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Guest post by: Dr Don Yates Sr PhD Become an Author

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There are many ways to advertise on the internet. Most of the effective advertising methods are simple and easy to do. Here is a quick guide to internet advertising.

If online marketing was a basketball team, here would be my starting five.

• Natural Search Engine Optimization
• Pay Per Click
• Media Campaigns
• Newsletter
• Promotions

Search engines are the number one way to drive traffic to a website. There are a few components to having a site rank well in search engines.

• Build a site that the crawlers can easily navigate.
• Make sure each page has a unique title tag, description tag and lots of well-written unique content.
• Build one-way links from topical sites.

Now there are entire books written on this subject, but most of it is overdone. Stick to the basics of a site that can easily be crawled, lots of good content, and links from topical sites and you'll do fine.

Pay per click programs from Google and Yahoo where bids are placed on terms that show up in the search results. Depending on your budget there are a few options. You can hire a firm to do it or do it yourself. The key to a good pay per click program is to understand your conversion rates. Tune your pay per click program by bidding on words that convert and lower bids or drop them all together on terms that do not convert.

Similar to pay per click options the key is to understand your conversion rate. Most media is purchased on a CPM basis. That's the cost per 1000 impression of your ad Google offers a contextual advertising network and depending on your budget there are many full service options available. Media for performance-based campaigns may be complex, but just be sure to make more than you spend.

Collect email addresses from your users to keep them up to date on specials and other options. Email marketing is still one of the most cost effective and best ways to keep in contact with customers.

I have one friend that makes his entire living off of an email list that he gives great Promotions of new products and services. It is sort of an early adopters program. Until I saw this, I never knew how effective they could be. Offer something unique that your audience wants regularly on your site. Hubpages

As advertisers started to push into more colorful, more multimedia "rich media ads" online, a surprisingly simple text ad started to make a huge impact.

The idea started with the GoTo.com search engine, which listed search results depending on how companies bid for keywords. The advertisers only paid GoTo.com each time someone clicked through to their site, a system known as pay-per-click (PPC). Even though earlier attempts at commercializing search results had failed, GoTo.com was more successful because they started life as a commercial search engine.

Meanwhile, Google made a crucial change to the PPC system when it launched its AdWords service in 2000, listing "sponsored links" next to search results. These simple ads consisted of a text headline, a couple short lines and a link, and they eventually proved to be a powerhouse for Google. These ads were successful for three important reasons:

1) They were tied to keywords, which meant that searchers were getting ads that were highly relevant to what they were searching for;

2) Advertisers only paid for the times people clicked on the ads; and

3) Popular Google search engine drove huge amounts of traffic to these ads.

Google later branched out and started serving up PPC ads on third-party sites such as online newspapers and blogs through the AdSense network, delivering ads depending on the content of the page, rather than from search results.

Problems have persisted with PPC ads, as some companies will buy keywords using trademarked terms or the name of rival firms in order to divert traffic to their own websites. So far, courts have sided with Google, allowing people to use trademarked terms in PPC ads as long as they are not posing as the rival company and confusing consumers.

The other problem with PPC ads is click fraud, with hackers or rival firms driving up the cost of ads by clicking repeatedly on ads. Google and other search engines downplay the cost of click fraud, but researchers estimate that 10% to 20% of clicks on PPC ads are fraudulent, costing advertisers from $500 million to $1 billion per year.

Over the past few years, online advertising has become a juggernaut, leading all other ad mediums in growth worldwide. Why, as more people get broadband Internet connections, they tend to spend more of their time online and less time with print publications, TV and radio. As the attention of the public shifts to the Internet, advertisers must follow them in order to keep reaching people.

Despite rosy projections, it pays to remember that advertising is a cyclical business, and online advertising dropped like a lead balloon after the dot-com bust in 2000

As marketers fall over each other to reach the growing online audience, hosts of challenges remain for them. Because online advertising is a new frontier, marketers often find themselves crossing ethical boundaries for users. Email advertising led to spam, or unsolicited email, which has almost ruined the email experience for many people. Advertisers also started using pop-up or pop-under ads that served an ad in a new browser window, forcing people to close the window and view the ad. That led to people using pop-up blocking software, now a standard feature in the Firefox and Internet Explorer browsers.

Advertisers have had to worry about being associated with these types of ethically challenged ad methods online, along with adware and spyware companies that deliver ads via software that's loaded onto unsuspecting people's computers. In one example, ads sold by Yahoo in its search-advertising network ended up being served through adware companies unbeknownst to the advertisers. So their ads showed up through adware companies that might have upset viewers -- not exactly a good forum for selling or promoting a product.

Advertisers also face the challenge of gauging just how many people have viewed online ads. Tracking ads online is a tricky proposition, despite the Internet's claim to better trackability.

