Social marketing,  involves both interacting and engaging with your target audience, as well as setting up individual webpages on communities like Squidoo and HubPages.com.

Squidoo is an exceptionally popular service that allows users to create one-page websites referred to as ‘lenses’.

With Squidoo being an authority website with search engines like Google, each time you build a lens, you are able to rank for specific keywords used within your page’s title and content itself.  It’s a very effective strategy for generating back links and generating traffic to your website.

Squidoo also offers additional modules that you can integrate into your lens pages, including the option to incorporate an opt-in form into your page, so that you can begin to develop an email list of prospects.

You can also earn money from within the Squidoo community based on affiliate commissions generated from the different modules and add-ons that you inject into your lense pages, including Amazon modules, and Adsense.

http://www.Squidoo.com

Another similar service that allows you to develop one-page websites that rank heavily within the search engines is available at www.Hubpages.com

With Hub Pages, you can also earn revenue from different add ons that you decide to implement, but are also able to add tags to your hub pages for better ranking within the search engine.

With Hub Pages, there are a few restrictions in place that you need to pay attention to, including:

• You are only permitted to feature two external (outgoing) links on each hub that you create.
• Your content must be unique, (no PLR is permitted).
• You are not permitted to use excessive tags.

As long as you focus on developing high quality hub pages, you can benefit from the popularity of the Hub community, as well as the back links from each hub page that you create.

Make sure when you create external pages on websites like Hub Pages or Squidoo that you interlink your pages to your main website’s URL.

By cross linking from feeder sites to your main landing page, you will be able to develop a solid back link campaign, quickly and at absolutely no cost.  This is also a very effective method of ensuring your website is indexed by the major search engines, VERY quickly!

There are other free methods of building back links and maximizing your exposure online, including by developing a quick blog on http://www.WordPress.org and http://www.Blogger.com

Both of these services also carry weight within the search engines, which means that you will be able to increase your outreach just by spending a few minutes developing a single page website that showcases your main website, or your products and services.

Blogger is a great place to make feeder sites.  It’s a free blogging platform run by Google, and pages there can often rank very well in many search engines.

Pages on Blogger aren’t given special ranking privileges by Google simply because they run the site.

But like Squidoo, HubPages, and other similar sites, they have enough pages with backlinks and authority that the overall site seems to get a nice boost.

If you’re going to make a blog to promote your membership site, there are two ways to go about it.

You could either set up a little throwaway blog that you only post a few articles on, linking to your site in each article, or you could try to create an authority blog.

An authority blog is one that you post to fairly regularly, work towards getting a lot of regular viewers, and try to get “authority” status in the search engines.

If you want to create an authority blog, it will be a lot more effective.  Your readers will come to respect you as a real expert in your field, so they will be more inclined to join your membership site.

It’s a great way to get members, just keep in mind that running an authority blog requires a substantial commitment.  You have to post regularly, or it won’t be very effective.

As with other feeder sites, you’ll want to use your keyword you can.  If you can get your keyword in the URL, it’s a very good idea to do so.

If you just want to create quick throwaway blogs for fast search engine traffic, you don’t necessarily have to use unique content.

To the best of my knowledge, Blogger doesn’t have any requirements that say you can’t use PLR, so this is a good way to build feeder sites quickly.

If you want to become an authority blog, I wouldn’t use PLR.  Unique content is a much better idea, even though it takes more time.

By cross linking from remotely hosted pages to your own main site, you will be able to develop a solid back link campaign, quickly and at absolutely no cost.  This is also a very effective method of ensuring your website is indexed.

Article marketing is one of the most popular methods of generating relevant back links from authority websites, and in maximizing your outreach with well-crafted, high quality content directed at your target audience.

Each article should be between 300 and 600 words in length and provide useful information that your target audience would find appealing.

The greater the number of articles in circulation, the more exposure you will receive, however you always want to focus on producing high quality content, rather than just on the quantity that is being distributed between these networks.

