Dynamic or Static Links? Duh! What am I talking about? For the newbie, the words static or dynamic link can be a foreign object, with no meaning, and possibly no concern. However, it is always good to learn and grow, and to realize that yes, some links are better than others, and may effect your site, for better or for worse, if not done correctly.
With some affiliate merchants offering dynamic links, I began to wonder if there would be any issues with the search engines, or if it would be a viable solution for my expansion ideas, and thus, give me more time to do what I need to do. As always, my curiosity lead to some needed research. I hope you will find what I found in my research to be of value.
Thus, my article "Dynamic or Static Web Pages, Which Way Should
You Go?"
Dynamic or Static Web Pages, Which Way Should You Go?
By Vickie J. Scanlon
Many merchants offer their affiliates dynamic rich links to place on their site. Being one of those affiliates, my questions were many. First, what are the differences between dynamic and static web pages? Second, would dynamic pages/urls be a viable option for my website? Third, if I used dynamic pages, could the search engines easily crawl and index my pages? Fourth, if dynamic pages cannot be crawled, is there a solution to the problem? In this article I will address these questions, as well as, discuss the advantages, disadvantages, and the possible solutions to certain issues.
What are Static Web Pages?
A static page is a page that gives you exactly the same response over and over again. It is your basic HTML page. The static page consists of urls that are free of any special characters, remains in its final form and has no server-side interaction.
An example of a static url is (xxxx is the domain name): xxxx.com/index.html
Advantages of Static Web Pages
Since static web pages are html driven, they offer the webmaster the following quick advantages.
1) For those who have little or no experience with design, the static url allows for an easy and quick solution to getting a website up and running; 2) There are no surprises--what one person sees, is what all will see; 3) The pages are easier for the search engine spiders to crawl and index; and 4) No database downtime or uptime.
Disadvantages to Static Web pages
The major downside to a static web site is when the site begins to grow. 10 to 20 pages are pretty manageable to update, but when it gets to 200+ static pages the daily maintenance and cost can grow exponentially -- in time and money.
What are Dynamic Pages?
Dynamic pages consist of pages where the logic is maintained separately from the content. The content is stored in the database until the variable parameters of the dynamic url tells the database repository what items to pull into the page as it loads. Based on the url's parameters, the server will return different content.
Dynamic pages are usually coded in such scripting languages as CGI,ASP,PHP,Perl, Cold Fusion, JSP and others. You can usually tell if a url is dynamically generated because it will include question marks, equal signs, percentage signs, and ampersands.
An example of a dynamic url is (xxx is the domain name): xxxxxxx.com/index.php?lang=NLD&name=home
The important element in the url above, is the portion after the ?. It is the portion after the ? that contains the query string - the part that changes.
Advantages of Dynamic Pages
A dynamic page can be customized by a response on a server to help personalize your site to meet your customer's need. All page content will come from a database connected to the Web site.
Since the dynamic template is maintained separately from the content, it means that content changes can be made when needed. In addition, the web site can be updated without major maintenance, editing and reviewing, which translate into lower maintenance costs and time.
Many webmasters of large e-commerce sites tend to favor dynamic pages because it is customer friendly, and allows them to update their pages on a regular basis by specific time and date sensitive routines. Which is understandable, if their products and offers change on a daily basis.
On the affiliate side, I'm seeing more merchant webmasters offering the option of dynamic links for their affiliates. The affiliate can put the code on their website, and let the merchant create the update. This saves the affiliate time, by eliminating the manual manipulation of the urls and uploading of their web pages on a daily basis; And second, they have the reassurance of knowing that if the merchant makes something available, the link will automatically change and be available to their customers in a timely manner. However, there are some affiliates that do not take a liking to this type of link. Why?
For the established affiliate, with more automation tools -- the merchant's dynamic links takes the control out of their hands. How? The dynamic link may provide specific links to products or services that the affiliate may or may not wish to see appear on their site.
So far, dynamic links looks like a workable solution -- saving time and money and offering only small nuisances. But are there any disadvantages to dynamic pages?
Disadvantages of Dynamic Pages
Is there a downside to dynamic pages? Not to be wishy-washy, but -- Yes and No.
In days gone by, many of the web spiders could not read the url parameters to the right of the question mark in the dynamic url. Today, webmasters have seen some improvement.
Google and some of the other search engines can handle simple dynamic url, but if the query parameters get to long or complicated (having more than one ? for example) their crawler will ignore the link completely. If you need or want more information on what Google can and cannot do with dynamic links, and the possible procedures and alternatives of getting your dynamic links indexed you can check out Google Webmaster Center for the details.
Yahoo, on the other hand, suggests that you use dynamic links only in directories that are not intended to be crawled or indexed. Nicely put, the answer is a simple "I don't think so." Thus, whether you have a dynamic web page or website, you may find yourself having problems with getting your web pages crawled, let alone getting them indexed.
So, where do the search engines stand on the issue of dynamic links today? Some web spiders are taking the plunge and crawling websites with dynamic links, which is a positive. But on the negative side, there are still some web spiders that will not venture near a dynamically-created page for fear of getting stuck in the page and being lead through some poorly written code and thus, causing a possible major server crash.
With that being said, what can you do to get your dynamic web pages spidered? Do you have to bit the bullet and change back to static or is there other possibilities out there that will get your dynamic url indexed.
Getting Your Dynamic Links Indexed.
If you are using or wanting to use dynamic links there is a possible solution to getting them seen by the search engines, and thus, the end goal -- Indexed.
You can use a tool called RewriteRule Generator to rewrite your dynamic url. The RewriteRuleGenerator tool will take your dyanmic url, change the syntax, and make your url look static and thus, readable by the search engines' spiders.
Little Background Information on Mod-Rewrite
The Mod-Rewrite tool makes use of a file called .htaccess to perform the rewrites. The .htacess file tells the server how to convert between dynamic and static urls.
If you think you want to use the Mod-Rewrite tool to convert your urls from dynamic to static, you should first make sure your web host can support mod_rewrite. That can be done in either of two ways: 1) Send an email to your server and ask; or 2)you can test for yourself by writing a small snippet of code and following the simple istructions below:
Save it as info.php and upload it to your server. Type the following in the address box of your browser -- with "www.mysite" being your site name.
http://www.mysite/info.php
Once the info is returned, look for the Heading "Apache", then "Loaded modules" -- you should find mod_rewrite listed there -- if it is supported.
Before starting the mod-rewrite process, I would suggest checking out
the Apache documentation site for additional information or issues that have come to light with the mod-rewrite process.
One additional piece of advise, do only one url and then run a test. It's better to resolve the bugs on one, then double your work on all.
More Detailed Help For Mod-Rewrite
If you attempted to use mod-rewrite but ran into some problems and feel you need additional help with configuring your urls, check out the article "Make Dynamic Links Search Engine Friendly" by Peter Lavin on Dev Articles. It's a good detailed step-by-step walk-through of mod_rewrite.
