Who Else Wants a Shot at 16,000+ Links Partners?

Who Else Wants a Shot at 16,000+ Links Partners?

by: John Gergye

Sick and tired of wasting hours tracking down link partners?

Sure links can work wonders for search engine ranking. But after awhile all the dead ends can get to you, right? Maybe even leaving you ready to chuck this whole link trading thing right out the window.

I know the feeling. Then I discovered link trading directories.

Now if you believe the hype you may begin hyperventilating. Or feel you’ve died and gone to linking heaven. I know I did since these directories are basically lists of eager link traders. Which should cut the time to find tons of sites to trade links with. While landing you lots of links. Especially since all of these directories tout the quality of the sites listed.

Okay to me high quality to means higher page rank (PR) and decent traffic. But is that what these directories deliver?

Maybe. Maybe not.

Mostly I found a few cherries hidden in a bowl of pits.

Yes, you will find decent linking partners.

Yes, you will pick up some PR.

But this is probably not a shortcut to a PR 6 web site. That causes traffic to pour over you like maple syrup. While bringing your server to it’s knees.

But hold on. Let’s not throw this idea under the bus just yet. Because it might be just the ticket for newer sites looking to get into the linking game. As long as you’re willing to put in some time to eliminate the riffraff.

Anyway having duly alerted you to the downsides, let me give you a list of the five best link trading directories I found. Along with a game plan to tease the best linking candidates from each fairly quickly.

The Directories

After compiling a list I eliminated those with sparse listings. Or that let people submit multiple times to any category they felt like. Or charged for submission. Which left me with 5 keepers totaling over 16,000 potential link partners.

http://www.123exchangelinks.com/browse.htm

Link to Links Page: Yes

# of Listings: Over 1300

Shows Date Added: Yes

http://www.webmasterlinkexchange.com/

Link to Links Page: No

# of Listings: Over 450

Shows Date Added: Yes

http://www.linkmarket.net/link_directory/index.php

Link to Links Page: No

# of Listings: Over 10,000

Shows Date Added: Yes

http://www.linkexchange.ws/linkexchange/index.php

Link to Links Page: No

# of Listings: Over 800

Shows Date Added: Yes

http://alllinksite.com/

Link to Links Page: No

# of Listings: Over 4,000

Shows Date Added: No

Now you’re ready for

The 6Step Game Plan

So hitch up your wading boots and wade on in.

Step 1) Know Your Site Types

You have to know what types of sites you’re looking for. So come up with a list of the types of sites you’re willing to swap links with.

Step 2) Set Minimum PR.

I’d recommend you ferret out link partners that can give you at least a PR 3 link back. Since most run of the mill webmasters can offer that with just a modest effort.

Step 3) Engage Tools

Access each directory in Internet Explorer with the Google toolbar activated.

Step 4) Pick Your Poison

Pick a category matching one of your target link partner niches.

Luckily one directory, www.123exchangelinks.com, links directly to the site’s links page. At least most of the time. Just run through those listings looking for PR 3 or better.

With the rest click to the site. Typically sites that have at least PR 3 links pages have PR 5 or better home pages. So click as fast as you can seeking sites that come up PR 5 or higher. Just don’t expect to be overwhelmed with the possibilities.

Another trick? If the directory shows the date added go for the older listings first. Reason being older listings are more likely to have more PR. Assuming the webmaster has done more than sit on her hands.

Step 5) Attempt to Link Up

If it passes PR muster find the Add URL page or an email to send your linking info to. I use the linking info found in the link exchange directory as their linking info to put on my site.

Repeat steps 4 and 5 for all appropriate categories.

Step 6) Add Me

Finally you can add your site. With the five directories I gave you the price of admission is a link back. Otherwise I wouldn’t pay to play. Just don’t think it’s worth it. Because most of the requests from your listing won’t have at least PR 3 links pages.

Anyway there you have it another way to find linking partners. Use the five link exchange directories, follow the game plan I’ve laid out, and you should be able to separate the wheat from the chaff fairly quickly. Making link trading directories another tool in your linking tool box.