Apart from directly benefiting from the exposure received by having your articles showcased within popular article directories such as www.EzineArticles.com, you will also benefit from the frequency in which search engines crawl article directories due to new content being posted each day.

Here are the top article directories that you should focus on submitting content to:

http://www.Buzzle.com

http://www.GoArticles.com

http://www.ArticlesFactory.com

http://www.WebProNews.com

http://www.ArticleDashboard.com

http://www.ArticlesBase.com

http://www.ArticleWheel.com

http://www.ArticleFriendly.com

http://www.ArticleRich.com

http://www.Articles-Hub.com

http://www.SubmitYourNewArticle.com

http://www.Articlesnatch.com

http://www.earticlesonline.com

Off site SEO refers to search engine optimization techniques that are not performed on your website itself, but are influenced by external factors.

When it comes to off-site SEO, it’s all about generating solid back links to your website from relevant authority websites.

There are many different ways of establishing quality back links to your website, including:

Link Exchanges
Blog Commenting
Forum Marketing
Directory Listings
Social Bookmarking

Place emphasis on the quality of your incoming backlinks rather than the quantity of backlinks you have. While the more backlinks in circulation, the better, if you have more backlinks coming in from solid, established and authority websites, they WILL carry more weight than those pointing to your site from start-up websites and blogs.

You also want to try to create a backlink campaign that has ONE WAY backlinks, where you are not required to provide a reciprocal link, as it will add more value to the backlinks pointing to your site.

One easy way of creating a back link strategy is by analyzing existing competition in your market, and determining who is linking to them, and what anchor keywords they are using so you can obtain a link from the same source, using alternative keyword phrases.

Directories

With online directories, you can add your website into specific categories and instantly establish back links to your website, just be careful not to over-do it!

You want to develop a natural back link campaign!  Do NOT create thousands of backlinks using automated software or services, otherwise you run the risk of being penalized by the search engines.

A few directories to consider are:

http://www.DMOZ.org

http://www.Lii.org

http://www.Info-Listings.com

http://www.Buzzle.com

http://www.MasterMOZ.com

http://www.maxpromo.com

Social Bookmarking

Here are the top 20 social bookmarking websites for generating fresh back links to your site. All of these contain DO follow, ensuring links leading to your website will count within the search engines as a valid back link:

1 – http://slashdot.org (PR9)

2 – http://digg.com (PR8)

3 – http://technorati.com (PR8)

4- http://www.furl.net (PR7)

5 – http://www.backflip.com (PR7)

6 – http://www.hugg.com (PR7)

7 – http://www.mixx.com (PR7)

8 – http://ma.gnolia.com (PR7)

9 – http://www.connotea.org (PR7)

10 – http://mystuff.ask.com (PR7)

If you are using article marketing as one of your traffic building strategies, then there’s one important element you need to understand and master.

Your author’s resource box is the ONLY element of your article that allows for promotion, so it’s vital that you create a compelling resource box that invokes a call to action and entices every reader to follow through by clicking on your links.

With sites like Ezine Articles, you are able to create multiple resource boxes, choosing one that compliments each article that you write. You can also create multiple author’s accounts so that you can cover a large number of topics, all within one account.

Use your resource boxes wisely, and make sure that you offer your reader with an incentive to click through.

One way of doing this is by offering a free giveaway in your author’s resource box that is relevant to the topic or market that your article is focused on.

If you are not sure what you can offer within your resource box, here are a few things I have used successfully for over a year now:

• Free Report
• Newsletter or Ezine subscription
• Free ebook
• Free sample of a paid product
• Free Trial Membership

When creating your author’s resource box, make sure to use anchor text whenever possible. This will help you rank for specific keyword phrases within the search engines.

A Press Release can provide you with more than just a way to get people to your site. It can give you a broader target audience to sell your product to, as well as help you build brand awareness, especially if you are a new info product developer.

With Press Releases, you are able to reach out to a larger market than many other forms of advertising, and in most cases, word will begin to spread within hours of your press release being approved and distributed.  Press releases are also a cost effective method of advertising your info product, and is also one of the fastest and easiest methods of generating exposure for your new product.

