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Why you need to have a text link strategy and

admin — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 23:03:05 +0000

Why you need to have a text link strategy and how to get started

If you have been on the internet more than 10 seconds you know what a text link is — a word, or group of words which can be clicked to direct a web surfer to another page or site on the internet which will provide information related to that word or group of words.

Text links are the foundation of the internet. Without text links, there would be no internet. Without text links, there would be no internet users. Text links make the internet user friendly and allow surfers to easily move from one location to another to locate the information they choose.

In spite of the facts that this advertising tool is so familiar and simple, many internet marketers overlook it when devising an advertising and marketing plan. But this is a very big mistake because text linking is one of the least expensive and yet most powerful advertising options available.

Why You Need A Text Link Strategy For Your Web Site

Why is it important to have text links spread across a network of other web sites? I can answer that in one word — traffic.

Text links equal traffic. It really is that simple.

Text links work for you three ways:

~ Direct traffic when visitors click on the key words you have selected as your “anchor text”. This is very targeted, very profitable traffic too as each visitor deliberately clicks with the intention of learning more about whatever the key words are promoting.
~ Search engine traffic when their spiders encounter the text link and key words then visit your site. This can lead to more frequent visits by the search engines and factor into search placement.
~ Back links that affect both search engine ranking for your site but also search results

Text links can provide all those benefits — which can directly translate into income from your web site — and you can often buy text links for under $10 and the link will not only promote the specific site or page you choose but also connect it with the specific key words that will benefit you the most. Even better, when you buy a text link you are locking in your price so even if it delivers a ton of traffic — you don’t have to increase your ad budget.

How Can You Get Started With Text Links?

After you have developed your site and it is ready for visitors you should work up two versions of your text link. The first will be just a few words or a short phrase that includes the key words for your target site. The second will also include a longer description that may be a sentence or two. You should be able to find a selection of text links available for either choice.

When purchasing text links it is important to work with a known quantity and that usually is made easier if you work through a reputable text link broker.

Some points to consider when buying a text link:
~ Search engine rank (Google, Alexa, etc.) and age of site
~ Traffic
~ Content, design and usability of site
~ Placement of your link and number of links on the page/site

Many inexperienced text link buyers focus solely on Google PR but that little number doesn’t really tell an accurate tale about the traffic level on a site. While you shouldn’t ignore search engine rank information, I think it is more important to pay attention to the position of the link and the relevancy of the page or site content to yours. This will deliver better results in both the short and long term.

Where can you find text links? Visit my newsletter Establish Your Epresence for some helpful hints.

The Myth of Search Engine Optimization

admin — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 05:35:41 +0000

There are only 10 spots in the top 10 spots. This might seem like a repetitive statement, but it is making a point. For companies to be selling the availability of 10 spots to thousands of companies makes for a mathematical anomaly that all the keyword buying in the world won’t be able to solve. The danger of all this madness is that, like with the original internet boom, the Bristol SEO (search engine optimization) boom will go bust as more and more companies get tired of spending money for results that somehow always seem to get replaced by excuses.
There are ways to naturally secure a reasonable position on search engines. They include:
Embed Keywords in Your Content – the placement of keywords (words you want your website to be categorized as and words you want the search engines to pick up on) in your page title and throughout your content will allow the search engine spiders to identify your site as you wish to be identified and place your site as part of searches for the words you select. The placement of the most critical keywords in the title tag will result in a higher search placement because the search engines place the title as the clickable link on the search engine results page. Once upon a time meta tags and meta keywords were used by search engines to evaluate content and search relevancy. This is not done anymore, partly because spammers abused it, and partly because the search engines could not figure out a way to monetize it (as they have with keyword purchases). The use of meta tags and keywords within your content is still helpful though in that they are often what is used in the description of your company on the search engine results page. By the way, make sure that while you are creating content that will be noticed by the search engines you don’t wind up creating content that is either incomprehensible or irrelevant to your readers. It makes no sense putting all this effort into getting people to visit your site if they can’t understand a word of what you’ve written once they get there.
Have a Proper Architecture – search engines cannot index pages that are more than two clicks away from your homepage, which is about the same distance the average web user is willing to travel to get at your information. It is therefore necessary to make certain that the structure of your website is constructed to maximize both search engine indexing and userability. In this case the two converge, so it is an easy condition to agree to execute.
Generate Link Relationships – to some extent, search engines rank according to some estimation of your site’s popularity. One of the parameters they use is how many other sites are linked to yours. So you need to develop affiliate and other relationships that link their website to yours. This too is consistent with general good web marketing, and therefore should not arouse too much resistance.
Search engine placement cannot come at the expense of your traditional and online marketing programs. It could, perhaps, be a component of your integrated plan, but you need to make certain it does not take over your other activities. The lure of the search engine – this idea that leads are generated by the lead itself – is very seductive, and the reason why so many companies have forsaken much of their other marketing activity for the full time management of their keyword purchasing and search engine optimization activities.
There have always been preferred places to advertise and there have always been preferred ways to generate leads – and often the only companies able to avail themselves of these top-tier opportunities were those with the financial resources to do so. Just as Time magazine has but one back cover to sell, Google has but 10 top spots for the keywords you want. If you have the means to purchase your place on that page, and you deem it to be a productive use of your marketing dollars, then you should do it. However, if you do not have the resources, and you are nonetheless spending money because some web marketing firm is promising you better placement, you are most likely throwing your good money away. Even with the pay-per-click model, which serves to reduce some of your risk, you are still paying for keyword purchase services and most likely other related services. Without spending real money you are either getting sub-par keywords or you are being placed well after the first three pages – and very few people bother searching after the third search engine results page.
If you don’t believe us, google it. You’ll see.

