As you know, the web is huge! In fact, it is more than gargantuan and there probably needs to be a new word invented to give a sense of the size of the darned thing!

It’s big.

So, with all those other web sites and pages out there vying for the top spot in a Google search result, how will your cute little web site get found?

Did you think that, as Kevin Costner said, you ‘Build it and they will come”? I’ll bet that more than half the people who’ve ever had a web design company create them a site were thinking just that.

Well, it’s not going to happen. Especially as there are others out there that know exactly how this web thing works and they know how to rocket towards the top of the results.

But we can all do the same with a little knowledge, savvy and – sorry about this – effort. Even those of us who have been churning out successful sites for a number of years can do well to remember some of the basics that we are too lazy to use.

We need to make substantial preparations *before* we get building the site. But, if your site has already been built, it can still be tidied up with four basic tasks.

Keyword Research

Experienced webbies will already know the significance of this but, I bet you five quid that we don’t research them as diligently as we should! And now it is so easy to do with free tools such as the Google Traffic Estimator (Google it!).

From here you will find keywords and keyword phrases that people are actually searching for online. One of the biggest mistakes online is to produce content that no one is looking for. Once you know what people look for in relation to your product or service and how they phrase their search, you can produce content perfectly honed to that search. Google will love you!

Web design companies do not generally understand this concept at all and think that the look and design is the important thing. But, unless you appear on that Google search page, they’ll never get to even see your site let alone be impressed with the design!

Keyword List

Once you start to find the keywords that you need to be targeting, write them down and develop a list. Ideally, you will create a page dedicated to each keyword or cover two closely related keywords on each page.

This is important. You cannot try and squeeze them all in to the home page content as it will not work. You should have a ‘landing page’ dedicated to the subject of that keyword so your customer can search for it, click on your result and then find information that is perfectly relevant to the words that were in her head when she entered the search term.

Think of Amazon. When you search for a Sony LCD TV model XYZ123, the result takes you to that very page. But, some others just take you to their home page and then leave you frustrated trying to find that product on their web site.

This may have you producing lots of content pages but they don’t have to all be made today. And search engines love fresh content being added like on a blog.

Competitor Research

Online you may not realise whom your top competitors are until you get researching. Decide from your keyword research, which are likely to be the top money earners or the ones that bring you the most successful result based on your goals.

Then, search for that keyword or phrase in Google and study the top five to ten. Don’t bother looking at Wikipedia, Shopzilla and those at the moment. Just study the real competitors and see what their listing descriptions say, what the title of that result listing says, what their landing page looks like, etc.

Do the same for all your important keywords. Yes, this does take effort but the results will be worthwhile. Did someone tell you that making money was easy?

Print them out. Make a list of what seems to come up often in the titles, the descriptions, the pages, the images. And see who appears consistently for the various keywords.

These are your real competitors so you’d better get to know what they are doing, what they do well, how they are doing it and then, only then, you will be able to figure out a plan to do it better.

Content List

From the previous three steps, you will have found what people will search for, what is worth being found for, who else is doing this, and what they are doing successfully.

And, from that, we can decide what needs to be on our web site.

First of all, put your keywords into groups such as product pages, product categories, customer service, FAQs, customer advice, branding, etc.

Then you can start to create the structure for the pages that your web site will need. This is the content and will become your strategy around which the web site can be built.

Of course there may be more pages that need creating, too. These can be mapped into the same content list and strategy.

And, if you already have a web site, you will need to start re-working those pages to better reflect these keywords and get a better focus.

This is important work and I will always start my web sites with this approach.

Preparation works. And, the more thoroughly you prepare, that more successful your project will become.

The post Content Structure – It’s All In The Preparation first appeared on JonOnFire.com.

Don’t despair; it happens to us all the time. But there are plenty of ways to get ideas for your writing. All it takes is a little attention to what’s going on around you. Here are some great places to get inspiration.

1.            Read other blogs – This may seem obvious but keeping up to date with other blogs in your industry is great for several reasons. First of all, it will help you see trends in the industry – and you may want to take advantage of these trends by writing about them in your blog. In addition, it may help you find out about new products you want to carry or other things that can help your business.

The easiest way to do this is by grabbing their RSS feed and saving it with Google Reader as that is free and everyone uses it. Look at the ‘iGoogle’ option in the top right corner of your Google homepage.

If you do this well, others will take your RSS and use you for inspiration as time goes on!

