Online Marketing - Don't Forget the Small Things

In the ever changing and demanding world of online marketing and e-commerce, general website maintenance is often overshadowed by big buck industry terms such as Search Engine Optimization and Pay Per Click. While these are proven strategies to increase site traffic and conversion, online marketers all to often wear blinders when it comes to their day-to-day marketing strategies. Here are some important website maintenance pointers to keep in mind when developing your online marketing strategy. Remember this is not an exhausted list rather a guide to help you increase your sites performance.

Stay on top of it - You can bet that your competitors are. From tags to copy, from images to keywords, it is always important to keep your website updated. Keep in mind that it is not just your industry that is changing. Search engines are getting smarter, new forms of marketing avenues are arising and the consumer is becoming more e-savvy. Properly maintaining a website is a full time job that never ends. If I had one area to focus my attention, it would be always having current copy. This will not only assure that your site stays current with consumers trends and changes in the industry, but it will also support your search engine optimization initiatives. Search engines respond well to relevant and fresh copy that relate to your chosen keywords. Adding new content will ensure that your site ranks high and that the bots return more often. Testing is also a good way to make sure you are staying on top of your consumer's needs and wants. Your homepage is a great place to start. You have less than eight seconds to present the information the consumer is looking for in a way that is appealing to them or you will see less than ideal conversions. Your website should be treated like a car. You just fill it with gas and it will only run so long but with regular maintenance and some care, you will ensure that it will be a well oiled machine for years to come.

Don't give up on traditional marketing - Is online marketing a cost effective form of marketing? Of course it is, however it can be less effective if traditional forms of marketing are ignored or discarded. Traditional marketing helps make your online marketing spend as productive as possible. Let's compare it to search engine optimization (SEO) and sponsored search (PPC). Company #1 spends a great deal of time and money optimizing their site for search engines and spends a great deal per month making sure they are always in the first spot for paid search. They are seeing good lead volume for the cost and decide to cut all traditional marketing and just stick to online marketing thinking this will help keep costs down. Firm #2 takes a similar approach but decides to restrict its online marketing spend by ranking in the second or third spot on sponsored search and puts the additional funds towards traditional marketing. Now this raises an interesting question. As a consumer, you are doing a search and see both Firm #1 and Firm #2 rank highly in natural search and Firm #1 is doing a bit better in sponsored search. What happens next is the key to the point that I am making. Your odds of winning that consumers click are much better for Firm #2 because the consumer is already familiar with that brand through traditional marketing. The key is to find the most appropriate balance between your online spend and traditional marketing spend to help insure that you are getting the most out of every marketing dollar.

Find new ways to promote - The effectiveness of your site is based solely on your ability to drive quality visitors to your site and make them convert. We all know this. What we don't realize is that often times our promotional efforts may not directly create conversions. They do however; promote other areas of online marketing such as brand awareness and brand credibility. What is even more striking is that often times your current marketing materials can be leveraged to create more awareness. For example your company sells electronics. As a creative online marketer, you could take that five-minute tutorial about how your product works and post it to YouTube, Yahoo Movies or Google Video. Is this going to increase your conversions by 20 percent? Probably not, what it will do is help gain exposure, create another inbound link for your search engine optimization efforts and most importantly gain awareness for your product and company. Another great tactic is leveraging your sites current content by publishing the content to article databases such as selfgrowth.com. By setting your company apart as an industry expert you gain not only exposure but brand credibility which will pay dividends in terms of conversion. What is so great about leveraging your existing marketing materials is that it is often free. It only costs you and your company time to publish content or posting a movie.

Be patient - Due to the incredible pressure of result driven management, online marketers often do not have the patience to allow their efforts to come to fruition. Let's take for example this scenario. You have just spent four months choosing the correct keywords, optimizing your site for those keywords and just wrapped up another month of online promotion. Now what? Do I just sit and wait? The answer is yes and no. Keep monitoring your sites performance in the search engines and keep promoting your site and updating the freshness of your content. Do not scrap your strategy on the gut feeling that you are not seeing results quickly enough. Improvements in site rankings often take several months as the spiders return, crawl the new content and re-index your site. The key is to continuously make improvements to your site while being patient enough to see the results of your work, time and money.

Remember that online marketing is not just a science; it is an art. Often the sites that get the most attention do not get that way because they spend millions on promotion. They find new and creative ways to drive traffic and convert leads. Stay on top of your website and how it relates to consumers wants and needs. Optimize your traditional and online marketing spend, learn how to leverage current marketing assets and finally be patient. If the basics are covered, the sky is the limit and who knows maybe your site or product will be the next big thing.

