Description
The report highlights on internet marketing.
Internet Marketing for Newbies
Internet Newbies
Marketing
for
Copyright © 2010 by Michael Daehn
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All Rights Reserved
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Internet Marketing for Newbies
For
Ivan
You Have What it Takes
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INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................10 ...................................................................................................................................................13 1. THE INTERNET: A NEW ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY...........................................14 ENORMOUS GLOBAL MARKET ...................................................................................................15 THE GREAT DEMOCRATIZER .....................................................................................................16 ARE YOU TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THIS OPPORTUNITY?................................................................17 CHAPTER 1 QUIZ......................................................................................................................18 2. CHOOSE THE PURPOSE OF YOUR WEBSITE...........................................................22 SELLING PRODUCTS ..................................................................................................................23 SELLING SERVICES ...................................................................................................................24 DRIVING TRAFFIC ....................................................................................................................24 SELLING TRAFFIC ....................................................................................................................25 CHOOSING YOUR PRODUCT TO MAKE MONEY ............................................................................25 Physical Products ..........................................................................................................25 Offering Services ...........................................................................................................26 Providing Information ...................................................................................................27 Selling Advertising ........................................................................................................28
Selling Banner ads ................................................................................................................28 Keywords .............................................................................................................................29 Other advertising methods ....................................................................................................31 What type of website are you going to have?.........................................................................32
CHAPTER 2 QUIZ......................................................................................................................33 3. HOW TO GET TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEBSITE ..........................................................37 Search Engines...............................................................................................................39
Organic search results............................................................................................................41 Organic results and the Golden Triangle ...............................................................................41 How to get ranked high in organic search results...................................................................46 Google Juice....................................................................................................................46 Link Love........................................................................................................................47 Link Swapping................................................................................................................47 Black Hat versus White Hat SEO..........................................................................................48
Using Banner Ads...........................................................................................................48
Banner Blindness...................................................................................................................49
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Email Marketing.............................................................................................................51 Social networks..............................................................................................................52
Trends in social networking...................................................................................................53
Social media...................................................................................................................55 Subsites and microsites..................................................................................................56 Blogs...............................................................................................................................57 Mashups, feeds and gadgets...........................................................................................59 Browser based traffic.....................................................................................................60 Organization...................................................................................................................61 User experience..............................................................................................................62 CHAPTER 3 QUIZ......................................................................................................................64 DOMAIN NAMES........................................................................................................................69 Where to get a domain name..........................................................................................71 Choosing the right name for you....................................................................................72 How domains work.........................................................................................................72 HOSTING.................................................................................................................................73 Do it yourself sites..........................................................................................................75 Third party site building tools........................................................................................75 WYSIWYG.......................................................................................................................76 Software..........................................................................................................................77 Professional help............................................................................................................77 CHAPTER 4 QUIZ......................................................................................................................78 ....................................................................................................................................................82 5. HOW TO IMPLEMENT YOUR PLAN AND MEASURE RESULTS..........................83 TYPES OF WEBSITES.................................................................................................................84 COMMERCE SITES .....................................................................................................................84 PROMOTIONAL..........................................................................................................................85 INFORMATIONAL ......................................................................................................................85 KPI's ..............................................................................................................................86 Web analytics ................................................................................................................87
Webtrends .............................................................................................................................88 Google Analytics ..................................................................................................................89
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Which analytics program is right for you? ...................................................................91 Other measurement tools ..............................................................................................91
Google Page Rank ................................................................................................................91 Google Alerts ........................................................................................................................91 Blog search............................................................................................................................92 Comment search....................................................................................................................93 Forum discussion search........................................................................................................94 Twitter search .......................................................................................................................95 More tools .............................................................................................................................96
CHAPTER 5 QUIZ......................................................................................................................98 6. HOW TO KEEP YOUR WEBSITE ON TOP: THE WEBSITE CREATION CONTINUUM........................................................................................................................102 CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................106
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Introduction
I was watching TV one lazy Saturday morning when I saw an advertisement for an educational package selling DVD’s about how to make money with your own website. My first thought was “this is kind of cheesy, I could make something like that.” Then I thought about how this company probably made a million dollars in sales while I was sitting there bagging on their commercial. If I could create something like that, then why don’t I? I’m foregoing the bad acting and poorly lit infomercial. This book is more my style. Once I got started writing I found myself pouring out more and more information. One thought lead to the next and I ended up with what I believe to be an excellent primer for marketing on the Internet for entrepreneurs, students, and executives alike. There may even be a new trick or two in here for seasoned veterans. My background is marketing, but I have had the advantage of working with and seeing many sides of how the Internet works. The best sites are built by a team that understands design and user experience on the front end and making the site work technically
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on the back end. In between somewhere is good search engine optimization that helps people find the site. This book is more front end than back, more marketing than web design. If you have some technical skills or like to experiment you will be able to do most of the work yourself. If you prefer to hire a professional, the information in this book will help you ask the right questions and get a site built that is sure to make you money. This book is not about the get rich quick, set it and forget it scams I see advertised. Sure your site can make you money while you sleep, but only if you have put in some hard work and/or resources up front to make it worth while for people to visit. I love the Internet. It is a powerful tool that is letting more people get into the game and change their lives without a huge capital investment. A little knowledge and passion go a long way if you are willing to do your homework. Good luck on your new site and be sure to send me a link when it’s done. See you online!
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Michael Daehn MichaelDaehn.com
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1. The Internet: Opportunity
A
New
Economic
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Internet Map Image courtesy of the Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis.
Enormous Global Market In March 2008 an estimated 1.4 Billion people were already on the internet, and the numbers continue to climb. Some areas like the Middle East and Africa saw over a 1000% increase in Internet use in the last decade, and these numbers will only increase. By simply posting a page to the World Wide Web you have access to a global audience that was inconceivable in the past.
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The Great Democratizer The Internet is unique in that just about anyone can start a page and share in the global economy with a minimal capital investment. Even if you don’t own your own computer, you can borrow one or use one at the library to start your own website. And with the number of free website building and hosting tools available, just about anyone can start their own site
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for
a
few
dollars
a
year.
Are You Taking Advantage of this Opportunity? You are living in historic times. Never has the world been able to communicate and trade on a global scale like it is today. There is a lot of opportunity available, but are you doing anything to take advantage of it? This book will show you how to get started; the rest is up to you.
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Chapter 1 Quiz 1. How many people were estimated to be on the Internet in March 2008? A. 1.4 Million B.144 Million C. 1.4 Billion D. 14 Billion 2. In the last decade Africa and the Middle East saw an increase in Internet use of over _____. A. 100% B. 110% C. 1000% D. 11% 3. Internet usage is sure to _____ moving forward. A. Increase B. Decrease C. Stay the same
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D. None of the above 4. _____ has the fewest Internet users. A. Europe B. Oceania/Australia C. Africa D. Asia 5. _____ has the most Internet users. A. Europe B. North America C. Africa D. Asia 6. By posting a page to the Web you have access to a global _____. A. Audience B. Server C. Design D. Earth
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7. The Internet is a great _____. A. Dictator B. Democratizer C. Idea D. Socializer 8. It takes a _____ amount of capital to start a website. A. Large B. Significant C. Minimal D. All of the above 9. The Internet allows us to _____ on a global scale like never before. A. Spam B. Email C. Poke D. Communicate
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10. The Internet provides a terrific _____ if you take advantage of it. A. Computer B. Friendship C. Marketing D. Opportunity Answers: 1C 2C 3A 4B 5D 6A 7B 8C 9D 10D
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2. Choose the Purpose of Your Website
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There are a variety of ways to make money on the Internet, but they fall into four main categories • Selling Products • Selling Services • Driving Traffic • Selling Traffic
Selling Products For the past 100 years the best way for most manufacturers to get their product to market was to use some type of intermediary. Salesmen, wholesalers and retailers provided a great service in getting products to market. With the Internet the creators can now go straight to the consumers. Authors can sell directly to their readers. And if you would rather have some help, there are now masses of people willing to help you distribute your product via their websites. Times have changed indeed. So the first way you can make money on the Internet is to sell products, either yours or someone else’s, directly to the public. These types of sites usually require some kind of electronic shopping cart so that you can allow people to pay for products.
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Shopping carts let people pay by credit card, electronic check or through other third party services like PayPal (www.PayPal.com). The Internet makes it possible for anyone to set up shop, sell products, and collect revenues with a few mouse clicks. Selling Services Of course not all products are physical and selling services has never been easier when using the Internet. Now lawyers, consultants and educators can provide information and/or advice and charge for it through their website. Using tools like Internet files, discussion boards, and web conferencing makes these professional services available to a wider audience. Location is no longer an issue. Driving Traffic Not everyone wants to sell products or services from their website, but they do need to drive traffic to their business. Creating your own web page is a great way to get people in the door of your physical location. Why pay for a small ad in the corner of the Yellow Pages when you can have your own full featured web pages with all the advertising and
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contact information you choose to share? Selling Traffic Maybe you don’t have anything to sell, but you do have something to say. Having a highly trafficked website is a great way to make money. Selling ad space on your site is one of the best and most popular ways to make money on the Internet. The more eyeballs you have viewing your page, the more you can charge advertisers to place their ads. Choosing Your Product to Make Money Physical Products The Internet is a great place to sell physical products. Consumers are flocking to the web to find deals that can’t be found in retail locations due to all of the middlemen involved. By taking your product directly to the customer they save money and you make more profit. For example, when an author works with a publisher there are lots of in between people: • Author
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• • • •
Publisher Book Wholesaler Book Retailer Customer
Compare that to when authors sell their books directly to the customer: • • Author Customer
Removing all those people in between you and your customers makes you more money and allows you to offer a better price. The Internet allows you to reach and sell directly to your customers. Offering Services The Internet is a terrific way for service providers to connect with their customers and meet the needs of their customers even if it is not face to face. Here are some of the services you can now provide to customers through your website: • •
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Consulting Education
Internet Marketing for Newbies
• • •
Advice Resource Management Recommendations
With the Internet tools now available you can upload files, books, videos, manuals and even whole university courses. Your customers can take advantage of your services, and you get paid, all online. Providing Information The Internet is a fantastic way to reach your target audience and sell information. If you have access to a database or specialized information you can charge your customers to view it. Here are some of the types of information sites where you can make money: • • • • • Real Estate Investing People Finding Consumer Reports Book Summaries
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Selling Advertising Maybe you don’t have any of your own products or services to sell, but you have a lot of people visiting your site. You can monetize the “eyeballs” you have viewing your site’s content by selling advertising to other people. You may have heard of some of the 17 year old kids that started blogs that are now raking in $1520K a month. They took a hobby like trains or fishing and starting writing about it. After a while they had a huge audience coming to read their reviews of new products, or to comment on their stories. Advertisers were eager to be on sites where people were going to promote their products. They were able to sell their related products to a targeted audience and the kids started raking in the dollars by placing ads on their websites. Selling Banner ads If you surf the web it’s not long before you see a typical banner ad. They resemble advertising placed in magazines or newspapers and run alongside the content of the page or sometimes at the top or bottom. If you have a well trafficked site, you can sell this real estate to advertisers to place ads.
