Benefits of Social Networking for Non-Profit Organizations</h1> <article> <h1>Benefits of Social Networking for Non-Profit Organizations</h1> <p>MySolutionSpot Editor — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:41:00 GMT</p> <p>It is surprising how introducing elements of social networking to a business Web site can change the image of the site and create a new and interesting way to interact with customers. For a long time, an animal-related non-profit for which I volunteer had a static Web site. It included just the basics: hours, directions and general service information. Over the past years, the site has undergone a complete facelift. Now, in addition to basic information, the site contains details and pictures of the dogs, cats, guinea pigs, hamsters, birds and rabbits available for adoption. Users can also find fun photos of recent events, make donations online and learn about volunteering. Most importantly, all of this information is fresh and accurate as the site is updated on a regular basis.<br /><br />However, it was the introduction of blogs that really opened the door of interactivity on the site. Until blogs were implemented on the site, users were expected to access information on the organization’s services and call or send an e-mail to a general e-mail box posted on the site if contact was required. The site was effective at getting information out, but there was no real way to engage with users or send comments back “in” in an interactive fashion.<br /><br />Introducing blogs to the site was a quick and easy way to bring new interactivity to the site. The organization started the chat by posting interesting information on the blogs and encouraging users to respond. This opened the door for customers to join a conversation with the organization and with other animal lovers! These conversations gave the site – and by extension, the organization – a personal flavor. Having a community spot like a blog put a “face” on the organization in a way that the old versions of the site were not able to do.<br /><br />Introducing blogs also expanded the educational role of the Web site. Now, users not only learn about the services that the organization provides but also about important news for pet owners and citizens, as well as other happenings in the animal community. This expanded role was partly was driven by the organization. The initial posts put out there set the tone of the blog and focused on broader animal issues, not just the services of the business. Users of the site were able to learn about DNA testing to determine dog breeds, the use of GPS collars to help find lost dogs and updates on rabies cases across the country. All of these were topics of interest to customers but did not directly relate to the services that the organization provides.<br /><br />How did this help the business? Having information beyond the service basics available to customers can transform an organization’s site into a “destination” – someplace that has value for users, and they will be interested in returning to again and again. That keeps the business’ name “top of mind” and serves it well when that same customer is in the market for the services provided by that organization. Blogs also help the Web site as well, as the freshness of the content may enable the site to rank better in search results. <br /><br />So don’t find the term “social media” daunting, and don’t feel as if you need to make major overhauls to your Web site to introduce it for your business. Just the simple addition of a blog can take your site into the realm of social media and position your business to reap the benefits!</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Tag Clouds – what are they and do they really help improve search engine ranking?</h1> <p>MySolutionSpot Editor — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:39:28 GMT</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">What exactly is a Tag Cloud?</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">No, a tag cloud is not a meteorological phenomenon. Nor is it a children’s game. In order to really understand tag clouds, we first need to understand tags. Tagging is a way to label, categorize, archive and find things on the internet. For example, you might tag a collection of photos on a photo sharing site with the word “Amsterdam”. You would then be able to find themt, and associated photos with the tag “Amsterdam” more easily the next time you visit that site. Sometimes tags are automatically generated by the Website’s software based on the number of times particular words are used in an article or other piece of content. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Sites like Flickr (pictures), Technorati (blogs), Del.icio.us (bookmarks), Last.fm (music) and many others allow users to "tag" their content, find similar objects by searching for tags, etc. Clicking on a tag will display a page with all of the other content with the same tag. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">A Tag Cloud is a visual representation of the most active tags on a particular Website. Tags are usually single words and are typically listed alphabetically, and the importance of a tag is shown with font size or color. Y</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">ou can see them in action on the Network Solutions e-commerce forum <a href="http://forums.networksolutions.com/?automodule=minerva&CODE=showTag" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">After clicking on a tag within the Tag Cloud, the user will be taken to the list of items that are associated with that tag.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;"></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Can adding a Tag Cloud to my web site help with search engine rankings?</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Tag Clouds are generally considered to be a feature that makes a Web site easier to use. Users can easily find topics that interest them, and see what other visitors are interested in by looking at the Tag Cloud. However, when tagging is applied to a website, it can help the site's traffic by achieving visibility within the search engines for a much larger number of words. This is because tags provide an additional way for Search Engines to navigate through your site, by providing links to content associated with each tag. This in turn can help your search engine rankings for particular terms.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Another inherent benefit to a tag cloud is also that the search engines (and you) can see what is of interest to people visiting your site. It may surprise you to find out what is of most interest. And because the tag cloud is updated in real time as people interact with your site, it means that the content on your site is constantly being refreshed, which is another good thing for attracting search engines.