Tips For A Great Article!

Posted by Michael on May 18, 2012
Website Marketing / No Comments

Aside from writing good content on your own site you should post good and informative articles. Articles can provide you positive exposure and increase traffic to your website. The more articles you can post the better.

Some things to keep in mind when writing article are this:

1. Orginality
2. Focus on niche
3. Don’t promote your site.

Orginality

As I have stated over and over you always want to provide original content. Forget about what others are writing. You have a story that is unique from your perspective. Share your experience and knowledge. If your content is the same like everyone else you will be at the bottom like everyone else. It may seem difficult at first but as you write more you will gain confidence. I still make the grammar mistakes and typos. The more you write the more mistakes you are going to make. But the important point here is to make sure you are writing orignial content.

Focus on your niche.

This is another topic I have mentioned before. Focus on your niche. Try not to deviate from your niche. The more specific your niche the better. Remember a niche doesn’t have to be a specific service or product. It can be almost anything. It can be a city, a state, a holiday or just about anything. Eventually you can go after other niches but if you focus on one niche that will provide the best benefit.

Don’t promote your site.

Promoting your site can have the opposite affect. It’s okay to list your site as a resource. You just don’t want to come across as a commercial. If you write a good article and people like what you write you’ll see results. What your real goal should be is to write an article that is good that when the visitor reads it he/she will want to share it.

I hope this helps. Just remember to speak from your heart and you will go far.

Thanks for visiting Niederung!!

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Turn Your Website Into A Lead Machine

Posted by Michael on May 11, 2012
Website Marketing / No Comments

Most websites cost more money than they make. Many business owners have a website but don’t generate any leads from their website. I’ve discussed the importance of Google Maps and writing good content but getting good leads is crucial. As I said before good content is the best way to get traffic. But marketing your website in the key areas to people that actually want to read your blog very important.

 

Here are some steps:

Know your audience. 

The first thing you want to know is your audience. Who is going to visit your website? If you are selling dentures then you are probably wasting your time on a site where people want to read the latest on Justin Bieber. But if you place an ad on a retirement blog you may have some success. Also if your website is making little to no money you can post for free on websites like Ezine Articles, and Yahoo Answers.

Have a good contact page.

Many websites do not have a contact page. It’s almost as if the website owner does not want to be bothered. Many people will steer clear of a website without a contact page. A website with a good contact page will increase your chances of getting a lead. If you can provide a recent picture of yourself that helps too. I would also recommend using a form page and making certain fields like the email address, phone number, and name mandatory. A lot of good leads can be lost if you only require a name and email. Make sure you also state a reasonable time you can respond to emails.

Don’t look spammy!

I know you want the lead and you probably provide great service but looking like all you want is a sale is going to have the opposite effect. Take your time and list testimonials. Pictures of your recent work. Have a frequently asked questions page. Have an “About” page that talks about you and your business. You want your visitors to trust you. Also try to refrain from typing in all caps.

Encourage previous customers to leave positive reviews.

Many websites are now paying for reviews. This is a big turn off. It’s very obvious and hurts your website. Encourage your customers to write a good review. If you are on Facebook have them write a good review and share it with their friends. Real reviews from real people can have a profound affect on your website and will almost certainly increase your chances of getting a solid lead.

Price right.

Under pricing can be as damaging as over pricing. Under pricing not only hurts you but it can scare away possible leads. They can become suspicious. If it is too good to be true it is almost always a scam these days. So price what you feel is a good price based on your time and materials. Many website owners think that the lack of leads is due to the price. Then they lower price thinking this will generate more leads. This almost always results in disappointment. To make things worse the few leads you do get may not even appreciate your product. Remember you don’t just want a lead. You want a good lead. Someone that appreciates the work you do and feels you are worth the price.

 

 

How To Start A New Website

Posted by Michael on April 28, 2012
Helpful Marketing Tools / No Comments

From time to time people ask me how to start a website. They don’t have the first clue where to begin. They don’t know how to pick a domain name or even what a domain name is. If you are one of those people than this article is for you. But aside from the basics I’ll teach you some mistakes to avoid when getting your first website.

Here’s a To Do List:

1. Find A Domain.

I have an unorthodox way of searching for a domain but I prefer this because it is easier. I go to Yahoo Small Business . I do not purchase my domain from here. I just search for my domain here. I prefer searching for my domains as they provide suggestions if the one you want is not available. I’ve just found this to be user friendly.