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Banner ad related to website content
Keywords Instead of banners, you can allow for small text advertisements to appear on your site. Google has a great advertising program that anyone can sign up for called Adsense. Google looks at the “key words” used on your site and displays relevant advertising based on your content. Go to google.com and sign up for a free Google account. Once you have a Google account you can sign up for the Adsense program. They will walk you through how to put the ads on your site and you make money anytime someone clicks on an ad.
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If you don’t have a site, Google will give you one for free using their blogging program called Blogger. They’ll let you set up a site and host it for free and you can switch the Adsense program on very easily using their site. The great thing about keyword advertising is that it is able to change from page to page and presents ads that are relevant to the information your visitors are reading. In many ways it becomes a helpful resource for your site visitors. There are many other companies that offer similar programs like Yahoo! and Microsoft, but Google is the biggest and very easy to use, so I recommend you start there.
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Other advertising methods While banner ads and keyword advertising are the most popular, there are lots of other ways you can make money selling advertising on your site. Here are some of the other tools available: • Pop-overs (open an ad window underneath the site) • • • Pop-unders (open an ad window over the site) Videos Animation
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• •
Audio Flash demos
What type of website are you going to have? Now that you have seen the various ways to use websites, what is the best approach for your product or service? Are you selling directly to the public? Are you providing information? Are you building an audience to sell to advertisers? Once you decide the purpose of your site you’ll need a plan to get people coming there.
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Chapter 2 Quiz 1. In the past manufacturers relied on _____ to get their products to market. A. Intermediaries B. Trains C. Websites D. Warehouses 2. Ways to make money on the Internet include: A. Selling Products B. Selling Services C. Driving Traffic D. All of the above 3. The Internet makes it possible for _____ to set up shop, sell products, and collect revenues with a few mouse clicks. A. Fat Cats B. Rich People
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C. Anyone D. None of the above 4. Using tools like Internet files, discussion boards, and web conferencing can make ______ available to a wider audience. A. Money B. Advertising C. Eyeballs D. Professional services 5. Creating your own _____ is a great way to get people in the door of your physical location. A. Logo B. Commercial C. Web page D. Bus 6. By taking your product directly to the customer they save money and you make more _____.
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A. Friends B. Websites C. Profit D. Expenses 7. Advertisers started paying to be on blogs because they had access to a _____ audience. A. Mass B. Computer C. Kid D. Targeted 8. If you have a well trafficked site, you can sell space to _____ to place ads. A. NASA B. Advertisers C. Yourself D. None of the above
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9. Using Adsense. Google looks at the ______ used on your site and displays relevant advertising based on your content. A. Key words B. Pictures C. Banners D. Traffic 10. While banner ads and keyword advertising are the most popular, there are lots of other ways you can make money selling advertising like: A. Videos B. Audio C. Flash Demos D. All of the above Answers: 1A 2D 3C 4D 5C 6C 7D 8B 9A 10D
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3. How to get traffic to your website
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There are many ways to get traffic to your site. Building a positive reputation is very effective, but it takes time. Alternatively you can take a shortcut and pay for traffic using paid advertising. Both methods work and a combination of the two can be very effective.
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Driving traffic and increasing PageRank ©2009 by Michael Daehn
Search Engines Most people use a search engine to look for information on the web. Google is the most popular search engine today, but others include Ask, Yahoo!
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and Live (Microsoft). There are two types of results on search pages, sponsored (paid) results and organic results.
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Organic search results Organic search results are the listings that show up that are not paid for by advertisers. Google’s organic search results are displayed on the top left hand side of the page, with paid or sponsored results on the right hand side. Occasionally Google will also place paid results at the very top left hand side of the page.
Organic results and the Golden Triangle Many studies have been done about how people view web pages and search engine results pages in particular. Heat maps show that people naturally look to the left side of the page about one inch from the top. In fact most people do not naturally look to the right of the page where Google serves the majority of their paid advertising. The heat map image below shows how people view a Google search results page. The brighter the area, the more people viewed it and for a longer amount of time. This highlighted area is called the Golden Triangle of search.
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Google Search Results Page Heat Map
This does not mean that no one is looking or clicking on the sponsored results. If that were true, Google would not be the multi-billion dollar company it is today. The key strategy for you to remember is
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to be in the top three organic search results. If you are, you are sure to be getting lots of looks for your search term. Because of this trend some sites like Ask have started mixing paid and organic results together. This can be dangerous. When you mix advertising with your content it can hinder your credibility. I’m sure they make money, but I question the long term strategy. One reason Google does so well with their advertising is because they are straightforward about what is organic and what is paid search. I highlighted the areas in the first screenshot, but notice how difficult it is to distinguish the organic and paid results on the non-highlighted page.
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Many companies use a hybrid of paid and organic search. Often they will kick start their website with paid ads, and transition over to getting organic results once people become aware of their site.
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How to get ranked high in organic search results The best way to be ranked high in the organic results on sites like Google is to have lots of in bound links- that is other sites that link to your site. Google calls this PageRank- the higher your page rank on a scale of 1 to 10, the more likely you are to show up first in search results. Google Juice Though PageRank is the official name, many people call page ranking Google Juice. When a high ranking site links to a lower ranking site they can bring up the rank of the lower site, and vice versa. If you can get a high ranking site to link to you that’s good news, but be careful about linking to low ranked sites because it can take away from your own ranking. It’s better to get the juice than to give it. The easiest way to see your PageRank is to install the Google Toolbar. Not only will you know your PageRank, but you can see the PageRank of any site you visit or that you link to yourself. Notice that my site only ranks 2/10, but it is still the #1 ranking for Michael Daehn. This says two things; first, my name is relatively unique so it still
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has top results with a low PageRank. Second, I need to spend more time getting inbound links to my site.
Link Love When you link to a site, you are essentially voting for that site, and in a way telling Google you think it is a valuable piece of Internet real-estate. It is usually a good idea to link to people and sites you think are valuable to your visitors. It helps to establish you and your site as a valuable resource. Because linking to another site helps their rankings it is often referred to as showing Link Love.
Link Swapping
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Have you ever received an email asking you to swap links? You post a link on your site and in return the other person promises to post a link to your site. In general you should stay away from these reciprocal linking schemes. It is appropriate to link to a site that links to you, but do it for legitimate reasons. If the sole purpose is to increase PageRank you are working in the realm of Black Hat SEO. Black Hat versus White Hat SEO Just like in the old western movies, the bad guys wear black hats and the good guys wear white hats. If you are involved in shady link trading or other scams that try to game the system you are participating in Black Hat SEO. If the search engines catch you, or they think you are doing something suspicious, they will black list your site. While Black Hat techniques can gain you some short term traffic, they are not a good long term business strategy for legitimate businesses. Using Banner Ads Placing a billboard type ad on other websites has been around for a long time. They have waxed
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and waned in popularity as some studies show that many people ignore banner type advertisements.
Banner Blindness Many studies have shown that people are good at ignoring advertising. Site visitors have learned to hone in on the main content and ignore banners as demonstrated in the heat map below. The red areas show where people look the most. Notice that the text is red and the images and banners are rarely seen.
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Banner blindness
People do block banner ads for the most part, but don’t rule them out completely for your site. Sometimes a well placed banner ad that contains related content can be effective.
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Email Marketing Email is not new and not as glamorous as some of the cutting edge web technologies available today, but done right it can be the number one traffic driver for your site. The chart below lays out a solid strategy for any web marketing program using Chuck as your hypothetical subscriber.
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©2009 by Michael Daehn
Social networks Social networks are a great way to engage with your customers and drive traffic back to your website. The nice thing is that most of these sites are free. Be sure to set up a profile for yourself, or your company, and post links back to your main website. It’s handy to have some profile information set up that you can copy and paste onto the various social media sites where you register.
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Facebook and MySpace Traffic 1/2008-1/2009
Trends in social networking MySpace used to be the King, but Facebook has now surpassed MySpace with number of users. However, MySpace is still a hotspot for music and artist pages. Micro blogging/messaging tools like Twitter and FrienFeed are gaining momentum too.
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Twitter and FriendFeed Traffic 1/2008-1/2009
A word of caution, you need to be yourself and not just hock your website. If you get labeled as inauthentic or a spammer, you will get rejected by the community. Better to not get involved than to get a negative reputation.
