Let’s face it: Many of us have websites so we can make money. As much as we’d like to call ourselves savvy communicators, prolific content creators, or detail-oriented designers, our main purpose for being online is earning a buck.

Optimizing our sites for search traffic is a means to achieving that goal. But in order for us to know if our efforts are paying off, we need to track our SEO progress. Here are the five best measures of that progress…

1. Conversion rate is an important, if not the most important, metric for evaluating SEO efforts. It is defined as the number of website visitors who complete a desired goal out of the total number of visitors. Sometimes that goal is getting people to give you their contact info. Sometimes it’s getting people to download one of your white papers. Sometimes it’s getting them to make a payment. Whatever it is, it’s a step in your sales process. An easy way to track goal conversion data is through Google Analytics.

Google provides step-by-step instructions on how to set up goals for analysis.

2. Site traffic is also very important when it comes to measuring SEO progress. Your site may have a high conversion rate, but if only a handful of people are visiting it each week you likely aren’t getting very many sales. There are many ways to get more traffic on your site, including submitting your site to search engines, asking other sites to link to you, and using relevant keywords. If people like what you have to offer, they will come back. They will also tell their friends about you, and those friends will tell their friends about you, and so on. Google Analytics tracks site visits and page views.

3. Number and quality of links is another key metric for evaluating SEO improvement. Google attaches much importance to these factors in determining which sites appear at the top of its search engine results page (SERP). While it is helpful to link outward, and to other pages on your site, you benefit most from having other sites link to you. There are various ways you can get sites to link your way. Those include syndicating a press release, reviewing products on Amazon, and creating a page about your company in Wikipedia. Creating regular content that’s useful to your audience, especially via a corporate blog, can also be very helpful.

You can track links to your site by downloading a free service from Majestic-SEO.

4. To evaluate your SEO progress you also want to keep tabs on how your site ranks in Google and other search engines. Ideally your site will appear on search engines’ first results page when your target keywords are queried. That’s a goal worth pursuing, considering many people don’t click past the first page. The website SEO Book offers a free tool that tracks your rankings on Google.com, international versions of Google, Yahoo! Search, and Microsoft Bing.

5. Bounce rate and time spent on pages are two related metrics also worth measuring. Bounce rate is the ratio of the number of visitors to a site who view just one page to the total number of site visitors. If you have a high bounce rate, your site isn’t engaging visors. You also aren’t captivating readers if they are spending little time on your pages.

You can use Google Analytics to get these measurements. If you are disappointed with your bounce rate you might need to revisit your landing page’s headlines and copy, and consider whether they address the keywords you’re attempting to target. If readers are spending little time on particular pages, you should probably focus on updating and improving the quality of content on those pages.

About the author: Larry Kim is the Founder and VP of Products for WordStream. Follow him on Twitter or subscribe to the WordStream Internet Marketing Blog. Larry lives in Cambridge, MA.

To find these buyers that are searching in your market, you simply include single keyword modifiers with your primary keywords when doing your keyword research.

Below are a list of modifiers, along with specific keyword phrase examples, which should generate even more ideas for you to test:

• buy
• purchase
• shop
• order

This helps you find long tail keyword phrases used by people who have an obvious intent to buy. Examples include:

- order flowers online for delivery (79)
- purchase old movies (430)
- buy movies online (104)
- buy mini muffin pans (3, 448)
- shop nascar (790)

The number out to the right is the approximate number of searches per day according to WordTracker’s Free Keyword Tool.

Other modifiers I try include:

• shipping
• get
• online
• coupons
• deal
• delivery
• best
• comparison
• review

Again, some specific examples of keyword phrases using these qualifiers:

- hearing aid comparisons (671)
- free shipping on clothes (192)
- free shipping office supplies (81)
- digital slr camera reviews (235)
- who makes the best mp3 player (586)
- best way to get a software engineering degree online (118)
- delivery of wine as a gift (366)

As you can see, these keyword phrases are used by people who are searching online to help them with their buying decision. These are phrases with Commercial Intent (CI), and the phrases you should be targeting to make sales online.

Also See: The Products People Are Searching For Online

Informational Keyword Modifiers

I also use modifiers to find keyword phrases where people are searching for free information, which helps for creating link-building content and info products.

• free
• download
• tips
• how
• how to

Also See: Ideas for How-To Content and How-To Info Products Products

Using modifiers in your keyword research will help you come up with the specific content and products that your market is searching for online. Whether you are creating info products, building an email list with an informational opt-in incentive, or creating “money pages” as a merchant or an affiliate, these modifiers can help you bring in the most qualified visitors to your offers.

Best,

p.s. You can use any number of keyword research tools. I use WordTracker’s Free Keyword Tool, and simply keep it open in a new tab. I refer to it no less than a dozen times a day to find phrases when: starting a new forum thread, writing a blog post or article, creating an email newsletter, etc.

Dislosure: I am an affiliate for WordTracker. The link given above is a referral link, but the tool is 100% free – not a trial offer. I have been using the free tool for years with no requirements other than the occasional captcha screen.

Anyone can write words and create content. But writing SEO Content that converts visitors into buyers does take a bit of skill & intuition.

It’s easy enough to write optimized content to get rankings & website traffic. But traffic alone doesn’t pay the bills. You want to write content that attracts buyers and makes sales…

“I’m researching keywords, writing content, getting backlinks, have some good rankings and I’m even getting traffic – but still no sales. Help!”

