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Ideas For Creating Twitter Backgrounds

June 3rd, 2010 Ryan Comments off

Looking for tips into helping you create your Twitter backgrounds is only sensible; to ensure you project the right image to your list of dedicated followers. However, the first tip is one that you are most likely to have already completed, so well done. If you have not spent some time considering what it is you want to say though; now is the time.

Do not panic if you haven’t thought along these lines yet though; consider simply using one of Twitter’s own templates until you become inspired. Okay, so they’re not going to win any awards, but they have been professionally and tastefully completed.

There are of course some key areas of your background design for Twitter that you need to look out for. As with any graphics, it is important to pay  close attention to the size and resolution of the image you wish to upload. If using text in  your background, try to keep it to a minimum and clearly defined.

An important aspect that many first time tweeters fall foul of regards the incorporation of Twitter’s own logo. As a result, use a border so the Twitter logo and user panel do not impede onto your design.

It is not possible to preview your design on Twitter unfortunately but, being such a  straightforward process to update, this shouldn’t be too much of a problem for you.

If you are really stuck; feel free to have a look at what professional companies could do for you. Prices can be quite affordable. If cost is at a premium, (or even if it isn’t and you have the time), designing your own is far the better option.

However you approach the design and publication of your Twitter backgrounds; always ensure you do not neglect the content. Remember that it is the content that really matters.

Increasing Sales Through Strategic Internet Marketing

May 31st, 2010 Ryan Comments off

The Internet has now become an important medium for product and service advertisements.  Almost every company that can afford print, radio and TV advertisements have also ventured into placing ads on the Internet.

But with millions of websites out there being visited by millions of computer users, how can you make sure that your ad can be seen by your target customers and that your leads will be followed by these users?  Here are a few tips.

1.  Place an ad on the websites frequented by your target customers.  Before doing this, you need to define who will be your target customers.  Placing an ad on sites that they usually visit will increase the possibility that your ad will gain the attention and will be followed your target customers.

Also, consider the website’s search engine placement, traffic, external linking and the other ads placed on it.  External linking will determine if there are other sites that link to this site.  This will mean that people can get to the site where your ad is placed, even if they are browsing a different site.  Check if many of your competitors have ads on this site.

2.  Placing ads on some sites cost some money.  However, there are also sites that can place a link to your site, product or service in exchange of having their link being displayed on your site.  This is also true about the newsletters sent by site owners to its mailing list members regularly.

Also, having helpful links placed on your site and having sites link to your pages help in boosting search engine ranking.  This is similar to making a statement that your site’s content is important that other sites have links to your web pages.

3.  Pay-per-click (PPC) is also a good method in Internet marketing.  You will only need to pay for the ad if the link is clicked.  If you prefer this method of advertisement, make sure that you are using services that set limits on daily expenses.  There are also services that help you determine effective keywords and monitor the PPC results.

4.  Choose your domain name wisely.  It is still being debated if domain names matter when it comes to search engine placement.  Whether it does or not, having product related domain names help consumers remember your domain, that they can go back to your site even without the links.

5.  Make sure you have useful content on your sites.  While keyword density is important in search engine placement, having useless information or annoying repetition of keywords will not increase your customer’s confidence in your site.  It may even affect your sites traffic and can get your site removed from search engines.  So make sure that keywords are used strategically.

6.  When thinking of keywords, think like your target customers.  What do you think are they going to search so they can get to your site?  Also, use specific keywords or key phrases.  Submitting a single word or a very general phrase to a search engine will not get you to the top of the search results compared to submitting specific keywords that describe your product and services perfectly.

7.  Track your ads.  Always check how much you have spent on placing links on frequently visited sites and on PPC.  There are services that allow you to monitor PPC transactions and how many of these end in sales.  You always need to consider if the ads that you have placed on these websites are getting you to your target consumers and if these ads can lead to revenue.

One final tip on marketing products and services, sell the benefits.  It will help your marketing strategies a lot if you highlight the benefits of choosing your products and services instead of merely discussing the product specifications.  Product specifications may not mean much to customers, unless they know what these stand for (how these specifications affect the quality of the product or service).