2.            Keep up with the news – Writing about current events, particularly when they relate in some way to your business or products is not only a great way to stay fresh and current with your readers, it’s also a great way to stay in the search engines.

Search engines will grab right onto a blog post that uses words that are also found in the most recent headlines. In addition to looking at the national news for inspiration, don’t forget to keep up with local news and industry news.

Blogging on local events keeps you tuned into your local buyers, while blogging on industry news helps cement your reputation as an expert in your field.

3.            Use reader questions as inspiration – If you’ve received the same question a few times from different readers it’s a blog post topic! You can bet that other readers have the question too, and will appreciate you addressing the topic.

Why not send out a questionnaire and ask your readers what they’d like to be reading about? Use Google Docs forms to create a free questionnaire.

4.            Check out your stats – A little analysis of your website’s statistics in Google Analytics can really help you decide what you should be writing about.

By reviewing the keywords that brought visitors to your site, you can determine what keywords are the most popular. If you keep writing to those keywords, adding in a few others as you go, you should continue to attract traffic.

Likewise, take a look at what other sites brought traffic to your site. Review those sites and see where you might be able to even further leverage their readership to increase your own.

I recommend that you also carry a notebook or journal with you every day. Ideas will pop into your head at the most unlikely times and, if you’re anything like me, will be gone by the time you get to write them down later. So, write them down immediately or pop them into Notes on your iPhone.

Bringing readers to your blog is the key to using it to increase your business. With a little time and research on your part, you’ll never run out of inspired blog posts.

The post Four Great Blogging Inspirations To Keep You Moving Forward first appeared on JonOnFire.com.

If you don’t have password management on your computer, you must be living in the Dark Ages. Seriously, how do you mange them? I have just checked mine and I have 455 passwords. 455!!!! Imagine that printed out or written down.

Trying to keep up with all of your web logins and passwords yourself can be frustrating, particularly when you forget one.

But, that all gets easier with Roboform, the world’s most downloaded password manager. All of your passwords and logins are magically at your fingertips, and they’re all secure, too.

Not only does Roboform keep your passwords and logins in one place, but it will virtually log in for you! Simply go to the Roboform area on your browser, click the website you want to visit, and, in one click, you’ve launched the website and logged into it.

Until you’ve used this, you’ll never get what I mean in this being a lifesaver. If I lost everything tomorrow, it would be the first thing I’d download. And it is free. Yes, free!

Now I hear some of you saying that Firefox remembers passwords but, pu-lease, this is not the same. And would you trust something that is such an easy target for hackers?

You Don’t Even Need to Remember the Web Address

In addition to helping you login, Roboform will also help you to fill out forms on websites. Simply put the information like name, address, birthday, etc, into Roboform and it will fill out forms for you in the future.

Now, you’re probably thinking that while it all sounds cool, it doesn’t sound very safe. Roboform is actually one of the most secure pieces of software you’ll ever have.

Everything is encrypted. You can generate random passwords and passwords up to 512 characters long for security. And they constantly send you updates that upload with just a click.

And, you can even store your Roboform information on a separate USB drive, so that you can physically remove it from your computer when you’re not going to be around.

In addition, you can have Roboform clear your internet cache every time you log off your computer, so that other users won’t see where you’ve visited.

Another great feature of Roboform is that it will allow you to organize your passwords through folders. This can be a real timesaver because you can group similar websites together in folders so that you can find the sites you’re looking for more quickly. Otherwise, when you have a lot of sites listed in Roboform, you have to scroll through to find the right one.

Custom Form Filling

If you have directories to fill in or affiliate info or things slightly out of the ordinary, there is a ‘customer form’ section where you name the field title and fill the details and the system will fill all your directory forms.

Plus, I just looked, I have five personal identities (different biz names and stuff, not like witness protection program IDs!) and multiple bank accounts and credit cards and it does all that, seamlessly.

Did I say That It’s Free?

You can try Roboform for free. It’s a full version in terms of features, and will let you store ten passwords – although I think I managed to get nearly 20 into the free version.

The full version is only $29.95, with free lifetime upgrades. With the full version you can manage hundreds and hundreds of passwords. Plus, if you want to pop it on other computers, you can buy extra licenses at $9.95 or just use the Online version.

What Are the Alternatives?

Mac users can use the online version but they say they will have a Safari and Opera version out during 2010 – yay!

And, for those who use 1Password on a Mac, I have used 1Password for ages and it does not fill efficiently or work as easily. LastPass is also supposed to be good but you have to pay monthly.