All Long Tail Keywords Are Not Created Equal

Long Tail Keyword Phrases are phrases with 3 or more words. In some of the broader niches, a 3-word phrase is barely considered “long tail”. The phrase will be a very specific search, compared to the usual broad searches.

So it’s less about the number (“3-5 words”) and more how specific the search is.

These more specific phrases convert at a higher rate than general search queries, because the searcher knows exactly what they want. Writing content or creating pages around these long tail keyword phrases gives you a better opportunity to create a strong message to market match.

Imagine the difference between creating a page for “shoes” and one for “jimmy choo bridal shoes”. Even though “shoes” gets a lot more searches, it’s too general to target. You have no idea what kind of shoes your website visitors want to buy.

To give you an example, I recently wrote a blog post for an 8-word long tail keyword phrase. The phrase is How Can I Promote My Website For Free? which gets approximately 235 searches a day according to WordTracker.

That blog post ranks in the top 10 on Google for that phrase.

Mission accomplished, right?

Commercial Keyword Phrases vs Informational Keyword Phrases

In the 8-word phrase I gave above as an example, there are two words that peg it as an informational search: how and free. The searcher is obviously looking for free information (credit card tucked firmly away in wallet).

Compare this to a phrase like “buy online advertising” (15 searches/day). Or “should I buy a website template” (30 searches/day). These searchers are trying to make a buying decision (credit card close by, if not in hand).

While it’s tempting to use long tail keywords with higher search volume, if your goal is to make sales then you want to target the commercial keyword phrases. And don’t let low search volume deter you – write the content once, and let it continue to work for you for years. It is worth it. If your target market is searching for it, you are doing them a disservice by not ‘responding’ to that query with content.

It’s not impossible to convert visitors who are looking for information, into buyers. But it is harder – and you’ll see a much lower conversion rate. When you are writing content specifically to promote a product or to make sales, you want to target and optimize for the commercial keyword phrases.

The main point is that you analyze the keyword phrases from the searcher’s perspective, and determine the intent of the search. What is it they are most likely looking for? Your goal as a content publisher is to offer them exactly that.

Using Informational Keyword Phrases

When writing SEO Content, you want to make use of both Informational and Commercial Keyword Phrases. You’ll focus on the latter for creating content that contains a strong call-to-action for a specific product or service. But info-searches have their place in your web content development plan as well.

It takes both types of content to fully serve your market.

Informational search queries can be used to create content or copy for:

• Opt-in Incentives (reports, guides, etc)
• Newsletter Titles
• Internal links for your “money pages”
• Articles for Article Marketing
• Forum Topics (for inbound links & networking)
• Squidoo Lenses

…etc. In addition to being a great source for content ideas that can generate quality inbound links, the info keyword phrases are good to use on a blog where you are trying to build a loyal readership or establish a reputation as a market leader.

But when it comes to making sales… target the keyword phrases that show obvious intent to buy.

This is really only a slight shift in mindset when you are doing keyword research. We’ve been taught to focus on the search volume, analyze the competition in the search results, and if it looks like an “easy rank” then create a page or blog post and get backlinks.

It’s easy enough to stay busy going through the motions and create keyword-optimized content that ranks well. But if you’re getting good search engine rankings, and you’re starting to get traffic to that content, and still not making sales – this (the intent of the search) may very well be the missing ingredient.

Continue to target your market through their queries for info, but use that content strategically to build up your “money pages”. And put a strong focus on creating commercial content for those in your market that are specifically searching for help in their buying decision.

We’ve actually discussed SEO Content & Long Tail Keywords before in great detail, but over the weekend at the NAMS Workshop I discovered it still wasn’t super clear for everyone. Understandable – it actually took me awhile to wrap my head around the concept as well. But boy did it ever make a difference!

Here are two recent posts on this topic that contain even more examples and ideas:

SEO Content | Affiliate Marketing Tips

I put together 4 downloads for those that wanted guides to work with after my presentation at NAMS. You’ll find both of those posts as PDF Files, along with 2 others, in the protected post. The password is “nams3″.

Study the tutorials & posts, look over your own keyword content strategy, and then let me know if you have any questions – you can leave a comment below. Include the link to your site in the comment field for your URL if you would like me to take a look as well.

Best,

p.s. Next we’ll discuss Keyword Qualifiers to help you identify and cater to the buyers in your niche. Subscribe below to receive email notification of this and more great tutorials that will help you take your online business to the next level:

I had a fabulous time at the Niche Affiliate Marketing workshop in Atlanta this past weekend, and wanted to share a few pictures with you to give you a good idea just how fun & productive the weekend truly was.

Above is a shot of me with Nicole Dean and Willie Crawford right before we presented in the Advanced session on Hiring & Working With Affiliate Managers.

Nicole & Willie are two of the best Affiliate Managers I know. I’ve had a chance to work with them both personally as an Affiliate. They have tons of experience managing affiliate programs and working with affiliate managers & JV partners.

We discussed the pros & cons in great detail, and I really took a lot away from that session! The biggest point being about outsourcing: Know who you need to hire, and why, as it relates specifically to your business model.

I had the opportunity to work alongside Jeff Herring on Day One of the 3-day workshop, following my presentation on Getting Started with Affiliate Marketing. Jeff and I taught together on market research, niche selection & creating content.

I put together a password-protected post with PDF Tutorials for attendees to download, to help them work on their sites after the event. The password is “nams3″. I just didn’t want Google indexing the PDF files.