Many people say getting to the top of search engine results is difficult since millions of websites exist, which can be using the same keywords.  While this is true, this doesn’t mean that your website has to stacked under your competitors’ websites when presenting search engine results.  Strategic advertising and linking, together with useful content, can also get you to the top of the search results.

Twitter Marketing – How Can It Benefit Your Business

May 29th, 2010 Ryan Comments off

One of the best things about using a social media networking tool like Twitter is that it it works to get your message out in real time. And this is exactly how Twitter marketing can help build your business. Go ahead. Log onto Twitter right now and see how many people are on there right now. Wait a few hours and log on again. Notice anything? At any moment, there are literally thousands of people on Twitter reading and tweeting about a myriad of topics. In fact, the enormity of the Twitter database would allow you to find tweets on any current event anywhere in the world. There have been times when people found news faster on Twitter than on Google News. The brilliance of Twitter is that it is designed to mesh perfectly with today’s culture of brief interaction; it is limited to 140 characters, just like text messages, and allows users to succinctly express their thoughts on a matter. If you’re looking for ways to promote your product or service, here’s how Twitter can help you. Just like with other targeted marketing campaigns, you can focus on specific keyword searches by Twitter users and offer them a response back about your product or service that will fill their need. And so in an instant, you have an edge over your competition, since you can deal directly, and instantly, with these potential customers. Read on to see the many powerful advantages of Twitter to you as an internet marketer. There is a huge buzz around the newest keyword tool and you can learn about it at this IMEye site.

A visible benefit of Twitter is that it lets you kick off conversations with other people very easily. Twitter, which is a micro blogging platform, makes it simple to shoot new posts, which are similar to blog posts. If you sport a sufficiently large number of followers, you will see replies to your post roll in instantly allowing you to enjoy real time communication with your customers. Forget everything you’ve ever learned about marketing in the past – social networking makes it easy to brand your business and get information to your target audience in seconds. Twitter is also a great way to build solid relationships with colleagues, fans of your brand or service, as well as an excellent platform for solidifying customer relations. One of the easiest ways to attract interest towards your product/service is to ask questions. Just the act of posting a question will generate a tremendous onslaught of tweets and people leap to put in their thoughts on the topic. This will open the door for people to interact with you on your topic. It may surprise you that many of the largest corporations are taking part in these new marketing strategies and it is more than just small businesses and individual entities that are using Twitter for their advantage.

If you have coupon codes or promotional offers, you can utilize Twitter to spread the word and increase brand recognition for your product and service. Everybody loves a bargain and if yours is something special, don’t be surprised to see Tweeters re-tweeting your post to their own contacts – and on and on it goes. It won’t matter what type of promotion you’re sending out, if your target market is appreciative they’ll find helpful ways to thank you for sharing it. It doesn’t take a large corporation with a full-scale promotions department to achieve this kind of success – any size business can use this strategy to their advantage, if they know how. Find out what all the internet marketers are talking about right now at this IMEye review page.

Ultimately, if you’re looking for long-term success with this type of marketing, you’ll have to make the effort to build a base of loyal Twitter followers. It is important to make sure that these new followers are in line with your target market. Use Twitter the smart way and see how quickly you see the difference in your bottom line.

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3 Reasons to Tap into the Power of Publicity

February 14th, 2010 Ryan Comments off

What is Publicity?

It is obtaining editorial coverage or features for your business from media publications and getting your business reported as news. Some examples of publicity are newspaper and magazine articles, radio and television interviews and Internet forums and much more. These are just a few reasons you should consider letting your business tap into the power of publicity.

1. Effective – Publicity has been proven to be 10 times more effective than traditional advertising. Your customers believe what they read in the newspaper or watch on the TV news because humans by nature believe what is reported to them as news.

2. Affordable – Obtaining publicity can cost as little as $0 dollars. Business owners can substitute a little time and imagination for money or hire publicity professionals, many of which have very affordable rates when compared to advertising.