Everybody needs password management to make life online easier and faster. And, when you’re shopping around for password management packages, you won’t find one better than Roboform. It’s simple to use, makes life fast and easy, and keeps your logins and passwords completely secure.

If you don’t try this, there is no hope for you. Pop your PC back in the box and take it back to the store.

I’d love to hear your comments and what you use or have tried. Please just tell me below.

Enjoy

The post Why You Should Be Using a Password Manager first appeared on JonOnFire.com.

Your blog will be successful if you are determined to take it seriously and not expect it to be an automated system. It takes time and it takes some tweaking along the way to get people to read it and, once you have a steady readership, more will follow.

Here are five easy things you can do to help improve the traffic on your site.

Write Good Content on a Regular Basis

Now this may seem pretty obvious! Regular, interesting informative content is what will keep your readers’ attention on their first few visits. As a result, they’ll come back again and again and they’ll tell others about your blog.

And, you must post regularly. Readers will lose interest if they check back a couple of times and find nothing new. Aim to post at least twice a week, if not more

Use SEO Keywords

SEO stands for search engine optimization. Simply put, the words that people use when they search for websites like yours on the internet are called keywords or keyword phrases and you want to come up as the top result.

I am not going to go deep into SEO here but, you can also use the free Google Keyword Tool to give you a complete list. Once you have these words, work them into your content; particularly on your homepage and blog titles.

And, make sure you have either the free All in One SEO Pack or Platinum SEO Pack WordPress plugin as that will automaticalled optimize your web site – they are both dead clever

Build a List of Your Readers

Have an option on your blog (and on your sales page if you sell from a website) that allows readers/customers to fill in their name and email address. Don’t try and capture these into your own database. Use a proper autoresponder service such as the fabulous aweber (the one I, and most others I know, have always used)

Send out emails to announce special promotions, and even to let readers know that you’ve updated your blog. But use it sensibly and sparingly.

A proper autoresponder system will add an unsubscribe link to keep you on the right side of the CAN SPAM Act and will manage and backup your database, making life easy for you.

Put an RSS Feed on Your Blog and Make it Easy to Subscribe

With an RSS feed, your loyal readers can instantly keep up with your blog posts. It’s essentially a live snapshot of your blog’s page, with continuous updates.

And, if you are using WordPress (as you should be!), you will see the familiar orange RSS button where you click to subscribe. Don’t hide it away.

Most people use Google Reader to read the feed and, if you have never tried this yourself, just click the link on this blog, follow through the clicks and see what happens. It makes a great way to get your favorite content quickly and easily.

Social Bookmarking and Media

Getting a high ranking on social bookmarking sites such as Digg, Stumble and Reddit, can also increase traffic to your blog tremendously, and it is free. Use a free WordPress plugin such as Sociable or Digg Digg (as used on JonOnFire.com) to make this easy for your readers to add your posts.

Then, of course, you must have an easy Tweet this Twitter link and a Facebook Share button on every post.

The more people who find you on social bookmarking sites, the more your traffic will go up; especially as they start adding links to your site on theirs. It’s a no brainer!

But, I need to remind you that blogging or internet marketing is not a quick fix system. It takes hard work and patience building up website traffic and anyone or anything that tells you otherwise, is just wrong.

Trying to speed up traffic increases by keyword stuffing your content or spamming people will only irritate those who would have been loyal readers. So, it’s best to do only the things that can legitimately increase traffic over time, and keep hold the readers you obtain.

Also, read top blogs and see how they suggest building readership as they will have started from nothing and got to their heady heights somehow.

Enjoy

The post Some Simple Ways to Increase Targetted Traffic to Your Blog first appeared on JonOnFire.com.

Note: I use and recommend aweber to store your email lists and send them via their autoresponder service and have used them for years with no problems ever.

However, have you ever counted how many emails come into your inbox in a day? Can you read them all? Do you even try? How many email addresses do you have going directly into a junk email box?

I hate junk with a passion and I do not relish looking through my inbox in the mornings or if I’ve been away for a while.

So, when you look at it from this perspective, it’s easy to see that the emails you’re sending to your list might be getting lost in the shuffle. Here’s how to improve the chances of your emails getting read.

Avoid Things That Make Your Emails Look Like Spam

If it looks like spam, it will likely go straight to their junk mailbox and they’ll never even see it. Lots of capitalization and punctuation or words like “free” in the subject line are likely to send your email right to junk.