Another great resource for any webmaster is a forum called WebmasterWorld.com. From my lurking, I found the people knowledgeable and willing to help you with issues or point you in the right direction to get your problem resolved. They're definitely on the top of my list if I decide to take the dynamic link plunge. And of course, I joined.
So, before you chuck your dynamic website down the toilet or enlist the help of an expensive, knowledgeable web programmer/developer (which isn't a bad idea--and my last option if all else fails), try the above options first.
To conclude, are dynamic websites better than static websites, or visa-versa? From what I can tell, it is dependent on the webmaster's needs and what they feel will work best for their own unique situation.
Vickie J Scanlon-- Visit her site at: My Affiliate Place for free tools , the "How To" of affiliate/internet marketing, ebooks, website protection, computers, software utilities, tech accessories and more
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Thursday, November 30, 2006
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Phàn ơi!! Một cảm giác khó tả!!
Hôm nay mình thi môn Hình học, mới dzừa thi xong... và tâm trạng bây giờ là dường như chẳng có tâm trạng gì hết!!1 Cái đầu : đau và căng lên cứ như là sắp nổ.
Hình học, đó là cái môn mà ta xem là dễ, cả nửa học kì chỉ học được có 1 chút kiến thức đầu năm, còn sau đó là... hò dzô ta cùng cúp!! Đến bữa thi--> thế là nó dồn cho một mẻ!! Một đống lý thuyết dành cho một buổi sáng. 7h30 ta đến thư viến, cắm đầu cố học cho xong lý thuyết đến 11h, đói bụng quá mà vẫn chưa xong!! Ăn cơm đã! Rùi dọt dzô thư viện học tiếp,, lại cắm đầu!!! Đến 2h dọt dzô phòng học! 3h30 ra--> đâu đầu đến giờ luôn!!! Mệt quá, thư viện hết giờ rùi!!! nghĩ viết thui!!!
A`, hơi dzui vì mình cũng làm được một phần!!--. bù với công sức gần 1 ngày!!
Read more...
Hình học, đó là cái môn mà ta xem là dễ, cả nửa học kì chỉ học được có 1 chút kiến thức đầu năm, còn sau đó là... hò dzô ta cùng cúp!! Đến bữa thi--> thế là nó dồn cho một mẻ!! Một đống lý thuyết dành cho một buổi sáng. 7h30 ta đến thư viến, cắm đầu cố học cho xong lý thuyết đến 11h, đói bụng quá mà vẫn chưa xong!! Ăn cơm đã! Rùi dọt dzô thư viện học tiếp,, lại cắm đầu!!! Đến 2h dọt dzô phòng học! 3h30 ra--> đâu đầu đến giờ luôn!!! Mệt quá, thư viện hết giờ rùi!!! nghĩ viết thui!!!
A`, hơi dzui vì mình cũng làm được một phần!!--. bù với công sức gần 1 ngày!!
Read more...
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Connecting the Dots with SEO and SEM For Website Design
When you are first designing your website, you may or may not be aware of the importance of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing). Thus, Wade Stallman's article "Web Design, SEO and SEM Top Tips" can help you in your Search Engine Marketing and SEO journey.
There are quite a few helpful tips, so be sure to read for "information" in this article.
Such as in the section "Words that walk the fine line". He guides over the fact that keywords and keyword phases should be put in the first paragraph of your copy. True. But realize, that the words should not spam your audience. And don't try to cram a large number of keywords and key phases into your paragraph--that weirdness will turn people off and thus, cause them, as it would I, to click away to a competitor. You may have to do some playing around and fine tune the wording, but it can be done. And remember, you really need to please both your audience and the search engines.
Another section, that you should read closely is "Item 5". Search Engine compliance. Which stated simply, if you want the search engines to read your copy, do not put CSS and Javascript in the head of your web pages. The search engines will ignore it all or grab a little due to bloated code frustration and maybe fear of getting catch in some bad code that can crash their servers.
I do have to agree with his comments on tables. At one time, I did have several large tables with text. Looked great, but the search engines didn't like them, and load time was terrible. I zapped the tables away and revamped my web pages and saw a great improvement. However, my table dilemna is not complete yet, and I am still slowly rectifying the table problem on my website.
As you can see, this article has something for everyone. Read, Enjoy, and Learn.
Web design, SEO & SEM top tips
By Wade Smallman
Like most of you guys, I too am always on the look-out for that leg up needed to give me that essential competitive edge to stay in the web design & development game. With that in mind, I thought I'd share with you what I've managed to learn about web design & development, SEO & SEM as well as web standards & accessibility in the hope that what I know is of use to someone else.
Words that walk the fine line
The first thing that the keen eyed amongst you will notice is the littering of emboldened keywords & key phrases scattered throughout the first paragraph, most of which linking back to specific service pages my company website .. look! I did it again!
There's a fine line between being 'spammy', damaging legibility and then just plain putting people off. However, the plus sides are, you're presenting some of the things that search engines want to see.
Top tips for web designers & developers
So without further ado, here's my top tips for giving your website or specific web pages a lift and infusing them with some of the good stuff!
1. Sound like your dad: be an authority
Authority is essential. You need to speak (well, write) with an air of authority. Talk about your chosen topic in a manor that draws upon your knowledge & experience. Be passionate, too. People will pick up on this and feel compelled to read on. But don't try too hard. No one likes a zealot!
2. Engage, don't bore: keep the reader happy
9. A hard cell: using tables for layout is a crime!
Yes, yes, yes! I know! I've been there, I've done that. But now I'm reformed. I've gone clean and I'm now mending my ways .. I'm here telling you about how tables can really mess things up for you and your website.
Remember how I compared the search engines to really fussy readers? Well, it's worse than that. Imagine you had this huge Microsoft Excel file with thousands upon thousands of columns & rows. Now imagine having to navigate that with only the arrow keys on your keyboard.
How bad would that be, eh?
Well, when you use tables for content on website, the search engines have to dig down through those tables to get to the content. This is bad. In fact, it gets worse still. Not only do the search engines have to do this, but anyone using a screen reader application will have to do the same, too.
So if you're going to use tables, use them for what they were designed for: tabulated data and not images and text.
Have fun!
About the Author: Wayne Smallman is the Managing Director of Octane Interactive, a British-based web design agency (www.octane.uk.net) and author of the Blah, Blah! Technology 'blog (myblah-blah-tech.blogspot.com/).
Read more...
There are quite a few helpful tips, so be sure to read for "information" in this article.
Such as in the section "Words that walk the fine line". He guides over the fact that keywords and keyword phases should be put in the first paragraph of your copy. True. But realize, that the words should not spam your audience. And don't try to cram a large number of keywords and key phases into your paragraph--that weirdness will turn people off and thus, cause them, as it would I, to click away to a competitor. You may have to do some playing around and fine tune the wording, but it can be done. And remember, you really need to please both your audience and the search engines.
