How to Setup a Winning Autoresponder Series — How to Start an Email List #4

Autoresponders are a great way to increase traffic to your site but here are some pitfalls to watch out for.  Are you making these mistakes?  Read on and let me know what you think of this article with a comment below.

Golden Rules For the Use of Autoresponders

By: Morris Clopton

Autoresponders are a perfect way to increase traffic to your site. They can save many valuable hours by automatically answering emails concerning frequently asked questions about a service or product or by sending a welcome letter to new members of your program. There are many ways that autoresponders can help your business. One of the most important is their ability to track the effectiveness of your promotions. Since autoresponders are one of the most popular marketing tools available today, they are being used by a lot of different kinds of business and websites. Some of these take advantage of the system to use the autoresponders in a negative manner. You should be aware of some of the "Golden Rules" when using autoresponders.

Thou Shalt Not Use an Autoresponder Address When Submitting to Search Engines.

Since you will most likely submit your site to search engines such as Google or Yahoo!, directories, classifieds, and free for all sites, you should be made aware of the fact that these sites commonly use an autoresponder as well. If you were to use your autoresponder to contact these companies, their autoresponder will reply to yours and so on and so on. Thus creating a cycle of autoresponses that will flood your email box and theirs as well.

Thou Shalt Not Use an Autoresponder to Subscribe to Ezines or Discussion Forums.

Since most of the time an Ezine will send you updates and new information regularly, your auto responder will send them a message each time. In a discussion forum, every person in the discussion forum will receive your auto response. This can be irritating and most of the time you will be unsubscribed. It is often hard for the administrators of the forum or ezine to determine who is using the autoresponse and therefore it is simply common courtesy to never use an autoresponer in this manner.

Thou Shalt Not Use an Autoresponder to Take Advantage Of Unsuspecting Individuals.

Some very unprofessional companies will use autoresponders to respond to an automated message when this is done the address in the "from" field will be automatically subscribed to their mailing list. This is a extremely un ethical use of autoresponders and those who do it are in jeopardy of creating a very negative image of themselves and their company. Rather than promote their service or business, this usually leads to people becoming very upset and spreading a negative word about your company rather than a good one.

The Internet can be a great place to do business and autoresponders can be an excellent way to save time, however when used in an unprofessional way, they can lead to frustration and aggravation for others. Your company will suffer the loss of much business if you choose to participate in these abusive practices. The appropriate use of auto responders can generate a large amount of business, while inappropriate use can drive away that business.

Author Bio
Morris Clopton can help YOU start your own profitable business on the Internet within the next 24 hours... To learn more, visit: www.AchieveWealth.com/pips.html

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content

Source:  By Morris Clopton

http://www.articlegeek.com/internet/website_traffic/autoresponders_golden_rules.htm

SEO For Beginners: 3 Powerful SEO Tips to Rank #1 on Google in 2018 - Part 2

If you want to know the mistakes to avoid when you want to generate traffic to your website read on.  If you haven’t realises the importance of search engine visibility you will after you read this article.  It is in two parts.  The first part covered the first 5 costly search engine mistakes to avoid.  Welcome back to part 2 today for the next 5.  Let me know how useful you find this article with a comment below.

10 Costly Search Engine Mistakes to Avoid – Part 2

By: Brad Eden

6. Relying on hidden text. 

You might be inclined to think that if you cannot see it, it doesn't hurt. Wrong.... Do not try to hide your keywords or keyword phrases by making them invisible. For example, some unethical designers my set the keywords to the same color as the background of the web page; thereby, making it invisible.

7. Relying on tiny text. 

This is another version of the item above (relying on hidden text). Do not try to hide your keywords or keyword phrases by making them tiny. Setting the text size of the keywords so small that it can barely be seen does this.

8. Assuming all search engines are the same.

Many people assume that each search engine plays by the same rules. This is not so. Each has their own rule base and is subject to change anytime they so desire. Make it a point to learn what each major search engine requires for high visibility.

9. Using free web hosting. 

Do not use free web hosting if you are really serious about increasing site traffic via search engine visibility. Many times the search engines will eliminate content from these free hosts.

