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By Derek Jansen in Featured

business1So, you’ve decided that your concept will work well as an online business. Now you just need to set up your “virtual showroom”, the hub from which you will conduct your operations. The good news is that establishing an online presence in the form of a website is relatively simple, and new tools are constantly popping up to make the job simpler. What would have required a skilled website designer (at a hefty price tag), is now achievable with a basic understanding of the internet, some creative thinking and a minimal cash investment.

Step 1: Secure your domain name and hosting

The very first step is to register a domain name for your website. Your domain name should ideally reflect your business name, but this is not always possible due to the high demand of domain names and cyber-squatting (people who buy domain names simply to sell them for a bundle down the line). For local businesses, a .co.za address is ideal, whilst international businesses should try to secure a .com address to ensure the broadest possible appeal. Aim to keep your domain name as short as possible to avoid typos, and make sure it’s easy to remember.

Domain registration and renewal should cost between $15 and $30 per annum (note that some providers roll this into a monthly fee instead). To find potential domain registrars, your best bet is simply to visit Google.com and search for “domain registration”.

The next step is to secure hosting for your website.

Hosting is the actual space that your site occupies, whilst the domain is the address. In simpler terms, the domain can be seen as the residential address, whilst the hosting can be seen as the property itself (a rented property in this case, as you never actually own your hosting).

There are many options when it comes to hosting, but I always suggest going with the smallest option first, and then upgrading if necessary. Importantly, make sure that your hosting is Linux based (as opposed to Windows based) as – if you follow our guidelines – you will install a CMS (content management system) in step 2 that requires this.

Hosting packages are priced from as little as R20 per month, and can be upgraded at any time, so there’s no need to “go big” from the start. Unless you are expecting tens of thousands of visitors per month, you’ll be safe with a small hosting package.

Note that many providers offer domain registration and hosting as a combo deal, so be sure to do your homework and compare apples with apples. As with so many things these days, providers tend to mix up their offerings making it difficult to compare one against the other. So make sure that you understand exactly what they’re offering. Many times you won’t require half the “extras”
they try so hard to sell to you.

Step 2: Choose a content management system

A CMS allows you to easily make changes and additions to your site without needing a degree in HTML and coding. The core benefits of CMS systems are:

- They are easy to use (compared to designing in raw HTML)

- They are generally free (compared to pricey design software)

- They offer great support through community forums and FAQ/Help tutorials

- They offer plug-ins (discussed in step three)

WordPress, Joomla and Drupal are amongst the most popular CMS systems available. I generally recommend the WordPress CMS system for new site owners. While some professional web designers may consider WordPress a little too basic (which it is for them), it is perfect for beginners and intermediates alike. The WordPress system is 100% free and is usually offered as a “1-Click Install” by hosting providers. Once installed, you can choose your theme (there are thousands of excellent free themes available, or you can purchase a premium theme for a few dollars), edit your content and create pages with ease. There is also a very comprehensive instruction manual and Q&A community available online should you get stuck. For more information on the WordPress system, visit http://www.wordpress.org.

Step 3: Select your plug-ins

While all CMS systems offer plug-ins, I will focus on the most popular plug-ins for WordPress. Plug-ins are essentially free add-ons to the standard system that allow your website to do more, without you having to employ the services of a developer to create something from scratch.

The essential plug-ins that I recommend for WordPress are:

All-In-One SEO – This plug-in provides you with all the tools you need to ensure that your website is optimized for Google (search engine optimization). It is essential for anyone looking to benefit from the rapidly growing search market.

Contact Form 7 – This plug-in provides you with a simple and easy to use contact form for visitors to your site. A contact form is an essential element of any website as it allows users to submit a message/request to you without having to open their email client (Outlook, etc.).

Convenience and ease of use are essential online, and this plugin does just that.

Sexy Bookmarks – As edgy as the name might sound, this is an essential plug-in for any serious marketer. What Sexy Bookmarks does is allow users to share your site on various social media portals (such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and more) at the click of a button. The easier you make it for visitors to share your site, the more likely they are to do so.