Copyright 2004 John Gergye

About The Author

John Gergye shares more ideas like this in his recently updated eBook ‘traffic From Google in 35 Daysก. Find out more here: http://www.traffictesttube.com/j/tfg35cl.shtml/ Or test your search engine IQ by taking his seo quiz http://www.traffictesttube.com/searchenginequiz.shtml/ and get the free special report กComing Out On Topก.

This article was posted on December 21, 2004

by John Gergye

Engage the Power of the Internet to Find Your Perf

Engage the Power of the Internet to Find Your Perfect Home

by: Marianne Bandy

Finding the perfect home is always a challenge. Itกs easy to be overwhelmed by the number of choices and all the time required. But the challenges have gotten much easier for buyers who use My Buying Buddy®. Itกs a system that permits กvirtual tire kickingก of homes listed by the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).

My Buying Buddy makes it a lot easier for buyers to research their options. And it lets me focus on the other services necessary to complete the deal (like showing properties, communicating with lenders, negotiating the purchase with the sellerกs agent, etc.). Since I installed this system on my website, http://www.bandyhomes.com 70% of my clients find me through Internet searches. Itกs my experience that these buyers are better educated, have higher incomes, and are more motivated than typical lookers.

A large percentage of online buyers looking for Denver real estate, haven’t moved here yet. They’re using the Internet to assist their relocations. This program lets them narrow their choices and decisions without needing to be here.

Delve into the MLS Yourself

Realtor® is a trademark of National Association of Realtors. Only members get full access to the MLS, which lists all the properties for sale by local Realtors. Every listed property can be sold by any member. The public isn’t allowed to look into the database of listings. Thatกs reserved for licensed brokers who are members.

Traditionally, buyers had to rely on their real estate agent to tell them about what was available (given their desires and resources). Now, buyers can do their own searches, with direct access to the same listings as their broker. To see Denver homes for sale, buyers can see the latest information, and even receive updates about changes regarding properties of interest.

My Buying Buddy Streamlines Locating ‘the Homeก Buyers Hope to Find

The software system provides a comprehensive, easytouse home search service of the MLS. This buyerfriendly system was developed by Blue Fire Marketing, http://www.bluefiremarketing.com I consider it an incredible tool for the Denver real estate market. Itกs already available in several Colorado markets, the San Francisco bay area and parts of California and Texas. And more communities are adopting My Buying Buddy all the time.

When it became available, I saw its power, and was one of the first to climb aboard. My entire website is oriented around this system since it automates and simplifies many tasks required to find the perfect home.

The Denver MLS consistently lists over 25,000 properties, of which over 16,000 are residential properties. Thatกs too many to sort through without powerful software. But this program lets buyers be actively involved in finding and comparing the best listings.

My Buying Buddy Benefits

Shows featured listings

Locates homes in the MLS according to your criteria

Saves properties, so you can keep track of homes you like

Saves your search criteria from one session to the next

Gives email notification of new listings

Sends you email alerts about changes on homes of interest: daily or weekly

More People Trust the Internet to Locate Major Purchases like Homes

Increasingly, people turn to the Web to make critical buying decisions. The publicกs high expectations are caused by three trends:

Twothirds of US Internet users have more than three years experience online

Websites have gotten much better at giving people what they want in the way they want it

Search tools have become more powerful, so people can locate the information they’re looking for (like My Buying Buddy)

Research studies about used car sales and hiring attorneys demonstrate that people even turn to online resources before making expensive purchases and commitments. The Internet has replaced newspaper classifieds as the primary place to go for used car information.

The more comfortable people become online, the more home buyers go online to seek out desired information. Depending on the source, up to 70% of all purchasers turn to the Web during their home search and buying process.

Test Drive My Buying Buddy on my Website http://www.bandyhomes.com

Iกm a real estate professional who enjoys the human side of transactions. I care about helping families meet their needs and find what they love. This buyerfriendly system lets me do even more to assist my clients. And it involves them to the extent they want to be. See for yourself how beautifully technology can improve the home search experience.