Learn more by visiting Spyder Trap Online Marketing

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100 things to do with wii

Hacks and More

Check out these hacks and tricks for even more Wii fun.

70. Sensor bar: Create a wireless sensor bar for easier, portable Wii gaming.

71. Customize your Wii's look: You can decorate your Wii in styles ranging from Zelda to Yoshi and Darth Vader.

72. Run Linux: Use a Zelda explot to run Linux on the Wii.

73. Create a laptop: Follow the lead of one brilliant modder and turn your Wii into a laptop.

74. Wireless: Set up your Wii for wireless use.

75. Pulse your light bar to audio: Use this hardware mod to make your Wii's light pulse along to music.

76. Project the Wii onto a movie screen: Using a wireless sensor bar and some calculations, you can project your Wii onto the big screen.

77. Decide whether to head outside or stay in to play WiiSports: With the weather channel, you can figure out if it's better to play inside or out.

78. Mod your Wii: Use a modchip to play homebrewed GameCube games and more.

79. Play music: Use this hack to turn the Wii into an MP3 player.

80. Hone your fine motor skills: Take a page from these surgeons, and use the Wii to fine-tune your motor skills.

81. Navigate global news stories, using a globe: Check out the news channel to explore the novelty of reading the news on a globe.

82. Rearrange Channels: If you've downloaded a lot of different games or channels, you can rearrange them with this hack.

83. Play classic games: Use the virtual console to download your old favorites on the N64, Super Nintendo, and more.

84. Improve your wireless reception: Use this hack to add an antenna that will bost your network reception.

85. Make a Wii cake: Follow Martha Stewart's instructions to create a cake modeled after the Wii.

86. Make music: Turn a yo-yo and a Wii into a musical instrument using this hack.

87. Edit photos: On the Photo channel, you can do cursory photo editing.

88. Show off your geekiness with a Wii skateboard: Check out this skateboard painted to look like a Wiimote.

89. Catch your spouse cheating: A soldier returning from Iraq busted his wife, who spent several nights playing Wii bowling with another man while he was gone.

90. Give games as a gift: On the virtual console, you can send games to friends as a gift.

91. Spin the globe: On the News and Weather channels, you can spin the globe just for fun.

92. Compete for most-tuned-in-Mii: Use the Everyone Votes channel to see who knows popular opinion the best.

93. Create a huge picture puzzle: With this hack, you can turn any photo into a 192-piece puzzle.

94. Create your own slideshow music: Put mp3s in your SD card, and you can set a photo slideshow to music.

95. Download photos from your phone: Enable bluetooth on your phone, and you can send camera phone photos to your Wii.

96. Portable presentation system: The system is portable, and easy to hook up to a projector, plus it has an SD card slot, so you can use it with the Photo Channel.

97. Create a poll: If you're curious about common opinion on a subject, submit your own poll to the Everyone Votes channel.

98. Map yourself: Put yourself on the Wii map, just for fun.

99. Message other Wii owners: Share your 16-digit Wii number with friends and family to share Miis, send messages, and more.

100. Play with non-gamers: Perhaps the coolest thing to do with the Wii is share it with non-gamers. The Wii is a friendly console for grandma, kids, and everyone in between, so it's a great way to introduce others to gaming.

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Writing Hubs: So I'll say this again the top three things you need to have on a hub. No some much on the hubs alone, but also outside of hubpages.

--Links: no links people won't find it or won't try to find it. You need link to encourage traffic to move between your hubs, or to your hubs as the case may be.  When you are creating links you will need to think of places that you can link to your work from outside to increase traffic.

Some of these sites are social networking sites, such as Stumble upon, Digg Facebook, and many others.  Also use smaller sites such as She Told Me, or Redgage to get some traffic to your work.  It is important to add links.  It is also important to be active on these sites to maximizethe traffic and money benefit you get from them.  Also, use the power of the article directories since many of these links are do-follow, but do not spam these sites.

--Interactivity: As in people comment you comment back. You go to others hubs and comment there, you write your heart out. Add pols and links, and some good keywords, and answer any questions, and comment back on their hubs that you've answered them. The most important is to be interactive on your own hubs.

Making money happens indirectly with interactivity your hubs will get indexed by Google a lot faster since your name will be found on other sites, and that means your profile will be found easily.  Again this is a slow method to making money but it is important in terms of visibility.