Ultimate Google Analytics – Statistics about your website, your visitors and your traffic sources are the most valuable information you have when marketing online. This plug-in links your site to Google Analytics (you will need to register a free account for this) and automatically ensures that all traffic data is captured. No need for tricky codes and scripts…

Google XML Sitemaps – For fear of getting too technical, I’ll try keep this one simple. Essentially, what this plug-in does is create a map of your site (i.e. all the pages, images, etc.) and submits it to Google, thus maximizing the chance of your pages getting listed in Google. Once again, you will need to register an account with Google (which is quick, easy and free) to gain this functionality.

Step 4:Load your content

The final step is to populate your site with content. A typical website should include the following:

- About Us Page – This includes information about your company, history, people etc. Keep it short and informative.

- Contact Us Page – Include all your contact details (numbers, postal address, physical address, etc., even if you are operating as an online business) as well as the contact form (using the above plug-in). I also suggest displaying your basic contact details (i.e. phone number) on every page.

- Products/Services Page – These pages should contain as much information as possible about your products and services. Visitors to your website want to get as much information as possible without having to phone or email you (once again, the convenience factor). In addition, the more info you provide on your site, the more likely it is that the resultant enquiry will be a hot prospect, as they are further into the buying cycle when contacting you.

- Testimonials Page – This should contain honest testimonials and/or reviews from previous client of yours. I also suggest displaying snippets of testimonials throughout your site so as to inspire buyer confidence.

Following these four steps, you can easily establish an online presence for your business with minimal capital outlay. Of course every business is different, and the above steps are simply meant as an introduction. They should, however, provide a strong foundation for your online success.

By Derek Jansen – The Founder Of Nitch Marketing, an internet marketing company based in Johannesburg, South Africa, that specializes in SEO training and implementation. For more information, visit http://www.nitch.co.za.

By Patric Chan in Featured

advertisingAdvertising on the internet is a very effective way to sell your products or services. It is also a way to attract the attention of your targeted customers. You can be considered an expert in your niche market because your name or brand is frequently shown in front of your prospects’ eyes.

When drawing up your advertising tactics, consider these tips to make customers find you products hard to resist.

Tip 1 – Support

You can provide support to customers in the instances that they have questions that need to be answered before they purchase your product. This is a selling point as you want to show that you care about your customers and want them to have a good experience with your product or company.

Keep in mind that customers will buy any of your products if your advertisement ensures them that you can provide the best approach for what they are looking for. If you also provide added support, they are assured that they can reach someone should they face some challenges while consuming your product. It is crucial for you to do this because it is part of your success in online marketing.

Tip 2 – Create hype

One of the most efficient techniques to advertise your products is to host competitions that offers a few free eBooks, software or even a product that you have created as a reward.

People will certainly seize this opportunity especially if the rewards you offer are relevant to what they are looking for. This can gain you the trust of your customers because they believe that you are generous. Well, you should also make sure that you have a product to sell which is superior to what you have offered for free.

It is easier to do this when you do niche marketing because your prospects are people who are enthusiastic about your topic.

Tip 3 – Provide guarantees

Let customers know that they have nothing to lose when they invest with you. Take out all the risk factors for them. It is common for marketers to offer 100% money back guarantees that last up to 90 days. A longer guarantee period shows how sure you are that your product will work as promised.

Tip 4 – Brand your site

Think of a domain name that is memorable. This is because there is an incredible number of sites on the Internet. It is prudent to choose a domain name that is not difficult to remember so that customers can locate you effortlessly.

You can also market your website with pay per click advertising. Potential customers can see your advertisements on top of the search engine results page.

You need to pay for these services. Just ensure that the returns are worth the amount invested.

Tip 5 – Team up with other Internet marketers

Start building a team of affiliates or joint venture partners. This will make your marketing strategies more effective because affiliates are able to drive traffic to your website and even market your products on their own website.

The thing you have to bear in mind here is that your affiliates or joint venture partners should preferably be reputable on the Internet and their business should also be the closely related to yours.

These advertising tips could help you “big time” to add more sales and profit in your bank account.

Internet marketing secrets revealed! How to create your own info-product in less than 3 days to make money online and discover how to get Joint Venture partners at http://www.youchandoit.com

By Joseph Baker in Featured

socialmedia2There are many arguments that attempt to persuade business owners that social media is free. For example, they say that email marketing is as easy as constructing an attention-grabbing letter and hitting the send key. Social Media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn utilize systems of reference in their communication. All of these serve the same purpose, in that they seek to plunge into the pool of some 700 million people and find those within the deluge who are interested in what they have to sell. Either that or they are required to show people why their product or service is important. All of this has an opportunity cost. Notice the last word?

