One of the easiest ways to continually stay on top of the Google search engine is by creating new content. All marketers know that they must consistently create new content for their web platform. Regardless if this content is created via Facebook. Twitter, Blogs or on the website itself, it must be created. A business can have the best looking website and highest quality created web marketing platform, but without a constant infusion of content, it will never be seen. This brings up the question that almost all marketers and business owners ask, “How can I create great new content on a consistent basis?” Here are three easy ways to keep the creative juices flowing and generate new and interesting content.

Be Unique

How are you or your business different than your competitors? Perhaps you have a business that has been in your family for generations? Maybe your business does house calls when your competitors do not? Be sure to accent the unique qualities that make your business stand out. Outside of broadcasting these unique elements, integrate them into your entire web platform. Every business needs to solve problems for their customers. Simply ask yourself, “What makes my business stand out?” When you determine what makes your business unique, this needs to be a focal point that can be used in your Facebook posts, your Twitter Tweets and as subject matter for your blog.

Proper Links

Your site should be the “go-to” for your area of expertise. By offering quality, informative and truthful information, you will gain the trust of potential customers. A great way to achieve this is through the use of links. Pay attention to where your links are sending your visitors. For example, when you are tweeting or posting on Facebook, it does not benefit you to simply grab great headlines that send your potential customers directly to your competitions website. Keep your potential clients on your site by offering links within your blog to the pages on your site that will answer their questions. The same strategy applies for your outbound messaging plans.

Fix The Problem

What solution does your business offer to solve your customer’s problems? Your business should be as transparent as possible and the content you create needs to reflect this. For example, if your business provides SEO optimisation services, explain to your customers why they need this service. Demonstrate how proper SEO will benefit them and explain why. Being secretive or evasive only creates frustration on the part of the customer. Creating transparent content will show the customer that you care enough to assist them before they write that first check.

Creating new and relevant content on a regular basis will allow Google to consistently highly rate your site. The key is to provide value.

Happy Marketing!

Thanks!

Sean

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Internet Marketing Academy

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What is niche marketing and why is it important online?  A niche is a very small and specific part of a targeted market.  For example, many larger companies might target a demographic of women from age 23-34, which is NOT a niche.  A niche would be women age 23-34 who swing dance.  There aren’t a lot of these, but the ones there are don’t have a lot of options for shopping that caters to them.  In the regular marketplace it doesn’t make a lot of sense to open a store that caters solely to female swing dancers, but online it makes plenty of sense.  The online business model essentially says that anyone with a need can be reached directly through online sales.  In a more traditional approach you must provide to the masses.  Online any customer can find you.  Provided you have a website that is optimised to take advantage of your niche, customers will find you.

1. If you don’t target a niche then you are in competition with super giants like Amazon and Walmart for customers.  This will not lead to a successful online business.  The trick is to find an underserved market.  Even if only one person in ten thousand is interested in the product, that still gives you a respectable client base of approximately six hundred thousand people worldwide.  It is sort of like a small slice of a very large pie.

2. If you don’t target a niche, search engine optimisation is difficult, if not impossible.  Without search engine optimisation, customers won’t find your website and it will languish in obscurity and negatively affect your earnings as it will cost you money to own it, but bring in no profits.  Choosing a niche lets you choose specific keywords to help optimise your site.

3. Niche marketing can also provide you with a direction.  Starting a business without some direction or focus results in a lot of ineffectual flailing that accomplishes nothing.  With a niche decided, you can develop a marketing plan that will work to spread information about your specific products.

Sometimes it is a good idea to research niche markets before deciding on a product to sell.  Often once the market is identified the product offering becomes clear.  Intellectual property is one of the best sellers online, and it is great for a new start-up since the cost is minimal.  Do your research before you get started, it will save you a ton in the long run.

Thanks!

Sean

Internet Marketing Academy

Internet Marketing Training – Internet Marketing Course – Internet Marketing Blog

In order to effectively market online you must have a solid understanding of how Search Engines work.  The basis for most internet marketing is found in search engine optimisation.  Here search engines are explained and the importance of the meta tag is discussed.  First, learning about how search engines operate will give you a boost when creating content for the web.

How Search Engines Work       

Well known search engines like Yahoo and Google use a specific type of software that creates a keyword list for every webpage they find.  This type of software is called a spider or crawler because the software reaches out all over the internet constantly looking for new websites.  Beginning with the most trafficked servers, the crawler software will explore to find all the web addresses stored on the server.  After collecting the addresses it will also create a keyword index that it stores on the search engine database.

The Meta Tag Explained

The single most used search engine is Google, so most search engine optimisation is focused on improving results specifically on Google.  The Google crawler focuses on the information contained in the webpage’s meat tag.  A meta tag is a short description of a web page and is the single most important piece of content you will create, simply because it will drive traffic to your site.  It is the meta tag that the search engine displays on a results page after a keyword search.

Choosing Keywords for your Meta Tag

Because search engines focus on the meta tag information to develop the key word index for a website, it is imperative to create a highly effective meta tag to optimise your website.  Research is the key to a solid meta tag for your website.  There are two methodologies for choosing keywords for you meta tag: niche and general.  Usually you want to include a combination of both in order to maximise the effectiveness of your website.