My daughter Annie attended the NAMS Workshop with me this time, which was great fun! She really enjoyed getting to meet everyone in person that she see’s cross my computer screens every day here in the home office.

She got very involved, and came home to get straight to work on her affiliate site – and is even tweeting now! You’ll find her on Twitter as @anniemgarrett

Our own Magic Myke was kind enough to design her a custom blog header while we were at the event. When they weren’t playing Scrabble on the iPhone at least

It means a lot to me to have my children so involved in my business after all these years. I have been working from home for 13+ years now, and the fact that they both took an interest has made this last year truly amazing. My son, Zack 18yo, is the developer behind a new site I am releasing in beta: http://www.GeekTrax.com

Annie actually spent most of her time with her new surrogate parents (lol) Aileen Bennett and Kevin Riley. Three peas in a pod, no doubt! LOL

I had a fabulous lunch (and much-needed break) with the gals on Sunday. Left to right is Tishia Lee, Danielle Johnson, Angie Newton, my daughter and then me. Lots of laughs at this table – I’m shocked we didn’t get kicked out, or at least get a round of applause from the whole restaurant when we finally left!

This picture just cracks me up -LOL. That’s me, with Bob “the Teacher” Jenkins. He was a huge hit at the workshop with his presentation on Using Social Media to Drive Traffic – everyone loved it!!

Traci Knoppe and I on my HP Netbook (I love that thing!!) checking out the tweets & photos that were being posted live at the event. Traci runs Your Web Tech Team and is the developer behind the Beginner to Blogger training program.

On Day 2 of the NAMS event, I had the pleasure of presenting alongside Sid Hale and Kevin Riley. Sid is the developer behind RAP (Rapid Action Profits) and Kevin is a total whiz at info-product development. In the photo above, I had just informed them both that there was only one microphone.

I really enjoyed Sid’s presentation just before that, where he discussed the power of creating and working with a team of affiliates in your online business. He made some awesome points about leverage and scalability.

After his presentation, the three of us lead a workshop on creating info-products and recruiting affiliates. Definitely a highlight for me over the weekend!

Michael Schultz took this photo – I got busted sitting in the back of the room texting & tweeting. Ha! Also in the photo is Chris Cobb, Maritza Parrah, Kathleen Gage and Jeff Herring. All working away from the back of the room!

Me with Kimmoy (left) and Andrea (right) – both Elite Members of SSWT.

There were over 70 Elite Members at the NAMS event, so I held a private reception for our group on Saturday night. We had a nice food spread and a great time. In the photo above, my daughter and Aileen Bennett were doing the drawing for the book giveaways – and cracking everyone up! LOL They’re a mess

During the Elite Reception, Deb Gallardo sang an Internet Marketing parody for us – great entertainment and lots of laughs!

I also finally unboxed my Macbook Pro live at the Elite Reception. In the photo above you can see I’m having serious second thoughts. Kidding!

This is Mark Mason, who was kind enough to video the Macbook Pro Unboxing.

Left to right is “Toronto Carol”, Angie Newton, me and Julie Anna Schultz (mom to the whiz kid, Magic Myke). All fabulous ladies that I consider great friends!

Scott aka @FatLossQuickie kept the whole crowd in stitches throughout the weekend with his “quickie talk”. You’ll remember that Scott recently did a guest series here on ClickNewz with some fabulous posts on “a healthy approach to internet marketing”. If you missed those, they’re well worth a read!

Another shot with Nicole Dean and Willie Crawford. Two of the most real, down to earth, friendly – and brilliant! – online marketers that I know.

And last but not least, Kurt Scholle – the man responsible for all the great photos. He did a fabulous job catching some of the best moments of the NAMS event. You can find the rest of his pictures on his Flickr account. Thank you, Kurt!

I wish I could share every single moment, conversation and aha! that I had over the weekend but there’s just no way to capture it all – except to be there. I do hope you’ll consider joining us at a future event!

The next NAMS will be held in August 2010. I’ll let you know as soon as I have sign-up information, or you can keep an eye on the website here:

http://www.nicheaffiliatemarketingsystems.com

Best,

Lynn Terry finally unboxes her new Macbook Pro live at the Niche Affiliate Marketing workshop in Atlanta, during the Elite Reception

Video taken by @MasonWorld of http://www.masonworld.com

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Wowsa – I’m behind on opening my mail (again!) And I really need to get those checks to the bank -lol. If it seemed like I was in a rush this time, you pegged it – I’ve been running at full speed all week. I’m heading out today for Atlanta, to attend the NAMS Workshop this weekend. And I really needed the video camera in the box at the bottom of that pile!

The camera & mic I unboxed were ordered from Amazon:

• Aiptek Action HD GVS 1080P Hi-Def Camcorder
  with 5x Optical Zoom
• Audio-Technica ATR-35S Lavalier Microphone

Also, remember the golf balls I got in the mail awhile back? And the look on my face, no doubt. You might recall that I sent those to Tyy – and he has sent us back a picture. Love it! No broken windows at my house, and Tyy and his super-cute kids will actually get to enjoy them

Have a great weekend! I’m off to the bank with this stack of affiliate checks and then heading off to Atlanta. I’ll be testing out the new video camera, finally unboxing the Macbook Pro, and all kinds of cool stuff – so stay tuned for more fun pics & videos from the trip!

Best,

Are you actively marketing and branding your business, service or yourself? If not, you are missing out on a ton of free publicity.

