Web 2.0 Blogging Strategy for 2010
Link wheels, web 2.0 sites, Hubpages, Squidoo… all the big craze but what actually works? Some say to use web 2.0 properties as the search engines love them and they get spidered early and often. Others say why bother as you don’t actually own them and your web 2.0 property can get banned and deleted at any time.
When to use them.
Web 2.0 properties have two purposes. Ranking and links. First for ranking. If when you do a search for a long tail keyword and a web 2.0 property shows up in the search results, then that means that there is little to no competition for that keyword and it will be easy for you to also build a web 2.0 property and also get ranked for that keyword. Second for links. There are a lot of tools that allow you to research the backlinks of your competitors. If during this research, you find that your competitors have web 2.0 properties in their backlink profile, then you should too. These are some of the easiest links to go after and most can be gotten in a few hours of work… or less if you outsource it!
How to use them.
First step is to identify the top web 2.0 sites to build links from. The best ones are the ones that get indexed quickly by the search engines. Always remember that if a url is not indexed, then the links don’t count! After you identify which sites are the best, create accounts on them using your keyword as the subdomain. Upload 2-5 articles or blog posts of 100-500 words each. In each article or blog post include 2-5 links to your web properties. It is always better to link out to a variety of web properties versus sending 5 links all to the same domain for example.
So what are the best sites? Based on our 3 months of research we have found that the web 2.0 properties that are getting indexed the fastest are the following:
- Myblogsite.com 100%
- Blog.co.in 100%
- Ugetblog.com 100%
- Wordpress.com 81%
- Blogster.com 80%
- Diarist.com 80%
- Soulcast.com 71%
- Weebly.com 70%
- Bloggels.info 70%
- Bloguni.com 70%
- Gather.com 70%
- Blogspot.com 70%
- Blog.com 61%
- Blogetry.com 60%
- Bravejournal.com 51%
- Spaces.live.com 50%
- Wetpaint.com 50%
- Weblog.com 50%
- Sosblog.com 40%
- Sites.google.com 38%
- Zoomshare.com 38%
- Vox.com 34%
- Tumbrl.com 30%
- Livejournal.com 30%
- Multiply.com 30%
- Typepad.com 20%
- Xanga.com 20%
- Thoughts.com 20%
- Quizilla.com 20%
- Ning.com 20%
- Webs.com 10%
As you can see, the majority of the web 2.0 properties have a less than 70% success rate. So is the statement that the search engines automatically love the web 2.0 properties an accurate one? We think not! For web 2.0 properties to work successfully you will need to go the extra step and promote the RSS feeds and also build links to your web 2.0 properties.
Have another web 2.0 property you would like us to test? Tell us about it in the comments section!
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Lessons in Usability from Apple.com, Dell.com, and Bestbuy.com!
Lessons in Usability from Apple.com, Dell.com, and Bestbuy.com!
1. Put your customers first in site design.
2. Guide your customer’s actions.
3. Write on-site content that appeals to the emotions and needs of the customer.
Put Your Customer’s First in Site Design
Apple.com
Is there any question what Apple.com is trying to sell?
What action do you think Apple.com is trying to get its users to take when they land on their website?
With the recent launch of the Ipad, Apple is doing everything they can to promote their new product to maximize sales. They also know that due to the recent launch, most people that will be visiting their website will be looking for one thing: the Ipad. They are putting their users first and designing their website in such a way to make it extremely easy for their customers to find exactly what they are looking for. This is a great example of putting your customers first in site design. Apple anticipated what their customers were going to be searching for on their site and made it dead easy to find it.
Dell.com
Very first questions to ask is who are they targeting and what are they selling?
It is not clear who Dell.com is targeting. Are they targeting the everyday user? The business owner? The private sector? Schools, the government, the military? The home page is set up so that the people that visit the site must self-select what group they are a part of. They must first make a decision and decide what group they are in. The problem is most people will fit into two or more groups. The first thing a customer has to do when they come to their page is STOP and THINK. Don’t make your customer’s STOP and THINK. Show them the exact actions you want them to take.
There is also a place on the homepage for Headlines as if the homepage of the main site as a place to put company information. Who is this site designed for? The corporate blog and company updates should not be on a sales letter page. I am sure there is important info there for the corporate investors, but not for the average person looking to make a purchase. The direction is unclear. There is too much going on to provide a good focus.
BestBuy.com
At BestBuy.com it is all about the products. The home page of their site has a relevant offer to what people are searching for today. They guide their customer’s to take action.