-- Time: traffic comes in time and with it so does your money. Allow this to happen, and understand one thing it is up to your to get the traffic, not hubpages, and the type of traffic matters. Keep writing, and never ever quit.

The more time you give your business, and the more you actually work at improving your links and your interacting without spamming the community the better your hubs will do over time.  It is important to provide quality hubs to your readers, and they are your future traffic.

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Getting ranked really boils down to three things:

1. Good Content

2. Backlinks

3. Social Media

Good Content

As far as word count the new norm is 500 words or more. Google looks for subject indicators in the title, url string, and first paragraph.

Time spent on page is also a contributing factor in their evaluation, so "good content" means engaging for your readers.

Keywords: We haven't seen any change in where keywords are most effective, e.g., title, url code, and 1 to 2 percent density throughout the article.

Backlinks

The Panda and Penguin updates have thrown the traditional backlink methodologies scrambling for new ways of securing good backlinks.

For years and years the old traditional backlink farms were quite effective. There were some popular ones like build my rank that are all gone now. Webmasters are now relying on long-tail keywords and higher quality backlinks to fill the void.

Guest posting is also back in style because it's a good way to get a high quality backlink from reputable sites.

Social Media

There are three top tiered social media sites that everyone is flocking to, they are:

1. Facebook

2. Twitter

3. Google +

You can throw in YouTube and Pinterest as other contenders, but the three mentioned above are the front runners at the moment.

Google likes the fact that other people like your site/page/post enough to mention it to others who in like kind do the same - it's called "viral."

It takes work, that's for sure so you better make sure you have something of value before you go through all the hoops of the ranking game.

The question you'll want to answer is, is it worth it? If this is a question in your mind then you will find "life without Google" interesting reading.

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When Things Go Wrong: How to Resolve eBay Disputes.

eBay has quite an intricate and long-winded dispute resolution procedure. In this email, I'll try to break each step down for you, so you can see what's involved and how long it takes.

As an example, let's go through what you would do if you paid for an item but didn't receive it from the seller.

Before you open a dispute: Give the seller a chance to send the item before you get ahead of yourself and open a dispute. If you're concerned about how long the item is taking to arrive, the first thing you should do is send a polite email to the seller saying that you haven't received it and asking whether they have posted it. You should also check your own email address in eBay's options, to make sure that the seller can reply to you. As a last resort before opening a dispute, you should try to call the seller on the number eBay has for them. You might have to pay long-distance charges for the call, but that's better than dragging the auction through mediation for months.

Step 1 - You open an Item Not Received dispute: You can do this here: http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?InrCreateDispute.

All you need to do is enter the item number and say that you did not receive the item.

Step 2 - eBay contacts the seller: eBay sends the seller an email that tells them that you've said you didn't receive the item. Then can then choose to tell you one of three things: that your payment hasn't cleared yet, that the item is in the post, or that they'll give you your money back. The seller can also tell eBay that they would like to send you a message.

Step 3 - You talk to the seller: You try to work out what's happened directly with the seller, sending messages back and forward. Hopefully they'll agree to give you a refund for the sake of their feedback, or your item will turn up in the post during this time.

Step 4 - Closing the dispute: After 30 days (or 10 days if the seller didn't respond), you have two options to close the dispute: either you were satisfied or you weren't. If you weren't satisfied, then you can claim under eBay's purchase protection program for up to $200.

Independent Dispute Mediation.

If you don't want to go through eBay's own process, and especially if the auction was for a high-value item, then you can use a third-party mediator. eBay recommend SquareTrade, at www.squaretrade.com, who provide mediation to many websites where there are buyers and sellers. They will contact the seller on your behalf and then mediate as you negotiate what to do from there.

Sellers who are committed to going through SquareTrade's mediation for any disputes can sign up to display the 'SquareTrade seal' on their auctions. This gives their buyers $250 fraud protection, and shows that their identity has been independently verified so they are who they say they are.

When your sellers aren't in such good standing, though, you need to be careful to avoid being a victim of fraud. There are a few scams that you especially need to look out for - we'll cover them in the next email.

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Things To Know About Affiliate Marketing

The truth behind affiliate marketing is the fact that

90% of affiliates will actually make less than 100$

a month. Therefore, you shouldn't count on making

full time income unless you can get very good at the

following:

1. Building a good web site that converts.

2. Search engine optimization. You'll need a

lot of traffic, as maybe 1 out of 200 visitors will

buy your products. SEO can help you get your site

in the search engines so more people will be able to

find you.

