Internet Marketing Secrets Newsletter Issue #97 Thursday August 24 2006 In this issue: Is SEO is dead? AdSense or affiliate site, which route to go? Blog, Authority, Hub or Mininet, which type of site to build? Plus 38 new smArticle templates. Where to get PLR articles. How to increase software sales. And my latest type-in traffic test results... All this and a lot more in this issue of IMS. Enjoy! - - - - - - Sponsor - - - - - - An Avalanche of Abundance Imagine getting 300 fresh articles a month. Long term revenue strategies. Step by step article marketing. Hundreds of training videos. Keyword research tools. And helpful forums with thousands of posts. If your goal is to be successful online, then everything you need is here. And it's very well organized, so you won't get lost, or suffer from information overload. Right now you can get "grandfathered in" and lock-in your membership at the old monthly rate. So if you want to be part of this fast growing community, with it's Avalanche of tools, content and ideas, don't wait to click, ok? Want Avalanches of Abundance? ==> http://www.cdzn.com/ka WebLink ==> Click - - - - - - /Sponsor - - - - - - INTERNET MARKETING NEWS 38 New SmArticle Composer Templates If you liked the first set of smArticle templates, you'll love the second generation. There's a total of 38 new themes on dating, flowers, health, fitness, birthdays, sports, cars, food, diet, vacations and more. Now they have three column layouts. More colors to choose from. And great looking photos of people, products and services. Your sites won't have to look like they came from a template. These are high quality designs that maximize your click revenues. And just like the first set, these templates are push-button easy. Gather up some articles from your Article Underground or Keyword Avalanche collection into a folder. Launch the software. Type in your AdSense code. Add a couple of paragraphs describing your site. Then pick your template, push a button and out comes your site. There is literally zero learning curve. From launch of the software to great looking site, takes less than 15 minutes. New smArticle Templates ==> http://www.cdzn.com/act2 - - - - - Intel Macs Increase Windows Software Sales If you create software for the PC, here's how you can stop turning away Mac customers and make more sales. The secret is to stop saying PC only, because all the new Intel Macs can run Windows. And in case they ask... no, it's not in emulation mode. It's the real deal. The operating systems accesses the Intel chips directly. (Get the full story at parallels.com ) Emulation software runs Windows in a "virtual" environment, meaning its painfully slow. The new software runs Windows in parallel, meaning that the operating systems run side by side. How fast is it? Fast enough that I gave away my - less than year old - Pentium Four to a friend! Now I can run all that Windows software on my Intel Mac instead. One computer... and the best of both worlds. So to all my entrepreneurial friends creating software for Windows, go edit your sales letter be sure to say your software is "Compatible with Intel Macs running Windows in Parallels." Try it... and I'll bet your sales will go up. So will every domain tool, SEO package, site builder, keyword counter, AdSense tool... everything that runs in Windows. Fresh, new customers are arriving. Be sure to grab them will you? - - Adv - - The Future of Search Engine Optimization Colin McDougall can get ANY website of his choice to blast past the other top ranking websites and achieve top 10 position within a short time. And it's a completely legitimate system as opposed to trying to trick the search engines. In VEO you don't play against the search engine algo, you ignore it completely. You don't focus on keyword densities, you aim for a happy visitor. You don't hard sell products like an affiliate, you brand a site and soft sell the products through articles. It's revolutionary. And it works. Want the VEO Strategies? ==> http://www.cdzn.com/veo - - /Adv - - Article Underground Phase III has Sold Out It had to happen. It was the deal of the year. 350 articles per month. A network of 22 blogs to announce your pages. A huge private site with plenty of expert advice. Dozens of how-to video.... AU Phase III sold out and there's not going to be a Phase IV. Those of you lucky enough to take action will continue to enjoy the benefits for years to come. Even if you don't use all the articles, getting incoming links from the high PR blogs is worth the membership alone. If you missed the Underground and you're still hungry for PLR articles for use on your websites and blogs, I might suggest that you try the Keyword Avalanche. They removed their membership cap, and last time I checked, they were still offering 300 high quality articles per month, a the old monthly rate. Keyword Avalanche ==> http://www.cdzn.com/ka But it's not a consolation prize. This membership has hundreds of newbie videos, portal building ideas, article marketing, white hat strategies, software