The problem is that it's difficult to gauge how many unique people are actually viewing an ad, versus the same people viewing the ad multiple times on different computers, or automated Internet spiders or bots that scour the web for search engines.

Pay per click (PPC) is an Internet advertising model used on websites, in which advertisers pay their host only when their ad is clicked. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market. Content sites commonly charge a fixed price per click rather than use a bidding system. Wikipedia

The article was sourced from Internet World Stats which is also a great resource for targeting your advertising marketing campaigns. Internet World Statistics provided the scope of the user and scam problem in an earlier section. The following breaks down the data for further analysis and as a useful tool for your target marketing – where to place adverting, who you are trying to reach.

Click the link for an additional break down of the data. Internet World Stats

We cannot make you a SEO expert within these few pages, but we can give you a good beginning, things to watch for and typical SEO Scams. Search engines are considered the prime source of traffic for any website.

The higher your search engine ranking will be, higher will be the number of visitors to your website, thereby leading to significant increase in sales, apart from gaining strong web presence as well as brand recognition.

Search engine ranking, otherwise known as search engine placement, simply refers to the creation of a website in such a way that it ranks as high as possible in the given search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN. In other words, search engine ranking is a yardstick to determine the online promotional success of a web page or website. A high search engine ranking is regarded as a more effective advertising tool than paid advertising.

Among the plethora of strategies adopted by SEO specialists to ensure top search engine ranking are preparation of pertinent content, selection of the most appropriate keyword or key phrases for your product or service, implementation of meta tags, HTML validation and link building.

Nowadays, a lot of SEO specialists are in the scenario to offer search engine ranking services. Many of them guarantee top search engine rankings. However, search engine ranking proves effective and beneficial only when professional and knowledgeable SEO personnel do it. Before you approach a SEO firm or SEO specialist, make a thorough analysis regarding its professionalism and Ethics.

Be sure they prepare content-rich information and adopt the most sophisticated SEO tools to optimize your website. There are certain SEO firms that offer search engine ranking services for low rates. Hence, before choosing such firms, their quality of service must be checked. Further, make sure that the SEO firm that you have chosen solely engage in SEO-related works, and does not treat it as a secondary.

It is the fervent wish of every website owner that his or her website attains a position of prominence with regard to search engine rankings. It is easier said than done and this is why so many website owners are giving up with search engine optimization and turning to SEO consultant to increase their search engine rankings.

Search engine optimization with keywords rich page content involve rearrangement or addition of keyword rich web content to specific location on your web site. You should start by positioning the keywords and a good place where to start is the page title, and at the very least, in the first paragraphs. It pays to have the keyword appearing frequently on your page body. Keeping your keywords frequency between three and five percent is recommended. More than that is considered ''Spamming'' By the search engines.

Try to find targeted keyword phrases that your competitors are missing. Your competitors when searching for the top competitive search terms often overlook combinations of two and three word phrases. Doing a proper keyword research is a must! Make sure to spread your main keywords and keywords phrases in a natural manner. Also, using sub-topics will effectively make the keywords work well together. Making use of keyword rich content on your site will increase both your relevancy and search engine rankings leading to more traffic that convert in more sales.

As it is said, it is far easier to reach the top, but maintaining that position is the most difficult part. With some serious SEO, one could improve the page rankings of a website. But, with thousands of new web pages being indexed by search engines daily, and the search algorithm employed by the search engines changing quite frequently, a once-done SEO can no longer guarantee top results. To continuously maintain a top ranking, one has to do something dynamic and innovative in SEO and that quite periodically. Few tips to do so are mentioned in the following paragraphs.

The very basic thing to do is to make search engine spiders come and crawl your website periodically. For that, you have to change your website content and code periodically. If your page does not change at all, its rankings will also remain the same. Other new websites with better content and SEO will then push you from the top spots.

Another aspect that is crucial in keeping the #1 ranking is how effectively you employ the SEO concepts in your website. Virtually every website owner uses SEO in order to make his or her websites search engine friendly, so at the end of the day, it is the Darwinian theory of the survival of the fittest that matters.

For best results, you need to do well in all the areas instead of concentrating on a single aspect. Since SEO is quite a wide territory that requires core expertise all the way down, this job must be best left to a professional to accomplish. If you make any mistake, it will be difficult or sometimes impossible for a novice to bring things back on track.

Finally, submit your websites only to the top directories and search engines. Submitting to the hundreds of directories and search engines – mostly illegitimate - does not serve any purpose. If you do link building, do it carefully, one at a time. Also stay away from link farms and mass link exchange offers. Those things could land you in a hot soup. AffordableSEO

As website owners you already know the importance of traffic. Getting a steady flow of visitors to your site is the only thing that really matters. If you can't generate traffic your online business is destined to fail. You need traffic to make sales!

