MyWebGal's Blog

Since "Getting More Traffic to Your Website" has been the most viewed blog post of mine, I thought I'd add to the list of ways to accomplish that goal.

Article Marketing. No, it's not dead. Far from it. Article marketing is one of the best ways to accomplish a number of critical tasks:

1. Helps you establish yourself as an expert in your field.

2. Provides backlinks to your site from the many article directories that you submit the article to AND all of the websites that pick up your article to post on their site or blog.

3. Keeps you thinking about your market and up to date with their interests.

There are a few things to keep in mind that are important when distributing articles for marketing purposes.

1. Your article should have several slightly varied versions for distribution. This helps greatly in the area of testing titles, headlines, and content arrangement. Of course, the popularity of the article distribution site also will play into this.

2. Your article should be posted FIRST on your own website or blog and in the best format with the most information. The search engines "care" where the article is originally published. You are the author and creator of the article. Putting it on your own web property first will establish that the article "belongs" to you and that your site has the most thorough content.

3. Your "Resource box" at the end of your article should also be varied. Here's where you can tell people what you want them to know about you -- in brief. Also be sure to use anchor text in your links to your site. Meaning, use keywords, not simply the URL.

Article marketing is a great way to move up the search engine results as well as expose your message to a much larger audience. Use it and you'll see results.

Of course, using multiple avenues of marketing will give you greater results. Refer back to my blog post "Getting More Traffic to Your Website" for more ideas.

To Your Success!

If you follow any of the "Internet Marketing Gurus" I'm absolutely positive that you've heard them say, "The Money is in the List".

However, let me explain briefly for those not familiar with the concept of a list...

Nearly every time a person visits your website for the first time, they leave without buying anything from you. It's actually quite rare for someone to buy the first time they land on your site. They don't know you. They aren't sure you can be trusted. They are probably searching for solutions to their needs and that means they are visiting dozens of sites that offer something similar to what you have to offer. The competition is fierce. Therefore, they have a lot to consider before making a purchase. And most times, that person will never return to your site even if they mean to.

However, if you build a list, meaning you collect names and email addresses by having an "opt in" on your pages, you have a chance to build a relationship with your visitors and have them return to your site, and eventually buy from you.

It's called "Permission Marketing."

Now, getting a visitor to put his or her name and email address in your opt in form takes finesse. They won't do it voluntarily just because you want them to. You have to offer them something of value in exchange. For instance a free report, short consultation, teleseminar, audio or video recording, or the like. It's called a "value trade" or "ethical bribe".

The more perceived value of your offer, the better chance you have of obtaining the name and email, so make it good!

Of course, to have an opt in on your site, it's necessary to have a backend database and autoresponse system. You can do it if you know programming, but a much easier way is to get a third party service. I personally use 1Shoppingcart and highly recommend it. For as low as $29 per month, you can have the database, autoresponder service, broadcast capability (for newsletters, special offers, etc.) and even track your offers so you know how many people clicked on your link, and even if the offer resulted in sales. Also, with just a few clicks you can have the opt in form created for you within moments. Then just paste it into your web page and you can start building your list.

There's a lot to this service. It's excellent! Perhaps I'll write a more detailed blog post about it in the future. Especially if you let me know you're interested in learning more.

Once you have the opt in form on your site and an enticing offer, your list will start growing. This list IS where your money is, literally! Build a relationship. Let them know who you are and why you are the choice they should make. Start slow, don't push. Think of it as "courting" your prospect. Slow and steady. Confident and generous. Reliable and trustworthy.

Create an "autoresponder series" that introduces you to them over the course of a couple of weeks. Not everyday, but generally the first day, third, fifth, seventh, tenth, and so on. Skip days so as not to inundate them.

Also send out a newsletter or tips on a regular basis. Weekly, biweekly, or monthly. Offer something of value that has no strings attached. Think about "winning them over" via email.

You will, no doubt, lose some "subscribers" but you will also always be gaining them. Don't worry about the ones that unsubscribe! It's nothing personal! However, if you notice a lot of unsubscribes after one particular broadcast, reflect on what might be wrong with it and change it.

This is the first step in turning visitors into friends, and friends into customers. I highly recommend that you start implementing Permission Marketing as soon as possible!

To Your Success,

Deb

You've spent a long time figuring out what you know. Now it's time to PRESENT what you know to your customers in a way that pays RESPECT to the time and energy you've invested... and get the FINANCIAL RETURN and recognition that you deserve (and more).