Consider the content of your website and then research the most searched terms surrounding that content.  Include the top two listing in the meta tag to help improve your search engine rankings.  Also, look at specific services that you offer that are different from the mainstream.  Include a few keywords that are highly specific to your demographic and product offerings.  The combination will help you gain hits from the general public and those more narrowly focused on what you offer.  Combining the two will give your site the ability to draw the most number of people to your site.

Writing the Finalised Meta Tag

When drafting your meta tags keep the information concise and relevant to the specific page.  If you are selling purses, make sure all the keywords focus on elements of selling purses.  Never repeat keywords, it is a waste of characters and search engines only show a line or two of text on the results page.  Make sure you include your company name in the meta tag so that current customers can find your website easily and new customers will be able to pull your website out of the mix of results.

Thanks!

Sean

Internet Marketing Academy

Internet Marketing Training – Internet Marketing Course – Internet Marketing Blog

Internet marketing allows anyone to start a business if they have a little time and money. It’s easy to use keyword tools to see what people are searching for online.

However, there is a big difference between what people are searching for–and what they’re actually BUYING.

A lot of marketers assume if there is high search volume for a keyword, there is definite buying potential. They’ll get a lot of traffic via that keyword but that doesn’t mean they are going to translate into buyers.

What you need to do is find out if there are products in that market that are already selling. Are there ebooks in your niche that are being sold on Clickbank? Can you go to Amazon and buy a book on the subject?

Best one: is there a magazine devoted to your niche people will subscribe to?

Those are the real signs there is a buyer’s market out there. You have to look beyond simple keyword research and search volumes to determine what people will buy.

Another trick is to do a series of Google searches. Google terms like, “(insert niche) affiliate”. If affiliate programs in your niche show up in the search results, then this is another sign there is a buyer’s market.

Finally do a simple search for your main keyword in Google. Are there any Google Adwords ads showing up? These are the ads that show up on the right hand side of the organic search results.

If there are, check in every 4-5 days to see if the ads are still there. If they are, then the marketer is probably making a profit advertising there. Make note of them for competitive research.

These tips will allow you to go further than a simple keyword search volume statistic when it comes to uncovering niches that can be lucrative. Also don’t be afraid of too much competition–competition is a sign money is to be made in that market!

Keep Selling,

Sean

Sean McPheat

Internet Marketing Academy

Keyword research is truly the lifeblood of any internet marketing business. You have to know how to choose the right keywords; otherwise, your business will struggle.

Here are some keyword tips that’ll allow you to get the edge in your market. Ignore these tips at your own peril!

1) Don’t ignore the long tail.

Long tail keywords are keywords that are specific. They get less traffic but their specificity will yield higher conversions.

For example, if one of your keywords was the word “Toyota” you’re going to get a lot of results and traffic, but they are going to be too general.  A person typing in that keyword could be looking for anything about their cars or their company.

However, the keyword “Toyota Camry SE” is a more specific keyword. It is not going to get as much traffic, but the person typing in that keyword is going to be looking for that specific car or anything related to it.

So research long tail phrases that aren’t going to get as much traffic as the obvious keywords in your market, but will yield better results.

2) Don’t Get Carried Away With “Back Door” Strategies.

Several years ago, you could get away with using “back door” keyword strategies that involved choosing keywords that weren’t targeted for what a user is searching for–but as long as the keyword was relevant to the market you would get some conversions.

For example, if you were selling football pads and were using the keyword “football helmet” to drive traffic to your site, you would hope that since football players also need helmets that you would get some sales.

These strategies still work, but some channels such as Google Adwords will compare the relevancy of your keyword to your offer and ad–and commence to raise your bid prices if your offer is not targeted.

So use backdoor keyword strategies sparingly and concentrate your efforts on using the most targeted keyword possible.

More keyword strategies to come, so stay tuned!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Internet Marketing Academy

Keyword research is a science in itself. You cannot be involved in internet marketing without a basic knowledge of keyword research. Because the keywords you use in your campaigns, articles, and ads will make or break your internet marketing business.

Very often marketers ignore “long-tail” keywords. These are keywords that are 3-4 words long and are more specific than general keywords.

For example, a “short-tail” keyword is “weight loss”.  This is a very general keyword that will generate a lot of traffic.  However, it is an extremely competitive keyword not only for pay-per-click but for search engine optimization

However, a good long-tail keyword is “how to lose weight with p90x”.  p90x is a specific weight loss program that is popular right now. This keyword would get very little searches, but the traffic the keyword would get is very targeted.

You would probably think that since the long-tail keyword doesn’t get a lot of traffic, that you shouldn’t focus on these keywords.  However, you would be mistaken as these long-tail keywords would convert higher than the short-tail version.

For example, someone just searching for weight loss could be researching weight loss programs or trying to find some articles about weight loss. We do not really know the psychology of the person coming to our site through that keyword…whether or not they are ready to buy or are just “tire-kickers” who are just looking for free information.

However, with the long-tail keyword, “How to lose weight with p90x”, it is a more specific query. They already have a weight loss program in mind and, matched with a landing page that offers p90x-related products, conversions would be higher.

Further, this keyword is easier to optimize for in the search engines. Competiition isn’t as keen as it is for “weight loss”. So you have the added benefit of getting indexed for that keyword and getting traffic as a result.

So don’t ignore long-tail keywords in your marketing just because they do not get a lot of traffic.  Since the search term is more specific, you will get higher conversions.  And if you use enough long-tail keywords it will more than make up for not being about to rank for a high-traffic/high-competitive keyword such as “weight loss”.

Keep Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Internet Marketing Academy