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You know search engines spew millions of pages on a single keyword, what is not so well known is that SEO tools can improve your position in search engine rankings by a factor greater than 100! A good SEO tool can guide you on how your keywords fare and as a result, you can improve your web sites considerably.

Good Web Page Design

When you look at SEO tools, they handle two basic, but very different issues of your web page design. The first of these is on page optimization and the other refers to off page optimization.

Of these two, on page optimization is far easier to achieve, but as it is in real life, the easier work pays less. Therefore, you need to work on off page optimization as well.

On page optimization refers to managing your title tags, Alt ? Image tags, ensuring optimum keyword density, providing high quality subject matter and ensuring that the site can be navigated with ease. In short, it refers to the structure of your site and its content. You cannot hope to survive in cyber land if you ignore any of these issues. This is actually the entry ticket to a good web presence.

But there is the more complex, more dependent on the external world issue of off page optimization. This looks at how your web site relates to others around it. This includes factors like link popularity, reciprocal and non-reciprocal linking ? where you consciously build two way and one way links. It also looks at issues such as the usage of keywords in linking teat and the utilization of pay per click advertising. Directory and search engine submissions are also part of this strategy.

Off page optimization, as I mentioned earlier, has far greater value to your business. Therefore, this is a crucial aspect of your web business management that you can only ignore at your peril.

Use SEO Tools To Boost Your Ratings

Fortunately, there are a number of SEO tools available to you, which help you to analyze your sites. However, selection of these tools needs careful attention. If you are just starting off, you will do well to read reviews of such SEO tools in reputed publications and to attend some seminars where the subject is discussed. If you are able to get a trial offer, seriously consider taking it on. Alternatively, you can make on purchase decision conditional on the SEO tool vendor showing you measurable improvement in your ratings.

Getting good ratings on directory services and search engines is critical to your business. Using proven SEO tools is a good way to improve your prospects.

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You have a great website, but if still does not get you hits, it is because you haven’t used the right SEO tools to check your sites’ performance and make the necessary changes. These days, when even established brick and mortar businesses are shifting on to the web, it is necessary to understand the standard SEO tools and their usage.

Get The Right Tools

The first tool you need to use is one that measures the Link Popularity of your site. This requirement stems from a simple fact about search engines. All search engines calculate the page ranking for your site, based on the number of back-links you have. If you have a large number of sites that provide a link to your site for a certain keyword, the search engine takes it to mean that your page has more authoritative content. In such a situation, the page ranking for your site begins to climb.

A Link Popularity SEO tool measures this parameter and gives you a clear parameter to measure the performance of your website.

Link checks do not end here. You could have other sites linking to your home page or they could link to a specific page in your site. This is called a deep page link. For obvious reasons, a deep page link is preferable to a mere home page link. Search engines weigh your links accordingly. A back-link checking SEO tool will give you specific information on this to give you time to correct the situation.

Understand The Page-rank System

As if this was not enough, all search engines employ a page-rank system where they grade websites according to links and other parameters. If your website has a number of back-links from high page-ranked websites, search engines evaluate it as more relevant and give it a higher rating. You may not be able to measure these parameters manually, because you will probably never know which websites provide links to you. However, with an SEO tool that is built for this job, you will be able to get a good indication of where you stand.

Based on the changes you make, most SEO software are able to predict the position you might occupy in the next update of the major search engines. Mind you, this is only a prediction, but it still tells you if your efforts are likely to bear fruit.

As is evident from the preceding discussion, a good SEO tool will be able to tell you how you stand and how to make an early correction before market forces tell you to. Do remember however, that all SEO tools are only tools. Their application is your responsibility. Your journey begins with producing a great product and bringing it to the market. If you have a great product, smart use of SEO tools can ensure a phenomenal success.

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I get calls every week from lawyers saying they’re not getting calls anymore from yellow page advertising. Having done quite well in the past, they’re afraid to discontinue the advertising. They want to know what’s going on and what to do.