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Social media Most people lump social networks and social media together, but for web traffic I view them as distinct. Social networks require interaction and communication. Social media sites allow you to upload content that other people can comment upon and share with their communities. Social media sites have a social networking component, and it is beneficial to cultivate that element, but not required. So if you have videos, images, white papers, articles or other media items get them uploaded to these sites. Even if it is only your company brochure, be sure to post a copy to the free file sharing sites. You never know when someone will come across it, and having links back to your site associated with this content helps your search results. YouTube is the most popular video site, but there are many more out there. By using a service like TubeMogul, you can post your same video to many sites at one time. Flickr is the largest photo sharing site and Scribd has a nice interface for sharing your documents with the world. Think about where you audience is and what content you have, then pick a few of the top social media sites to show your stuff.
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YouTube, Flickr and Scribd Traffic 1/2008-1/2009
Subsites and microsites Having multiple subsites and microsites that point back to your main site can be good and bad. On the good side, you can customize these sites to target audiences better. You also have inbound links coming from your own sites coming back to your
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main web address. The bad news is that unless you are careful, it is easy to confuse your customers as to what site they are on. Often subsites will click through to a main site and people get lost. You also are diluting the power of your main brand and website when you have subsites. It is better to have all of your traffic going to your main domain so it gets credit for being a popular site with search engines. Sometimes it makes sense to have a landing page for a campaign or promotion. These can be very effective when they have a single purpose and a clear focus. Make sure that you explain what is happening and where people will go when they click if you send them away from the page. Blogs Blogs began as a way for people to comment, share their thoughts and compile information to share with others on their website. When used properly, blogs can generate excellent web traffic for your main site or product. The key is to update often with relevant content.
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Many folks jumped on the blogging bandwagon, but they never updated their sites. Their conclusion was that blogging did not work. Search engines love updated relevant content so your blog will work, but you have to work your blog. You can blog yourself, pay someone to blog for you, or encourage others to blog about your company. All can be effective depending on your audience and the kind of information you are sharing.
Google gadgets
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Mashups, feeds and gadgets When you visit a site and see a little box with news results it is more often than not coming from a news feed place inside a gadget. If your site has great content you should syndicate and make it available to others in the form of gadgets. You can also open up proprietary information and allow others to mash it up into their own creations. Feedburner can help you turn your blog into a feed and sites like Widgetbox and Google Gadgets can help you turn them into gadgets.
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Making a widget on Widgetbox
Browser based traffic Don’t overlook the amount of traffic you can be getting from people typing it into their address bar. The Internet is only one tool in your marketing arsenal. You should be promoting your site offline through the appropriate tools for your situation. Print, magazines, television/radio broadcast and direct mail are all ways to drive more traffic to your website.
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Postcard with web address
Organization If you have ever tried to find a missing document in an unorganized filing cabinet you understand the need for clearly labeling and organizing all your files. Your system also needs to be something that others can understand easily so they can find the information they are looking for. This will help the humans viewing your site and the search
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engines that are crawling through all of your files and indexing them. On your website make sure the following information is labeled clearly:
• • • • • •
Domain names Web addresses (URL’s) Page titles Headings Descriptions Tags (categorizing or articles, images, etc.) labeling posts,
Though the algorithm search engines use to give your site results are proprietary, it has been shown that the more links you have and the better organized and labeled your site is the better your search results. User experience Have you ever been frustrated when visiting a website because you can not get the information you need? Getting people to your site is half the battle, getting them what they came for is the next step.
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How easy is your site to use once they get there? Is your content laid out clearly and properly labeled? Does your navigation make sense? User experience design is now a major industry in the web world. Consider getting help, but if you do it yourself or you are not sure you can’t go wrong by keeping it simple. It works for Google . The one thing you really need to know about SEO Have updated relevant content and a site worth visiting. When you accomplish this, people will want to come to your site and tell others by linking to you. If your site is well organized and looks good to human beings, the search engines will like it too.
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Chapter 3 Quiz 1. Most people use a information on the web. A. Consultant B. Word processor C. Toolbar D. Search engine 2. _____ search results are the listings that show up that are not paid for by advertisers. A. Organic B. Personal C. Adsense D. None of the above 3. Heat maps show that people naturally look to the left side of the page about one inch from the top. This area is know as the _____. A. Hotspot
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______
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B. Linkspot C. Goldspot D. Golden Triangle 4. Though Google PageRank is the official name, many people call page ranking ______. A. Google Juice B. Juice Searching C. Golden Juice D. Link Juice 5. Because linking to another site helps their rankings it is often referred to as showing _____. A. Respect B. Juice C. Link Love D. Traffic Love 6. If you are involved in shady link trading or other scams that try to game the system you are participating in ______.
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A. Good business B. Black Hat SEO C. White Hat SEO D. All of the above 7. _____ is not new and not as glamorous as some of the cutting edge web technologies available today, but done right it can be the number one traffic driver for your site. A. Blogging B. Email C. MySpace D. Facebook 8. Social _____ sites have a social networking component, and it is beneficial to cultivate that element, but not required. A. Web B. Networking C. Media D. All of the above
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9. Though the algorithm search engines use to give your site results are proprietary, it has been shown that the more links you have and the better _____ and labeled your site is the better your search results. A. Organized B. Pictures C. Banners D. Advertising 10. If your site is well organized and looks good to _____, the search engines will like it too. A. Google B. Blogs C. Human beings D. Robots Answers: 1D 2A 3D 4A 5C 6B 7B 8C 9A 10C
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4. How to Set Up Your Site
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Setting up your site is the most technical element. If you are a do-it-yourselfer it shouldn’t take you too long. If you prefer to save the time or hassle there are plenty of people out there reading and willing to help. Domain names A domain name is the title of your website address. Amazon.com, Facebook.com and Redcross.org are all examples of domain names. The last bit at the end of your name is called the domain name extension. There are lots of extensions available to choose from: .com represents the word "commercial," and is the most widely used extension in the world. Most businesses prefer a .com domain name because it is a highly recognized symbol for having a business presence on the Internet. .net represents the word "network," and is most commonly used by Internet service providers, Webhosting companies or other businesses that are directly involved in the infrastructure of the Internet.
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Additionally, some businesses choose domain names with a .net extension for their intranet Websites. .org represents the word "organization," and is primarily used by non-profits groups or trade associations. .biz is used for small business Web sites. .info is for credible resource Web sites and signifies a "resource" web site. It's the most popular extension beyond .com, .net and .org. .mobi (short for "mobile") is reserved for Web sites built for easy viewing on mobile devices. .us is for American Web sites and is the newest extension. It has the largest amount of available names in inventory. .tv is for rich content/multi-media Web sites, commonly used within the entertainment or media industry. There are a myriad of other extensions available for other countries like .ca for Canada and .uk for the United Kingdom. In general it is best to get a .com name for your business, or .org if you are a non-profit since these are typically what people will search for first.
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Some people will get the same name with additional extensions to keep other people from using them. If you feel this could be a problem for you down the road you may want to consider protecting yourself by getting additional extensions. For most people this is not necessary if they have the .com or .org extension. Where to get a domain name To get a domain name you need to register it through a service. You should not have to pay more than $10 a year for your domain name. If you are paying more, I suggest you shop around. There are usually discounts for multiple year and multiple domain names registered. If you get hosting with the same company, they will often give you the domain registration for free. A few sources for cheap reliable domain names are: • Godaddy.com • 1and1.com • Bluehost.com • NetworkSolutions.com
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Choosing the right name for you It can be tough to find a good domain name with the popular .com and .org extensions these days so you will need to be creative. The shorter the name you can use the better. Try not to use dashes or mix numbers into your name. Try to pick a name or words that are easy to spell and remember. Many sites that sell domain names have a name choosing wizard. Type in your keywords and they will provide some combinations and tell you what is available. If you really want to be an expert on good and bad domain names check out goodurlbadurl.com. How domains work The reason you need a domain name is so that your customers can easily find your site without remembering a long IP address. Each computer actually uses a long number like 208.77.188.166 as it’s address. When you register a domain for your address every time someone types in that name a Domain Name Server (DNS) directs you to the proper IP address where the site is hosted.
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Hosting Once you have your domain name picked out you need to find a place to host your site. If you are just starting out I suggest you use the same place you use for your domain. All of your information will be in one place and you can save yourself some of the technical details required when you have domains and sites hosted in different locations.
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Create your website There are lots of options for creating your site. The good news is that a lot of the work has been done and prices have come down. Most people are not starting from scratch. Even seasoned web designers re-use and copy code from others.
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Do it yourself sites Again if you have bought a domain and hosting from a service provider, they will often offer a free or low cost website builder package. I suggest you give these a try to get your feet wet. Third party site building tools There are plenty of websites that allow you to create your own site for free or for a small monthly fee. Bear in mind that these sites use templates so it will not be unique and most free sites place their advertising on your site. Here are a few free sites I have used and recommend: • Google Pages • PageFlakes • NetVibes • Ning (build you own social network) • Terapad (blog and website) • Blogger (blog) • WordPress (blog)
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WYSIWYG The nice thing about these site building tools is that they come with editing tools or WYSIWYG’s, which stands for what you see is what you get. No knowledge of code or HTML is required. If you can
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write a Word document should be able to handle editing a page using these editors. Software If you have some coding skills and feel comfortable with HTML you can build your own site using programs like DreamWeaver or Notepad and create your own site. These programs also come in handy if you decide to tweak a pre-built blog or website. Professional help If you don’t have the time or technical skills I suggest you find a good professional to build your site for you. I know some HTML and can tweak a blog, but when my clients need a professional site I go to my network of web design professionals.
