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Yahoo Gets Rid of Duplicate Content Issues

Posted by JeffBeale

Yahoo has devised a way to get rid of duplicate content issues on their search engine. The company has been taking big strides in helping control the duplicate content issue. Recently it has launched the use of the <link> tag which helps by documenting the preferred URL to access each web page.

You simply do this by placing a <link> tag to the <head> section of your page content. This is how the tag looks: <link rel=”canonical” href=”http://www.example.com/products” />. This indicates to the crawler that the URL it is on should be represented as this http://www.example.com/products. It eliminates certain duplicates.

 You can also place the canonical URL form for crawlers to use on each page content. Doing this makes it available for crawlers to use no matter what source of variance is present in the URL form to be used to access the page.  

It is advisable that the URLs in the <link> tag are absolute to minimize the chance for errors although it can work for both absolute and relative URLS.
A <link> tag can only indicate to a canonical URL that belongs to the same domain but not across.

Of course Yahoo still has to verify with its algorithmic mechanics even if it considers the <link> tag information. This is to avoid further system problems in case the <link> tag is not used to serve its purpose.

The <link> tag is the same as that of 301 redirects when it comes to transferring link references to the canonical form of the page.  

The <link> tag is also transitive, which means that if A treats B as canonical and B treats C as canonical as well then that makes C canonical for both A and B.

There is also another means of resolving duplicate content issues. It’s by using the Rewrite Dynamic URLs feature of Site Explorer. You merely have to authenticate the site in Site Explorer and create a URL Rewriting Rule.

Canonical Link: Answer to Duplicate Content Issues

Posted by JeffBeale

Duplicate content has been a recurring concern for Google and other search engines, particularly since this has been a means employed by several online entrepreneurs in their campaigns.

Now search engines came up with a way to address this issue by putting a <link> element in a canonical page. A canonical page is the chosen and selected version of a set of pages with highly the same content.

That explains why it’s usual for users to find pages that have almost the same content. They only vary in quite simple means such as alphabetization, product listing by price, or by rate.

It used to be that when Google finds out that several pages have the same content, it chooses just one to show up in the search engine. Recently, webmasters are given the opportunity to convey to Google the pages that they want to be prioritized. The rule is simple. They add the <link> element and put in the attribute rel=”canonical” to the non- canonical page’s <head> section.

The attribute rel=”canonical” is suggestive, not definite. This allows webmasters to inform Google the page version that they want to be considered as canonical. Google will consider this together with its judgment on which pages it considers to have the most relevant content.

The rel=”canonical” attribute is compatible with both relevant and absolute links although it is highly advisable to use absolute links to minimize potential confusion or difficulties.

Google will find all means to choose a canonical page if ever the attribute rel=”canonical” leads to a blank page or if there are more two or three canonical pages chosen by the webmaster. Canonicalization suggestions are restricted solely across sub domains but not to a different one. To migrate to an entirely different domain, having permanent redirect links is highly recommended.

This ensures that every webmaster has the right to choose content that is more relevant to his business.

What Is Permission Email Marketing?

Posted by JeffBeale

One of the technical jargons you need to know of is permission email marketing. What makes it different from other types of email marketing? It’s that marketing through email campaigns such as e-mailers, newsletters, e-zines, or reports sent to customers, potential clients, or simply site visitors who subscribed to them or what is termed as opted in.

When we say opted in, it means they directly become part of your opt-in list. You see when marketers come up with a landing page they create a database for people to leave their email addresses. When these visitors do so, that means they are interested to hear about whatever you have to offer for them.

It is often mistaken as spam although the major qualification for an e-mail to be considered part of permission email marketing is that it is solicited. Spam is unsolicited. Emails are about creating relationships that’s why it’s important that when people trust you and your brand enough for them to send you their email addresses, you should take extra precaution to make sure the relationship is not abused. One thing to show that is to communicate only valuable information.

