Traffic Exchanges: Are they worth the time?

The only way I can answer this question is by saying: It depends. It depends on various factors. I have found that Traffic Exchanges can take up a lot of time having to surf the exchanges to earn points and credits. Obviously, as a free member of TEs, you're going to have to work twice as hard as you would if you pay for some sort of subscription that gives you more of a range. What I mean is, when you plop some cash down, many TEs have different programs that allow you to give your site or product more exposure with less effort. Additionally, putting some cash down will also double your efforts when you do have the time to surf these exchanges. My suggestion is to make some cash surfing the exchange as time permits, then reinvest it on that particular exchange, thus giving yourself more of a reach. I have done this on one TE that I belong to and it has paid off. More traffic was driven to this site as a result.

Another aspect of TEs that I like is that you do get to see a wide array of online services out there. Of course you have to click through a lot of other TE adverts, but when you do, you'll find those little gems. I have landed on some useful tools having taken the time to surf through the Traffic Exchanges. I'm sure you will, too. As with anything worth anything, it won't come with ease; you will have to work at it. There's no such thing as a "get rich quick" program, which leads me to another point...

Don't always believe what they say on the surface. Dig a little. Look for the attached strings. When joining the TE site, are they lowering their price as you click through to get to the home page? These are simply marketing schemes. Old school ones, in my humble opinion. Honesty is the best policy. And desperation just looks cheesy. Now, I'm not telling you this to discount these TEs. I'm telling you this to give you a heads up. Getting through the gimmicks, and into the actual site, will still allow you to get traffic to your site as a free member. It will also afford you the opportunity to see those little gem sites I discussed earlier.

My final point for the day on TEs is referrals. All the Traffic Exchanges I have come across do offer incentives when you refer someone. This is often referred to as "building a downline" as many may already know. This can add a greatly to your marketing efforts. So, again to answer my initial question: Traffic Exchanges: Are they worth the time? It depends. It depends on you. Check them out and find what fits. You may enjoy them or you may not. It all depends on what you are looking for. If you would like to check out some TEs that I have come across and have joined, click here for the list. It doesn't hurt to look. If you don't find the one you're looking for, keep looking. If you find that it's a fit, give it a whirl and sign up and start surfing. But, don't forget to add your site so it gets the exposure it deserves.

Let Affiliate Marketing Software Do All The Labor

I'm not going to say a lot here as I don't want to bog down anyone who has landed on this page. I'll let the banners do all the talking. This I will say briefly. You are looking for help to advance your marketing needs, this software is chock full of tools in which to help you grow your online presence. They offer you the opportunity to demo the software. Click on any of the banners to learn more. See you on the other side of success!

Shopify Makes It Easy For All

Providing worthy information is important. And having a platform in which to do so is even more important. I mean, what good is having a product or a service or even an idea, if you can't put it in front of someone. I had been hearing a lot of great things about Shopify from people who have set up shop with them. They have grown tremendously in the ecommerce realm. Personally, I don't sell anything, nor do I wish to. My purpose is to get this information out to those who want to do one of two things, or even both: 1. Set up shop through Shopify. Or 2. Become an affiliate.

I am part of their affiliate program.

Shopify makes it easy for everyone whether you are wanting to operate an online store or you want to put this tool in someone's grasp to help them get started. Shopify is really the tool box filled with lots of help affording you the opportunity to put whatever it is you have to sell, in front of the people who want to buy. Click on any link to be brought to the Shopify page to learn more on how to sell your items. There is also a quick video at the bottom of the page you can review.

Below, you find verbiage from their site about the affiliate program. This is to give you an overview, a little taste, if you may, of what Shopify is all about. I hope to see you all, successfully on the other side. One last thing, for those who are looking to sell online utilizing there tools, you can sign up for a free trial here.


Affiliate Program

Make up to $358 per customer by joining the free Shopify Affiliate Program

When you sign up for the Shopify Affiliate Program we'll give you a special link to Shopify that you can share through an ad, Facebook post, on your blog, a tweet – however you choose! You'll earn income for every customer that signs up for Shopify through your link.

We offer two commission options

200% Per Sale
Per-sale commissions mean that you earn 200% of a customer’s subscription fee each time you refer someone to Shopify. You can make up to $358 per sale!

