When you are looking to drive traffic to your website, you can choose either PPC, SEO or both, but there are circumstances when one works better than the other. Here are some basic ways to tell which strategy you should employ for your site.

Is Your Site New?
When you are starting out with a new website, it is usually better to start off with PPC. The reason is that search engine indexing can take a while, and websites can sometimes take a while to build up search engine rankings. Rather than creating a slew of keyword content and waiting for it to provide traffic, PPC can start generating traffic instantly. Later, you can use information gather from successful PPC ads to generate keyword content to bolster the traffic from the ads.

How Common are Your Keywords?
If you have a website with a rather esoteric focus, or are able to generate SEO content for keywords that do not already have a lot of search engine results, it is a good idea to use SEO. Since you are going to be providing content where there is not already a lot of it, it will be relatively easy to boost your search engine rankings. On the other hand, if your website already has a lot of competition, PPC ads can give you the edge you need over competing websites. In this situation, PPC ads are less likely than SEO to get lost in a plethora of results, and it can be less expensive to use ads than to attempt to generate the amount of content you would need to build your SEO.

What Type of Site Do You Have?
For a website that is simply an online store, it may be better to simply use PPC ads than to attempt to generate the SEO content needed to improve your search engine rankings. For a specialized site that focuses on a narrow range of products SEO can be quite useful, but if the site in question has a wide variety of products, attempting to generate sufficient SEO content for each item could end up being more expensive than a set of PPC ads. However, a web site that is informational should use mostly SEO content, since it is expected to have a large volume of written content anyway.

Sam is a blogger with a background in marketing and he is also a contributing writer for a company that specializes in fiber optic patch cables.

If you have an idea of sharing your thoughts and interested in interacting with others on
the Internet, then blogging is the right choice to implicate effectively. The blog is a unique
website that displays entries or post in the chronological order. Moreover the web developers
use blogs as online diaries, soap boxes and internet scrapbooks. Perhaps there are many free
blogging service that can be developed by any individual. Hence it is important to remain active
and enhance the number of users into your site. However there are around nine factors to be
considered when you design your blog theme. Now let us gaze the factors in the following:

1. Complexity of the Re-design

If you are interested in changing the entire theme of your blog or establish your blog to increase
reputation in the web, then it is possible to achieve this concept by way of re-designing with
certain effective elements. Likewise some bloggers will be persuaded with the current look and
they will just concentrate in the deficient areas. While other bloggers will totally strip down the
current look and opt for a new concept.

2. Brand establishment

Ironically it is essential to know whether your blog has already established a branded image
on the web. Make sure to vitalize the areas in order to retain the existing image and also the
bloggers should consider the impact of how change in current design could distress them.

3. Colors

Perhaps the color variation will be preferred according to the need of the theme. Since some
bloggers will go in for a new color scheme with a way to give a fresh appeal to the users and
others will just keep the existing color combo when designing a blog. In order to create massive
appeal on the web, it is essential to take advantage of resources available at Color Schemer
which provides a variety of sample schemes.

4. Readability

Readability is considered to be one of the main factors and this concept involves background
color, typography and spacing lines. Make sure that you provide content in a clear manner
facilitating the customers to get a logical visibility from your blog content.

5. Ease of navigation

Many visitors will not be able to see your front page as they will be redirected to various pages.
They will only find your posts from any social media sites or through any link.

6. Social media integration

Obviously many bloggers will depend on social media as they can optimize their pages on
social sites. This will gradually increase the social media traffic value to your blogs. Hence the
bloggers abound with SEO services in order to reach great height.

7. Feature of best content

The main aim of bloggers is to present popular posts with a way to increase the page views and
followers. They should also support the web by implicating useful facts and information relating to the needs of their users.

8. Subscription options

At the same point to increase the number of subscribers, it is evident to support your links to
RSS feed or to get email subscription in a suitable place. This point has to be carried out before
laying out the design.

9. Full posts or Excerpts

Moreover you have to decide the content to be posted in the front page should be full posts or
excerpts. But most blogs use custom excerpts to enhance the look of the home page.

Typically altering the theme of the blogs has become very common for the bloggers and they
change from one theme to another in order to customize a new innovative concept. The bloggers
can also optimize the theme by paying someone to accomplish the task and they should be more
involved in the process so as to get the best result from the other person. Apart from this it is
important to decide a theme which your audience is passionate about to read.