Just like Nike, Kellogg’s and Apple brand themselves you should too!

Whether you realize it or not, you face competition every day, just the same as they do and in order to stand out in the crowd, you must brand your product, service or yourself.

When you think of how you can market and brand yourself, you most likely think of social sites where you interact and/or press release submission.

Most online business owners write a press release and submit it to the search engines, but, not many actually know exactly why they are doing this, other than they were told that it was a good thing to do…

Some assume that it’s just for the keywords and the link back to their site, and some think that a reporter or journalist will find their story out of the thousands that are submitted each day, and will want to interview them or send new customers their way.

In today’s world, it’s important to evaluate how we are marketing ourselves and our businesses. No matter your product or service or your expertise, you need to have a unique selling point, or at the very least a good story pitch or “hook”.

Maybe you have in-depth knowledge, experience, or a passionate interest in a particular area, if so, this is what you want to use when you create your “hook” or story.

Sending a press release is definitely a valuable tool, but in a world where reporters and journalists are bombarded with information, you need to hire a publicist or become your own publicity expert and go to work connecting with the media that will best suit your niche or expertise.

Use Social networking sites like FaceBook and Twitter to build relationships with the media. Once the media see’s that you are there to help them, they will call on you for your expertise over and over again.

How do you get started?

The first step is to put together a contact list of reports in your local community.

Local media is generally separated into two categories: Print Media and Broadcast Media. Print includes anything written – newspapers and magazines – while broadcast media includes television and radio.

You will also want to put together a list of online websites or blogs that fit into your niche as well.

Identify the managing editor or writers in your niche that cover your local newspapers and magazines. For television and radio stations, identify the correct reporters and general assignment reporters who cover local community news or your area of expertise.

Assignment editors at the stations will be able to direct you to the right reporters. If your local stations have local talk shows, identify the producers of those shows as well. Once you have the list, you can begin to contact these people.

It’s always best to call the news desk or assignment desk and ask what type of contact the specific reporter or writer prefers, some will want email, fax, phone or regular mail. It’s important to know how they like to receive story pitches.

In order to ensure that the media is well informed about you or your event (product, service or expertise), you can use several communication tools to get their attention. In this example we will assume it’s an event, yet, these techniques can be used for product announcements, services, and for your expertise in a particular area as well.

Media Advisories: Send media advisories (about three weeks prior) to let the print media know of any events you might be holding. An advisory briefly summarizes the Who, What, Where and When of an event. A few days before the event, send another advisory with updated information and then make calls to the key people on your list to follow up.

Press Releases: Develop a press release about your event. The press release should emphasize the local angle and use quotes from the local community. Distribute this release to the online press release services.

Public Service Announcements: Contact local radio stations and ask them to broadcast PSA’s (public service announcements) prior to your event. Provide public affairs directors with scripts for a 15 second and a 30 second PSA. You should have these scripts to them about three weeks prior to your event. Send the scripts again one week prior to your event. Follow up with a phone call at this time.

Advance request for coverage: Several weeks before the event, send an advance request for coverage to local television and radio station reporters. Be sure to let them know in advance what your event is and provide them with the Who, What, When and Where of your event. A few days before the event, send another request for coverage, and follow up with a phone call to all reporters on your contact list.

To get coverage without a specific event

Even if you are not hosting a specific event, you can still encourage your local media to cover your niche or subject matter. For example, in any given month there are several Awareness days or topics that are covered at the same time every year, and you can use these topics as your hook. Using the same list of media contacts, the following tools might get you some local coverage:

Press release: Distribute a general press release about National Catfish Month or National Hunger Awareness Month. Insert local statistics to the best of your ability or facts and information that may be less known or that may be intriguing. Try to get local quotes about the importance of recognizing this day or month, contact someone to be quoted, find public figures or do highlights on a local story/person or a new product/service being released.

Press kit: Send a press kit with a cover letter to the reporters on your contact list. Include in this kit the press release fact sheets to give the reporters the background to write a story. Include in the letter a brief summary of your story or your connection to the subject or your own bio or personal press kit.

Offer your willingness to be interviewed and to help find other sources for interviews. Specifically request that they do a feature on the particular campaign you are suggesting. These kits should be sent to reporters 3-6 weeks (or more depending on how far out they plan their segments), with follow-up calls a week or so later.

Letter to the Editor: Write a personalized letter to the editor for all your local print media. Write a cover highlighting a story or news piece and ask that your letter be included in an upcoming issue.

Op-Ed: Many newspapers offer a “guest editorial” slot – not a letter to the editor, but an opinion column. Contact the person in charge of the editorial page of your local paper and ask them to print your op-ed piece.

- – - – - – - – - –

About the Author:
Anissa Wardell owns The Publicists Assistant, LLC, a publicity, marketing and outsourcing agency. She helps people become more successful at blogging, driving traffic to their sites, branding, marketing, selling products and services and boosting their overall branding & business.

Her companies handle national and international PR campaigns, her staff develops online press kits for authors, speakers and companies. To find out how she can help you take your business to the next level, visit her site at http://RSSApplied.com. Learn how to create Free PR with PublicityInABox!

I just want to get my website up and content written and improve/add as I go along. But feel almost like it’s a blog or nothing these days? What are your thoughts on this?”

