In its simplest form, article marketing is a type of advertising through which a business writes short articles related to its respective industry. Once written, the business makes these articles freely available for distribution and publication in the marketplace. Each article contains a 'bio box' and 'by-line' which include references and contact information for the author's business. Well written content articles released for free distribution have the potential of gaining the author business credibility within his or her market, as well as new clients.
Background:
Article marketing is not a new practice. It has been used by professionals for nearly as long as mass print has been available. as opposed to online forms it is commonly utilized by business owners as a means of obtaining free press space. Simply put, the local business provides useful content to the newspaper free of charge and in return the newspaper prints the business' contact information with the article this by all means is a useful marketing concept. Since newspapers and other traditional media are expected to present content on limited budgets, this arrangement is generally advantageous for all parties involved.
For example, web site firm may write an article titled "The Top 10 ways to go on top Engines" and marketing the article to small business owners by offering it to the local newspapers 2-3 weeks prior to tax season. Similarly, a roofing company could implementing a good marketing tactic offer radio stations a concise article on "How to avoid ice damage to your roof this winter" shortly before the winter season. read more....
For more details on Article marketting visit www.halfvalue.com and www.halfvalue.co.uk
For more information on books visit www.Lookbookstores.com
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Monday, June 04, 2007
These guys still google for perfect search
These days, Google seems to be doing everything, everywhere. It takes pictures of your house from outer space, copies rare Sanskrit books in India, charms its way onto Madison Avenue, picks fights with Hollywood and tries to undercut Microsoft’s software dominance.
But at its core, Google remains a search engine. And its search pages, blue hyperlinks set against a bland, white background, have made it the most visited, most profitable and arguably the most powerful company on the Internet. Google is the homework helper, navigator and yellow pages for half a billion users, able to find the most improbable needles in the world’s largest haystack of information in just the blink of an eye.
Yet however easy it is to wax poetic about the modern day miracle of Google, the site is also among the world’s biggest teases. Millions of times a day, users click away from Google, disappointed that they couldn’t find the hotel, the recipe or the background of that hot guy. That’s why Amit Singhal and hundreds of other Google engineers are constantly tweaking the company’s search engine in an elusive quest to close the gap between often and always.
Singhal is the master of what Google calls its ranking algorithm the formulas that decide which Web pages best answer each users question. It is a crucial part of Google’s inner sanctum, a department called search quality that the company treats like a state secret. Google rarely allows outsiders to visit the unit, and it has been cautious about allowing Singhal to speak with the news media about the magical, mathematical brew inside the millions of black boxes that power its search engine.
Google values Singhal and his team so highly for the most basic of competitive reasons. It believes that its ability to decrease number of times it leaves searchers disappointed is crucial to fending off ever fiercer attacks from the likes of Yahoo and Microsoft and preserving the tidy advertising gold mine that search represents. “The fundamental value created by Google is the ranking,” says John Battelle, the chief executive of Federated Media, a blog ad network, and author of The Search, a book about Google.
Users, of course, don’t see the science and the artistry that makes Google’s black boxes hum, but the search-quality team makes about a half dozen major and minor changes a week to the vast nest of mathematical formulas that power the search engine. These formulas have grown better at reading the minds of users to interpret a very short query. Are the users looking for a job, a purchase or a fact?
The formulas can tell that people who type apples are likely to be thinking about fruit, while those who type Apple are mulling computers or iPods. “Search over the last few years has moved from Give me what I typed to Give me what I want,” says Singhal. As Google fine-tunes its search engine, one challenge it faces is sheer scale.
For more details on Google perfect search visit www.halfvalue.com and www.halfvalue.co.uk For more information on books visit http://www.lookbookstores.com/
But at its core, Google remains a search engine. And its search pages, blue hyperlinks set against a bland, white background, have made it the most visited, most profitable and arguably the most powerful company on the Internet. Google is the homework helper, navigator and yellow pages for half a billion users, able to find the most improbable needles in the world’s largest haystack of information in just the blink of an eye.
Yet however easy it is to wax poetic about the modern day miracle of Google, the site is also among the world’s biggest teases. Millions of times a day, users click away from Google, disappointed that they couldn’t find the hotel, the recipe or the background of that hot guy. That’s why Amit Singhal and hundreds of other Google engineers are constantly tweaking the company’s search engine in an elusive quest to close the gap between often and always.
Singhal is the master of what Google calls its ranking algorithm the formulas that decide which Web pages best answer each users question. It is a crucial part of Google’s inner sanctum, a department called search quality that the company treats like a state secret. Google rarely allows outsiders to visit the unit, and it has been cautious about allowing Singhal to speak with the news media about the magical, mathematical brew inside the millions of black boxes that power its search engine.
