Basic Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization is an art. Optimizing a website or a blog for a search engine is easy enough as long as you are targeting a niche market. What does that mean?

Assume you are trying to sell Computer Services and you are located in Toronto, how would you want to optimize your site?

If you Google "Computer Services", you are going to be up against sites like Dell, Compaq and HP. This is not a good place to start :)

However, if you google "Computer Services, Toronto" you will notice the big boys are no longer on the list, and you will most likely see a lot of your competitors show up on the first page.

This is a niche market. You are going to want to first target people who are specifically looking for computer services in Toronto, and it will be much easier to get a higher ranking when optimizing your site/blog for these keywords.

So once you have determined the keywords you want to optimize your site for, now you have to actually apply a few concepts to get Google, Yahoo and MSN to notice you. Below is a basic list of elements you will need to optimize.

1. Page Title - Make sure you have rich keywords in your title. Don't put your company name here, or at least, use keywords first.
2. Meta Tags - For Blogs, you won't be able to modify your meta tags. If you run a site, you will need to make use of the "description" tag and the "keywords" tag
3. Headings ( H1, H2) - Use your primary keywords in the headings of your site. Try to make your headings match the keywords in the title of your page
4. InBound Links - When people link to your site from theirs, try to have them link using your keywords. Instead of "ABC Computers", have them link "Toronto Computer Services"
5. Content - It is always important to create relevant content with associated keywords. If you run a computer site, but your content has information on Britney Spears and FedEx (hehe), Google will get confused.
6. Alt Tags - Google, at least as of now, cannot read an image unless you give it an Alt Tag. These are important especially to show up on the Google Image search (which brings in more traffic than you would expect)
7. SiteMap - Make sure you have a sitemap on your site, and if possible, submit your sitemap to search engines instead of your home page. A sitemap will allow the Search Engine Crawlers to find all your pages in one shot.
8. Layout - I personally find that having content on the left, and links on the right work better in terms of SEO. The crawlers read your content first, so if your site covers a lot of topics, it will be best to have the crawlers read the content first.

Those are some basic strategies that you will need to implement to get started. Once you have been picked up on the search engines for your niche keywords, then you will get into the more advanced strategies of Search Engine Optimization. We'll save that for another day :)

If you know any strategies that I may have left out (scratch that, definitley left out), please feel free to post a comment :)

Thanks,

Barry

$50 Free for Google AdWords

Google AdWords are a great way to drive some traffic into a brand new site/blog. Search Engines won't pick you up for at least a month, and you definitley won't be in the first few pages of the organic search. If you use Google AdWords, you can be listed on the very first page of any search result, but it's pretty expensive.

If you just want people to visit your blog, and you are not promoting any affiliate links, I wouldn't recommend spending money on Google AdWords for just the traffic; the cost per click is just way too high. However, I have found a nice little coupon for $50 FREE in Google AdWords. Check it out here:

$50 Free in Google AdWords

Enjoy All :)

Barry

Promoting a Blog (Continued)

There are also many sites and tools that you can use to promote your blog. The best site I have found so far that provides quality traffic to your blog (assuming that you have quality content) is
http://www.digg.com. They allow you to post your blog articles for free, and if people like it, they simply have to "digg" it. You will find that a lot of the popular blogs out there get a large percentage of their traffic from this site.

http://www.digg.com

Another great site, although they don't always bring in quality traffic, is Blog Explosion. It's basically a blogging community site that allows other bloggers to view your blog. If you have a good AdSense account or you are a part of a BlogTopSite, this is definitley a good site to join up. Click the banner below to sign up for free.

Once you have a good amount of traffic coming into your site, I would recommend joining a topsite for blogs located here: http://www.blogtopsites.com . A great site to also research how the bigger blogs are getting their traffic.

Promoting a Blog

Blogs have taken the internet by storm. According to Google, over 40 Million blogs have been created in the past two years. What does this tell us? It tells us that there is major competition for blog traffic.