Blindly sending an email, Facebook invite, or tweet is like posting an ad on a billboard. This, essentially, can be useful only if your target customer happens to drive by. In the meantime there are thousands of people passing by every day who could care less. If you are hoping for low percentages then this situation should seem to be the correct way to advertise. If you are tired of the low percentages – or a zero percentage – below are some tips on how to garner higher rates of return.

The Marketing Maven: the person who is “in-the-know”
a. There are those within your social media networks who specialize in particular topics. Whether it is art, movies, or books, there is someone in particular who you trust over the random ad. Find them. Promote your product or service to them directly and allow their endorsement to work as a reference.

Email Marketing
b. Spam guards are awesome these days. Do not, therefore, assume an email blast will supply the needed customers or reach your target. Work with a firm that specializes in a targeted pool of recipients. Cost too much money? Weigh the opportunity cost of forming an email and the projected response rate. Long-term, this will translate into a sum much higher than the fee charged by the company.

Twitter
c. Twitter exists as a melting pot for all other forms of social media, whether that is Facebook, the popular news story, or just another tweet that a person would like to share. The important focus of any serious Twitter user is to target those who are aggressive and will share your information. A business service or announcement is a perfect match with Twitter. Those you have targeted as marketing mavens will spread the message through Twitter feeds and other avenues.

Processes for using these properly are relative to which one is utilized first.

Targeted Email Marketing Campaign
o Formatted properly to convey the purpose of email within the first three sentences.
o Link to Twitter account
o Link to Facebook account
o Link to website

Facebook
o Customer “Likes”
o Goes to website
o Signs up for Twitter notification
o Possible link for Email Marketing Campaign

Twitter
o Customer “Follows”
o Updates lead to customer finding on Facebook or going directly to Website

Through all of these processes, the customer will move closer to awareness. They will develop a sense of expectation based on this, and proceed to a trial of the service. Their belief and attitude generated during the expectation period will either be reinforced during the trial phase, or rejected. If both are reinforced, then the customer will automatically become loyal to the brand, making them into a minor maven. This multilayer, multi-pulse approach will ensure the customer is exposed to the message, which in turn will create a sense of recognition. This recognition will translate into a word-of-mouth, viral promotion.

There is no such thing as a free lunch. Using the systems that are “free” properly will eliminate the opportunity costs associated with each service. In the end, using these avenues properly will benefit a business owner’s bottom line.

Joseph Baker’s business experience in management spans more than 15 years. A leader of development and management teams, he also implemented budget reductions professionally and as an independent contractor. Joseph led strategic planning and systems of implementation for nine organizations, public and private, and worked extensively with small businesses.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management.

By Tinu AbayomiPaul in Featured

googlelogoGoogle’s always coming out with new fangled gizmos. It’s amazing how many new, updated, or overlooked tools you can find during routine research.

Of course, not all of these are completely unknown. There are probably a few on this list that you know, and a couple you’ve heard of but may not know much about.

Let’s look at a few of them.

1 – Google Reader Sharing

This has been around for a while, but I’m still surprised at how few of my peers are using it.

If you have Google Buzz turned on, you’ll notice when you next log into Google Reader that there’s a section for “People You Follow”. In this section, you can share links – or random thoughts, with all the people who are following you, or a select group, and they can share with you.

Those links also show up on your Google Buzz page. I enjoy getting suggestions from people who know and understand me, and what kind of news I like or need. I also like being able to split my audience into targeted groups of people so I can send them updates just on things they would want to know, instead of the whole fire-hose. Accessing Google profiles from within Google Reader has helped me get to know a lot of people better as well.

By Ruth Morgan in Featured

googlelogoGetting to the top of a Google search result can bring tremendous amounts of traffic to a website. Websites that make it to the top do not get there by chance. They are there because their web pages are optimized. To optimize for Google, website designers must follow several key steps. Each step is designed to relay to the search engine some information about the web page. By performing this optimization, website owners increase their chances of making it to the top of a Google search result. To understand how the process works, the following information lists several of the basic steps that website designers need to follow to produce an optimized website.