About the author: Claudia is a blogger by profession. She loves writing on luxury and technology. She recently read an article on bloggers at Energy Authority that attracted her attention. These days she is busy in writing an article on portagames blog.

ab split testing

Source: http://opensource.washingtontimes.com/blog/2011/jan/25/4-lessons-learned-about-multivariate-testing/

You’ve already launched your website, where the design process involved poring through books and consulting with professional designers. But there are obviously some things that still aren’t working at this point, because your sales are coming short of expectations.

At this point, you’ve got to stop and think about your next step. Don’t immediately assume that what you need is more traffic; what’s equally important is figuring out a way to increase the conversions from your current traffic. This time around, you might be better off asking for the opinions of the people who matter the most when it comes to your site and your business: your site visitors.

You could do surveys, but the odds that a good number of people will respond are slim. Describing how a website would look better in words and collating data from such surveys would undoubtedly require more effort than necessary, and the results are mediocre at best.

What is Multivariate Testing?

This is where multivariate testing comes in. It’s a technique where you ask your users which version of your website they prefer quite indirectly, because you’re basing your results on the response that your website will elicit from them. It’s one of the test methods that webmasters can use in behavioral targeting to offer personalization to their site visitors as well.

Multivariate tests are like several A/B tests that have been combined into one. A number of elements are tested out in combinations for each test run, so webmasters can come up with an optimized design in a shorter period of time.

Where Can Multivariate Testing Be Used?

You can run a multivariate test on all sorts of online content and pages. Here’s a quick list to show the diversity of applications for this method: landing pages, search results, sign-up forms, navigational menus, category pages, promotions tests, product pages, and multi-stage checkout pages.

Aside from websites, multivariate testing can also be used for email campaigns and newsletters.

Advantages of Multivariate Testing

As mentioned earlier, multivariate tests can be used for website and email marketing content. By optimizing the content that is being used for these campaigns, conversions can be increased, whether it’s in the form of clicks or sales. Aside from that, two other benefits that multivariate testing offers is an accelerated learning curve and breakthrough thinking.

Multivariate Testing

Source: http://www.websiteoptimization.com/secrets/metrics/10-4-website-optimizer-diagram.html

How is Multivariate Testing Done?

Multivariate tests involve four basic steps: assessment, design, testing, interpretation and implementation.

Site assessment. Before anything else, the content to be optimized must be assessed critically. In this stage, major design flaws are spotted and weeded out. This is a crucial step of the process because this is where elements that are to be changed are noted.

Test design. Once a list of elements to test out has been generated, it’s time to design the multivariate test. This involves grouping together elements that can be tested out together in batches. Alternative designs and variations of the elements are then created. It is recommended that the original and alternative versions to be tested vary to a noticeable extent.

Testing. During the testing period, different versions of the website will be served randomly and simultaneously to site visitors. The test will be run for a certain period of time, where relevant data regarding the response of the users will be recorded.

Interpretation and implementation. Once the test has been completed, the results are then processed. This is the stage where the data is collated and the website version that was able to get the best results is implemented. Further multivariate tests should then be conducted to continue optimizing the website or marketing emails.

• Server-side
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• Instant ‘one-click’ evaluation on each
• ‘Magic Keyword Tagging’ = automatically generating high value “winning keywords” based on parameters that you set… but without you having to lift a finger.
• Generates random e-commerce markets where people are successfully selling physical products online
• Automatically does the research for you
• G-Rank’ feature that tracks your websites and reveals where you are ranking for the keywords that you specify.
• updates all this automatically every day

This tool named Keyword Blaze Pro created by Tim Godfrey & Steven Clayton, has just gone live on the WSO forum for a limited time. I recommend you to check it out ASAP while the price is still very cheap, since it will never be publicly for long time.

After I tried Keyword Blaze Pro, I’m amazed with its features. My mentor won’t wrong, it’s truly the perfect tool that I was looking for. I really love these features: server side, buying keywords list, keyword filtering, rank tracker, niche storm (to find keyword ideas) and automatic research.

The reasons that I am very excited with this tool are I’m currently building several affiliate blogs (Amazon & Clickbank) and Adsense blogs. Last month till now I’m quite busy building the blogs. After the Panda hits, I no longer maintain my Adsense and affiliate blogs. But now, I’m trying to build again. Planning & strategy are in hand, what’s next? Action of course!

If you’re seriously in Internet marketing and SEO, then it’s a must have tool. It’s vital to make the foundation for your blogs; vital for your research.

Here’s the video demo of Keyword Blaze Pro

Keyword Blaze Pro Screenshot

Another screenhost:

Forget Market Samurai and forget Keyword Scout. I confess both tools are awesome, but the price is quite expensive for some people. While Keyword Blaze Pro is only $47 (normal price), but on Warrior Forum it’s only $17, for a limited time.