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">The downside of tag clouds is that the search terms are generally limited to a single word. Unless your site has a very niche focus and target audience, you are unlikely to improve your search engine rankings for a single word search term. In addition, tags do create the opportunity for users to spam the tags cloud with unrelated content to draw attention to particular content or links on the site. Your probably won’t want a high search engine ranking for these spam words so will need to pay attention to this. Many tag cloud programs allow you to set a list of banned words, so if you find that spam I is a problem, you can block these words.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;"></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">How do I add a Tag Cloud to my Web site?</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">One easy way to add a Tag Cloud is by setting up a blog. There are many blogging packages available, but probably the most popular is WordPress</span><span style="font-size:small;font-family:Times New Roman;"> </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">®, which supports the capability to add tags to blog posts. If the WordPress theme you choose supports tag clouds, then a tag cloud will be automatically generated for your Web Site.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Network Solutions offers WordPress as part of its standard <a href="http://www.networksolutions.com/web-hosting/blogs.jsp" target="_blank">web hosting package .</a>You can even set up multiple blogs around different subjects on the same hosting package, each of which could generate a tag cloud around its subject matter. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">In summary, tag clouds can be a great way to help visitors find content on your site, but also will definitely not hurt your chances of being found as the result of a search engine indexing your site! However, they are just one of many other ways to improve your <a href="http://www.networksolutions.com/web-site-promotion/search-engine-optimization.jsp" target="_blank">search engine rankings </a> and should not be relied on as the only way to promote your site.</span></p> </article> <article> <h1>8 Ways to Build Links. . . And Why it Matters!</h1> <p>MySolutionSpot Editor — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:00:49 GMT</p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Ever wondered how Google® and other search engines find all the Web sites that are out there? They use software programs called search engine “spiders.” The job of the search engine spider is to crawl the Web in search of content. Spiders love traveling across links, indexing and ranking Web sites as they go. Their rankings drive the listings seen on search engine results pages. For this reason, it is critical that you take time to establish link relationships, building both outbound and inbound links to your site. Equally important to helping your rankings, is that the more links you have sprinkled around the Web, the greater your chances will be to attract more visitors. For organizations, like volunteer-led non-profits, link building can be one of the most effective and least expensive ways to boost rankings and ultimately traffic to your Web site.</span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Here are eight ways you can build links:</span></p> <p style="margin:5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in;text-indent:-0.25in;text-align:justify;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore;">1.<span style="font:7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Turn to online directories</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">. While it can take some time to research the many types of directories available to you on the Internet, directories are one of the easiest ways to establish links to your site. Some options to consider: your local Chamber of Commerce; Better Business Bureau; <a target="_blank" href="http://www.thinklocal.com/Listing-Information.aspx">local business listings</a> (yellow page listings); association and industry specific directories. Any site that lists non-profit organizations similar to yours is a potential directory listing. Once you find them, don’t hesitate to send an email to request that your site be listed as well.</span></p> <p style="margin:5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in;text-indent:-0.25in;text-align:justify;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore;">2.<span style="font:7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Submit articles</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">. Many Web sites are in constant need of “free” content, particularly content written by experts in a field. Take some time to think about all that you know and have learned about your industry or your cause, as well as how you can help buyers, visitors, and members of your target market. (If you feel you do not have the expertise to write an article, look to your membership or constituency base to find experts.) Brainstorm a list of topic ideas, then draft an article or two. They do not need to be long, three to four paragraphs will do. Be sure to include links to your site at the end of the article and the name of your business or non-profit organization. With drafts in hand, begin to approach sites that you think could benefit from posting your articles. The good news is that once an article is posted, other sites will typically pick it up so that your exposure will expand dramatically.</span></p> <p style="margin:5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in;text-indent:-0.25in;text-align:justify;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore;">3.<span style="font:7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Create a blog</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">. A blog, short for Web Log, is like an online journal where you can write about areas of expertise and let visitors discuss and comment on your entries. Spiders love blogs even more than they like articles. Blog entries are similar to articles, in terms of size and focus. Often they have a more personal, opinion-oriented approach. So if you believe that you can write a few entries each week (or that members of your staff or membership base can contribute content), consider becoming a blogger. Again, always insert links to other pages on your site where applicable throughout each post.</span></p> <p style="margin:5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in;text-indent:-0.25in;text-align:justify;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore;">4.