3. The trial and error of picking the right

merchants and learning the correct ways to promote

them.

Too many people out there assume that affiliate

marketing is actually a get rich quick type of

program. These types of people will throw up a

couple of banners, then wonder why they never make

a single sale or any money at all.

How long you'll need to do it depends on how much

money you are wanting to make. If you are a quick

learner and really good at affiliate marketing, you

may high 2,000 in 2 years. This is based on the

fact that you are starting at 0 and the fact that

you have another full time job, not being able to

devote a lot of time working with your affiliate

marketing program.

If you decide to give it a try, the hardest challenge

will be the first few months. If you check your

stats and see that you are only making a couple of

bucks, you'll find yourself wondering if all the

hard work was worth it. If you get some sales

going and stay committed with your hard work, the

commissions should start growing.

One of the biggest factors with affiliate marketing

is the traffic that goes through your site. Even

though you'll get a lot of traffic passing through

your website, only a fraction of the traffic will

be buyers.

The key here is knowing your visitors and then

being able to determine which affiliate programs

you can offer to meet their needs. There is also

the concept of pre sale, which is the ability

to put your visitors in the required open and

mind set that's required for them to actually click

on what you are selling.

By sticking with affiliate marketing, you'll learn

more and more over the years. You can't expect to

be the best when you first start, it'll take a lot

of hard work and dedication. By putting the time

and effort into your programs, you'll be well on

your way to making it in the very profitable and

exciting world of affiliate marketing.

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5 Things You Must Have to Succeed in Affiliate Marketing

The idea of being mere passengers on a ship meant to sail to the farthest points does not appeal to people who like to put their destiny into their own hands. They have the desire of maneuvering the ships themselves, of being able to be the ones to take it anywhere they want to. Being aboard a ship on its way to a particularly great destination is something each and every one of them dreams of, and the knowledge that they have the capacity to steer it themselves is what makes them actually want to.




Perhaps this is the reason why more and more people are succumbing to one of the most popular businesses around – affiliate marketing. It is because in this business, there are no bosses to order the employees around. There are no deadlines to meet and no clutter of work do to. One only needs to be equipped with the tools needed to succeed in a business such as this, and he is bound to get what his heart ultimately desires.




Just what are the things needed to be able to succeed in affiliate marketing? What must one have within himself to be able to do well in this industry? There is a lot of competition involved in affiliate marketing, and to be able to rise above the norm, one must be equipped with just the right stuff necessary to propel him forward. There are five things one must ultimately possess if he wants to achieve the glory he is yearning for in this business, and these five things are a must for him to possess to be able to stand out among the rest.




The very first quality one must possess if he wants to try his hand in affiliate marketing is the willingness to learn and be trained. Treading through unfamiliar territory is scary stuff if one is not properly equipped, and he might get lost amidst a jungle of the unknown. Learning the tricks of the trade is also an important aspect of the game, and one’s willingness to know it all will give him far better advantages in the business than he could ever imagine.




The second quality one must possess is the willingness to invest time and effort even if direct results do not seem at all apparent. Although several months may pass without good news, it is important for one who has his foot in the industry to hold on and wait. It is this quality which would save him from giving up after investing a lot of himself in the business.




The third quality one must possess is self-determination. If one wants to conquer the affiliate marketing world, he must have the ability to push himself ahead. Never having to say die is a quality each and every affiliate marketer should possess, and the ability to motivate oneself into scaling greater heights is an ability which would actually take an affiliate marketer there.




The fourth quality one must possess is discipline. If one knows how to teach himself to work everyday with all the energy he can muster, then he is close to achieving what he has set his heart to having in the first place.




The fifth and last quality one must possess is optimism. Negative attitudes and hearsays should not discourage an affiliate marketer from pursuing what he has to in order to make life better for himself and for everyone concerned. Neither should anyone influence his attitude toward the business, because once in it, it is a must for him to be the captain of his ship and the master of his soul.




The ingredients to success in a business such as affiliate marketing are diverse and manifold, but the most important thing one needs to be able to make it big lies in himself alone. It is he who has the capacity to do everything to be able to realize his prospects, and the desire which fuels his heart in doing so is the gasoline which should keep the engine going.




Affiliate marketing is all about putting one’s fate into his own hands. The right attitude is the key to being able to steer one’s ship into that part of the ocean where a certain kind of serenity can be found, one that permeates the atmosphere as the ship sails calmly on.

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