Now in all fairness, I would say a decent percentage of those blogs are not focused on trying to drive traffic in, they are just personal blogs for friends and family. Nonetheless, promoting your blog is a much more difficult task than creating & maintaining it.

So How do you promote your blog?

1. Submit your Blog to online directories

Here is a list of the major blog directories that you NEED to submit your site to:
Please consult the full list for maximum exposure)

Blog Digger - submit your rss feed for your blog

ReadABlog - submit your blog

Blogarama - submit your blog

BlogStreet - blog submissions

Globe of Blogs - submit your rss feed for you blog

Kmax Blog Links - blog submission

BlogDex - submit your blog

Click Here for a Full List of Blog Directories

2. Submit your RSS Feed to RSS Directories

Here is a list of the major rss feed directories that you NEED to submit your feed to: (Please consult the full list for maximum exposure)

RSS Network - submit RSS feeds & select category

RSS Locator - submit RSS feeds

Syndic8 - submit RSS feeds

DayPop - post your RSS feed or blog

Feedster - submit your RSS feed

Rocket News - post your RSS feed

Technorati - submit your RSS feed to be pinged

Click here for a full list of RSS Feed Directories

Making Money With Your Blog

If you are reading my blog right now, it is quite likely that you have a blog yourself. If you already have a blog, yet you don't have a Google AdSense account, you need to get one right away to make money with your blog. You can get one here: http://www.google.com/adsense

I think it's obvious why. Even if your blog is not getting a lot of traffic, you should still get a Google AdSense account. (It is great motivation when you make your first $10.00... it will drive you to start promoting your blog). But most of you already knew this, so the real challenge here is promoting your blog. I will get into that later. But driving high traffic isn't the only way to generate revenue from your blog.

Blogs are a good way to promote affiliate links. Please refer to my previous post on a similar subject, Creating a Review Site

If you already have a large reader base and a decent amount of traffic coming into your blog, you can make money using 'Pay Per Post' ads. Here are a couple of sites that offer these services.

• Bloggingads.com - The site will send you a pre-written ad message which will be posted on your blog. You'll be paid once the blog post has been reviewed and approved.
  
• Payperpost.com - You earn money by posting content on your blog based on the advertises requests. Payment makes to you after 30 days of the post.

If you write quality posts in your blog and have a decent sized reader base, you will likely get sponsored to post blog ads (that is, if you want to. Some people may say it ruins the integrity of your blog).

Try those resources out, tell me what you think.

Barry

Researching on eBay - The Online Market

If you want to sell products in an eBay store, even before you aquire inventory you need to check the prices on eBay. You may find that your absolute best cost will leave you with no profit margin on eBay. I'll give you an example, because this happened to me.

I went to Best Buy to buy an iPod back when they were just coming out. It cost just over $400.00 CAD and I didn't want to pay that much, so I tried to find a deal on eBay. What do you know! I could pick one up on eBay for roughly $230.00 CAD.

Now instead of buying it right away, I waited a week and checked the prices just in case I could find a better deal. Sure enough, I waited a week and was able to grab one for $180.00 CAD.

At this point, I'm happy that I have my iPod and didn't pay close attention to what just happend. The market on eBay for iPods was 50% cheaper than in retail stores. I checked onto my Doba account to see what I could get the very same iPods for, and my best price was $180.00 CAD (I couldn't order for myself because Doba doesn't ship to Canada :(

When looking at the details of the iPod in the Doba site, it showed MSRP (Manufacuter Suggested Retail Price) of $409.99 and our wholesale price was $180.00. That looks great on paper, but if I wanted to sell this on eBay, I would lose money.

So before you are going to sell a product on eBay, do your research before you purchase a wholesale lot.

Take Care :)

Barry Deen

Buy and ReSell on eBay

It's very difficult these days to find products that you can markup enough to yeild a healthy profit, especially when selling on eBay. Seems there are just so many bargains and so many deals on eBay it's impossible to compete. While this is true to some extent, you can also use this to your advantage.