10. Forgetting to check for missing web page elements. 

Make sure to check every page in your website for completeness, like missing links, graphics, etc. There are sites on the web that will do this for free.

This is just a few of the methods and techniques that you should avoid. Do not give in to the temptation that these methods will work for you. They will do more harm than good for your website.

Not only will you spend weeks of wasted effort, you may have your site banned from the search engines forever. Invest a little time to learn the proper techniques for increasing search engine visibility and your net traffic will increase. 

Author Bio

Brad Eden is a Entrepreneurial Sciences expert with 14 years of industry experience in real estate, marketing and technical communication. He currently consults with IBM in CA. Brad owns & operates a free traffic resource for entrepreneurs. americanfreetraffic.com

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content

Source: By Brad Eden

http://www.articlegeek.com/internet/website_traffic/search_engine_mistakes.htm

SEO For Beginners: 3 Powerful SEO Tips to Rank #1 on Google in 2018 - Part 1

If you want to know the mistakes to avoid when you want to generate traffic to your website read on.  If you haven’t realises the importance of search engine visibility you will after you read this article.  It is in two parts.  The article will cover the first 5 costly search engine mistakes to avoid.  Come back for the next 5 tomorrow.  Let me know how useful you find this article with a comment below.

10 Costly Search Engine Mistakes to Avoid – Part 1

By: Brad Eden

If you have a website then you already know the importance of traffic. Traffic is to Internet marketing as location is to real estate. It's the only thing that really matters. If you cannot generate targeted visitors to your site, you will not make any sales.

Usually the owner or designer of the website is the person designated to drive traffic to the site. The chief ingredient in generating traffic is the search engine. Of coarse, you can use advertising, but it's going to cost you. Using the search engines to generate targeted (interested in your product) traffic is the least expensive method known.

Unfortunately, many website owners do not understand the importance of search engine visibility, which leads to traffic. They place more importance on producing a "pretty" website. Not that this is bad, but it is really secondary to search engine placement. Hopefully, the following list of common mistakes, made by many website owners, will help you generate more targeted traffic to your site...after all, isn't that what you want.

1. Not using keywords effectively. 

This is probably one of the most critical area of site design. Choose the right keywords and potential customers will find your site. Use the wrong ones and your site will see little, if any, traffic.

2. Repeating the same keywords.

When you use the same keywords over and over again (called keyword stacking) the search engines may downgrade (or skip) the page or site.

3. Robbing pages from other websites. 

How many times have you heard or read that "this is the Internet and it's ok" to steal icons and text from websites to use on your site. Don't do it. Its one thing to learn from others who have been there and another to outright copy their work. The search engines are very smart and usually detect page duplication. They may even prevent you from ever being listed by them.

4. Using keywords that are not related to your website. 

Many unethical website owners try to gain search engine visibility by using keywords that have nothing at all to do with their website. They place unrelated keywords in a page (such as "sex", the name of a known celebrity, the hot search topic of the day, etc.) inside a meta tag for a page. The keyword doesn't have anything to do with the page topic. However, since the keyword is popular, they think this will boost their visibility. This technique is considered spam by the search engines and may cause the page (or sometimes the whole site) to be removed from the search engine listing.

5. Keyword stuffing. 

Somewhat like keyword stacking listed above, this means to assign multiple keywords to the description of a graphic or layer that appears on your website by using the "alt=" HTML parameter. If the search engines find that this text does not really describe the graphic or layer it will be considered spam.

This is just a few of the methods and techniques that you should avoid. Do not give in to the temptation that these methods will work for you. They will do more harm than good for your website.

Not only will you spend weeks of wasted effort, you may have your site banned from the search engines forever. Invest a little time to learn the proper techniques for increasing search engine visibility and your net traffic will increase. 

