Sure Fire Web Newsblog

Archive for September, 2007

This is “Part VI: Building an Affiliate Site”. This is
the site we’re building called “IM against PP”:
www.imagainstpp.com

If you’re missing the first few emails in the series, please
visit www.surefireweb.com/blog to pick them up.

Last week we talked about optimising your site for the Search
Engines using on-page and off-page optimisation techniques.

By way of summary from last week, your Keywords need to be
located in the following areas to guarantee a top position in the
Search Engines:
1. Your domain name
2. Your site Headings (eg. H1, H2, H3…)
3. Your site pictures – include your keywords in the ALT text
4. Special emphasis – eg. bold and italic words
5. First and Last words on your page
6. Meta Tags

A comparison of SEO Tools is available here:

http://imagainstpp.com/Alternative_SEO_Tools.html

I personally use all 3 of those tools – though I prefer XSitePro
the most as it incorporates SEO into the HTML Editor itself,
which is a very neat way of optimizing your site, without having to
switch between multiple programs 

This week: SEO and Keyword Research

Now if you’ve understood Part V, then you know that putting
your keywords into the right location(s) on your site will tell
the Search Engines that you’re serious about this particular topic.

But how do you go about finding Non-competitive keywords
that you can capitalise on ?

I suppose the main aim is to find Keywords that have a high
level of search attempts, with a low number of sites that actually
offer this.

Keyword Analysis Tools were compared here:
http://imagainstpp.com/Alternative_Keyword_Research.html

Most of the tools on this page have a free trial period, so be
sure to check them out prior to purchase.

Now I’d like to introduce to you an SEO term that will help you
locate the right keywords: KEI. (Keyword Effectiveness Index)

A keyword’s KEI is the measure of how many people are searching
for this term, compared to the number of sites that contain the search
keywords on it’s page.

Now from Wordtracker (grab the free trial), they suggest that a
good keyword phrase has a KEI of higher than 100, and an excellent
keyword phrase is better than 400.

So the higher the KEI, the better your site will rank.

Similarly, if you pick up the free version of Web CEO (from here:
http://imagainstpp.com/Alternative_Keyword_Research.html )
then you can start to locate keyword phrases that have a high KEI.

Next stop: the Google Adsense Tool
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal?defaultView=2

You’ll need to spend half an hour working out what’s happening
with this free Google tool – but when you get used to it, you’ll
know how powerful it really is.

Check out the Search Volume trends to determine the keywords
and phrases that are hot.

If you keep the box “use synonyms” checked then you’ll have a great
list of keywords that you can compare.

The main aim of keyword research is to get your site ranked as high
as possible with the least “effort”. If your keywords are too competitive,
then you’re going to have a hard time getting to #1.

It’s better to back off and try some other keyword combinations
that would give your site more traffic, than to try and outrank some of
the high performing sites.

That finishes off the Keyword Research part of the course. Next week
I’ll come back to other traffic generation techniques, which is
more “fun” than “hard work”.

And after that we’ll go through the lead capture process to make sure
you’ve got a way of building your list from the traffic that is coming to
your site.

Gotta rush !

Brad Smith

This is Part V of “Building an Affiliate Site” – so if you’ve
missed the first four parts, you may collect them here:
www.surefireweb.com

This week we’re looking at SEO techniques and the
use of keywords for your site. This will take a couple of weeks
to go through – but at the end you should have a good grasp
of what you need to do to build your site for the Search Engines.

“Internet Marketers Against PayPal”

The Affiliate site we’re building is:
http://imagainstpp.com

Today we’re looking at Keyword Research, and I’ve compared
a few tools that I own and use here:
http://imagainstpp.com/Alternative_Keyword_Research.html
(I hope you find some honest reviews there…)

Now as you recall, this site is targeted as a “grunge” site, an
“attacker” of the PayPal dominance over the internet.

I started out with alternative processors to PayPal here:
http://imagainstpp.com/Alternative_Processors_to_PayPal.html

And over the last four weeks I’ve added a number of other
related tools that internet marketers would find userful:
- alternative SPAM Filters
- alternative Membership Site software
- alternative Article Directories for submission
- alternative PDF conversion tools
- alternative Personal Affiliate programs
- alternative Online Affiliate programs
- alternative Autoresponders
-
and of course today I’ve added
- alternative Keyword Research tools
- alternative SEO Tools

Now why would I bother to go to great extremes of
putting all this information together?

Here’s my thinking: If someone is looking at “alternatives to PayPal”
then they are also going to need other useful info about starting
an internet business.

So I’ve added a ton of information – and of course I could add a
lot more (eg. hosting, domain name registration, etc.)

* Keyword Research

Keywords are the bread and butter of the Search Engines.
They can “make or break” your website.
Without them, your website means nothing.

So … what’s the first thing you need to know?

First, what do you want your site to “DO” for you?
Let’s face it, your site needs to have a “point” for it’s existence.