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Chapter 4 Quiz 1. A ______ is the title of your website address. A. Domain name B. Web page C. Web title D. Web host 2. In general it is best to get a .com name for your business, or .org if you are a _____ since these are typically what people will search for first. A. Blog B. Non-profit C. Store D. Movie 3. When choosing a domain name try to pick a name or words that are easy to _____ and remember. A. Say
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B. Advertise C. Spell D. None of the above 4. The reason you need a domain name is so that your customers can easily find your site without remembering a long _____. A. Phone number B. Alphabet C. URL D. None of the above 5. When you register a domain for your address every time someone types in that name a _____ directs you to the proper IP address where the site is hosted. A. Director B. Monkey C. Domain Name Server (DNS) D. All of the above
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6. Once you have your domain name picked out you need to find a place to _____ your site. A. Watch B. Track C. Host D. Buy 7. There are plenty of websites that allow you to create your own site for _____ or for a small monthly fee. A. Millions B. Trial C. Free D. Advertising 8. WYSIWYG stands for ______. A. What you see is what you get B. What you see is what you gain C. Why you save it with your guide D. None of the above
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9. If you have some coding skills and feel comfortable with _____ you can build your own site. A. Star Trek B. Macs C. Ambiguity D. HTML 10. If you don’t have the time or technical skills you should find a good _____ to build your site for you. A. Blogger B. Professional C. Kid D. None of the above Answers: 1A 2 B 3C 4D 5C 6C 7C 8A 9D 10B
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5. How to Implement Your Plan and Measure Results
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Types of Websites There are many different types of websites, but if you really want to make money there are three main categories: • Commerce sites or stores selling products directly • Promotional sites gaining attention • Informational/advice drive traffic oriented intended to
Most money making sites fall into one of these categories, or are a hybrid. Which site is best for you? Commerce sites These sites focus on selling products directly to consumers. They have a list of products/services and a shopping cart or payment method. They usually require an extra layer of technical expertise to handle inventory and billing. Many sites are stand alone and target consumers directly. Many retail locations now
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offer an online counterpart where their customers can purchase. Promotional Some sites are purely promotional. You can not purchase the product from the site, but the intention is to drive sales to other web or real world locations. Many new movies have a promotional website with a trailer and viewing information, but you can not purchase the movie from the site. Informational You can use an informational site to establish yourself as an expert in your market. Many blogs take this approach. The blog authors post relevant and useful information on a regular basis. Once you have built up a loyal following you can recommend products of service that you provide or sell advertising for others. Once you know the type of site you are creating you will need to set up a system to measure and track results to see what’s working and what’s not.
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Metrics and Measurement How do you know if your hard work is paying off? Measure. The great thing about websites as opposed to other marketing tools is that you can track all the activity on your site. This is virtually impossible to do on the same scale with traditional media like television, radio and print. (Note: you need a free Google account from Google.com to use the Google services listed in this section) KPI's Before you begin you need to set some goals of what you want to measure. These key performance indicators (KPI's) will help you focus on the most important data for your situation. A problem many people face with their analytics is not knowing what to look at. Your website can track so much information it can be overwhelming what is important and what is not. Setting your KPI's in advance will help greatly. For example, if you are selling tennis shoes some key
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performance indicators could be: • Unique Visitors- Visits include all visits to your site, even by the same person, Unique Visits are from different people/computers • Bounce Rate- how many people leave your site right away • Click Through Rate (CTR) to purchase- what percentage of your visitors are making a purchase If you know you spent $100 in online adds to get 100 visitors and 10% clicked through to purchase than it cost you $10 per acquisition for each sale. Web analytics To get started you will need a web analytics program. There are many packages available out there, but I will cover two of the most popular here: WebTrends and Google Analytics. For these programs to work you need install a little piece of provided code on your site. Google Analytics' code looks like this:
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var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "googleanalytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-123456-3"); pageTracker._initData(); pageTracker._trackPageview();
You want to see what people are clicking on your site. Webtrends requires you to put a tag or code on each link you want track. Google Analytics only requires you to put the code on the page that you want to measure and it tracks the links for you automatically. Webtrends Webtrends is one the best known premium web analytics programs. The first thing you will notice is the price. Depending on the size of your site you will pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for this service. There is usually a certain number of reports you can run and an annual license renewal fee as well. It is a nice service and provides some in depth metrics and othe plug-ins from the company you may find useful.
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WebTrends Dashboard View
Google Analytics The first thing you will notice about Google Analytics is that is free. If you are not sure where to start you can take Google Analytics for a test spin and see what kind of information can be tracked. I
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also find the Google Analytics dashboard easier to use than Webtrends.
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Which analytics program is right for you? I prefer Google Analytics because it seems easier to use, requires less work to install the tracking codes and it's free. Before you decide which is right for you, determine your KPI's. If they are basic stats, Google Analytics should do the job. If you have a more complicated scenario for your data you may want to check out what Webtrends has to offer.
Other measurement tools Google Page Rank Have you Googled yourself lately? If you want to know what people see when they search then try searching for yourself. How high up are you on the list? How many listings do you get for your brand name? If you have the Google Toolbar installed it will also give your site a ranking of 1-10, 10 being the highest. The more inbound links and traffic you have, the higher your Google page rank. Google Alerts You have probably heard about measuring web
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traffic, but Google Alerts is a powerful tool that is often overlooked. Sign in to your Google account and you can set up alerts on the topics or keywords you choose. I have alerts set up for when anyone mentions Michael Daehn or marketingenious. It's a good way to see when your name or product is being discussed on the Internet. If someone is raving about your product, you can directly follow up with them.
Blog search It's a good idea to see when people are blogging about you too. Sites like Technorati.com allow you to search blog posts about you and your company. If you see someone blogging about you, you can visit
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their site and leave a comment.
Comment search Google does not index search results for comments on pages. A great tool for searching comments is Backtype.com. When you make an account it also aggregates all of your comments on the web- another way for people to find you.
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Forum discussion search There's a lot happening on the many discussion boards around the web. Are they talking about you? One tool to find out is Omgili.com. Type in your search term and get results from all of the discussion boards.
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Twitter search Twitter is a fast growing communication tool. Every day millions of people are having discussions on topics of interest to them. Are they talking about you or with you? Are you joining the conversation?
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More tools There are a ton of great tools out there for measuring you Internet success. The good news is that most of them are free. The bad news is unless you have clear goals and KPI's you will waste a lot of
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time trying to figure out which ones to use and what the data means. Make sure you do your homework and set your strategy first.
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Chapter 5 Quiz 1. Most money making websites are: A. Commerce B. Promotional C. Informational D. All of the above 2. _____ sites focus on selling products directly to consumers. They have a list of products/services and a shopping cart or payment method. A. Promotional B. Social C. Commerce D. Informational 3. Many _____ locations now offer an online counterpart where their customers can purchase. A. Retail B. Wholesale C. Fun D. All of the above
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4. Many new movies have a _____ website with a trailer and viewing information, but you can not purchase the movie from the site. A. Commerce B. Informational C. Promotional D. None of the above 5. You can use an informational site to establish yourself as an _____ in your market. A. Evangelist B. Expert C. Architect D. Angel 6. It's virtually impossible to _____ on the same scale with traditional media like television, radio and print like you can on the Internet. A. Design B. Promote C. Surf D. Measure 7. KPI stands for: A. Keyword performance index B. Key placing indicators
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C. Key performance indicators D. None of the above 8. CTR stands for: A. Clear tracking rate B. Click the reader C. Correct the rate D. Click through rate 9. _____ is a powerful tool for meauring results that is often overlooked. A. Google Alerts B. MSN C. Yahoo! D. Mom 10. Sites like Technorati.com allow you to search _____ posts about you and your company. A. Fun B. Social C. Blog D. None of the above Answers: 1D 2C 3A 4C 5B 6D 7C 8D 9A 10C
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6. How to Keep Your Website on Top: The Website Creation Continuum
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Great websites are continually honed to better serve your audience. Start by doing your research. • Personas- develop a picture of the ideal visitor for your site
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• Education- know everything you can about your market and the best web tools to reach them • Surveys- not sure what your audience wants? Ask them • Testing- perform user tests early and often- the more you test the better your final site will be Your initial research will help you define your initial target audience. To connect with your target audience you will need: • SEO- Good search engine optimization assures you that when people are typing in the name of your product or service they will find you easily • UX- A well designed user experience makes sure that once they find your site, they can find what they came for quickly and easily • Conversion- If you put in the hard work for the steps above, it will pay off with more conversions to sales, customers and supporters How do you know this is working? Measurement. Check your search results, refine your UX through
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testing and surveys and look at the bottom line- are you making any revenue? Don't forget to use these measurements to refine your target audience further.
©2009 by Michael Daehn
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Conclusion
The Internet is a fun and exciting tool that has transformed the way marketing and business are done. It is an important communication tool whether you are looking to start an Internet based business or to market your traditional business more effectively. Because Internet marketing changes so frequently you need to stay on top of current trends. Yesterday’s Friendster is today’s MySpace and tomorrow’s FaceBook. New sites replace old ones all the time. Reading magazines like Wired are helpful, but sometimes a month is too long to wait. A good way to know what’s happening is to read blogs by people like Seth Godin or mine at philanthr.org. Or you can also establish your own network of advisors through sites like Twitter. I want to know how you do with your new Internet ventures, so please send me a note. My information is always current at MichaelDaehn.com. FTW!
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Internet Marketing for Newbies Internet Marketing for Newbies Book Order Form Name: Organization: Shipping Address: City: Phone: State: Email: Zip: Title:
Internet Marketing for Newbies is $12.95 per copy plus $6 for shipping and handling. Please include your check for $18.95 with this form when placing your order. Mail to: Internet Marketing for Newbies Book Order c/o marketingenious Books 328 Bellezza Drive Ballwin, MO 63021
Make life easier by ordering online at:
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Need more than 10 books? Save up to 50% with bulk orders!