© 2004, Marianne Bandy

About The Author

Marianne Bandy, Realtor® Denver, Colorado and surrounding communities. Use My Buying Buddy® to search the MLS listings to find your perfect home yourself. Helping families From My Heart to Your Home.

http://www.bandyhomes.com

(303) 7467799

[email protected]

This article was posted on December 22, 2004

by Marianne Bandy

The Fastest Way to Get Traffic to Your Web Site

The Fastest Way to Get Traffic to Your Web Site

by: Gihan Perera

Lots of people would like to get their Web site to the top of Googleกs free listings. But thatกs precisely the problem: You’re competing with lots of people. Itกs certainly possible to get to the top after all, somebody has to be there! but it takes a lot of time and effort. Alternatively, you could pay a search engine marketing company to do this for you.

But by far the better way to get to the top of Google is to pay for it. Googleกs กAdWordsก program allows even a small business to buy advertising for selected key words and phrases. You might be surprised at how little you have to pay.

Hereกs how it works …

Google (at www.google.com) has two types of listings: Free and paid. Google makes its money from the paid listings.

Google AdWords is the name of Googleกs paid advertising system. It is a payperclick advertising system, which means that you only pay when someone clicks on your advertisement.

AdWords is an auctionbased system. You offer to pay a certain price for each click, and you compete with other bidders for higher placement.

You choose which words or phrases you would like to use for your ad. When somebody searches Google using those search terms, your ad will appear. If they then click on your ad, it takes them to a specific page on your Web site.

The biggest advantage is that it gives you CONTROL.

Another problem with trying to get into the free listings at Google is that you don’t have much control over how your page will appear. You’re not sure exactly which search phrases will display it; you’re not sure what Google will say about it; and you’re not sure which pages of your site will match Googleกs criteria for each search phrase.

With AdWords, all those problems disappear. You can control the exact wording of your ads, the exact page they link to, the exact search phrases they match, and exactly when they appear.

For example, when I went overseas for a month last year, I turned off all my Google advertising while I was away. (That was in the days before I had finetuned my advertising campaigns. Nowadays, I would just leave the ads running, knowing that they would make me money in my absence :))

You can control where the ads appear in the world. For example, at the time of the Australian election last October, one of my clients had an electionrelated Web site, so we ran some Google ads but only for Australian Internet users.

You can get even more specific with geography. For example, I can run ads for events that Iกm conducting in Sydney, and only show those ads to people in and around Sydney.

You can run two ads side by side and find out which is more responsive. Then you delete the weaker ad and replace it with a third ad that you pit against the stronger ad. Keep doing this until you find the ad that gets the best results.

Google tells you exactly which words and phrases people used when searching. For example, when we did the advertising for the election campaign, we found that กAustralian electionก had 50% more searches than กfederal electionก; and กliberal partyก had three times as many searches as กlabor partyก!

With all these benefits, why would you ever go for free listings?

I hope Iกve convinced you by now that Google AdWords is the best way to get traffic from search engines.

But what about the free listings?

Actually, Iกm NOT suggesting that you give up the idea of getting a free listing in Google. There are definitely advantages to these listings.

What I am saying is that you should go for the paid listings first to test your market, refine your ad copy and improve your marketing. Then put your efforts into the free listings if you choose.

About The Author

Gihan Perera is a coauthor of กGet Traffic Fastก, a fasttrack program to get started with Google advertising, avoiding the common traps and pitfalls.

Sign up to his free minicourse กGoogle Kick Startก here:

http://GihanPerera.com/gettrafficfast.html

This article was posted on April 05

by Gihan Perera

ExactSeek Explained (Part 1)

ExactSeek Explained (Part 1)

by: Mel Strocen

This article takes an indepth look at some of the innovations introduced at ExactSeek.com (http://www.exactseek.com), including, most recently, the implementation of a unique ranking algorithm that factors in Alexa traffic data.

Search engines basically cater to two audiences webmasters and web searchers. Although there is an obvious overlap between the two groups, the latter dominates in numbers and most search engines bend over backwards to keep web searchers happy by continually tweaking search result algorithms. Webmasters, on the other hand, are more or less left to fend for themselves.