Google values Singhal and his team so highly for the most basic of competitive reasons. It believes that its ability to decrease number of times it leaves searchers disappointed is crucial to fending off ever fiercer attacks from the likes of Yahoo and Microsoft and preserving the tidy advertising gold mine that search represents. “The fundamental value created by Google is the ranking,” says John Battelle, the chief executive of Federated Media, a blog ad network, and author of The Search, a book about Google.
Users, of course, don’t see the science and the artistry that makes Google’s black boxes hum, but the search-quality team makes about a half dozen major and minor changes a week to the vast nest of mathematical formulas that power the search engine. These formulas have grown better at reading the minds of users to interpret a very short query. Are the users looking for a job, a purchase or a fact?
The formulas can tell that people who type apples are likely to be thinking about fruit, while those who type Apple are mulling computers or iPods. “Search over the last few years has moved from Give me what I typed to Give me what I want,” says Singhal. As Google fine-tunes its search engine, one challenge it faces is sheer scale.
For more details on Google perfect search visit www.halfvalue.com and www.halfvalue.co.uk For more information on books visit http://www.lookbookstores.com/
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Gmail chats: Now in more languages with new features
(Google MAIL) Google's free Web-based e-mail service, which is supported by text advertising similar to Google's Web search. Launched in beta in 2004, Gmail offers 2.8 gigabytes (as of February 2007) of mailbox storage, allowing users to keep their mail on Google servers indefinitely for future reference. Gmail provides sophisticated searching of message content and keeps message threads for easy review. In 2006, Gmail chat integrated instant messaging with the e-mail, also taking advantage of the same save and search features.
Gmail is currently rolling out a new chat feature. It’s like Google Talk, except that it’s browser-based and integrated right into Gmail. Which makes sense, because Gmail often-times already feels like chat due to its “conversations” view (if the other person has Gmail too, that is). read more…
Find more about Gmail chats visit www.halfvalue.com and www.halfvalue.co.uk
For more details on Books at www.lookbookstores.com
Gmail is currently rolling out a new chat feature. It’s like Google Talk, except that it’s browser-based and integrated right into Gmail. Which makes sense, because Gmail often-times already feels like chat due to its “conversations” view (if the other person has Gmail too, that is). read more…
Find more about Gmail chats visit www.halfvalue.com and www.halfvalue.co.uk
For more details on Books at www.lookbookstores.com
What are channels?
Channels enable you to view detailed reporting about the performance of specific pages and ad units. By assigning a channel to a combination of pages or ad units, you could track the performance of a leader board versus a banner, or compare your motorcycle pages to your automobile pages. You can even create a channel to track each of your separate domains, so you can see where your clicks are coming from. While channels can be used to track performance and revenue, they won't have any effect on your earnings or ad targeting.
It’s easy to set up a Google AdSense account, generate the code needed to display ads on your site, and paste the code into the source for your blog template or web site pages. By doing so, you can start earning advertising revenue immediately—or as soon as someone starts clicking the ad links on your pages, anyway. But if you’re interested in learning more about which ads are most successful for you, you need to take another step:
Set up and use Google’s channels feature.
Channel Basics
The channels feature enables you to assign a unique identifier to a domain name or specific URL, or to a type of ad unit. The channel name is included in the code that utilizes it. Google tracks Ad Sense activity by channel for your account. You can easily display activity by channel, thus making it possible to analyze Ad Sense revenue by channel. read more..
Find more Channels visit www.halfvalue.com and www.halfvalue.co.uk
For more details on Books at www.lookbookstores.com
It’s easy to set up a Google AdSense account, generate the code needed to display ads on your site, and paste the code into the source for your blog template or web site pages. By doing so, you can start earning advertising revenue immediately—or as soon as someone starts clicking the ad links on your pages, anyway. But if you’re interested in learning more about which ads are most successful for you, you need to take another step:
Set up and use Google’s channels feature.
Channel Basics
The channels feature enables you to assign a unique identifier to a domain name or specific URL, or to a type of ad unit. The channel name is included in the code that utilizes it. Google tracks Ad Sense activity by channel for your account. You can easily display activity by channel, thus making it possible to analyze Ad Sense revenue by channel. read more..
Find more Channels visit www.halfvalue.com and www.halfvalue.co.uk
For more details on Books at www.lookbookstores.com
Monday, February 26, 2007
Internet Directories as a Link Building Tool
WebLink SEO is a powerful software package that enables you to analyze your competitor's websites and promote your website on the Internet to generate improved search engine results. Search Engine Optimization used to be a time-consuming and difficult process, but WebLink SEO makes light work of it by providing you with a wide variety of tools that not only help to analyze and optimize your website, but also promote your website on the Internet.