discounts and special treats, like the new NicheBOT 2.0 Private Beta. If another source of well-crafted monthly PLR articles comes along, and it meets my top-notch standards, I'll be sure to let you know about it. But in the mean time, with the Underground sold out, the Avalanche is the only quality game in town. - - - - - Type-In Traffic Test Results Recently I've been writing about finding domain names with type-in traffic, using the Domain Suggest Tool. The trick is to use the software, to find domain names that get a jump start in traffic, from people who surf and look for info, by typing domain names directly into the address bar of their web browser. Want the Best Domain Name? => http://www.cdzn.com/dst Once you have the domain name, grab 5-10 articles and a smArticle template to set up a pretty site. Right now, after three weeks of testing, my sites are averaging a 24.17% CTR (click through ratio) on the ads. Compare that to a measly 1.83% on my average sites, and you can see that the templates are very effective at getting clicks on the ads. Get the smArticle Site Builder ==> http://www.cdzn.com/ace Then Get High CTR Templates ==> http://www.cdzn.com/act Now, if you want to add more sites on related topics, link them together and start creating Mininets, I say go for it... so long as you've done your keyword research using NicheBOT.com and found a niche. But my main focus is to flip the domain name... in other words, to sell it. Not the content on it, but just the name itself. Last year I made over 10K selling domains. While it's not my primary source of income, it's sure a nice ancillary stream with minimal work. Not only does the name earn revenue from AdSense ads while it's in your possession, you can often find a buyer for the name, who is willing to pay hundreds of times more for it, than what you paid for it. - - Adv - - Find Domain Names for Niche Article Sites All the good domain names are gone... right? Wrong. It's just that finding good names is a long, dull, tedious process. What if you could automate the process of finding great domain names, with software that worked in the background, while you did something else? Well now you can! This new software automatically searches for domain names. You'll see how popular a name is. You'll know at a glance if it's registered or not. Save and export a list of domains. Then paste your list and bulk register your names all at once. Domain Suggest Tool ==> http://www.cdzn.com/dst After keyword research and finding a niche, the next most important thing is the domain name itself. Don't guess or settle for second best. Get the most popular domain name that you can find. - - /Adv - - INTERNET MARKETING & SEARCH ENGINE FAQS SEO is Dead? Pfft! Yea... right. Question: I just read a report that said SEO is dead. Is this for real? I was going to buy an SEO course but now I don't know if its worth it. Answer: Oh really? What knob said that? Sounds like they were just out to grab headlines. I'll put my site up against someone who doesn't know SEO and top their rankings any day of the week. Really... how could any responsible person even make such a statement. The basics of SEO will carry any site above and beyond the competitors in the search results... end of story. Imagine if they linked to their home page with the word home. I link to my home page with my keyword phrase. What if they put their company name in their page titles, and I use a keyphrase that matches the page Topic? What if they link using their domain name, but I link using theme related keywords to build Reputation? And what if they link to their home page, but I deep link into internal pages, funneling PageRank where I need it? Those are just four quick examples of how someone with the basics of SEO, can win over someone who never learned. Or even worse, listened to someone who said SEO was dead and believed it. Those of us who know SEO, are unconsciously competent. We don't know how to make a "bad" or unoptimized page. We've branded the basics so deep in our psyche, that they come out automatically in every web page that we create. Next time you hear someone say SEO is dead, ask them who killed it. Maybe they just want to sell you something... some cure-all from the side of their wagon. But before they take your cash, and ride into the sunset heading for the next town, wait for proof. Ask your favorite guru. They'll probably tell you to stay the course. Just like there's only 12 notes in music, but there's a hit song written every day, there's certain fundamentals that are the foundation of SEO. Learn them and your web sites will sing songs of success, perhaps even become a symphony of prosperity, affluence and riches, ... all thanks to the humble basics of SEO. Here's how you can learn SEO from basic to advanced. 