The key for generating targeted traffic is the search engine. Search engine optimization is by far the most cost effective method of advertising your website. Unfortunately, many internet marketers do not understand search engine optimization, which leads to targeted traffic that convert in sales. They are making terrible mistakes when optimizing their websites. Try To Avoid The Following Common Search Engine Optimization Mistakes:

It is so important that your site target the right audience. Select the right keywords and your audience will find you. Use the wrong keywords and you will get poor traffic, but most importantly, no sales!

(Repeating the same keywords): Never use keywords spamming or stacking. The search engines will downgrade and penalize your website for doing this. Instead, use keywords rich content on your page.

If you are serious about doing business online you need a real domain name with a real hosting company. In most case the search engines will not index the content from these free hosts. If you want to make money online you need to spend some!

Putting on-page hidden text will not help you to achieve a better ranking. The search engine robot will detect the hidden text and penalize your site for using unethical SEO techniques.

Using unrelated keywords that have nothing to do with your website is considered spam by the search engines and may cause your site to be removed from the search engine index.

Go to Table of Contents Return to Sub-TOCs: Advertising

This is just a few of the unethical search engine optimization techniques that you should not give a try. Using these methods will not do any good and you are taking the risk of getting your site banned from the major search engines and directories. AffordableSEO

The first step in search engine marketing is determining the right keywords for your business. These are the words and phrases your potential customers type in to search engines when they’re looking for the products you sell. They’re also the first thing search engines look for when determining the most relevant web pages to list in search results.

Building an accurate keyword list is critical to the success of your search engine marketing efforts. Successful search engine marketers develop their keyword list first, and then build a single, highly relevant web page for each keyword phrase.

Before you being to create your keyword list, it’s helpful to understand the different types of keywords people use in search engines:

• Generic Keywords – The most basic words used to describe a product or service category, such as “digital camera” and “accountant.”
• Descriptive Keyword Phrases – Generic keywords modified with adjectives to narrow their focus, such as “two mega-pixel digital camera” and “Seattle accountant.”
• Targeted Keywords – Keywords that apply to one and only one product or service, such as “Coolpix 2100” and “tax accountant.”

As you build your keyword list, it will be important to brainstorm all three types of keywords, as each one has a unique purpose. Generally speaking, home pages are optimized for generic keywords, product category web pages are optimized for descriptive keywords, and individual product pages are optimized for targeted keywords.

To start the keyword selection process, sit down with other people in your company and try to think of a few words and phrases that best describe your site, company, and products. Ask each person to come up with at least 50 keywords – the more the better.

If you’re a one-person company, then ask your friends and relatives for help. You may also want to look at your internal search data for keyword ideas.

If your web site has internal search functionality, mine that data to uncover phrases your customers use to describe the products or services they are looking for. Most importantly, ask your customers what terms they use when searching for specific products. Getting this feedback from them is crucial, as they will probably have a different, and possibly more accurate, idea of what keywords your potential customers are using.

Also take advantage of free keyword-enhancement tools online. One of the most popular applications available is Yahoo! Search Marketing’s (formerly Overture) Keyword Selector Tool. The tool works as follows: enter your site’s main keywords and phrases into the system. You then receive a list of related search phrases in the order of popularity. The list will tell you how exactly how many people searched on each particular phrase in one month, giving you a clearer idea of what words work and what don’t.

You can take this process an extra step by incorporating fee-based tools like Wordtracker by Rivergold Associates Ltd. Wordtracker works in a similar fashion to Yahoo! Search Marketing’s Keyword Selector Tool, but offers additional options at prices starting at around $7 per day.

Once you have your initial keyword list in place; expand on it as much as possible by adding descriptive and specific terms to each phrase. Including colors, geography, or location, plus brand names and model numbers will enable customers to find product pages more easily when they conduct searches. The more detail you can provide, the better results you will achieve.

One of the most common mistakes people make in brainstorming keywords is including non-relevant keywords. Words such as “weight loss” and “Brittany Spears” may be highly searched, but if they are not relevant to your business, you should not include them in your list. In fact, you will be penalized for keyword stuffing by using these words.

Once you have your list in place, ask yourself the following questions:

• Are the keywords and phrases relevant to my business?
• Have I brainstormed all of the descriptive terms?
• Are the page-specific keywords relevant to those pages?
• Are there any pages that are more suitable for a particular phrase than others?
• Is there another way to phrase this term?

Once you’ve verified that these words match your marketing objectives and are the right keywords to target, you need to review the following to make sure that the keywords are actually supported:

• Page titles
• Product titles
• Product description
• Page content

Remember, the keyword selection process is the most critical step in the optimization process, so doing your homework up front can go a long way to ensuring your success.

Take advantage of your peers, customers, and online tools at your disposal to make sure you’re not forgetting any critical terms. It is also important to update your list often, especially when adding new products or services to your site. Yahoo

Steps to creating a Keywords List Google

Microsoft Advertising Intelligence Add- in for Microsoft Excel and costs a minimum of $5.00 to sign up

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