Getting Conversions on Your Blog
So, what if your online business is all about selling your ebook.
What good is a blog to you?
Well the first answer is that blogs are Traffic Magnets — Search engines and people both love blogs.
But blogs also do their best work by helping your traffic become more familiar with who you are, and what you’re about.
It’s no coincidence that most people like to buy things they need from people they know. A blog gives you an opportunity to show your traffic who you are, and why you’re worth buying from.
Blogs are, by nature, full of free content. So your readers will be getting a big eyeful of the value of your content. Your job, as the owner of a blog about your specialty, is to impress your readers so much that they think to themselves “If his free stuff is THIS good, then the paid stuff has got to be EVEN BETTER!”
And on the path to getting your traffic to buy from you are some opportunities for getting your readers to take action and strengthen his relationship with you.
For example, even though Squeeze Pages are an excellent way to get opt-ins, there’s nothing wrong with putting an opt-in form right on your blog.
One other thing you’ll see on blogs are ads.
Now, these ads don’t have to be paid ads from other marketers. They can just as easily be ads for your own products.
Got another product in a related field? Put an ad for it on your website. Are you an affiliate for a related product? Put an affiliate ad for it on your website. Do you have a list you’re trying to build for your main product?
Heck, you can even put an ad for your squeeze page’s free offer on your website.
Of course, you can also add links to your Twitter feed, your Facebook page, and a bunch of other social media sites that you use to spread your message.
All of these links will help you either sell more product, or build your relationship with your readers.
So do you see the power of using a blog to support your online business? I hope so, because there’s a bunch of resources in the Coaching Club this month to help you build and promote your own blog.
If you’re a member, log into the coaching club now. If you’re not yet a member, you might just be a dollar away from the most important part of your online marketing machine. Sign up now.
To Your Success,
–Mark Widawer
Tilting Your Blog Posts
If you know anything about Search engines, you know that the words you use to describe your pages and your other content are very important. In fact, it’s what the Search Engines use to determine the content of your site.
In a blog, the name of your article is repeated in many different parts of the site in many different ways. As a result, it is VERY important that you name your posts well if you want the page to have maximum SEO benefit.
Your blog system can automatically use your Post Title. . .
* In the Title Tag of your post. The title tag is the single biggest clue to the Search Engines what your page is about. Ignoring the content of your Title tags is a big mistake.
* In the major heading (h1 or h2 tag) for your post. The Search Engines look at a page’s headings to determine its meaning, too. Any opportunity you have to tell the Search Engine what your page is about is an opportunity you should take.
* As the actual page name of your post. A big help in determining a page’s meaning. It follows that if a page is called “/get-out-of-debt.html” that it’s a page about getting out of debt, right? Your blog will handle this for you, if you let it.
* In many of the links that point to your post. Not only do the Search Engines look at your page to figure out what it’s about, but they also look at the text in the links that point to your site. If the links say “click here”, it doesn’t mean anything to the Search Engines. But, if your link says “get out of debt”, the Search Engine will include those words in its database.
What’s great about blogs is that they are actual computer programs, and for the most part are optimized for the search engines — at least most of the way — so that the right words are used in the right places for the most benefit.
They’ll automatically put your Post title in the right places for the first two items (title tag and major heading), and with minor tweaks they’ll put the keywords in the last two as well.
I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating — Blogs are Traffic Magnets, and search engines love them.
Now you know why.
Log into the coaching club now to find out how to use blogs as the central hub of your online business…or just a simpler way to make money online.
http://mmc.trafficswarm.com
To Your Success,
–Mark Widawer
What Do Search Engines Love?
Search Engines LOVE Blogs!
So many people want to start with Internet Marketing but think they’re just not technical enough to do anything with computers. They think that since they don’t know make a web page with HTML, they’re destined to never have an online business.
Well that’s why blogs are such a blessing for internet marketers — especially new marketers. Blogs make it easy to build web sites, make new pages, put pictures on your site, offer stuff for sale, and even place ads on your site — without any technical knowledge at all.
In fact, if you can use a word processor, a web browser, and your email program, you’ve got all the skills you need to run a blog.
And blogs come with a bonus, too. Search engines LOVE blogs. So even if you don’t know anything at all about Search Engine Optimization — the science of getting your site listed on the search engines — your blog will help you out a whole bunch.