20% Of Each Bill
For each customer you refer to Shopify, you’ll get 20% of their monthly Shopify bill, including transaction fees – for as long as they are a Shopify customer. You can make more than $35 per month for every customer you refer

Anyone can be an affiliate

Are you a blogger?

Monetize your blog by adding Shopify banners or affiliate links to your posts. Why not make the most of your site traffic by promoting one of the strongest brands in the industry?

Are you a publisher?

Use any online marketing medium you can to refer customers: email, media buys, PPC, contextual, Facebook or Twitter. The sky’s the limit!

Hey Fellow Star Wars Fans...

Are you looking for posters and other trinkets to quench your never ending thirst? Missing that one poster to complete your collection? Or do you know someone who has been looking for something from the collection, but has yet to find it. Allow me to point you in the direction of a website that, yes, I am an affiliate marketer participant. I have looked over the site quite extensively, Star Wars was the first thing I searched for and whadya know, they seem to have it all. Well, not all, as I didn't find an actual, full scale replica of the Death Star, but they're pretty darn close. I encourage all of my fellow Star Wars geeks to at least check out the page. And hey, if something peaks your interest, whip out that payment method and get that Boba Fett poster on your wall. I'll make it a bit easy and post a few of my favorites here. I will also provide a link to the site so you can see what else they have. Happy hunting!!

Either click on the image or to go to the site directly, click here and search Star Wars.

Why Advertising Doesn’t Work for Bloggers

You might have heard that you can’t make money as a blogger.

A few bloggers can manage if they generate superhuman levels of traffic, like Perez Hilton or ICanHasCheezburger (the LOLCat blog).

For ordinary mortals like you and me? You’ll be lucky to pay your Chipotle bill from advertising. You need a model that works in the real world.

First, take a look at a post I wrote on exactly this topic, called Why You Can’t Make Money Blogging.

One of the things I talk about in that post is that, for those who aren’t seeing stratospheric traffic, we need to solve real problems in order to make a decent living.

Copyblogger, even though it’s one of the most popular blogs on the web, takes this approach. We don’t go the “blog celebrity” route, because that’s subject to fads and fashion, and we like to build our business on something more enduring than that.

Instead, we provide lots of solutions to real-world problems with our free content, and we offer additional solutions involving paid products, both our own and other people’s.

A lot of people associate affiliate marketing with sleaze, scams, and high-pressure sales techniques. But there’s no reason in the world to leave affiliate marketing to the bottom-feeders.

Affiliate marketing is one of the smartest ways to start monetizing
your high-quality content. But you have to do it right.

5 keys to better affiliate marketing

As you probably already know, affiliate marketing is the practice of finding new customers for an existing product or service that you didn’t create.

Even if you’re a product-creating rock star and you’ve got a fat catalog of great stuff for your readers to buy, none of us can keep up with our most passionate customers. They’re always going to want more than we can provide. This is where a smart, thoughtful affiliate program can fill the bill.

And if you don’t yet have a great product of your own to offer, you can still give your audience the information, physical products, and services they’re looking for, and make some money for yourself while you’re at it. It’s just cool all the way around.

Generally, the vendor does all of the “selling” for you — you’re just providing a lead. In reality, though, a little judicious pre-selling on your part can make affiliate marketing work better for you.

When you’re looking for an affiliate product to review or promote on your site, here are some of the guidelines that have worked well for us on Copyblogger:

1. Only promote products that are so good, you would promote them whether or not you were paid to. Many “gurus” will tell you to find a Clickbank product in your niche that’s doing well and promote that. While that’s a useful way to tell if a particular topic is viable, it’s also a great way to destroy your relationship with your audience unless the Clickbank product is terrific. Only promote great quality, whether it’s a $17 product or a $17,000 one.
2. Make sure you’re selling something your audience wants. This seems obvious, but it’s where a lot of marketers fail. You can’t just offer something people need or could benefit from. They also have to want it. Don’t be afraid to promote products that are already popular in your topic. They’re popular because there’s a strong desire. You’ll use your own relationship and content to make people want to buy with your link.
3. Look for high-dollar-value products. This is especially important if you don’t have tons of traffic. It might seem counterintuitive, but it’s true — you won’t necessarily sell more of a cheaper product. It’s not uncommon to find that a $197 product sells as many copies as a $19 one.
4. Give some background. Reviews tend to do very well for affiliate offers, because they give the buyer some additional background on the product’s strong and weak points. Never be afraid to honestly address flaws in a product you review.You won’t hurt sales, and you will build your trust and credibility with your audience.
5. Always disclose your affiliate relationship. Not only is it a good relationship-building practice to be honest with your readers, but the FTC also now requires bloggers to disclose that you’re receiving financial compensation for your endorsement. This can get you into some very ugly hot water if you ignore it, so don’t. (If you want a model for a graceful way to do that, scroll down and click through to the post on how to make affiliate disclosure into a selling point.)

More killer strategies for affiliate marketing

Brian wrote a terrific series on Copyblogger about how you can make more money with affiliate offers and improve your relationship with your audience while you’re at it.

Remember, relationships are the first pillar. Make them your priority, or the rest of your business won’t be able to grow and thrive.

The headlines speak for themselves. If affiliate marketing will be part of your income mix, each of these is a must-read.

• Three Killer Content Strategies for Affiliate Marketing
• Five Effective Copywriting Tactics for Affiliate Marketing
• How to Turn Affiliate Disclosure into a Selling Point

Can you still make this work if you aren’t writing about online marketing?

A lot of people believe that this affiliate marketing stuff is only for people writing about online marketing.

That’s actually one of the worst niches you could get into, so don’t go there unless you have a huge passion for it (and something new to add to the topic).

If you write a food blog, review kitchen gadgets, gourmet ingredients, and cookbooks. You can link to all of these with affiliate links from both Amazon Associates and Commission Junction.

Remember to talk about the bad as well as the good. If the $2400 espresso machine sucks and the $89 one is fabulous, tell the truth. And use an affiliate link for both. If someone’s going to saddle themselves with the crummy one after you’ve given all the information, there’s no reason for you to short yourself on the commission.

If you write a humor blog, take your best material and put it on t-shirts, hats, or bags with CafePress.

If you’re a mommy blogger, you can review toys, clothes, diaper bags, or even online parenting courses.

Blog about relationships? Find a great online course or ebook about becoming a better husband, wife, parent, adult child, friend, or just a happier, more fulfilled human being. There’s some great stuff out there just waiting for you to help get the word out.

Jennifer Michelle has a blog for pole dancers. She sells her own workout gear designed just for pole dancing (called “Pole Skivvies,” how cute is that?), and also offers dance poles on an affiliate basis. See? I told you anyone could apply this.

What’s the best way to score review copies?

Physical stuff you’ll probably have to actually buy. If your blog gets decent traffic, you can always ask for a freebie. But your credibility goes up a little if you pay for it.

For ebooks and online courses, you can nearly always get your money back if you decide the product isn’t worth a review, and you should definitely get in the habit of getting a refund if it isn’t any good. (Check the fine print before you PayPal to make sure, of course.)

Why you’re going to be better at this than most people

Remember, you have some gigantic advantages in this business over the more typical “make money now” system guys.

1. You’ve got a unique voice and point of view.
2. You care more about your relationship with your audience than you do about some affiliate commission. (Even a really sweet one on that expensive espresso machine.)
3. You’re building tons of high-quality content (not auto-generated or scraped junk) on your blog, that’s creating a content net to support buyers over the long run and keep them coming back. If this offer isn’t a good fit for them, the next one may be.

This means your “ads” for these products don’t look like ads. They look like honest recommendations from a friend. Which is exactly the way you should think about them.

Will there ever be affiliate offers in this newsletter?

Of course there will! 

As we come across really good stuff that we think will make your business work better, we’ll absolutely let you know about it. And if there’s an affiliate program for it, we’ll take our commission. Fair enough?

We’ll also let you know from time to time about products, tools, or services that we create. Sometimes, when we’re frustrated at not finding exactly the right tool to support our businesses, we make one. (The Genesis theme framework for WordPressbeing a great example of that.)

And when we do, we’ll share it with you.