Apparently, lawyers are not the only ones. In his article “Quit wasting money on Yellow Page advertising” by Peter Fernandez, D.C., a yellow page, print advertising and practice management consultant for chiropractors, Dr. Fernandez answers the question, “Why has advertising in the Yellow Pages changed from one of the best ways to advertise to one of the worst in just a few years?” (See 1, below)

This article will attempt to explain where all the calls went. I believe lawyers began advertising in the Yellow Pages much earlier than on TV because of the cost; most lawyers were reluctant to become pioneers of TV advertising; and lawyers were pursued by yellow page salespeople, but not by TV salespeople. Since 1976 through the mid-1980s, the Yellow Pages and classified newspaper ads were virtually the only place a potential client could find a lawyer advertising. Consequently, lawyers advertising in the Yellow Pages did not have much competition and had very good results.

Many more lawyers flocked to the Yellow Pages which then became very crowded. In the last few years, and after a few pioneers, many of the lawyers advertising in the Yellow Pages discovered what every other business has long known, that TV is by far both the most effective and cost-effective media. According to TNS Media Intelligence/CMR, from January 2004 through September 2004 lawyers have spent $287.3 million on TV compared with only $71.3 million on print media, $11.4 million on radio and $4.1 million on Internet advertising. According to research done by the Television Bureau of Advertising, the public’s perception of television gets the votes for Most Authoritative and Most Exciting. Both influential and persuasive, TV wins over other media, in both categories, by a wide margin among Adults 18+. TV scores 81.8% in the Most Influential category, with newspapers a distant second at 8.5%. TV scores 66.8% Most Persuasive with newspapers, again a distant second at 14.2%.

Just as buying something wholesale or in large quantities, your cost per person reached from advertising is reduced when you buy media that reaches more people. Broadcast TV reaches many times more people than a county-wide yellow page book and therefore costs much less per person reached. In the New York DMA (broadcast TV market), there are 29 counties reached by TV. If there was only one yellow page book in each county, you would have to advertise in 29 yellow page books to reach the same geographic area as TV. Unfortunately, there are several yellow page books in each county. Smaller community yellow page books produce even less of a return on investment because they reach even fewer people. Many lawyers have found out that for the cost of a full-page advertisement in just two county-wide yellow page books, you can advertise on TV with a respectable budget and reach the population of an entire DMA.

Today, due to the large number of lawyers advertising on TV, potential clients are being diverted away from yellow page books. Additionally, in the field of personal injury, the problem is compounded. Seriously injured people are usually in bed in a hospital or at home watching TV. Lawyers advertising on TV reach potential accident clients long before they can even get to yellow page books.

When lawyers first began advertising, there was only one yellow page book. Now there are commonly three, four or even five county-wide yellow page books and several village, community or neighborhood yellow page books as well. Some advertisers have even lost their position in the Yellow Pages because they signed a contract with another yellow page book not realizing it was a different book and they couldn’t afford two books. Because a consumer will typically keep one yellow page book and throw out the others, the question an advertiser faces is which yellow page book to advertise in or to advertise in all of them. Will your advertisement be in a yellow page book that’s thrown in the garbage? I keep only one book and it stays in the closet, rarely used. Today, I use the Internet instead of a yellow page book.

While there was once only one Yellow Page book in town receiving 100% of yellow page advertising revenue, they are now losing a large share of that revenue to several competing yellow page books, but their operating costs remain fixed. All of the yellow page book companies must print and distribute the same number of books. Unless all advertisers advertise in all three yellow page books, the publishing companies have to increase advertising fees thereby increasing the cost of reaching a yellow page consumer. In an effort to increase revenue, yellow page books have even begun creating new real estate to sell including advertising on the covers, spine, tabbed pages and even Post-it Notes style ads. These high visibility advertisements also divert yellow page consumers from regular full-page advertisements.

Simply put, there was once only one yellow page book in town; it was cheaper to advertise in; there were fewer lawyers advertising in the book; there were few lawyers advertising on TV; the Internet was not what it is today; and there were far more people using the Yellow Pages than there are today.

So what’s a lawyer to do with yellow page advertising? If you’re one of the three or four largest advertisers in your market with an advertising budget large enough for a substantial TV advertising campaign including billboards and radio, you may want to consider advertising in all of the yellow page books. If you’re not one of the largest advertisers in your market, my suggestion is to discontinue advertising in yellow page books and to spend your money on TV. If you have a 1-800 vanity telephone number available and extra money in the budget, you should also advertise on billboards and radio.

1 http://www.worldchiropracticalliance.org/tcj/1997/feb/feb1997fernandez.htm

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Where to position your free reports in your site to promote your affiliate products

There are so many ways to promote products in the marketing affiliate world. Some marketers have even gone to the extent of establishing ridiculous and weird promotional strategies for their products. Although it might be true that these strategies work, for the better part, to successfully promote in the affiliate marketing world need not be that extreme. All you need are to establish the right kinds of non-extremist strategies of promoting, push through with them, and you will soon have success at the tips of your fingers.

It is an established fact that affiliate marketers do not sell as much by trying to convince prospective buyers to purchase your product just once. Affiliate marketing finds its success in follow-ups and consistent promotions, and what better way to do this than free reports?

Prospects subscribe to your free reports due to the following reasons: first, is that before subscribing, they aren’t exactly sure if they want the product just yet, however, they might consider buying if they found something about the product that would be of benefit to them; and second, is that they are planning to buy the product, however, they want to know more about it before they do. Either way, your free reports have goals, and those are to promote your product and convince your prospects to buy them.

This might lead you to think that by making your free reports, you should focus on the content and nothing more. However, the positions of your free reports on your affiliate marketing sites are just as important as the content. Of what use would the content of your free reports be if your prospects have no means of getting to them? The strategies you employ in positioning your free reports should be as extensive as the strategies you employ in making them. This article will guide you through the most strategic places for you to position your free reports on your affiliate marketing site.

POSITION YOUR FREE REPORTS AT THE UPPER PART OF YOUR PAGE

Prospects have the tendency to be impatient, and if they have to get to the bottom of a page before they could have access to your free reports, you might as well say goodbye to future profits. Place your reports where your prospect buyers can easily see them. Anywhere on the upper part of the page is fine, however, many would suggest that placing free reports on the upper left part of a page is more conspicuous. Place your free reports where they can easily be seen, but aren’t too distracting (too much distraction might make your prospects hate your site and lead them to never come back).

POSITION YOUR FREE REPORTS AT STRATEGIC LOCATIONS IN YOUR ARTICLES

Take note of the word “strategic.” Strategic does not include placing links to your free reports at every end of your sentences. Placing 3-5 links to your free reports throughout a 500-word article should be good enough. Make sure your links also fit well. It would be such a waste of a good article and good free reports if you don’t know how to position them. Position links to your free reports in a consistent but not bothersome manner. Consistency is good for the impatient prospective buyers, however too much of it might just piss him or her off.

PROVIDE LINKS TO YOUR FREE REPORTS ON YOUR CONTACT US PAGE

Some would say “no” to this, but if you do this correctly, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it. The main objective of a “contact us” page is to contact the affiliate marketer. However, it wouldn’t do any harm to place a little link that would provide means for the affiliate marketer to contact the prospective buyers through free reports. If you do decide to place links to your free reports in your Contact Us page, remember what the page is made for. Never ever forget, or you might risk chasing prospective buyers away.

Positioning your free reports throughout your affiliate marketing site is all about strategy. Location, location, location. Too little of those powerful links might lead to your prospect buyers to simply overlook them, and too much might lead them to simply run away and never come back. So strategize, and strategize well.

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I get calls every week from lawyers saying they’re not getting calls anymore from yellow page advertising. Having done quite well in the past, they’re afraid to discontinue the advertising. They want to know what’s going on and what to do.

Apparently, lawyers are not the only ones. In his article “Quit wasting money on Yellow Page advertising” by Peter Fernandez, D.C., a yellow page, print advertising and practice management consultant for chiropractors, Dr. Fernandez answers the question, “Why has advertising in the Yellow Pages changed from one of the best ways to advertise to one of the worst in just a few years?” (See 1, below)

This article will attempt to explain where all the calls went. I believe lawyers began advertising in the Yellow Pages much earlier than on TV because of the cost; most lawyers were reluctant to become pioneers of TV advertising; and lawyers were pursued by yellow page salespeople, but not by TV salespeople. Since 1976 through the mid-1980s, the Yellow Pages and classified newspaper ads were virtually the only place a potential client could find a lawyer advertising. Consequently, lawyers advertising in the Yellow Pages did not have much competition and had very good results.

Many more lawyers flocked to the Yellow Pages which then became very crowded. In the last few years, and after a few pioneers, many of the lawyers advertising in the Yellow Pages discovered what every other business has long known, that TV is by far both the most effective and cost-effective media. According to TNS Media Intelligence/CMR, from January 2004 through September 2004 lawyers have spent $287.3 million on TV compared with only $71.3 million on print media, $11.4 million on radio and $4.1 million on Internet advertising. According to research done by the Television Bureau of Advertising, the public’s perception of television gets the votes for Most Authoritative and Most Exciting. Both influential and persuasive, TV wins over other media, in both categories, by a wide margin among Adults 18+. TV scores 81.8% in the Most Influential category, with newspapers a distant second at 8.5%. TV scores 66.8% Most Persuasive with newspapers, again a distant second at 14.2%.

Just as buying something wholesale or in large quantities, your cost per person reached from advertising is reduced when you buy media that reaches more people. Broadcast TV reaches many times more people than a county-wide yellow page book and therefore costs much less per person reached. In the New York DMA (broadcast TV market), there are 29 counties reached by TV. If there was only one yellow page book in each county, you would have to advertise in 29 yellow page books to reach the same geographic area as TV. Unfortunately, there are several yellow page books in each county. Smaller community yellow page books produce even less of a return on investment because they reach even fewer people. Many lawyers have found out that for the cost of a full-page advertisement in just two county-wide yellow page books, you can advertise on TV with a respectable budget and reach the population of an entire DMA.

Today, due to the large number of lawyers advertising on TV, potential clients are being diverted away from yellow page books. Additionally, in the field of personal injury, the problem is compounded. Seriously injured people are usually in bed in a hospital or at home watching TV. Lawyers advertising on TV reach potential accident clients long before they can even get to yellow page books.

When lawyers first began advertising, there was only one yellow page book. Now there are commonly three, four or even five county-wide yellow page books and several village, community or neighborhood yellow page books as well. Some advertisers have even lost their position in the Yellow Pages because they signed a contract with another yellow page book not realizing it was a different book and they couldn’t afford two books. Because a consumer will typically keep one yellow page book and throw out the others, the question an advertiser faces is which yellow page book to advertise in or to advertise in all of them. Will your advertisement be in a yellow page book that’s thrown in the garbage? I keep only one book and it stays in the closet, rarely used. Today, I use the Internet instead of a yellow page book.

While there was once only one Yellow Page book in town receiving 100% of yellow page advertising revenue, they are now losing a large share of that revenue to several competing yellow page books, but their operating costs remain fixed. All of the yellow page book companies must print and distribute the same number of books. Unless all advertisers advertise in all three yellow page books, the publishing companies have to increase advertising fees thereby increasing the cost of reaching a yellow page consumer. In an effort to increase revenue, yellow page books have even begun creating new real estate to sell including advertising on the covers, spine, tabbed pages and even Post-it Notes style ads. These high visibility advertisements also divert yellow page consumers from regular full-page advertisements.

Simply put, there was once only one yellow page book in town; it was cheaper to advertise in; there were fewer lawyers advertising in the book; there were few lawyers advertising on TV; the Internet was not what it is today; and there were far more people using the Yellow Pages than there are today.

So what’s a lawyer to do with yellow page advertising? If you’re one of the three or four largest advertisers in your market with an advertising budget large enough for a substantial TV advertising campaign including billboards and radio, you may want to consider advertising in all of the yellow page books. If you’re not one of the largest advertisers in your market, my suggestion is to discontinue advertising in yellow page books and to spend your money on TV. If you have a 1-800 vanity telephone number available and extra money in the budget, you should also advertise on billboards and radio.

1 http://www.worldchiropracticalliance.org/tcj/1997/feb/feb1997fernandez.htm