SEO, AFFILIATE AND INTERNET MARKETING

It’s virtually impossible to navigate your way through a blog or forum on the topic of SEO (even a lot that aren’t) without seeing a post about the second Google PageRank updates (or more accurately downgrades) for the month.

Basically what has happened is a lot of blogs and directories that promote the selling or buying of links; display sponsored or paid listings on their sites; or basically appear to have an inflated ranking possibly caused through gaming the system using effective optimisation techniques have now dropped two or three points of PageRank.

This topic has been discussed openly for the last month and there have been heated debates on whether or not Google were bluffing when they said they would start penalizing sites for engaging in such activities… as well as many debates about whether or not Google have the right to say what you can and can’t do on your own website.

So now a lot of people who made money from such activities, webmasters who don’t really know what PageRank means (but know it is important), and novice SEOs that think that the little green PR score in their Google Toolbar is the be-all-and-end-all, are crying themselves to sleep at night wondering why Google is being so harsh and punishing them.

I’m sick of it!

Here’s the thing - having a high PageRank does not:

• improve your rankings
• generate more traffic to your site
• mean you actually have a high PageRank (because it’s updated so infrequently anymore anyway and even the PR that we can see isn’t necessarily anywhere near what your real rank is)

If anything, these updates have been an absolute goldmine to the sites penalized due to the number of highly relevant inbound links they have now received from every blog in the SEO world talking about it.

So my advice to everyone obsessing over the PageRank updates:

1. Stop it
2. Start reading blogs like SEObook and SEO By The Sea because with the combination of Bill’s research and Aaron’s rants you should gain a better understanding of what really matters in search industry…
3. And if you really want something to obsess about - start trying to figure-out what ranking system Google will come-up with next (because I’m sure there has to be something going on in the plex)

Maybe the title of this post isn’t as far-fetched as it seems? I’d be really interested in hearing what everyone else thinks.

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There are many different ways to make money on the Internet. Here is an overview of the five most popular online business models:

Sell Digital Products

The term “digital product” means that the product is delivered electronically. The customers will download the product to their computers. Some examples of digital products are downloadable e-books, audio/MP3, graphics (clipart and stock photography), video and software.

The digital product business model is very popular because there is no inventory, no shipping and no fulfillment cost. Since the product is an electronic file, it costs you nothing to make an extra copy - therefore, the profit margin is 100%!

Sell Physical Products

“Physical products” are the products that are shipped to customers through the mail. Customers place orders on your website and you ship the products to them.

There are several ways to get those products - you can make them yourself (for example, arts and crafts), buy them directly from a manufacturer or buy from a wholesaler (at quantity discounts).

If you don’t want to deal with the inventory and shipping, another alternative is to use a dropshipping service. Dropshipping means that the inventory is stored at the wholesaler company. You collect the customer information and payment, give it to the dropshipping company and they ship the product to the customer. Your profit is the difference between what the customer paid you and what you paid to the dropshipper.

Become An Affiliate

Affiliates send visitors to other companies’ websites and get paid a percentage of all the sales they refer. You don’t have to worry about creating websites, dealing with customers, shipping and payment processing. Your only job is to advertise those websites and send people there. People will buy products from those websites and you will be paid your commission.

When you become an affiliate, you will be given a unique link with a tracking code. In your advertising, you will send people to that link. This unique code will ensure that all the sales will be properly credited to you.

Sell Advertising

If you have a website that gets a lot of visitors, you can sell advertising on it. Other companies will pay you for advertising space on your site, just like they pay to advertise in magazines and newspapers.

That’s how all those “free websites” make money - they sell advertising. Free content attracts a lot of visitors. The higher is the number of people who visit the website, the more money you can make from advertising.

Provide Services

There are many types of services that can be done on the computer through the Internet. The most common examples of such services are website design, programming, graphic design, writing, data entry and transcription.

Many companies will gladly pay someone to do computer work for them on a project basis, so they don’t have to hire full-time employees. As long as the work can be done without face-to-face interaction, you can do it from home on your computer and make money.