Author Bio

Brad Eden is a Entrepreneurial Sciences expert with 14 years of industry experience in real estate, marketing and technical communication. He currently consults with IBM in CA. Brad owns & operates a free traffic resource for entrepreneurs. americanfreetraffic.com

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content

Source: By Brad Eden

http://www.articlegeek.com/internet/website_traffic/search_engine_mistakes.htm

How to Attract 9,000 Visitors a Month from Quora | Ep. #194

Is leveraging unique or proprietary information your main or one of your main business strategies?  Here is what to consider when increasing your website traffic depends on the quality of information you provide on an ever competitive internet.  Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

"Leveraged" Information = MORE Website Traffic

By: Mark Smock

If leveraging unique or proprietary information is one of your fundamental strategies to increase unique visitor traffic to your web based business, then it is important to understand seven fundamental information perspectives you can use to give your company the edge it needs to effectively compete in the marketplace.

As the internet continues to evolve and become more competitive, the dependency of the quality of the information you provide via your website becomes more critical to market niches.

As information processors we rarely, consciously think about HOW we absorb all the information we take in via the internet. It is reasonable to assume that two of our six senses, vision and hearing, represent the most significant means used to absorb information on the web. Although seeing copy and hearing sounds coming from information provided, it makes sense from a strategic marketing perspective, to take a moment to evaluate how virtual information can be best absorbed via seven fundamental information perspectives.

Seven Fundamental Information Perspectives

1) Information Exclusivity:	* How unique, original or proprietary is your website information? * Infinite choices of common information equates to clutter and boredom. * The "value" of information provided is always unique to every visitor * Emphasizing the uniqueness of your information also gives it more worth
2) Information Quantity:	* How much website information is too much? * Detail overload can quickly exceed site visitor's interest levels * Volume of information provided should correlate with the breadth of the information requirements of your targeted market niche
3) Information Distinction:	* How unique should your website words and terms be? * Markets and industries have distinct information terms and sayings * Try to "talk the talk" of your targeted market niche on your website * Distinctive information can be the critical purchase decision variable
4) Information Accuracy:	* How accurate does your website information have to be? * Information accuracy requirements correlate to the potential liability of negative consequences that result from information incorrectness. * Earning the trust of your website visitors is an on going, consistent process
5) Information Timeliness:	* How "current" does your website information have to be? * The speed of information delivery often adds perceived value * Often competitive advantage goes to the source with the "information shortcut" * Out-of-date information is often associated with poor customer service
6) Information Interactivity:	* To what degree are website visitor responses critical to intended message absorption rates and communication effectiveness? * Maintaining a dialogue with your visitor equates to increased loyalty * Increasing dependency of visitor responses decreases broadcast effectiveness
7) Information Format:	* What is the most effective way to structure your website messages? * Information absorption is best achieved in small increments * Simplifying the visual structure of your website information "invites" readership * User-friendly information navigation maximizes visitor website involvement

Every web based business is vulnerable to new competitors within their targeted virtual market niches. There will inevitably always be someone else who can provide the same or similar product, service or information in a different way or via other creative communication tactics. Although different is not always better, as a virtual customer solution provider you are obligated to always focus, understand and improve your website visitor's perceptions and their ability to "get your message".

Understanding the seven fundamental perspectives of information flow can make a significant difference in your ability to differentiate your virtual messages from the increasing bandwidth of information flow on the internet.

Author Bio
Mark Smock is 30+ year veteran of the sales profession and President of www.business-buyer-directory.com, the FIRST international business buyer directory of its kind. Business Buyer Directory provides a non-traditional means for proactive business buyers to locate businesses for sale worldwide that meet their exact registered purchase criteria.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com

Source: By Mark Smock

http://www.articlegeek.com/internet/website_traffic/leveraged_information_more_traffic.htm

Bill Gates's Top 10 Rules For Success (@BillGates) - Part 3

How have you done your market research for your business? Would you use a telephone marketing company? Perhaps call your clients and customers and ask for their input?  Have you considered simply using email or online survey?  It may take a little more effort but this article covers reasons to consider and tips for using this approach.  The article is in three parts.  Welcome back to Part 3 with today’s 4 tips.  Let me know how useful you find this article with a comment below.

Successful Surveys: 10 Tips for Better Results – Part 3

By: Kathy Gulrich

Why would you use an email or online survey when you could simply call your clients and customers and ask for their input?

Lots of reasons.