Directories have far more possibilities hidden within their listings than is generally thought. Many webmasters, and even some search engine optimization experts, ignore the less obvious value residing in the various categories. Some of the very useful directories for link research include the Open Directory Project, better known as DMOZ; the Yahoo! Directory; the Google Directory; and the many specialty directories directly related to the searcher's area of business.
Selecting Directories
The most obvious Internet directory to start with when beginning a comprehensive link search is the well known DMOZ directory. With its complete category and sub-category classification system, any website owner can find numerous sites within their area of business. If your website is already listed in the DMOZ directory, the first step is to go directly to your own site's category. Within those pages of listings, whether you are in the global or regional category will be some of your direct competitors.
The Yahoo! Directory provides a similar opportunity for the website owner. The Yahoo! Directory has many of the same sites listed as DMOZ. That is a given. There are, however, many more sites listed in Yahoo! that are not part of the Open Directory Project. That fact opens up many more possibilities for the webmaster. When you go to the Yahoo! Directory, as with DMOZ, go first to your category if you are already listed. Select the most probable one, if your site is not included. Note that the listings are also in alphabetical order, and may have somewhat different descriptions than the DMOZ directory employs. Use the same procedure as before, and your list of potential linking partners will grow larger.
A third important Internet directory is the Google Directory. Using listings supplied by the Open Directory Project, the listings are very similar to those found in DMOZ. Google offers a major and important difference, however. Google orders the results from the highest PageRank listing to the lowest, making your sorting that much easier. Keep in mind that some of the PageRanks on display are possibly out of date, and may not reflect the site's current PageRank.
Work on Specialty Directories
A powerful alternative source of directory link leads is found in the sometimes overlooked specialty directories. The first step is to search for the specialty and minor directories in the search engines. Enter combinations of "directories" and "your industry" and lists will appear. It won't matter if the directories are paid or free for inclusion, as you are searching for link exchanges. If one of the newly discovered directories is free, however, be certain to get your own website included. After all, a directory is a valuable incoming link too.
How to Exchange Directories
• Simply click on the links, one by one, and examine the sites carefully. Know something about the site. Look for contact information and find the webmaster's name if possible. In your e-mail to the prospective exchange partner, be certain to offer some strong indication that you have actually visited the site in question.
• Tell your prospective partner that you have already linked their site and you feel your site would be beneficial to their site visitors as well. A really good idea is to tell the webmaster of a part of their site that you found especially interesting and informative.
• Place a link on your own site to the sites you have decided to contact first, prior to any requests. That is simply proper linking etiquette. It also displays your professionalism to the recipient who is probably tired of link exchange spam.
• Be sure to always visit the site as well. It is never a good idea to link partner with a site you wouldn't feel comfortable recommending to all of your customers. Your business and personal reputations are at stake.
• Don't threaten to remove the link to their site if they fail to reciprocate. If the site was interesting and helpful enough to offer a link partnership, it should be one you intend to keep, as a permanent link. Be sure to know your potential partner sites well.
The use of directories for finding linking partners will benefit your website and your online business more than employing the commonly used random approach. Most website owners do not have a plan for finding link exchanges that make sense for their site. A link only has real value to your visitors, if it has something in common with the overall theme and interest of your website.
Directories are an excellent source of theme related link partners for any website. If the directory used for the search is a major one such as DMOZ, the Yahoo! Directory, or the Google Directory, sites with your main topics are readily categorized. Finding potential linking partners is very easy, using the major directories.
For more details on Internet Directories visit at http://www.halfvalue.com and http://www.halfvalue.co.uk
For more Books information visit at http://www.lookbookstores.com
Directories have far more possibilities hidden within their listings than is generally thought. Many webmasters, and even some search engine optimization experts, ignore the less obvious value residing in the various categories. Some of the very useful directories for link research include the Open Directory Project, better known as DMOZ; the Yahoo! Directory; the Google Directory; and the many specialty directories directly related to the searcher's area of business.
Selecting Directories
The most obvious Internet directory to start with when beginning a comprehensive link search is the well known DMOZ directory. With its complete category and sub-category classification system, any website owner can find numerous sites within their area of business. If your website is already listed in the DMOZ directory, the first step is to go directly to your own site's category. Within those pages of listings, whether you are in the global or regional category will be some of your direct competitors.
The Yahoo! Directory provides a similar opportunity for the website owner. The Yahoo! Directory has many of the same sites listed as DMOZ. That is a given. There are, however, many more sites listed in Yahoo! that are not part of the Open Directory Project. That fact opens up many more possibilities for the webmaster. When you go to the Yahoo! Directory, as with DMOZ, go first to your category if you are already listed. Select the most probable one, if your site is not included. Note that the listings are also in alphabetical order, and may have somewhat different descriptions than the DMOZ directory employs. Use the same procedure as before, and your list of potential linking partners will grow larger.
