“How to Boost Your Traffic and Profits with Content!”

Are you aware of how vitally important and valuable
CONTENT is to your online business? In fact, content
can do more to build your business and profits than
just about any other resource or service available.

Following is a list of 5 key ways that content can help
build your traffic, subscribers, and customers starting
today!…

1. Boost your search engine ranking and daily visitor
count by posting keyword rich articles and content on
your web-site. For example, if your business involves
offering products and services related to fitness,
posting fitness related articles and content will
attract unlimited prospective customers on a regular
basis!

2. Generate double or even triple the number of
newsletter subscribers you do currently, simply by
offering content in the form of “special reports” or
manuals as bonuses for subscribing to your publication.
People love freebies, so give them what they want and
watch as your results increase!

3. Create an automated cashflow by using content to
formulate multi-part email training courses with
related web-site or affiliate links “sprinkled”
throughout each course. Use an autoresponder service to
automate the delivery of your training course (such as
a 5 part training course delivered over a 5 day
period).

Training courses can also serve as excellent bonus
offers for your prospective newsletter subscribers.

4. One of the most important keys to a successful
online business is not JUST having a list of mailing
list or newsletter subscribers… It’s about building a
trusting relationship with your subscribers (ie,
“cultivating” your list)…

By sending informative articles (content) to your list
on a regular basis you will establish yourself as an
expert on your topic of business, as well as gain the
trust of your subscribers over time. As a result, your
subscribers will be EAGER to take advantage of your
“paid” product and service offers. (Just make sure
that you NEVER take advantage of the relationship you
develop with your list by offering products or services
of poor quality just to make a quick buck!)

If there is one “constant” in Internet marketing, it’s
this: A cultivated list of subscribers is as good as
money in the bank. Write that down and never forget
it!

5. Another excellent way to generate no cost traffic is
by submitting ready-made articles to “content hungry”
web-site and newsletter publishers with your “resource
box” attached. A resource box is nothing more than a
little 3-6 line “bio” about you and/or your web-site -
including a link to your site (or even instructions on
how to subscribe to your newsletter)…

When submitting or offering your article(s) for reprint
purposes, just make sure to specify that each article
is to be reprinted “as is” with your resource box
attached.

…Even one article can go a LONG way towards
generating no cost traffic and visitors for you. Just
imagine your article being sent out to a newsletter
subscriber base of 100,000 individuals – many of whom
will be reading YOUR included resource box and clicking
on your URL to learn more about what you have to
offer!

Well there you have it, 5 sure ways to build your
online business exponentially with the help of articles
and content…

With the declining effectiveness of many of the online
advertising methods that we’ve relied on in past years,
content is only strengthening its position as the
ultimate KEY to generating unlimited traffic,
subscribers, and customers!

David

Authority Sites On The Rise
By Nelson Tan (c) 2009

As Web 2.0 becomes less of just a buzzword and more of a
reality, the types of sites webmasters need to publish will
increasingly become more important. In other words, mini-sites
are slowly dying and cookie-cutter article sites are on the way
out as well. Web surfers will become more value-focused and web
companies will become larger.

Over the next few years expect larger conglomerates to be buying
up profitable websites in their chosen markets. Expect smaller
sites to either be bought or driven out of business. My
intention is not to scare you, but this outcome is inevitable.

Large businesses have always taken two approaches to their
desired markets. They either buy their competition or they push
them out of business. You want to be prepared when this trend
begins on the Internet.

Being a webmaster and online marketer, you should be preparing
for one of two scenarios. To position yourself for a buyout to a
larger company or to become the larger company that dominates
your chosen market.

Whichever route you choose is entirely up to you, but I would
suggest that it would be in your best interest to begin focusing
on authority sites. You can either start building them or
turning your current sites into them. Whatever your approach may
be, I assure you it will help you sleep better at night.

What Is The Definition Of An Authority Site?

A fairly comprehensible authority site definition was put
forward by Jason Dowdell of Global Promoter. Jason defined it
this way: "Authority sites are sites that have been linked to
and referenced on other web sites covering the same subject
matter and they also will have hundreds if not thousands of
pages covering that subject matter and nearly every facet of
it."

That definition is one man's opinion, albeit a good one, but let
us go directly to the source. Many search engine optimization
and search engine marketing experts believe Google has derived
their primary algorithm from a document titled, "Hilltop: A
Search Engine based on Expert Documents".