Another section, that you should read closely is "Item 5". Search Engine compliance. Which stated simply, if you want the search engines to read your copy, do not put CSS and Javascript in the head of your web pages. The search engines will ignore it all or grab a little due to bloated code frustration and maybe fear of getting catch in some bad code that can crash their servers.
I do have to agree with his comments on tables. At one time, I did have several large tables with text. Looked great, but the search engines didn't like them, and load time was terrible. I zapped the tables away and revamped my web pages and saw a great improvement. However, my table dilemna is not complete yet, and I am still slowly rectifying the table problem on my website.
As you can see, this article has something for everyone. Read, Enjoy, and Learn.
Web design, SEO & SEM top tips
By Wade Smallman
Like most of you guys, I too am always on the look-out for that leg up needed to give me that essential competitive edge to stay in the web design & development game. With that in mind, I thought I'd share with you what I've managed to learn about web design & development, SEO & SEM as well as web standards & accessibility in the hope that what I know is of use to someone else.
Words that walk the fine line
The first thing that the keen eyed amongst you will notice is the littering of emboldened keywords & key phrases scattered throughout the first paragraph, most of which linking back to specific service pages my company website .. look! I did it again!
There's a fine line between being 'spammy', damaging legibility and then just plain putting people off. However, the plus sides are, you're presenting some of the things that search engines want to see.
Top tips for web designers & developers
So without further ado, here's my top tips for giving your website or specific web pages a lift and infusing them with some of the good stuff!
1. Sound like your dad: be an authority
Authority is essential. You need to speak (well, write) with an air of authority. Talk about your chosen topic in a manor that draws upon your knowledge & experience. Be passionate, too. People will pick up on this and feel compelled to read on. But don't try too hard. No one likes a zealot!
2. Engage, don't bore: keep the reader happy
Sometimes, a given topic can be a little dry, a little dusty, a little staid. If you must, get yourself a copywriter. If you must, dig deep and spend money on getting someone involved who knows how to write engaging, lively copy (that means text.
3. Entitled to everything: make the titles stand out!
When you're building your copy, build a hierarchy into your pages by using the titles. Make sure that you use your titles well. Using the right keywords & key phrases is essential.
4. Highlights: pick out the text that matters
Much like I've been doing throughout this document, embolden those words that convey something very special. This highlighting of words means added emphasis and the search engines will look to make the most of this special marking.
5. Standard barer: flying the flag for standards compliance
Standards compliance isn't just about accessibility, it's about ensuring that the search engines can make the most of what you've spent good time building.
Think of the search engines as really fussy readers. If your web pages contain lots of waffle (bloated code from too much markup: using tables for layout, having oodles of CSS and Javascript sat in the Head of the web pages), then the search engines will just get bored and go somewhere else instead .. maybe your competitors, even! Gasp!
So if you take the time to do things right, you get a two-for-the-price-of-one deal - in the one hand, your website is on its way to being accessible, while at the same times, it's helping the search engines do their thang!
6. Back to basics: break out the dictionary and check your spelling
Spell check your copy. There's nothing worse than bumping through a website when nearly all of the web pages are chock-full of typos. No amount of design niceness will make up for that. Plus, you lose credibility. No excuses .. oh, and grammar, too. 'Nuff said.
7. Image is everything: be picture-perfect with the right words
Sticking images into your web pages is all good & well, but that's only the beginning. If you want to squeeze each & every last drop of effort out of those images, use the alt attribute on the img tag.
Don't just type in anything, when giving an image a description, be as descriptive and as accurate as possible. Remember: when you hunt down those images with Google and Yahoo!, how do you think those guys know what you're looking for? Be relevant and be descriptive.
8. FYI: make acronyms work for your words, not against them
It's pretty safe to assume that it's never safe to assume. If you must use acronyms, then make sure that you use the acronym tag.
Just because you and your friends have been using an acronym for an age, that doesn't mean everyone else knows what it means.
You might be thinking: "So why don't I just NOT use the acronym?" Because the opposite is sometimes true. If you were to say Universal Serial Bus, most people might just stare at you like you're talking ancient Greek. But if you said: USB, then all would be fine & dandy. Plus, by adding in the full term, you're adding more content into your web pages that the search engines will happily munch away on.
9. A hard cell: using tables for layout is a crime!
Yes, yes, yes! I know! I've been there, I've done that. But now I'm reformed. I've gone clean and I'm now mending my ways .. I'm here telling you about how tables can really mess things up for you and your website.
Remember how I compared the search engines to really fussy readers? Well, it's worse than that. Imagine you had this huge Microsoft Excel file with thousands upon thousands of columns & rows. Now imagine having to navigate that with only the arrow keys on your keyboard.
How bad would that be, eh?
Well, when you use tables for content on website, the search engines have to dig down through those tables to get to the content. This is bad. In fact, it gets worse still. Not only do the search engines have to do this, but anyone using a screen reader application will have to do the same, too.
So if you're going to use tables, use them for what they were designed for: tabulated data and not images and text.
Have fun!
About the Author: Wayne Smallman is the Managing Director of Octane Interactive, a British-based web design agency (www.octane.uk.net) and author of the Blah, Blah! Technology 'blog (myblah-blah-tech.blogspot.com/).
Read more...
Friday, November 17, 2006
What are Supplemental Results In Google?
What are supplemental results in Google? Supplemental search results will occur if there are very few or no results at all in the main index of Google. Even though Google says it does not affect page rank -- it definitely not going to get you many views. You got it, little or no traffic.
If you find yourself in the supplemental results of a search, this article will tell you why and how to fix it. Do you want to be in the supplemental results? For me personally, I would rather not have my main pages in the supplemental results. Why? When your links shows up in Google's supplemental index, it's saying that there is not much information out there, and to basically take what they have on the subject. Some think this is a good thing-and have even requested being put in the supplemental results pages. I find that curious. Maybe they feel they would get more people to their site. If that is true-Great. But if you are like me, you would do another search using different search words to get the results you are looking for.
What are your choices when you web page hits the supplemental page? The choice is to revamp your web page and put in relevant links.
I would also suggest making your page search engine friendly. Avoid java or dynamic links on your home page – stick to html. Html, the search engines can read, they skip over java, and if the dynamic links are not tweaked to be search engine friendly or too complicated for the search engines to read, they will either pass over the link or move onto another page (ouch).
Mikhail Tuknov “The Truth About Google Supplemental Results” will tell you how to avoid getting into the supplemental index, and if you are in this index, how to get out of it—and on the main index of Google. What applies for Google, really applies to Yahoo, MSN and any other directory. I foresee, the big three -- meshing a lot of search engine rules together so that all the search engines can benefit, as well as, be more productivity in their search engine indexing, less intrusive and less of a bandwidth hog.