2. Purchase Your Domain and Hosting.

I use Blue Host. They are inexpensive and the customer service is good most of the time. Once in a you may get a bad apple but that’s everywhere. If you don’t know what hosting is don’t worry. It’s as simple as that. You need a place to “host” your website. The thing I like about Blue Host you can add another domain later if you wish for only $10.00 more a year. With Yahoo that would cost you about $150 I believe to add another domain per year. As of today Blue Host is around $60 a year. They have coupons from time to time.

You are now the owner of a website for the amazing low price of $60.00 a year.

3. Build Your Website

Now you need to build your website. I recommend using WordPress. This is free as well. If you login to your “CPanel” in Blue Host you will see a WordPress Icon under Simple Scripts Installations.

Follow the directions from there. If you make a mistake you can always uninstall it. WordPress has many template designs to choose from but you can also hire a Word Press Consultant. I wouldn’t do it right away. I would use the free templates until you get the hang of it. Your content is the most important of your website. The way your website looks is important but content is why visitors come to your website..

I hope this helps.

Thanks for visiting Niederung!!!

 

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Tackle Your Own Backyard First

Posted by Michael on April 25, 2012
Website Marketing / No Comments

Many website owners overlook the power of Google Maps. I think for some businesses Google Maps is vitally more important than placing high for various keywords. I’ve seen many people not too enthusiastic about being ranked high Google Maps in their own hometown. They would receive a few call calls and emails but this was not good enough. Then one day they were not on the top of Google Maps. The calls and emails started to fade away. Their competition was suddenly ranked higher in Google Maps. The old saying is true. You don’t know what you have until you lost it.

You can get back on top. You’ve been there before and you will be there again. One thing you have to keep in mind is it’s not what you did, but most likely what you didn’t do. Your competition is getting stronger and you will need to get stronger and you will have to stay a step ahead of them.

Here are some things I would recommend for Google Maps:

Make sure your listing is complete and correct. Adding pictures and a video linked from Youtube is helpful as well.

If your clients really like your work please encourage them to leave a good review.

Experiment with your categories. If you are a dentist for example you may find many dentists in your area come up for “dentist” so experiment by adding more categories such as “medicare dentist” “dentures” or something you know specifically people in your field search for. So you may not rank high for “dentist” but at least you are getting a piece of the pie.

Make sure local businesses link to you as well. For example if you are wedding photographer you can link to a local florist. This actually helps more than your ranking. It helps you build business relationships.

You may not notice results right away. Google works on Google’s schedule so be patient.

Thanks for visiting Niederung!

 

Increase Your Pagerank

Posted by Michael on April 18, 2012
Website Marketing / No Comments

As of today this website has a pagerank of 3. The highest I can get is a 10 and I’m not holding my breath on that. Ebay is only a PR7 as of now and I have a lot of work if I want to get on the same level as Ebay. People put too much emphasis on pagerank and will do anything to obtain a high rank. However what you really want to do is add good content to your website. Adding good content daily is a surefire way to increase your pagerank.

You also need a website that allows you to add content dynamically. That’s what I like about WordPress. It’s simple and easy to use.  Once a WordPress site is set up you can add content whenever you get some free time. The more you write the more content that will be published. The more content that you have published the more traffic that will come to your site. From there people will share links from your site on what you wrote with others.

When people start sharing links from your website then you will start to see your pagerank increase. I can show you a really good example of a website that is a PR9. Yes it ranked higher than Ebay. Check out andreasviklund.com. If you checked out his website you’ll see that it looks like a regular WordPress site. Nothing to impressive right? But his content is good and he obtains lots of back links via his templates.

It doesn’t matter what type of website you have you can always add content. If you are a lawyer blog about laws people may find interesting. If you are a roofer take pictures of the roofs and post a little something about the job. In no time you will see that your pagerank has increased and you won’t really care one way or the other.

Thanks for visiting Niederung!

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Three Way Links AKA Link Farms

Posted by Michael on April 16, 2012
Website Marketing / No Comments

You have probably been told that three way links boots your PR value. That your traffic can double. You’ll come up high in search engines. If you guessed it’s a waste of money you are right. But it’s more than that. You can actually have your website wiped out of Google if you are caught.

But don’t take my word for it. You can go to Google’s website and check it out.