Great question, Melanie! There is no right or wrong answer here, but there are some things to consider. I’ll start by asking you a few questions to help you make your decision:

• What software do you have to create/edit/manage a website?
• How much experience is “a little experience” with HTML?
• How dependent would you be on your friend to help you?

There are a lot of differences between a blog format and a static website. In the end though, it boils down to: good content, proper optimization and quality inbound links. So to answer your question, yes you can still be successful online with a traditional website.

The learning curve is a lot steeper than with WordPress for most people. Also, WordPress is heavily supported so it is very easy to get any help you might need. There are tons of free themes, free plugins, and free support forums to draw from.

I have a detailed checklist here: How to Create a Blog that will walk you through the 7 steps to setting up WordPress from domain name to customization.

Hosting is cheap, WordPress is free, and any web host with cPanel offers it as a one-click install. I use HostGator, as do many of my readers here, and you can get the first month for 1c by using the coupon code “wordpress” when you sign up. You can literally set up a great looking blog for about $10 – the cost of the domain name.

Benefits of Blogging

There are specific benefits of blogging that you won’t have with a traditional static website. In addition to it being cheap & easy, you’ll have perks like:

• An RSS Feed
• User Comment Feature
• Listings in RSS & Blog Directories
• Auto-Pinging Update Services
• Automated Email Newsletter

Also, users are more receptive to blogs. They enjoy subscribing and commenting, and so it’s much easier to build a loyal readership and you’ll enjoy a good number of repeat visitors.

In addition to that, you’ll become a part of the overall blog network, which opens up opportunities of it’s own. You can bring on guest bloggers, get mentioned on other blogs in your niche, participate in cross blog conversations or blog carnivals, etc.

If your website idea is content-based, I definitely recommend that you consider using the WordPress platform. If you plan to include an online store with a shopping cart (ie an ecommerce site) you can add that separately on the same domain. Static pages and blogs can easily co-exist within a “site”.

How long will it take to earn $1500/month?

“What would you say is a reasonable amount of time (with hard work, but part time as I have to work still) to be able to earn your first $1500 month? I really would like to get out of the auction business within a year.”

When I first decided to make the transition from a service-based online business, to Affiliate Marketing, my initial goal was to consistently earn $5,000/month. I reached that goal within the first year.

Like you, I was still running my original business, and so I was doing Affiliate Marketing on the side – nights & weekends, basically.

At first it was all work. A serious investment of time & energy. But by the last quarter of that year I had reached my goal, and in the process had phased out my original business altogether.

I can’t answer that question for you, as it’s different for everyone. You get out of it what you put into it. But I can tell you that it’s definitely possible – and it sounds like you’re willing to make it happen.

Getting over the fear of… Getting Started

“I have read your tips about taking small steps to getting to your goals but to someone who at present has the fear to actually start the site, I suppose the fear of failure you could say.. and that of changing my business model, do you have any valuable insights to give me a push this Monday?

I have read a lot and pretty much understand it all and know I need to TAKE ACTION, but something keeps me from starting although I have done keyword research and roughly designed a website on paper and content ideas…”

You have to want it bad enough to just make it happen. Period.

Keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be. An idea is never going to earn you money. Taking action on that idea will.

So go ahead and get started, set up a domain name and hosting account, and start getting your content online.

Nothing you do will be “wrong”. Everything you do can be changed or improved. There’s really nothing to fear at all, except doing nothing at all. You’ll never regret trying something, even if you fail. And even from there, you can fix it.

The only regret you could potentially have is wanting something, or wanting change – and doing nothing about it at all…

Best,

p.s. Anytime you have questions, stop by my discussion forum. We’ll help you out!

If you click on the link above, you’ll see an offer to sign up for a free video that will help you gain focus and clarity in 5 easy steps. That content is also available as a PDF file if you prefer – and at the very least, I encourage you to read or watch that message from Amel. The first half alone was a major eye-opener in how we should be approaching our online business…

The course officially begins on Wednesday February 10th and runs for 7 weeks in a step-by-step, hands-on format. During the first four weeks, Amel walks you through:

• The Preparation Process
• The Planning Process
• The Consumption Process
• The Implementation Process

… followed up by live calls and audio training for three weeks after these modules.

Each of the sessions include actionable take-aways like systems, templates, worksheets and checklists. Unlike most courses you purchase online, this program is designed to be interactive – encouraging you to take action and walking you through to a solution.

If you’ve bought or downloaded any number of courses, guides, ebooks, or other material… only to find that you read it but don’t take action, or perhaps never complete them at all, this may very well be the program you need to get yourself into action-taking mode.

You can study, buy products, and read blogs all day long. But until you start implementing what you learn, it’s only costing you time and money. And there is a big difference between an expense and an investment.

On that note, I’m curious – how much have you spent towards your Internet Marketing education? If you had to guess, would it be hundreds? Maybe thousands? And of all the courses and guides and materials that you have purchased… how much of it have you studied beginning to end?

Better yet, how much of it did you put into practice, implement right away, all the way from “start to profit”?

I have a lot of material sitting on my hard drive too, so you’re not alone. We all do. It’s easy to become a virtual packrat. But if you really want to start an online business, or get your website to the point of consistent profit, digging in and taking the steps is the only way to make it happen.

I’m going to be following along with Amel’s course myself when it starts in February. While I am successful, productive and efficient already at this point in my business… I am always looking to improve.