Make the Subject Line Interesting

If your email makes it to their regular inbox, there’s still no guarantee that they’ll open it. A headline that looks like spam will not only ensure that the email is never opened, but may also get your address manually flagged as junk.

Avoid talking about giveaways, or money, etc. Instead, use a subject line that sounds like interesting read and try to get their name in it. Think how you communicate with your own friends and what you’d put in the subject line then try that approach with your readers.

Give Your Reader Some Interesting Reading

If the content of the email is valuable, they’ll be much more likely to open the next email. I’ll give you an example. I’m an internet marketing nut, and as such, have managed to end up on the email lists of most spammy internet marketers – sure you’ll be on many of the same lists!

There’s no way I can read them all, even if I wanted to. But, there are one or two that I never fail to open. Why? Because the first time I read their writing, I learned something useful that I didn’t know.

Not every one of their newsletters teaches me something, but enough of them have been valuable that I will easily spot the names in amongst the noise and always at least glance at the email.

Have a Good Track Record

One of the things that most contributes to whether or not an email gets opened is who sent it. If you have a favorable reputation with your readers, they’ll most likely take a look at anything you send out.

Competing for a reader’s email attention is tough. But, if you keep these tips in mind, you’re certainly much more likely to be one of the people they choose to read.

And, considering how much effort you’ve made to get the reader in the first place, why wouldn’t you want to impress them with your emails? If you know how to market online, you’ll know that those emails will be your main source of income for a long time into the future.

The post Are Your Subscribers Reading Your Mail? first appeared on JonOnFire.com.

Keep in mind that all browsers tend to slow down after a time. Using these tips should help you get some speed back on Firefox.

• Conduct a registry scan. This removes junk registries and errors. If you don’t have a good registry cleaning software, get one. It can not only speed up browsing, but can also prevent other slowness problems and even crashes

• Tune up Mozilla Firefox by clearing the Cache. It’s actually good practice to clear it after every browsing session. It helps speed issues because it removes tracking cookies

• Delete the history files. History is basically a lot of junk files. Removing them creates space so that the browser can run more quickly

• Check out your toolbars and add ons – Firefox has literally thousands of add ons you can put on the browser. However, not all have been tested for compatibility. Get rid of tool bars and add ons you don’t use. If you’re having lots of problems, you might just want to get rid of all of them. Then you can add them back one at a time, if you really use them. But, too many will cause slowness issues. Incompatible ones trying to run together will cause serious slowness issues. The above guidelines help you to fix your problem.a

Keep in mind that regular maintenance can avoid a lot of issues. Regular virus scans and registry cleaning are both important maintenance activities. In addition, go through this checklist from time to time. Following the above tips, in addition to the other regular maintenance routines can keep your PC in top performance mode.

If you are using Microsoft Explorer as your browser then, I can’t think of the last serious internet marketer that was not using Firefox, Chrome or Safari. You really need to get reading some good blogs, lol!

The post Having Problems With Firefox on Windows 7? first appeared on JonOnFire.com.

If you’ve ever been considering starting a blog, you’ve no doubt heard about WordPress, though you may not know exactly what it is.

As evidenced by www.JonOnFire.com and numerous other successful ones, WordPress is one of the most popular online blogging tools out there, and is definitely one you should consider for your website.

And, this is not just for blogging. It is probably the world’s most effective Content Management System or CMS.

And, good news, it gets updated all the time, for free – Yay!

I’d recommend any business to consider running their web site on WordPress and forget about wasting money with web designers who have no idea what search engine optimisation or conversion or updates mean. This is easy-peasy, lemon squeezy.

The software has been out for just a few years, but it has gained quite a presence in the market during that time. It is logical and easy to learn, so you don’t have to spend a lot of time to get your blog up and going.

You can design the look of your blog through cleverly coded themes and plugins with many being free and have a blog with a unique look in no time. You’ll be able to achieve the same look that a web designer would give you, for a fraction of the time and cost. Now, how cool is that?

What’s probably most exciting about WordPress is how easily you can post an update. Simply type it in, or copy/paste if you prefer to do your writing in Word or Notepad, and then hit publish.

If you want to include a picture, just click on the image button and download a picture from your computer or from a website like Flickr. The same goes for video with the extra fun of being able to add a link to YouTube so you don;t even have to host it.

If you need to edit your post, this can be done quickly and easily, too. Once posted, you can look at the blog post with one click.

Anyone can use it, with virtually no training.But, if training is required, there is a slew of it online via free YouTube videos, info sites and paid memberships. Everything is covered somewhere.

WordPress offers free hosting but I DO NOT recommend this. Free hosted web sites are no completely in your control and, for a number of reasons, can be shut down instantly with no return – yikes!

This is why I don’t like Google’s Blogger and I know too many who have lost years of content with no appeal.

If you ask around, you’ll probably be amazed at how many people use WordPress, from people who blog for fun, to small business owners to large corporations who love it because employees in remote locations can use it.

In response to their popularity, WordPress has recently updated their interface to make it even more intuitive and easy to use. In addition, this recent update has added more features to help you design and even slicker and more professional looking website.

So, as you contemplate putting together a blog for your business or, to be honest, any web site for your business, don’t forget to check out WordPress.

You’ll likely not be able to find a more robust, intuitive and feature rich product for blogging than WordPress offers.

This site runs it as do many of my others and the next two fully programmed sites will be customised WP sites. I love it and so should you.

Talk soon

The post WordPress Will Make Your Life Easy And Is More Than A Blog first appeared on JonOnFire.com.

So, let me explain. And, I can assure you that this is not your standard internet marketing posts stuffed with affiliate links. But I want you to think about the advice and see the sense.

1. Your Bed Should Be Expensive

WHAT? Bed? Huh? What’s that to do with blogging?

Well, to be honest, nothing and everything at the same time.

You will spend somewhere between a quarter and a third of your life in bed – unless you are a pro-blogger when that will reduce by half, lol. And, when you are in bed, you should sleep as comfortably and as deeply as you can so that you are re-charged for the next day. Just like a good lithium battery.

I cannot tell you what will work for you but it won’t be found in a cheap discount store. Hotel beds and mattresses are fantastic at the top chains so why not find out where they get theirs?

Personally, I have a memory foam bed (not a Tempur but the same thing) and my sleep has never been better, especially in the summer as it ‘breaths’ and does not make me hot.

I can’t tell you how to buy a bed but spend lots of money on it, test it for as long as you can. Get it in the Christmas sales but pay lots of money. Your back will love you for it!

2. Your Office Chair Needs Lumbar

If you think that much of this post seems to relate to keeping your back in good working order, you’d be right. My wife Tina has a back so bad that it is ruining her life. don’t chance it.

Another place that us online folks inevitable spend lots of time is in an office chair staring at a screen. Just add up the hours.

For that reason, this is another one to spend good money on. make sure that it is not a budget one. Your chair needs a large, thick seat and a high back with adjustable lumbar support.

The seat should go up and down and tilt but these should operate independently of each other. Arms are good but, again, they should be adjustable. Up and down and foldable (for when you want to slide yourself under the desk). Pay for quality.

3. Comfortable Shoes Can be Fashionable

Obviously, you’re not going to wear your Jimmy Choos all day. Are you? But, think about it, do you choose comfort or fashion when buying shoes? I mean for general walking, not boogying.

You will pound the sidewalk or pavement so why not have a pair of shoes that has a decent instep and a padded sole?

They will be saving your feet, legs and spine so, whether they are running shoes or just plain shoes, pay double what you’d normally spend. The chances are that the resulting footwear will last three times as long. Your feet will as well!

4. Education

This last one seems unrelated but, humour me for a minute.

Put simply, all else in your life will follow from a continuing great education. This can take many forms from traditional schools and colleges to the sort of education that us online marketers are used to such as courses, ebooks, membership sites, webinars, conferences, mentoring, etc.

The more you learn, the more valuable you make yourself to all around. And that will help you to get a better job, build a better business, help you to further educate your kids and improve their lives, help others, and just become an all-round good egg.

But some of these courses are very expensive as is always the way, especially the really worthwhile ones. They seem to be only for the ones wealthy enough to be able to pay and surely they are the ones that don’t need the education!

You can save a fortune if you only start thinking outside the box. How about bartering for it. Do you have something you can offer in exchange to learn? Maybe a product or service?

Or, how about this? If I had someone get in touch with me and offer to work for me for a month with no wages, don’t you think I’d be interested? That may cost you a couple thousand bucks in lost earnings but wow, would you learn. And real learning in a real biz doing it the right way. You’d also learn a wide range of stuff you could apply immediately.

Now, please don’t anyone offer to fly over just yet as I just hired three new staff. I want you to think about your life, your well-being, your future and to have a pleasant change from the internet marketing drivel that you had to consume today and yesterday.

Let me have your comments and tell me if that does not make sense. And, don’t just read this stuff, and then do something good for yourself.

The post 4 Wise Investments For A Long And Prosperous Life first appeared on JonOnFire.com.

I could create a list of around 30 more methods for linking but these are cheap, effective (my favourite word in 2010), DIY, and so easy that you can be getting on with them immediately after reading this.

4. Product Reviews

A short description of this is to contact someone with a popular site, preferably in your niche, and with good Page Rank and ask them if they would like to review one of your products and write about it on your blog.

Of course, when you offer the product, you will make it clear that they can keep it after or donate it to charity – the word ‘charity’ always makes people like you that bit more.

If you sell info products, this costs you nothing. If you sell products, send something simple. Forget the cost as this is advertising whilst hijacking someone elses readership traffic. Their readers see the review and follow the link to see what you’ve got. You also get the links so tell the reviewer what anchor text you want in the link and tell them to include a photo of the item or service to prove that they really reviewed it.

Now, some of you may be plumbers or decorators and you may be thinking this does not apply to you as you have no ‘product’. But you do. It is your service. So, why not contact a charity or someone you know that has a blog and offer to service their boiler for free or paint a door or something like that? You need to think outside the box and, if you want to succeed, you need to make an effort.

This is one of the easiest link building methods as not many web site owners get offered free stuff and they will feel honoured and special to be considered worthy as an ‘official’ reviewer.

Guest Post Blogs

5. Press Releases

Now, here’s another one that m0st of us get wrong. Press releases are great for getting links but, most of us don’t know how to make the most of them.

First of all, you need to be aiming at getting links – writing for offline is the subject of another post  one day soon. Therefore, you need a compelling subject and, despite what you think, there is something interesting lurking within your business.

As with all writing, your biggest effort should be in the headline. That is what grabs the attention amongst all the dross. Go to your local news store and read headlines on tabloid newspapers and magazines to get and idea of how the pros do this. But, as this is to get links, make sure your keyword or phrase is there and, your name or brand and keep it all within 20 words (or 170 characters).

Then comes the summary. If your headline is good enough, your summary needs to continue the theme but be a three sentence magnet to your main copy. Take your time and do not use the first few sentences of the actual body copy.

In your body content, you need to add a couple more killer features in addition to the one in your headline. Include a quotation from your named spokesperson or expert, then close with the offer of a white paper on your web site, a contest or free download. This type of call to action always does well.

You will want to put two or three keyword links in your body. Take the opportunity and have them deep link to categories further in to your site. Most people just link to the home page and miss out on this extra link distribution. The home page link can be in your signature. If you are offering a download, the link needs to be to an effective landing page that just features that offer.

At the end, you should compile your signature or resume carefully. It should be accurate, concise, descriptive, enticing and, above all, make you sound interesting. Add your home page link here along with proper contact details and full name.

Now, how about an image? When was the last time you read anything in a paper or magazine without an image? Keep it neat and the file size small – 100-250kb preferably – and make sure it looks professional on a clean backgound, if any.

Finally, where to release it? Personally, like most of the world, I use PRWeb.com when I have a decent story as they are the most respected and easiest. You can use the $80 package or the $200 version has more features. It’s up to you. Also, take a look at PRNewswire.com, BusinessWire.com and PRLeap.com

Also, there are a number of free press release web sites like prlog.org, pr.com and pressrelease365.com but, beware, many of the other free sites are a waste of time, have been banned for spamming or take so long to set up that you’ll die waiting.

And there you have another two easy-peasy methods for getting links that actually count.

Remember that I use these in my ecommerce business every day and these links keep us ahead of our competitors in both ranks and traffic. So, what’s stopping you from doing the same?

JON

The post Seven Steps Of A Truly Easy, Cheap And Effective Link Building System – Part Two first appeared on JonOnFire.com.

I’m not going to explain the absolute basics of an incoming link but, in summary, we don’t like the ‘you link to me and I’ll link to you’ reciprocal style (although there are advanced ways to do this that are very effective) and any web site with a page titled ‘links’ is not going to pass muster.

What we do want is a flood of other web sites linking to us without us linking back. And, if they do this willingly by placing the link themselves on their own site, then our friend Google should be pleased to see them.