ExactSeek was founded 2 years ago on the premise that webmasters/site owners are the driving force on the Web not in numbers, but in terms of ideas, development, enthusiasm and innovation. The goal for ExactSeek, then and now, was to build a major engine that catered to this audience and web searchers more or less equally. Part 1 of this article deals with ExactSeekกs focus on webmasters.

FREE SITE LISTINGS

ExactSeekกs belief in the importance of the webmaster audience to search engine growth and traffic resulted in the rapid introduction of three types of free site listings, each geared to helping webmasters give their websites maximum exposure within the search engine.

Hereกs a short explanation of each:

Standard listings: As the name implies, this site listing is just a basic website listing in the ExactSeek database, comprised of Site Name (taken from the Title tag), description (taken from the Meta Description tag) and Site Link (the website URL).

These basic listings show up numbered 1 to 10, etc. in ExactSeekกs search result pages. Any webmaster can obtain a Standard Listing simply by filling out the form at: http://www.exactseek.com/add.html

Enhanced listings: Not strictly a website listing really more of an enhancement to the standard website listing. In brief, an enhanced listing consists of a small icon residing next to a websiteกs standard listing which when clicked opens a 150×150 javascript window with additional information about that website. The cool thing about the enhanced listing is that webmasters can add up to 800 characters of text or HTML code to the content of the window, allowing them to:

Embed audio, video or Flash.

Include logo, product or service images.

Include links to secondary site pages.

Use font enhancements (size, color, style).

Include more detailed information about their websites.

Simple examples can be seen at: http://www.exactseek.com/enhanced.html

Priority listings: Introduced for those webmasters who wanted something in return for adding an ExactSeek search form to their websites. These listings appear in the first 10 to 100 ExactSeek search results, highlighted against a light blue background. Visit the link below to see an actual example: http://exactseek.com/cgibin/search.cgi?term=perl

Obtaining a priority listing is a simple 3 step process outlined at: http://www.exactseek.com/add_priority.html

The three types of listings noted above offer any half way knowledgeable webmaster a means to maximize site exposure with minimal effort. Best of all, any site meeting ExactSeekกs submission guidelines is added within 24 hours. No pointless weeks or months of waiting. In 24 hours, websites are either indexed or not. If not, the most common reasons are:

The site submitted lacked a Title tag. The ExactSeek crawler ignores sites without Title tags.

The site submitted was pornographic or contained illegal content.

The site submitted was dynamically generated and its URL contained nonstandard characters like question marks (?), ampersands (&), equal signs (=) percent symbols (%) and/or plus signs (+).

The submitting webmaster failed to respond to the submission verification email message sent out by ExactSeek. Or, as is becoming more and more common, the webmaster failed to receive the message due to sp@m and ISP filtering and, thus, could not confirm submission. Webmasters using AOL, Hotmail and Yahoo email addresses may soon find it impossible to have their websites added to any search engine using a verification system.

THE DOITYOURSELF APPROACH

One of the most irritating things about many search engines is that it can take weeks or even months for free website submissions to be indexed. And once sites have been added, it can take weeks for changes to content and/or tags to be reindexed and for webmasters to see if those changes had a positive effect on site ranking.

ExactSeek opted to put a measure of control back in webmaster hands by introducing a doityourself approach. Early on, two simple online tools were made available which allowed webmasters to quickly check the positioning of any website in the ExactSeek database for any keyword(s) relevant to that site and then, if necessary, do something about it.

(a.) Site Ranking Tool

Tracks the top 10,000 site rankings for all keywords in the ExactSeek database, allowing a webmaster to find his site ranking for any keyword(s) relevant to his website.

(b.) Web Crawler Tool

Allows webmasters to schedule recrawls of their websites as often as once per week. Selfscheduled recrawls and instant site ranking checks provide webmasters with a quick read on which optimization strategies work and which don’t.