Press Releases lend instant credibility to a business, or brand even if it has just launched and by being circulated among leading publishing agents and authority sites, the association alone can jumpstart your business launch in a very powerful and effective way.

Traditionally, a well-structured press release should not be more than one page long. Everything a reader needs to know about your news story will need to be included within a single page for best results.

A second page is acceptable, provided your story makes it worth the time a person would need to read it.

This means that you need to trim down the outline of your Press Release and ensure that it focuses on the key benefits and features of your release, whether it’s an introduction to a product launch, a story about your company, a new launch of a service, or a software program that will benefit the end user in some way.

A Press Release that addresses the fundamental aspect of what people are looking for (how it benefits them) will out perform any other kind, so keep it trimmed and on point.

The power-boosting words used in that headline are rises, challenge and ‘helping’. Some other words you could use in your headline that will demand attention are:

• Announcing!
• Secret
• Free
• Discover
• Strategies
• Success

There are some writing service companies that specialize in providing you with press release writing services.

http://www.custompressrelease.com

http://www.prnine.com

http://www.Press-Release-Writing.com

http://www.contentdone.com

http://www.contentcustoms.com

Press Release Distribution Sites

There are distribution sites on the Internet that will publish your press releases for you. Most will ask you to sign up for an account with them and then you can start uploading your press releases with them.

Once they have been submitted to these sites, they will be available to all the news search engines to be picked up when an Internet user searches for the subject of your release.

They will be reviewed to ensure they are proper press releases and not advertisements, spam, or anything promoting adult content websites.

Here’s a few resources to help you get started:

http://www.PRWeb.com
http://www.URLWire.com
http://www.PRNewsWire.com
http://www.Free-Press-Release.com
http://www.marketwire.com
http://www.wiredprnews.com/
http://www.livepresswire.com/
http://www.PressReleaseNetwork.com
http://www.WebWire.com
http://eWorldWire.com
http://www.BusinessWire.com

If you have a brick and mortar store, and rely on walk-in traffic for your survival, you may be wondering what the Internet can do for your business. Believe it or not, a lot – and you don’t even need a website.

In the “old days”, the bulk of businesses relied on the Yellow Pages to get the phone ringing. The majority of marketing dollars were spent getting listed in this ten pound paperweight. With the popularity of the Net, less people let “their fingers do the walking” when they need something, and more are letting their mouse do the talking.

Online search has gone mainstream when it comes to searching for local businesses. Google states that 73% of searches are done for local content. Another study by BIA/Kelsey and Constat report that 97% of consumers use online resources when doing research for products/services in their local area. See www.kelseygroup.com/press/pr100310.asp.

Google has always understood the power of local search, and years ago launched its Local Business Center where any business can get a listing for free. Recently, they’ve done a major overhaul and have re-launched with a new name of “Google Places”, showcasing a host of new features. The name change was done to tie in with Google’s Place Pages which were launched over a year ago and include over 50 million places worldwide. Official Google Blog

If you want customers to be able to find you, and haven’t listed your offline store here yet, you need to get with the program. You are missing out on the chance to reach millions of Google users, including Google Map users, Google’s 800 Voice Directory Search and even Google Earth. And all of this exposure won’t cost you a dime. It’s totally free.

Now that I have your attention, let’s go over the steps for inclusion. As with all things Google, you’ll need to sign into Google Places with your Google Account. Up to 100 single locations can be added but, if you have more than ten to list you’ll need to use their “Bulk Upload Tool”.

There is a verification process that must be done to prove you’re the owner of the business being listed. The choice is yours, it’s by phone or mail. Once this is done, your listing goes live.

Now in case you’re thinking all that’s included in a listing is an address and phone number, hold onto your hat. Here are some of the listing options.

1) Show the geographic area you service.

2) Photos: Upload yours, up to ten images per listing, in JPG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, BMP. A professional photo shoot can also be requested for your business.