I'm sure you guys all have friends or has heard somebody brag about what a great deal they got on eBay. Typically, the great deals are from individuals, not stores, selling a product they don't want anymore. For example, I just recently purchased an XBOX 360 from a kid who got a PS3 and didn't want it anymore. He sold it to me, with two controllers and 3 games for $50.00 USD + Shipping (think it was like $13 to ship or something). Now me personally, I am going to keep the console, but if you check the price on eBay right now, an XBOX 360 can go for over $100.00 USD.

Yes I got lucky to spot that deal, and I could resell it and get a nice profit, but would it really be worth it for me to sit on eBay and scope out all the best deals? Well maybe, but quite frankly my time, and your time, is too valuable for that.

Lucky for us, there is software that can do this for us. It's called PowerSnipe, and it allows you you to set a limit of how much you are willing to pay for an item on eBay, and it will bid in the final seconds of auction ending. Using this software, you can track thousands of products and win those great bargains, which you can in turn resell on eBay for a higher price.

Click Here to Checkout PowerSnipe

Get Paid For Surveys

All of you I'm sure have seen sites like SurveyScout.com, PaidSurveysOnline.com etc. Well all of those sites just give you a directory of companies who MAY pay you for your opinion, but most of the time they are just going to enter you for a CHANCE to win some money. (Which sucks)

I did, however, find a great site that pays you CASH and you don't need to spend money to get started. They pay you for surveys and pay you to shop. You should definitley pay them a visit, sign up (takes 30 seconds) and best of all, it's free (like everything I mention in this blog)

Treasure Trooper.

Let me know how it goes :)

Barry Deen

Drop Shipping on eBay

Drop Shipping is an industry that has been around for a while; despite what some people may tell you. The difference now is that more and more people are purchasing products online, so purchasing inventory for a regular retail store may not be the best business investment anymore. (Take that comment with a grain of salt please :)

What is Drop Shipping? It's a process where you sell products, either online or by telephone, and you only have to purchase the product once someone has placed on order with you. For example, I have a supplier who will drop ship iPods; and he gives me each one for $80.00 USD, doesn't matter on the quantity. What I do is list his iPods on eBay for $120.00 USD. When someone bids or makes a purchase on eBay, I get the supplier to ship the iPod straight to the customer, and I get to pocket $40.00 USD.

It is a simple concept, but a lot of people overlook a lot of the risk involved, especially when listing on eBay. You have to remember eBay charges a lot of fees before you are paid that $120.00 USD. Using the example above, I will tell you how much in fees you would have had to pay (assuming the customer paid with PayPal)

1. Listing Fee: $2.40 (you may have to list several times before you make a sale!)
2. Final Value Fee: $4.16 ($1.31 + $2.85 )
3. PayPal Fee: $3.78 ($3.48 + $0.30 Transaction Fee)

So as you can see, you will have to payout $10.34 to PayPal and eBay, which is just over 25% of your profit. (And all assuming your item sold on the first shot, which is rare)

Be sure to factor these fees in before you markup your product. Failing to do so will result in a major loss.

So now, how do I find a Drop Ship Supplier?

I praise the lord everyday for this wonderful site, with it I made a killing on eBay:

DOBA (A.K.A. Wholesale Marketer) - Click Here

Sign up for a free trial - they won't charge anything to your credit card within the first 7 days. If you decide that it's not worth it (which it most definitley is!), you may cancel and you'll never be charged a penny.

Check out http://www.ebaystorebuilder.com - this site shows my eBay statements and all the sales I was making selling automotive parts from Doba.

For more information on PayPal Fees, visit this page:
http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-fees-outside

For more information on eBay Fees, visit this page:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html

Until next time,

Barry Deen

Creating a Pitch Page

There are many different philosophies behind the pitch page. All with their own advantages, disadvantages, but most of it is just pure B.S. (Please pardon my french here).

