Ideas for Business

There seems to be a misconception that flash is bad for search engines and overall website rankings. This is simply not true. What is true is Flash, to date, can not be properly indexed by search engines. This means that any Flash on a website is essentially non-existent to search engines. The misconception most likely came from websites that are entirely created using Flash, since these website are invisible to search engine spiders. Without a massive amount of on topic incoming links, it is almost impossible to rank using a site made entirely out of Flash.

This does not mean Flash does not have its place. Using high-end flash to get across a message, make a website look more professional, and increase its ’stickiness’ can be very effective. The trick is to only incorporate it into a site, not create the whole site from it. Navigations and content areas can be done using CSS styling and still look like they belong beside a Flash piece. This allows for search engine optimization of a website while still having a high class look and feel. If you are looking for a high end website with a professional look and feel, but still want those top rankings in Google for your main terms, Contact SMT.

Article marketing is one of the earliest marketing strategies to be used in the World Wide Web. It is a well-proven strategy that works well. It is also a long lasting method of providing promotion and link popularity to a web site. Its popularity no doubt lies in the fact that it is virtually free to implement, and it works!

Almost anyone can write a good article. Many think they can’t, having memories of school essays that went wrong and English teachers who insisted on eliminating split infinitives and other examples of bad grammar. Well, here’s the good news: forget the old essay formula, forget perfect grammar (but try your best), and forget perfect anything. You will be trying to communicate with your articles. That’s the most important role they play for the reader.

The most important role your articles will play for you is to provide link popularity with great SEO qualities. The technique is really quite a simple one. You write an article using a primary keyword that is closely relevant to the web page you wish to target. This ensures that both the article and the web page are on the same focused theme. The article should be at least 400 words long, preferably 500 words. It will include a very important item: the author’s bio box, or resource box, at the end.

The resource box, sometimes known as the author’s bio box, is where you can create a link that can point to pretty much anywhere you want. This is how you can create link popularity. Suppose the web page you intend to provide a back link to is optimized for the keyword phrase, “bright blue widgets.” Then, ideally, you would want to create a link back to the web page from your article that used that exact phrase as the anchor text. You could say something like, “See our web site for more information on bright blue widgets.” The phrase “bright blue widgets” would be a hyperlink pointing to the web page that uses that phrase as its primary keyword.

This is a very powerful way of gaining link popularity. And it is so easy to do too. But you do need to be careful. The search engines will become suspicious if they see that every back link to your web site has the exact phrase that the web page is optimized for. This is why you should vary the anchor text occasionally. Keep it relevant though. Use phrases that are close to the exact phrase that the page is optimized for, but not quite the same. You need to use your judgment as to how this should best be done.

There are no limits to the number of articles that you should write to assist a web site in gaining link popularity. All the articles should be distributed around the many article directories. Most of them will accept articles without a charge, and they will not mind the occasional grammar slip. Article marketing to help gain link popularity and SEO is highly effective, delightfully inexpensive and easy to do.

Caroline
More Info About Article Marketing
www.SmallBusinessMavericks.com
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Just as the kids both go back to school, Andy Wibbels comes up with 30 Hours, 30 Days: Get More Done by Focusing on Less. Now that I actually have decent sized blocks of time to blog (we're talking about 2.5 hours without interruptions from the school-age set) I may consider doing his plan.

Here's a taste:

Step 2: List possible 1-hour tasks
Step 4: Choose only 30
Step 6: Print and post your master list
Step 8: 30 Days Later (Evaluate)

It's nothing new, but there's nothing like an outside source to get you motivated. (Click here to download the complete PDF guide and worksheet.)

In a way, I've already started this. I finally broke down and got myself (don't laugh) a Palm Pilot. Between the kid's schedules, my to-do lists, and always needing phone numbers and addresses while I'm away from the office and home, I finally had to visit the dark side and join the 1990s. Talk about your late adopters.

So how do you get motivated and organized to take advantage of the time you have to write, blog, or do special projects?

Just as the kids both go back to school, Andy Wibbels comes up with 30 Hours, 30 Days: Get More Done by Focusing on Less. Now that I actually have decent sized blocks of time to blog (we're talking about 2.5 hours without interruptions from the school-age set) I may consider doing his plan.

Here's a taste:

Step 2: List possible 1-hour tasks
Step 4: Choose only 30
Step 6: Print and post your master list
Step 8: 30 Days Later (Evaluate)

It's nothing new, but there's nothing like an outside source to get you motivated. (Click here to download the complete PDF guide and worksheet.)

In a way, I've already started this. I finally broke down and got myself (don't laugh) a Palm Pilot. Between the kid's schedules, my to-do lists, and always needing phone numbers and addresses while I'm away from the office and home, I finally had to visit the dark side and join the 1990s. Talk about your late adopters.

So how do you get motivated and organized to take advantage of the time you have to write, blog, or do special projects?

Article marketing has proven itself to be an extremely powerful and successful means of marketing, one that practically any person can do. Articles are easy to write. They can be submitted to article directories where they can remain for years, and where they can be picked up and used freely by anyone.

At the end of each article the author can leave a resource box. This is a short paragraph that can contain an active link to either a web page, or an email address. There is an unwritten protocol that the resource box should remain intact, which is why it is so valuable. As an article starts to circulate around the Internet, so do the links. This is a highly effective way of providing targeted back links to a website, for example. A well-written article can also provide targeted traffic to a website.

Many people feel they cannot write articles. They have unpleasant memories of writing essays at school, and they feel that their writing skills will simply not be good enough. This is the wrong attitude, for almost anyone can write a good article if they try. The first hurdle to get over is to find a suitable subject to write about. This article lists 10 ways to find ideas for articles.

1. Go to Google and type in “get rid of” in quotes. This simple phrase will yield hundreds of web pages dealing with problems that people have that they would love to get rid of. An article that addresses the problem and tells the reader how to get rid of it is likely to be very successful.

2. Go to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page). This incredible resource has over 7 million pages in some 200 languages. It’s the world’s largest encyclopedia. Browse through the pages, or search for a particular topic. There’s bound to be something that catches your eye.

3. Go to Google Groups (http://groups.google.com/). This is a resource of groups of individuals who all have a common interest in a particular subject. Browse through the groups and focus on something that interests you. You will find an amazing amount of information to write about.

4. Go to Yahoo Groups (http://groups.yahoo.com/). This is a similar resource to Google Groups, which expands the scope. Browse through the various groups to find something of interest.

5. Go to MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/). This is a social interaction resource where people form groups where they share a common interest. There are literally thousands of groups on every imaginable subject to browse through.

6. Go to your local news shop or bookstore. They will most likely have a magazine rack. Here you will find magazines on hobbies and interests that actual people share. This is a great way to find a suitable subject for a successful article.

7. Go to YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/). This is a collection of short videos from around the world submitted by individuals. Some of the subjects may surprise you and spark off an idea or two that can be used for an article.

8. Go to eHow (http://www.ehow.com/). This resource comprises a number of short articles, each one telling the reader how to do a certain task. It is a wonderful place to find ideas for unusual subjects that people need to know about.

9. Go to SoYouWanna (http://www.soyouwanna.com/). This resource is similar to eHow, but really quite different. It is full of article ideas and the information needed to write a good article.

10. Go to Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page). This is a resource of books in the public domain. Browse through their on-line catalog containing over 20,000 titles. There’s bound to be something in there that you feel you could write an article about.

Writing a successful article is easier than you think. All you need is the initial idea, and then you need accurate information about the subject. These 10 ways to find ideas for articles should be more than enough to get you started.

Caroline
More Info About Article Marketing
www.SmallBusinessMavericks.com
Back to Small Business Marketing Mavericks Blog

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