3) Place Page Posts: You can post real time updates here, up to 160 characters, announcing special sales, events, and new products. One post appears at a time.

4) Custom QR Codes: For use with smart phones to take users to your mobile website.

5) Advertise: They do have a “Tags Program” in select cities for $25.00 a month where your business will be highlighted on Google.com and Google Maps.

6) List your operating hours. Biz description and even reviews.

7) Post Videos: Up to five videos can be posted, but you’ll need to publish them to YouTube first, then include the URL’s on your Place Page.

Payment Types Taken

9) Coupons: Create online coupons to give people incentive to visit your site. There’s a separate “coupon tab” that appears on your listing page.

10) Privacy: If you work at home and have no storefront you can choose to make your address private in your listing.

At this point you should be realizing how important being listed in Google Places is to your business. If you’d like to see what your listing looks like to a searcher, log into Google Places and click on “see your listing on Google Maps”.

Now remember, search results are based on relevance and “geographic distance”, so you can’t buy your way to the top of the list as with pay-per-click advertising. As previously mentioned, the “tags program”, if available in your area, can be utilized for having your business show up highlighted for $25.00 a month.

If you’re interested in paying for your links to show up on the Google Maps search results page, if related to the search terms and location searched, that can be done using Google’s Adwords program with what’s called “Local Targeted Ads”.

By the way, Google also includes a “Reporting Dashboard” that will tell you how people find you, and what keywords they used to search. It’s powerful stuff that can also be used in your local search engine optimization work.

Do yourself a favor – if you’re not listed with “Google Places”, now is a good time. It’s targeted, free traffic. Now where else can you say that when it comes to marketing on the Internet. People are looking for your business online and with Google Places you can make it easier for them to find you. Website or not – it simply doesn’t matter – but getting people in the door does, and Google is there to help.

About The Author
Merle’s Mission Blog – “Rants, Raves and Random Acts of Kindness”. A self-proclaimed “Internet Junkie” with a passion for net marketing, affiliate marketing, and social networking. An avid Blogger and writer with several niche sites. Find out more at merlesworld.blogspot.com . Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/msmerle

Twitter, the net’s networking success story, is intriguing and intimidating because of its message limitations: they can be 140 characters, and no more.

This is to say; each message sent on Twitter can be no larger than the previous sentence. Not an additional letter, space, period or dash can be added. These limitations have proven to be the greatest asset and the greatest challenge for people trying to use Twitter for any number of purposes.

On the advantageous side, the short messages have created an entire culture of Twitter-fluent writers. The brevity of the message stretches creative muscles, making people use every trick to get the most information into the fewest characters. On the other hand it creates a severe headache for the marketing minded, as it doesn’t leave much room to present a case. Thus the vast majority of Tweets are short little social comments or updates, and most marketing revolves around calling attention to particular links.

Of course, there are always ways around limitations, and Twitter is something that every seriously market-minded organization needs to embrace in order to see continued success on the web. In the case of short message services like Twitter, the key lies as much in the peripheral data that builds up around the message as in the content itself.

Be SEO Minded

Twitter profiles are now ranked by search engines, Google in particular. Every SEO technique you’ve learned now has a new, exciting purpose. For example, consider the biography you’re able to construct using Twitter. This is a ripe opportuníty to develop some brand recognition right away. Put the title of the brand you’re marketing in the bio, and consider including the most relevant keywords in your profile. As ever, do so in a way that respects the user’s intelligence, and gives them something worth reading. Simply stringing together a chain of keywords is not the way to go.

Include keywords in your Tweets as well, taking care not to be terribly obvious about it. The first 20-30 characters are the best place, as later words are of decreased importance in a Google ranking search.

Identify Your Audience

Each brand rises and falls on the whim of the audience, known in this case as tweeple.

There are a number of applications available to help you with the process of identifying the tweeple that you want to cultivate into an audience. Twitterholic can help you identify the movers and shakers based on their Twitter traffic and their location. If you know your field or brand well, you can use this to locate groups with similar interests and woo them to your feed. Tweepz is a similar tool, focusing on location, and Twitter itself has a ‘near this location’ feature that can be used to identify tweeple nearby your center of business.