Check the website or Contact Michael Daehn for details: 636.236.5718
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doc_922697741.pdf
The report highlights on internet marketing.
Internet Marketing for Newbies
Internet Newbies
Marketing
for
Copyright © 2010 by Michael Daehn
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All Rights Reserved
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For
Ivan
You Have What it Takes
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INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................10 ...................................................................................................................................................13 1. THE INTERNET: A NEW ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY...........................................14 ENORMOUS GLOBAL MARKET ...................................................................................................15 THE GREAT DEMOCRATIZER .....................................................................................................16 ARE YOU TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THIS OPPORTUNITY?................................................................17 CHAPTER 1 QUIZ......................................................................................................................18 2. CHOOSE THE PURPOSE OF YOUR WEBSITE...........................................................22 SELLING PRODUCTS ..................................................................................................................23 SELLING SERVICES ...................................................................................................................24 DRIVING TRAFFIC ....................................................................................................................24 SELLING TRAFFIC ....................................................................................................................25 CHOOSING YOUR PRODUCT TO MAKE MONEY ............................................................................25 Physical Products ..........................................................................................................25 Offering Services ...........................................................................................................26 Providing Information ...................................................................................................27 Selling Advertising ........................................................................................................28
Selling Banner ads ................................................................................................................28 Keywords .............................................................................................................................29 Other advertising methods ....................................................................................................31 What type of website are you going to have?.........................................................................32
CHAPTER 2 QUIZ......................................................................................................................33 3. HOW TO GET TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEBSITE ..........................................................37 Search Engines...............................................................................................................39
Organic search results............................................................................................................41 Organic results and the Golden Triangle ...............................................................................41 How to get ranked high in organic search results...................................................................46 Google Juice....................................................................................................................46 Link Love........................................................................................................................47 Link Swapping................................................................................................................47 Black Hat versus White Hat SEO..........................................................................................48
Using Banner Ads...........................................................................................................48
Banner Blindness...................................................................................................................49
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Email Marketing.............................................................................................................51 Social networks..............................................................................................................52
Trends in social networking...................................................................................................53
Social media...................................................................................................................55 Subsites and microsites..................................................................................................56 Blogs...............................................................................................................................57 Mashups, feeds and gadgets...........................................................................................59 Browser based traffic.....................................................................................................60 Organization...................................................................................................................61 User experience..............................................................................................................62 CHAPTER 3 QUIZ......................................................................................................................64 DOMAIN NAMES........................................................................................................................69 Where to get a domain name..........................................................................................71 Choosing the right name for you....................................................................................72 How domains work.........................................................................................................72 HOSTING.................................................................................................................................73 Do it yourself sites..........................................................................................................75 Third party site building tools........................................................................................75 WYSIWYG.......................................................................................................................76 Software..........................................................................................................................77 Professional help............................................................................................................77 CHAPTER 4 QUIZ......................................................................................................................78 ....................................................................................................................................................82 5. HOW TO IMPLEMENT YOUR PLAN AND MEASURE RESULTS..........................83 TYPES OF WEBSITES.................................................................................................................84 COMMERCE SITES .....................................................................................................................84 PROMOTIONAL..........................................................................................................................85 INFORMATIONAL ......................................................................................................................85 KPI's ..............................................................................................................................86 Web analytics ................................................................................................................87
Webtrends .............................................................................................................................88 Google Analytics ..................................................................................................................89
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Which analytics program is right for you? ...................................................................91 Other measurement tools ..............................................................................................91
Google Page Rank ................................................................................................................91 Google Alerts ........................................................................................................................91 Blog search............................................................................................................................92 Comment search....................................................................................................................93 Forum discussion search........................................................................................................94 Twitter search .......................................................................................................................95 More tools .............................................................................................................................96
CHAPTER 5 QUIZ......................................................................................................................98 6. HOW TO KEEP YOUR WEBSITE ON TOP: THE WEBSITE CREATION CONTINUUM........................................................................................................................102 CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................106
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Introduction
I was watching TV one lazy Saturday morning when I saw an advertisement for an educational package selling DVD’s about how to make money with your own website. My first thought was “this is kind of cheesy, I could make something like that.” Then I thought about how this company probably made a million dollars in sales while I was sitting there bagging on their commercial. If I could create something like that, then why don’t I? I’m foregoing the bad acting and poorly lit infomercial. This book is more my style. Once I got started writing I found myself pouring out more and more information. One thought lead to the next and I ended up with what I believe to be an excellent primer for marketing on the Internet for entrepreneurs, students, and executives alike. There may even be a new trick or two in here for seasoned veterans. My background is marketing, but I have had the advantage of working with and seeing many sides of how the Internet works. The best sites are built by a team that understands design and user experience on the front end and making the site work technically
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on the back end. In between somewhere is good search engine optimization that helps people find the site. This book is more front end than back, more marketing than web design. If you have some technical skills or like to experiment you will be able to do most of the work yourself. If you prefer to hire a professional, the information in this book will help you ask the right questions and get a site built that is sure to make you money. This book is not about the get rich quick, set it and forget it scams I see advertised. Sure your site can make you money while you sleep, but only if you have put in some hard work and/or resources up front to make it worth while for people to visit. I love the Internet. It is a powerful tool that is letting more people get into the game and change their lives without a huge capital investment. A little knowledge and passion go a long way if you are willing to do your homework. Good luck on your new site and be sure to send me a link when it’s done. See you online!
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Michael Daehn MichaelDaehn.com
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1. The Internet: Opportunity
A
New
Economic
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Internet Map Image courtesy of the Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis.
Enormous Global Market In March 2008 an estimated 1.4 Billion people were already on the internet, and the numbers continue to climb. Some areas like the Middle East and Africa saw over a 1000% increase in Internet use in the last decade, and these numbers will only increase. By simply posting a page to the World Wide Web you have access to a global audience that was inconceivable in the past.
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The Great Democratizer The Internet is unique in that just about anyone can start a page and share in the global economy with a minimal capital investment. Even if you don’t own your own computer, you can borrow one or use one at the library to start your own website. And with the number of free website building and hosting tools available, just about anyone can start their own site
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for
a
few
dollars
a
year.
Are You Taking Advantage of this Opportunity? You are living in historic times. Never has the world been able to communicate and trade on a global scale like it is today. There is a lot of opportunity available, but are you doing anything to take advantage of it? This book will show you how to get started; the rest is up to you.
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Chapter 1 Quiz 1. How many people were estimated to be on the Internet in March 2008? A. 1.4 Million B.144 Million C. 1.4 Billion D. 14 Billion 2. In the last decade Africa and the Middle East saw an increase in Internet use of over _____. A. 100% B. 110% C. 1000% D. 11% 3. Internet usage is sure to _____ moving forward. A. Increase B. Decrease C. Stay the same
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D. None of the above 4. _____ has the fewest Internet users. A. Europe B. Oceania/Australia C. Africa D. Asia 5. _____ has the most Internet users. A. Europe B. North America C. Africa D. Asia 6. By posting a page to the Web you have access to a global _____. A. Audience B. Server C. Design D. Earth
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7. The Internet is a great _____. A. Dictator B. Democratizer C. Idea D. Socializer 8. It takes a _____ amount of capital to start a website. A. Large B. Significant C. Minimal D. All of the above 9. The Internet allows us to _____ on a global scale like never before. A. Spam B. Email C. Poke D. Communicate
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10. The Internet provides a terrific _____ if you take advantage of it. A. Computer B. Friendship C. Marketing D. Opportunity Answers: 1C 2C 3A 4B 5D 6A 7B 8C 9D 10D
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2. Choose the Purpose of Your Website
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There are a variety of ways to make money on the Internet, but they fall into four main categories • Selling Products • Selling Services • Driving Traffic • Selling Traffic
Selling Products For the past 100 years the best way for most manufacturers to get their product to market was to use some type of intermediary. Salesmen, wholesalers and retailers provided a great service in getting products to market. With the Internet the creators can now go straight to the consumers. Authors can sell directly to their readers. And if you would rather have some help, there are now masses of people willing to help you distribute your product via their websites. Times have changed indeed. So the first way you can make money on the Internet is to sell products, either yours or someone else’s, directly to the public. These types of sites usually require some kind of electronic shopping cart so that you can allow people to pay for products.
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Shopping carts let people pay by credit card, electronic check or through other third party services like PayPal (www.PayPal.com). The Internet makes it possible for anyone to set up shop, sell products, and collect revenues with a few mouse clicks. Selling Services Of course not all products are physical and selling services has never been easier when using the Internet. Now lawyers, consultants and educators can provide information and/or advice and charge for it through their website. Using tools like Internet files, discussion boards, and web conferencing makes these professional services available to a wider audience. Location is no longer an issue. Driving Traffic Not everyone wants to sell products or services from their website, but they do need to drive traffic to their business. Creating your own web page is a great way to get people in the door of your physical location. Why pay for a small ad in the corner of the Yellow Pages when you can have your own full featured web pages with all the advertising and
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contact information you choose to share? Selling Traffic Maybe you don’t have anything to sell, but you do have something to say. Having a highly trafficked website is a great way to make money. Selling ad space on your site is one of the best and most popular ways to make money on the Internet. The more eyeballs you have viewing your page, the more you can charge advertisers to place their ads. Choosing Your Product to Make Money Physical Products The Internet is a great place to sell physical products. Consumers are flocking to the web to find deals that can’t be found in retail locations due to all of the middlemen involved. By taking your product directly to the customer they save money and you make more profit. For example, when an author works with a publisher there are lots of in between people: • Author
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• • • •
Publisher Book Wholesaler Book Retailer Customer
Compare that to when authors sell their books directly to the customer: • • Author Customer
Removing all those people in between you and your customers makes you more money and allows you to offer a better price. The Internet allows you to reach and sell directly to your customers. Offering Services The Internet is a terrific way for service providers to connect with their customers and meet the needs of their customers even if it is not face to face. Here are some of the services you can now provide to customers through your website: • •
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Consulting Education
Internet Marketing for Newbies
• • •
Advice Resource Management Recommendations
With the Internet tools now available you can upload files, books, videos, manuals and even whole university courses. Your customers can take advantage of your services, and you get paid, all online. Providing Information The Internet is a fantastic way to reach your target audience and sell information. If you have access to a database or specialized information you can charge your customers to view it. Here are some of the types of information sites where you can make money: • • • • • Real Estate Investing People Finding Consumer Reports Book Summaries
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Selling Advertising Maybe you don’t have any of your own products or services to sell, but you have a lot of people visiting your site. You can monetize the “eyeballs” you have viewing your site’s content by selling advertising to other people. You may have heard of some of the 17 year old kids that started blogs that are now raking in $1520K a month. They took a hobby like trains or fishing and starting writing about it. After a while they had a huge audience coming to read their reviews of new products, or to comment on their stories. Advertisers were eager to be on sites where people were going to promote their products. They were able to sell their related products to a targeted audience and the kids started raking in the dollars by placing ads on their websites. Selling Banner ads If you surf the web it’s not long before you see a typical banner ad. They resemble advertising placed in magazines or newspapers and run alongside the content of the page or sometimes at the top or bottom. If you have a well trafficked site, you can sell this real estate to advertisers to place ads.