Most pitch pages you will see are very, VERY long, and most people aren't going to read it because they've read many of them before. They know the drill: How much you will make, testimonials, own this car, live in this house, imagine...

Well while it's good to make people believe all their dreams will come true when purchasing your program (or a program you are trying to promote), most savvy individuals now a days will not fall for that. In my opinion, right now the program with the best pitch is 'The Rich Jerk'. (notice how I am not creating a link here; I do not encourage you to purchase his book, just study how he has created his pitch)

His pitch is kind of like "If you don't purchase my program, I don't care, because you are stupid if you don't". Kind of a rude approach, but according to ClickBank statistics, he is getting a high conversion rate.

I wouldn't recommend fully being as rude as 'The Rich Jerk', but you need to make a similar approach. Here are a few key pointers on creating your pitch page:

• Keep it Short; The more people read, the less interested they become
• Don't make outrageous promises
• Use the Lemming Princple (Put logos like "Google", "eBay", "PowerSeller")
• Try to provide real proof of payment (cheques, clickbank statements etc)
• Use to color green (it's almost subliminal)
• Make good use of SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Take a look at this pitch page I created. I haven't actually written a program for this site yet; I have decided to just use it as an example for this blog.

http://www.ebaystorebuilder.com

Notice how I have put things like "As Seen on TV" (which isn't a lie; I have been interviewed on several television programs) These kinds of logos build trust with your potential customers.

You don't even need to write a program; Your pitch page can be for another product you are promoting.

You will most likely need some HTML experience to create a pitch page. If you don't, I would recommend using software like "Microsoft Front Page" or "Macromedia DreamWeaver" to create them, it's simple enough.

Until next time,

Barry Deen

Create a Review Site

While there are a lot of "Review Sites" out there on the internet, the market is definitley not saturated. There is still tons of money to be made simply promoting products by giving a "Review" on the product. The more in-depth and true your review is, the more likely you will make a conversion when your reader purchases that material. Just to try to clear things up, check out this site.

http://www.actual-reviews.com

This is a little project I threw together, I haven't even come close to finishing it up because I just don't really have time, but the concept should be clear.

I pick a product that regularly converts (According to statistics given to me on my ClickBank account) and I contacted the owners of those sites and they willingly gave me a free copy of their material to be reviewed (because of course, they want their site promoted in any way possible). Now once I give my "Review" on that material, I can use my review as my own little Pitch to try to make a conversion. The beauty about this is that despite the fact that you aren't backed up by any large corporation and really your opinion is "meaningless", it will nonetheless entise a lot of desperate people to purchase the product.

If you were to google the term "Make Money at Home" - you will only see 3 review sites in the sponsored listings, and you won't find any on the first page of the organic search results, which tells you right away you don't have much competition.

Now you might be saying "Well that's great, too bad I don't know how to build a website..."

Well you don't have to, just start a blog! Start a blog, promote it, and review every product found in the ClickBank database. You'll be surprised how quickly those comissisons can add up to a couple thousand dollars a month. (and I'm not exaggerating). Obviously the hardest part here is promoting, but we will get into that later.

Google "Promote Website" - I'm sure you will find lots of quality information.

Until next time, tell your friends :)

Barry Deen

Promoting Other Products

You guys have seen these products I'm sure...

• "Fill Out Surveys at Home!"
• "Make Money using Google"
• "Make Money on eBay"
• "etc, etc etc etc"

Well all these guys are simply selling Information. In all reality, for every one guide/information package, there are most likely over 100+ websites promoting it, hoping to cash in on the comission, which is typically pretty high.

So what is the first thing you need to do? Head on over to ClickBank and become an affiliate (free of course)

Click Here to Become a ClickBank Affiliate

Now that you have access to thousands if not millions of products to promote and earn a comission, we are going to have to find a way to drive traffic to your "hop link". Well, there are many ways to do this without much knowledge, and for a good price.