<span style="font:7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Become a blog commenter</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">. If you are unsure as to whether or not you can become a full-fledged blogger, consider instead visiting other peoples’ blogs and posting comments. When you do, check to see if the blog’s comment policy allows users to leave a link as part of their signature. If it does, be sure to insert yours. If you can leave engaging, thoughtful, relevant, and insightful comments, it’s likely you will be able to attract interest to your site from the blog’s followers. (To note: some blogs feature a “no follow tag” which tells the search engine spiders not to follow any outbound links in their comments section. No follow tags affect spiders and search engines, but do not prevent users from following a link to another site. So even though you won’t get search engine traffic from sites with “no follow tags,” you will be able to get human visitors who follow the link.)</span></p> <p style="margin:5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in;text-indent:-0.25in;text-align:justify;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore;">5.<span style="font:7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Put your Web site address on everything</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">. Just as you would do if you wrote an article or a blog post, you should put your Web site address on your business cards, in your email signature, on any correspondence you send, and on any promotional or membership materials you create. The more you promote and expose your Web site address to other people, the more visitors you will be inviting to your site.</span></p> <p style="margin:5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in;text-indent:-0.25in;text-align:justify;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore;">6.<span style="font:7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Ask to have your site featured</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">. Any time you see a Web site that lists organizations like yours or any company or vendor that you work with that has a Web site can be a potential link for your site. First, investigate if they link to other sites; then don’t be afraid to ask if they will feature your link. Just be careful how you ask. You don’t want to do a mass email request because that can damage your reputation. Instead, be discerning and understand that you are in search of quality link relationships.</span></p> <p style="margin:5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in;text-indent:-0.25in;text-align:justify;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore;">7.<span style="font:7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Be wary of link building farms and reciprocal links</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">. There are a lot of companies on the Web that offer “link building farms” – you may either pay them to find links, or join an exchange of sites that provide reciprocal links to each other. Many people use link buying services, but there are risks associated with such farms in that they can actually cause you to lose rankings. Spiders are smart! They are looking for genuine link relationships, not just pages with laundry lists of unrelated links. If they sense that links are bogus with no intended relationship, they will count that against your site when it comes to rankings. Similarly, be careful of reciprocal links. Reciprocal links (in essence, “I’ll link to your site and you can link to mine”) need to be topically relevant and need to make sense. So, for example if I have an association site for female lawyers who work from home and you have a site that sells plumbing equipment, there is little foundation for a reciprocal link relationship.</span></p> <p style="margin:5pt 0in 0pt 0.5in;text-indent:-0.25in;text-align:justify;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore;">8.<span style="font:7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Avoid “links” pages</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">. Just as you want to be wary of unrelated link lists, you should also avoid having your site added to another site’s “links” page. These can also be frowned upon by spiders. </span></p> <p style="margin:5pt 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Every type of link should appear and be woven naturally into a site’s content. Google’s advice for link building is to pursue it as if the search engines don’t exist. In other words, build links that will be useful and purposeful to your users, members, and constituents, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal;">not</i> merely to capture the attention of search engine spiders.</span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Once you’ve sprinkled your links across the Internet, be sure that whenever you take down or move a page on your site, that you, or your Web site designer, do a “301 redirect” to automatically forward (or redirect) traffic from the old page to the new one. The 301 redirect can help you to control the flow of traffic. It can be tricky to do and complicated, but it is worth it–especially after you’ve invested time in building link relationships. (If you are unclear as to how to create a 301 redirect, consult a Web programmer.) For redirects, you will still get credit from the search engine spiders for that original link as well as for the redirected page. Most important, you will avoid upsetting or losing visitors who are unable to reach your site because of broken links and dead pages. . . and you’ll maintain the integrity of the links you’ve worked so hard to build.</span></p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>How Important Is SEO?</h1> <p>Nit Sujatanond — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:50:53 GMT</p> <p>You've now completed and launched your website. Now it's time to do some marketing to enhance your visitor rate. <br /><br />If you've read any online marketing blogs or articles, you've probably heard of SEO. But do you understand what it is and what is does? Do you know why your website needs it and why it is one of the most effective methods of making your website more visible to your target audience? If your answers are no, then it's time that you learn more about SEO.<br /><br /><b>Types of SEO Techniques</b><br />SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It is a method of preparing your website so that it provides high-quality content and attracts a larger volume of high-quality traffic. Although SEO strategies are always changing and offer no guarantee, the results of their application are often tremendously successful.<br /><br />When optimizing your website, you should always use ethical "white hat" SEO techniques rather than "black hat" SEO techniques like keyword stuffing, using invisible text and creating fake pages that are not visible to users. Black hat techniques aim to manipulate search engine spiders on a short-term basis. They often backfire. Once search engines notice that your site uses black hat SEO techniques - and they will notice - your site will be banned permanently. Then, it will be almost impossible for anyone to find your site without first knowing your web address. <br /><br />White hat practices, on the other hand, require the incorporation of highly informative and well-focused web content that is truly helpful to your target audience. These techniques make your website more accessible to search engine spiders, and they follow search engine guidelines. As a result, their benefits are long-term.