10 Costly Search Engine Mistakes to Avoid

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:44:31 +0000

If you have a website then you already know the importance of traffic. Traffic is to Internet marketing as location is to real estate. It’s the only thing that really matters. If you cannot generate targeted visitors to your site, you will not make any sales.
Usually the owner or designer of the website is the person designated to drive traffic to the site. The chief ingredient in generating traffic is the search engine. Of coarse, you can use advertising, but it’s going to cost you. Using the search engines to generate targeted (interested in your product) traffic is the least expensive method known.

Unfortunately, many website owners do not understand the importance of search engine visibility, which leads to traffic. They place more importance on producing a “pretty” website. Not that this is bad, but it is really secondary to search engine placement. Hopefully, the following list of common mistakes, made by many website owners, will help you generate more targeted traffic to your site…after all, isn’t that what you want.

1. Not using keywords effectively.

This is probably one of the most critical area of site design. Choose the right keywords and potential customers will find your site. Use the wrong ones and your site will see little, if any, traffic.

2. Repeating the same keywords.

When you use the same keywords over and over again (called keyword stacking) the search engines may downgrade (or skip) the page or site.

3. Robbing pages from other websites.

How many times have you heard or read that “this is the Internet and it’s ok” to steal icons and text from websites to use on your site. Don’t do it. Its one thing to learn from others who have been there and another to outright copy their work. The search engines are very smart and usually detect page duplication. They may even prevent you from ever being listed by them.

4. Using keywords that are not related to your website.

Many unethical website owners try to gain search engine visibility by using keywords that have nothing at all to do with their website. They place unrelated keywords in a page (such as “sex”, the name of a known celebrity, the hot search topic of the day, etc.) inside a meta tag for a page. The keyword doesn’t have anything to do with the page topic. However, since the keyword is popular, they think this will boost their visibility. This technique is considered spam by the search engines and may cause the page (or sometimes the whole site) to be removed from the search engine listing.

5. Keyword stuffing.

Somewhat like keyword stacking listed above, this means to assign multiple keywords to the description of a graphic or layer that appears on your website by using the “alt=” HTML parameter. If the search engines find that this text does not really describe the graphic or layer it will be considered spam.

6. Relying on hidden text.

You might be inclined to think that if you cannot see it, it doesn’t hurt. Wrong…. Do not try to hide your keywords or keyword phrases by making them invisible. For example, some unethical designers my set the keywords to the same color as the background of the web page; thereby, making it invisible.

7. Relying on tiny text.

This is another version of the item above (relying on hidden text). Do not try to hide your keywords or keyword phrases by making them tiny. Setting the text size of the keywords so small that it can barely be seen does this.

8. Assuming all search engines are the same.

Many people assume that each search engine plays by the same rules. This is not so. Each has their own rule base and is subject to change anytime they so desire. Make it a point to learn what each major search engine requires for high visibility.

9. Using free web hosting.

Do not use free web hosting if you are really serious about increasing site traffic via search engine visibility. Many times the search engines will eliminate content from these free hosts.

10. Forgetting to check for missing web page elements.

Make sure to check every page in your website for completeness, like missing links, graphics, etc. There are sites on the web that will do this for free.

This is just a few of the methods and techniques that you should avoid. Do not give in to the temptation that these methods will work for you. They will do more harm than good for your website.

Not only will you spend weeks of wasted effort, you may have your site banned from the search engines forever. Invest a little time to learn the proper techniques for increasing search engine visibility and your net traffic will increase.