1. Start a Blog! (Not the best way, but a good start)
2. Promote with Google AdWords (I will write up on this later)
3. Create your very own "Pitch Page"
4. Submit "Hop Link" to open directories (dmoz.org)

Those are just a few options you have, and I will get into greater detail on that later. For now, just checkout all the products that are available on ClickBank (the 'gravity' field is important - shows how many people typically purchase that product). Find out if there are any products that you personally are interested in and think you will have an easier time selling. It's always easier to sell a product if you believe in it yourself.

Make sure to check back soon for more tips, tricks, strategies, whatever you want to call it, on how to make some good cash online, at home.

Tell your friends :)

Barry Deen

Introduction

Hey All,

I have started this blog because too many friends and family ask me how I make money online, and it seems to be an obvious area of interest for a lot of people. Yes it takes some hard work, but it won't take hard cash; only some of your time. Sites like 'The Rich Jerk' or any of those other internet marketing companies will all tell you the same thing, and that's how to promote an affiliate site. There is no big secret, conspiracy or anything of that matter. There is real money to be made, and I'll tell you how... for free :)

Let your friends know about this blog.

Barry Deen

List of Online Blog Directories

These sites allow you to post your blog in their directories for free:

Blog Digger - submit your rss feed for your blog

ReadABlog - submit your blog

Blogarama - submit your blog

BlogStreet - blog submissions

Globe of Blogs - submit your rss feed for you blog

Kmax Blog Links - blog submission

BlogDex - submit your blog

Blog Universe - blog submission

BlogSearchEngine - submit rss feeds for web logs

BlogHop - submit feeds for blogs

BlogWise - rss feed submission for blogs

EatonWeb - submit feed for online blogs

PopDex - feed sumbission for web blogs

Blizg - submit rss feeds for web logs

Blo.gs - blog submissions

BlogCensus - submit your rss feed for your blog

BlogTree - blog submission

BlogStreet - rss feed submission for blog

BritBlog - blog submission

BlogLines - submit your blog to the directory

Bloogz - submit your blog

Australian Blog Directory - submit your blog

BoingBoing - submit blogs for review

RootBlog - enter the URL of a RSS feed you want to added to the database.

Weblog Directory - submit blog to directory

BlogoSphere EcoSystems - add your weblog

Blogz - add your blog

BlogWatcher - submit the url of your web log

BlogMatcher - submit your blog url

BlogPulse - automated trend discovery system for blogs

BlogCatalog - The Ultimate Blog Directory - Search For Blogs

Blogdir - spanish blog community

Blogs R Us - add feed

Blogs By City - add your blog!

FeedMap - submit a blog!

BlogSearch - submit blogs

PubSub - blog feed submission.

BlogSweet - blog feed submission.

BlogFlux - blog feed submission.

Blogtastic - blog feed submission.

Blog Introduction - submit blogs.

Finding Blog - blog submissions

Bulletize - blog submissions

BlogTopSites - blog submissions

Blog Fuse- blog submissions

Blogion- blog submissions

AddUrlBlog- add blogs

Blogbib- add blogs

BOTW Blog- add blogs

Blog Directory Submit- add blogs

BlogTopSites- add blogs (they will provide required code that must be inserted in your website, in order for blogtopsites to rank your blog)

BlogBusiness - add business blogs only

BlogSiteZone - manually add blogs to directory.

BlogTopList - adds blogs to directories.

List of Online RSS Feed Directories

These directories allow you to post your RSS feeds for Free.

RSS Network - submit RSS feeds & select category

RSS Locator - submit RSS feeds

Syndic8 - submit RSS feeds

DayPop - post your RSS feed or blog

Feedster - submit your RSS feed

Rocket News - post your RSS feed

Technorati - submit your RSS feed to be pinged

Userland - submit rss feeds

Postami - submit rss feeds

Finance Investing Feeds - Only submit finance or investment related feeds.

Security Protection Feeds - Submit only security or protection related feeds RSS feeds select appropriate category.