<br /><br /><b>Why Use SEO?</b><br />Studies show that the typical search engine user only views top-ranking search results. This means, they simply skim through, looking for relevant headlines and summaries. They rarely look beyond the first ten results, and they view subsequent results pages even less frequently. <br /><br />Using search engine optimization will help your website rank higher in organic, or free, search engine results. And, as stated, a high rank in organic search results is important if you want your website to be seen. <br /><br /><b>How Do You Apply SEO</b><br />Search engine optimization is not easily learned. The process entails many layers and the rules are always changing. In addition, periodic updates are necessary. <br /><br />To save time and effort, many website owners hire <a target="_blank" href="http://www.networksolutions.com/web-site-promotion/search-engine-optimization.jsp">SEO experts</a> to optimize their sites. The initial cost of optimizing your site may seem high. However, you must keep in mind that the impact of optimization is powerful and lasting. So in the long run, SEO is generally less expensive than many offline and online marketing strategies. <br /><br /></p> <p> </p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Paid URL Inclusion</h1> <p>MySolutionSpot Editor — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:39:34 GMT</p> <p>There are many ways to promote your website and one of the most efficient ways is to use search engines. Search engines are the first stop for most people trying to find information, services, and products online. Because of this, it is essential that your website appears quickly in search results.<br /><br />The Internet contains numerous search engines, some of which offer what is known as "paid inclusion." This means that you pay the specific search engine an annual fee for your web page to be included in their index.<br /><br />Of course, every search engine already has an automated program commonly called a "spider" that indexes all the web pages it locates online, and it does this for free. So whether you pay or not, your web page will eventually be indexed by all Internet search engines, as long as the spider can follow a link to your page. The major issue is, then, how quickly your page is indexed.<br /><br />A search engine that offers a paid URL inclusion uses an extra spider that is programmed to index the particular pages that have been paid for. The difference between the spider that indexes pages for free and the spider that indexes only pages for a fee is speed. If you have paid for inclusion, the additional search engine spider will index your page immediately.<br /><br />The debate over paid URL inclusion centers on the annual fee. Since the regular spider of these search engines would eventually get around to indexing your web page anyway, why is a renewal fee necessary? The fee is necessary to keep your pages in the search engine's index. If you go the route of paid inclusion, you should be aware that at the end of the pay period, on some search engines, your page will be removed from their index for a certain amount of time.<br /><br />It's easy to get confused about whether you would benefit from paid inclusion since the spider of any search engine will eventually index your page without the additional cost. There are both advantages and disadvantages to paid URL inclusion and it is only by weighing your pros and cons that you will be able to decide whether to spring for the extra cash or not.<br /><br />The advantages are obvious: rapid inclusion and rapid re-indexing. Paid inclusion means that your pages will be indexed quickly and added to search results in a very short time after you have paid the fee. The time difference between when the regular spider will index your pages and when the paid spider will is a matter of months. The spider for paid inclusion usually indexes your pages in a day or two. Be aware that if you have no incoming links to your pages, the regular spider will never locate them at all.<br /><br />Additionally, paid inclusion spiders will go back to your pages often, sometimes even daily. The advantage of this is that you can update your pages constantly to improve the ranking in which they appear in search engines, and the paid URL inclusion spider will show that result in a matter of days.<br /><br />First and foremost, the disadvantage is the cost. For a ten page website, the costs of paid URL inclusion range from $170 for Fast/Lycos to $600 for Altavista, and you have to pay each engine their annual fee. How relevant the cost factor is will depend on your company.<br /><br />Another, and perhaps more important, disadvantage is the limited reach of paid URL inclusions. Some of the larger search engines, Google®, MSN<span style="font-size:small;font-family:Times New Roman;">®</span>, and AOL<span style="font-size:small;font-family:Times New Roman;">®</span>, do not offer paid URL inclusion. That means that the search engines you choose to pay an inclusion fee will amount to a small fraction of the traffic to your site on a daily basis. Yahoo!<span style="font-size:small;font-family:Times New Roman;">®</span>, however does offer a paid inclusion program.<br /><br />Google<span style="font-size:small;font-family:Times New Roman;">®</span> usually updates its index every month, and there is no way you can speed up this process. You will have to wait for the Google<span style="font-size:small;font-family:Times New Roman;">®</span> spider to index your new pages no matter how many other search engines you have paid to update their index daily. Be aware that it is only after Google updates their index that your pages will show up in Google<span style="font-size:small;font-family:Times New Roman;">®</span>, Yahoo!<span style="font-size:small;font-family:Times New Roman;">®</span>, or AOL<span style="font-size:small;font-family:Times New Roman;">®</span> results.<br /><br />One way to figure out whether paid URL inclusion is a good deal for your company is to consider some common factors. First, find out if search engines have already indexed your pages. To do this, you may have to enter a number of different keywords, but the quickest way to find out is to enter your URL address in quotes. If your pages appear when you enter the URL address but do not appear when you enter keywords, using paid inclusion will not be beneficial. This is because your pages have already been indexed and ranked by the regular spider. If this is the case, your money would be better spent by updating your pages to improve your ranking in search results. Once you accomplish this, you can then consider using paid inclusion if you want to speed up the time it will take for the regular spider to revisit your pages.