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Banner ad related to website content
Keywords Instead of banners, you can allow for small text advertisements to appear on your site. Google has a great advertising program that anyone can sign up for called Adsense. Google looks at the “key words” used on your site and displays relevant advertising based on your content. Go to google.com and sign up for a free Google account. Once you have a Google account you can sign up for the Adsense program. They will walk you through how to put the ads on your site and you make money anytime someone clicks on an ad.
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If you don’t have a site, Google will give you one for free using their blogging program called Blogger. They’ll let you set up a site and host it for free and you can switch the Adsense program on very easily using their site. The great thing about keyword advertising is that it is able to change from page to page and presents ads that are relevant to the information your visitors are reading. In many ways it becomes a helpful resource for your site visitors. There are many other companies that offer similar programs like Yahoo! and Microsoft, but Google is the biggest and very easy to use, so I recommend you start there.
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Other advertising methods While banner ads and keyword advertising are the most popular, there are lots of other ways you can make money selling advertising on your site. Here are some of the other tools available: • Pop-overs (open an ad window underneath the site) • • • Pop-unders (open an ad window over the site) Videos Animation
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• •
Audio Flash demos
What type of website are you going to have? Now that you have seen the various ways to use websites, what is the best approach for your product or service? Are you selling directly to the public? Are you providing information? Are you building an audience to sell to advertisers? Once you decide the purpose of your site you’ll need a plan to get people coming there.
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Chapter 2 Quiz 1. In the past manufacturers relied on _____ to get their products to market. A. Intermediaries B. Trains C. Websites D. Warehouses 2. Ways to make money on the Internet include: A. Selling Products B. Selling Services C. Driving Traffic D. All of the above 3. The Internet makes it possible for _____ to set up shop, sell products, and collect revenues with a few mouse clicks. A. Fat Cats B. Rich People
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C. Anyone D. None of the above 4. Using tools like Internet files, discussion boards, and web conferencing can make ______ available to a wider audience. A. Money B. Advertising C. Eyeballs D. Professional services 5. Creating your own _____ is a great way to get people in the door of your physical location. A. Logo B. Commercial C. Web page D. Bus 6. By taking your product directly to the customer they save money and you make more _____.
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A. Friends B. Websites C. Profit D. Expenses 7. Advertisers started paying to be on blogs because they had access to a _____ audience. A. Mass B. Computer C. Kid D. Targeted 8. If you have a well trafficked site, you can sell space to _____ to place ads. A. NASA B. Advertisers C. Yourself D. None of the above
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9. Using Adsense. Google looks at the ______ used on your site and displays relevant advertising based on your content. A. Key words B. Pictures C. Banners D. Traffic 10. While banner ads and keyword advertising are the most popular, there are lots of other ways you can make money selling advertising like: A. Videos B. Audio C. Flash Demos D. All of the above Answers: 1A 2D 3C 4D 5C 6C 7D 8B 9A 10D
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3. How to get traffic to your website
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There are many ways to get traffic to your site. Building a positive reputation is very effective, but it takes time. Alternatively you can take a shortcut and pay for traffic using paid advertising. Both methods work and a combination of the two can be very effective.
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Driving traffic and increasing PageRank ©2009 by Michael Daehn
Search Engines Most people use a search engine to look for information on the web. Google is the most popular search engine today, but others include Ask, Yahoo!
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and Live (Microsoft). There are two types of results on search pages, sponsored (paid) results and organic results.
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Organic search results Organic search results are the listings that show up that are not paid for by advertisers. Google’s organic search results are displayed on the top left hand side of the page, with paid or sponsored results on the right hand side. Occasionally Google will also place paid results at the very top left hand side of the page.
Organic results and the Golden Triangle Many studies have been done about how people view web pages and search engine results pages in particular. Heat maps show that people naturally look to the left side of the page about one inch from the top. In fact most people do not naturally look to the right of the page where Google serves the majority of their paid advertising. The heat map image below shows how people view a Google search results page. The brighter the area, the more people viewed it and for a longer amount of time. This highlighted area is called the Golden Triangle of search.
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Google Search Results Page Heat Map
This does not mean that no one is looking or clicking on the sponsored results. If that were true, Google would not be the multi-billion dollar company it is today. The key strategy for you to remember is
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to be in the top three organic search results. If you are, you are sure to be getting lots of looks for your search term. Because of this trend some sites like Ask have started mixing paid and organic results together. This can be dangerous. When you mix advertising with your content it can hinder your credibility. I’m sure they make money, but I question the long term strategy. One reason Google does so well with their advertising is because they are straightforward about what is organic and what is paid search. I highlighted the areas in the first screenshot, but notice how difficult it is to distinguish the organic and paid results on the non-highlighted page.
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Many companies use a hybrid of paid and organic search. Often they will kick start their website with paid ads, and transition over to getting organic results once people become aware of their site.
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How to get ranked high in organic search results The best way to be ranked high in the organic results on sites like Google is to have lots of in bound links- that is other sites that link to your site. Google calls this PageRank- the higher your page rank on a scale of 1 to 10, the more likely you are to show up first in search results. Google Juice Though PageRank is the official name, many people call page ranking Google Juice. When a high ranking site links to a lower ranking site they can bring up the rank of the lower site, and vice versa. If you can get a high ranking site to link to you that’s good news, but be careful about linking to low ranked sites because it can take away from your own ranking. It’s better to get the juice than to give it. The easiest way to see your PageRank is to install the Google Toolbar. Not only will you know your PageRank, but you can see the PageRank of any site you visit or that you link to yourself. Notice that my site only ranks 2/10, but it is still the #1 ranking for Michael Daehn. This says two things; first, my name is relatively unique so it still
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has top results with a low PageRank. Second, I need to spend more time getting inbound links to my site.
Link Love When you link to a site, you are essentially voting for that site, and in a way telling Google you think it is a valuable piece of Internet real-estate. It is usually a good idea to link to people and sites you think are valuable to your visitors. It helps to establish you and your site as a valuable resource. Because linking to another site helps their rankings it is often referred to as showing Link Love.
Link Swapping
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Have you ever received an email asking you to swap links? You post a link on your site and in return the other person promises to post a link to your site. In general you should stay away from these reciprocal linking schemes. It is appropriate to link to a site that links to you, but do it for legitimate reasons. If the sole purpose is to increase PageRank you are working in the realm of Black Hat SEO. Black Hat versus White Hat SEO Just like in the old western movies, the bad guys wear black hats and the good guys wear white hats. If you are involved in shady link trading or other scams that try to game the system you are participating in Black Hat SEO. If the search engines catch you, or they think you are doing something suspicious, they will black list your site. While Black Hat techniques can gain you some short term traffic, they are not a good long term business strategy for legitimate businesses. Using Banner Ads Placing a billboard type ad on other websites has been around for a long time. They have waxed
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and waned in popularity as some studies show that many people ignore banner type advertisements.
Banner Blindness Many studies have shown that people are good at ignoring advertising. Site visitors have learned to hone in on the main content and ignore banners as demonstrated in the heat map below. The red areas show where people look the most. Notice that the text is red and the images and banners are rarely seen.
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Banner blindness
People do block banner ads for the most part, but don’t rule them out completely for your site. Sometimes a well placed banner ad that contains related content can be effective.
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Email Marketing Email is not new and not as glamorous as some of the cutting edge web technologies available today, but done right it can be the number one traffic driver for your site. The chart below lays out a solid strategy for any web marketing program using Chuck as your hypothetical subscriber.
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©2009 by Michael Daehn
Social networks Social networks are a great way to engage with your customers and drive traffic back to your website. The nice thing is that most of these sites are free. Be sure to set up a profile for yourself, or your company, and post links back to your main website. It’s handy to have some profile information set up that you can copy and paste onto the various social media sites where you register.
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Facebook and MySpace Traffic 1/2008-1/2009
Trends in social networking MySpace used to be the King, but Facebook has now surpassed MySpace with number of users. However, MySpace is still a hotspot for music and artist pages. Micro blogging/messaging tools like Twitter and FrienFeed are gaining momentum too.
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Twitter and FriendFeed Traffic 1/2008-1/2009
A word of caution, you need to be yourself and not just hock your website. If you get labeled as inauthentic or a spammer, you will get rejected by the community. Better to not get involved than to get a negative reputation.