He also offered a nice tip on spammy links (What Google may consider to be spam) . Good to be aware of this when you are building web pages. Read, learn and enjoy.
The Truth About Google Supplemental Results
So you have a slick, eye-catching web site with lots of fancy graphics and flash animation, congratulations! You excitedly type in your site's url in Google's search engine...and your site shows up in Google's supplemental results.
What's going on? What exactly are Google supplemental results and why would you not want your web site to appear in them? According to Google's FAQ page, supplemental results are part of Google's auxiliary index (main results are drawn from the main index) and pages, which appear on the supplemental listing, have "fewer restrictions" than those that appear on the main results page. They further say that the inclusion of sites on the main or supplemental index is purely automated and does not affect page rank at all.
In truth however, pages that appear on the main index will almost always show up first in a search. Supplemental search results will only show up if there are very few or no results at all in the main index. Plenty of older web sites also tend to populate the supplemental results page. Needless to say the supplemental results page is not where you want your site to end up. Ironically several people have emailed Google asking that their sites be included in the supplemental index!
So how does a site end up in the supplemental results page? And more importantly how does one get out or even avoid inclusion in the first place?
Several factors may affect your inclusion in supplemental results but keep in mind it is best to avoid these factors at the outset, as it is easier to stay out of supplemental results than to get out.
One of the most crucial factors to consider is the text content of your web page; whether it is in the title tag, description tag or actual web page content.
In the title tag, take care that you don't use the same title for more than one page. Make sure that the title is actually related to the page contents and that is not very long or "spammy". Google will almost always send pages that it thinks spam-ridden to the supplemental index. Another common error in title tags is the use of too many or identical keywords. These considerations also apply to the description tags as well; take care that text here is not too long, repetitive, spammy or unrelated to the page's content. Another thing to watch out for in the description tag is the use of undecipherable language or using a different language than the contents'.
Just like in the title and description tags, using duplicate content text in several different pages will probably result in inclusion in the supplemental index. Web pages with little or no text content is another candidate for the supplemental index; image tags, prices and small descriptive text do not normally count as Google generally considers these as commercial page contents, destined for...you guessed it: the supplemental index. Long url's or url's with lots of dashes are also generally thought of as spam by Google which is the reason why many pages hosted by free sites end up in the supplemental index.
Aside from your web page's text content, another important factor is the actual structure of your website; an orphaned page (one that is not linked from your site or others) and pages with poor or no backlinks may be relegated to the supplemental index, along with pages that are nested several pages deep in your web site. Pages such as these are thought by Google to be of lesser importance than better-designed sites, so off to the supplemental index they go.
Okay, so you didn't take all these factors into consideration and now your beautiful web site is on the supplemental results page...what now?
The first thing you can do is to write some good content. A few lines of text won't be enough-make sure it is relevant to your subject and that potential visitors to your site will enjoy reading it. That goes for all the pages in your website, try not to have less than 50 words on any page on your site. And if you have any text content that you "borrowed (copied)" from another site, now would be a good time to change them.
Rewrite your title and description tags to be as descriptive and relevant to your site as possible, but take care not to make them too long or contain repetitive keywords.
At this point you may also want to consider revising the linking structure of your web site; it is better to send all your back links to all the pages in your website rather than to just one page. Check to see that not too many of your pages are nested very deep within your website. You can probably get away with links three pages deep but two pages deep is much better. Don't forget to check for any orphaned web pages!
Sometimes in spite of your best efforts in correcting all those common problems, one or more of your web pages still stubbornly show up in the supplemental results page. You might consider making some new, more prominent links to these stubborn pages from your home page. In some cases more drastic measures may be necessary like a complete reworking of the link structure of your entire web site, or even publishing them on a new url.
These are only the more common factors to consider if you want to avoid being relegated to the supplemental index results. As you can see, rectifying these issues after you're website has already been placed in the supplemental index does not guarantee relocation to the main index; remember it is much easier to avoid being placed in the supplemental index than it is to be taken out. So do it right the first time and design your website accordingly, and hopefully you can enjoy the benefits of main index listing and the high result ranking that you wish for.
About the Author: Mikhail Tuknov, search engine marketing specialist is founder of Infatex (Search Engine Marketing Company). With an extensive background in Internet marketing, Mikhail Tuknov offers SEO, PPC, SEM services.
Read more...
If you find yourself in the supplemental results of a search, this article will tell you why and how to fix it. Do you want to be in the supplemental results? For me personally, I would rather not have my main pages in the supplemental results. Why? When your links shows up in Google's supplemental index, it's saying that there is not much information out there, and to basically take what they have on the subject. Some think this is a good thing-and have even requested being put in the supplemental results pages. I find that curious. Maybe they feel they would get more people to their site. If that is true-Great. But if you are like me, you would do another search using different search words to get the results you are looking for.
What are your choices when you web page hits the supplemental page? The choice is to revamp your web page and put in relevant links.
I would also suggest making your page search engine friendly. Avoid java or dynamic links on your home page – stick to html. Html, the search engines can read, they skip over java, and if the dynamic links are not tweaked to be search engine friendly or too complicated for the search engines to read, they will either pass over the link or move onto another page (ouch).
Mikhail Tuknov “The Truth About Google Supplemental Results” will tell you how to avoid getting into the supplemental index, and if you are in this index, how to get out of it—and on the main index of Google. What applies for Google, really applies to Yahoo, MSN and any other directory. I foresee, the big three -- meshing a lot of search engine rules together so that all the search engines can benefit, as well as, be more productivity in their search engine indexing, less intrusive and less of a bandwidth hog.
He also offered a nice tip on spammy links (What Google may consider to be spam) . Good to be aware of this when you are building web pages. Read, learn and enjoy.
The Truth About Google Supplemental Results
So you have a slick, eye-catching web site with lots of fancy graphics and flash animation, congratulations! You excitedly type in your site's url in Google's search engine...and your site shows up in Google's supplemental results.
What's going on? What exactly are Google supplemental results and why would you not want your web site to appear in them? According to Google's FAQ page, supplemental results are part of Google's auxiliary index (main results are drawn from the main index) and pages, which appear on the supplemental listing, have "fewer restrictions" than those that appear on the main results page. They further say that the inclusion of sites on the main or supplemental index is purely automated and does not affect page rank at all.
In truth however, pages that appear on the main index will almost always show up first in a search. Supplemental search results will only show up if there are very few or no results at all in the main index. Plenty of older web sites also tend to populate the supplemental results page. Needless to say the supplemental results page is not where you want your site to end up. Ironically several people have emailed Google asking that their sites be included in the supplemental index!
So how does a site end up in the supplemental results page? And more importantly how does one get out or even avoid inclusion in the first place?
Several factors may affect your inclusion in supplemental results but keep in mind it is best to avoid these factors at the outset, as it is easier to stay out of supplemental results than to get out.