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/paidlinks?hl=en&pli=1

So you may wonder what makes this different from purchasing advertising space. The difference is that with a 3 way link you are paying for page rank. Paying for advertising is just that. Advertising your website. Three way links often do not advertise your website. Infact some of them encourage webmasters to hide the links. If you are told to hide your links that should be a red flag to you.

How do you hide a link? Most web designers hide the link by taking the word “Copyright” and making each letter a link to a page of several links. The reason they hide them is because many of the companies do not want to be associated with the other websites they are being associated with.

If your website is a part of three way linking program you may want to back out before it’s too late. If the majority of your business comes from Google then you should take steps immediately to distance yourself from the practice before Google takes action on your website.

Thanks for visiting Niederung!!!

The Facts On Keyword Targeting

Posted by Michael on April 15, 2012
Website Marketing / No Comments

When I was building websites the one thing that every customer wanted was to rank high for popular keywords. I am pretty good at it. I think there are a few people out there that really know how to do it. Google is very secretive when it comes to how it ranks sites for certain keywords. If you try to figure it out it can leave you with more questions.  Here are something I’ve learned.

Let’s say “keywords” is the word you want to target. Be realistic. You want to come up on page one of a Google search but “keyword” probably is out of reach. Even for this article the specifically mentions keyword. So add some other words to it. Something that you think people will search for. “how to target keywords” or “high keyword ranking”…etc..etc.

Now picture in your mind that Google is a giant filing cabinet. Google needs to know where to file your article. When it sees a nothing consistent it seems to go in a miscellaneous folder. So if you talk about football, the weather, cooking, and your recent ski trip you may not get a lot of traffic. However if you stick to keywords you’ll do much better.

Also less is more as far keywords. You don’t want the mention the word you are targeting too often. You also don’t want to go after too many other words. Sometimes people think of 100 words they want to come to the top for but from experience you will be stuck on the bottom.

The next thing you want is links. You want to link to good sites. By good sites also mean relative. I mentioned this the other day but this is key. If your business is in Dallas you can link to other sites in Dallas. If you are a roofer in Plano you can link to a painter in The Colony.

This is not a fact but an observation that seems to be true. Google appears to take into account what types of local sites your listed to. A local chamber of commerce site seems to score high points. In fact a lot of what you read from “seo experts” is fact but if you go to straight to the source you will find little information from Google as to how they rank sites.

But more important than your keywords is your content. There’s an analogy that golfers use and it seems comparable to search engine optimization. “You hit for show, but you put for dough.” With websites it’s, “You target key words for traffic, but your content is what keeps the traffic on your site.”

Thank you for visiting Niederung!

 

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iPad Is Your Friend In Business

Posted by Mike on April 15, 2012
Website Marketing / No Comments

I used to have the latest gadgets. I had a smart phone long before the iPhone. About 3 years ago I switched back to a regular cellphone. I didn’t really use my data plan enough to justify the cost. I don’t miss my smart phone at all.

So when the iPad came out I was not eager to get one. A few months ago I decided to get one use for my business and my wife’s photography business. If you blog I think an iPad makes it so much more fun.

The other cool thing is there is no long term contract. You can pay for one month of service and cancel it. Okay I’m sounding like an iPad salesman.

Thanks for visiting Niederung!

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Facebook WordPress Feature

Posted by Michael on April 15, 2012
Website Marketing / No Comments

I have not added this feature to my website yet but I added it to my wife’s site. It’s Facebook feature that allows you to post your WordPress post to Facebook. I highly recommend it. My wife is a photographer and she’s able to post her portrait sessions from her website to her Facebook account. What’s really cool is the people on Facebook can comment directly on her website with their Facebook id.

If you have WordPress search “Plugins”. My wife’s website is Anna Compotaro Photography if you want to check it out.

 

Thanks for visiting Niederung!!

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Originality Is In

Posted by Michael on April 15, 2012
Website Marketing / No Comments

Something I see a lot of is what I call “cookie cutter websites”. These are websites that have the same content but just a different domain and a different company name. They are indeed different companies but their web designer sales the same website content over and over.  I stumbled on company a few months back that specializes in building websites for insurance companies. The content was a amazing but not original. If you do a search for this phrase, “Also factored into the rates are the kind of work undertaken, gross receipts” in Google the first 100 pages will be 100 different websites but all the exact same content.

Why is this bad? Your originality in content is what separates you from the rest. Original content helps not only in search engine rankings but it looks more professional. Your content may not be as good as cookie cutter websites but you’ll do better in searches.

Thanks for visiting Niederung today!

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