The first step to getting a high ranking in Google’s search pages involves choosing the right keywords. But it is not only about finding the keywords – understanding their profitability is important as well. This is assessed by determining the level of competition for these keywords.
There are many commercial vendors that provide services to determine profitability and other aspects related to keywords, but to start, any website operator can use Google’s keyword tool to get a list of general keywords.

Shorter keyword phrases have the most competition and the most profitability and that is why it is harder to achieve high rankings for them. Because of this, many website owners look to rank for long tail keywords. These are keywords that contain the main keyword along with other words. Even though they are easier to rank for, long tail keywords are less profitable, which is why website owners typically look to rank for multiple long tail keywords.

After the keywords have been chosen and analyzed, website owners need to know about where to place the words on the web page. The first part of this optimization process involves placing the keyword in the title of the page. The title tag, located in the head section of the HTML code, is the first tag that the search engine spider analyses.

The header tag, h1 is the next important tag. This tag typically contains the name of the article, which, at the minimum, should contain the complete keyword. Additional words may be included with the keyword to help improve readability, but the words in this tag need to contain the entire keyword phrase.

Another important aspect of web page optimization is link optimization. These links or anchor texts help to indicate to the search engine spider what the web page is about. An anchor text should be a related keyword of the main keyword of your title, and the anchor destination should be a page that is related to the keyword in the anchor text. Leading to a page of unrelated content will not help with website optimization. So, to get value from the anchor text, make sure that it leads to a page related to the anchor text.

To optimize for Google also involves repeating keywords a certain number of times. Although there are different views amongst SEO experts as to the optimum keyword percentage within content, many writers generally aim for between 2 and 3 percent keyword density.

In addition to optimizing the article content, web designers should also optimize multimedia, such as images or videos. For example, if appropriate, the name of an image should also contain the keywords. If the keywords are not appropriate for the image name, web designers can use the alt attribute in the image tag to write a description of the image using the keywords. In fact, the alt attribute should always be used for optimization and also to ensure usability and access standards are followed.

In summary, if web designers follow and include all of the preceding on their web pages, they will be well on their way to optimizing their websites. These are the basic steps that they must follow if they want to get near the top of Google’s ranking for their particular keywords.

Would you like more tips on how to make money online? Then claim your free copy of the 90 page report ‘Internet Marketing Revealed’. You’ll also get Ruth Morgan’s 5 step guide to setting up your own online business. To get your free report and 5 step guide go to HowToBuildYourInternetBusiness.com today.

By Troy Ireland in Featured

Backup_center_iconEver since the early days of home computer technology — when computers weighed as much as a welter weight boxer, and stored an impressive 128K of RAM — data backup has been of major importance.

It’s amazing how far we have come over the past three decades. Now we are in the most exciting time for computers, with an internet that has trillions of websites indexed, and where the average Joe can buy a server stack and create his own basement website at his parent’s house.

Yet no matter how modernized we become; no matter how compact and automated we may be today, there is one important command that you must never forget: back up your data. Then as now, if you don’t you only have yourself to blame if tragedy strikes. In a world of data center failures (like the recent epic Amazon failure, which took social media giants like Reddit and Quora offline for hours), it’s not just about backing up your data. It’s about ensuring that its uptime is always present and that you have options should something serious take place that threatens or compromises it.

With that in mind, here are the Top 10 reasons why your website needs a data backup plan.

1) People accidentally delete important files all the time. This is increased if more people have access to those files.

2) Most websites have data that is constantly changing. Therefore you should be backing it up as often as once or twice a day to ensure that the integrity and relevance of the data is never compromised.

3) There are many different ways to locate easy, dependable website data backup. These services range from traditional secure off-site storage services to co-location and managed co-location cloud-based backup solutions. These are all well worth the money – especially when compared to the potential value of data lost forever.

4) Many websites have Word Press or Blogger back ends. These all come with a data backup plan, but many users fail to implement them. Laziness is no excuse. It takes just a minute to set it up.

5) For sites that have databases (stores, forums, etc.), this data is constantly changing as well. It should have differential backups scheduled throughout the day so that no information is ever compromised.