One of the most crucial factors to consider is the text content of your web page; whether it is in the title tag, description tag or actual web page content.
In the title tag, take care that you don't use the same title for more than one page. Make sure that the title is actually related to the page contents and that is not very long or "spammy". Google will almost always send pages that it thinks spam-ridden to the supplemental index. Another common error in title tags is the use of too many or identical keywords. These considerations also apply to the description tags as well; take care that text here is not too long, repetitive, spammy or unrelated to the page's content. Another thing to watch out for in the description tag is the use of undecipherable language or using a different language than the contents'.
Just like in the title and description tags, using duplicate content text in several different pages will probably result in inclusion in the supplemental index. Web pages with little or no text content is another candidate for the supplemental index; image tags, prices and small descriptive text do not normally count as Google generally considers these as commercial page contents, destined for...you guessed it: the supplemental index. Long url's or url's with lots of dashes are also generally thought of as spam by Google which is the reason why many pages hosted by free sites end up in the supplemental index.
Aside from your web page's text content, another important factor is the actual structure of your website; an orphaned page (one that is not linked from your site or others) and pages with poor or no backlinks may be relegated to the supplemental index, along with pages that are nested several pages deep in your web site. Pages such as these are thought by Google to be of lesser importance than better-designed sites, so off to the supplemental index they go.
Okay, so you didn't take all these factors into consideration and now your beautiful web site is on the supplemental results page...what now?
The first thing you can do is to write some good content. A few lines of text won't be enough-make sure it is relevant to your subject and that potential visitors to your site will enjoy reading it. That goes for all the pages in your website, try not to have less than 50 words on any page on your site. And if you have any text content that you "borrowed (copied)" from another site, now would be a good time to change them.
Rewrite your title and description tags to be as descriptive and relevant to your site as possible, but take care not to make them too long or contain repetitive keywords.
At this point you may also want to consider revising the linking structure of your web site; it is better to send all your back links to all the pages in your website rather than to just one page. Check to see that not too many of your pages are nested very deep within your website. You can probably get away with links three pages deep but two pages deep is much better. Don't forget to check for any orphaned web pages!
Sometimes in spite of your best efforts in correcting all those common problems, one or more of your web pages still stubbornly show up in the supplemental results page. You might consider making some new, more prominent links to these stubborn pages from your home page. In some cases more drastic measures may be necessary like a complete reworking of the link structure of your entire web site, or even publishing them on a new url.
These are only the more common factors to consider if you want to avoid being relegated to the supplemental index results. As you can see, rectifying these issues after you're website has already been placed in the supplemental index does not guarantee relocation to the main index; remember it is much easier to avoid being placed in the supplemental index than it is to be taken out. So do it right the first time and design your website accordingly, and hopefully you can enjoy the benefits of main index listing and the high result ranking that you wish for.
About the Author: Mikhail Tuknov, search engine marketing specialist is founder of Infatex (Search Engine Marketing Company). With an extensive background in Internet marketing, Mikhail Tuknov offers SEO, PPC, SEM services.
Read more...
Friday, November 10, 2006
Online Creditability--Is It Important?
When people first build a website, online creditability is, well, not an immediate thought. But it really should be. The creative side of building the website is fun and adventuresome for most, because it is their creation.
However, once the website is up, that is when the real works begin. Getting people to your site, and keeping them coming back is important. Which means in part, that along with building your business -- you need to keep a close eye on your online creditability as well. My article "Online Creditability - What is It?" gives you an insight to what online creditability is, what you can do to make yourself known.
And for a small business wanting to come onboard or people who want to get into the affiliate marketing side of the business, I've included a section on Affiliate Brokers-- companies that bring the Merchant and the Affiliate together.
There is one area -- Customer Service -- which is always important. When a small business is online, quality customer service should extend to both the customer and their affiliates. Why the affiliate? Without the affiliate -- your extension and exposure on the web could become very limited, and if treated unfairly -- well, let's say forum talk travels fast.
Your website is your initial seed to creditability, what you do in the succeeding months will determine if your creditability will grow or fall. It's up to you.
Online Creditability – What is It?
By Vickie Scanlon
Getting a website online is the beginning of your online presence. But what some people forget is, just like a brick and mortar business, your online business must present you and your business in the best light possible. Your online creditability – how do you establish it.
Let me begin by saying, that most people that surf the net are savvy in its ways and what it has to offer. So, when they first hit your site, they may bulk at buying from you if they are not sure if you are the real thing. Simply translated, they are wondering about your “online creditability”. But the big question you are probably asking yourself is, “How Do I Build My Online Creditability?”
How to Build Your Online Creditability
Here are some tips that you can utilize to pump up your online creditability. Some of these suggestions may be obvious, but you would be surprised how many companies/people ignore the obvious, when they first come online.
1) Whether you are a brick and mortar company or sole proprietor -- you should create an about page.
You can give a little history about your company, how long you have been in business, your mission statement and what your company offers, then include your physical location, and company phone (preferably an 800 number) and/or an email address.
Will they trust you yet? If you’re a new site, they may be hesitate, especially if they have been burned a couple of times. If they want to buy from you, they are going to check you out in "Whois/Domain Tools", "Urltrends", and/or the Better Business Bureau, just to name a few. If they don't, they're braver than I would be.
2) A photo –You can place a photo of your company or yourself. It will let them know you are real. I realize that you are peeling the onion, so to speak, and bearing your look online – but they want to know you are real.
3) Have quality customer service. Now, I'm an affiliate marketer – before I decide whether a service or product stays on my site, I’ll give their customer service a call. If the call goes well, they stay, if not – I’ll give them one more call on a different day before deciding whether it stays or goes from my site.
Customer care is important not only for the company but also to the person who sells your service or product. If you have poor customer service, it will reflect in your sales and the affiliate’s sales. And may I add, on the Internet news travels quickly – so make sure all your ducks are in a roll, because word-of-mouth can kill you if it’s not positive. And as to affiliates, they talk too. If they find their selling experience with you to be less than ideal, well, you can guess what they will do.
4) Autoresponders -- for an ecommerce site, it should be a given. When someone buys your product or service, send him or her an email stating that the sale went through, with all the specifics, for their records.
5) Testimonials – Testimonials from people who have used your service or product, is a major plus.
6) Links -- Be careful who you link too. Do not blindly link to a site without checking it out. A bad link can hurt you in the search engines and cost you traffic and customers.
7) Proofread -- Have several people read the copy when the copy is off-line and again, when it first goes online. Sometimes you're in the glow of your own creation, or have worked on it for so long that you don't see the spelling or grammar errors.
Use Affiliates To Help Promote Your Service or Product
If you are selling a product or service you may want to give your sales an additional boost by seeking out affiliates to promote your product or service. The mix goes like this: Affiliate + Merchant=Affiliate Marketing.