Guide Your Customer’s Actions
There are three clear actions Apple.com gives you the option to take. Find. Buy. Watch. The actions are clear and give clear direction as to exactly what action they want the user to take. This is another great example of a user friendly site. They know that those that are coming to their site want to find a retail location to go and check out the Ipad in person; buy the Ipad now; or get more information by watching videos! That is it. They anticipated the needs of their customers and made it easy for the customers to find the exact information that they needed. The site is designed with the customer in mind.
Write On-Site Content that Has Customer Appeal
1. Three main features broken up visually.
2. Focus on the products benefits and how it will help the customer to have a better experience.
3. Clear ability to take action to learn more.
How StomperNet Can Make Your Business Explode
Whether you already own an internet business or are thinking of starting an internet business so you can reach your goals faster than you can imagine with the help of StomperNet.com. StomperNet is a community of entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs and can help you build your business from the bottom up, in the quickest and most efficient
way possible. This site is full of amazing information from some of the top experts in their fields. The information they provide is the latest and greatest, so you can be sure that you are on the cutting edge of internet marketing. StomperNet takes all the guesswork out of building a successful internet business. The information is really invaluable, and the free tools are the icing on the cake.
If you join StomperNet you not only have access to internet marketing experts, you also gain free access to some amazing marketing tools. One such tool is Market Samurai which makes analyzing keywords quick an easy. It consolidates all the information you need to pick the best keywords for your business such as page rank, advertising costs, SEO analysis, content writing and link building. It takes the tedious and time-consuming tasks related to market research and makes them a breeze. The information you will get from this tool will get you higher rankings and more traffic faster and easier than you can imagine.
Another benefit of the new StomperNet is a social marketing tool called Stomper Social that can help you conquer all of the social media sites out there and get you tons of free traffic. The social media market has given fast and unlimited access to a huge consumer audience without the having a huge marketing budget. It has literally given every internet business owner the ability to reach thousands of potential customers with no real out of pocket expense. While social media marketing has now become a big part of internet marketing it must be done hand-in-hand with the proper search engine optimization. 
The bottom-line is that StomperNet has everything you need to help your internet business take flight and make you money quickly. All the information you need is consolidated into one place and there are tons of experts available to answer questions and guide you along the way. StomperNet is an amazing site that offers you tons of tools and information that will get your site ranking in no time. You will be amazed at the amount of information you will have access to and how easy they make it for you to learn how to build an online business. If you have an internet business or you are considering starting one, you can join StomperNet and get all the information you need, and best of all they offer a 30-day money back guarantee, because they are so confident that you will love what you find on StomperNet.
With all the free tools and information you get on StomperNet you will be able to build a successful online business the right way, the first time.
Email Marketing Tips to Start Your Email Campaign Right
Email marketing can be a very beneficial way to reach a targeted audience and gain a boost in sales for almost any internet business. Email marketing can be one of the cheapest and easiest marketing tools to implement into your marketing strategy. It is one way to advertise that has been proven to provide a great return on your investment and can really boost your sales quickly. The problem with email marketing is that it needs to be done correctly and consistently in order to produce the best possible results.
When we are talking about an email marketing campaign that is done right, it simply starts with the opt-in list. Ensuring that the recipients have opted to receive information regarding your products or services is the most important tip in email marketing. If you do not follow this primary step, it is quite possible that you could ruin your business and really hurt the reputation of your business for a long time. The bottom line is that if someone receives an email from you, they should feel like it is beneficial to them. If they do not have interest in your topics and have never asked to receive information from you they can report your email as spam. If a number of people report your email as spam your internet service provider can actually block you from ever sending and email from your account again.
Not only does unsolicited email anger people and cause them to report it as spam, it is not very effective and it brings a very low response rate. People that utilize opt-in email lists have reported up to a 40% response rate, which is an amazing result for just about any advertising campaign. That means that for every 10 people you send an email to 4 of them are going to turn into a live lead that may either buy from you or inquire about your product. This could have huge impacts to your profits.
The next step in creating a great email marketing campaign is to create a clear message so that the recipient knows exactly what you are expecting them to do. There is nothing worse than getting an email and not knowing why it was sent to you. Creating a clear message in your email marketing campaign will ensure that your recipients appreciate the information and know, without question, what their next step should be. Making the call to action as clear as possible is a key ingredient to a successful email marketing campaign. Giving your reader too many links and options can distract them from the actual message. Keeping your email precise and to the point will keep the recipients focused. Spelling out your message is the best way to get the results you are looking for. Using text such as, “click here for 20% off (product name)” is sure to spark their interest quickly and effectively.