<br /><br />The most important factor in deciding whether to use paid URL inclusion is to decide if it's a good investment. To figure this out, you have to look at the overall picture: what kind of product or service are you selling and how much traffic are you dependent on to see a profit?<br /><br />If your company sells an inexpensive product that requires a large volume of traffic to your site, paid inclusion may not be the best investment for you; the biggest search engines do not offer it, and they are the engines that will bring you the majority of hits. On the other hand, if you have a business that offers an expensive service or product and requires a certain quality of traffic to your site, a paid URL inclusion is most likely an excellent investment.<br /><br />Another factor is whether or not your pages are updated frequently. If the content changes on a daily or weekly basis, paid inclusion will insure that your new pages are indexed often and quickly. The new content is indexed by the paid spider and then appears when new relevant keywords are entered in the search engines. Using paid inclusion in this case will guarantee that your pages are being indexed in a timely manner.<br /><br /></p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>How to Keep Up with New Marketing Trends</h1> <p>Nit Sujatanond — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:39:43 GMT</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">Staying abreast of new marketing trends is vital in today’s competitive and ever-changing world. Marketing trends – particularly <a href="http://www.networksolutions.com/online-marketing/index.jsp" target="_blank">online marketing</a> trends – change quickly and often, so even the most popular strategies lose their luster after a while. Whether you own a brick-and-mortar business or operate fully online, the fate of your business depends on the marketing strategies you apply. Make sure your investment does not get lost in the crowd, and take the time to stay current on the latest marketing trends. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">Where can you find information about new marketing trends? We have listed a few sources that can help you get started on becoming an informed marketeer. These sources allow you to explore a variety of strategies, which you can customize and use for your business. Visit them regularly. They will provide you with good business advice and valuable marketing tips.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">1. Trade publications</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">There are a number of distinguished trade publications that cover the hottest topics in business, including new marketing trends. Some of these publications, like <i><a href="http://www.brandweek.com/bw/index.jsp" target="_blank">Brandweek</a></i> and <i><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/" target="_blank">BusinessWeek</a>,</i> have extended their distribution online, making it easier for you to access their articles and search their archive. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">Find the online publications that interest you the most and bookmark these sites. You can also request RSS feeds of relevant categories if the option is available. This allows you access to a variety of publications from one location. You will find that by routinely reading business publications, you can acquire a multitude of helpful marketing tips, which you can directly apply to your business. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">2. Web logs</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">Another wonderful source is a Web log, or more commonly known as a blog. Business blogs are especially helpful because they tend to be very specialized and up to the minute. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">Business bloggers are often experts in their field, and their blogs usually encompass their areas of expertise. For instance, Michael Gray is a consultant specializing in search engine optimization and social media; therefore, his blog entries for <a href="http://www.wolf-howl.com/" target="_blank">Graywolf’s SEO Blog</a> usually have to do with search engine optimization and social media. Some blogs are controlled by business organizations. These blogs are used to support the organization’s offerings. However, they are normally just as informative as blogs managed by independent bloggers.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">Blog readers can usually request email updates so that all new blog entries are sent directly to them via email. In addition, most blogs also give their readers the option to subscribe RSS blog feeds. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">3. Podcasts</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">You can also learn about new marketing strategies and practices by listening to free podcasts. These audio and video broadcasts are educational and easy to access. They are typically distributed over the Internet via syndication feeds but may be downloaded onto portable media devices for added convenience and flexibility. You can find a wide selection of marketing podcasts on weekly podcast publishers like <a href="http://www.marketingvoices.com/" target="_blank">Marketing Voices</a> or on podcast directories like <a href="http://www.idiotvox.com/" target="_blank">IdiotVox</a>.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">Although anyone can create a podcast, notable podcast speakers are industry experts who wish to share their insight and expertise. Many podcast speakers also have their own blogs. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">4. Forums</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">Forum groups dedicated to discussions about business, marketing and other relevant topics are great sources because they not only allow you to acquire new marketing tips, but they also enable you to receive answers to your marketing questions. As a bonus, forums provide a channel through which you can introduce yourself to other business professionals and build your authority status in your niche or industry. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">You can find a wide selection of forum groups on sites like <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/" target="_blank">Yahoo® Groups</a>, but if you are looking for more specialized forum groups, try joining online communities like <a href="http://www.mysolutionspot.com/" target="_blank">MySolutionSpot</a>, which cater to small and medium-sized businesses. When browsing for forums to join, look for groups that share your interests.