1) Totally Non Technical Guide ==> http://www.cdzn.com/tnt 2) Visitor Enhanced Optimization ==> http://www.cdzn.com/veo 3) Unfair Advantage to Winning ==> http://www.cdzn.com/pob 4) SEO Revolution Newsletter ==> http://www.cdzn.com/jwr - - - - - AdSense or Affiliate Site... Which Route to Go? Question: A number of articles that I've read, might make good affiliate sites, as well as adsense bait. When you put up a new site, eg: BrandNewSite.com, how do you determine whether you're going to make it an adsense or affiliate site, or mix the two? Do you grab a batch of articles, rewrite and adjust them appropriately? And then, how do you decide which type of site you'll be putting them on? Answer: I usually take a quick look at NicheBOT for my keyword research, to see the relative competition. Then I use a tool called Keyword Burner to see how much people are willing to pay per click. (You can also use Overture's free Bid Tool to get similar info.) Bids => http://uv.bidtool.overture.com/d/USm/search/tools/bidtool After a little market research I'll decide which way to go. It takes a lot to "move me" when it comes to affiliate stuff these days. Almost always I'd rather put up "maintenance free" AdSense sites. Unlike affiliate programs that come and go like the wind, there's always another willing advertiser to display their AdWords ads on my AdSense sites. So it's less work and zero maintenance for me. If there is a niche that I know something about - like marketing, health, fitness, BBQ, camping, fishing, or music gear - and I can find an affiliate program that's been around for a few years, then I'll consider setting up a Mininet, or a larger affiliate site, using a few dozen articles. Either way, it's about the same amount of work. If I'm really passionate about something - like fitness - I'll continue to add to the site on a regular basis. It will grow into hundreds of pages, as it's something that I've never stop learning about, so there's always more to say. In this case, I write the editorial content. Articles from third parties play a secondary roll as expert authorities. Then I can add additional content to the site and expand on topics of interest. But all that said... mix them? AdSense and affiliate revenue? Never. I tried mixing in a few test sites and my position in Yahoo and MSN dropped like a rock. Now I keep them separate and try to maximize the affiliate revenue on the affiliate sites. For example, when it comes to AdSense clicks on BBQ grills, I might earn 20 - 40 cents a click. But if I can sell them a brand name grill through an affiliate program, it could mean $45 in my pocket. To get instant traffic to the affiliate site, I do PPC advertising. I try to get visitors at 10-30 cents a click for keywords like "BBQ chicken" and send them to a landing page. On it I have some cooking tips and a good recipe, but I try and direct the visitor to tools and grills that will "make the best" BBQ chicken. If you advertise in context with the content, the affiliate links perform wonderfully. And just think, everyone is happy. They received tips and a good recipe... but to get the most delicious tasting chicken, they'll definitely want to click on my affiliate link and get the top line roaster smoker. (Which means $45 for me ;-) When you persuade them in just the right way, and they've tasted your recipe, it's surprising how many people come back and buy the BBQ through your links. It's human nature really... If they can trust you with the small thing, they'll trust you with the big thing. - - - - - Blog, Authority, Hub, Mininet... Which Site to Build? Question: I'm hearing a lot about authority sites. How are they any different than a regular site? I'm still wondering which way to go. I have my niche and affiliate programs that I want to promote, but which type of site to build? Answer: There are many methods and types of sites. A few of which are microsites, minisites, niche article sites, mininets, hubs, directories, authorities and blogs. They all have their application. If you follow the advice of someone like Michael Cheney, you can do very well with AdSense using 10 or less authority sites. He keeps adding articles on a regular basis. The site slowly continues to grow. It's seen as an authority because it has lots of information on a central theme. Cheney's AdSense Videos ==> http://www.cdzn.com/av If you follow the advice of Colin McDougall, he too uses authority sites that have articles. The content continues to build over time. The major difference, is that Colin chooses affiliate revenue instead of AdSense, and needs only one or two sites, to achieve the same amount of revenue as 10 AdSense sites. Colin's VEO System ==> http://www.cdzn.com/veo Because the large sites have lots of information on a particular topic, people naturally start linking to the site. The more people link, the more link popularity and PageRank the site gets. Thanks to the incoming links and a lot of content, the site gradually starts climbing in the search results. The higher it goes, the more people find it and start linking to it. Finally the site gets parked in the top five and it's almost impossible to usurp their coveted position. It's a long, time consuming - three to six month - road and it's very profitable, but I certainly wouldn't want to do that