Search engine optimization

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural" ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the search results, or the higher it "ranks", the more searchers will visit that site. SEO can also target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.
As a marketing strategy for increasing a site's relevance, SEO considers how search algorithms work and what people search for. SEO efforts may involve a site's coding, presentation, and structure, as well as fixing problems that could prevent search engine indexing programs from fully spidering a site. Other, more noticeable efforts may include adding unique content to a site, ensuring that content is easily indexed by search engine robots, and making the site more appealing to users. A SEO tactic, technique or method is considered white hat if it conforms to the search engines' guidelines and involves no deception. As the search engine guidelines are not written as a series of rules or commandments, this is an important distinction to note. White hat SEO is not just about following guidelines, but is about ensuring that the content a search engine indexes and subsequently ranks is the same content a user will see.
Another class of techniques, known as "Black Hat" SEO or spamdexing, use methods such as link farms and keyword stuffing that tend to harm search engine user experience. Search engines look for sites that employ these techniques and may remove their listings.White hats tend to produce results that last a long time, whereas black hats anticipate that their sites will eventually be banned once the search engines discover what they are doing
The term"SEO" can also refer to "search engine optimizers", a term adopted by an industry of consultants who carry out optimization projects on behalf of clients, and by employees who perform SEO services in-house. Search engine optimizers may offer SEO as a stand-alone service or as a part of a broader marketing campaign. Because effective SEO may require changes to the HTML source code of a site, SEO tactics may be incorporated into web site development and design. The term "search engine friendly" may be used to describe web site designs, menus, content management systems and shopping carts that are easy to optimize.

How to get traffic to your website -part1

Many people think that having a good website is all you need to get tons of visitors. Wrong answer! Getting traffic to your site takes hard work and diligence and is not accomplished overnight. Think about it this way - how are people supposed to know where to find your site if you don't tell them? You must advertise. Here are some proven ways to advertise your site without spending [much] money:
Submit your site to as many search engines as you can. Here are some of the popular ones you can start with:
Google, AltaVista ,Yahoo,, Alexa, AllTheWeb , Euroseek , Exactseek , Excite , Inktomi , Kanoodle , Lycos , What-U-Seek

Have Dynamic content on your site - Message Board, Links Directory, Guest Book, Online Search, Picture Gallery, Quote of the day, News items, Site Search, Links Engine ... It all makes for a more enjoyable experience for your visitors ... and happy visitors come back.
Make sure you don't have broken links on your site! There is nothing more annoying when one clicks a link and it does not work. Use link validity on the internet

Make sure your META TAGS are done right. I will talk about meta tags in my next article. :)
Submit your site to as many privately run Link Directories/Search Engines as you can find. These will not generally boost your traffic in any major way but will help to maintain steady stream of qualified visitors.

Use Banners with care.

Subscribe to the Usenet groups and advertise there. A good place to start is "Google Groups" or "Yahoo discussion forums"
Be sure to submit your site in appropriate groups!

Do not SPAM -- only submit a write up of your site once to any given group. the more your spam, the more you get unpopular.

So how do you get your site to show on Google?
Think "phrases" instead of "words". Look at the table above; as you add more words to the search, you get less results. If your page(s) contain the words "canvass creative banners and flags worship dance" in a sentence like this for example: Our canvass banners and flags are creative in their design and are ideal for use in Worship dance"

Text text and more text - search engine cannot read pictures on your site. Even if they are very descriptive. Your text must describe the product at its best. Use can "google" and come up with some popular keywords that match upto your product description or usage. Search engines index text.
Your page rank is critical.

An introduction to affiliate marketing

What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a method of promoting web business in which an affiliate (publisher) is rewarded for every visitor, subscriber, customer, and/or sale provided through his/her efforts. Affiliate marketing is the use by a Web site that sells products of other Web sites, called affiliates, to help market the products. Amazon.com, the book seller, created the first large-scale affiliate programme and hundreds of other companies have since followed.
What are the benefits of affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing has become popular for Internet sites trying to create some extra income for their site, perhaps changing a hobby to a profitable, self-supporting business. Affiliate marketing has proved to be a cost-efficient, measurable method of delivering long-term results. Research points to this method of marketing will be an industry trend.

The benefits to the merchant are many:
First, it gives them a broader market to sell their product. More sites will naturally create more sales, if the sites they have chosen to use are in their niche marketing. The merchant needs to do their part by researching interested affiliate websites to make sure they are a good fit for that particular website.
Placing your merchandise with an affiliate program is the same as training a new sales assistant. It will take time and training to reach the fullest potential. This is another important reason to ensure you are using the sites that fit your target customer. Bringing consumers in from different websites also gives the merchant a better idea of consumer trends and needs.

How to be a successful affiliate marketer to bring home those extra dollars
There are a lot of ways to make money from affiliate marketing but have you heard of the 5 powerful methods you can use to make more money through affiliate marketing? Some of these tips will surprise you and you will surely ask yourself, why haven’t I thought of this before?
1. Create a networking website – this is one of the best ways to increase affiliate revenue because networking websites holds the attraction of having members who are looking to build interpersonal relationship with one another. For this reason, your visitors will not only go to your website to seek for the information they want, they will also visit your website for the simple reason that they want to talk to other members.
2. Create an opt-in mailing list – mailing list is the one of the best kept secret to success of Internet marketers. It is only now that its benefits are being realized by new affiliate marketers. The mails will go directly to the reader’s websites thus; they will be tempted to read the e-mails on their own without you having to promote it to them.
3. Follow-up - Contact prospective buyers that have gone to your website but did not place an order. Inquire about the things that kept them from closing the deal. Some of their objections can be easily handled and you can make your way through closing your deals. For example, if they don't have a credit card, ask for another payment method such as paypal or checking account.
4. Advertising - You can also use the space in your mailing signatures to advertise your sites and hence draw potential customers. http://www.aweber.com is a wonderful way to draw potential customers as specified in steps above. You can subscribe to AWeber and avail their services with a nominal fee that they would charge you. I have also used AWeber for my websites and their service is really good plus, you can't resist those extra commisions and goodies they give you.