A third important Internet directory is the Google Directory. Using listings supplied by the Open Directory Project, the listings are very similar to those found in DMOZ. Google offers a major and important difference, however. Google orders the results from the highest PageRank listing to the lowest, making your sorting that much easier. Keep in mind that some of the PageRanks on display are possibly out of date, and may not reflect the site's current PageRank.
Work on Specialty Directories
A powerful alternative source of directory link leads is found in the sometimes overlooked specialty directories. The first step is to search for the specialty and minor directories in the search engines. Enter combinations of "directories" and "your industry" and lists will appear. It won't matter if the directories are paid or free for inclusion, as you are searching for link exchanges. If one of the newly discovered directories is free, however, be certain to get your own website included. After all, a directory is a valuable incoming link too.
How to Exchange Directories
• Simply click on the links, one by one, and examine the sites carefully. Know something about the site. Look for contact information and find the webmaster's name if possible. In your e-mail to the prospective exchange partner, be certain to offer some strong indication that you have actually visited the site in question.
• Tell your prospective partner that you have already linked their site and you feel your site would be beneficial to their site visitors as well. A really good idea is to tell the webmaster of a part of their site that you found especially interesting and informative.
• Place a link on your own site to the sites you have decided to contact first, prior to any requests. That is simply proper linking etiquette. It also displays your professionalism to the recipient who is probably tired of link exchange spam.
• Be sure to always visit the site as well. It is never a good idea to link partner with a site you wouldn't feel comfortable recommending to all of your customers. Your business and personal reputations are at stake.
• Don't threaten to remove the link to their site if they fail to reciprocate. If the site was interesting and helpful enough to offer a link partnership, it should be one you intend to keep, as a permanent link. Be sure to know your potential partner sites well.
The use of directories for finding linking partners will benefit your website and your online business more than employing the commonly used random approach. Most website owners do not have a plan for finding link exchanges that make sense for their site. A link only has real value to your visitors, if it has something in common with the overall theme and interest of your website.
Directories are an excellent source of theme related link partners for any website. If the directory used for the search is a major one such as DMOZ, the Yahoo! Directory, or the Google Directory, sites with your main topics are readily categorized. Finding potential linking partners is very easy, using the major directories.
For more details on Internet Directories visit at http://www.halfvalue.com and http://www.halfvalue.co.uk
For more Books information visit at http://www.lookbookstores.com
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Make your Web Page loading fast
Studies have shown that if a web site takes more than 8-10 seconds to load on a 56k modem then you risk losing the visitor. This means that the web page design needs to be less than 30 kilobytes in size. Web surfers hate to wait for slow loading web pages. If your web pages don't load fast enough, many web surfers will go away without taking a look at them. No matter how great your product is: if your web site is not fast enough, web surfers won't see it. Fast loading web pages are crucial if you want to sell something on the Internet. There are several things you can do to speed up your site. Of course, you should make sure that your web host provides fast and reliable servers. In addition to hosting your web site on a fast server, you can do the following to improve the loading time of your web pages:
Reduce the number of graphics:
A large number of graphics on your web pages can considerably slow down your page. For each graphic on your web page, the web browser has to make another connection to your server. If you cannot reduce the number of graphics on your web page, then try to combine several graphics to a single bigger one. Use the same graphics on your other web pages so that web browsers can load the graphics from the browser cache.
Optimize all heavy files:
As much as possible optimize heavy graphics, Flash files and scripts. In editors like fireworks and flash you can see the various options in the preview panel to reduce the sizes. See how popular web sites like google and yahoo have pages that are very small in size and thus load in seconds.
Specify the dimensions of your graphics:
Always make sure to include the height and width dimensions of your graphics in your HTML code. This means that every IMG tag should have the WIDTH and HEIGHT attributes specified. If web browsers don’t have to figure out the dimensions of your graphics, they can already display placeholders and start displaying the text of your web page before loading the graphics from the server.
Spread out your content:
In case you find yourself having very long pages of content, break them down into separate sections and thus bring down the sizes of the individual pages.
Make the top of your page interesting:
If a web page takes a long time to load, make sure that the top of the page contains something interesting because visitors will see that part first.
Optimize your HTML code:
Make sure that your site doesn't have any unwanted tags and that it is optimized.
Divide your tables:
Web pages that use a single large layout table take a long time to render in web browsers. Break up huge tables into several smaller ones.
Specify the dimensions of your tables
If you specify the WIDTH and HEIGHT attributes for your tables, then web browsers don't have to load the complete table code to calculate the dimensions of the table.
Double check cell widths:
Take a moment to check the individual widths of each table cell. If the total is more than the specified table width, then web browsers will have problems displaying your table.
It's important to know the download times of your web pages. In general, your home page should load in 20 seconds on a dial-up connection and the top of your page should be displayed within 5-8 seconds.