Both of the above tools can be found with additional explanation on the following page: http://www.exactseek.com/srank.html

DOITYOURSELF THE NEXT STEP

More recently, ExactSeek implemented a simple free membership system that takes the doityourself approach one step further. Any webmaster who has successfully submitted a website to ExactSeek is automatically a member and can obtain a Member ID and Password for login purposes by using the appropriate form at the ExactSeek Member Login page. (http://www.exactseek.com/member.html)

After logging in, webmasters can access a Member Account Manager which allows them to edit, enhance, delete and/or recrawl their site listings as often as they like. Revolutionary? Maybe not, but a big step away from total reliance on search engine scheduling.

Part 2 of this article will look at how traffic data from Alexa Internet was incorporated into the new ExactSeek ranking algorithm, the algorithmกs impact on delivering quality search results and at how ExactSeekกs new paid inclusion program stacks up against other paid inclusion and PPC programs.

About The Author

Mel Strocen is CEO of the Jayde Online Network of websites. The Jayde network currently consists of 14 websites, including ExactSeek.com (http://www.exactseek.com), SiteProNews.com (http://sitepronews.com) and SEONews.com (http://SEONews.com)

[email protected]

This article was posted on February 11, 2004

by Mel Strocen

Are You Cashing in On the Little Known Opportunity

Are You Cashing in On the Little Known Opportunity in Yahoo?

by: John Gergye

When it comes to search engine rankings do you have both Yahoo AND Google covered?

You’d think so but I bet not.

In fact have you even bothered to check to see how your site is doing in the กnew and improvedก Yahoo?

Might be a good thing to do you know. Since Yahoo could be, or rather should be, accounting for maybe 2025% of your site’s total traffic?

But if you’re like most you’re probably still focused laser like on Google. And perhaps not even aware of the little known opportunity Yahoo has to offer right now.

Opportunity?

Right. This is the absolute PERFECT time to grab a number one ranking in Yahoo! Or at least some top 10 rankings. From what I’ve seen most markets are ripe for the picking.

That’s because few of the top guns riding high in Google have locked up a similar top listings in Yahoo.

Don’t believe it?

Well, let me prove it to you.

To research this I used a nifty tool called Thumbshots Ranking. http://ranking.thumbshots.com/

Along with the whiz bang graphic it gives you a minireport. The report shows how many listings make repeat appearances in the top 100 of both Google and Yahoo. They’re called กoverlapping linksก. A confusing choice of terms but it still means the number of listings in the top 100 in Google that are also in the top 100 in Yahoo too.

All you do is simply stick in any keyword (phrase) and let it rip.

The numbers are nothing short of shocking. Best, or is it worst case, only about a third of top 100 listings in Google made the top 100 in Yahoo.

Take a look for yourself. Here’s some keyword phrases I checked followed by the number of overlapping listings.

bed and breakfast 37

wedding invitations 35

email software 33

logo design 32

pet supplies 28

satellite tv 22

business cards 21

dating services 19

ceramic knives 17

furniture shopping 15

medical transcription services 14

wine racks 14

business opportunity 11

web designer 6

digital phones 4

I tried to come up with competitive and not so competitive terms.

Admittedly this กstudyก of 15 keywords is far from comprehensive.

And maybe it’s just me, but it sure looks like there’s an opportunity for prime listings in Yahoo.

Again I don’t know if this is because most webmasters are so focused on Google or what. But I think that’s part of it.

The other issue may be that Yahoo ranks pages more based on content. While Google weighs links and link text more heavily.

Regardless, just because you can’t crack the top 20 in Google all is not lost. Roll up your sleeves and focus some attention on ranking well in Yahoo. What have you got to lose?

IMPORTANT: I’m NOT saying a top 10 ranking in Yahoo is worth the same amount of traffic as a top 10 ranking in Google. But I AM saying if you don’t have a top 10 Google ranking and prospects of landing one anytime soon look bleak, maybe Yahoo is a promising alternative. Because some search engine traffic is better than none, right?

In any case, get in on this now before it’s too late. And get the jump on your competitors sitting pretty in Google. Because like Zig Ziglar says the กOpportunity of a lifetime is only good for the lifetime of the opportunity.ก

Copyright 2004 John Gergye

About The Author

John Gergye shares more ideas like this in his just updated eBook ‘traffic From Google in 35 Daysก. Find out more here: http://www.traffictesttube.com/j/tfg35cl.shtml Or test your search engine IQ by taking his seo quiz http://www.traffictesttube.com/searchenginequiz.shtml and get the free special report กComing Out On Topก.