Affiliate marketing is simply the promotion of a company's product or service by another individual (the affiliate). If the said individual makes a sale – that individual will receive a commission from the company.
Affiliate marketing is good for two reasons: 1) more people selling, means more exposure and sales for your product; and 2) it’s a great way to get one-way links to your site.
To kick-start the affiliate marketing side of your business, there are, what I call “Advertising Brokers”, that bring the merchant and the affiliate together under one roof. Here, affiliates can find merchants that fit their niche, and merchants can find affiliates to promote their service or product. It’s a win-win situation.
Here are examples of three Advertising Brokers that you can look into:
LinkShare
Commission Junction
ClixGalore
Clickbank (Digital)
You will find that an affiliate program is a cost-effective way of advertising because you only pay the affiliate a commission when the affiliate refers an actual sale. As I said above, you will achieve two things: 1) more exposure, and 2) more sales.
As you can see, there are many facets to getting any business online, but doable. So, if you are sitting on the fence, push back your fears and take the challenge, because the future of the Internet is still in its growth and definition stage. Stated metaphorically, the oyster is for the taking, it’s only up to you to push back your fears and take up the challenge of the new future
About the Author:
Vickie J. Scanlon: Visit her site at: My Affiliate Place for tools, the "How Tos" of Internet Marketing/Affiliate Marketing, ebooks, where to find affiliate programs to join, computers, software utilities and more.
Read more...
However, once the website is up, that is when the real works begin. Getting people to your site, and keeping them coming back is important. Which means in part, that along with building your business -- you need to keep a close eye on your online creditability as well. My article "Online Creditability - What is It?" gives you an insight to what online creditability is, what you can do to make yourself known.
And for a small business wanting to come onboard or people who want to get into the affiliate marketing side of the business, I've included a section on Affiliate Brokers-- companies that bring the Merchant and the Affiliate together.
There is one area -- Customer Service -- which is always important. When a small business is online, quality customer service should extend to both the customer and their affiliates. Why the affiliate? Without the affiliate -- your extension and exposure on the web could become very limited, and if treated unfairly -- well, let's say forum talk travels fast.
Your website is your initial seed to creditability, what you do in the succeeding months will determine if your creditability will grow or fall. It's up to you.
Online Creditability – What is It?
By Vickie Scanlon
Getting a website online is the beginning of your online presence. But what some people forget is, just like a brick and mortar business, your online business must present you and your business in the best light possible. Your online creditability – how do you establish it.
Let me begin by saying, that most people that surf the net are savvy in its ways and what it has to offer. So, when they first hit your site, they may bulk at buying from you if they are not sure if you are the real thing. Simply translated, they are wondering about your “online creditability”. But the big question you are probably asking yourself is, “How Do I Build My Online Creditability?”
How to Build Your Online Creditability
Here are some tips that you can utilize to pump up your online creditability. Some of these suggestions may be obvious, but you would be surprised how many companies/people ignore the obvious, when they first come online.
1) Whether you are a brick and mortar company or sole proprietor -- you should create an about page.
You can give a little history about your company, how long you have been in business, your mission statement and what your company offers, then include your physical location, and company phone (preferably an 800 number) and/or an email address.
Will they trust you yet? If you’re a new site, they may be hesitate, especially if they have been burned a couple of times. If they want to buy from you, they are going to check you out in "Whois/Domain Tools", "Urltrends", and/or the Better Business Bureau, just to name a few. If they don't, they're braver than I would be.
2) A photo –You can place a photo of your company or yourself. It will let them know you are real. I realize that you are peeling the onion, so to speak, and bearing your look online – but they want to know you are real.
3) Have quality customer service. Now, I'm an affiliate marketer – before I decide whether a service or product stays on my site, I’ll give their customer service a call. If the call goes well, they stay, if not – I’ll give them one more call on a different day before deciding whether it stays or goes from my site.
Customer care is important not only for the company but also to the person who sells your service or product. If you have poor customer service, it will reflect in your sales and the affiliate’s sales. And may I add, on the Internet news travels quickly – so make sure all your ducks are in a roll, because word-of-mouth can kill you if it’s not positive. And as to affiliates, they talk too. If they find their selling experience with you to be less than ideal, well, you can guess what they will do.
4) Autoresponders -- for an ecommerce site, it should be a given. When someone buys your product or service, send him or her an email stating that the sale went through, with all the specifics, for their records.
5) Testimonials – Testimonials from people who have used your service or product, is a major plus.
6) Links -- Be careful who you link too. Do not blindly link to a site without checking it out. A bad link can hurt you in the search engines and cost you traffic and customers.
7) Proofread -- Have several people read the copy when the copy is off-line and again, when it first goes online. Sometimes you're in the glow of your own creation, or have worked on it for so long that you don't see the spelling or grammar errors.
Use Affiliates To Help Promote Your Service or Product
If you are selling a product or service you may want to give your sales an additional boost by seeking out affiliates to promote your product or service. The mix goes like this: Affiliate + Merchant=Affiliate Marketing.
Affiliate marketing is simply the promotion of a company's product or service by another individual (the affiliate). If the said individual makes a sale – that individual will receive a commission from the company.
Affiliate marketing is good for two reasons: 1) more people selling, means more exposure and sales for your product; and 2) it’s a great way to get one-way links to your site.
To kick-start the affiliate marketing side of your business, there are, what I call “Advertising Brokers”, that bring the merchant and the affiliate together under one roof. Here, affiliates can find merchants that fit their niche, and merchants can find affiliates to promote their service or product. It’s a win-win situation.
Here are examples of three Advertising Brokers that you can look into:
LinkShare
Commission Junction
ClixGalore
Clickbank (Digital)
You will find that an affiliate program is a cost-effective way of advertising because you only pay the affiliate a commission when the affiliate refers an actual sale. As I said above, you will achieve two things: 1) more exposure, and 2) more sales.
As you can see, there are many facets to getting any business online, but doable. So, if you are sitting on the fence, push back your fears and take the challenge, because the future of the Internet is still in its growth and definition stage. Stated metaphorically, the oyster is for the taking, it’s only up to you to push back your fears and take up the challenge of the new future
About the Author:
Vickie J. Scanlon: Visit her site at: My Affiliate Place for tools, the "How Tos" of Internet Marketing/Affiliate Marketing, ebooks, where to find affiliate programs to join, computers, software utilities and more.
Read more...
Thursday, November 2, 2006
Is Google Adsense Dead?
Is Google Adsense Dead? I think not. Google Adsense, like any business is always evolving, and trying to make their service better for those that use it. Titus Hoskins goes through the nightmare many website owners and marketers had when Adsense radically changed their rules. As he said, some seen their four and five figure Adsense income disappear.
Titus Hoskins states that the search side of Google Adsense works better with content. That is true --with search you have your targeted market. But in some cases, it depends upon the type of product that is being presented. When I use Adwords, I usually go for search, but sometimes I've included content if the niche is really small -- just to see where the results lie. In some cases, content produced results.
As to the Junk Adsense Sites, many were glad to see control in that area. But for affiliate marketers that utilized squeeze pages and "affiliate landing pages" he stated that they were penalized. Why?
He states that people with landing pages that had the opt-in list were penalized by Google. This I may have to question, because I have read that many people and some super affiliate marketers who use an opt-in list for list-building were not hurt. Why? Their landing page did not try to sell another product, it matched their Google Ad, and they had no Google Adsense Ads on their landing page. So check your pages, revise.
As with anything, Google Adsense can be a great secondary income -- and maybe for some a primary income depending upon your niche, quality of content, etc. It really depends upon the site, and what direction you want to take your site or sites.
It is a fact, that more and more businesses will be coming online. Why? It can be very lucrative and people are moving toward online shopping. Thus, the niche market will be ever increasing -- and great for anyone wanting to get into affiliate marketing. And with it, new opportunities for Google, for businesses, and for affiliate marketers.
My suggestion, build a quality site and use Google Adsense as one avenue for your income, and never put all your eggs in one basket. Titus Hoskins "The Death of Google Adsense And Other Myths" is an interesting read. If you read carefully, you can pull away from the article some helpful hints and tips.
The Death of Google
Adsense And Other Myths
By Titus Hoskins (c) 2006
Recent changes in the Google Adsense program has many online website owners and marketers seriously concerned. Many have seen their Adsense profíts and income flatline... seen their four or five figure monthly Adsense income disappear overnight. For many the Google Adsense bubble has burst.
What happened?
First, Google made a change in its Adsense program, letting advertisers choose between putting their ads in the search results or on the content pages of Adsense publishers. Search won out and started to receive the higher bids. Search results convert better than content ads.
Next, Google has cracked down on Junk Adsense sites, like they should. These sites consisted mainly of software generated re-hashed search engine links and were totally annoying to say the least. But Google also cracked down on 'squeeze pages' or 'affilíate landing pages' - a lucrative source of income for many online marketers, mainly because these pages helped marketers build an opt-ín list or use permission based email.
The results of these changes produced an Adsense meltdown for many online marketers.
Some Internet marketers are speculating recent changes could even mean the death of Adsense. One online marketer, Scott Boulch even published a free report entitled 'The Death of Adsense".
Many affilíate marketers would agree with Boulch on some of his points, especially the obvious fact that using Adsense on your web content is starting on the bottom rung of the online marketing ladder. Instead of receiving pennies per clíck with Adsense, alert marketers and webmasters have already discovered that by using CPA (Cost-Per-Action) and direct affilíate links, they can produce significantly more revenue from their web pages. Why eärn pennies per clíck when you can eärn $5, $10 or OVER $100 per clíck?
But the fine people at Google are catching on...
In the past Google has made its own swing to the Cost-Per-Action direction with its referral system for the Firefox Browser and giving webmasters credít for signing up Adwords and Adsense accounts.
Many online marketers believe Google needs to expand on these baby steps and open their Adsense affilíate program up to third party products/advertisers. In a recent company statement Google offered some hope: "We're always looking for new ways to provide effective and useful features to advertisers, publishers, and users," the company stated "As part of these efforts we are currently testing a cost-per-action (CPA) pricing model to give advertisers more flexibility and provide publishers another way to eärn revenue through AdSense." Basically, in cost-per-action, advertisers pay for leads, purchases or customer acquisition. It would help with the clíck fraud issue and the monetary returns could potentially make Adsense's revenues pale in comparison.
As more and more commerce goes online... acquiring customers for such diverse services as ínsurance, real estate, telephone, marketing, web hostíng, travel, mörtgage loans, cable TV, banking... you name it, almost any service or product sold in the marketplace is now turning to the Internet for customers and lifelong clients.
Enormous sums of monëy will change hands. Perhaps, the most lucrative of these is customer acquisition. Advertisers are turning to the Internet and webmasters/marketers for acquiring these lifelong customers for their respective services and products. Businesses and companies are quickly realizing paying an attractive lead generating fee/commission is smart business. They quickly build a client base for their services or products and quickly recoup their expenses - realizing in the long run these leads will generate huge profíts.
It can also mean huge profíts for the CPA networks like ValueClick's Commission Junction and Rakuten's LinkShare who supply the advertisers with publishers and website marketers to harvest these leads. It can be a lucrative venture for all involved, especially for those online marketers who have cornered the search engines for lucrative niche markets in big ticket items. Even small ticket items pay quite well for those marketers who know how to market online.
Contextual advertising is fine, but CPA (Cost-Per-Action) will offer much better returns for the website owner. Making any profitable site much more profitable. It will and is opening up a whole area of marketing opportunities that nevër existed before we had the Internet. Creating a complex structure of advertisers, publishers and the Affilíate/CPA companies that connect the two.
Of course, cutting out the middle man has always been even a more profitable venture for most marketers. As more and more webmasters realize they can make much more with dealing directly with companies, rather than going through a middle process like Google Adsense or the countless other affilíate/CPA networks ... online marketers can reap even bigger rewards.
For an online marketer when you get a telephone call or email from the CEO or the affilíate manager with a company or service you're promoting with your website - you know you have made it! Dealing directly with a company usually means bigger commissions and special exclusive deals just for you or your sites.
Only fly in the ointment, all that extra paperwork and business wheeling and dealing. Many marketers and website owners like the idea of someone else handling all the tracking, collecting payments, promotional materials... they just like to sit back and build more websites and content. It gives the affilíate marketer a lifestyle that they are looking for on the web. They just like to market and promote with their sites and let someone else worry about the details. Therefore, there will always be a place for contextual ads like Google Adsense... "Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated."
However, could CPA be a better alternative for the current Adsense contextual ads?
Google would be the natural choice for a middleman if there ever was one. Besides, many savvy marketers know the Google brand name is trusted online, any product/service promoted through Google would be an easy sell. Many argue Google already dominates the web, why should it not be the one to handle these CPA transactions through its Adsense program.
On the flip side, over countless updates and changes to its indexing, many webmasters have experienced more than a few negative dealings with Google. Many have won, many have lost in this Google Age, but all have realized riding the Google Search Engine is like running with the bulls at Pamplona, totally thrilling unless you're one of the unfortunate few who get trampled in the process.
About The Author:
The author is a former teacher who now works full-time online operating numerous websites, including two sites on Internet marketing. For the latest web marketing tools try: http://www.bizwaremagic.com/. For the lastest trade information in your own industry try: http://bizwaremagic.tradepub.com/.2006 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.
-----------
For beginning information for getting started with Adsense and Adwords check my web pages Adsense Basics and Adwords Basics on My Affiliate Place-and it's free information.
Read more...