The PageRank formula as we know it today was derived from this
paper, and the authors, Bharat and Mihaila, define an authority
site in the text below:

"We believe a page is an authority on the query topic if and
only if some of the best experts on the query topic point to it.
Of course in practice some expert pages may be experts on a
broader or related topic. If so, only a subset of the hyperlinks
on the expert page may be relevant."

"In such cases the links being considered have to be carefully
chosen to ensure that their qualifying text matches the query.
By combining relevant out-links from many experts on the query
topic we can find the pages that are most highly regarded by the
community of pages related to the query topic. This is the basis
of the high relevance that our algorithm delivers."

What we have reprinted above is the foundation of the PageRank
system and the determination for deciding which sites will be
authorities. I highly recommend you read and re-read the full
document until you understand every aspect of it.

What Are the Components of an Authority Site?

Allow me to present you with a diagram
(http://www.contentdesk.com/authoritymap) that dissects your
typical authority site. As you can tell from the diagram, a
considerable number of components and systems must be in place
for the authority site to function profitably and reap the
benefits of the "Authority Site Formula".

The Authority Site Formula = Visitor Optimization (VO) + Content
Optimization (CO) * Creative Marketing (CM)

A simple question must be asked. What do 99.9% of authority
sites provide? In a sentence, an incredible amount of original
content and a superb visitor experience. The search engines want
you to succeed and they want you to make money, but you have to
play by their rules. In the future, focus your efforts on
visitor optimization and content optimization instead of search
engine optimization.

What Is The Anatomy Of An Authority Site?

About.com is the definition and was the original authority site.
Their site has a generic domain name and hundreds of subdomains
on different topics.

Your authority site should take the same approach, but not on
such a general level. If you launch an authority site, it should
be geared towards a well-defined and large market. After you
launch the site and generate some traffic, you should create
subdomains that cover specific areas inside that larger market.

For example, Diabetic-Resources.Com is not an active site; but
if it were, then a typical authority site setup would be
something like:

* http://supplies.diabetic-resources.com
* http://diet.diabetic-resources.com
* http://insurance.diabetic-resources.com
* http://symptoms.diabetic-resources.com
* http://treatment.diabetic-resources.com

Using this approach, you are able to target your general market
while generating more targeted traffic pertaining to related
sub-markets.

As a rule of thumb, the index pages on your domains and
subdomains should be more focused on content, but the article
and commentary pages should be more focused on advertising. Just
do not ever lose sight of the most important aspect of your
site, which is visitor experience otherwise known as visitor
optimization.

What Does It Take To Create An Authority Site?

You want to create a site that generates thousands of visitors a
day mainly through the major search engines, and would
ultimately be the one-stop source for information in that
particular market.

Your site must employ 3 traits to become an authority site.
Let's discuss all 3 necessary aspects:

Dynamic: You should have as many RSS feeds as you can muster to
incorporate throughout your site. Your visitors need to be able
to receive RSS feeds for any keyword, category or archive as
well as create their own. One feed is no longer enough to
satisfy your visitors.

Interactive: You should be engaging the minds of your visitors
at all times using surveys, commenting and feedback. Make these
features easy for your visitors and your site will grow
exponentially. Why? Because they feel like you actually care
about them. Interaction is a powerful tool and creates a sense
of community on your site.

Consistent: You should post to your blog often, and you should
always provide quality and original content. That doesn't mean
you need to produce 800-word articles 3 times a week. Your goal
should be to become a news master. You need to be an "authority"
on the news happening in your niche.

If you follow the steps and guidelines listed above, then you
will be on your way to being the owner of an authority site.
================================================================
Nelson Tan is the webmaster behind Internet Mastery Center.
Download $347 worth of FREE Internet Marketing gifts at
http://www.internetmasterycenter.com
================================================================

5 Reasons Why Most Internet Marketers Fail
By Titus Hoskins (c) 2009

When it comes to starting any endeavor, whether it be
learning a new hobby or starting an online business, we all
have to start at ground zero. We all have to start at the
very beginning from the very same place. Granted, we each
bring different skills and backgrounds into the mix, but
for the most part we are all on equal footing at the
starting line.