Let’s Give Them Something to Tweet About

Yes, Twitter is an effective way to quickly distribute information. But its real power is in its ability to create conversations about something interesting.

In theory you could simply gather up a large user list of tweeple and start spamming them with links promoting your latest gig. This is a surefire way to get flagged for abuse or ignored entirely, and thus is rather counterproductive to good marketing goals.

Instead, consider using alternative methods to drum up those conversations that travel like wildfire.

For example, there is the technique of Alternate Reality Gaming. This is a phenomenon based on the idea of taking ‘real’ events and building a game out of them. Last Call Poker was an ARG that intended to drum up sales for an upcoming video game, GUN.

LCP spread out information about gatherings, online incentives, and other attractions to get people excited about the western theme of the game. Tokens such as poker chips and other goodies were given out at these events, and GUN went on to have a very successful launch. People were invited into the world of the western, and the chatter eventually included 8 million participants.

This kind of rogue advertising is tailor-made to work with Twitter. Locations and dates can easily fall within the 140 character limitation, as can short explanations. Consider creating an ARG with a short story designed to work within 140 characters, locate an audience with the assorted Twitter tools at your disposal, and plan some exciting events to promote your brand. The chance to get involved always gets people talking, and the more esoteric games can span entire continents.

There are other methods, some more appropriate to each individual brand. Perhaps a modest bicycling business isn’t suited to promote a large ARG experience. They could, however, organize a bicycling flash mob by hopping onto the local bike hobbyist twitter feed and posting a date and time. The trick is less which technique you use, and more that you do your best to make it relevant. As always, strong content and clear presentation will win out over gimmicks and sales speak.

Also, consider one last thought. The introductory statements of each section in this article are Twitter compatible, and so is this one. Good luck and happy Tweeting.

About The Author
Enzo F. Cesario is an online branding specialist and co-founder of Brandsplat, a digital content agency. Brandsplat creates blogs, articles, videos and social media in the “voice” of our client’s brand. It makes sites more findable and brands more recognizable. For the free Brandcasting Report go to www.BrandSplat.com or visit our blog at www.iBrandCasting.com.

Article printed from SiteProNews: http://www.sitepronews.com

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As you may already be aware, one of the most significant keys to success is getting website traffic.  The more site visitors you have, the better for sales and profits.  Presumably you have a niche and you know your keywords, and regularly conducting keyword research to stay on top of what’s popular.  Based on those assumptions here are five quick and easy tips to get website traffic fast!

Tip #1  Tag your keywords

Do you spend a lot of time optimizing your content and then neglect to tag them on your webpage?  Tags are where search engines look and if there are no tags they’ll pass right by your web pages.  Here’s a quick brief on tags.

There are a number of tag types including,

* Title tags. Title tags are quite possibly the most important place to situate your keywords.  Here’s an example of what they look like – <title>Primary keyword phrase here. </title>

Your title tag is where you place your primary keyword or keyword phrase.  The sentence will describe your business in less than 90 characters.

* Header Tags.  Header tags are next in order of importance to search engines.  They’re ranked in order of importance and look like this – <h1>Primary and/or Secondary keywords here</h1>

The “1” designates this header as the most important header on the page.

* Meta Tags. Meta tags provide the small descriptive text found underneath the title tag on the search engine results page.  Like title tags these should be kept brief, informative and up to date.

* Alt Tags. Alt tags are used to provide a text description of a graphic.  Each graphic on your site should have a description and an alt tag.  Looks like this: < img src=”youimage.jpg” alt=”Weight Loss Shake” >

Tip #2 Add content to your site daily

Content is essential for traffic and a top search engine ranking.  Content is what search engine spiders look for and index – without it there’s nothing to index or rank.  Give visitors and search engines a reason to visit and index your site. Make a commitment to provide daily, optimized content and your traffic will soar.