Would we ever let you know about something we didn’t believe in? Of course not, because this is Internet Marketing for Smart People, not Internet Marketing for Clueless Idiots. The dumbest thing we (or you) could do is to promote garbage.

Your assignment for the week

Do some serious thinking about where you’re going to find really high-quality affiliate products that you could discuss and, when appropriate, recommend to your audience.

Clickbank is the biggest marketplace for information products — just be aware that there’s a lot of junk mixed in with the gold.Commission Junction is where to go for physical stuff — everything from collectible movie posters to gardening equipment to great coffee. And if you’re in the information and advice business, see if the better bloggers in your topic have anything you might promote.

Next up on the newsletter, we’re going to circle back to relationships, and talk about how to develop a persona that lets your readers and customers create a stronger connection.

Sonia Simone

P.S.

Did you find this page via Twitter or a link from a friend?

Click here to subscribe today (at no charge) and get instant access to over 100,000 words of proven marketing advice contained in 15 ebooks, as well as this 20-part course dripped out to you via email.

Of course, if it’s not for you, you can unsubscribe with just a couple of clicks. And we’ll never rent or share your information with anyone.)

Source: Copyblogger

Windows 7 mainstream support ends

Microsoft will end mainstream support for Windows 7 Service Pack 1 on January 13. Find out what that means for you.

by Tuong Nguyen 

What end of mainstream support means

For corporate users, it's business as usual.

For home users, free online and phone support are disappearing. Microsoft stopped distributing new licenses to manufacturers and vendors in October 2014, so don't expect to see many more new PCs preinstalled with Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium, or Ultimate.

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 now enters its extended support phase. Microsoft will continue torelease security patches until January 14, 2020. Business PCs with Windows 7 Pro will still be available for sale, and so will OEM keys of the Pro version. Paid support will still be available.Downgrades will be honored for the business edition of Windows. For example, if you purchase a PC with Windows 8.1 Pro, you can still downgrade to Windows 7 Pro.

How the end of support affects you

Regular users will still get security fixes. You can still get Windows 7 Pro licenses if you're planning on purchasing a new system or if you're finally upgrading from Windows XP.

There's no news yet of Windows 7 Pro going off the market. Microsoft has promised to give at least a year of advance warning before cutting off sales.

Source: ZDNet

4 Myths About Affiliate Marketing You Need To Know

Author: Steve Olenski

There are lots of myths out there surrounding affiliate marketing, and these can frequently cause brands/businesses to pass on these kinds of programs. It’s important you understand some of these myths so you can make the correct decisions for the future growth of your business.

Whether you’re the brand manager at a Fortune 100 brand or the marketing director/everything else at a startup, setting up a solid affiliate program can open a revenue avenue without much of the hassle usually associated with setting up new marketing initiatives.

1. Affiliate systems are quick and easy to manage

An affiliate marketing program is a lot of work, and in most situations there’s a lot of competition so you’re not going to be bringing in money immediately. Business owners and entrepreneurs suppose that all you need do is setup a site and choose an affiliate to associate with and then just let it run its course. But according toThree Ladders Marketing, only 0.6% of affiliate marketers surveyed have been in the game since 2013. That means that affiliate marketing takes time and effort to build and make money.

Affiliate marketing myths busted. Source: tips.affiliatevote.com

The affiliate marketing business relies on fostering relationships. You foster these relationships by:

*Bringing the right partners into your program

*Seeking out better and more efficient partnerships

*Updating your content regularly to keep things new and fresh.

An affiliate program is only going to help bring traffic to your website or business; you are in charge of turning that traffic into conversions.

2. You need to work in a very popular and lucrative niche to make affiliate marketing work for your business.

A lot of companies do not even bother trying an affiliate marketing program because they think their market is too little. Some companies will try and break into bigger niches even if they don’t have any interest in the market niche.

It is true that popular niches do better with affiliate marketing, but that doesn’t mean you do not have a chance at success. Stay in line with the goals and mission statement of your company and find affiliates who understand the relevance of working in a market where you are comfortable.

3. Affiliate marketing is a strategy of yesterday

Due to Google’s new algorithms for SEO, link building is becoming outdated which can discourage affiliate activity. Even if this is the case, there are many new ways to use SEO and build your brand.