If this is the case, then we really have to ponder why is
it only a choice few go on to succeed, while most people
don't. Just what are the reasons why most online marketers
fail? This is the core question that has to be answered if
you want to fully understand Internet marketing and how it
works.

What are these basic reasons?

What are the causes or stumbling blocks that hold many
marketers and webmasters from reaching their full online
potential? If we know these factors, we can learn how to
avoid them and even overcome them in our own online
marketing. These reasons can be a solid reference point or
even a source of inspiration for any online marketer just
starting out.

Speaking from the viewpoint of someone who has started from
the very beginning with little to no knowledge of computers
or even marketing for that matter, I can honestly relate to
the beginning marketer. I even had to learn HTML from
scratch in order to construct my own webpages. Probably my
only advantage, I did have a background in art but
designing webpages was completely different from anything I
had done previously to starting in online marketing.

But from my own experiences I have drawn some general
conclusions about Internet marketing and why some people
succeed while most people fail. So here in my honest
opinion, are some of the main reasons why many online
marketers fail:

1. Overwhelmed With Information

Perhaps, one of the biggest obstacles I faced when I first
started my website - I was bombarded with so much
information on how to proceed I didn't have a clue which
direction to take or who to believe. Thousands of different
info products telling you to do this, not to do that... so
much marketing information to absorb that you end up
scratching your head and looking like someone auditioning
for a zombie movie.

Completely overwhelmed with so much information, many
marketers or webmasters enter a state of paralysis where
nothing gets done. You go from one course to another or
from one method to another, without any real understanding
of how to proceed or how to get a detailed blueprint to
follow.

Information overflow can effectively crush all that novice
enthusiasm and literally kill even the most eager of
entrepreneurs. Anyone starting out must be aware of this
obvious but insidious pitfall you have to avoid at all
costs. One of the best remedies, simply try concentrating
on just one or two marketing plans/marketers for all your
information. Try to eliminate the clutter by just working
on one marketing system. Just have a few key marketing
resources you go to for information, not a hundred! And do
your homework, only pick marketers who can back up their
claims with observable results on the web. One obvious
checkmark - just see if those marketers have top rankings
for their sites for popular profitable keywords associated
with their sites or products.

2. Lack Of Key Marketing Basics

There are some key marketing basics or fundamentals you
must learn about marketing online. Internet marketing has
some key elements you must get right or you will have a
difficult task in succeeding on the web. Just simple
factors you must get right or it's game over before you
even get started.

Most marketers fail to realize the web is "information
driven" and you must supply quality information or content
in order to truly succeed. You must provide a valuable
service or function to your visitors. You must help solve
their problem. You must give them a solid reason to use
your site or product. Quality content is and always will be
King on the web.

You must also understand much of the web is "keyword
driven" and you must construct your webpages to take full
advantage of these keywords. You must have at least a
rudimentary understanding of SEO (Search Engine
Optimization) and how you can use it to get top rankings
for your keyword phrases.

3. Lack Of Time And Resources

Another major reason why many marketers fail is because
they simply can't afford the time to learn and build their
online business. Most people just can't stop everything and
work full time online because they have bills to pay and
families to support. It may take months, probably years,
before you can build up a successful online business that
gives you a comfortable living. The average person just
doesn't have the time or the resources to spend months
learning how all this works.

Keep in mind, getting a business or website going is
probably the most inexpensive way to start your own
business. Domains are cheap. Web hosting is cheap. Web
design is cheap if you can do it yourself... Compared to
starting a business in the "real" world, creating an online
business will only cost a faction of the normal expenses
connected with starting a business. But the main problem is
having the resources to pay your living expenses until your
online business is profitable. Many beginning online
marketers don't have these resources and the main complaint
from these marketers: "I Simply can't afford the time to
work at this online stuff."

One solution is to work at your online marketing in your
spare time and gradually build up your business until you
can afford to do it full time. It will obviously take
longer but you can still get to the same end goal.

4. Lack Of Necessary Skills

Actually, you don't need many skills to succeed online.
However, one of the major skills you must have or you must
learn is communication. You must learn how to communicate.
The web is all about communicating your points to your
visitors or viewers so you must acquire good communication
skills.

It really helps your marketing if you are a good writer
because you can easily get your points across with written
text or copy on your site. Writing skills can be learned
but many beginning marketers don't fully understand how
important their writing skills will be to their success.
You must be able to communicate on your site, in your
newsletters, with your customers... might sound a bit
obvious but you would be surprised at how many marketers
lack this simple, yet necessary skill.