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Social media Most people lump social networks and social media together, but for web traffic I view them as distinct. Social networks require interaction and communication. Social media sites allow you to upload content that other people can comment upon and share with their communities. Social media sites have a social networking component, and it is beneficial to cultivate that element, but not required. So if you have videos, images, white papers, articles or other media items get them uploaded to these sites. Even if it is only your company brochure, be sure to post a copy to the free file sharing sites. You never know when someone will come across it, and having links back to your site associated with this content helps your search results. YouTube is the most popular video site, but there are many more out there. By using a service like TubeMogul, you can post your same video to many sites at one time. Flickr is the largest photo sharing site and Scribd has a nice interface for sharing your documents with the world. Think about where you audience is and what content you have, then pick a few of the top social media sites to show your stuff.
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YouTube, Flickr and Scribd Traffic 1/2008-1/2009
Subsites and microsites Having multiple subsites and microsites that point back to your main site can be good and bad. On the good side, you can customize these sites to target audiences better. You also have inbound links coming from your own sites coming back to your
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main web address. The bad news is that unless you are careful, it is easy to confuse your customers as to what site they are on. Often subsites will click through to a main site and people get lost. You also are diluting the power of your main brand and website when you have subsites. It is better to have all of your traffic going to your main domain so it gets credit for being a popular site with search engines. Sometimes it makes sense to have a landing page for a campaign or promotion. These can be very effective when they have a single purpose and a clear focus. Make sure that you explain what is happening and where people will go when they click if you send them away from the page. Blogs Blogs began as a way for people to comment, share their thoughts and compile information to share with others on their website. When used properly, blogs can generate excellent web traffic for your main site or product. The key is to update often with relevant content.
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Many folks jumped on the blogging bandwagon, but they never updated their sites. Their conclusion was that blogging did not work. Search engines love updated relevant content so your blog will work, but you have to work your blog. You can blog yourself, pay someone to blog for you, or encourage others to blog about your company. All can be effective depending on your audience and the kind of information you are sharing.
Google gadgets
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Mashups, feeds and gadgets When you visit a site and see a little box with news results it is more often than not coming from a news feed place inside a gadget. If your site has great content you should syndicate and make it available to others in the form of gadgets. You can also open up proprietary information and allow others to mash it up into their own creations. Feedburner can help you turn your blog into a feed and sites like Widgetbox and Google Gadgets can help you turn them into gadgets.
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Making a widget on Widgetbox
Browser based traffic Don’t overlook the amount of traffic you can be getting from people typing it into their address bar. The Internet is only one tool in your marketing arsenal. You should be promoting your site offline through the appropriate tools for your situation. Print, magazines, television/radio broadcast and direct mail are all ways to drive more traffic to your website.
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Postcard with web address
Organization If you have ever tried to find a missing document in an unorganized filing cabinet you understand the need for clearly labeling and organizing all your files. Your system also needs to be something that others can understand easily so they can find the information they are looking for. This will help the humans viewing your site and the search
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engines that are crawling through all of your files and indexing them. On your website make sure the following information is labeled clearly:
• • • • • •
Domain names Web addresses (URL’s) Page titles Headings Descriptions Tags (categorizing or articles, images, etc.) labeling posts,
Though the algorithm search engines use to give your site results are proprietary, it has been shown that the more links you have and the better organized and labeled your site is the better your search results. User experience Have you ever been frustrated when visiting a website because you can not get the information you need? Getting people to your site is half the battle, getting them what they came for is the next step.
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How easy is your site to use once they get there? Is your content laid out clearly and properly labeled? Does your navigation make sense? User experience design is now a major industry in the web world. Consider getting help, but if you do it yourself or you are not sure you can’t go wrong by keeping it simple. It works for Google . The one thing you really need to know about SEO Have updated relevant content and a site worth visiting. When you accomplish this, people will want to come to your site and tell others by linking to you. If your site is well organized and looks good to human beings, the search engines will like it too.
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Chapter 3 Quiz 1. Most people use a information on the web. A. Consultant B. Word processor C. Toolbar D. Search engine 2. _____ search results are the listings that show up that are not paid for by advertisers. A. Organic B. Personal C. Adsense D. None of the above 3. Heat maps show that people naturally look to the left side of the page about one inch from the top. This area is know as the _____. A. Hotspot
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B. Linkspot C. Goldspot D. Golden Triangle 4. Though Google PageRank is the official name, many people call page ranking ______. A. Google Juice B. Juice Searching C. Golden Juice D. Link Juice 5. Because linking to another site helps their rankings it is often referred to as showing _____. A. Respect B. Juice C. Link Love D. Traffic Love 6. If you are involved in shady link trading or other scams that try to game the system you are participating in ______.
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A. Good business B. Black Hat SEO C. White Hat SEO D. All of the above 7. _____ is not new and not as glamorous as some of the cutting edge web technologies available today, but done right it can be the number one traffic driver for your site. A. Blogging B. Email C. MySpace D. Facebook 8. Social _____ sites have a social networking component, and it is beneficial to cultivate that element, but not required. A. Web B. Networking C. Media D. All of the above
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9. Though the algorithm search engines use to give your site results are proprietary, it has been shown that the more links you have and the better _____ and labeled your site is the better your search results. A. Organized B. Pictures C. Banners D. Advertising 10. If your site is well organized and looks good to _____, the search engines will like it too. A. Google B. Blogs C. Human beings D. Robots Answers: 1D 2A 3D 4A 5C 6B 7B 8C 9A 10C
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4. How to Set Up Your Site
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Setting up your site is the most technical element. If you are a do-it-yourselfer it shouldn’t take you too long. If you prefer to save the time or hassle there are plenty of people out there reading and willing to help. Domain names A domain name is the title of your website address. Amazon.com, Facebook.com and Redcross.org are all examples of domain names. The last bit at the end of your name is called the domain name extension. There are lots of extensions available to choose from: .com represents the word "commercial," and is the most widely used extension in the world. Most businesses prefer a .com domain name because it is a highly recognized symbol for having a business presence on the Internet. .net represents the word "network," and is most commonly used by Internet service providers, Webhosting companies or other businesses that are directly involved in the infrastructure of the Internet.
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Additionally, some businesses choose domain names with a .net extension for their intranet Websites. .org represents the word "organization," and is primarily used by non-profits groups or trade associations. .biz is used for small business Web sites. .info is for credible resource Web sites and signifies a "resource" web site. It's the most popular extension beyond .com, .net and .org. .mobi (short for "mobile") is reserved for Web sites built for easy viewing on mobile devices. .us is for American Web sites and is the newest extension. It has the largest amount of available names in inventory. .tv is for rich content/multi-media Web sites, commonly used within the entertainment or media industry. There are a myriad of other extensions available for other countries like .ca for Canada and .uk for the United Kingdom. In general it is best to get a .com name for your business, or .org if you are a non-profit since these are typically what people will search for first.
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Some people will get the same name with additional extensions to keep other people from using them. If you feel this could be a problem for you down the road you may want to consider protecting yourself by getting additional extensions. For most people this is not necessary if they have the .com or .org extension. Where to get a domain name To get a domain name you need to register it through a service. You should not have to pay more than $10 a year for your domain name. If you are paying more, I suggest you shop around. There are usually discounts for multiple year and multiple domain names registered. If you get hosting with the same company, they will often give you the domain registration for free. A few sources for cheap reliable domain names are: • Godaddy.com • 1and1.com • Bluehost.com • NetworkSolutions.com
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Choosing the right name for you It can be tough to find a good domain name with the popular .com and .org extensions these days so you will need to be creative. The shorter the name you can use the better. Try not to use dashes or mix numbers into your name. Try to pick a name or words that are easy to spell and remember. Many sites that sell domain names have a name choosing wizard. Type in your keywords and they will provide some combinations and tell you what is available. If you really want to be an expert on good and bad domain names check out goodurlbadurl.com. How domains work The reason you need a domain name is so that your customers can easily find your site without remembering a long IP address. Each computer actually uses a long number like 208.77.188.166 as it’s address. When you register a domain for your address every time someone types in that name a Domain Name Server (DNS) directs you to the proper IP address where the site is hosted.
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Hosting Once you have your domain name picked out you need to find a place to host your site. If you are just starting out I suggest you use the same place you use for your domain. All of your information will be in one place and you can save yourself some of the technical details required when you have domains and sites hosted in different locations.
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Create your website There are lots of options for creating your site. The good news is that a lot of the work has been done and prices have come down. Most people are not starting from scratch. Even seasoned web designers re-use and copy code from others.
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Do it yourself sites Again if you have bought a domain and hosting from a service provider, they will often offer a free or low cost website builder package. I suggest you give these a try to get your feet wet. Third party site building tools There are plenty of websites that allow you to create your own site for free or for a small monthly fee. Bear in mind that these sites use templates so it will not be unique and most free sites place their advertising on your site. Here are a few free sites I have used and recommend: • Google Pages • PageFlakes • NetVibes • Ning (build you own social network) • Terapad (blog and website) • Blogger (blog) • WordPress (blog)
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WYSIWYG The nice thing about these site building tools is that they come with editing tools or WYSIWYG’s, which stands for what you see is what you get. No knowledge of code or HTML is required. If you can
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write a Word document should be able to handle editing a page using these editors. Software If you have some coding skills and feel comfortable with HTML you can build your own site using programs like DreamWeaver or Notepad and create your own site. These programs also come in handy if you decide to tweak a pre-built blog or website. Professional help If you don’t have the time or technical skills I suggest you find a good professional to build your site for you. I know some HTML and can tweak a blog, but when my clients need a professional site I go to my network of web design professionals.
