For those wishing to find out the forums then follow the link on the menu bar to the right.

You will have to register and then supply me with an email as to why etc. I know this sounds elitist but it is a private members only forum and we take a zero tolerance policy to those clowns out there who wish to join just to spam the living daylights out of the rest of us with Link Spam.

We aim to help as many people as we can as our members will testify and we are a hardworking and actually very friendly bunch once you get in but sadly there are too many losers out there who just try and abuse the system so we have to follow this path.

Our Youtube channel can be found here

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Hmnnnn, this one’s actually a biggie and speaking as someone who is the main principal behind a keyword rich site name i.e. Simple Leveraging then technically that should “nail my colours” to the mast.

In the interests of fairness let me highlight two opposing viewpoints on the issue and then give you my take.

First up there is Scott Boyd at Fused Nation ( http://www.fusednation.com/seo/q-are-keywords-in-your-domain-name-an-important-ranking-factor/ ) who is of the opinion that “there was a time when keyword domains were synonymous with spam (because as I said, spammers used to buy up keyword domains and throw up spam sites because they used to rank well because of the keyword in the domain). Personally, I ignore link requests and business requests from keyword domains for that reason – this may be the exception rather than the rule, but I believe there are probably a good percentage of website owners who feel the same.”

Whilst I agree with him on certain points in that it did cause a whole wave of “brain dead SEO” i.e. never mind about anything else just get a domain name linked to your keywords I still think having your keywords in a domain name still does have a certain amount of kudos.

These probably relate more to branding awareness and associate issues more than anything else. For example David Airey in his post about the “Real Value of Keyword Rich Domain Names” (http://www.davidairey.com/domain-name-keyword-importance/ ) uses two of his own sites as examples, logodesignlove.com and davidairey.com. He states that: “logodesignlove.com has significantly gained ground on davidairey.com because people use the text ‘logo design’ within their links, as opposed to ‘David Airey’.

An inbound link (one coming from another website) pointing to davidairey.com is most likely to be typed as David Airey. A similar link to logodesignlove.com is most likely to appear as Logo Design Love.

Considering the importance of anchor text on inbound links, this will have quite a bearing on web searches for ‘logo designer’.

With that in mind, the main point still reverts to your content, because if it’s not good quality, you won’t create any inbound links.”

I can understand and agree in parts with all that the above are talking about but as of the date of this post it has to be said that in empirical tests that if possible give me a keyword rich domain name (if available) any day of the week. I am currently looking at a domain name (a .com) registered as part of a potential joint venture in an ecommerce project over 3 months ago that as I write this piece has only a Title tag, a few lines of text and nothing else but is 100% keyword specific for its market (this is DIY and Home Refurbishment) and the domain name is sitting at No 1 in both Google and Yahoo in categories where there is over 450,000 competitors and a limited amount of traffic.

So to sum, if you can, get a keyword rich domain name but don’t lose any sleep if you can’t as a successful name and profile can just as easily be built up using great content (now that’s another issue) and smart SEO.

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It appears that as of the time of the post that Google have either completed or in the final stages of completing another Page Rank Update.

As with all events like this there are winners and losers but all I have to say to anyone is that at the end of the day, Page Rank matters damn all in the universal scheme of things, its SERPS that matter and many’s the time I have seen in the SERPS, medium to high PR sites (PR4+) get their butts whipped (as an american colleague of mine so eloquently puts it) by relatively low PR sites (i.e 1 or above).

Here are a few links to how the update is being received in parts Google Page Rank Update Discussion and more detail about this can be found at this Google Info Blog

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A Lot of Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing Professionals are voicing their opinions and saying than directories are dead. But remember, these are the people that also say that Page Rank is dead, SEO is dead, and the latest this is dead theory.  So is directory link building no longer worthy? well only the Search Engines can tell you for sure.

I believe the real issue with directory links is that only some of them are good and worthy, while some others are junk, being able to tell this difference is the key between loosing your time and having a fruitful link building campaign.  How you can tell if a directory is good enough or that you should pass it.  Here are the 3 main criteria of identifying a good directory from a bad one.

1) The director is listed in the Search Engines and most pages are being crawled.

You can find the directory in the most popular search engines, Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ask. Also the category pages of the directory are cached on the search engines, if the directory offers detail pages, these should be indeed too.