Even sites with “general information” for people to read are
significant.

People will want to find your site, gather information, and use
it somehow.

It’s up to you to make something of the visitors to your site.

The process of selecting the right keywords determines just
how well your site will rank in the Search Engines.

* Next Step

OK then, what’s a practical application of this?

1. Your domain name – it is imperative that you select your
domain name, or at least a page on your site, to include your
Keywords in the URL.

2. Your site Headings (eg. H1, H2, H3…) – your headings
should include your Keywords at least twice on the page

3. Your site pictures – include your keywords in the ALT text
messages for two pictures on your site

4. Special emphasis – you don’t need to overdo this, but make
your keywords appear in either Bold or Italic at least twice on your page

5. First and Last words on your page – the first 200 and
last 200 words on your page should include your keyword terms

6. Meta Tags – there are three meta tags that require your
defined keywords : Page Title, Page Description, and
Keyword Description
(This is known as “off-page” optimisation.)

This seems like a lot of work, hey?
Well YES it is. And it needs to be done well.

But think about it:
Do you know how profitable just one GOOD RANKING
KEYWORD actually is? Or one well ranked keyword phrase?

Do you really want free traffic to your site?

If so, then you’ve got to convince the Search Engines that you’ve
got the Search Term that they are looking for.

The tools on this following page are the ones I’ve used
for Keyword Research, with my main tool being XSitePro:
http://imagainstpp.com/Alternative_SEO_Tools.html

There’s no need to chase a ton of other Keyword Search
equipment, though each tool comes into it’s own quite easily.

The other main tool I use is Web CEO – a brilliant tool
for the serious workaholic 

OK, that’s the lesson for today.

If you want to look at other research tools, I’d recommend:

XSitePro, a complete HTML Editor and SEO Tool I use all the time…

Keyword Elite, the rave reviews make me want to get this…

Next week we’ll take a closer look at SEO and Keyword Research,
and after that we’ll move into Traffic Generation techniques.

Hope you’re finding this series meaty enough.
Feel free to ask me any questions that you’d like help with.

All the best,

Brad Smith
Easter JV Gifts

Today we’re finishing off our Affiliate website “IM Against PP”
with our last lot of affiliate products that we wish to add.

Firstly, I’d like to thank my very generous readers who almost
SPAM.M.E.D my support centre with the back issues of our topic.
If you missed the first few emails, you can read them at my blog:

http://www.surefireweb.com/blog

Oh, and thank you for signing up to some of the services that I’ve
made mention at the site – you’re helping to pay my bills

** Part IV: Building An Affiliate Site **

Now, building an Affiliate site is fairly easy.
All you need to do is find some products in a niche, and compare
them with each other.

Tell your visitors about the pro’s and con’s about the products
and let them make up their own mind about the product.
Of course, you might want to recommend a product that pays you
a higher commission – however try not to be bias in your approach
to evaluating the products.

Instead, you might want to mention the benefits a few more times
than the other products that you are comparing.
Example I: SPAM comparison.

Let’s view my latest addition: comparing SPAM filter technology.
http://imagainstpp.com/Alternative_SPAM_Filters.html

Here I’ve mentioned the risks of SPAM as an opening paragraph to
lead into my comparison. Then I’ve put up three sites: one is a well
known (affiliate) site, the other two are standard sites with no affiliate
link.

Example II: Affiliate Programs

http://imagainstpp.com/Alternative_Personal_Affiliate_Programs.html

In this example I’ve compared several affiliate programs that you
can use to run your promotions.

And having spent a lot of time inside these little beasts lately, I can
say that “there is more than one way to skin a cat”.
Sorry cat lovers

(Actually I have a beautiful cat of my own, “Sassy” – she’s gorgeous.)
The main aim of your affiliate site is to demonstrate the good and
bad things of the products you are comparing.
The way you make mon.e.y from your site is to include your affiliate
link on the products you recommend (woops, I mean compare.).
When people review your comments, they may take the next step and
make a purchase.

Then you’re in the black!

And your efforts have been well worth it.

** Target your audience **

I must remind you of this.

Make sure you keep a clear view of your audience, that is, your visiting
traffic.

Don’t promote “Stop Smoking” products from a Computing Affiliate site.
Don’t promote “Dog Lovers” products from a Health Food Affiliate site.
Don’t promote “Diet Trends” products from a Video Affiliate site.
Got the idea ?

Good!

Always keep within your niche – just like Google will only serve targeted
PPC Ads on your Adsense website.
That’s about it for today.

Next issue we’ll take a look at SEO and site design to see how
to set up the pages to get f/r/e/e Search Engine Traffic.

And in future issues we’ll look at other techniques to get traffic to the
site.
Thanks for being great listeners.

This will also be posted at www.surefireweb.com for future reference.

Take care and God Bless,

Brad Smith