You might come across a couple of link problems with Google if you are not managing your program, but for the most part the entire notion of affiliate marketing still makes sense to Google –it offers another relevant and related resource to consumers.

4. Success in affiliate marketing comes from getting your product on as many sites as possible

The best way to think about affiliate marketing is quality over quantity. There are a lot of small websites that will promote your product, but the key is finding a small number of partners that will deliver conversions. For example, an equity management services firm has over 20,000 affiliates in its system, but only about 25 affiliates generate 85 percent of revenue.

The real deliverables will be dependent on locating the right affiliates, big or small, which drive results. According to the same study done by Three Ladders Marketing, the most traffic for affiliates were driven by SEO, 79% and social media, 60%.

Although studies show that affiliate marketing isn’t easy, as you remember to foster relationships, focus on your niche, focus on a few key affiliates, and create a system that generates performance for both the advertiser and the affiliate you can drive profit and conversions for your small business.

Affiliates Beware

There are caution flags, however when it comes to affiliate marketing. In a piece late last year, Affiliate Theft Could Be Costing You Millions, Forbes contributor Jabez LeBret wrote of unscrupulous affiliate marketers’ tactics which cost brands and businesses millions of dollars every year.

LeBret adds that affiliate theft”…could be preventing you (brands/businesses) from beating profit expectations while making it difficult for you to properly allocate your marketing budget to programs that are working.

Source: Forbes

What is Google Pagerank? – Best Sites to Check Page Rank!

Google, the most highly used search engine, explains page rank as a sort of ranking according to popularity. Google PageRank (also known as Google PR) is one of the ways that Google determines a page’s relevance. Important, or highly searched, pages receive a higher PageRank and are the more probable to appear at the top of the search results. PageRank is based on backlinks and ranges from 0-10.

PageRank is named after its Google cofounder Larry Page. The algorithm used to determine PageRank is discussed in detail on the Google website – if interested in finding out more about his process, go to this website to learn more. The process is a multi-tiered mathematical formulation developed by Larry Page and his team at Stanford University.

Google, speaking for themselves, says that PageRank is similar to “likes” or votes. They consider some votes to be more important than others. PageRank is Google’s way of counting the links or votes and determining which pages are more important than other pages based on the number of votes. These scores are used, along with various other sources, to determine if a web page will rank well in a random search. The goal, of course, is to provide pages that are reliable and informative for Google users when they search. In order to make sure that they are doing this, they actively and carefully analyze and monitor the information that is made available with their Google search software.

When Google discusses PageRank, many times, “they” (Google) will refer the readers with a link to the Google Technology page. The page describes PageRank as ‘the heart of their software’. The name “PageRank” is trademarked by Google and is described as a method of ranking web pages. This system was developed by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford University. Even with a team of engineers working constantly to improve the performance of Google, PageRank is one consistent part of Google that remains a central performance piece in many of the web search tools.

Basically, PageRank is created so that it uses the democratic nature of its web users by using unique link structure to indicate the value of each individual page. A simple way to consider the way that PageRank works would be to think about Google as interpreting a link from page A to Page B as a vote for page B by Page A. The system is much more complicated than this, but for a simple way to begin to understand PageRank, you can see how one page may have more “hits” or votes than another. Many web developers take facts like this into consideration by putting links on one of their pages to one of their other pages in an effort to get the viewer to “vote” for the other page and then “vote” for the first page again by returning.

Google considers much more information than just the simplicity of the number of votes, or likes, that a page receives. It also carefully examines the page that casts the votes. Some “votes” are more weigh as being more important than others based on criteria that Google sets. Because some web pages are more significant than others, a vote cast by that page would weigh more heavily and count as more than just one “vote”; almost as though certain pages carry proxy for more than one person in a traditional election.

How do searchers of Google use PageRank? As stated before, it is one of many considerations used when ranking pages. You may not be able to see PageRank at first – but, if you have a page that you want to be one of the first when an average viewer uses Google, it is important to know not only how it works, but also what is going on ‘behind the scenes’ so you can improve your own website and become informed.

