Split-Testing : The Secret Weapon of Experienced Online Marketers
Since the early 1900s, the best direct marketers have used some form of split-testing to improve their sales messages. Marketers like John Caples split-tested with coupon codes to tell which of a number of separate ads produced the best response, changing one item at a time until they found a winning formula. Split-testing is how direct marketers continually increase their profits over time.
With the ease of tracking on the Internet and the advent of low-cost or free software programs, split-testing is something that all online business owners should be implementing each month. It is an ongoing process.
Twitter… Does It Work For Small Business?
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve probably heard or read about a new website called Twitter.
Although Twitter is a relatively new service, it has been receiving some great press and is starting to be used by many small businesses and large companies around the world – including some major media companies, marketing companies and computer companies…
In fact, ABC has its own Twitter feed, which they reference at the end of some of their shows.
So a few months ago I decided to see for myself what this Twitter thing was all about…
How To Grow Your Business Online
In the current economic climate, the Internet represents one of the strongest and most cost effective marketing channels available. An online marketing campaign has the ability to transform a business even in times of recession, if it is implemented correctly. Whether you have a limited budget of $1,000 per month or a substantial budget in excess of $20,000 a month, the Internet has opportunities for you to gain maximum return on investment to take your company to the next level.
Here is a proven process of growing your business online that we have used time and time again to grow businesses online in a variety of different industries.
How Search Engine Rankings & User Behaviour Affect Website Traffic
We all want to be number 1 on Google. For most people that is the only target, but what does that actually mean in terms of results, and how do the different ranks affect traffic to your website?
There have been a number of research experiments conducted by universities over the last decade testing user behaviour on a number of search engines with many using methods unique from the others. However, one technique has been more successful than others – eye-tracking.
Simply put, eye-tracking is a type of software that records and measures eye movements. This method has been used in several experiments for measuring attention given to each site in a search engine results page.
The Psychology of Web Design
Good website design is noticeable to almost everyone that will visit your website, not just web designers. For people that use the internet frequently it is easy to identify valuable websites from the rest. When you see a website for the first time you make an instant judgement on its quality and relevance. Even if it is done subconsciously, we are able to take a fairly accurate impression very quickly. In fact, in 2006 the BBC News website reported on a study which showed that the brain makes decisions in just one 20th of a second of viewing a webpage. This first impression is then carried over to other parts of the website, like content and professionalism. So you can see why it is essential to make a good first impression.
Google SEO Guide & Mindmap
Google has released a ‘Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide‘ for website owners who want to improve their website’s ability to rank in Google’s search engine.
The newly released guide mostly covers on-page optimisation, and only briefly talks about link building strategies, which are the real key to SEO. Reading this guide put a smile on my face as it reaffirms that our on-page optimisation strategy is right on the money.
11 of the Best (Free) SEO Tools and How to Use Them
Just as a there are tools which make the process of building a house easier, there are tools which make the process of ranking a website at the top of a search engine easier.
Every seasoned SEO professional has their own arsenal of SEO tools which they use every day to help them rank websites. It saves time, effort and provides a strong advantage against those competitors who do not use the same tools.
Here are 11 of the SEO tools which I use on a regular basis to rank websites at the top of the search engines. You’ll note that there is a strong focus on Google – this is because ranking a website at the top of Google will, in my experience, drive anywhere between 10x and 100x the traffic of a top ranking in Yahoo or MSN combined.
Organic Backlinks – Search Engine Gold
With search engine algorithms ever changing, it is difficult to know what will be considered valuable by search engines in the future. In saying that, we touch upon a very common discussion regarding link building; is it better to build a large quantity of back links or spend more time to get better quality back links?
If you are involved in any kind of search engine optimisation you should constantly be considering how to spend your time to get the best results and, if you are as busy as most people, you may not be able to use both methods of link building. Now many online marketers may still be advising you that the number of links is what search engines value the most, and they will proceed to build as many links as possible, as quickly as possible, and by any means necessary. But, with the release of Google’s updated Historical Data Patent in March this year, it is clear that this is not the case.
Did I Just Order Pizza Online?
Well we all know Alex is the power house of the Web Profits blog space. A lot of great content, value, and insight that I am sure we have all enjoyed.
My name is Jason May, and I have been meaning to contribute in here for a while now, simply offering my own experiences and perspective on the big wild world of online business.
I consult for online business strategy here at Web Profits, and in general style up the place! I hope I can give some value, and I respect all feedback and welcome comments.
And so there is never a day that the Internet does not impress me these days…
And I know, that come 10.30pm in the evening, I should already have eaten dinner. Something nice, healthy, green. But I am male, I am single, and I do not like supermarkets.
So what can a guy do?
6 Lessons We Can Learn From Barack Obama’s Online Marketing Strategy
Watching the US presidential coverage on the news always provides entertainment, especially considering how intense the democratic nomination was. While watching one of these segments they mentioned that Barack Obama had raised 100% of his campaign funding through online contributions.
He has not accepted any campaign contributions from large companies or lobbyists. Instead, Barack Obama’s campaign has been one of the most profitable in history, with the majority of campaign contributions made online through over a million small contributions.
In fact, Barack Obama has raised nearly $200 million online, with a record $55 million raised in February alone, or nearly $2 million per day.
That hit my button.
Online Marketing Mindmap
Over the past few years we have tested and tracked dozens, if not hundreds, of different strategies online… everything from banner advertising to social bookmarking, and at the end of the day, implementing the core online marketing strategies effectively has proven to generate the maximum impact from online marketing efforts.
Of course you’ll hear about the rare online business that doesn’t have to use SEO or PPC to drive traffic, as they have a 100k+ database of people and JVs with other sites which command the same number of subscribers. But for a business starting out online, you want a strategy that is simple, actionable and not reliant on the goodwill of others (at least initially).
We’ve prepared a mindmap of the core strategies essential for succeeding online, whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been online for years.
A Day in the Life of a Successful Website Owner
So what’s it really like to own a website which both generates profits for your business and helps (forces) it to grow?
Here’s a breakdown of a typical day of a successful website owner…
1. You Check Your Emails
You wake up in the morning and switch on your laptop (or PC), open your email account and check how your website has produced overnight.
If you sell direct online, how many sales were made?
If the aim is to generate sales leads, how many new leads have you received?
10 Link Building Strategies for Higher Search Engine Rankings
When it comes to search engine optimization, getting other websites to link to your website is the most important factor in achieving top search engine rankings. Here is a list of 10 link building strategies which you should be implementing for top search engine rankings (in no particular order):
1. Write quality articles – write quality articles that other websites will want to post on their websites and link to. The higher the quality of the article, the more one-way links you’ll get. The best articles to write are ‘how-to’ and informational articles. Stay away from self-promotion.
2. Start a Wordpress blog – setup a Wordpress blog on your website and post articles to it once per week. It’s a great way to build the size of your website, keep your website content fresh and get incoming links. Plus Google loves Wordpress!
Quick Survey
There are so many topics to write about it is sometimes difficult to know what you want to read about. So, to help us out, please take this quick poll:
SEO Video – How to Use Google’s Keyword Tools for SEO
If you are currently implementing search engine optimization (SEO) for your website or are thinking about it, then this article will be worth tens of thousands of dollars for you.
Conducting effective keyword research from an SEO perspective is critical, because the next 12 months of SEO activities and investment will be focused on the words you identify before you start optimising.
The key to a successful SEO campaign is selecting keywords where a top ranking will earn you more profit per month than the cost of achieving and maintaining those rankings.
If you get it wrong, you could spend tens of thousands of dollars on achieving a top 10 ranking, only to find that the top ranking is not making you any money!