That is the major reason why it is necessary that you manage your list well. Include only valid email addresses. It’s the only way that you can be sure your message will be delivered and consequently your campaigns will be successful. You can show respect to your clients and potential customers by providing them an option for opt out. You have to make it easy for them to unsubscribe from your email campaign collaterals. In fact there’s an international legislation regarding this to ensure that no spammer can freely fill anyone’s inbox with junk.

An email’s body should be aligned with its title and subject line, meaning its content should tie up everything for your email to be identified as legitimate and with value.

Convenience Brought about by Online Malls

Posted by JeffBeale

Have you ever thought about going full-blown in your online shopping? In fact that is now possible. With the emergence of web malls, you have a portal where you can shop for almost everything you need. How is that possible? We can take a peek here.

The politically correct term for a web mall is affiliate Internet marketing web mall where you can find a collection of different items sold through affiliate links. Visitors can now enjoy a one-stop shop for all their shopping pleasure.

At first online malls were considered new and merely seemed possible but currently web malls have become really popular. The best thing about it is that web hosting companies now provide web mall templates that are not that expensive, given the market competition. This makes it easier for anyone to come up with an online, unlike before when it takes so much effort to accomplish it.

Having web malls or more commonly known as E-malls, small business retailers can gain marketing power as they team u with other small retailers and they can receive increased traffic through this strategy. This is so because E-malls present an opportunity for small retailers to have online presence with only a small amount for rental fee and percentage for online revenues.

The technique here is to collaborate with people on the same niche as yours but retain versatility so as to present new options to potential clients.
Any marketer and online entrepreneur can take advantage of the fact that many people now are opting for online shopping. You can also benefit from the psychological aspect that states how online shoppers take into liking shops that are placed side by side in a portal. It’s the same concept that pervades in a physical shopping mall.

The greatest benefit an online mall can offer is that of having less to do with advertising and marketing. One you launch a web page for your product on an online mall, the E-mall will be the one to promote your products. It’s easy and convenient.

The Many Ways Widgets Help Your Business

Posted by JeffBeale

I’m sure you like Facebook or MySpace and you know that it can be used not only to connect with your friends and family but you can promote your business on it as well.

Basically widgets are about adding additional benefits and features on your host site. It also extends these benefits to visitors of that host site and in turn the widget owner will benefit from exposure as well.

Perhaps the best thing about widgets is that it has become easy to place widgets on web sites. Application developers made it possible to add widgets by just pasting a code. Whoever gives you widgets, you need to show appreciation by adding their site’s URL to your site. They will also like it when you make a page that has all the widget stats on it. In this way they can monitor usage.

The most popular form of widget that you can earn from is Google Adsense. By adding the link that Google gives you the link to post their ads on your site, you can earn in every visitor who clicks on their ads.

There are also widgets that can help you when you are fond of using Wikipedia for your research. WikiSeek is a widget that allows you instant access to Wikipedia right on your site. You can also take advantage of FeedCount when you want to show the number of visitors on your blog site.

If you want to know the time in every client you have abroad, you can make use of ClockLink. This widget shows the different time zones on your site. You can also try 3Jam, which allows visitors to call you on your mobile phone even without knowing your number. Criteo AutoRoll displays links of blogs that are related to yours. You might find WhoLinked to be useful. It will show the web sites that recently linked to your web site. It works with major blog platforms.

As you can see widgets are small tiny programs that are often taken for granted but have great use. 

Hubpages Can Help You Earn More

Posted by JeffBeale

The last time we talked about Squidoo lenses. Squidoo lenses have their equivalent pages called Hubs. They both are actually almost the same, only that for Hubpages they have one Hub for one article while Squidoo allows you to have more.

So how do you benefit from Hubpages really? Hubpages weigh heavier than a micro niche blog on Google SERPs. Meaning if you are targeting a niche topic which is too competitive to handle through a WordPress blog, you can make use of Hubpages instead since they already have a established relationship with Google.
It would be worth knowing too that you can earn through Google Adsense also in your Hubs. When Google post ads that are related to your niche on your site, you are given almost half the percentage of the earnings they get for visitors who clicked on their ads.