This article was posted on August 30, 2004

by John Gergye

Farm Expired Listings For Big Commissions

Farm Expired Listings For Big Commissions

by: Lanard Perry

Many real estate agents begin and sometimes sadly end their careers without a plan. And as the saying goes, failing to plan is as good as planning to fail. ]

Sure, some do the usual and expected things to cultivate new business, like mailing letters and post cards to friends and relatives, phoning acquaintances, and giving out business cards to any and everybody they meet.

Heck, some are courageous enough to กcold callก prospects, the most dreaded of all tasks! And while all of these activities are good things to do, they don’t necessarily translate into new business opportunities now or later!

And while these may be good strategies you need more. But instead of working harder why not work smarter?

The most successful Realtors and Real Estate Agents have กlead generating systems.ก Some Farm Expired Listings for huge profits.

A good listing system can:

jump start new or average real estate sales career

bring in real estate listings on a regular basis; week after week

generate prospective buyers and sellers

give you marketing exposure in months rather than years

position you to know the best real estate investment buys

Personally, I love Expired Listing Systems and their laser beam like focus on warm, responsive sellers. Sellers that are typically still Realtor friendly, eager to sell and will do what it takes to get their properties sold.

Owners of expired listings are motivated for many reasons; double mortgages, vacant properties, terrible tenants, recently married and combining households, recently divorced and liquidating real estate assets, and on and on.

Plus, they have gone through a listing cycle and may be anxious to get on with their lives. But, as you know, or will soon learn, all listings aren’t worth having.

As for me, I initially listed every property that I could; vacant land, single family homes, condoกs, triplexes, mobile home parks, mobile homes, homes in top notch condition, fixer uppers, whatever.

And I got to feeling pretty darn good (and just a little smug) as my listing portfolio grew to more listings than I could manage.

So, I first hired a part time clerk/assistant to help me market my listings, then took on a newly licensed salesperson as a partner and split the listing fees 50/50. Pretty soon my listing system was humming and I was averaging 12 listings a week.

I then had an army of agents working for me day and night, as almost all of my listings were in the Multiple Listing System. Working to get me paid, even when I was chaperoning field trips, getting a haircut, or just taking a day off!

Thatกs what a good real estate listing system can do for you!

So, if you don’t have a good listing system you should get one. After all, if real estate listings are the lifeblood of the industry then how successful can you be without them?

About The Author

Lanard Perry is the author of กFarming Expired Listingsก, a real estate listing system that shows how to list 12 listings a week.

Visit http://www.farmingexpiredlistings.com for more info.

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 1

by Lanard Perry

As a Realtor, How Do I Attract Listings?

As a Realtor, How Do I Attract Listings?

by: Barrett Niehus

Have you ever noticed that despite the massive number of Realtors in your area, only a hand full are making a fortune selling real estate? Regardless of who these realtors work for; GMAC, Century 21, REMax, they are extremely successful where others in their office are barely scraping by. What is the secret to their success? First and foremost, it is their approach to marketing themselves and their customers.

So what techniques do they use to attract listings? Well, while the rest of us are placing door hangers and mailing out notepads, these super sales people have perfected marketing techniques that attract motivated buyers and sellers, and motivate them to take action. An example of one of the strategies that the best seller in my city uses is as follows:

1) Specialize: Despite the policy of never turning down a listing or qualified candidate, focus on specializing on the type of property that will best suit your performance goals. For the person in my area, single family attached homes provide the greatest return on investment and are turning over the fastest. This is where she is really making her money.

2) Geographic Specialization: When a person decides to sell his/her house, they will find a realtor either through referral, recognition of a local representative, or through the yellow/white pages and internet. By focusing your promotional efforts on a specific geography, you can increase your market presence so that you are the first phone call if a target client decides to sell their property, as well as first on the list if they ask a neighbor for referral. In addition, if you specialize in a specific area, people will recognize your name and be more inclined to trust you with their listing and to negotiate their deal.