The first and most important step in email marketing is to start creating an opt-in list for your visitors or look into purchasing targeted opt-in lists. Then it is important to create informative and clear emails that lead the readers directly to your call to action. If you need assistance, there are lots of email marketing solutions available online such as Lyris HQ. These, easy to use, tools can get your email marketing campaign up and running in no time.
What is Google Caffeine?
Whether it was a move in response to MSN’s new search engine Bing, or just the next step in Google’s evolution, Google is hoping to make big changes with Google Caffeine. Being called “the next generation of search”, Google Caffeine claims to be faster, more accurate and more comprehensive than the current Google search. They have actually opened up the test version to some of their toughest critics, the users, for review and feedback. This is a great way for Google to find out about issues and gain free advice on suggestions for their new technology.
While Google is claiming that the average Google Caffeine users may not see any major changes in the search engine, web developers and power searches should notice some upgrades. Google has issued an open invitation to its users and they can see a preview of Google’s new infrastructure by going to http://www2.sandbox.google.com/ and trying searches there. Google is looking for feedback on the differences that users see with Google Caffeine. Are users seeing more real time search results with the new system? Some of the early feedback is indicating that this is true which may even place more relevance on social media marketing than ever before.
It is important for SEO specialists to understand that Google makes changes to its algorithm all the time without to much publicity, but does tend to announce major changes. Therefore, Google Caffeine, while bringing better service to its users may have significant impacts on your search engine results and rankings. These changes could be for the better or for the worse, only time will really be able to reveal this answer. It is very important for companies to start testing their keyword searches with the test version of Google Caffeine and comparing the results to the current Google search.
While, one of Google’s goals is to index more and more information on the internet, this could negatively affect your listings. With more and more information being indexed, your pages may have much more competition, and therefore, you may fall back or off of some Google searches. However, if you feel that a number of your url’s are not being indexed with the current functionality, Google Caffeine could make a positive impact to your search results. Either way, you can expect to see some changes to your listings once Google Caffeine is officially released.
While we really have no idea how these changes will specifically affect our future business, it is important for companies to stay informed and be open to some strategic changes in the way they are currently doing business. If Google Caffeine does have some negative impacts on your listings you may be able to compensate for this through more focused pay per click campaigns. For example, you may want to make your ads more specific based on geographic location. By making this change you may even find that your advertising dollars are being better spent. Bottom line, change is the one constant in the life of Google, so it is much more productive to embrace the change than to fight it. Hopefully, Google Caffeine will help us as searchers and internet business owners.
Top Social Media Sites
Social media sites are all the rage. People are finding new ways, each day, to keep track of long lost friends and build new business contacts, through t
hese social media sites. Understanding which ones can get you the most exposure can be key to your SEO strategy. While the world of social media sites can seem overwhelming, if you attack it in an organized and consistent way you can gain some amazing exposure for your company and your products. Social media sites are a fast way to reach many potential customers. Just make sure that your information is short and to the point, because many social media experts do not have the time to indulge in long drawn out content.
One of the most talked about social media sites is Twitter. Once it hit the mainstream it really took off and took a lot of people with it. Twitter gives its users the ability to reach thousands of people with one, short, 140-character message. To gain tons of followers you will need to convince them that the information you have to share is current and important, but once you have convinced them, you will take your company to the next level. Twitter can be a really amazing marketing tool, if you treat it properly. If you misuse your Twitter powers you can feel the repercussions almost immediately.
Another popular social media site is Facebook. There are a ton of applications and fun ways to keep in contact with friends and colleagues on Facebook, just remember, if you are using this to promote your business, it is important to stay professional. Many people tend to get very personal and wind up sharing too much information on these social media sites. While they can be a great tool to keep in contact with friends, if you are trying to come across as an expert in your field, you may want to refrain from posting pictures of the last girl’s night out you enjoyed.
YouTube is another great social media site. YouTube allows you to post videos about you and your business for people to view. This is a great way to connect to potential customers. If you create videos that truly help people answer questions about your company, field and products, they will go to you first to make a purchase. While video can seem like a daunting task to jump right into, it may not be as difficult as you thi
nk. There are a number of sites that can help you create quality videos for free or very little investment or you can find companies that can create videos for you. Video is becoming more and more popular and even if you are unsure, you should start learning more about this great marketing tool.