6) Most data backup plans scan the files first, to ensure they are safe and clean. At that point, they are then backed up. This protects you in the event that, say, a virus or hacker sweeps through your servers corrupting files and infecting them.

7) The best way to think about a data backup plan for your website is by comparing it to any insurance that you might buy. You have health insurance in case you get sick, but what about if your data gets sick? Welcome to the 21st century digital world, where you need data insurance as well. That’s what backup is.

8 ) DVDs, DVRs, CDs, backup drives… they can all fail at some point; malfunction, corrupt files and so forth. A data backup plan ensures that you have a foolproof method of obtaining any data you have ever created.

9) Peace of mind. You spent how many years creating that blog, populating that website or designing that forum, and it’s all gone in a minute? Not with backup, it isn’t.

10) The only way to truly know that your data is safe is by backing it up. It’s the only clear cut solution to preserving your information in today’s store-it-fast, use-it-even-faster world.

If you website doesn’t have a backup plan for any of the details listed above, it may be a great place to start and begin creating a ‘Plan B’ for your website in case anything were to ever happen.

Troy Ireland enjoys writing about SEO, SEM, and Social Media and is the CEO of 360 Enterprises and The SEO Agency which can be visited at http://theseoagency.com. Follow The SEO Agency on Twitter for more tips and information on Internet Marketing.

By Andy Rogers in Featured

emailmktgWith phishing scams, you’re encouraged to divulge sensitive information that can be used for unsolicited advertising and even malicious purposes. This sort of info frequently consists of passwords to get into a website, VISA or Mastercard numbers, or (on rare occasions) social security numbers, bank-account numbers, etc. These particulars are then used to take your money away.

A variety of phishing email that may slip by you: A real-looking e-mail claiming to be from the bank or credit card company or any other financial institution. The e mail will provide you with a website link, ask you to click on it and update your details. The page is extremely convincing, and so a lot of folks do click on the website link and enter their log in details. It does appear almost exactly like your bank’s site, after all. This is the reason it could be so difficult to detect these scam emails. Every little thing appears regular. Still, most banks would not ask you to update information by clicking on a website link in an e mail.

Tax Refund E-mail Scam

The Internal Revenue Service is alerting individuals concerning a tax refund e mail scam. You receive an e mail supposedly from your IRS stating they owe you a tax refund.

You’re prompted to connect with a website link to find out an “IRS” web page. On this page, you’re asked for to submit your social security number, as well as other information, so you can get to your account. This email is a scam and meant only to grab your identity.

IRS Does not Use E mail To Discuss or Request Private Information

As stated on their website, the IRS won’t ever use email as a measure to contact you. They definitely would not use it to notify you concerning tax refunds. The IRS will use the postal services or perhaps the telephone to contact you. Don’t be taken in by this!

Other E-mail scams

The e-mail from Nigeria scam. The gist of the scam is an e mail is sent from an individual who claims they’re wanting to transport money out of a specific region — typically Nigeria — but there is problems with taxes, crooked law authorities, or other difficulties that need a big amount of money or otherwise quit this cash from being taking out the region completely. At this time, you are asked to help.

In exchange for the help, you will be offered a large portion of as much as millions of dollars. The problem is that they require your financial information to transfer the money into your account. Make sure you do not trust this! People have really been taken in by these scams. They need your money, not the other way around.

Different Types Of Bad E mail

Other kinds of bad emails are attachments that are loaded with viruses. Or emails that tempt you to click on a website link in which a Trojan horse, virus or additional malware isput on your computer.

Another popular e-mail scam is a variation of the old con game, “The Spanish Prisoner”. This scam typically originates from Nigeria. The scammer contacts the victim, relating a story of a fortune they wish to extrapolate from their country. In return for that victim’s help with American legal fees as well as other such bothersome petty costs, the scammer promises to share a portion of their wealth, typically in the millions of bucks. Of course, there is certainly no money, and the victim winds up out no matter what “legal fees” they have wired to the scammer.

Though the con has been around a long time, and looks almost preposterously too good to be real, its popularity is because of the fact that many people fall for this each year. Do not become one of them.