Some computer owners already have PageRank on their Google Toolbar. If it is on the toolbar, there will be a small icon called a PageRank meter that Google doesn’t fully explain in their help files. On your toolbar, it will be towards the right, and it will say “PageRank” with a long green bar. If you hover over the bar with your mouse, it will show you where the page you are viewing (hopefully yours) ranks with other similar web pages. It will be ranked as 0/10 (for a poor ranking) or 10/10 (for a perfect ranking). When considering the launch of a new website and its value, the toolbar’s PageRank display will tell you the significance of the page you’re viewing.

When deciding to begin your own analysis of your website, remember not to interpret the information on the PageRank toolbar as a gauge of your ‘popularity’. It is only a tool used by Google to gauge or estimate the significance of the webpage. Obviously, a family photo album webpage may not have a ranking that is quite as high as a website for a highly, well-known publication like People Magazine. Google carefully checks the websites that are published and can “weight” some of the pages with higher PageRank scores than others, depending on the information that is being provided to the random web searcher.

Some may consider this a bias on the part of Google. Questioned in a US Court as to whether or not this could be considered a violation free speech because Google was altering some of the page ranks which directly affected search queries, the court upheld that Google was expressing an opinion, which in itself is protected by the First Amendment – the conclusion was that PageRanks are entitled to full protection by the constitution.

Back to further understanding how a Google PageRank works, let’s assume that you get a link to one of your pages from a high PR page. Some of that PageRank importance, or the points associated with the linking page, will be transmitted to your page. But this doesn’t full represent or take into consideration the context of the link – the actual keywords in the link, or anchor text.

Anchor text is text you write within your web page that a viewer can click on and it will automatically direct them to another web page. The anchor text is deliberately linked to the other page. This anchor text is called a hyperlink and is one unique way to interactively involve your reader with your web page. It will have them reading about other subjects of your choice as well as asking questions, which is what you want. For example, on a counseling website, the home page may have hyperlinks to appropriate research studies or other pages on your website, such as helpful links or questionnaires about certain mental health disorders.

The words used in the anchor text will also help determine the ranking that the page will receive in other search engines, such as Bing and Yahoo. Links without anchor text happen commonly and are referred to as naked URL’s. Different browsers will display the anchor text differently, but proper use of anchor text can help to link the page in a higher place of ranking in all search engines.

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, best practices assume that the anchor text be relevant and not a sales gimmick of some sort of generic text. Anchor texts are one of many flags that search engines use when determining the topic of a web page. They can be used to direct the reader to an internal page within your web site or to an external link that might be indirectly related to what your page content is about.

Good webpage writers use grabbers for hyperlink text like “learn more here” or “try this page”, etc. “Click here” is overused and will usually drive your reader away from clicking on the hyperlink rather than trying to use it. Entice your readers and peak their curiosity by using creative text and consider offering free information within your site and you’re sure to have repeat visitors. And, remember, the more “clicks” – the more visits to your links, the higher your Google PageRank.

For example, assume you’re the company, Coach, and you want to rank for the word “handbags”. You get hundreds or thousands of PageRank9 pages to link like this:

“Coach”

Exactly what you wanted! Or is it? All of those pages are going to send loads of PageRank in your direction which automatically makes you appear to be important and the content on your site valuable. But, how are you important? Google will take a look at the word in the link itself as a key signal to determine the importance. The word says “Coach, so great for Coach, they rank just for their name! But is your webpage useful to the person who landed on it because of the keyword “Coach” or was it just a random hit?

But, let’s just say that you are Nine West, the same market as Coach. Not quite as well-renowned as Coach, but a decent reputation, you won’t get links from all of those PR9 sites – rather, you would probably get a mix of PageRank sites that are 4 or 5. They will provide links but more links that do have some importance. They may be less, but they do carry some market weight. The relevancy of the words is the key. They may be pointing to your site, but once there, the reader will be more impressed by a well-written site that tells about your product than the fact that Coach or Nine West drove them to that site. Remember – you’re selling your product. Maybe you are selling a beauty product, or a service as a fashion consultant – not exactly related to Nine West, but within the same parameters.

PageRank is significant when considering how your page will rank in a search engine result, but it is only one tool. It is not the most important part of your marketing strategy or proof of the validity or lack of that your site or your product carries. It is a rating strategy solely used by Google.

Another industry term that you may hear is “link juice”. This is simply another way of discussing how much attention your website received from a keyword which triggered a link to your page. When one site is linked to another webpage, the link will pass points – this is also known as link juice transfer. The amount of link juice that is distributed depends on two things – the number of PageRank points that the web page carrying the link has and the total number of links on the page that are actually passing PageRank.

Think of it another way: every web page has a limited amount of link juice it can pass, and the top of that limit is the total PageRank points that page has accrued. So, a web page with 15 accumulated PageRank points cannot pass more than 15 of those points of link juice per page. If a page with 15 PageRank points links to one other page, that one link will transfer the full amount of link juice to that one other web page. But if a page with 15 PageRank points links to five web pages (internal or external), each link will only transfer one-fifth of the link juice, or three of those points.

There are some flaws in the PageRank system, as with any system. One example would be what is known as a “Google Bomb”. A Google bomb is an automated attempt to have a search term return a website for an unexpected or unknown entity by creating numerous links to that website from pages including the actual search term. It’s a simple manipulation of the system.

Link farming is another method that is being used to manipulate PageRank – this is the practice of linking pages without any knowledge or thought to the relevance of the pages being linked. One could run into an entire web page full of nothing but random, unrelated links to other websites – this is a link farm!

Google is constantly working diligently to keep anyone from using Google analytics in any way other than what it was meant to do, and that is to inform its users about the traffic to the site. Google has teams of technology ingénues changing and refining its RankPage algorithms to recognize these flaws and remove them. Most of the time, those who are creating such flaws in the system are doing so just to show that they can with no thought to the validity of the use of their information or the problems they are creating for genuine business people who are trying to simply do their jobs. Nonetheless, Google is definitely aware and on top of any wrong-doers all of the time.

In a world where technology is part of everyday life, it would be virtually impossible to avoid being part of that technology which is part of every facet of work and home life. It is wise to at least know basic terms and practices that are being used. If you have any further questions or comments about any of Google’s products, they are ready and able to answer your questions and help in any way that they can.

Check your Google Pagerank in one of the following sites:

http://smallseotools.com

http://pagerank.net

Source

Backlinks – Produce them the right way!

If a website doesn’t have interesting content, no one will stick around to look at it – if it doesn’t get targeted traffic, no one will buy from the site. The algorithms behind Google rankings have kept webmasters on their toes for the last several years. Keyword stuffing used to work. Now Google will banish any site with overused keywords. The thinking used to be…the more backlinks, the better. Now too many unrelated backlinks can get a web site shut out of Google rankings altogether.

The truth is – accumulating thousands of links too quickly will get you in trouble. Building up a web site’s rankings is hard work and it can take months, sometimes years, to generate large volumes of targeted traffic. However the payoff is huge to those who are patient and who put in the work. Too many companies and individuals want quick results without allowing for the natural process of building traffic and followers through strategically placed backlinks.

Getting traffic these days is a combination of several powerful factors: Terrific content produced on your site through hard work and diligence, original articles posted in the right places with backlinks attached to good anchor text – and putting in the time to research the niche so you can place informative content in front of the people you want to attract to your web site.

So how does one distribute solid link building in quantity while keeping the Google spiders happy? There are several good strategies to backlinking. Article writing has always been the premier method of getting attention and targeted traffic to a web site. Take advantage of sites like Hubpages and Squidoo. Use well researched keywords as anchor text for your backlinks. Nowadays, most web surfers are pretty jaded about clicking on a plain url link. Using keywords as links in informative, well researched articles will naturally attract the public to your web site.
Putting a public profile on Facebook for your product or service is another excellent way to get attention and backlinks. If you are willing to put in the time and work, well-placed backlinks can attract the traffic you need, while keeping the search engines happy.

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8 Ways to Keep Your Homebased Business Running Smoothly

Author: Sarah Pierce

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Leaving corporate America to run a homebased business is the ideal situation for many people: There's no boss breathing down your neck, no boring meetings to attend and no 45-minute drives in rush hour traffic. Working from home can be a rewarding experience, but it's easy to forget the basic rules of running a successful business when it's 10 hours of just you, your computer and the distractions of home.

To help you stay on track, we've contacted homebased business expert Rosalind Resnick, CEO of Axxess Business Centers Inc. , a New York small-business consulting firm. Resnick is a former business journalist who has regularly contributed her expertise to Entrepreneur.com. She's put together eight helpful tips for keeping your homebased business running smoothly.

• Structure your day. The problem a lot of homebased business owners have is that they no longer have a boss standing over them making sure they get their work done, or a tangible start and end of each workday. It's easy to let time slip by as you head to the refrigerator, catch a few minutes of TV, or dive into a project first thing in the morning, neglecting the other tasks you need to perform to keep your business running smoothly.

Create a structure that mimics what you had in the workplace. Structure your day so you have a start and finish time, with certain hours set aside for specific activities. A general rule is to spend the first hour of the day prospecting for new clients. Send your emails, write your letters and make your phone calls first thing so you don't forget to do it later.

Use Outlook or some sort of contact management software to serve as a visual reminder of what you need to accomplish that day. Live and die by your to-do-list. Try to have everything crossed off by the end of the day. Even my own children know that if they want me to do something for them during working hours, they have to put it on my to-do-list or it will never get done.

• Stay connected. Carry an organizer wherever you go. If you're still using a day planner or similar dinosaur, consider upgrading to a Blackberry or other high-tech gadget. You don't need to go crazy and spend a lot of money, but invest wisely in something that will hold everything you need and allow you to instantly access it on the go. Another good idea is to not keep all of your information in one location, such as the hard drive of your home computer. Keep your data hosted on a virtual exchange server so you can access it anywhere that has an Internet connection. A big misconception about homebased business owners is that they stay at home all day, everyday. And as you know, that's just not always true.

• Organize your family time. Once your professional life is organized, you may need to consider organizing your personal life. Maybe you noticed right away, or maybe it's just becoming apparent, that you tend to work around the schedule of your family members. This is especially true if you have children. A lot of people, especially young moms, decide that they're going to quit their jobs in corporate America and work from home in order to care for their children and save on daycare expenses. But in reality, if you're serious about running a homebased business and earning a decent income, you're going to have to make arrangements for childcare in or outside the home. Otherwise it becomes too distracting. Consider hiring a babysitter so you're guaranteed five to six solid hours to get your work done.

• Motivate yourself. Sit down and set some goals for yourself. You no longer have quarterly reviews or progress reports, so it's important to keep track of whether or not you're making progress in your business. It's one thing to set small goals like completing your to-do-list--you also have to set goals to motivate yourself to succeed. Hopefully by now you're making as much, if not more, money at your homebased business than you were at your former job. If you aren't, begin by setting a goal to bring in the same amount of income you were, and slowly raise the bar to increase your income by a couple of thousand a month. Once you've met a goal, make time to reward yourself by doing something fun, which brings us to the next tip.

• Take time out for good behavior. It's not uncommon to find yourself working 60- to 70-hour weeks. But the good thing is, if you want to sneak out and see a movie at two in the afternoon, nobody's going to tell you not to do it. You have that freedom and flexibility as a home business owner. It can be tempting to work all the time when you start seeing how successful your business has become, but know when to relax. You've already established a smooth-running business. Take a break every now and then so you don't get burned out.

• Be a Jack-of-all-trades. There are a lot of roles you play as a homebased business owner: You're the CEO, president, secretary, office manager and tech support. Learn the basic skills of running an office, including how to troubleshoot some rudimentary technical problems. You don't need to become an expert, but make sure you have a basic understanding of tech support issues, bookkeeping, etc. Otherwise it will become too expensive to have to pay someone to do everything for you.

• Network. Network with other homebased business owners in either a formal or informal setting. This is a good way to find service providers, leads and potential clients. Surrounding yourself with people who also work from home will give you the support you need, and refer you to people who can help you grow your business.

• Consider moving out of your home. For a lot of people, working from home is a launching pad. In the beginning, many business owners work from home in order to keep overhead low. If you have more than one person with different roles working from your home office, you should ideally be working in separate rooms. It can be difficult having two people work side by side, even if those two people are spouses and love each other very much. It's distracting for anyone to have someone three feet away from you talking on the phone. Be prepared for expansion. At the point when your business becomes so successful that you cannot efficiently work close together, start considering moving your office outside the home.