3. 3rd Party Credibility – Having reporters write about your business in a news format gives your business 3rd party credibility that’s extremely valuable. Anyone can sing their own business’ praises, but getting respected people in the media to do it provides a type of credibility that ads and money just can’t buy.

There are numerous other reasons to use publicity. Next time you are looking for a new way to get the word out about your business, consider tapping into the power of publicity.

About The Author

Jenna Roman co-owns and operates JR Publicity, an Englewood, NJ-based public relations and marketing company with her husband, Josh Roman. For additional information, visit www.jrpublicity.com.

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Quick Traffic Grabbing Methods for Brand New Sites

February 13th, 2010 Ryan Comments off

Here’s a common dilemma web marketers face, after spending some time and money your website is ready to go. However where is the traffic? You have already optimized your site with standard practise SEO checklist, but where is the traffic. Well if you just launched your site, you might need sometime for Google to index and rank your site before getting any kind of traffic. This wait could take awhile before reaching a huge critical mass where online marketers like yourself reach a breakeven point for your initial site’s investment.

Now as a marketer, you might want to try other means of traffic acquisition to increase the flow of traffic to your new site way before organic traffic kicks in. How you might ask? Let me share 3 methods I normally use for my own sites.

Method 1 – Buying Traffic

This is the fastest way to divert traffic to one’s site. However before jumping into this channel, you should set aside a budget and the maximum amount you would like to bid for per keyword. Failure to do so could potentially make you lose more than the benefits.

Platforms that I recommend for one to buy traffic would be Google Adwords, Yahoo Search/ Bing Search if your markets are targeted at the US. Facebook is also another up and coming platform to use.

These platforms all follow the same basic “Pay Per Click” model of charging advertisers for each click to their website.

Method 2 – Tapping into the Social Stream

These days, social networks and micro blogging platforms are the rage. Sites like facebook and twitter have huge communities of people which could be your potential traffic source. Therefore joining the social platforms and being involved in the conversation would help add another traffic channel to your mix.

One way to draw traffic from these sites to yours would be to find like minded people or your target audience and hang out around their space, either becoming fans or following them on their list. After getting them on your list, converse with them and start adding value to their hang out and they will come to your site in no time.

One of my favourite sites would be twitter as it is easy to join and finding my target audience is pretty simple.

Method 3 – Borrow Traffic

This method has a mixture of paid and free implementation. Let me explain the free implementation first. If you have friends with websites that already have traffic, you could ask them to help you out with maybe a promotional banner, a textlink or place a feature written by you on their site to help a friend out.

If you are in it alone, then you could try using article syndication services. These services allow you to syndicate your written articles to hundreds of webmasters who have similar sites or complementary websites to your business. What’s best these websites normally signed up to be alerted of new content so that they can place them on their site. Besides article networks, you could seek out sites with mailing lists and ask if they accept email endorsements where you provide content for their newsletter and they blast it out to their subscribers.

Now that you have 3 methods of generating short term traffic, here’s a tip on how not to let your efforts go to waste. Before running any traffic acquisition campaigns, make sure you have mechanism in place on your site to help capture all users that land on your site. So having an email capture or a call to action to get users to come back again is a good way of not letting your traffic acquisition go to waste as these users could become your repeat visitors.

Using Forums as a Traffic Aquisition Method – Do it the Old School Marketing Way

February 5th, 2010 Ryan Comments off

I know this isnt a SEO topic however as I work on my clients and personal sites, I tend to seek or broaden my mind on how we can generate and get traffic with other marketing channels and means besides SEO or PPC. That’s why I thought it would be good to share these ideas with like minded marketers like yourself.

In this article, I like to cover promoting websites via the granddaddy of social media. What is it? Simple we call them Forums. Forums used to be the social platform where people congigate before sites like friendster, myspace or facebook. These forums are still in existence today and some have good traction that used correctly can help you increase traffic to your site and open up another traffic source. Besides being a traffic source, visitors on a forum can help provide free user reviews and feedback to help increase your site’s usability which helps increase stickness in the long run.