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">5. Seminars, webinars, conferences & teleconferences</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">There are several organizations that specialize in business education. These organizations often host a variety of educational events, including seminars, webinars, teleconferences and conferences. Featured topics often include business, marketing, online advertising, e-commerce and more. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">Most business seminars and webinars are either free or available for a small fee. Conferences like the <a href="http://searchmarketingexpo.com/" target="_blank">Search Marketing Expo</a>, on the other hand, are often more costly. However, as opposed to seminar and webinar registrants, conference participants may attend several educational workshops and take advantage of numerous networking opportunities. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">6. Market research reports</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">Many market research firms study industry trends, consumer trends and marketing trends. Studies of marketing trends usually measure the effectiveness and regularity of various marketing strategies. The results of these studies are divided by industries. By reviewing reports related to your industry, you will be able to find effective marketing strategies that you can tailor to your business.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">Most market research reports are available for a hefty fee. However, if you are looking to save some money, sites like <a href="http://www.knowthis.com/market-research/stories-other-research.htm" target="_blank">KnowThis.com</a> offer valuable data for free. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">6. Marketing e-newsletters</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">Many companies and educational services distribute free weekly or monthly e-newsletters like the one you are reading now. These e-newsletters cover a wide range of topics and are designed to help clients improve their marketing strategies and achieve better results. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;">Information about new marketing trends is readily available. Take some time to find the resources that are valuable to you and your business and set them up to be delivered to you automatically. Make it a priority to update your knowledge on the latest marketing trends on a regular basis because staying informed is a vital step toward achieving your business goals.</span></p> </article> <article> <h1>Understanding Click Fraud</h1> <p>MySolutionSpot Editor — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:39:37 GMT</p> <table class="MsoNormalTable" style="width: 97%; mso-cellspacing: 0in; mso-table-lspace: 2.25pt; mso-table-rspace: 2.25pt; mso-table-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-table-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-table-left: left; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in;" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="97%" align="left"> <tbody> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes;"> <td style="padding-right: 6pt; padding-left: 11.25pt; padding-bottom: 2.25pt; padding-top: 2.25pt; background-color: transparent; border: #d4d0c8;" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly;"> </p> </td> <td style="padding-right: 6pt; padding-left: 11.25pt; padding-bottom: 2.25pt; padding-top: 2.25pt; background-color: transparent; border: #d4d0c8;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right; mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly;" align="right"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial;"><a href="javascript:ts('body',-1)"><strong><span style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></strong></a><a href="javascript:ts('body',1)"><strong><span style="color: #336699; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></strong></a></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"> <td style="padding-right: 6pt; padding-left: 11.25pt; padding-bottom: 2.25pt; padding-top: 2.25pt; background-color: transparent; border: #d4d0c8;" colspan="2" valign="top"> <p style="mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial;">Click fraud is becoming a hot issue in the online marketing industry. Click fraud occurs when a search engine visitor clicks on an ad for the intended purpose of charging the payer of the ad for each click. Some website owners click on their competitors' ads to drive up their costs and lower their return on investment. </span></p> <p style="mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial;">Fraud operations have cropped up to take advantage of this technique. These groups employ scripts that simulate humans clicking on ads. This type of fraud is a bit easier to catch. Huge numbers of clicks appearing to come from just one, or a small number, of computers or a single geographic area look highly suspicious to the advertising network and advertisers. </span></p> <p style="mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial;">Although paid search providers such as Google and Yahoo! Search Marketing are making efforts to detect and prosecute click fraud, fraud can be extremely hard to detect, whether it's a script or a human. A wide network of people can be clicking on ads from different regions, without a steady pattern. Advertisers across the globe must ask themselves the same questions: How do I detect click fraud? How can I protect myself? What are the engines doing? Here are some tips that can help you protect yourself and your advertising dollars from click fraud. </span></p> <h2 style="margin: 12pt 0in 3pt; mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial;">Detecting Click Fraud <span style="color: #336699;"></span></span></em></span></h2> <p style="mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial;">Detecting click fraud is not impossible when you are armed with the proper knowledge. Most of the burden rests on the engines to detect and deter fraudulent clicks. However, there are plenty of things web owners can do as part of their <a href="http://www.networksolutions.com/pay-per-click/performanceclicks-maximized.jsp" target="_blank">PPC management</a>, and should do, to stop it before it starts. </span></p> <ol type="1"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Carefully monitor your clicks. Pay attention to your daily, weekly or monthly clicks so that you understand the trends of your different keywords and campaigns. You'll be able to detect sudden increases in clicks or click-through rate and report anything unusual. </span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Log server activity. Keep detailed logs of all the pages requested by browsers. The logs will allow you to pinpoint any suspicious clicks. </span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Remove your ads from certain pages. Temporarily or permanently removing