Tip #3 Procure valuable and relevant incoming links

The more websites which link to your web pages the more valuable search engines perceive you to be, though not all links are created equal.  Search engines give more leverage to links from sites which are popular and credible and from sites which are relevant to your website topic.

There are different types of links.

- A direct link looks like a basic website address, for example, www.yourwebsite.com

- A text link occurs when the webpage address is embedded in the text.  Readers simply click on the link and are redirected to a new website page.

- If the link is to an internal web page, for example an article published on a website, rather than the home page, it is called a “deep link.”

You can encourage linking to your website by:

* Adding content to your site.
* Submitting to article directories.
* Publishing press releases.
* Blogging and participating in social networking forums, chat rooms and social networking sites.

Tip #4 Be Social!

Now more than ever before, internet marketing is about building a community.  Whether you offer a forum on your website or you participate in social networking sites, social networking is a valuable traffic generating tactic.  Sites like Facebook and Twitter can be powerful tools for generating links and traffic to your site – create a profile and then post comments, links to your site and ideas which generate conversation.

Get involved – many chat rooms and forums are industry specific, find those which cater to your industry, and begin participating.  Speak to and connect with a highly targeted audience.

Tip #5 Advertise for more exposure and traffic

Advertising, when handled strategically, can be used to promote your content and products or services.  PPC advertising is often the tool of choice because you control the advertising budget on a daily basis and have the tools to test and track your advertising efforts.  Once you’ve honed your PPC ads the return on investment can be phenomenal in terms of traffic and purchases.

For maximum results, create a traffic and SEO strategy.  Outline your plan and your goals and then take the necessary action.  Take advantage of these five traffic and search engine tips to boost your business.

Many local business owners overlook one of the best forms of advertising today and that is a website.  If you want to attract customers, then there’s no question that having a website for your local business is your best weapon.

It doesn’t matter what kind of business you have whether you’re a retailer, dentist, lawyer,  accountant or dog groomer. Every business needs a website.  Do you realize that more and more people each day turn to the internet to look up businesses than the yellow pages?  If you aren’t online, they can’t find you.

Here is a brief list of the reasons why you should have an online presence:

• You can better serve your existing customer base.
• Your customers can have their questions answered 24/7.
• Your customers can set appointments with you online.
• It provides instant credibility.
• You can display customer testimonials for more interest and credibility.
• You will be able to target your market of choice using built-in advertising tools.
• You can showcase your work to prospective clients.
• You can offer specials, hot deals and online coupons.
• You will have a second storefront, virtually speaking, where you can display your products or services.
• You can sell your products online and it’s like having a 24 hour salesperson working for you.
• You can capture customer leads and email them anytime with special offers and information.
• Best of all you’ll stay ahead of the competition.

As you can see the benefits of having a website far outweigh the traditional yellow pages.  Your customers are online and they are looking for you.  Will you be there?

Need a website for your business? Check out these special website packages.

When you join a social networking site for the first time, there are a couple of unwritten ( or maybe written in some places) rules that you need to take into consideration.

Now these rules or tips may not make you a Millionaire overnight, but what they do is help build credibility and your good reputation online as someone people can trust and who knows his/her area of expertise well.

And here they are:

1. Don’t try to be funny

Some people will start to think business and start promoting their businesses or products on the spot. Wrong move. The purpose of sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc. is to socialize, and you should just stick to that. This means no hard selling, no direct sales pitch, nada, zilch. It’s an environment where work and play has must go hand in hand.

2. Go where the traffic is

Sounds like common sense? You’d be surprised how many people actually over look this. If you see a huge community of people on Facebook talking about dog training for example, there’s your obvious pot of gold.

3. Give as much as possible

Yea, it is better to give than to receive. When offering people tips, advice, videos, files and other freebies, you are actually adding value to whatever you offer them in future and building up a credible reputation. Although it seems you might be on the losing end now, in the near future, you will reap untold profits from this once little action.

Of course there’s more to leveraging on the power of social media but right now, apply these tips and see your stock rise online!

Would you like more social media tips like this? Check out Social Marketing Superstar.