So how should one go about getting traffic from forums?

Step 1 – You have to search and research the forums that serve your niche or website industry. A simply way is to Google for forums that are of use to you. Try “[Your Niche] forums” or “intitle:[Your niche] forums or “[Your Niche] communities”.

Step 2 – Review the top 50-100 results and evaluate which forum sites should you join. Some tips on evaluating to see if the forum site is worth your while – check the lastest post, how recent are they. Are the content in the threads relevant, informative or are they just filled with spam. When was the lastest user registration, is it recent. For forums that are relevant in content and have recency, I would recommend them worth registering for.

Step 3 – Start the conversation, dont just drop your very first post with “Come visit my new site” Do yourself and the community a favour join in the conversation. As a tip your very first post should be at the introduce yourself section or answer a few threads that you are expert in. Do make sure your reply adds value and not put “nice comments”, “I like it”. If you like it, try to explain more about why you like it. By doing so, you wouldnt be seen as a spammer. For sites that allows things like that, you would be better off not posting in them.

Step 4 – Once you have a few posts in your bag, you can stir towards the section that best suits for you to ask questions or promote your site. Some tips would be like “I need your help with a new site that I am launching.”, “Looking for comments”, I have a site that I am launching which has the follow features, feedback would be appreciated”. You can also ask about your navigation, ask about the content, ask about the colours, or whatever else may be bugging you.

Step 5 – Review the comments provided and followup with the thread. Last use the feedback and work into your webiste, also do keep the thread alive as forums tend to push the most recent thread up to the top which is what people normally see first.

With these 5 steps, you should be able to get some forum traffic coming to your site for the initial launch. However don’t expect thousands of visitors from this method as it really is just one of the many other ways web marketers can use to generate traffic to their site. Remember at the end of the day it’s all about getting the ball rolling and anything you can do to proactively promote your web site has to be considered. So best foot forward and get exploring all those forums.

Expired Domain Name – What is it?

February 22nd, 2009 Ryan Comments off

SHORT ANSWER: An expired domain is a domain name that was once registered to an individual or a company whose registration has expired.

LONG ANSWER: Domain names get “registered” to either you personally or to a company – you decide which way to go. Your domain name registration is good for one year, at which time you can renew ownership. After that, each year, you renew your ownership of that domain name. Domain name renewal costs anywhere from $5 to $15, depending on which domain name registrar you use.

Most domain name registrars give you the option of a multi-year renewal, which saves a few dollars and the headache of renewing every year. Multi-year renewals are a good idea if you have a domain name you are pretty certain you will want for the foreseeable future.

Even if you decide to let go of the website attached to the name, you can always use it for PPC and affiliate ads like the big guys do!

An expired domain name is one with an expired registration – no one can claim ownership. If you don”t renew at the end of the year, that domain name becomes available for purchase by someone else.

Why would someone allow a good domain name to expire?

  • Maybe the domain name wasn”t so good after all!
  • Absentminded website owners who simply neglected to renew their domain names;
  • Webmasters who got tied up in other ventures or interests;
  • Webmasters who discontinued a site due to time constraints;
  • Webmasters who ran out of money to continue to operate.

Your domain name registrar should send you several renewal notices prior to the name expiring so you don’t miss renewing a domain name you want. Make sure you have a working email address on file with your registrar so you don’t miss a renewal notice!

When a domain name expires these days, the bigger domain name registrars assume control of the name for a few months before allowing it to be sold again. Your domain name registrar parks your old domain name because there might still be traffic to the site, traffic thta just might click on an ad. The parked page will now be filed with Pay Per Click ads with all the money going to the domain name registrar. Smart!

Here”s the rub: if you decide you want the name back after it’s expired and the registrar has assumed control of it, the registrar will charge you anywhere from $50 to $150 (those are the prices I’ve seen) to pull that domain name out of limbo and reinstate it to you! (Even a domain name without much traffic might cough up a few pennies over time… even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then!)

The lesson here is, if there is any chance you can use that domain name, make sure your email address is good so you don’t miss your renewal!

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