Ultimately, there is the overpayment scam. This is the one to be careful for in case you are providing something for sale on the internet. A potential buyer will contact you, wishing to buy the merchandise. They’ll pay your asking price, no questions asked. The way they’d prefer to complete business, nevertheless, is to deliver you a cashier’s check for *above* the asking price. You could then refund them the difference, and they will arrange to get the item at a later date. The cashier’s check clears, every little thing looks good, and also you send along the difference. Then, the bank notifys you that the check actually has bounced, and suddenly you are out the “difference” you sent to the scammer. This one particular is growing in popularity and looks safe until you realize the facts. Look out for this one.

According to the FTC, there’s an email scam, where consumers receive an anonymous e mail indicating that their individual credit info will be distributed to any person, who requests it. The e-mail looks like this:

“Just wished to let every person know who hasn’t already heard, the 4 major credit bureaus within the U.S. will be allowed, commencing July 1, to release your credit data, mailing addresses, mobile phone numbers… to anybody who requests it. If you would like to “opt out” of this release of data., you can call 1-888-567-8688. It only takes a couple of minutes to complete.”

Whenever you get this email, ignore it. The FTC, confirms that as mentioned in the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the July 1 date was the timeline for financial institutions to let you know, what their information-sharing practices were – including details about how customers can opt out of details sharing practices. Customers might proceed to contact their financial institutions to opt out of details sharing practices anytime they think appropriate.

# Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, the 3 Nationwide Credit Reporting bureaus can only give your personal info to specific organizations, as identified from the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

# You can get a copy of the totally free credit report to find out, who makes inquiries against your credit score file.

# To opt out of getting unsolicited credit card or loan applications, call the toll free number: 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688) or go on-line at: http://www.optoutprescreen.com. Notice that the phone number offered right here is the same telephone number in the e-mail – nevertheless, the e mail is a scam.

Discover extra about protecting your self from on the web identity theft. We enjoy educating consumers about the dangers of identity theft and what they can do to defend themselves from this horrible crime. Understand additional about phishing, Go to us at: http://www.avensoft.biz/

By Toby Russell in Featured

linkbuildingLink Building – Why Do I need It?

Hi there as we all know getting and sustaining a worthwhile amount of traffic in your internet marketing business is never easy and can certainly take up some considerable amount of your marketing time, certainly for Sam & I it’s a big chunk of our workload.

One way to improve search engine ranking is through link building. Link building is important and so should be done on a regular basis to facilitate your rise in the search engine page ranks. You can bring (or link to if you like) a reader directly to your website by using appropriate keywords in the anchor text of your article, just always make sure your keywords incorporate what you have already researched that readers in your niche are searching for.

Remember ‘Targeted Traffic’ is Vital

Some website owners have devised methods to get their own back linking from subsidiary websites created by them. They have built other websites and back linked them to the primary website which also has links to those websites.

This is known as a link wheel. The link wheel can be as large as you can make it but do bear in mind its takes time and there needs to be synergy between the various sites – you want & need targeted traffic not as an example weight loss visitors coming to a gourmet recipe site brimming with lots of high calories recipes

It’s All a learning Curve – Don’t Sweat it

When I first started my Internet marketing business, I didn’t fully understand the concept of back linking. I knew about submitting articles to directories which I did but my primary objective was to get known in my niche and to get traffic back to my website. I then had a light bulb moment and realized that by submitting articles I was actually achieving both and improving my search ranking as well – its amazing how dumb you can be sometimes!!

Certainly made me feel a bit stupid but hey we learn by our mistakes don’t we.

The Old Favorite!

Apart from article marketing, there are other ways to get backlinks to your website. One of ways is forum posting. Forum posting helps you get backlinks because by commenting and offering helpful advice many of the visitors who read and devour those posts will over time come and visit your site because you have offered up some useful & worthwhile help with your responses to either them or others on the forum In other words you become a bit of a trusted source, you’ve helped others – get what I mean?

Get on The Forums In Your Niche Now

Forum commenting and posting takes time but is easy and you’ll soon discover that although you may consider yourself a bit of a newbie you’ll soon find there are others out there that are far newer to internet marketing than you.

For you to post on a forum, you would be required to register as a member – its easy There are two ways to benefit from forum posting. The first is using the signature file.

The signature file gives a place to put your link and always appear beneath each post you make. The second way is to put a link in the post itself Now a word of warning here many forums don’t allow that and will ban you – so the golden rule read the regulations for each site you sign up to and adhere to their rules.and stay within the regulations.

