitfall of not showing up in search engines, some affiliate managers will skip over your site as they deem it to be a "Personal home page." It is best to get a top level domain (TLD) name and some cheap, but reliable, hosting. When considering a domain name, first think about what you are going to promote and then base your domain name on it. Don't buy the domain name first and then later think about what you'll promote on the site.
Work at it. While it is the ultimate aim of every affiliate partner not to have to do any work, the reality is, especially early on, there's a lot of work to be done. Whether it's in the site's design, updates, education or reading stats, there is a lot to do. The pay-offs aren't instant and it can take a fair few months before you're even making enough to even cover your costs. It takes perseverance, dedication and patience to succeed, don't quit if your first attempts don't pay off.
Educate yourself. Education is an immensely important part of affiliate marketing. There is a heck of a lot to learn. Educating yourself on basic principles of HTML, programming, data feed manipulation, creating custom links, or learn how to identify a good niche in a way that others have overlooked. The affiliate forums are certainly one of the best places to start this education. Invest in and read affiliate marketing books by affiliates such as James Martell
The next step. Once you have that first site up and it's making money, then it's time to start to expand. Using what you have learned by building that first site, move on to a new project. Leave the first site to keep making money, making adjustments, and any needed updates, but generally letting it do its thing. Your next site is likely to be a site in an area you've seen other affiliates having lots of success. It makes sense to follow the money, but remember it can be a crowded market place when everyone is after the same thing. Don't overlook small niche products, items that might not get the huge traffic but should convert well due to limited availability or being in a special interest group. These markets can often be far less crowded and easier to make quick sales on compared to the bigger more crowded programs.
Regards,
Senthilkc
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