Another means of earning in your site is through eBay and Amazon. All you need to do is sign up for their affiliate programs and they will give you a unique ID; then you can start promoting their products on your site. Amazon even allows you to promote the company itself in your site, giving you a percentage of their earnings.

What’s fascinating with Hubpages is that you won’t have to worry a lot about keyword targeting especially if you’re new to the task. Hubpages like Squidoo is given attention by Google due to its high standard and quality content. Hubpages is in fact strict in their standard for quality. That’s reason enough why Google prioritizes Hubpages.

Online entrepreneurs and marketers have come to love Hubpages since they are easy to produce and can generate high traffic as well. It means that your Hubs will be viewed and read by thousands of people online. That’s where the clicks are generated.

Hubpages can even be used for link building as well. Hubpages will automatically set nofollow tags when you post your links on your hubs. Until such time you reach the score 75, that’s when they remove the nofollow tags and set them to dofollow.

Ways to Fight Recession through Clickbank

Posted by JeffBeale

 Clickbank is a large network where one can purchase desired product, list or promote your own product, or simply earn money by promoting other people’s product.

Start with ‘visiting’ websites of companies with affiliate programs that sell their products   on Clickbank. Companies with websites selling their products pay other people to send visitors to their websites.  Profits are split with company and affiliate.

A list of marketing resources for starters is provided such as BeatingAdwords.com, GoogleCash.com, TheRichJerk.com and AffiliateCashVault.com These sites will afford you tools and techniques to use as internet marketer. Choose one which you think will suit you and register.

Having been equipped with the right techniques and strategies, opportunity is just a click away.  One thing being required of you is to be serious because earning money online is serious.

Affiliate marketing is a free and cheap way to trade advertising for income. Advertisers need space on a website or blog page while they (the advertisers) have what you need—a source of income. It’s symbiosis. It, too, helps your traffic because, if they are interested in your topic, they will be willing to know where to buy related products or services. 

There will be many willing to enter business relationships with you.  Here are some tips to help you make your choice.

1.Consider your audience.  Your affiliates should have some connections with your theme or product.

2.Have integrity. Advertise only the products which you believe in.

3.Use restraint. Avoid having many banners and flashing images.

One of the first things experienced online business owners learn is how to make money through affiliate. This way you don’t need to come up with your own product.  Somebody does it for you. The absolutely cheap way to begin affiliate marketing is what is known as “bum marketing.” The only thing required is the ability to write basic article  or rewrite inexpensive private label rights and do it with an easy content system like Word Press.  You will need a website or at least a blog in your chosen niche.

The domain name must be keyword rich. If you can’t find YourKeyPhrase.com, try separating the word with hyphens. Now, proceed by writing 10 pages worth of content. What’s a long-tail key phrase? It’s one of the ultra- specific but less searched key phrases. These are phrases that have less competition yet are more focused toward buyers. At the top and bottom of each web page, put an affiliate link to a niche product.  It is time-consuming but don’t worry about it.

Product owners will likely pay thousands of dollars for someone to write their product sales pages.  Instead, hit on emotional hot-buttons for your key phrases. Write and submit at least two articles a day.

Lastly, be sure you have your appropriate author bio-box.  All these you can do at your leisure in the comforts of home.    

 

What In the World Is Squidoo?

Posted by JeffBeale

A recent marketing rage is Squidoo. It in fact created a term on its own: mini nets. So when a marketer tells you to build a mini net, you don’t have to search in Wiki to know what it is although Hubpages have come up with an equivalent to Squidoo.

So how come these Squidoo lenses happen to have the nickname mini nets? Let’s try to find out why. The reason why Squidoo gained the attention of a massive audience is not because it is founded by the famous marketing writer Seth Godin, but simply because the site has excellent standard in quality with highly informative content ready for everyone’s consumption.