A key to successful back linking through forum posting is to contribute helpful information while making a post. That way you are not seen as an opportunist and you become a trusted helpful source.

Become A Regular Blog Commentator

Blog commenting is also a way to gain backlinks from other websites. When you post a comment on a blog that is related to your niche, you can get backlink from there. Comments on blogs are often moderated by the Webmaster, so your comment must be useful to the blog don’t for heavens sake just say “useful info – thanks” that’s just taking the micky, be creative.

Some webmasters contact website administrators directly, asking for a backlinks from them in exchange for a link from their own site. Although this method does work at times it is not always reliable because not every website administrator will maintain their site and therefore your back link

Beware & remember ‘Targeted’ Another way to gain back links is through link exchanges. Through link exchanges, you get your links in other people’s website while you do same for them by placing their links on your own website.

The disadvantage of this is that you may have a lot of links coming from unrelated websites which the search engines don’t really like – so I’d be careful with that.

You can also use Press Releases as a way of building back links. Press releases can offer up the same affect as article submissions when used properly but do bear in mind a press release needs to be timely and news worthy so. The major difference with articles is that press releases need to be in the form of news flashes. When submitted to PR directories, they return a back link to your website and this is even better if the press release is taken by other sites as again you’ll get a back link from them as well.

So there you have it some simple, no cost (apart from your time) methods to get you started on your link building strategies, just try them out and remember its not necessarily about volume its doing it consistently and regularly.

Toby Russell offers tried and tested methods to help you succeed on line. Find out how to generate highly targeted traffic to your own Internet Marketing business with his popular 94 page Free Special Report,”The Secrets to Starting your Own Internet Business Today” available at => http://www.startinternetmarketingonline.com

By Jerry Bader in Featured

BrandingIs your brand cool? Cool is the ultimate compliment your company or product can receive from its buying public. To be cool is to be special, superior, and of higher value than the competition, which is why coolness is such a sought-after marketing objective. And before you reject the idea that your business, product, or brand doesn’t have to be cool, think again. To be cool is to be desired and to be desired is exactly the goal of all marketing communication. Sure you want sales but first you got to be cool.

You Got To Be Cool

To be cool is definitely not the same as being trendy. Trendy is a far too ephemeral goal to invest in. Where trendy is a mere short-lived fad; cool is a statement of character.

The recent American Idol finale and pop culture sideshow illustrates perfectly what I’m talking about. Lady Gaga, the Queen of Trendy, put on a performance that may have wowed her twelve-year old fans but will surely be regarded in the future as merely a bizarre, over-the-top, vulgar circus act; whereas senior citizens Tony Bennett, Tom Jones, and Steven Tyler all delivered remarkable displays of class, cool, and resilience despite their obvious decline in vocal chops. You won’t be seeing fans lineup to see Gaga fall off a staged-cliff in her underwear when she’s cashing her old age pension.

By David Jackson in Featured

PageRankIn my previous article, Google PageRank: SEO Treasure or Fool’s Gold? What the Experts S…I argued strongly against the importance of PageRank and believing in it as a reliable metric. Among the many compelling expert opinions that I presented to bolster my argument, this statement by Google itself made the most sense to me:

“Don’t bother thinking about it [PageRank]. We only update the PageRank displayed in Google Toolbar a few times a year; this is our respectful hint for you to worry less about PageRank, which is just one of over 200 signals that can affect how your site is crawled, indexed and ranked. PageRank is an easy metric to focus on, but just because it’s easy doesn’t mean it’s useful for you as a site owner. If you’re looking for metrics, we’d encourage you to check out Analytics, think about conversion rates, ROI (return on investment), relevancy, or other metrics that actually correlate to meaningful gains for your website or business.” (Source: Google Webmaster Central FAQ)

Perception is a Metric Too

I couldn’t agree more with Google. Analytics, conversion rates and return on investment are much more important metrics than PageRank. However, the undeniable fact remains, there are a lot of individuals who strongly advocate for PageRank. And in the aftermath of my article being published, I received a lot of interesting and compelling dissenting feedback – so compelling in fact, I decided to play devil’s advocate and write this follow up article strongly making the case for PageRank.

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