And I really liked what Amel had to say in the free video that she offered at her site. It gave me a new perspective on things, a fresh way to look at how I plan and how I work. And one new idea that helps me take my business up a few notches is worth a heckuva lot to me…

You can get more details, or register for the course at:
http://www.courseintocash.com

Best,

Dislcosure: this post was sponsored by Amel Mehenaoui

Sometimes I get that nagging feeling that I should be further along on a project than I am. That there are entirely too many itty bitty mundane tasks to achieve. There are days it feels like I’ve been working on it forever, and wonder if I will ever get it to the point of completion. And then I do…

I’m working on multiple projects at the moment. If that sounds like a contradiction to my “start to profit” teaching, keep in mind that I am already in profit.

When you get to a point of securing a passive base income in your online business, you’ll have the free time and resources to work on new projects. I also outsource a heckuva lot. Another perk to having achieved that “start to profit” model.

It’s 9am on a Saturday morning as I write this. Already today I have:

• set up a new ClickBank account for one of my products
• created and customized the Aweber mailing list for a new site I’m launching
• sent off a blog interview request
• outsourced a task to someone who is better at it than I am
• secured affiliate links & graphics for 3 new products I want to review
• added a new backlink to a page I want to rank well

… and of course I’ve answered blog comments, questions on my discussion forum, answered a dozen or so emails, updated my social media profiles, wrote a blog post, had a quick meeting with my programmer – and did a load of laundry.

So now I’m off to a fun lunch and a nice break with @GinaParris, after which I’ll probably enjoy a long afternoon nap, and then I’ll get back to work.

Daily action. That’s what it’s all about. No matter how small the tasks seem, they still have to be done. Every task is one step closer to the goal. Then one day you look up and realize just how far you’ve come.

I’m amazed at what I’ve accomplished in the last week, just getting up and going through one step after the other every morning… Even more so when I look back over my 13 years in business. Makes me want to light up a Virginia Slim!

What have you accomplished today?

Best,

p.s. Sometimes the tasks come with a learning curve, sometimes you’re not even sure what tasks you should be doing to achieve your specific goals. Anytime you have a question – technical or otherwise – just stop by my discussion forum. We’ll help you out!

You’ll recall that I suggested Jim create a blog or website of his own to promote his company replicated website.

To continue that conversation, I’ll share the next note that I received from Jim and also do an in-depth website review – including tips for nailing your “call to action” for the best possible click-through and conversion rates…

Jim says: We created a website at www.harvestmyamerica.com to be more appealing. We now have a news broadcast on there that profiled our company. It is channel 9 news interviewing one of our founders…

With this website, you can see that Jim is targeting the business opportunity seekers instead of the product consumer as discussed in my last blog post. That’s a good angle too, though I would recommend doing both.

This would require two separate websites, as you are targeting two entirely different markets. Obviously not everyone that wants to shop online for discounts wants to get involved in a biz opp, and vice versa.

In order for a website to convert visitors into buyers, you want to target them very specifically and keep the call-to-action simple and clear. Always meet the visitor where they are, instead of trying to convince them to take an entirely different direction (common website mistake).

Going back to the example of Jim’s HarvestMyAmerica.com, which was created to drive traffic to his referral link for MyHarvestAmerica.com as discussed in my last post, you can see by the domain name alone that Jim is promoting the brand.

Instead, I would create a blog or website that addresses the needs or thoughts of the target market you most want to recruit into your downline.

When people are looking for a business opportunity, they rarely search for specific company names. They search things like: home based business, internet business, work from home, business opportunities, etc.

In order to get found by the thousands of people who are searching for this online every single day, you want to target those specific keyword phrases they are typing into the search engines.

Meet them where they are. They may not be aware of your company yet.

Now let’s take a look at Jim’s website, and specifically his call-to-action…

I hope this has proven helpful for you Jim, and for everyone reading along here. I’d love to hear your thoughts & questions!

Best,

p.s. Also see: 21 ways to increase your conversion rate
And: Using a “Call To Action”

More often than not these people have an ecommerce type website, or a company replicated website they were given by an online business they signed up with.

Some are advised to buy expensive online advertising spots such as banner ads or pop-up ads, place free online classified ads, or pay big bucks to a search engine marketing company. None of these options are going to get you anywhere fast…

(That’s actually very 90’s advice!)

Earlier this week I received a similar question in my Inbox:

Hi Lynn,

I just joined an online business and wanted your advice on what would be my best choices for advertising it. It is an online store that has all brand name groceries and products that saves us all money, time and gas, 30% to over 50% on all of these products over Wal-mart prices. The website is http://www.myharvestamerica.com/arizona

Thanks,
Jim Rusk

My response to Jim:
“The best thing to do is create a blog or website that appeals to your target market, and then use your store link as the call-to-action within the content. That will allow you to get search engine rankings and traffic free, instead of paying for ads.”

When you have a company replicated website like this it is usually through a “business opportunity”, or a network marketing (MLM) company. Each website is identical, and is actually very similar to an affiliate link.

These types of links do not get indexed in the major search engines.

Example:
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=+site%3Amyharvestamerica.com+arizona

How Can I Promote My Website For Free?

The absolute best way to promote your website for free online is to get good rankings in the major search engines. Since that is not possible with this type of website (or link), you’ll need to consider other options.

As I mentioned in my reply to Jim, you can set up your own blog or website and bypass that issue. Your first objective is to consider your target market (your ideal visitor) and brainstorm what kind of content would appeal to that market.