About the Author
Melanie Mendelson has been making money on the Internet since 2002. Get her FREE step-by-step Internet Business Blueprint at her website http://www.goforyourdreams.com

What is PPC?
PPC stands for Pay Per Click. Effective pay per click management can be used to increase traffic, reduce cost per click and boost profit. A well managed pay per click campaign can, in fact, make the difference between profitability and loss.

Pay per click advertising on search engines allows you choose keywords you would like your site to appear for when a search is performed. You decide how much you are willing to pay each time a person clicks on the search results. The more you are willing to pay per click, the higher your site will appear in the results for the keywords you choose.

The search engines are primarily one of the best sources for targeted traffic to your website. With PPC advertising, your website can appear on the search results for as many keywords and key phrases of your choice. It allows you to get more targeted site traffic instantly. But Pay Per Click needs effective management as well. Without proper PPC management, you might just be wasting time and money.

Before spending any money with a pay per click search engine, be sure they can answer the following questions:

• How many searches a month are performed at the search engine?
• What major search partners or affiliates does the search engine have?
• How many searches are generated each month by the search partners or affiliates?
• Is it possible to opt out of having your listing appear in the results of the affiliate sites?
• What fraud prevention mechanisms are in place?

This form of advertising has become so popular on Google that it can now be difficult to find keywords that are useful and related to your content without spending a fortune. There are however, some things to keep in mind that will help you to become more profitable with pay per click advertising.

A growing problem among PPC advertisers is that their competition has been known to click on their ads in order to up their bill with Google. This is not always the case, but bewares of this practice. The real goal you have here is to convert the clicks to sales.

For the future of pay per click management agencies, consider this:

• It should now be easier to earn large commissions on pay per click ad spend
• Returns are more easily guaranteed to clients with PPC
• SEO is perceived to be more difficult and less rewarding
• Google themselves intend to drive SEO agencies out of business if they stick to SEO, and they are providing lower hanging fruit to agencies so that they consider switching more clients to pay per click advertising.

Pay Per Click management can bring success to PPC campaigns when done accordingly. Pay per click advertising is based on the auctioning of keywords. The more popular the keyword, the more money a company will pay to use it.

Often PPC advertising generates results immediately, so don’t put off upgrading your system if necessary. Always make sure that your site is in top shape before you advertise as well. Sending someone to a site that is incomplete or not in top form will set a bad first impression and you will lose a potential sale.

PPC advertising is a very tricky thing. Pay careful attention to your pay per click campaigns. In many cases the network through which you advertised with freeze your ads for different reasons.

When using pay per click advertising, avoid the top three slots. Top three sites receive a lot of accident clicks and ‘test’ clicks. You definitely do not want these most of the time, as these searchers wont be as interested in your site as someone who actually read your advertisement and decided to check out your website.

The author is Business Head for tradeweblinks and ebizpromo who is specialized into web-design, development, Search Engine optimization and link building

Every person who comes to the internet with the idea of making money soon discovers that their choices are almost limitless. Indeed, the very first step is to make the choice between starting one’s own website or locating the perfect affiliate program to join.

Finding an affiliate program is easy; finding the right affiliate program is much more difficult.

To get yourself on the right track, make a list - or business plan if you will - and be sure to ask yourself the most obvious question, “What am I going to sell?”

Here are some factors to consider when deciding the answer to that question:

o Should I choose a physical or digital product?

If you choose to get into the “shipping business” (and there are affiliate programs out there with real physical products), one factor to consider is who covers the costs? Traditionally, the affiliate program owner takes the full brunt of all costs. You, in return, receive a commission for sending a customer to that program (or physical products website).

No fuss, no muss.

However, a majority of the affiliate programs deal with intangibles, so called because the product is received over the internet in a “virtual” form. Digital ebooks, videos, training materials, and more are offered through various affiliate programs online.

This choice, too, offers very little hands on - your job will be to find others to tell about the program and get them to your affiliate program website.

Which leads us to…

o How hard do I want to work?