on every domain name that I own. For some domain names, I don't give a rats axe about the topic and don't care to learn. I'll use smArticle and a template to set up a funky looking, 10 page article site and leave it be. I'll take the type in traffic and the 50 dollars or so per month from the domain, until I sell it. smArticle Composer ==> http://www.cdzn.com/ace smArticle Templates ==> http://www.cdzn.com/act At the other end of the spectrum, I have large content rich sites that I add to almost daily. These are my true authority sites that I've been talking about for many years. (Since 1997 when I built the Cellular Accessory empire, for those of you keeping score at home. ;-) If you'd like to go the Authority Site route, set up a top-level category, theme, or topic for your site. (Just go to Yahoo if you want structural intelligence.) Choose a category like... apparel, automotive, beauty, computers, education, electronics, health, garden, jewelry, musical instruments, software, sports, tools, toys, games, or something else that you're interested in. Once you have your topic, you can start organizing the navigation and linking structure for your site. If you choose something like health and fitness, that opens up subcategories, subdomains, or directories, dealing with vitamins, treadmills, water, diet... you get the idea. Start taking articles from your Keyword Avalanche (or Sold Out Article Underground) collection and modify them. Post an article almost every day. Announce the article to blogs or other web properties you own, or have access to. Announce the site to a few new directories per month. Avalanche Articles ==> http://www.cdzn.com/ka High-Rank Directory List ==> http://www.cdzn.com/hrd Pretty soon, at the end of six months, you'll have a monster sized site, all on the same topic. And that my friend, is an authority site, plain and simple. Are they in favor right now? Sure... because they've always been. Large Authority sites with good saturation - meaning lots of pages in the index - have always been a Google favorite. Yahoo and MSN like them too. So did Alta Vista, Excite, Fast and Hotbot, when they were around. My advice would be to do whatever makes sense for any particular market or domain name. If it's smarter and faster to put up a 10 page article site on a domain that gets type-in traffic, I say go for it. If it makes sense to put up a four site Butterfly, for different makes and model numbers of camping stoves, go for it. If you think a nine site Matrix - for affiliate revenue from pet supplies - would do the trick... do it! If you have something to say almost every day, and you want the web pages made for you at the click of a button, try your hand at blogging. Make a note to start tomorrow. If you like doing research, finding links to other web sites, and reviewing them, consider setting up a hub or portal. You could be the directory that everyone turns to in your niche. If you have a topic that you're passionate about, and can sustain interest in the project for years... then set up an authority site. Go for it. Start organizing the layout, then slowly add your content. So as you can see, there are many types of sites, and they all have different applications. My bottom line says... do whatever makes sense to you, for that particular web property, and your level of interest for it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm busy setting up a whole whack of 10 page smArticle sites on domain names that I'm trying to sell. (I may as well collect AdSense revenue from them in the mean time.) After that, I'm going to add a couple of articles to my fitness site... what about you? What are you going to do today? What's on your to-do list? Are you going to start a mininet, post to your blog, add links to your hub, or start designing your authority site? So long as its taking action, instead of just thinking about it, you're on the right path! _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ That's it for this issue my friend. Thank you for reading. We'll chat again soon. Until then, here's wishing you all the best for online success. Michael Campbell Author of.... Clickin' it Rich ==> http://www.cdzn.com/cir Revenge of the Mininet ==> http://www.cdzn.com/rev Internet Marketing Secrets ==> http://www.cdzn.com/yes P.S. Please forward this newsletter to your friends. = = = = = = = = = = Legal stuff... Copyright 2006 Dynamic Media Corporation. All rights reserved world wide. All trademarks and servicemarks are property of their respective owners. The information contained in this newsletter is the opinion of the author based on his personal observations and years of experience. Neither the author or publisher assume any liability whatsoever for the use of or inability to use any or all of the information contained in this publication. Use this information at your own risk. Privacy Policy: I never sell, rent, trade or lend any information about my subscribers to anyone, for any reason, whatsoever. I assure you that your privacy is respected and well protected.