·         standardization

·         easy to get large numbers of responses

·         easy to tabulate, analyze

·         easy (and often fun) for your clients and customers

·         inexpensive

·         non-intrusive

·         time-efficient (for you, and for your clients and customers)

·         protect your customers' anonymity (if important)

·         professional

·         no "cold calls"

·         no answering machines!

And have you figured out how long it would take to have 100 fifteen-minute conversations instead? (I don't have to do the math to know that it's WAY too long!)

So in this article, I'm going to talk surveys. How to find them, how to do them, and how to make the most of your results. Here goes....

do complete, the more responses you're likely to get.

7 - Analyze Results

Once all the answers have come in, look at them carefully. What does the "quantitative" data tell you? Slice and dice the numbers to learn all you can from the responses you get.

If you use a survey service that offers them, check your data in different formats, from pie charts to graphs.

And just as importantly, what "qualitative" information comes through?

·         what's the general feeling you get from the open-ended responses?

·         how enthusiastic were the respondents to share their views?

·         what's your "gut" telling you?

8 - Use Results to Improve Your Business

One thing I've learned over the years is that people don't always do what they "say" they're going to do on surveys! And in that sense, surveys can be misleading.

In terms of trends, directions, feelings, interests, etc., however, results tend to be pretty accurate.

Net net?

Proceed boldly, but with caution. (Always test before you make a BIG leap!)

9 - Use the Report as a Special Offer

Let's face it, humans are pretty curious. We send in our answers to a survey or questionnaire, and then wonder what all the OTHER people had to say.

Capitalize on this curiosity! You can:

·         offer the report/analysis as a "thank you" for responding (this will help increase your response)

·         write up a special report, and turn it into a passive income product (particularly useful for hard-to-get information in a narrow market niche)

10 - Use Surveys Often

They're easy. They give us tons of helpful information. Our clients enjoy them. They're often free. They give us practically real-time answers.

Let's face it ... a survey is a terrific tool, and if you haven't yet, I hope you'll give one a try soon.

Author Bio
Best-selling author Kathy Gulrich helps clients get from idea, to action, to results - more quickly, and more easily - whether they're looking to write a book, develop a new product, or market their product or business. Clients love her direct, no-nonsense approach - and her gentle insistence on great results. Find out for yourself: Check out one of Kathy's teleclasses, or pick up a free worksheet, 

at www.smARTbusinessCoaching.com

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content

Source: By Kathy Gulrich

http://www.articlegeek.com/business/marketing/successful_surveys_tips_results.htm

Bill Gates's Top 10 Rules For Success (@BillGates) - Part 2

How have you done your market research for your business? Would you use a telephone marketing company? Perhaps call your clients and customers and ask for their input?  Have you considered simply using email or online survey?  It may take a little more effort but this article covers reasons to consider and tips for using this approach.  The article is in three parts.  Welcome back to Part 2 with today’s 3 tips.  Come back for 4 more tomorrow.  Let me know how useful you find this article with a comment below.

Successful Surveys: 10 Tips for Better Results – Part 2

By: Kathy Gulrich

Why would you use an email or online survey when you could simply call your clients and customers and ask for their input?

Lots of reasons.

·         standardization

·         easy to get large numbers of responses

·         easy to tabulate, analyze

·         easy (and often fun) for your clients and customers

·         inexpensive

·         non-intrusive

·         time-efficient (for you, and for your clients and customers)

·         protect your customers' anonymity (if important)

·         professional

·         no "cold calls"

·         no answering machines!

And have you figured out how long it would take to have 100 fifteen-minute conversations instead? (I don't have to do the math to know that it's WAY too long!)

So in this article, I'm going to talk surveys. How to find them, how to do them, and how to make the most of your results. Here goes....

4 - Mix It Up

Most automated surveys allow for lots of different types of questions, including:

·         multiple choice

·         choose one or more from a list

·         fill in the blank(s)

·         rate on a 1-5 (or similar) scale

·         open-ended questions with a fill-in text box

Try to mix up your question format to keep it interesting. Lots of essay-type questions often seem "too hard" for respondents. Conversely, all multiple choice questions can get a bit boring.