Social media sites give companies an amazing opportunity to reach thousands of potential customers. They are also great tools for building a strong network of business resources. While social media sites can be used for personal and professional purposes, it is important to understand that you should try and keep things separated in order to portray yourself as an expert in your field.
Top Free Press Release Distribution Sites
First of all, it is important to understand exactly what a press release should accomplish. Press releases are a way to promote your company and a product in a journalistic style and not a way to create another company advertisement. It should not be full of showy adjectives that have no real, factual importance. A press release should be time sensitive and grasp something that is innovative and different about you and your company, right now. Press releases can be one of the mot important ways to gain exposure for your company, but they need to be written in a very specific way. This is one of the main reasons it can be helpful to get tips from one of the top press release distribution sites.
One of the top free press release distribution sites is free-press-release.com. They offer a range of packages to fit the needs of any company. Their free press release service is a great way to get your feet wet, but if you can pay $1 per press release you can get their premier package that includes many more benefits. These additional benefits include features like the ability to add pictures to your press release, premier home page exposure and can be over 3 times longer than the free version. This is a very informative site that gives you tons of tools so that you can learn everything you need to know about writing an effective press release. They list their features and products clearly, so you know exactly what you are getting.
Another excellent site for featuring press releases for free is 1888pressrelease.com. This site al
so offers a free service to post your press releases and upgraded packages. 1888pressrelease.com is bit more pricey than free-press-release.com, but they offer over 18 impressive features with their Diamond Plan. These features include the ability to upload your video gallery, advanced PR placement strategies and promotions, and distribution via social media. They strive to showcase press releases that really make a statement by reviewing each and every submission for content, formatting and grammar. This makes 1888pressrelease.com a really credible site for journalists and editors all over the world.
Another one of the more popular free press release distribution sites is 24-7pressrelease.com. While they do limit your ability to submit free press releases to 1 per day, they do offer upgraded press release distribution packages. These packages allow companies to choose the level of exposure they are able to afford. There largest package offers mass media distribution to over 4000 websites and trade publications. You will find their service to be very user friendly and offer quantity discounts for their Mass Media Distribution plan.
Each of these services helps to educate their clients on how to write quality press releases and each one offers a way to distribute those press releases for free. If you are looking for more exposure and media coverage, each company also offers upgrade options that allow you to get a really big bang for your buck. Don’t go another day without distributing a press release about your company.
Video Can Provide You with More Benefits than You Know
Many online businesses have only scratched the service of the potentials of video marketing. Video marketing does not just mean posting a few videos to YouTube. Videos can be very important advertising tools that can help potential customers choose your products or services over your competitors. If done correctly, YouTube can be a great tool for SEO purposes and can get you great rankings on the top search engines for targeted keywords. Video can also be a great way to communicate with your customers about the advantages of picking your products or services even if they don’t call you directly.
Think about the benefits of adding a video to your product page. Since many people are just too busy to read all the great information you have about the product a video may be a great way to get the information across to them. The most important thing to know about videos is that they cannot be too long. You have to be very focused and get all the important information across in less than two minutes, after that you run the risk of loosing the customer. There are a number of choices in video software that can help even the most novice of video creators, but this is also a great task to outsource. Many companies will create short, professional product videos for a reasonable fee. You may even be able to work out a quantity discount if you have a lot of products.
Using video on your website, like many other projects, may be something you want to test out before spending a ton of money. You can make two or three product videos and see if they help the conversion rate on those products. You can also see how long people are watching the videos to determine how long they should be. If customers are viewing the entire video, that is a really good sign that the customers are staying interested in the content. The last thing you want to do is bore them with needless information and push them away from your site.
Another great use for video is answering customer service questions. Do people need help with finding certain information on your website, create a video. Simply ask your customer service representative to list the top 10 questions customers ask them. This should give you some great ideas on videos that ca
n help answer frequent customer questions. This can also help to cut down on customer calls which can help you lessen the load on your customer service representatives.
These are just a few ways that video can help bring your internet business to the next level. As with any new project take your time and do the necessary testing at the beginning to make sure that your customers are having a positive experience. Whenever possible, request feedback from actual customers. Many people will be more than willing to tell you how they feel about changes to your website, which can be some of the most valuable information you ever receive.
The Internet Business – Where to Start?
Some people think they can start an internet business at the drop of a hat. While this may be true, it is always important to research your ideas before spending tons of money on designing a site that may bring you more headaches than profits. The internet has opened the door for many people to start their own business and become independently wealthy. While working for yourself can bring many rewards, it can also be overwhelming. This is why it is so important to do some research about your potential market before you go and spend tons of money building a business that may be difficult to manage.