What people say

Here’re several comments about Keyword Blaze Pro I found on forums:

Click here to view Keyword Blaze Pro on Warrior Forum.

1. Cultivate a strong audience

The effectiveness of Twitter always correlates directly with the power of the community that is receiving your message. Twitter itself as a platform cannot behave as a machine for raising funds; it is the sum of the people who use it. Therefore, it is important to first build a community of people who will be interested in your cause, organization or proposal, and will be receptive to your fundraising message, before you ask them to make donations.

2. Stay upbeat about your cause

Social media experts in the charitable sector, such as 12for12k’s consultant Danny Brown, recognize the power of leveraging social media to reach wider audiences, but emphasizes that keeping your audience upbeat and engaged is key. It is important to involve your audience as much as possible, give them something worthwhile in return (even if it’s just making them laugh!), and make them want to take part.

3. Be clear about your purpose and what you are requesting

When providing information about your cause, state clearly and concisely what your purpose is. Let your audience know why your cause is important and one that they should care about. State specifically how their contributions will bring benefits to other people. Highlighting ‘why’ and ‘how’ is always key when making a statement or giving a call to action to your audience.

4. Be concise

CEO of Epic Change, Stacey Monk, emphasizes the importance of being concise in a digital medium. The attention that users give to each tweet they see is usually measurable in milliseconds, so getting your message across in as few characters as possible is crucial. If you need to provide deeper explanation or further information, you can tweet links to more in-depth content. Reserve your tweets for the most essential and hard-hitting information.

5. Generating hype around your cause

It is vital to create buzz and excitement around your cause, which means setting yourself apart from the crowd and demonstrating why your cause is different. Make use of unique hashtags, snappy taglines and eye-catching avatar ribbons to provide your initiative with a ‘brand’.

6. Hold contests

Contests are another effective way to rouse people’s interest and get them engaged with your campaign. Again, it is useful to make use of unique hashtags to give your cause a special channel through which followers can engage with you.

7. Make sure you have a strong set-up

While effective, Twitter cannot do all of the fundraising work for you – it is important to have a strong set-up for your cause behind the scenes. Twitter itself can be used most effectively for communicating, spreading your message, providing information, building a community around your cause, and getting other people involved at a grass-roots level. It is not a guarantee of money, and most causes use it in conjunction with a range of initiatives.

8. Offline components for fundraising

While many users will happily engage with you in the digital space, you can give your cause a real buzz by having a physical, real-world component such as a concert, festival or tweetup. Use other social media sites such as Foursquare in conjunction with Twitter to integrate your online and offline initiatives and provide your audience with a fuller experience of your campaign that is more likely to make them feel that it is worthwhile.

9. Expect the unexpected

Like all social media, Twitter is unpredictable, and you never know how your message will be interpreted and re-interpreted. Do not try to have absolute control over your message – over-planning is as bad as under-planning.

Sam is a blogger and contributing writer for the conversion optimization service Invesp.

Several days ago I signed up to eBizAC. It’s not only an autoresponder service, but also an Internet business automation system. With eBizAC you can create and manage affiliate system, shopping cart, products, customers and many more. The perfect autoresponder service should has the following features, here’s my criteria:

• Very good delivery rate
• Has great basic features in managing autoresponder such as: tracking system, statistics report, split testing feature and segmentation feature.
• The price must affordable

Email Delivery Rate

On the first day I use eBizAC, I tried almost all the features. So far I’m satisfied and I love much its delivery rate. Autoresponder message delivered on my inbox in no time, I’ve tested using Yahoo Mail and Gmail. The message scheduler and global broadcaster also delivered on my inbox in just several minutes.

The good delivery rate for an autoresponder service is a must. When its delivery rate is poor, then your email campaign will be nearly to fail. So you need to test it yourself by signing up to the autoresponder service. Almost all autoreponder services allow you sign up for free or sign up for small amount of money as a trial.

So you wanna try? Click here to sign up for eBizAC’s 30 days risk-free trial. Try creating an autoresponder and several messages, then create a web form. Sign up yourself to the form and see how its delivery rates.

Awesome Features

For the complete list of eBizAC features, please visit its official website. The click tracking system is awesome, you can use your own custom domain for the tracking URL, instead of eBizAC domain. Too much things to mention about the features. Overall, eBizAC has awesome features to manage your email marketing campaigns.

Cheap Autoresponder Service

The affordable price, reliable service and has great features are the most dreamed by all customers. For the autoresponder, eBizAC charges $19.95 monthly for 15.000 subscribers. Very cheap compared to Get Response $53.30 per-month for 10.000 subscribers.