One good thing about Squidoo is that you can do whatever you want with it. You can post your photos and videos on it. You can even add music. That’s why it’s called a mini site after all. You can also link your Squidoo lens to a lot more lenses on your niche which is an effective strategy to get traffic.

There are no special rules to follow in Squidoo besides the standard no spamming rule. Seth Godin made it a point that anyone from the smallest to the largest companies can express their views or advertise their products or services on Squidoo for as long they do it in a professional manner.

There are two ways you can earn from Squidoo lenses; that is apart from its being a traffic-generating initiative. One way to earn from it is through affiliate marketing. Since Squidoo allows you to put links for affiliate products on your lenses, when somebody clicks and buys from these links, you earn a commission.

The second way is through Google ads on your lenses. When a site visitor clicks on the Google ads found on your lens, you earn out of it. Squidoo can directly translate to revenue generation but its lasting effect is that of branding for your business or company. 

Tools for Spying on Your Competitors

Posted by JeffBeale

We discussed about keyword research tools in the past, and I’m sure by now you are already aware of its significance. Now you need to know an equally important tool which allows you to run a research on how your competitors play their marketing game. It’s called the spy tool.

Some common brands of these spy tools are Google Trends for Web Sites, FeedCompare, Google Alerts, StatBrain, and a lot more. What’s good with a spy tool is that it doesn’t only give you a list of keywords to use; it makes sure that the keywords you get are highly performing. Take note that a spy tool is after quality and not quantity when it comes to keywords. A spy tool gives you not only keywords but related words and even keywords mined from landing pages and ads of all your competitors.

Let’s take a quick look at the features of some spy tools. Google Alerts is known for searches of your competitors, their key employees, and the keywords they use. It’s valuable information for monitoring their game plan.

StatBrain on the other hand cannot access hit-counter information or log files but its algorithm computes the number of visitors to a site gathered from back links, Alexa Rank, and others. With this information you can get a rough estimate of how you are faring with your competitors in traffic generation.

Another notable tool is Google Trends for Web Sites. You just have to type in five topics and you will see through the tool the number of times these topics were searched in Google for a period of time. The tool also informs you of how often your topic comes out in Google news stories. Just the same it also tells you which region or geographic location does your topic have the most searches. In this way, it’s easier for you to gain a geo-targeted audience where you can be more profitable compared to your competitors.

 

How Important Is a Keyword Research Tool?

Posted by JeffBeale

Once you realized the significance of keyword research to any marketing initiative, you’re bound for the next stop which is selecting your keyword research tool. You might be wondering what this tool is. It is a tool that informs you of what other people are looking for online through the search engines. You can also make an intelligent guess on what they may search next and make use of that information to come up with optimization strategies, strategies that help you become more visible on search engines.

So where can we find this tool? There are keyword research tools which you have to buy. Others are free of charge. You might think that the purchased tools are better than those that are free. There’s really not that much difference. What you need for a good keyword research output you can get from the basic package.

There are several free keyword research tools you can find online.  A favorite tool for most marketers is the WordTracker. This gives you a thorough search even for long tail keywords, helping a marketer mine for more profitable keywords along the way.

I bet you have heard of the SEO Book tool. This keyword research tool is well reputed for compiling all data from several search engines and other data-collection sites. SEO Book can also help in providing you the keywords you need for promoting your affiliate products and services. The data it provides will keep you informed of what keywords are highly performing, not just the number of possible clicks from your potential clients.

Another popular keyword research tool is Google keyword research tool. This great tool can give you a lot of significant information for choosing keywords. It gives you the highly converting keywords, competition for every keyword, and even the amount one’s competitor is paying for every click on their Google ad.

Some marketers and entrepreneurs who have been in the business for quite some time now believe that all free tools offer almost the same basic services, save for a few differences. However, my two cents is that sometimes it all depends on how well you analyze the trends and come up with your strategies to win the game.   

 

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