2) The links are plain text, no redirects or javascript.

Check the source code of the pages of the directory. Look to see if the links are plain a href’s, without the rel=”nofollow” attribute, and no sneaky redirects are present. By validating all these you guarantee that these links are seeing and counted by Search Engines.

3) Doesn’t link to bad neighborhoods.

The directory doesn’t link to questionable websites, specially topics like gambling, casino adult, and illegal content websites. Be very wary about directory that offers sitewide likes to these type of sites.

Hopefully these guidelines will help you do more quality link building campaigns getting links from quality web directories.

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Many think that a profitable home-based business requires tons of high-tech supplies, and a never-ending stream of cash. Fortunately, that is not the case. Internet marketing can now be executed easily and successfully on a limited budget. The desire for home business enterprises is at a high point, and affordable marketing options are endless. With a bit of effort andcommitment, your internet marketing campaign can work with practical and useful advertising options.

When working with a limited amount of means, you must first construct a workable internet marketing plan. It must be decided what types of advertising and promotion will be used, and how much money will be allowed for each part of your marketing budget. Always be aware of your financial situation. There are several creative and unique promotional techniques that can be used in your internet marketing plan, which will not break your bank. Ironically, many have discovered that several of the low-cost marketing methods are just as useful as the more expensive ones.

Message boards and forums have taken over cyberspace. Joining these forums and discussion groups is another excellent way to market on a budget. Engage in groups related to your chosen service or program. Frequently posting questions and answers will build your reputation in the business community, while at the same time, advertising your services. This form of internet marketing has grown to be one of the most effective methods.

E-mail marketing has been coined as one of the most cost-efficient internet marketing methods. To utilize this marketing technique to the fullest, you must first establish a broad e-mail or newsletter list. This list will keep your customers up to date with all of your programs and services. The only problem with this form of marketing is the issue of SPAM. Be sure that each person on your list has requested to receive e-mails from you. If too many complaints are received, your web site could be closed down, and your business could be in danger.

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Ah, keyword research: the foundation of every successful website out there.

Wow, that’s a strong statement, isn’t it?

Well, it’s true.  For those of you who put little to no thought into, OR who don’t understand the high significance of keywords, the keyword research you do before getting one single web page up will have a tremendous impact on how well you market to your target audience.

No pressure.

So, why is this keyword research so darned important, you ask?

Let’s say you and I are standing behind a curtain.  You are probably the most revered speaker in your area of expertise.  I pull back the curtain and motion for you to go up to the podium and speak in front of an audience of about 200.

No problem.  You pull some notes out of your pocket, confidently place your hands on the mic and speak ever so compellingly for about 35 minutes.

After you are finished, the crowd claps nicely…almost out of obligation. You don’t understand.  It was actually one of your best presentations yet!  You were compelling, but not too sales-y.  You presented the problems, outlined the solutions available, and then unveiled your perfect product to fit the bill.

So, what happened?

This audience wasn’t waiting for you…they were actually waiting on someone else who was going to talk about a totally different subject.  They don’t even know what you were talking about.

So…..this wasn’t YOUR audience.  This was not your target market.

You had everything prepared…you had everything all perfectly laid out to be a “slippery slope” that led right to the obvious solution…your product.  But….you were talking to the wrong people.

How does this relate to keyword research?

The visitors you get to your site are a direct relation to what keywords your site is known for.  If you are telling the search engines that your site is known for “niche widget solution” or using other keywords such as your name, the name of your business…..that’s not the stuff your market is out looking for.

The keyword research you need to do is to determine what phrases people are searching for that have the problem for your solution.  They are searching for “perfect posture” or “correct golf swing” not “Xtreme Putter.”  They don’t even know your Xtreme Putter even exists!

And, unless you do effective keyword research, they never will.

So, how do you do the right kind of keyword research?  Put yourself in their shoes.  If you were someone out there with the problem your product solves, what would you be searching for?

“How to train my dog”

“Popular 30 something hangouts in L.A.”

“Seattle modern art”

“Ping golf clubs”

These are the things prospective buyers are searching for….you just need to have the right keywords as bait to catch them before they go surfing by.

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By now most of us will have read or have heard rumours of the latest changes to the terms and conditions to mighty “Web 2.0 Behemoth” Squidoo. There seems to be a pattern emerging here and it seems to follow a pre scripted route.

Web 2.0 sites get launched, there is a feeding frenzy and it is like the old days of the Wild West. There is a land rush and certain Internet Marketers tell all their followers to get their keywords listed and their pages / lenses whatever registered. Life is good for a few months and material gets indexed very quickly because Googlebot, Slurp or whatever is busy assimilating all this new content and profits are made, adsense revenue etc rises and Clickbank does very nicely out of all of this thank you very much..

Then BANG. Google wakes up to the fact that for certain keywords / research items their index is full of the same thing because…….their bot indexed the pages and did its job and now we are all wading knee deep through the same pages all describing the same items. It is the Internet equivalent of Flood Damage. Google over reacts and puts the pressure on the new Web 2.0 property usually in the form of behind the scenes pressure to make all their outgoing links (that’s inbounds to us) “nofollow” whereas before they were “dofollow” to try and stem the tide of new material. The implied threat is “do this or we’ll blanket de index your entire site”. The owners panic and enforce this new “dictat” but through inconsistencies with the nofollow attribute (yes even from within Google itself) this action doesn’t have the effect required hence the “big boots” come out and we see what happens. I am surprised Squidoo managed to hold out as long as they did as they were slapped pretty hard before but not entirely surprised when you consider the history of everything.

Unfortunately because we live in a society whether we like it or not we are controlled by and large by what the Big G says and does (Guess Orwell got it wrong and its actually Big G not Big Brother) it is going to have to take someone with enough Testosterone to stand up to the Mighty G and say “No, we will sort it out our way and not yours”. Of course this means the site will have to allocate the resource to deal with the fallout. The obvious route is to go down the existing route and have a blanket ban but have the structures in place to deal with genuine grievances and mistakes quickly and fairly.

Yes it does sadly mean that every now and then “babies will be thrown out with the bathwater” but there has to be some sort of appeals process to take this into account.

I am not trying to be an apologist for Squidoo as to be honest I have never really fathomed out how the damn thing works to best effect entirely and there are other true Squidoo experts who can advise better than I can (I apologise and grovel accordingly) but having read through the new guidelines it seems to me that they have been fairly straight up and honest about it all.

How they arbitrate the fall out and manage this will be the true test of how good their organisation is or isn’t?

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Whenever you are starting up a business, you are not going to have a lot of money to just throw around, which means that you are going to need to know what kind of advertising is getting you the best results. There are a few ways that you can go about checking this. Keeping up with your Internet marketing stats is a must in this day and age. Sure you are going to want a hit counter on your web page, but that is just the tip of what you will need. You are going to want things that track how long people are staying on your site, what links are bringing them there, and of course, if they are buying anything. By knowing this kind of stuff, you are going to be able to tell what ads are getting you the most business and which ones are not. That way you can take down the ads that are not doing so well, and put up more of the good ones. This is a prime idea for first time marketers.

There are many different ways to track your Internet marketing. First of all, sometimes when you sign up with a program like Google AdWords, they are going to have link tracking. This way you are going to know how many people are clicking on your links, and when they click on them, how long are they staying on your site. This is all very important information. Not only is the fact that they are clicking on it good, but how long the people are staying there is even better. If someone clicks on your link and they stay there for just a few seconds, chances are they did not mean to go to that site. In other words, it was not a good click. However, if they get on there and they are on there for a few minuets or even an hour, you know that they were looking around your shop, and that is what you want. Even if they did not buy something, it’s good that they know what you are selling. That is because they may come back to buy more lately.

Although the stats that they give you on places like Google AdWords are helpful, that is not all you need. You are going to want your own program on your site that you can check whenever you want to. This kind of program needs to be looking at how many people come to your site and buy something, and how many things they are buying. Not only that, these programs will also keep up with things like how long they are staying and what link brought them to your site. It’s very important that you keep up with this kind of information. This is the kind of stuff that you are going to want to know to turn your little shop from a mom and pop store to a worldwide business. Working from home is not something that is easy, however, if you have the right stats, then you can tell where your advertising is having the most effect, and you can turn your small business into a big one.

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