But don't fret, because once upon a time, the written word
was king online - but not any more. Videos are rapidly
taking the place of the printed word so anyone with a
camera can now be a success online. Of course, you still
need good communication skills even using videos, but many
marketers have found this is a much easier way to
communicate information about their site or product.

5. Lack Of Persistence

For me, one the most significant reasons most online
marketers/webmasters fail, is because of a lack of
persistence. They simply give up too soon. They try
something for a few weeks, even for a few months and then
they conclude this is not working and they give up.

Building a solid online business or viable website takes
time, a lot of time. Just because your business is online,
doesn't mean everything will fall into place overnight, it
takes time to establish a customer base. It takes time to
build your business relationships with others in your field.

Sometimes, it may take years before you see some solid
returns. It was three years before I saw any significant
revenue coming from my online ventures, and another year
before I could summon enough courage to do this online
marketing full time. If I had given up and not persisted at
this web stuff, I would not be writing this article right
now.

Building top rankings for your keywords in the search
engines (especially Google) can take months, even years
before you see any results. The real key is to be
persistent and keep at it, day after day, until you get
those top rankings. You simply must be persistent or you
will fail.

In conclusion, having said all that, you must also realize
there are plenty of exceptions to all of the above. There
have been countless success stories on the web where
someone has come up with a novel idea or product and become
successful overnight. The web can offer immediate success
for some, but for most of us, it will take some time and
hard effort on our part to build a successful online
business. Just try to avoid many of the pitfalls or reasons
listed above and you will have a better chance of placing
yourself in the success column.
===========================================================
The author is a full-time online marketer who has numerous
websites. For the latest web marketing tools try:
http://www.bizwaremagic.com .
If you liked the article above, why not try this Free 7 Day
Marketing Course here: http://www.marketingtoolguide.com
2009 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed
if this resource box stays attached.
===========================================================

Using Social Media to Boost Search Engine Results
By Lauren Hobson (c) 2009

Most of us are well aware that the search engines frequently
change their algorithms to improve search results for users (and
foil spammers), which can make it challenging for small
businesses just to keep up. But as web technology continues to
evolve, it also creates new opportunities for small businesses
to improve their SEO strategies and boost their rankings as
well. Social media (sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,
Technorati, Digg, etc.) provide an excellent opportunity for
small businesses to not only promote their products and services
online, but also to gain significant ground in the search engine
results.

One of the most critical components to getting top search engine
rankings is the number of inbound links and link popularity a
web site is able to build. Although there are several existing
link building strategies available to small businesses (e.g.,
press releases, directory submissions, article syndication,
etc.), social media can help create additional high-value,
on-target inbound links that are essential to achieving top
placements in the search engines.

For example, each time you use Twitter to publish a link to new
content on your web site, that link gets "planted" on the
Twitter page of each person following you, and has the potential
to spread even further as your followers share that information
with their own network of contacts.

Integrated Social Marketing (ISM)TM

If you have properly integrated your social networking profiles
together, that same Twitter "tweet" could then be fed via RSS to
your Facebook business profile, your corporate blog, your
LinkedIn account, and any number of other social sites that you
have set up for your business. It's not a far stretch to imagine
the link you broadcast on Twitter could reach dozens, hundreds,
or even thousands of other places on the web, all pointing back
to your web site! By integrating your social networking
profiles with each other, with your web site, and with your
existing marketing initiatives, you can easily make one single
marketing action (such as a tweet) show up in multiple places
online, each containing a new, relevant inbound link to your
site.

Quantity AND Quality

In addition to the sheer number of inbound links that are
created through social marketing, the value of the links that
are created is another important criterion that search engines
consider. To be valued by the search engines, inbound links must
be from relevant, "quality" web sites, and search engines today
give social sites like Facebook and Twitter great value. These
sites are highly visible to the search engines, and are
constantly taking updates from users. Links tend to be shared
according to subject matter, which means the search engines will
see them as being relevant and on-target. All of these factors
combine to create high-quality inbound links in the eyes of the
search engines.

