Website Statistics - Finding Your Peak

The goal of every online marketer is to increase website traffic, which means that you are in essence creating more exposure. The more exposure and traffic, the more page views, hits, visits, etc. you will accumulate.

One of the functions involved with online marketing is website statistics analysis. This is key to determining how successful different marketing campaigns and optimization techniques are performing. Without a measure of success, you may as well haphazardly try different approaches to increasing exposure. However, by analyzing your stats you can wisely consider which is the next most logical step in trying to increase your website traffic.

Let's say you start off with a brand new website. Any online marketer worth their weight in salt should be able to in...Read entire article

Black Hat SEO vs. White Hat SEO

The debate continues about black hat and white hat seo, and with the recent addition of a supposed black hat seo practitioner at SEOMoz.org, I thought I would comment.

I think the best analogy of black hat/white hat seo is to compare it to anti-virus and computer network security vs. "hackers". Hackers, virus creators and distributors, phishing scam creators, etc. are going to cause trouble and mayhem. But one could argue that these types of people also have a purpose in mind, to prove that they can successfully put together these types of programs and campaigns without getting caught. In doing so they are "foiling" an information security program and can claim some sort of notoriety and sense of self-accomplishment. The info...Read entire article

Affiliate Programs - Tips for Improving Ad Exposure

I have recently begun to start incorporating affiliate program ads on one of my websites. I have joined about 15 affiliate programs and have received the code for about 25-30 different ads. The ads have been incorporated into the website a number of different ways, and after seeing the ads, I can't help but feel like there is a better way to go about it.

Affiliate ads are great because they often display a specific message, rather than just the company's logo and tagline. Some ads might offer a discount on specific products, free shipping, etc. Most affiliates also supply a wide range of different-sized ads as well, meaning you can use the ads in just about any location on your site. I've incorporated 5 different sized ads in addition to text link ads. Now that the "standard" ...Read entire article

Affiliate Program Experiment

Creating a website that passively generates revenue is the number one goal for most website operators. I shouldn't say that actually as there are many reasons people build websites. But many people, whether they are building a website to generate extra revenue or not, will ultimately start to explore ways of monetizing their website to generate some kind of income.

There are many different ways to "monetize a website". I attended the New York Search Engine Strategies Conference not too long ago and was astounded by the sheer number of pay-per-click and online advertising companies. Every one offered a program that was better, generated more traffic, or had a higher pay-per-click than the next. From a publisher stand-point they all promised highly targeted and relevant ads, tha...Read entire article

Online Marketing - The Value of Blogs

Online marketing is an all-encompassing term. Does it mean search engine optimization? Does it mean working on linking strategies? Does it mean sending out press releases? Does it mean putting together pay-per-click advertising campaigns? Does it mean maintaining and sending out to an email list? Online marketing means all those things and more!

One of the most important fundamentals to remember though is that you need something to market. Without developing new content, and developing it often, you will soon run out of steam with your marketing strategy. You may have all the systems and resources in place to use every kind of online marketing tool imaginable, but without fresh content, you have nothing to broadcast.

Recently blogs have become all the rage. Read entire article

Online Marketing Plan To Increase Website Traffic

Long gone are the days when it was enough to stuff a keyword META tag with terms to get a website ranked on the front page of the major search engines. Long gone also are the days when a new "dot-com" venture could lure the curiosity of enough visitors to a website to keep it around for an extended period of time. Nowadays every serious Internet venture has a team of people working on their online marketing and search engine optimization plans. With so many sites vying for precious attention from possible visitors, it is imperative to have a solid marketing foundation to ensure steady traffic and good search engine positioning.

This plan is really just an outline of a technique I've used on a few sites of my own. I'm not telling you how to write your content, who to contact, ...Read entire article

Successfull Marketing 101 - Content is King

Let's face it, no one wants to invest any amount of time, no matter how minimal, on a website if it does not offer some type of compelling content. I'm not saying you have to give away secrets about the JFK assassination, but you should be offering something worthwhile to visitors on a continual basis. Even if your main goal is to sell a product or service, you will be missing the boat if you do not have content.