Titus Hoskins states that the search side of Google Adsense works better with content. That is true --with search you have your targeted market. But in some cases, it depends upon the type of product that is being presented. When I use Adwords, I usually go for search, but sometimes I've included content if the niche is really small -- just to see where the results lie. In some cases, content produced results.
As to the Junk Adsense Sites, many were glad to see control in that area. But for affiliate marketers that utilized squeeze pages and "affiliate landing pages" he stated that they were penalized. Why?
He states that people with landing pages that had the opt-in list were penalized by Google. This I may have to question, because I have read that many people and some super affiliate marketers who use an opt-in list for list-building were not hurt. Why? Their landing page did not try to sell another product, it matched their Google Ad, and they had no Google Adsense Ads on their landing page. So check your pages, revise.
As with anything, Google Adsense can be a great secondary income -- and maybe for some a primary income depending upon your niche, quality of content, etc. It really depends upon the site, and what direction you want to take your site or sites.
It is a fact, that more and more businesses will be coming online. Why? It can be very lucrative and people are moving toward online shopping. Thus, the niche market will be ever increasing -- and great for anyone wanting to get into affiliate marketing. And with it, new opportunities for Google, for businesses, and for affiliate marketers.
My suggestion, build a quality site and use Google Adsense as one avenue for your income, and never put all your eggs in one basket. Titus Hoskins "The Death of Google Adsense And Other Myths" is an interesting read. If you read carefully, you can pull away from the article some helpful hints and tips.
The Death of Google
Adsense And Other Myths
By Titus Hoskins (c) 2006
Recent changes in the Google Adsense program has many online website owners and marketers seriously concerned. Many have seen their Adsense profíts and income flatline... seen their four or five figure monthly Adsense income disappear overnight. For many the Google Adsense bubble has burst.
What happened?
First, Google made a change in its Adsense program, letting advertisers choose between putting their ads in the search results or on the content pages of Adsense publishers. Search won out and started to receive the higher bids. Search results convert better than content ads.
Next, Google has cracked down on Junk Adsense sites, like they should. These sites consisted mainly of software generated re-hashed search engine links and were totally annoying to say the least. But Google also cracked down on 'squeeze pages' or 'affilíate landing pages' - a lucrative source of income for many online marketers, mainly because these pages helped marketers build an opt-ín list or use permission based email.
The results of these changes produced an Adsense meltdown for many online marketers.
Some Internet marketers are speculating recent changes could even mean the death of Adsense. One online marketer, Scott Boulch even published a free report entitled 'The Death of Adsense".
Many affilíate marketers would agree with Boulch on some of his points, especially the obvious fact that using Adsense on your web content is starting on the bottom rung of the online marketing ladder. Instead of receiving pennies per clíck with Adsense, alert marketers and webmasters have already discovered that by using CPA (Cost-Per-Action) and direct affilíate links, they can produce significantly more revenue from their web pages. Why eärn pennies per clíck when you can eärn $5, $10 or OVER $100 per clíck?
But the fine people at Google are catching on...
In the past Google has made its own swing to the Cost-Per-Action direction with its referral system for the Firefox Browser and giving webmasters credít for signing up Adwords and Adsense accounts.
Many online marketers believe Google needs to expand on these baby steps and open their Adsense affilíate program up to third party products/advertisers. In a recent company statement Google offered some hope: "We're always looking for new ways to provide effective and useful features to advertisers, publishers, and users," the company stated "As part of these efforts we are currently testing a cost-per-action (CPA) pricing model to give advertisers more flexibility and provide publishers another way to eärn revenue through AdSense." Basically, in cost-per-action, advertisers pay for leads, purchases or customer acquisition. It would help with the clíck fraud issue and the monetary returns could potentially make Adsense's revenues pale in comparison.
As more and more commerce goes online... acquiring customers for such diverse services as ínsurance, real estate, telephone, marketing, web hostíng, travel, mörtgage loans, cable TV, banking... you name it, almost any service or product sold in the marketplace is now turning to the Internet for customers and lifelong clients.
Enormous sums of monëy will change hands. Perhaps, the most lucrative of these is customer acquisition. Advertisers are turning to the Internet and webmasters/marketers for acquiring these lifelong customers for their respective services and products. Businesses and companies are quickly realizing paying an attractive lead generating fee/commission is smart business. They quickly build a client base for their services or products and quickly recoup their expenses - realizing in the long run these leads will generate huge profíts.
It can also mean huge profíts for the CPA networks like ValueClick's Commission Junction and Rakuten's LinkShare who supply the advertisers with publishers and website marketers to harvest these leads. It can be a lucrative venture for all involved, especially for those online marketers who have cornered the search engines for lucrative niche markets in big ticket items. Even small ticket items pay quite well for those marketers who know how to market online.
Contextual advertising is fine, but CPA (Cost-Per-Action) will offer much better returns for the website owner. Making any profitable site much more profitable. It will and is opening up a whole area of marketing opportunities that nevër existed before we had the Internet. Creating a complex structure of advertisers, publishers and the Affilíate/CPA companies that connect the two.
Of course, cutting out the middle man has always been even a more profitable venture for most marketers. As more and more webmasters realize they can make much more with dealing directly with companies, rather than going through a middle process like Google Adsense or the countless other affilíate/CPA networks ... online marketers can reap even bigger rewards.
For an online marketer when you get a telephone call or email from the CEO or the affilíate manager with a company or service you're promoting with your website - you know you have made it! Dealing directly with a company usually means bigger commissions and special exclusive deals just for you or your sites.
Only fly in the ointment, all that extra paperwork and business wheeling and dealing. Many marketers and website owners like the idea of someone else handling all the tracking, collecting payments, promotional materials... they just like to sit back and build more websites and content. It gives the affilíate marketer a lifestyle that they are looking for on the web. They just like to market and promote with their sites and let someone else worry about the details. Therefore, there will always be a place for contextual ads like Google Adsense... "Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated."
However, could CPA be a better alternative for the current Adsense contextual ads?
Google would be the natural choice for a middleman if there ever was one. Besides, many savvy marketers know the Google brand name is trusted online, any product/service promoted through Google would be an easy sell. Many argue Google already dominates the web, why should it not be the one to handle these CPA transactions through its Adsense program.
On the flip side, over countless updates and changes to its indexing, many webmasters have experienced more than a few negative dealings with Google. Many have won, many have lost in this Google Age, but all have realized riding the Google Search Engine is like running with the bulls at Pamplona, totally thrilling unless you're one of the unfortunate few who get trampled in the process.
About The Author:
The author is a former teacher who now works full-time online operating numerous websites, including two sites on Internet marketing. For the latest web marketing tools try: http://www.bizwaremagic.com/. For the lastest trade information in your own industry try: http://bizwaremagic.tradepub.com/.2006 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.
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For beginning information for getting started with Adsense and Adwords check my web pages Adsense Basics and Adwords Basics on My Affiliate Place-and it's free information.
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