Online Visibility and Branding

Creating visibility for your business and your "brand" is really
key when using social media for building links. The power of
social media is realized when other users see your links or
content, then share that information with their own network of
contacts. Simply adding a bunch of links to your social profiles
is not enough; you need to have a strong reputation and a brand
that users trust so they will feel comfortable sharing your
content with others. Brand recognition typically leads to
natural link building anyway, which means your inbound links
will end up coming from bloggers, colleagues, customers, and
other people who are exposed to your links and find them useful
enough to share with their own contacts.

The Proof is in the Rankings

A recent example from Website Magazine explained somewhat
surprising results when they searched for their publication's
name in Google. As expected, their web site came up as the
number one listing on the results page. But what was not
expected was the number three listing on the results page was
the magazine's Twitter page. They then performed a number of
Google searches for the terms "Chicago Tribune," "Chicago Public
Golf," and "Daily Career Tips," all with similar results in
Google - the Twitter page for each of these terms came up near
the top of the search engine results every time.

The conclusion was that given these results, Google must be
giving serious weight to Twitter content, and I happen to agree.
The search engines of course keep their ranking algorithms
top-secret, so there's no way to know how much weight (if any)
is really given to Twitter or other social media sites. But
results like those in the example above are hard to ignore!

A Great Opportunity

Social media is here to stay, and small businesses are beginning
to use it to effectively promote their businesses, reach their
customers, find new leads, keep customer mindshare, and
instantly communicate with customers. But maybe one of the
biggest benefits of adding social media to your marketing mix is
the creation of high-value, on-target inbound links that can
help improve visibility in the search engines and boost your
business to the top of the search engine rankings.
================================================================
Lauren Hobson, President of Five Sparrows, LLC
(http://www.fivesparrows.com/), has more than 16 years of
experience in small business technology writing, marketing, and
web site design and development. Five Sparrows provides
professional web site and marketing services to small businesses
and non-profit organizations, giving them access to high-quality
services at affordable prices. To read articles or subscribe to
Biz Talk, please visit http://www.FiveSparrows.com/biztalk.htm.
================================================================

When most people think of press releases, they think media attention. Press releases can also be used to gain quality inbound links to your web site, though.

As part of your overall link building strategy, there are a few reasons why press release writing can be beneficial: get one way links from quality sites, earn links from sites that find you via a press release, and get placed on relevant directories that re-distribute press releases.

To write an optimized press release, start with these steps:

Define Keyword

When writing a press release, identify one keyword that you want to rank for. There are a few free tools that you can use to determine which keywords receive the most traffic, including Google Keyword External, SEO Books Keyword Tool, and ActualKeywords.com.
Pick a keyword that is relevant to your site, receives a considerable amount of monthly traffic, and that will be used on the page that you are trying to rank. The keyword should ideally be in the Title of the page, in an H1 tag, included in the body, and used in your internal linking structure.

Include Keyword Throughout Release

Once you’ve identified a keyword, write out a rough draft of your press release, making sure to include the keyword throughout your release.

The keyword should be included, at minimum, in the header of your press release, one to three times in the body of the release, and at least once in the “About” section of your press release.

Hyperlink Thoughtfully

For press release services that allow you to include hyperlinks within the release, make sure to hyperlink from the keyword you identified instead of using non-optimized keywords like “click here.”

While not all press release services allow html or hyperlinking, most will allow you to at least include a link back to your site in a resource or contact box, or once in the “about” section.

Consider the Upgrade Option

If presented with the opportunity to upgrade, in most cases, do so. Upgrades generally offer you the opportunity to specify the anchor text of a hyperlink or in some cases, include a hyperlink that a free package doesn’t allow.

Not all upgrades are created equally, though. Consider the page rank, traffic volume, trust factors, and cost when determining whether to upgrade or not.

Distribute to a Variety of Services

When submitting press releases for link building purposes, don’t submit to just one service – instead submit to a variety. Some press release sites will check to make sure that your release is unique, however, so make sure to distribute to those sites first.

Start with the quality sites that have a number of links and tend to be picked up by the press; also re-write some of the verbiage in your release so as to avoid duplicate content.

Simple things like re-writing the header or a few sentences within the release can make sure that your release will be picked up by a number of services.

About the Author: Rachel Kuptz – Karrak Interactive provides press release writer and article writer services to small businesses and startups at cost efficient prices. Receive a full list of free press release distribution sites or inquire about services, pricing, or monthly packages, visit Karrak Interactive.