3) Grow and harvest your area of geographic specialization: Focus your marketing message on the area of geographic specialization that you have chosen. If your area has a high rate of property turnover, then you will do very well. The most successful realtor in my area papers my door with her picture every Monday afternoon. In addition, she includes a list of properties in my neighborhood that are listed or for sale. Looking at the sales price of other properties is a good motivator for me to list my own home and take advantage of the capital gains.

4) Create a continual presence: Once you have chosen the type of property to specialize in, and the neighborhoods to cultivate listings, begin promoting. As a marketing manager, I am a big fan of postcards that are sent to target clients on a weekly basis. Generally, it will take about fifteen pieces of promotion before a client will remember your name, but when they decide to list, you will be the first phone call.

The overall goal is to attract as many viable listings as possible. Regardless of who eventually buys the property, as the listing agent, you get to take advantage of the commission. By focusing your time on marketing yourself to your most promising targets, you will save time and increase your listings substantially.

+++++++++++++++

About The Author

Barrett Niehus is a Marketing Manager for IP Ware Residential Real Estate Investment Software http://www.realtysoftware.org for Realtors and real estate investors.

This article was posted on May 04, 2004

by Barrett Niehus

Stop Whining About Google!

Stop Whining About Google!

by: S. Housley

Blame Game

Nearly anyone and everyone involved with search engine optimization and Internet marketing is aware of the famous กFloridaก update by Google that caused many commercial sites to lose their Google ranking and position.

Industry experts speculated as to why Google made such radical changes to their algorithm. Those sites that no longer ranked well for popular search terms had to take drastic steps in order to salvage the holiday purchasing season. Many noted the timing and thought perhaps Google was attempting to capitalize on the Google Adwords PayPerClick advertising program. Others simply whined that though their site contained commercial material, it also contains valuable content and was unfairly penalized.

What many failed to acknowledge is that Google has every right to make algorithm changes and if they choose to drop sites that lack relevance, it is their business. Listings in Googleกs main search directory are free. Many have profited from Googleกs ability to send traffic for years. Google doesn’t owe anyone, anything, least of all an explanation of their algorithm changes. Businesses that rely on Googleกs free listings as their sole source of web traffic lack good sense. Google, being an independent company, reserves the right to run their business as their management sees fit. If you are unhappy with Google stop using them for searches.

If the results that Google serve lack relevant listings, then find another engine to use! It has happened before and it will happen again. It is the law of supply and demand. If Google is unable to provide relevant content that searchers demand, Google will become irrelevant. Look at the how the search engine landscape has changed over the past few years: AltaVista is no longer the leader, Infoseek no longer exists and others are barely resemble what they once were.

As for the commercial sites who have been battered by the Florida update here are some suggestions:

make your site relevant!

submit to other search engines (MSN, Inktomi, Lycos etc..)

pay for traffic (payperclick and payforinclusion)

develop traffic from alternative sites

rely on traditional methods of advertising

promote your website in your signature line in newsgroups

promote your website on your business cards or on mailings

participate in industry specific directories

participate in vertical market payperclick the return on investment tends to be *much* higher though the traffic is significantly less

The bottom line is become proactive rather than reactive, stop whining about Google and find alternate sources of web traffic.

About The Author

Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc. http://www.notepage.net a company specializing in alphanumeric paging, SMS and wireless messaging software solutions. Other sites by Sharon can be found at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com , and http://www.smallbusinesssoftware.net

This article was posted on March 01, 2004

by S. Housley

5 Hidden Resources For eBay Users

5 Hidden Resources For eBay Users

by: Jason James

Many thousands of people making a living both buying & selling on eBay. Currently ranked as the 37 biggest site on the net (according to Alexa figures) eBay shows no signs of slowing down, even fortune 500 companies are opening eBay shops to sell surplus & unwanted stock. The following are five resources that I use personally & encourage you to use them to increase your eBay profits with ease.

Reports show that over 90% of searches on eBay are done using the search facility. What users do not know about eBays search factility is that by default it only searches the item titles not the descriptions of the items. Remember this fact as it will show the significance of some of the resources listed below.