The fact is, nothing happens in business until a customer buys from you. Creating your products or services doesn't do anything for your business until someone buys. So, how do you get them to come to you and make that decision to buy?

If you're struggling with achieving success with your business, particularly online, the problem might be easily resolved.

The online game is different in so many ways than a brick and mortar business. Your products or services have an "intangible" feel and nine times out of ten, there's no one there for your potential customers to ask and get answers from. What's presented on the page is all there is.

Getting more traffic, leads and customers to your website is the lifeblood of your online business. But, even that isn't enough. You need people to buy from you. It's called conversion and it's a process. The process is turning visitors into friends, and friends into customers.

People don't like buying from strangers!

If you're having difficulties getting sales from your website, I have some pointers for you...

In most cases, people aren't buying from you because there's a "disconnect". We think we're saying to our customer that we know want they want and need, but we aren't communicating to them properly.

You need to communicate what it is that you have to offer to your potential customers clearly, precisely and powerfully in their language, in the imagery, the emotion and the words that resonate with them. Not what resonates with you.

Stop assuming that you totally get your customer. Put that aside and start getting inside the mind of your customer.

Get the answers to these questions:

1. Who is my prospect or customer?
2. What is the biggest frustration that they face?
3. What is the result or outcome that my prospect wants to achieve.
4. What is the irrational, emotional fantasy that they have about themsleves and their... "whatever".
5. What information are they LOOKING FOR right now that they can't find answers to?

If what you have to offer your potential customers doesn't resonate with them, and hit them at the "gut level" in a powerful way, you won't do well selling online.

Think like your customer, think like a marketer, and translate what you're teaching into words and ideas that trigger "emotional" buying responses.

Every person who has a desire or a problem is very "in touch" with that desire or problem. They have some level of motivation that drives them to seek out solutions.

Consider how your prospect FEELS and then translate the value of your offer into terms that are crystal clear. Don't use bland, boring words describing the value or features of your offer. Entice and excite. You need to translate the value for your prospects, they won't do it for you.

So how do you translate value?

Write down your prospective customer's three biggest, most frustrating problems. Don't put a lot of thought into it, write them down quickly off the top of your head.

Which one is the most painful or frustrating? The one with the highest "emotional pain" involved... the cause of their worry and anxiety.

Now translate that into a real, tangible, financial cost for your prospect. Answer the question, "How much would it be worth for your prospect to eliminate that worry?"

If you answer that question properly, your customers answer will be "priceless". And the value of what you are offering will be a bargain, at any price!

Whatever you charge for your offer, you must translate that price into what your prospect will gain as a multiplied return on their investment. Help them see the value!

You've most likely seen the competition between McDonald's and Starbuck's Coffee. Reports show that McDonald's actually has better tasting coffee, but Starbuck's is still King. Why?

Starbuck's makes it "special"... and charges more! Get it?

As an expert in your field (a Guru) you're going to give people methods, techniques and systems to use to get the results they want.

Name it something special! Translate the value in your offer. Hit the gut-level, emotions that resonate with them.

Do this and your sales will soar and you'll establish yourself as The Go-To Expert in your field.

Hello Again BraveHeart Women! I hope you're making it a great day.

Today I thought I'd write about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) because it's another great way to get more traffic to your website.

You want your site to show up in the natural results on the first page of Google, Yahoo and MSN, which will result in bringing quality traffic to your site at no cost!

I say "natural" results because you can also get on the first page of the top search engines through Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC). With PPC you can get on the first page today, depending on the competition for the keywords. With SEO it takes some time, but it can happen fast if you work at it.

As mentioned in my previous post about getting more traffic to your website, building one way back links to your site from a variety of Web 2.0 methods will gain "attention and respect" from search engines.

Keywords play a big factor in this and I started talking about that in my last post about Domain Names. I talked about "drilling down" to find great "narrow" or "niche" keywords so you'd have a better chance to rank for them.

Competition for keywords is what you need to be aware of when choosing yours. Google even helps in this area by providing a keyword tool. It's extremely helpful and it's free. Try it out here >>

Type in a broad match keyword, type the letters in the "capcha" field and peruse the results that Google serves you.

There will be a list of suggested keywords, the competition for them, and the search volume. What you're looking for, obviously, are keywords with lower competition and a good amount of search volume (people using the keywords to search for something they want).