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Chapter 4 Quiz 1. A ______ is the title of your website address. A. Domain name B. Web page C. Web title D. Web host 2. In general it is best to get a .com name for your business, or .org if you are a _____ since these are typically what people will search for first. A. Blog B. Non-profit C. Store D. Movie 3. When choosing a domain name try to pick a name or words that are easy to _____ and remember. A. Say
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B. Advertise C. Spell D. None of the above 4. The reason you need a domain name is so that your customers can easily find your site without remembering a long _____. A. Phone number B. Alphabet C. URL D. None of the above 5. When you register a domain for your address every time someone types in that name a _____ directs you to the proper IP address where the site is hosted. A. Director B. Monkey C. Domain Name Server (DNS) D. All of the above
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6. Once you have your domain name picked out you need to find a place to _____ your site. A. Watch B. Track C. Host D. Buy 7. There are plenty of websites that allow you to create your own site for _____ or for a small monthly fee. A. Millions B. Trial C. Free D. Advertising 8. WYSIWYG stands for ______. A. What you see is what you get B. What you see is what you gain C. Why you save it with your guide D. None of the above
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9. If you have some coding skills and feel comfortable with _____ you can build your own site. A. Star Trek B. Macs C. Ambiguity D. HTML 10. If you don’t have the time or technical skills you should find a good _____ to build your site for you. A. Blogger B. Professional C. Kid D. None of the above Answers: 1A 2 B 3C 4D 5C 6C 7C 8A 9D 10B
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5. How to Implement Your Plan and Measure Results
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Types of Websites There are many different types of websites, but if you really want to make money there are three main categories: • Commerce sites or stores selling products directly • Promotional sites gaining attention • Informational/advice drive traffic oriented intended to
Most money making sites fall into one of these categories, or are a hybrid. Which site is best for you? Commerce sites These sites focus on selling products directly to consumers. They have a list of products/services and a shopping cart or payment method. They usually require an extra layer of technical expertise to handle inventory and billing. Many sites are stand alone and target consumers directly. Many retail locations now
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offer an online counterpart where their customers can purchase. Promotional Some sites are purely promotional. You can not purchase the product from the site, but the intention is to drive sales to other web or real world locations. Many new movies have a promotional website with a trailer and viewing information, but you can not purchase the movie from the site. Informational You can use an informational site to establish yourself as an expert in your market. Many blogs take this approach. The blog authors post relevant and useful information on a regular basis. Once you have built up a loyal following you can recommend products of service that you provide or sell advertising for others. Once you know the type of site you are creating you will need to set up a system to measure and track results to see what’s working and what’s not.
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Metrics and Measurement How do you know if your hard work is paying off? Measure. The great thing about websites as opposed to other marketing tools is that you can track all the activity on your site. This is virtually impossible to do on the same scale with traditional media like television, radio and print. (Note: you need a free Google account from Google.com to use the Google services listed in this section) KPI's Before you begin you need to set some goals of what you want to measure. These key performance indicators (KPI's) will help you focus on the most important data for your situation. A problem many people face with their analytics is not knowing what to look at. Your website can track so much information it can be overwhelming what is important and what is not. Setting your KPI's in advance will help greatly. For example, if you are selling tennis shoes some key
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performance indicators could be: • Unique Visitors- Visits include all visits to your site, even by the same person, Unique Visits are from different people/computers • Bounce Rate- how many people leave your site right away • Click Through Rate (CTR) to purchase- what percentage of your visitors are making a purchase If you know you spent $100 in online adds to get 100 visitors and 10% clicked through to purchase than it cost you $10 per acquisition for each sale. Web analytics To get started you will need a web analytics program. There are many packages available out there, but I will cover two of the most popular here: WebTrends and Google Analytics. For these programs to work you need install a little piece of provided code on your site. Google Analytics' code looks like this:
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var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "googleanalytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-123456-3"); pageTracker._initData(); pageTracker._trackPageview();
You want to see what people are clicking on your site. Webtrends requires you to put a tag or code on each link you want track. Google Analytics only requires you to put the code on the page that you want to measure and it tracks the links for you automatically. Webtrends Webtrends is one the best known premium web analytics programs. The first thing you will notice is the price. Depending on the size of your site you will pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for this service. There is usually a certain number of reports you can run and an annual license renewal fee as well. It is a nice service and provides some in depth metrics and othe plug-ins from the company you may find useful.
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WebTrends Dashboard View
Google Analytics The first thing you will notice about Google Analytics is that is free. If you are not sure where to start you can take Google Analytics for a test spin and see what kind of information can be tracked. I
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also find the Google Analytics dashboard easier to use than Webtrends.
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Which analytics program is right for you? I prefer Google Analytics because it seems easier to use, requires less work to install the tracking codes and it's free. Before you decide which is right for you, determine your KPI's. If they are basic stats, Google Analytics should do the job. If you have a more complicated scenario for your data you may want to check out what Webtrends has to offer.
Other measurement tools Google Page Rank Have you Googled yourself lately? If you want to know what people see when they search then try searching for yourself. How high up are you on the list? How many listings do you get for your brand name? If you have the Google Toolbar installed it will also give your site a ranking of 1-10, 10 being the highest. The more inbound links and traffic you have, the higher your Google page rank. Google Alerts You have probably heard about measuring web
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traffic, but Google Alerts is a powerful tool that is often overlooked. Sign in to your Google account and you can set up alerts on the topics or keywords you choose. I have alerts set up for when anyone mentions Michael Daehn or marketingenious. It's a good way to see when your name or product is being discussed on the Internet. If someone is raving about your product, you can directly follow up with them.
Blog search It's a good idea to see when people are blogging about you too. Sites like Technorati.com allow you to search blog posts about you and your company. If you see someone blogging about you, you can visit
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their site and leave a comment.
Comment search Google does not index search results for comments on pages. A great tool for searching comments is Backtype.com. When you make an account it also aggregates all of your comments on the web- another way for people to find you.
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Forum discussion search There's a lot happening on the many discussion boards around the web. Are they talking about you? One tool to find out is Omgili.com. Type in your search term and get results from all of the discussion boards.
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Twitter search Twitter is a fast growing communication tool. Every day millions of people are having discussions on topics of interest to them. Are they talking about you or with you? Are you joining the conversation?
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More tools There are a ton of great tools out there for measuring you Internet success. The good news is that most of them are free. The bad news is unless you have clear goals and KPI's you will waste a lot of
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time trying to figure out which ones to use and what the data means. Make sure you do your homework and set your strategy first.
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Chapter 5 Quiz 1. Most money making websites are: A. Commerce B. Promotional C. Informational D. All of the above 2. _____ sites focus on selling products directly to consumers. They have a list of products/services and a shopping cart or payment method. A. Promotional B. Social C. Commerce D. Informational 3. Many _____ locations now offer an online counterpart where their customers can purchase. A. Retail B. Wholesale C. Fun D. All of the above
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4. Many new movies have a _____ website with a trailer and viewing information, but you can not purchase the movie from the site. A. Commerce B. Informational C. Promotional D. None of the above 5. You can use an informational site to establish yourself as an _____ in your market. A. Evangelist B. Expert C. Architect D. Angel 6. It's virtually impossible to _____ on the same scale with traditional media like television, radio and print like you can on the Internet. A. Design B. Promote C. Surf D. Measure 7. KPI stands for: A. Keyword performance index B. Key placing indicators
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C. Key performance indicators D. None of the above 8. CTR stands for: A. Clear tracking rate B. Click the reader C. Correct the rate D. Click through rate 9. _____ is a powerful tool for meauring results that is often overlooked. A. Google Alerts B. MSN C. Yahoo! D. Mom 10. Sites like Technorati.com allow you to search _____ posts about you and your company. A. Fun B. Social C. Blog D. None of the above Answers: 1D 2C 3A 4C 5B 6D 7C 8D 9A 10C
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6. How to Keep Your Website on Top: The Website Creation Continuum
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Great websites are continually honed to better serve your audience. Start by doing your research. • Personas- develop a picture of the ideal visitor for your site
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• Education- know everything you can about your market and the best web tools to reach them • Surveys- not sure what your audience wants? Ask them • Testing- perform user tests early and often- the more you test the better your final site will be Your initial research will help you define your initial target audience. To connect with your target audience you will need: • SEO- Good search engine optimization assures you that when people are typing in the name of your product or service they will find you easily • UX- A well designed user experience makes sure that once they find your site, they can find what they came for quickly and easily • Conversion- If you put in the hard work for the steps above, it will pay off with more conversions to sales, customers and supporters How do you know this is working? Measurement. Check your search results, refine your UX through
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testing and surveys and look at the bottom line- are you making any revenue? Don't forget to use these measurements to refine your target audience further.
©2009 by Michael Daehn
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Conclusion
The Internet is a fun and exciting tool that has transformed the way marketing and business are done. It is an important communication tool whether you are looking to start an Internet based business or to market your traditional business more effectively. Because Internet marketing changes so frequently you need to stay on top of current trends. Yesterday’s Friendster is today’s MySpace and tomorrow’s FaceBook. New sites replace old ones all the time. Reading magazines like Wired are helpful, but sometimes a month is too long to wait. A good way to know what’s happening is to read blogs by people like Seth Godin or mine at philanthr.org. Or you can also establish your own network of advisors through sites like Twitter. I want to know how you do with your new Internet ventures, so please send me a note. My information is always current at MichaelDaehn.com. FTW!
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Internet Marketing for Newbies Internet Marketing for Newbies Book Order Form Name: Organization: Shipping Address: City: Phone: State: Email: Zip: Title:
Internet Marketing for Newbies is $12.95 per copy plus $6 for shipping and handling. Please include your check for $18.95 with this form when placing your order. Mail to: Internet Marketing for Newbies Book Order c/o marketingenious Books 328 Bellezza Drive Ballwin, MO 63021
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Check the website or Contact Michael Daehn for details: 636.236.5718
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