1) FatFingers

How professional a seller are you? Do you check your listings before submitting them or even does someone else proof read them for you? With millions of listings on eBays networks of sites at any one time, a small proportion of these listings contain errors & a misspelt word is about the biggest error you can make.

Imagine your selling a Sony Television for example. What if you misspell the item as Sony Televisoin. Anyone who searches for the term กSony Televisionก simply isn’t going to be presented with your item. Only those eBayers who search manually though the category will find your items. Needless to say that if people can’t find your item, they’re unable to bid on them.

FatFingers is a service you can use to find all misspelt variations of a term. Why would you need such a service?

Well obviously if an item has low visibility on eBay itกs also likely to have zero or few bids enabling you to snap yourself up a bargain. Iกve known people use this service to make a full time living, purely buying items cheaply and relisting them without errors.

Details at: Fatfingers.com

2) eBay Pulse

Back to the search facility eBay pulse shows you the top 10 searched keywords in every category. Itกs a real gem of a service, obviously by looking at the most widely used search terms you can see what eBayers are after. And if your selling in this category, by inserting some of these keywords within your title your items will be seen by more users.

The only thing to watch out with this service is make sure the keywords are relevant to your item, IF NOT DON’t USE THEM. How many times have you saw listings such as กSONY PANASONIC LG WIDESCREEN DIGITAL TELEVISION GUIDEก, listings such as these are well thought out to earn high visibility from the way users search. Anyone searching for the items with any of the keywords will uncover your listings.

While it may lead to a high number of views, firstly fellow users will get annoyed if they find your item completely unrevealed to what they searched for, Secondly keyword spamming as it is known, is against eBay policy and will lead to your item being pulled. I use pulse daily with all my listings but make sure itกs relevant to your item first.

Details at: pulse.ebay.com

3) KeywordPro

KeywordPro is a commercial subscription service which is similar to eBay pulse. However, the main difference is KeywordPro offers a much more in depth list of relevant keywords. It lists the top 50 keywords for every category for both eBay.co.uk & eBay.com. This is a great addition, especially if any of the terms found in eBay pulse are not relevant to your item.

KeywordPro is available as both a web service or as a small program that downloads the list onto your P.C. Itกs data is updated weekly to keep you informed of the latest search terms.

Details at TradingWebSolutions.com/keywords

4) Selling Manager

When you first open a selling account on eBay, options listed under the sell tab of eBay are enough to get you by. However, you can upgrade to a more in depth service known as Selling Manager. As eBay describes the service กeBay Selling Manager is our online sales management tool for medium to high volume sellersก. It allows you to track every eBay sale, customise your feedback comments, print shipping labels & much more. It saves me about four hours a week tracking orders and watching my sales.

Selling Manager is FREE on eBay.co.uk & has a small monthly charge of on eBay.com (after one a month trial free). Once I moved over to Selling Manager, thereกs simply no way I would go back.

Details at: Click on services once youกve logged into your eBay account.

5) eBay Popular Products

Here you can see, directly from eBay, what the most popular products are in several categories. an invaluable tool for an eBay seller.

Details at: http://productindex.ebay.com/best_selling_1.html

I hope you find these services useful & time saving in your goal for a successful home business on eBay. Remember, your most important resource is your time when your starting or building up an online business & if you discover any site, person or opportunity that can save you time give it the attention & serious consideration it deserves. Every top Internet marketers constantly educate themselves by purchasing & reviewing almost every new product released. The way I look at it, if an ebook costs $197 and the information within the ebook saves me this or allows me to make an additional $197 itกs well worth it once you can do it once youกll be able to repeat the exercise over and over again making repeated profits. If you discover a precious eBay related resource let me know & Iกll consider revising this list for future editions.

Good luck with your eBay selling.

Copyright 2005 Auction Resource Network

About The Author

Jason James’ website ‘the Auction Resource Networkก reveals his inside secrets and sources that help him pocket over $10,000 a month on eBay. Claim your FREE 14 Day กLearn How to Sell on eBayก eCourse Here: http://www.auctionresourcenetwork.com

This article was posted on September 08

by Jason James