On that blog or website you create, you’ll write what is called SEO Content. This will make it easy for your buyers to find you online through the major search engines (like Google), and then you’ll have the opportunity to tell them about your website and whatever deals you offer there.

Jim’s website sells retail products at discounted prices, including brand name groceries, with free shipping directly to your front door. So Jim’s first step would be keyword research, to determine how is target market is searching for this type of service online.

I use http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com

A quick search shows that nobody is really searching for individual products, like say – windex. The closest you can get is “windex coupons” which gets around 31 searches a day – but Jim doesn’t offer product coupons.

Instead, he should start with the base keyword “shopping” and target keywords like: online shopping, walmart online shopping, online grocery shopping, online discount shopping, online outlet shopping, buy groceries online, etc.

The goal is to create an extensive keyword list of all the things people are searching for you in your market, and then write content that specifically appeals to them. Optimize your pages or blog posts to rank well in the major search engines, and end your piece by showing them your website as the solution.

This is the absolute best way to promote a website or link for free online. Some people think that “SEO” (search engine optimization or search engine marketing) is difficult – but it’s not. It’s a simple matter of researching keywords, writing content that is optimized for those keywords, and getting links to that content. That’s it.

It’s a lot more effective than any type of free online advertising, such as classified ads, or even expensive banner ads or other online advertising options. And it’s free.

The short answer: Jim should create a blog all about online shopping. The benefits, the resources, reviews and comparisons, etc. This will allow him to reach his target market, engage in discussions with them through the comments, and become an authority in the niche.

The same would be true for a Tupperware or Avon rep, or any other merchant representative with a company website. The Avon rep might focus on anti-aging articles and solutions, the Tupperware rep on simple cooking tips or potluck parties.

The goal is to figure out what your target market is most interested in, and deliver exactly that – along with the solutions or resources they’ll need.

Best,

p.s. If you’re worried about the cost of creating your own blog or website, don’t be! You can set one up for less than $10. You’ll need a domain name and a hosting account. I use HostGator for web hosting, and if you use the coupon code “wordpress” you’ll get the first month for only a penny.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them below

This action is also known as conversion and the percentage of visitors taking this action is called conversion rate. If one of your goals for 2010 is to increase your conversion rate, here are 21 tips to point you in the right direction…

Trust factors:

1. Show 3rd party accreditation – Accreditation which is listed clearly on the homepage and landing pages, especially one which is known, is helpful to create trust. It can vary from a professional industry body to a yellow pages icon (which is linked to your page on yellow pages) and even a PayPal symbol can be considered as a type of accreditation.
 
2. List your privacy policy – In recent months, the subject of user privacy has been a hot topic, affecting companies from Facebook to Google. Listing a privacy policy is important, perhaps more than ever for appearances sake. The Direct Marketing Association is offering a privacy policy generator which is simple to use and free. Once uploaded, place the privacy policy in a visible place such as the page footer.
 
3. Add a physical address – If you haven’t already, you should add your physical address as soon as you can and register it with Google Local for added value from organic search. Websites with a physical address are considered more trustworthy.

4. Add a contact phone number – Similar to adding a physical address, adding a contact phone number will increase your trustworthiness as visitors are able to query details before and after a sale. If you’re concerned about the cost of buying a phone number, look at VOIP vendors such as Skype who offer a land-line number which you can take with you. 

5. List your terms and conditions – In addition to visibly showing your terms and conditions, also allow visitors to download and print this document. If the functionality to download a document does not exist in your CMS, simply upload the document to a service such as Box.net and embed the folder on the page.
 
6. Pay attention to language, spelling and typos – Grammar will have a profound effect on your conversion rate. Spelling mistakes and typos will instantly discourage visitors from reading on.

Merchandising offers:

7. Ensure product relevancy – Go with the flow and offer products or services which are in demand. Don’t be too surprised if sales for a particular products are down, because the market has moved forward. Look at online tools such as Google Trends or even Twitter Trends to establish what’s hot and what’s not. 

8. Ensure price competitiveness – If your competitors are offering better prices, visitors will find them. Price match your products vs. your top competitors. It’s very easy to loose track and miss their price reductions.

9. Check stock availability – Poor planning which results in out of stock products means you will loose revenue. When products are out of stock, consider listing when they due back in stock and offer to email back visitors when stock is available again.

10. Delivery and shipping costs – Delivery costs are one of the biggest reasons for consumers not completing sales because they know when you’re trying to make a buck at their expense. Make sure delivery cost is as low as possible. To see a real effect on your conversion rate consider free delivery.

11. Introduce product offers – Similar to your local store, product offers work everywhere. To really get the most out of your website, consider doing the same and improve your offerings. Offers such as buy 1 get 1 free, sale, reduced to clear and many more will help you convert more visitors into active buyers.

12. Clarity of product descriptions – Clear descriptions can aid in the sale process by alimenting questions marks associated with the products. From time to time look at your support emails and enhance the product description.

13. Don’t forget imaginary – Images are a fantastic visual aid which can really make a difference, after all ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’.      
 
User experience factors:

14. Place a clear call to action – On the product or service level, ensure that you are always directing visitors to take action. For example, ‘add to cart’ if you are selling online or ‘call us now’ if you are selling a service.

15. Optimize website speed – If the website is loading too slowly some visitors will go elsewhere. To test how quickly (or not) your pages are loading and to view helpful suggestions use a page analyzer or for those using Firefox, try Google Page Speed extension. 