Realty Feeds - Submit only home related RSS feeds. Be sure to select the appropriate category.

Medical Feeds - Submit feeds related to medical care or health.

Religious Podcasts - Submit only podcasts that relate to religion, sermon or spiritual beliefs.

Sports Feeds - Submit sports related RSS feeds and podcasts.

Political Feeds - Submit political feeds and podcasts.

Government Feeds - Submit feeds ONLY from government agencies. Feeds from both Local and federal governments are accepted.

2RSS - submit rss and assign category (on bottom)

NewsMob - submit rss news feeds

RocketInfo - submit your rss content and feed

Edu RSS - harvests only feeds dealing with educational technology and related issues. All feeds are reviewed before being added to the list.

Sourceforge.net- submit News using XML

Complete RSS - enter the url(s) of the feeds you wish to add to the directory.

Feeds.com.br - add rss feeds

MoreOver - Moreover connects to thousands of online sources handpicked for excellence and trustworthiness. In order to maintain the quality of the directory all submission are evaluated prior to inclusion.

GeneCast - RSS news feed submissions

Memigo - submit a news link to memigo

PubSub - PubSub reads more than 2 million syndicated feeds, matches messages to subscriptions and delivers messages to subscribers in real time.

BulkFeeds - submit an rss feed

Ping-O-Matic - rss feed submissions (pings site)

Yenra - submit RSS news feed

easyRSS - gives you a direct access to the content you are interested in.

NewsXS - submit rss feeds

FeedFarm - all submitted feeds are reviewed

FastBuzz - submit feeds

RSSFeeds - submit rss feeds

Search4RSS - submit RSS feeds

DeskFeeds - rss feed and blog submissions

Terrar - rss feed submissions

The Feed Spot - submit feeds

StepNewz - submit rss news feeds

RSS Verzeichnis - German feed submissions

4Guys from Rolla - submit feeds

DevASP - add feed listing

FuzzySoftware - submit XML listings

ASP Index - submit RSS feeds

SourceForge - submit news feeds

Feed Directory - submit RSS feeds in the feed directory.

FeedBeagle - submit feeds (scroll down)

FeedPlex - submit feeds

Feeds4All - submit RSS feeds

NewsFeedFinder - submit RSS feeds

Plazoo - submit RSS feeds

Newzfire - submit RSS feeds

Feed24 - RSS feed submissions

Shas3 - Submit RSS feeds select appropriate category

RSS Feeds Directory - Submit RSS feeds select appropriate category

FeedCat - Submit RSS feeds select appropriate category

FeedMiner - Submit RSS feeds select appropriate category

RSS Clipping - add RSS urls

Read A Feed - add RSS urls

Loomia - add RSS feeds

Feeds2Read - add your RSS feeds

Feedzie - add your RSS feeds

RSS Portal - add your RSS feeds

RSS Feed 4U - add your RSS feeds

StepNewz - suggest RSS feeds

StepNewz - suggest RSS feeds

Thomas Korte - automated feed submissions

JordoMedia - suggest RSS feeds

RSS Mad - add an RSS feed (on bottom right side)

FeedBomb - Navigate category and suggest a feed.

nFeeds - Submit RSS feeds only.

Auto Feeds - Submit automotive feeds only.

News Goblin - Submit automotive feeds only.

Wordum - Submit automotive feeds only

FeedSee - Submit feeds using keyword searches.

Ez2News - Submit RSS feeds

Submit Feeds - RSS submission feeds

Feedooyoo - Submit RSS feeds

Science Port - Add RSS feeds

FeedAge - Submit RSS feeds

GoldenFeed - Submit RSS feeds

RSSMicro - Submit RSS feeds

FeedDirectory - Submit RSS feeds

Octora RSS Feeds - Submit RSS feeds

FeedFury - Submit RSS feeds

National Lib for Health - Submit Medical feeds

RSSMotron - Submit RSS feeds

FindRSS - Submit RSS feeds