Investigative research is critical to successfully choosing the proper program online from which to make money. Choosing a physical product in high demand but with little competition means more commission checks in your bank account. Picking an intangible affiliate program with high demand but smaller competition (known as a “niche”) may mean the difference to successfully making money online… or not. Choose a program with too many variables, too much competition, and the going is going to be rough. Research is critical.

o Will funding (your own) be an issue?

Regardless of the type of affiliate program (physical or intangible), you will need to factor in the cost of doing business online. Word of mouth, or viral marketing, will only get you so far. Some affiliate programs have a group buying power - more or less - and help you offset your advertising costs. Other affiliate programs require you to have the funds on hand to spread the word about your chosen venture. Be sure to add in advertising and marketing costs on top of any fees it may cost you to join your chosen affiliate program.

o More about your competition

If you have a special interest in some product add the words “niche marketing” to your vocabulary. Also note that you are headed in the right direction. Find a niche. Niche affiliate programs mean you will be searching out spots where very specific groups of individuals hang - in order to tell them about your chosen online business.

Instead of trying to persuade (and reach) millions, choosing a niche-type approach means locating individuals already looking for what you have found - then just telling them about it.

In theory, making money online sounds easy. Do not be misled, it is a business like any other business and requires planning. But, if you have the wherewithal and desire to truly make money online, choosing the best affiliate program is an ideal first option.

Richard Morgan highly recommends investigating an easy to get started affiliate program at Affiliate Marketing Steps.com.

First lets put the myth to bed Adsense was never dead or even seriously ill. It was just that advertisers were not happy with the returns they were getting from the content network. Many stopped advertising and the revenue dropped for publishers. This was partly due to poor quality sites and click fraud. I used to have hundreds of Adsense sites but I’ve got rid of almost all of them now and started to create very high quality sites that are designed to make over $10 per day.

So why I am starting to focus on Adsense again?

Very recently Google have made changes to the clickable parts of the ads. Whereas before the complete ad was clickable now just the URL and the title are able to be clicked. If you have sites where you blend the ads into your content in the hope of accidental clicks you will have found a big drop in your income.

I believe that Google’s long term plan has been to make the content network a much better place for advertisers to place their ads. These changes to the ads will ensure that there are fewer accidental clicks so advertisers will make more profits from the ads. Greater profits mean more adverts.

Over the next few months I believe that the amount per click for Adsense will rise as smart pricing starts to take a back seat. Quality sites with quality content will be rewarded with more advertisers vying to place ads on sites and therefore higher clicks.

If you have an Adwords account you’ll have noticed that many of the recent changes have been targeted at getting people to advertise on the content network. The more that do the better it will be for quality publishers.

To take advantage of this coming upsurge in Adsense you should start to build good quality sites with unique content. Start with finding niches that have lots of competing advertisers and good traffic. Then find a good quality domain name with no hyphens and make sure it’s a dot com.

Using free tools like The Google Adwords External tool and Wordtrackers Gtrends Tool and bulk domain availability checkers you should be able to find some great niches and Domain names. These niches will have traffic from the time you build them which will give you a head start.

You next need to create content for both the site and to distribute to generate traffic. I am not going to pretend that it’s easy but by spending time on each site and making sure that you build the traffic up you can soon start to generate a decent income from each site. Set yourself a target figure for each site that can either be visitors per day or daily income and focus until you reach it.

Don’t be tempted to place lots of ad blocks on your page. This will only have the effect of reducing your income. Google displays the highest paying ads first down to the lowest. so you may have a $2.50 ad and also 3 $0.05 showing. But by just having 1 ad block displayed in the right place you ensure that the highest paying ads are displayed.

If all this sounds like too much work for $10 a day then you are missing one important fact. Good quality AdSense sites have a high resale value. Usually 6 to 10 times the monthly income. After a few months it is possible that you will have a site that you can sell for over $1000 dollars. Consider creating sites with the sole intention of selling them along with ones you intend keeping.

Adsense is most certainly not dead in fact I believe it’s about to make the finest comeback since Lazarus!

Want to know how to create income from Adsense and other income streams for free visit the Income Academy Blog.