16. Ensure full browser support – A couple of years back most visitors used IE, but today Firefox and Google Chrome are becoming more and more mainstream. Test the appearance and functionality of the site in multiple browsers using browsershots.org to ensure every visitor is a potential buyer.

17. Fix poor navigation – Try and place your top sellers one click away from your landing pages (i.e. home page or category page). If you’re struggling to visualise how it should look, try the free wire frame tool from mockingbird to play around with your website navigation before coding.

18. Fix error pages – Track your error page in your favorite web analytics software and fix these pages as soon as possible. If you’re using Google Analytics it’s a breeze to track them otherwise use Xenu’s Link Sleuth utility.
 
Checkout factors:

19. Make the checkout process short – Size matters when it comes to converting visitors to customers. If your site has a lengthy checkout process you’re asking for trouble. Only capture the most relevant fields needed to complete the purchase because you can always follow up later and ask for more details.

20. Try a guest checkout process – Many customers will tell you, they’re tired of opening another account and having to remember another username / password. Offer a one page checkout process which captures customer details, but does not open an account. You’ll make yourself more attractive to a lot of people I know.

21. Offer alternative checkout gateways – There’s a lot to be said for using the likes of PayPal and Google Checkout. Putting their fees aside for a moment, there are a lot of customers who are more likely to pay like this vs. giving their credit card details to a site they have never heard of.
 
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Guest article by Michelle Strassburg Co-Founder at Wood and Beyond.  Michelle has over 10 years experience managing online marketing and is an active blogger.

I’m still working on the latter, but the former I have nailed. I have been in business for 13 years, successfully working from home and online, and earn a very nice living from the internet.

I have never made false claims, big promises, or even shared my own income details. If anything, I’m more of a realist and help people get grounded with strategies and models that work.

Still, I get my share of negative comments and unhealthy cynicism – from complete strangers, and on an almost daily basis. Some of this comes from past negative experience with other people or companies. Some of it stems from a general disdain for anyone experiencing success.

A friendly, honest response usually turns things around and so I do my best to respond and answer questions – no matter the tone.

But every now and then you’ll run across someone online who is just in an all out campaign against you. The more you try to resolve it, the more they attack you. These types enjoy stirring the pot and ruffling feathers, and are not worth the time and energy it takes to keep up or respond.

Until they cross the line. And libel is nothing to play with.

This week’s potshot comes from none other than Rick Butts. And if you recognize that name, your memory is correct: this is not the first pot he’s stirred with my name in it.

It started on a blog post by Ryan Healy titled Internet Marketing Life Support. It’s a good blog post. Ryan makes valid points about doing your research and knowing who you’re working with. I have no qualms with the post – in fact, I encourage you to read it.

And then scroll down and read the first of 100+ comments, by Rick Butts, where he says (and I quote):

They’ve also been helped along by 2nd tier gurus like Lynn Terry who so desperately want to be gurus and relentlessly continue to preach the guru gospel and faithfully haul their junk out to flea market at each launch. This group has done as much if not more (and there are a lot of them – see ‘em at every live event) to keep the momentum and false hope alive.

If you read the rest of Rick Butts’ comment you’ll get an even bigger picture of the negative image that he paints of the group he has made up in his head where he used me as the prime example.

I am sure there is no need to defend myself here or to you. And I won’t be leaving a comment on Ryan’s blog post. I have collected both screenshots and print versions and am sending those over to my lawyer this morning.

So with that behind us, I would like to take this opportunity to share my thoughts about hierarchy and perceptions in the IM space…

As humans, we tend to struggle to find our place in the world. We have this imaginary totem pole in our minds, and in order to find our place there we have to position everything around us on it first. She is above me, I am above him, we are equals, etc. In placing everyone else, you can easily place yourself.

Why this is necessary, I have no idea. I just know that I see it every single day. Unfortunately you are rarely ever comparing apples to apples, but rather using only what limited facts you have about someone to make a skewed judgment – which ultimately reflects on your judgment of yourself.

I have never called myself a 2nd Tier Guru. Or a guru even, for that matter. People who put titles on me do so only to define themselves.

Be cautious about making such judgments or conclusions about others. Or about having expectations from someone that are solely based on your perception of them. Make decisions based on facts. GET the facts if you don’t have them. Never assume.

This goes for products you might buy, coaches or mentors you hire, people you choose to respect and/or emulate. This goes for people you choose as accountability partners, peers for your personal mastermind group… or even friends.

Someone’s perception of me does not change the person I am. It only changes how they see me, or their expectations of me. And that can lead to unnecessary disappointment – for both parties.

It’s important to do your research, and work with facts. And to rely more on yourself, your common sense and your gut intuition, than to rely on anyone else for your success – or for your position on that silly, imaginary totem pole.

At the end of the day, no matter how high or low you’ve placed me, which is not going to be the same as everyone else, I am still the same person. I am your everyday 36 year old single mom. I work from home, I work hard, and make damn good money on the internet. I spend every day helping others do the same. Period.

Don’t let me, or anyone else, define you – or your goals. Success is unique to everyone, as is the road to get there. No product and no person is going to be the source of your success OR your failure. It’s on you and you alone. And mine is on me.

Ryan’s post does a good job of explaining why. It’s a reality check on where we place our focus. Are you busy following people and products, or are you busy following your own game plan?

As for the comments, I’d skip those. Read it, consider it, and then get back to work on your own online business. Don’t let the drama sidetrack you. I’m not.

Best,