It is important to understand the intricacies of the product or service you are planning on selling. For example, is your product very seasonal and do you have a plan for supplementing your product line with products that can sell during the slower seasons or will you be able to budget your seasonal profits over the entire year? Selling seasonal products can have some great benefits. If you understand this you can plan to make the majority of your money during a certain time period during the year which can leave you with a lot more free time. However, you may find difficulties maintaining your staff during the slower months. This is where it can be beneficial to outsource certain tasks during the busy season. Outsourcing will allow you to supplement your core staff when required and save you from having to let quality employees go when things start to slow down.
You can find a lot of information about online products and services simply by using the Google Keyword Tool. This is a free tool that is available to anyone however; if you sign up for a Google Analytics account you can get access to more details about your potential product or service. You can start by entering a keyword that applies directly to your product. You will then see a list of related terms and their advertising competition and search volume. You can even see a graph of the search volume by month to determine exactly how seasonal your product or service is. This tool is a great place to start your research.
Another challenge many internet business owners face is with finding reliable and professional manufacturers for their products. So, it is a great idea to find out some basic information before you start selling a product. Questions like, does the manufacturer drop ship, what is their return policy, how to do they handle shipping damages, are all important issues to understand before you start selling a product. These things can create huge nightmares down the line if you find that the service you are getting from your manufacturers is not to your expectations.
Hopefully, these few tips can help you get a good start to your internet business and bring you lots of profits and few headaches. They are things that many people do not think about until they are completed invested in their idea. Don’t let the need to do this research scare you off. Just taking a little bit of time at the beginning can save you tons of stressful moments later.
Tweet, Retweet, Hashtags: The new language of Social Media
Twittering is all t
he rage lately. Even if you are watching TV or listening to the radio you will hear the mention of Twitter, Facebook or MySpace as a way of following the moment to moment thoughts of TV stars and entire news channels. Everyone is jumping on the Twitter train and if you are not yet an expert you better get started. Social Media marketing is a beast all of its own and learning the intricacies of how it works can be similar to learning a new language. A few of the terms you will need to know to get started on Twitter are tweet, retweet and hashtags. There are tons of Twitter terms already in existence and new ones are created all the time. Twitter can keep you connected to customers 24 hours a day 365 days a year so you can keep them informed of things like new products or sales events, but it must be done in 140 characters or less.
First, we will discuss who a tweeter is. A tweeter is a person that posts messages on Twitter. So anyone that puts down a thought on Twitter has the title tweeter. There are currently over 14 million US visitors on Twitter alone from Joe the Plumber to rockstars like Bono. You can keep track of what they are doing and what they think is important enough to share with their followers. Twitter is an amazing networking tool if used correctly. Remember, people have to follow you and if you are not keeping them interested you are sure to lose their interest quickly. Which brings us to our next Twitter term, tweet. A tweet is simply a posting on Twitter. Now, Twitter tweets are limited to 140 characters or less so you have to get your point across quickly. Fast and furious is what Twitter is all about. You need to become an expert at getting your point across in a few words an
d in an intriguing way.
This marketing tool can really make your business soar to new levels. You have the power of viral marketing right at your fingertips. Think about it, you tweet a message to your followers and if they think it is interesting enough, they can comment on your tweet to their followers or simply retweet your message. Then the followers of those tweeters will do the same, over and over until thousands of people have seen your message within minutes. Think of the power of that, not only are you reaching potentially thousands of people, you are doing it for free. Not one penny of your marketing budget is being spent, that is a truly powerful marketing tool. So, in case you didn’t catch it, a retweet is simply to repeat or quote another person’s tweet. In order for a retweet to be seen by the masses it is important to put some type of notation before the @name of the person whose tweet you are retweeting. Many people write retweet or R/T or simply RT before the original tweeters name to show that they are retweeting a message. Retweeting is one of the highest compliments you can pay a fellow tweeter. It means that you think that their tweet is important enough to share with your followers. It is also a common courtesy to thank the person that retweeted your tweet.
Lastly, I wanted to mention hashtags. Hashtags are an important tool for serious tweeters because they give you a way to add additional context and metadata to your tweets by simply prefixing a word with a hash symbol, #hashtag. A hashtag is a way for others to find information about your keywords even if they are not following you, yet. It is a great way to get new followers that are interested in your topics and can give you even more exposure. Hope these Twitter tips help you get start on Twitter. It really is an important part of your internet marketing strategy, so go get some followers!