So, I hear you impatiently wondering what these 7 magic tricks are. Well, this is not the be all and end all of linking but it’s much of what I do and it works.

1. Directories and Listings

Before you start to moan about directories, just hear me out. OK?

When I started my online business, most of my links came from analysing the incoming links to my ‘competitors’ and related sites and looking for directories (or listings sites). Whenever I found one, I added a link to my own site – easy.

In fact, I only checked for links showing in Google because, although Google does not show many of the links and Yahoo Site Explorer shows them all, I only care about Google and, in my humble, if they decide to show it, it’s important enough for me to grab a link. Now I know that many will disagree but, as a I always say, never take advice from someone who makes less money that you! Hey, it works for me still.

But, nowadays, I use Alexa links as this lists the sites in order of importance (the Alexa rank is a good enough indicator for this use). If I run out of idea, I then go to Google. An easy way to do this is to get the SearchStatus plugin for FireFox.

2. Sponsoring Articles or Pages or Sites

There are paid links and there are paid links. Adverts are often paid links. Sponsorship agreements are paid links. Google hates paid links but there is a vast difference between buying from somewhere like Text Link Ads where the link is sold by it’s PR value and in sponsoring a page or site.

Let’s say that you want a link for your tropical fish site. If you Google the this [“tropical fish” +forum], you’ll find lots of forums with many pages and good Page Rank. many of these forums are run as hobbies by the owners so why not dive down to results page three or deeper (that get’s you past most of the ones in it for profit) and contact one or two to see if you can ‘sponsor’ their forum to help pay the running costs. You’ll be amazed at how low a cost you can get your ad banner on there and it brings in a slew of relevant links.

The same can be done for a specific article or page or an entire web site. Just go deep into the Google results to find those who do not know how to market their site and obviously have no idea how to make money. It is possible to offer $100 for a year or $50 for six months – and I guarantee that most will forget to ever ask you for your next payment. Seriously, this works so always offer to pay for 6 months or  year.

3. Article Marketing

Getting incoming links through submitting articles to article directory sites like EzineArticles (EZA – I know there are others but I’ll stick with this one for now) is not new and you should already be doing it. But, you are probably doing it wrong – sorry!

You can add a thousand articles to EZA but, despite the fact that you will get links, they are all from one single root domain and will not count as strongly as you think, especially when you send that same article to three hundred other sites and they all use the same headline and intro as the Meta Title and Description tags. And then there’s the others that scrape the directories, yuk.

So, what most people are missing is the webmasters that take the content from these directories and plonk it on their own sites with the resource box. Now, that is a link that you want and, although it’s not easy, this is the way you should be doing it.

First of all, I’m assuming that your articles have killer headlines and are extremely well written and cover a subject that interests people – more on that in another post one day soon. We’ll stick with ‘tropical fish’ so, go and search in EZA for that term and copy the top 20 result headlines into a text file. Then, search Google with the exact title in quotes and see who has picked up that article. Obviously, you need to ignore the other directories, the article writer’s site (please don’t add the submitted article to your own site), the scrapers and the garbage.

As you find these sites, have a look and see if they have taken other articles. If so, and their site us about ‘tropical fish’ then you need to find their contact details and name. If they are not on the site, try a whois search at Domain Tools or search Google, LinkedIn, Facebook etc for info on their site.

Now, here is the shocker. You are going to call them on the phone, you are going to tell them that you have lost faith in the directories and now give unique articles to specialists like them. And, not to worry, if they don’t want it, their competitor said they’ll take the article, etc, etc.

Now, do you get it? That involves a little effort but sure beats that spammy email that you wanted to send them. Your new friend will give you her email, address and everything and, she may have other sites. You will give her that article and never offer it to anyone else and you will have someone to go on your link building contact list. Then you do it again and again or, better still, outsource it – again, that’s for another post on another day.

This beats the heck out of the way your competitors are doing it and, after a while, you will have links galore from related sites that have cost you nothing or just a few bucks to get the article written.

Phew, that’s a lot to take in so I’ll end Part One there and Part Two will follow on very quickly.

The most important thing is to start taking action. If you read this and don’t do anything, you wasted good TV watching time. If you try one or two, get bored and give up, then you also should just grab a beer and be watching TV for the rest of your life. I assure you that I do these, all of them. They work and the resulting rankings will earn you money.

Please do it.

The post Seven Steps Of A Truly Easy, Cheap And Effective Link Building System – Part One first appeared on JonOnFire.com.