5 - Get it Out There

Sometimes you'll want to limit your survey to a particular group: your clients, people who have bought your book or participated in a particular teleclass, your newsletter subscribers, etc.

Often, you'll be looking for responses from a much broader audience, say, self-employed individuals over 50, or all coaches in North America. In this case, you may want to email the survey link to your list, and ask recipients to forward the survey to anyone they know who fits your category. (You'll want to give them a compelling reason to do so!)

6 - Make Course Corrections

One of the great things about most surveys (Survey Monkey is a great example) is that you can pop in and look at results as they come in.

Here's why that's important: If the answers you're getting don't answer your questions in the way you expected, you'll have the opportunity to revise your survey, on the spot. Revise a question ... replace it ... change the order ... integrate something you learned from a respondent ... add something you forgot.

Get in there, see what's happening, and make course corrections if necessary.

Author Bio
Best-selling author Kathy Gulrich helps clients get from idea, to action, to results - more quickly, and more easily - whether they're looking to write a book, develop a new product, or market their product or business. Clients love her direct, no-nonsense approach - and her gentle insistence on great results. Find out for yourself: Check out one of Kathy's teleclasses, or pick up a free worksheet, at www.smARTbusinessCoaching.com

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content

Source: By Kathy Gulrich

http://www.articlegeek.com/business/marketing/successful_surveys_tips_results.htm

Bill Gates's Top 10 Rules For Success (@BillGates) - Part 1

How have you done your market research for your business? Would you use a telephone marketing company? Perhaps call your clients and customers and ask for their input?  Have you considered simply using email or online survey?  It may take a little more effort but this article covers reasons to consider and tips for using this approach.  The article is in three parts.  It covers 3 tips today.  Come back for 3 more tomorrow.  Let me know how useful you find this article with a comment below.

Successful Surveys: 10 Tips for Better Results – Part 1

By: Kathy Gulrich

Why would you use an email or online survey when you could simply call your clients and customers and ask for their input?

Lots of reasons.

·         standardization

·         easy to get large numbers of responses

·         easy to tabulate, analyze

·         easy (and often fun) for your clients and customers

·         inexpensive

·         non-intrusive

·         time-efficient (for you, and for your clients and customers)

·         protect your customers' anonymity (if important)

·         professional

·         no "cold calls"

·         no answering machines!

And have you figured out how long it would take to have 100 fifteen-minute conversations instead? (I don't have to do the math to know that it's WAY too long!)

So in this article, I'm going to talk surveys. How to find them, how to do them, and how to make the most of your results. Here goes....

1 - Clarify Your Objectives

What's your reason for doing the survey?

You might want to get your clients' input on your products and services, let them know you really care about what they think, or learn what keeps them up at night. (Or anything in between....)

Before you start, be very clear about what you'd like to accomplish. Then, be sure that each question on your survey will get you a step closer to your goal.

2 - Choose a Survey Company

You can write and produce your survey yourself, or (easier) use one of the many companies out there that provide survey services.

These services come at a variety of prices (from free to quite expensive), and with a variety of options (from basic to quite extensive).

Zip around the web a bit to find what's out there, and what seems most appropriate for what you're doing. In your wanderings, you may want to check out:

·         www.EZsurvey.com

·         www.zoomerang.com

·         www.pollcat.com

·         or my favorite, www.surveymonkey.com

3 - Keep it Short

Most often, we're asking survey recipients to do us a favor by filling out our survey - even if the information we gather will help them, longer term.

So be respectful of their time by keeping your survey short (no more than 10 questions, unless absolutely necessary) - and easy to fill out and return.

The easier it is do complete, the more responses you're likely to get.

Author Bio
Best-selling author Kathy Gulrich helps clients get from idea, to action, to results - more quickly, and more easily - whether they're looking to write a book, develop a new product, or market their product or business. Clients love her direct, no-nonsense approach - and her gentle insistence on great results. Find out for yourself: Check out one of Kathy's teleclasses, or pick up a free worksheet, at www.smARTbusinessCoaching.com

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content

Source: By Kathy Gulrich

http://www.articlegeek.com/business/marketing/successful_surveys_tips_results.htm