The keywords you decide to target then need to be used on your web pages in a number of ways.

1. The keywords and derivatives need to be in the copy on your page. Be sure to use them in the first paragraph and in the headlines and subheads. Use some in bullet points, some bolded, some underlined. These things add "weight" to the keyword.

2. Keywords should be used as anchor text, meaning they are hyperlinked to go to another page or site.

3. Meta tags: While major search engines don't pay attention to Meta Tag Keywords, smaller search engines still do in many cases. However, keywords in the title of your page and in the description is an excellent strategy. For instance Google uses your Meta tag title and description in the search results! Make it read like an ad because it is!

4. Alt tags: While you don't ever want to "stuff keywords" into your pages, when appropriate you can add a keyword or two in the image alt tags.

I'll talk more about meta tags in a later post but if you have any questions, leave a comment below and I'll address it then.

I hope this helps get you thinking about how to optimize your site for search engines, and increase your traffic to your site.

Until next time!

Deb

Hello BraveHeart Women!

Well, I must say I am blessed by the welcomes to the community and new members to my Web Development Community already. I wasn't sure at first that my area of expertise fit with the wonderful spirit present here but it appears that it does! Yeah!

It seems that perhaps some "basic" web development information is desired, so today I thought I'd share beginning steps to creating your presence on the web, starting with "What's in a domain name" because it's the first step and an important one.

So, why is a domain name important?

First and foremost, you want a domain name that is as easy to remember as possible and lends itself to what your website will offer. This gets harder as time passes! It's difficult to find a domain name that isn't already taken but keep trying, there are still good ones no one has thought of yet.

Second, the domain name can help with search engine rankings. Your domain name, hopefully, will contain at least one of your primary keywords that you're targeting.

What is a keyword? When people go to a search engine to search for something, they enter "keywords" that fit what they are looking for.

The tighter fit you can come up with to what you have to offer, the easier time you will have showing up in the search results. But you'll want to "drill down" to find the best keywords and ones that have less competition.

For instance, I just finished an experiment about Mothers Day. I built a web 2.0 property as my test and studied the results. I went to Google and typed in the "broad match keyword" "Mothers Day" and found more than 92 million results. It wasn't likely that my web site would rank well with that much competition.

So, I looked at "Mothers Day Flowers". I got 23 million results. Still a highly competitive market. "Mothers Day Gift Baskets" returned 6 million results. Getting better, but still a lot of competition.

"Mothers Day Gift Baskets in Seattle" returned 80,000 results. Eureka! Anything less than 200K is much easier to rank for if you know what you're doing (and I'll help you know how to do this in future blog posts).

That's "drilling down" to find the best keywords and that's what you need to do.

Tip: When you "Google" your broad base keyword, scroll down the page and find the section that says "Searches Related To" for ideas on more targeted keywords. Then Google them.

Once you have your ideas for your domain name, go to a domain and hosting service to see what's available. When you find a domain name that's available, buy it!

Tip: I own 67 domain names and have 22 websites of my own. I get them all (and all hosting) at www.BetterWebBusiness.com. They are very affordable, offer terrific service, and have never let me down. I changed over to them nearly 3 years ago, and won't go anywhere else. I highly recommend them.

I hope that helps you discover the importance of "What's in a domain name"!

Until Next time!

To Your Online Success,

Deb

As a web developer I talk to a lot of people about their websites. I'd say that the number one topic after their websites are built is...

"How do I get more traffic to my website?"

In this first blog entry, I thought I'd give you some tips on accomplishing that feat without having to spend a fortune.

The first strategy that I would suggest is to build Web 2.0 sites that link to your main site. There are a lot of places that you can build free "satellite" sites that are absolutely loved by the search engines. To name a few:

www.squidoo.com
HubPages.com
WetPaint.com

Also, creating videos and posting them to sites such as YouTube.com can help greatly. Your video doesn't have to be difficult either. You can go to Animoto.com and create a 30 second video using still photos, text and music all for free.

Bookmarking sites are another way to build links to your site, such a Delicious.com, digg.com and StumbleUpon.com.

I highly recommend blogging and commenting on blogs, as well.

My last tip for you today is to join twitter.com and www.facebook.com. These can heighten awareness of you and your site.

Bottom line, the more links you have pointing to your website, the more traffic you are bound to get!

If you have any questions, feel free to comment below or join my community, Web Design and Development.

Have a Creative Day!