For more details on Web Page visit at www.halfvalue.com and www.halfvalue.co.uk
For more Books information visit at www.lookbookstores.com
Reduce the number of graphics:
A large number of graphics on your web pages can considerably slow down your page. For each graphic on your web page, the web browser has to make another connection to your server. If you cannot reduce the number of graphics on your web page, then try to combine several graphics to a single bigger one. Use the same graphics on your other web pages so that web browsers can load the graphics from the browser cache.
Optimize all heavy files:
As much as possible optimize heavy graphics, Flash files and scripts. In editors like fireworks and flash you can see the various options in the preview panel to reduce the sizes. See how popular web sites like google and yahoo have pages that are very small in size and thus load in seconds.
Specify the dimensions of your graphics:
Always make sure to include the height and width dimensions of your graphics in your HTML code. This means that every IMG tag should have the WIDTH and HEIGHT attributes specified. If web browsers don’t have to figure out the dimensions of your graphics, they can already display placeholders and start displaying the text of your web page before loading the graphics from the server.
Spread out your content:
In case you find yourself having very long pages of content, break them down into separate sections and thus bring down the sizes of the individual pages.
Make the top of your page interesting:
If a web page takes a long time to load, make sure that the top of the page contains something interesting because visitors will see that part first.
Optimize your HTML code:
Make sure that your site doesn't have any unwanted tags and that it is optimized.
Divide your tables:
Web pages that use a single large layout table take a long time to render in web browsers. Break up huge tables into several smaller ones.
Specify the dimensions of your tables
If you specify the WIDTH and HEIGHT attributes for your tables, then web browsers don't have to load the complete table code to calculate the dimensions of the table.
Double check cell widths:
Take a moment to check the individual widths of each table cell. If the total is more than the specified table width, then web browsers will have problems displaying your table.
It's important to know the download times of your web pages. In general, your home page should load in 20 seconds on a dial-up connection and the top of your page should be displayed within 5-8 seconds.
For more details on Web Page visit at www.halfvalue.com and www.halfvalue.co.uk
For more Books information visit at www.lookbookstores.com
Monday, February 19, 2007
How to Convert Web Site Visitors into Clients?
There are a number of ways that integrating consumer reviews into your site can substantially increase your conversion rates. These include answering common questions to help skeptical or ‘on-the-fence’ visitors close a purchase decision, introducing additional uses for a product and helping to up sell additional products.
Not only do consumer product reviews have a long history of increasing sales, they can also make your site stand out from your competitors. If your site provides the consumer with the answers they need, this builds their confidence in your product and increases your credibility. If you combine this with a competitive price, the chance of the customer making the purchase from you has increased substantially.
Make sure that your web pages have a professional design
Your web pages have to look perfect. If necessary, hire a professional web designer. Don't use blinking text, funny animations or flashy banners on your page. Make sure that all links on your web site are intact. Don't use automatically created web pages. Some software programs allow you to automatically create pages that are "optimized" for a special keyword. These doorway pages don't work anymore on search engines.
In addition, human web surfers are turned away by that kind of pages. While doorway pages might look attractive to software programs, web surfers usually hate them. Automatically created doorway pages usually look ugly to human web surfers. Often, they consist of nothing more than a list of buzz-words. You won't get good results with this method because human web surfers will quickly close such a web page.
Effective Content
Content is the most important aspect of a web site. Effective content draws visitors in, speaks to their problems, and resonates with them on an emotional level. Most web sites are terrible at this – they are designed from the perspective of “all about us”, when the appropriate style is “what’s in it for you”.
Gather Information and Respond Quickly
Perhaps the most important tactic agents can use to keep the dialogue alive is to respond to the prospect quickly. Doing that requires that the prospects provide some contact information at your Web site, and that the information gets immediately emailed to you. Therefore, it's important to include data-capture points throughout your Web site. I recommend prompting visitors to provide only as much information as you need for a follow-up call: Name, ZIP code, email address and phone number, for example.
Asking for more information than that, such as street address and personal data, call intimidate prospects and is usually best saved for later in the sales or application process While most consumers have been conditioned to expect slow responses -or none at a1l- from companies they contact on the Web, the Internet's potential for instant communication between agent and client is a fantastic selling tool. Agents who respond to Web inquiries immediately have a much higher conversion rate than agents who wait even a couple of days.
Killer headlines will grab your visitors attention
Nobody will read your entire page. Make it easier for your customers by dividing your page into paragraphs where each paragraph has a headline. Your headlines should make clear what to expect in the next sentences and they should grab your visitors' attention.
Using Your Site as an Online Brochure
If you are able to follow up right away, not only will you wow your prospect, you also will be able to use your Web site as a real-time discussion guide. Walk the prospect through the key pages of your site and use your online information to help answer their questions. Even better, if your site offers an online application and your prospect is ready to buy, walk him or her through the insurance application. Doing so offers several benefits:
• Convenience
The client doesn't have to wait for a personal visit from the agent, or for forms to arrive in the mail, to apply.
• Accuracy
Because the form is automated - and you're there to answer questions - online applications tend to yield cleaner data and require less follow-up than paper forms.
• Speed
The application can be forwarded electronically from agent to carrier, so the policy can be under- written faster.
• Cost
Transferring documents online eliminates the need to pay for postage and mailing.
Once your Web site is functioning as an online brochure, keeping it up-to- date can create significant cost savings, eliminating the need for printing and mailing hard-copy marketing materials year after year.
For more details on Web Site visit at www.halfvalue.com and www.halfvalue.co.uk
For more Books information visit at www.lookbookstores.com
Not only do consumer product reviews have a long history of increasing sales, they can also make your site stand out from your competitors. If your site provides the consumer with the answers they need, this builds their confidence in your product and increases your credibility. If you combine this with a competitive price, the chance of the customer making the purchase from you has increased substantially.
Make sure that your web pages have a professional design
Your web pages have to look perfect. If necessary, hire a professional web designer. Don't use blinking text, funny animations or flashy banners on your page. Make sure that all links on your web site are intact. Don't use automatically created web pages. Some software programs allow you to automatically create pages that are "optimized" for a special keyword. These doorway pages don't work anymore on search engines.
In addition, human web surfers are turned away by that kind of pages. While doorway pages might look attractive to software programs, web surfers usually hate them. Automatically created doorway pages usually look ugly to human web surfers. Often, they consist of nothing more than a list of buzz-words. You won't get good results with this method because human web surfers will quickly close such a web page.
Effective Content
Content is the most important aspect of a web site. Effective content draws visitors in, speaks to their problems, and resonates with them on an emotional level. Most web sites are terrible at this – they are designed from the perspective of “all about us”, when the appropriate style is “what’s in it for you”.
Gather Information and Respond Quickly
Perhaps the most important tactic agents can use to keep the dialogue alive is to respond to the prospect quickly. Doing that requires that the prospects provide some contact information at your Web site, and that the information gets immediately emailed to you. Therefore, it's important to include data-capture points throughout your Web site. I recommend prompting visitors to provide only as much information as you need for a follow-up call: Name, ZIP code, email address and phone number, for example.
Asking for more information than that, such as street address and personal data, call intimidate prospects and is usually best saved for later in the sales or application process While most consumers have been conditioned to expect slow responses -or none at a1l- from companies they contact on the Web, the Internet's potential for instant communication between agent and client is a fantastic selling tool. Agents who respond to Web inquiries immediately have a much higher conversion rate than agents who wait even a couple of days.
Killer headlines will grab your visitors attention
Nobody will read your entire page. Make it easier for your customers by dividing your page into paragraphs where each paragraph has a headline. Your headlines should make clear what to expect in the next sentences and they should grab your visitors' attention.
Using Your Site as an Online Brochure
If you are able to follow up right away, not only will you wow your prospect, you also will be able to use your Web site as a real-time discussion guide. Walk the prospect through the key pages of your site and use your online information to help answer their questions. Even better, if your site offers an online application and your prospect is ready to buy, walk him or her through the insurance application. Doing so offers several benefits:
• Convenience
The client doesn't have to wait for a personal visit from the agent, or for forms to arrive in the mail, to apply.
• Accuracy
Because the form is automated - and you're there to answer questions - online applications tend to yield cleaner data and require less follow-up than paper forms.
• Speed
The application can be forwarded electronically from agent to carrier, so the policy can be under- written faster.
• Cost
Transferring documents online eliminates the need to pay for postage and mailing.
Once your Web site is functioning as an online brochure, keeping it up-to- date can create significant cost savings, eliminating the need for printing and mailing hard-copy marketing materials year after year.
For more details on Web Site visit at www.halfvalue.com and www.halfvalue.co.uk
For more Books information visit at www.lookbookstores.com
Google's New Web Page Spider
Search engines use automated software programs that crawl the web. These programs called "crawlers" or "spiders" go from link to link and store the text and the keywords from the pages in a database. "Googlebot" is the name of Google's spider software.
Types of Google Spiders:
Many webmasters have noticed that there are now two different Google spiders that index their web pages. At least one of them is performing a complete site scan:
• The normal Google spider: 66.249.64.47 - "GET /robots.txt HTTP/1.0" 404 1227 "-" "Googlebot/2.1 (+http://www.google.com/bot.html)"
• The additional Google spider: 66.249.66.129 - "GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 38358 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)"
Difference between these two Google spiders
The new Google spider uses a slightly different user agent: "Mozilla/5.0". This means that Googlebot now also accepts the HTTP 1.1 protocol. The new spider might be able to understand more content formats, including compressed HTML.
AdWords Spider
Google is using a new crawler software program for their AdWords advertising system that automatically spiders and analyzes the content of advertising landing pages. Google tries to determine the quality of the ad landing pages with the new bot. The content of the landing page will be used for the Quality Score that Google assigns to your ads. Google uses the Quality Score and the amount you are willing to pay to determine the position of your ads. Ads with a high quality score can rank higher even if you pay less than others for the ad.
Purpose of Google Spider
Google hasn't revealed the reason for it yet. There are two main theories:
• The first theory is that Google uses the new spider to spot web sites that use cloaking, JavaScript redirects and other dubious web site optimization techniques. As the new spider seems to be more powerful than the old spider, this sounds plausible.
• The second theory is that Google's extensive crawling might be a panic reaction because the index needs to be rebuilt from the ground up in a short time period. The reason for this might be that the old index contains too many spam pages.
What does this mean to your web site?
If you use questionable techniques such as cloaking or JavaScript redirects, you might get into trouble. If Google really uses the new spider to detect spamming web sites, it's likely that these sites will be banned from the index. To obtain long-term results on search engines, it's better to use ethical search engine optimization methods. General information about Google's web page spider can be found here.
Receive Email When Google Spiders Your Page
A search engine spider is an automated software program that locates and collects data from web pages for inclusion in a search engine's database. The name of Google's spider is "Googlebot". If you have a web site that allows you to use PHP code then your web pages can inform you when Google's spider has indexed them. This little piece of PHP code recognizes Googlebot if it visits the web page, and it informs you by email when Googlebot has been there.
For more details on Google’s Spider visit at www.halfvalue.com and www.halfvalue.co.uk
For more Books information visit at www.lookbookstores.com
Types of Google Spiders:
Many webmasters have noticed that there are now two different Google spiders that index their web pages. At least one of them is performing a complete site scan:
• The normal Google spider: 66.249.64.47 - "GET /robots.txt HTTP/1.0" 404 1227 "-" "Googlebot/2.1 (+http://www.google.com/bot.html)"
• The additional Google spider: 66.249.66.129 - "GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 38358 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)"
Difference between these two Google spiders
The new Google spider uses a slightly different user agent: "Mozilla/5.0". This means that Googlebot now also accepts the HTTP 1.1 protocol. The new spider might be able to understand more content formats, including compressed HTML.
AdWords Spider
Google is using a new crawler software program for their AdWords advertising system that automatically spiders and analyzes the content of advertising landing pages. Google tries to determine the quality of the ad landing pages with the new bot. The content of the landing page will be used for the Quality Score that Google assigns to your ads. Google uses the Quality Score and the amount you are willing to pay to determine the position of your ads. Ads with a high quality score can rank higher even if you pay less than others for the ad.
Purpose of Google Spider
Google hasn't revealed the reason for it yet. There are two main theories:
• The first theory is that Google uses the new spider to spot web sites that use cloaking, JavaScript redirects and other dubious web site optimization techniques. As the new spider seems to be more powerful than the old spider, this sounds plausible.
• The second theory is that Google's extensive crawling might be a panic reaction because the index needs to be rebuilt from the ground up in a short time period. The reason for this might be that the old index contains too many spam pages.
What does this mean to your web site?
If you use questionable techniques such as cloaking or JavaScript redirects, you might get into trouble. If Google really uses the new spider to detect spamming web sites, it's likely that these sites will be banned from the index. To obtain long-term results on search engines, it's better to use ethical search engine optimization methods. General information about Google's web page spider can be found here.
Receive Email When Google Spiders Your Page
A search engine spider is an automated software program that locates and collects data from web pages for inclusion in a search engine's database. The name of Google's spider is "Googlebot". If you have a web site that allows you to use PHP code then your web pages can inform you when Google's spider has indexed them. This little piece of PHP code recognizes Googlebot if it visits the web page, and it informs you by email when Googlebot has been there.
For more details on Google’s Spider visit at www.halfvalue.com and www.halfvalue.co.uk
For more Books information visit at www.lookbookstores.com
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Importance of Keywords in SEO
A good web page contains information that people are looking for. When you write the page you need to take a step back and think about what search terms or keywords people would enter to find it. Once you have determined those keywords, you need to narrow them down to 3 to 5 main words. Then you can start to write the page, keeping these words in mind while you develop the content.One of the first things anyone embarking on a search marketing effort learns is that effective selection and use of keywords can make or break a campaign. Keyword research is an art, but the appropriate use of tools can help you practice the art much more effectively.