Unless someone knows about your website already and gets to it by typing the website address directly into their browser's address bar, they will undoubtedly have to come across your site by peforming a search at a search engine or clicking on a link provided on another website. After working for a marketing company for five years, I've come to realize that so many pe...Read entire article

Online Marketing Tips for New Websites

So you have a really great idea for a website. You've done some research, had some conversations, registered the domain name, and you're ready to go...now what?

Any new online venture needs to have online marketing as a main priority. Online marketing encompasses search engine optimization, press releases, link exchanging, and generally raising the awareness of your website.

Online marketing should be considered BEFORE the site is actually designed. I've seen far too many times where a website has already been designed and the site owners THEN consider online marketing. Supposing you've already researched the competition to find out if your site is even worthwhile, you're now ready to research the competition from a marketing stand-point. What kinds of keywords are the...Read entire article

Email Broadcast Tips and Techniques

Email is not dead. Email is not dead as a marketing tool. In fact, email used as a marketing tool can be the cornerstone of any online marketing campaign. People may think that with the advent of spam blockers, whitelists, server blacklists, etc. that email is no longer a viable marketing option. I believe the opposite is true, email's value as a marketing tool is increasing.

While it's true that more people are aware of email spam, phishing, and email viruses, and many people may block unwanted mass emails automatically, this just ensures that when someone does sign up for your mass emails, they are very truly intersted. If you have your own opt-in list, or have a list of emails that are verified as being opt-in or even better, confirmed double opt-ins, you have a solid found...Read entire article

Online Marketers - The New Breed

Anyone with a computer, an Internet connection, and a blog seems to be an expert online marketer nowadays. Perform a search for "online marketing" (with the quotes) on Google and you'll get almost 54,000,000 results!

I would venture to guess that a large majority of the online marketers out there today are part of the "get-rich-quick" group, offering to get every single page on your website ranked in the first position of Google for $25, guaranteed! After wading through these types of services/businesses you're left with a small percentage of people who pose as online marketing professionals. But who are they? Who do you go to if you want to get your website ranked higher on the search engines?

If you look at TV adertising, there are only so many stations and thus, onl...Read entire article

Online Marketing and Search Engine Optimization Strategies

It is impossible to discuss search engine optimization nowadays without categorizing it under the overall umbrella of online marketing. Optimizing your website for the search engines is just one piece of the puzzle to increase awareness of your site and accomplish your online marketing goals. Online marketing encompasses everything from research to optimization to broadcasting, and analysis. Online marketing is a continued effort, goals are constantly being raised.

Expectations

Expectations should be based on the kinds of marketing strategies engaged. If strategies are employed that gain quick notice, without any necessarily long-term value, one should expect quick spikes in traffic and activity. Best practice dictates exploring a variety of marketing options ...Read entire article

Online Marketing Strategies - Different Forms of Internet Advertising

The newest focus in marketing and advertising is online and Internet marketing and advertising. What used to be a traditional media (newspapers, magazines, fliers, TV) outlet is now turning towords a new medium. ANY BUSINESS should be involved in some sort of online marketing and advertising. People increasingly look online for products and services and if you are not part of the "online advertising game", then you are denying yourself a could-be lucrative marketing opportunity.

There are many ways (which I will discuss below) to use your website to market and advertise to generate income. I'm not talking about a specific product or service or "ecommerce" website, but rather using your website traffic to sell advertising. The number one "golden rule" though is simple, you must...Read entire article

Analysis of Chitika Eminimalls

Recently, within the past month or so, I came across some really interesting online marketing. The effort came in the form of online ads which I couldn't really fit into any one category. Part pay-per-click ad, part banner ad, part "mini utility javascript", and really pretty eye-catching. It turns out the ads are part of Chitika's Eminimalls online advertising campaign.

I saw the "ad" at the top of a page on a, I believe, news site. Perhaps it was a news article reviewing a certain product or giving information about a certain manufacturer, I cannot remember exactly. But I read the article and then looked around the page and saw the "ad", which didn't really seem to fit in with the site's graphics and design. While the ad didn't necessari...Read entire article