ads from certain pages can protect you from being a victim of click fraud. This works well if you can figure out which ads are being targeted. </span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Always report suspicious activity. If you suspect something isn't right, report it to the search engine. Be sure to provide them with as much information as possible, including information from your server logs. </span></li> </ol> <p style="mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial;">When you are monitoring your data, look for the following information: </span></p> <ul type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Clicks from IP addresses outside of the country you are advertising in </span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Keywords that don't normally spend a lot of funds suddenly spending well </span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Sudden increases in spend (aside from seasonal increases in your sector) </span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Sudden increases in traffic from any one affiliate in the PPC engines network </span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; color: black; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Lots of clicks from one IP address </span></li> </ul> <p style="mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial;">Reporting click fraud is your best defense, so you must be watching your campaigns and be prepared to detect suspicious activity. Click fraud is like any other business risk; you should take appropriate steps to reduce the risk and gather firm data of any fraud. If you do have evidence of fraud, calmly and clearly present your data to the engines. Serious engines will listen to you and investigate on your behalf. </span></p> <h2 style="margin: 12pt 0in 3pt; mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial;">So what are the search engines doing about it?<span style="color: #336699;"></span></span></em></span></h2> <p style="mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial;">Google and Yahoo! are the two largest paid search advertising providers, and the security of their clients is very important to them. They consider detecting click fraud to be crucial in serving their customers to the best of their ability. </span></p> <p style="mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial;">Google uses technology that analyzes clicks and impressions to find patterns. This system aims to identify invalid clicks and filter them out before a customer is billed for them. Google will also refund any invalid clicks that are later found to be invalid. Some of the items that Google looks at to determine validity are the IP address, the time of the click and duplicate clicks. Google also has a team that uses specialized tools and techniques to examine individual instances of invalid clicks. </span></p> <p style="mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial;">Yahoo! Search Marketing has a "Click Protection System" to help protect their users from paying for invalid clicks. Yahoo! evaluates nearly 100 criteria to determine legitimacy of clicks, including IP addresses, session information, cookies, networks, browser information, and time of the click. </span></p> <p style="mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial;">The Click Protection Software is monitored for weaknesses. They never want to assume that they know every way an invalid click can be caused. </span></p> <p style="mso-element: frame; mso-element-frame-hspace: 2.25pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-anchor-horizontal: column; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Arial;">All search engines have a compelling interest in running a fair and trusted marketplace. Although click fraud can be difficult to completely stop, the engines know that this is something they must control.</span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></p> </article> <article> <h1>Keep Your Marketing From Becoming Spam</h1> <p>MySolutionSpot Editor — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:39:28 GMT</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">E-mail makes it possible for you to reach the widest range of customers, clients, vendors and prospects with new offers, promotions, updated prices and other timely information; and to send dozens, hundreds, even thousands of copies of the same mailing with just a few mouse clicks. But for those very reasons, it's all too easy for your marketing materials to become part of the unwanted torrent of e-mails clogging the mailboxes of the very people you want to do business with.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">To become, in other words, spam.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">At best, your e-mails will be ignored and deleted unread. At worst, your recipients may see your communications as an annoyance, and filter out your business's e-mail address. Worse than that, a variety of state and federal laws such as the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 place strict legal requirements on what can and cannot be done with commercial e-mail, and establishes policies your business must follow.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">For these reasons it's essential that you and your employees give careful thought to just how, and how frequently, you use e-mail. Asking yourself a few questions can help you avoid these problems, and help insure that your e-mail (and your business!) is welcomed rather than dreaded, deleted and ignored.</span></p> <p><b>Did You Give Them A Chance To Say No?</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Every recipient on your e-mailing list should be given the opportunity to opt out of unsolicited e-mail. In fact, the CAN-SPAM Act requires that your e-mail include a return address for the recipient to opt out of further e-mail from you.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">More than that, your Web site should include a clear and prominent announcement of exactly what your e-mail policy is, and provide visitors the chance to decline e-mails in advance.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">The site should also make clear whether or not you share your e-mail list with other vendors.</span></p> <p><b>Do You Have Something To Say?</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Why are you sending the e-mail?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes;"> </span>If it's a response to an inquiry or a "Request Information" box on your Web site you should be okay. But if you've put together a generic or even targeted marketing piece and are sending it to everyone on your mailing list you need to consider the following:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <ul style="margin-top:0in;"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Is the information new? Don't send the same promotions again and again.