Keyword Research:
Keyword Research is the building block for search engine optimization. Search engines utilize keywords or key phrases to identify web pages which are relevant to these terms. Finding keywords / phrases which are relevant to your website and implementing them in your pages and links will help a search engine identify your webpage when a search is conducted for that particular keyword / phrase. Keywords have to be implemented on-page as well as off-page for higher ranking.
Building links is essential to gain more traffic and obtain a high ranking on search engines. But building links which are effectively optimized can score you extra points. Search engines analyze a link based on several factors, one being the text of the link itself. If your linking text, commonly referred to as anchor text, contains relevant keywords it indicates clearly what the link is connecting to.
Keyword research is not as simple as putting down a bunch of words which users may search for. Today people commonly use advanced tools to find appropriate keywords. Wordtracker, Overture Search Suggestion Tool and Keyword Discovery are some of the more commonly used tools. These tools will not only help you find keywords but will also help you determine the competition these keywords attract.
How to select keywords:
• Using generic terms to optimize your website and links is not a smart idea. Keywords which are most commonly searched for will be used by several thousands websites; competing with these already established websites may not improve your ranking at all.
• It is important that you select keywords which are not overused. Include keywords which receive a fair number of searches but have minimal competition. Optimize your website with these keywords and once you have established yourself, you will have the liberty to include more general keywords.
• When selecting less searched terms, one may always run the risk of less traffic. But this may be better than no traffic at all if the keywords used are highly competed for. One way to solve this problem is to go as specific as possible with your keywords.
• Finding the right keywords is not as easy as it may seem. The success of your website may depend on traffic directed from search engines; and to figure on a search engine you will have to optimize your site with relevant keywords. It also does not end with optimizing your site once; one has to continually analyze the popularity of keywords and make appropriate changes to your website.
Keyword Density:
Improving the keyword density on your website is one of the fastest and simplest ways to increase your site's visibility in the search engine results pages. To better explain this reasoning, we will refer to a "keyword" as a word that your typical web surfer will input in the search box when searching for specific information about a product or service.
The true definition of keyword density is the ratio of the word that is being searched for, ie the keyword, against the total number of words appearing on a given web page. If your keyword occurs only once or twice in a page of 500 or more words, obviously it has a lower keyword density than a keyword that would occur six or seven times in a page of similar length.
For more details on Keywords visit at http://www.halfvalue.com and http://www.halfvalue.co.uk
Find more about Books at http://www.lookbookstores.com
Keyword Research:
Keyword Research is the building block for search engine optimization. Search engines utilize keywords or key phrases to identify web pages which are relevant to these terms. Finding keywords / phrases which are relevant to your website and implementing them in your pages and links will help a search engine identify your webpage when a search is conducted for that particular keyword / phrase. Keywords have to be implemented on-page as well as off-page for higher ranking.
Building links is essential to gain more traffic and obtain a high ranking on search engines. But building links which are effectively optimized can score you extra points. Search engines analyze a link based on several factors, one being the text of the link itself. If your linking text, commonly referred to as anchor text, contains relevant keywords it indicates clearly what the link is connecting to.
Keyword research is not as simple as putting down a bunch of words which users may search for. Today people commonly use advanced tools to find appropriate keywords. Wordtracker, Overture Search Suggestion Tool and Keyword Discovery are some of the more commonly used tools. These tools will not only help you find keywords but will also help you determine the competition these keywords attract.
How to select keywords:
• Using generic terms to optimize your website and links is not a smart idea. Keywords which are most commonly searched for will be used by several thousands websites; competing with these already established websites may not improve your ranking at all.
• It is important that you select keywords which are not overused. Include keywords which receive a fair number of searches but have minimal competition. Optimize your website with these keywords and once you have established yourself, you will have the liberty to include more general keywords.
• When selecting less searched terms, one may always run the risk of less traffic. But this may be better than no traffic at all if the keywords used are highly competed for. One way to solve this problem is to go as specific as possible with your keywords.
• Finding the right keywords is not as easy as it may seem. The success of your website may depend on traffic directed from search engines; and to figure on a search engine you will have to optimize your site with relevant keywords. It also does not end with optimizing your site once; one has to continually analyze the popularity of keywords and make appropriate changes to your website.
Keyword Density:
Improving the keyword density on your website is one of the fastest and simplest ways to increase your site's visibility in the search engine results pages. To better explain this reasoning, we will refer to a "keyword" as a word that your typical web surfer will input in the search box when searching for specific information about a product or service.
The true definition of keyword density is the ratio of the word that is being searched for, ie the keyword, against the total number of words appearing on a given web page. If your keyword occurs only once or twice in a page of 500 or more words, obviously it has a lower keyword density than a keyword that would occur six or seven times in a page of similar length.
For more details on Keywords visit at http://www.halfvalue.com and http://www.halfvalue.co.uk
Find more about Books at http://www.lookbookstores.com
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