Click here to sign up for eBizAC’s 30 days risk-free trial.

Look at the Market

Obviously, you need to look at the market you’ll be targeting. If you’re going to be getting your jobs from a place like Elance, your rates will probably need to be at the lower end of the going rate for the overall freelance web design market, simply because Elance tends to draw a lot of potential clients on a budget. It’s a good place to begin looking, though.

You can also talk with other freelance web designers. Get involved in online communities of freelancers like you, and see what your competition is charging. Talk to not only freelancers who are at your level of experience and development, but also freelancers who have been in the game for years and who have tons of experience. You won’t be able to set rates as high as theirs, most likely, but you can use their rates as a goal to move towards.

Set the Bar High

As a freelancer, you should always, always be making more than the guy doing what you’re doing in a cubicle down the road. In fact, you have to make more than him per project or per hour to break even with his take-home pay. See, that guy gets health benefits, and probably retirement benefits, plus a paid-for office to work in, company supplied software and office supplies, and other perks. While you get the flexible hours and say-so over your life that comes with freelancing, you have to cover your costs for all this stuff you’re now providing on your own!

Besides this reasoning, you’ll need to set the bar high because higher rates actually tend to attract better clients. If you set your rates too low, potential clients will assume you’re inexperienced, so you’ll only attract those clients who are on a budget or who aren’t looking for stellar work. Often times, these low-budget clients are the most frustrating to work for, as well! Setting your rates closer to the market average, at the very least, will draw better clients who are willing to pay what your work is really worth.

Calculate Your Actual Expenses (Including the Extras!)

While you’re setting your rates, you need to decide what will actually be livable for you. Check out the freelance rates calculator at Freelanceswitch.com to get some idea of what your life is costing you and what you need to make to break even or save some money. With this calculator, you can input your business and personal expenses as well as figure out the billable hours you can work each year to figure out what you need to average per hour. The dollar amount may be a little higher than you were expecting, but it’s what you’ll need to make to have a decent living as a freelance designer!

Set a Rate You’re Comfortable With

Ultimately, setting your rates as a designer is a personal thing, and you should set a rate you feel comfortable with. You need to be able to pay the bills, or you may as well go work in a big company. But, you also don’t want to feel like you’re constantly apologizing to clients because you’re charging them way too much. Here are a few things to consider when it comes to setting your rates:

• In an article about setting freelance writing rates, which could just as easily apply to setting freelance web design rates, Lynn Wasnak notes that it’s fine to include a “hassle factor.” If a client is flaky about paying on time, is constantly asking for revisions, or is just plain annoying to work with, you can add more to your rates to make up for it. You really should do this if you’ll end up putting more time into a project because the client needs tons of revisions!
• If you work quickly, setting a per-project rate can help you remain competitive in the market and make a high hourly rate. If a $500 project takes you 20 hours, you’re making about $25 an hour, which isn’t bad, but which is on the low end of what you should be shooting for. It that same project only takes you 10 hours, though, you’ll make $50 an hour. For the same project price, two different freelancers could make completely different hourly rates.
• Be sure your hourly rate goes up with your experience. If you’re just starting out, you’ll need to set a somewhat lower hourly rate simply because you don’t have a lot of experience. But don’t forget to raise your rate as you gain more experience. If you’ve been working with the same client for several months or even years and haven’t changed your rates, it’s probably time to renegotiate!
• Eventually, you’ll be able to weed out jobs you don’t want. Once you get your freelance web design business going, you’ll be able to use an increase in your hourly rate as well as your intuition about potential clients to weed out jobs you don’t want to take. Sometimes lower-paying per-project jobs from clients that are easy to work with are actually a better per-hour rate than higher per-project jobs from clients who are a pain!

Invest In Your Business

With freelance web design, it’s absolutely essential that you have your own website. Other freelancers can get away with a profile on a freelancing site and some good samples, but as a web designer, you’ve got to use your site as the prime example of your work. The problem, of course, is that it costs money to set up and maintain a personal business website.

If you don’t have the cash in hand to make this happen, don’t start out by playing poor, pitiful freelancer with rock-bottom rates.  Daniela Baker from CreditDonkey says, a credit card can help manage cash flow so you can pay for your website expenses.  That way, you can put up a fabulous looking business website that will attract new clients. You can find good credit card deals online, and you may even be able to get a low or no interest card that you won’t pay tons of fees on for your business.

If you start out your freelancing career by setting your rates as low as you can go just to break in, you’ll find that it’s very difficult to increase them. If, on the other hand, you bust into the market with confidence, a great website, and competitive-but-not-too-low rates, you’ll start building up a client base in no time.