</span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Is the information applicable to everyone on the mailing list?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes;"> </span>Don't send targeted information to prospects not in the market for it.</span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Is your subject line honest and clear? This is not only good business, it's a requirement of the CAN-Spam Act.</span></li> </ul> <p><b>Have They Heard From You Lately?</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">And how lately?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">You're the best judge of your customers and your market and you need to become the best judge of how frequently they want (or are willing) to receive e-mails from you. It may be a fine line, one you should wary of crossing.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">One good approach is to establish a regular schedule for sending marketing materials. A monthly or quarterly newsletter, depending on the amount of relevant, new information your business generates, creates a consistent approach for your e-mail campaign without swamping recipients with material. An external <a href="http://www.networksolutions.com/web-site-promotion/constantcontact.jsp" target="_blank">email marketing company</a> can help you manage this more easily.</span></p> <p><b>Is Your Material Professional?</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Whatever approach you take to e-mail marketing, all of your materials should be:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <ul style="margin-top:0in;"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Clearly written and proofread, even small, avoidable mistakes can create an unprofessional impression</span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Accurately represent both your business and the recipient's relationship to you; don't, for example, use a generic "Dear Customer" salutation in a letter to prospective customers</span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Complete and professional, including your physical mailing address, another requirement of the CAN-SPAM Act</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-family:Arial;"><b>The Bottom Line:</b> E-mail marketing materials should be relevant, requested, and worthwhile to the recipient. Don't overwhelm your customers with unsolicited e-mail. All prospective recipients must be given the chance to opt out of your e-mail campaign. E-mail usage policies should be posted prominently on your Web site. Adhere to all of the regulations and requirements of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.</span></p> </article> <article> <h1>Promoting your blog – quick tips to get more traffic</h1> <p>MySolutionSpot Editor — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:39:28 GMT</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">If you build it, will they come?</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">You know how to create a <a href="http://www.networksolutions.com/web-hosting/blogs.jsp%20" target="_blank">blog</a></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">, you post to it regularly, and it would be excellent if the quality of the content was enough to bring readers in droves. Unfortunately this generally isn’t the case, so here are some tips and ideas to help you get more traffic to your blog:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <ul style="margin-top:0in;"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Post regularly, at least 3-5 times a week if you can, but make sure each post is relevant and of high value to your target audience. Search engines like web sites that are updated regularly.</span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">If people have subscribed to your blog via RSS, they will be more likely to visit if you publish regular posts to remind them about you. Make your RSS feed button very visible on your site.</span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Offer an email version of your RSS feed. Offering an email version of your RSS feed can as much as double your subscribers.</span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Optimize your blog for search engines. It is recommended you have your own domain name and use a software package such as WordPress® that is designed for blog hosting. Ensure that you use Permalinks to make search engine friendly URLs for your posts. Choose the right keywords for your blog posts – popular keywords can have a lot of competition, so try to find niche keywords or phrases.</span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Enable comments on your blog (WordPress has some tools that can be added to filter out SPAM comments) and respond to as many comments as possible – people prefer to read blogs where the author interact with commenters.</span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Put your blog URL in your signature on e-mail messages and in forum posts. Become an active, and useful, member of forums where your target audience interacts. Be sure to post your blog URL in your signature line.</span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Submit your blog to blog search sites and directories like <a href="http://technorati.com" target="_blank">Technorati</a> where people are specifically searching for blogs</span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Link to other blogs that compliment yours, or cover a similar topic area. The blog owner will see traffic coming from your blog and will likely link back to you.</span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Comment on other blogs and include your blog URL in your comment. Be sure your comments are valuable to the other blogs, and not just spamming for links.</span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">If you haven’t already, add the ability to bookmark your posts onto social networking sites such as <a href="http://digg.com" target="_blank">Digg</a> and <a href="http://del.icio.us" target="_blank">Del.icio.us </a>. You can find a pre-made button for this at <a href="http://addthis.com" target="_blank">AddThis </a>.</span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Use trackbacks to link to high linking blogs or authority web sites. Many blogs have trackbacks enabled that can provide a link back to your post in their comments. </span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">If your blog’s goal is to promote you as an authority, interview other prominent people in your industry. Your own credibility will improve by association.</span></li> </ul> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Most of all make sure you use a reliable blog hosting platform. Nothing will turn potential readers away faster than a blog page that is slow to load, or even worse, unavailable.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;"></span></p> </article> </main></body></html>