Watch this short clip from this month’s webinar on Blogging for Marketers. It’s all about “Why Search Engines Love Blogs”.
http://mmc.trafficswarm.com/preview/blogging
If you’re a member of the Coaching Club, once the clip is over, you can go watch the entire 75 minute video on how you can use a blog as the hub of your online business. If you’re not yet a member, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Sign up now for just a dollar. There are dozens of programs inside the club, all about how you can start or improve your online business.
Join Now for a dollar!? http://mmc.trafficswarm.com
To Your Success,
Mark Widawer, Kaycee Edenfield, The Coaching Club Team
303-895-3575
Blogs For Paid Advertising
Do you know that there are people who will pay you money to run their ads on your blog?
It’s true. There’s money in paid advertising.
What’s the difference between paid advertising and affiliate ads?
Read more
How To Write For Your Blog
Let’s say you’re an affiliate and are going to set up a blog as the heart of your web business.
You’re probably wondering “what do I write in my blog”?
Well, here are a few ideas for you. Read more
Why Search Engines Love Blogs
Most website designers believe that a website is all about how it looks, or all about how it works. That’s because a lot of web developers are graphic artists or programmers.
But you and I are marketers, and in today’s Internet, really the most important part about a website is what it says, and how clearly it shows that. Read more
Blogs for Affiliate Marketing
There are thousands of people who make thousands of dollars every month, week or day by creating blogs about a particular topic — and they make big bucks with them, too.
For example, if you love shoes, you can put up a blog where you write all about shoes and fashion, and make money on the affiliate links you put up on your blog that refer traffic to vendors of the shoes you write about, and other stores as well.
You’ll find exactly such a blog at www.shoeblogs.com, written by someone named “Manolo.” I remember hearing, back in 2005, Manolo had made into the six figures for that year with his blog, mostly based on affiliate revenue. I’m sure he’s way beyond that by now.
With affiliate advertising, you usually get paid when someone clicks on your ad, goes to the merchant’s site, and buys something. In other words, you’re paid when someone buys, and you’re depending on the merchant’s website to convert the visitors you send there.
If you like to write, think it’s easy, and don’t like the idea of “selling” things — but still want to run your own internet marketing business — then this is a great way for you to go.
You’ll learn, in this month’s coaching club, exactly how to set up a blog, make it look like what you want it to look like, and how to write in it so that it attracts search engines and traffic that can make you money.
And, if you want your blog set up for you by someone who knows how to get it done, let me know.
I’m looking for a volunteer for this Thursday’s webinar.
You’ll find more details in your Coaching Club account: http://mmc.trafficswarm.com/members
Not a member yet, join here for a buck! http://mmc.trafficswarm.com
To Your Success,
–Mark Widawer
Naming Your Blog
A lot of people blaze right by one of the most important steps in setting up their blog: selecting the right domain name.
Your blog’s domain name is important because Google looks for meaning everywhere it can find it. Google learns what your site is about from your page names, your page titles, your header text, the text you boldface and italicize, even the names of your photos and images.
So, if Google uses all of those things to help figure out what your site is about, what do you think it would do with your domain name? Read more
What is a Blog?
I just came back from our neighborhood’s fall festival. I had a chat with one of the local merchants about his product, about his website, and about his marketing. Given the kind of product that he sells, I was surprised to find that he didn’t have a business blog.
Even now, at the end of 2009, many people still don’t know exactly what a blog is. Maybe that’s because there are so many ways to define a blog. But let’s see if we can agree on what a blog is so we can get to the business of getting one built to help build your own business.
The word “blog”, which is short for “web log” is “a website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order.
And that’s usually true, but it is not nearly half of the story. Read more
The first (and worst) question to ask when you’re starting your online business
Among all of the questions you can ask about starting an online business, there’s one that just outranks them all. It’s not a nasty question. It’s not even scandalous. It’s just a question that indicates that you’re thinking about your future business in reverse and upside down.
I’m not going to tell you what the question is — you’ll need to listen to this clip from our most recent Open Coaching Call to hear it. But I will tell you that I talked a LOT about the right questions to ask, and the right way to think about and plan your business, for most of the call.
The difference between the right questions and the wrong questions can mean a difference in your business of 10 times to 100 times. It’s the difference between failure and success. It could even be the difference between starting with a bang, and never starting at all.
It’s THAT important a question.
You can hear the audio clip here: http://mmc.trafficswarm.com/preview/qa/200910
And if you’re a member, you can view the entire webinar recording by logging into the Coaching Club here:
http://mmc.trafficswarm.com/members
If you’re not yet a member, what are you waiting for? Get access to this webinar, and dozens of other online marketing resources by signing up here for just a dollar:
