In order to succeed on the web you need the proper tools. It doesn’t matter if your goal is to operate a website just for a hobby or whether you’re trying to earn a part-time or full-time income.

You need the right marketing tools.

These tools can be very simple or very complicated; it will mainly depend on the kind of online marketing you’re doing. Someone running a simple website can get by with very few tools; whereas someone operating a PPC enterprise or a SEO consulting firm may need more sophisticated software programs to effectively run their businesses.

Internet marketing tools is a subject I know something about for I have been studying, testing and using countless marketing tools for over 8 years now. I run two websites devoted to online marketing tools. If you search Google for “internet marketing tools” you will find my two sites on the first page.

Google Screenshot

Although I am always wary of pointing out my sites in Google, mainly because they can move off the first page overnight… and you end up with egg on your face. The only reason I point out these Google listings is to prove that I at least know how to get my pages and keywords on the front pages in Google.

Frankly, when you’re talking about Internet marketing, what other benchmark or measurement do we really have to show that any marketer or SEO expert knows what they’re talking about? Not counting sales stats of course, which is really the ultimate benchmark for online marketing.

In this blog post, I thought it would be fun to use my acquired knowledge to discuss and list those important tools I have found most effective and most useful in my marketing. Never know, they may also prove helpful to you and your marketing.

Let’s start at the very beginning. I am assuming you have a reliable PC or laptop with an Internet connection or service. Obviously, you need these if you’re going to work on the Internet.

Now here are some marketing tools you will need:

1. Domain

This is your online calling card and the name of your site or business. This is your URL or your address on the web. Most SEO experts suggest you place your main “keyword” or “keyword phrase” in your domain name. If you are doing a site on “engagement rings,” you should place this phrase in your domain name. I have found using your site’s main keywords in your domain will give you higher rankings faster - especially in Google.

There are many domain sellers on the web; since I have numerous domains I use GoDaddy mainly because I manage most of my online purchases thru Paypal, which GoDaddy accepts. I also use GoDaddy because it has a proxy service. I have never had a problem with them and I even host 5 or 6 of my sites thru GoDaddy.

2. Website

Your need a website to go with your newly created domain. If you can afford it, get a professionally designed site from a professional website designer. I am purposely using the word “professional” because that is exactly what you want your site looking and feeling like from visitor one. In that split second of arrival at your site there must be no doubt in your visitor’s mind about the quality of your site. Besides, if you’re new to online marketing, you will want your site designed by a website designer because they will optimize your site for all the search engines.

You can get away with using templates, but I would suggest you at least invest some funds in a professionally designed logo or header for your site. This will at least give your visitor a good first impression. Even though I have an art background, I personally use Ryan Jackson (aka designgururyan) for my important graphics, mainly because he’s very good and because he caters to the Internet marketing crowd.

3. Hosting

Once you have your website created, you will need somewhere to host it. I have only used shared hosting for my sites (shared hosting is as it sounds, you will share your site IP address with around 200 - 300 other sites). The other alternative is to get dedicated hosting, which is more expensive, but you have your own IP address and faster download times. My advice, go with shared hosting first; if your site becomes extremely popular, you will have to upgrade to a dedicated server just to handle all that traffic.

There are countless hosting companies to choose from on the web. Keep in mind, the cheapest may NOT be the best choice. What you’re really looking for is good quality service with support that you can contact at any time of the day or night. Do some research of your own before you pick your web host. A little homework done now will save you major headaches down the road.

I have used many web hosts over the years and the ones I find good, I have kept. Moving a site from one web host to another is a major hassle if you have a large site. As for web hosts, I would recommend Bluehost and even GoDaddy - these have worked out nicely for me, but keep in mind I only have simple sites which need very little maintenance.

4. Autoresponder

One key element you must have if you’re into online marketing is an autoresponder service. The money is in the follow-up. You must collect the contact information of your site’s visitor and get them subscribed to your ezine or newsletter. You need an autoresponder service so that you can automatically follow-up or send emails/information to the people interested in your site or product.

Again, I have used many AR services over the years, including those that are usually included in your hosting packages. However, I would recommend you invest in a more robust unlimited autoresponder service like those offered by GetResponse or Aweber. I have used both and found them to be very professional and very effective.

5. Credibility

Might sound a bit strange but without a doubt your main marketing tool on the web will be credibility. You and your site must establish credibility with your visitor or it’s game over.

The web is still a very untrustworthy place; you must build and establish credibility with your visitors.  You must establish trust. You or your site must be seen as the place to go for information on your site’s area of interest.

Many webmasters and online marketers solve this problem by becoming an expert on their site’s topic. Actually, this is something that happens quite naturally. If you keep and run a site on “engagement rings” for 7 or 8 years - chances are you will become an expert on that subject. Of course, nothing establishes your credibility more than writing articles and books on your subject area. Spread these well-informed and helpful articles/books around the web and people will be calling you an expert faster than Tom Cruise can jump on a couch.

Only added that last comment to remind you to be careful of what you do on the web, credibility usually takes some time to build, but it can be lost in one careless moment.

 

Internet Marketing - Tools of The Trade - Part Two

Now here are some Internet marketing tools that will make your job and life much easier.

1. Keyword Research Software

Without a doubt, one of the most important online marketing software I have used deals with keyword research. The core
foundation of any online site or business will be picking and targeting the profitable keywords related to your industry or subject matter. It is vital to choose the right keywords if you target free organic traffic from the search engines, and it is just as important if you’re going the much faster PPC (Pay Per Click) route.

You must do your keyword research in order to place high in the search engine rankings. You must know your competition.
You must know how to optimize your pages for your chosen keywords. I find Brad Callen’s Keyword Elite to be very helpful in finding the right keywords and getting those keywords to the first page in Google. I mainly concentrate my SEO efforts towards Google simply because it delivers the most quality traffic. Good software makes a tedious job simple and easy. Keyword Elite fills that bill.

2. HTML Editor

You need a good HTML editor or program to create your web pages. I use the free version of Note Tab Light and it suits my needs nicely. I have never upgraded my version and have been using if for years. There are probably more robust editors out there… but this one has made creating my websites a breeze. If you want a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, try Adobe Dreamweaver.

3. FTP Software

Around a year ago, I heard of this FTP client or software from Marlon Sanders, and it has saved me the most time/money of any software I have ever used. You see, I have countless sites on many different servers/webhosts and keeping track of these different sites, multiple passwords, and uploading files was a real pain. I had to go to the web hosts or open up the control panel for each site… then find the page in the directory on my computer and upload the file.

Real Hassle.

All this took up an enormous amount of my time. I didn’t realize how much time until I bought 3D FTP and started using it. From this one FTP software I can login to all my sites and upload files quickly and easily. It keeps track of all my sites and passwords. Updating 10 or 20 sites can be done within minutes!

The feature that I really like is that it will queue up the last file I have been working on so it is at the top of the list when I upload. I don’t have to search thru files to find the last file I updated… it finds all these files and puts them at the top of the list for me,
ready for uploading. Another cool feature, it tests in 3D the download speed of your site’s server.

4. WordPress/Blogging Software

For now, blogs and blogging is it. You must be taking advantage of this keyword rich way of placing content on the web. I find the free WordPress blogging software to be very effective for keyword positioning. Keywords are called tags in the blogging world. I have at least one blog on all my sites, and I find Wordpress is very easy to install even if setting up server side scripts
scares the BeJesus out of you!

Your online marketing will be much more effective if you use the whole blogging networks. And don’t forget all the social bookmark sites that will greatly increase your web presence; I have found simply placing the Addthis.com button on your pages will get your site book marked for you by your visitors. Simple marketing tool that works.

5. Knowledge

You can have all the carpenter’s tools on the planet, but if you don’t know how to use them you will never be able to build a house. The same goes for marketing tools. You must have some knowledge of how Internet marketing works to really use any tools effectively.

But where to find this knowledge can prove more of a minefield than it ought to be. There are plenty would-be teachers and info-products to get you started, but usually newly christened or beginning online marketers are bombarded with so many learning options it all becomes a blur. Who do you believe? Who do you trust?

In over eight years online, the best online marketing training I have found would have to be the whole Site sell products created by Ken Evoy. Granted, he is trying to sell you a hosting product by offering all these free training manuals, but that doesn’t negate the fact that, in my opinion, these “Sitesell Products” are the most comprehensive Internet marketing knowledge you will ever find.

Ken has just made “Make Your Words Sell” a free product, a book he used to sell for $30 bucks. Still one of the best sources of Internet marketing knowledge - regardless of the price!

………………….

Internet Marketing - Tools of The Trade - Part Three

Now here are the free Internet marketing tools and/or sites that give me the most joy. In my shallow world joy and money are synonymous.

1. Google Analytics

Google Analytics gives you an overall picture of what is happening with your site or sites. It tracks your visitors and tells you where they are coming from and what they do on your site. It simply shows how to improve your site to get higher conversions.

Simply put: this free service from Google is a MUST HAVE for any online marketer. The more information you have about your site and how well it is performing is vital to increasing your sign-ups and sales.

Google Analytics

2. Microsoft’s Online Commercial Intention Tool

If you’re into online marketing, you want visitors coming to your site with their wallets/purses open and ready to buy. You want to mostly attract buying customers to your sales pages and online content.

Microsoft, as part of their adCenter system, has a great little tool that lets you check the “Commercial Intention” of a URL or search query. In other words, you can type in a phrase or keyword and it will tell if the person making that search is likely to buy or not.

For example, if you type in “Corporate Business Gifts” the probability for commercial query is 0.96604 or around 96 per cent, which is very high and it’s likely that person has intentions of buying something.

How cool is that?

If you’re designing a website or doing PPC advertising, it is vital you pick the keywords where people have commercial intention - likely to buy something.

Online-Commercial-Intention-Tool

3. SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool

As you’ve probably gathered by now, choosing the right keywords is vital to your online success. If you go the free organic traffic route, then the keywords you target are essential to your site’s success. SEO Book has a handy keyword suggestion tool that you can use to find out how many searches are made each day for your keywords.

This site also has many other handy search engine optimization tools you can use to improve your site.

Keyword Suggestion Tool

4. iWebtool Visual Pagerank

When I first discovered this little tool, I couldn’t believe my luck. It gives you the “Visual Google Pagerank” of every link on a URL or web page at one glance, both internal and external links. Now the jury is still out on the importance of Google Pagerank, but I believe it is still important in the whole scheme of things as a matter of perception if nothing else; what people perceive about your site can have positive benefits.

Unfortunately, at the time of writing, this tool was not functioning properly - maybe due to Google constant Algorithm updates). However, this site also has many helpful marketing tools you can use.

Visual Pagerank

5. Gurus

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the big name online marketing gurus are the most effective marketing tools on the web. These marketing powerhouses have the large contact and customer lists necessary to turn any product into an instant best
seller. They operate vast multi-million dollar marketing networks that would make the average webmaster blush with envy.

Creating a JV (joint venture) with these gurus can instantly put any product or site on the Internet map. However, be warned, all the marketing hype and promotion surrounding many of these gurus have turned a lot of people off - especially those who have payed an arm or leg for the latest info-product that’s supposed to give them the keys to online wealth. In many cases, these products are too advanced or require additional skills that the buyer simply doesn’t have… resulting in negative feelings and bad press.

From my own experiences, when I was first starting out, I did have a few bad experiences and wasted more than a little cash on products that didn’t work out as planned. However, I quickly discovered solid online marketers like Ken Evoy, Marlon Sanders, Neil Shearing… which as that old poem says, “And that has made all the difference.”

Hooking up with the right online marketing expert can be the best marketing tool and move you will ever find and make on the web - the ultimate fast forward!

Source: By Titus-Hoskins in Titus Hoskin’s Blog

 

Ask us how we can get you set up on the right track!

 

15 Websites / Services I’d Actually Pay For Ryan lists fifteen websites/online services he would be willing to pay for, if they were not free. Worthy of note is the following in the list: Wordpress.org: The benefit of blogging with WP is so significant (SEO, functionality, flexibility) that it’s well worth paying for. I’d probably pay a $200 for an installation… which makes me realize how much I rely on the product.

This is an incredibly interesting line of thought and I am sure a lot of Web 2.0 companies/services would kill to have more user data and input on this. I strongly believe that revenue models and monetization techniques are the stuff that make or break a company in spite of the fantastic idea/concept that it might provide. In that spirit, here is my list of 12 things online (15 things were hard to find quickly) I am willing to pay for.

• GMail: Without a doubt my one most used tools online. I returned to GMail a few years ago and cannot imagine my life without it. Add other services such as Google Reader and Google (outside of google search, without which I would be completely lost, at least for a few days) is indispensable to me.
• WordPress: I would pay for it undoubtably, but I think the allure would be gone if I had to pay. Whenever I think WordPress, I think GPL and Open Source and I just cannot imagine the two apart.
• Firefox: This was a tough one. I would pay for it, but look at #2. I would however, be willing to pay for the Web Developer Toolbar extension, the colorpicker extension and a few others that I use everyday.
• Akismet: I do pay for Akismet. The service has caught 3,263,951 spam on this blog since I first installed it.
• SlickDeals: I am an addict. If I had to pay to be a member, within reason, I would pay for it.
• StatCounter: Their free service is great, but if they started charging for their basic service, the switching cost of years of accumulated data would force me to pay.
• Techmeme: Nominal, yearly charges would be fine by me, especially if it removed those sponsored posts. I use it too often.
• Skype: Again, nominal yearly charges would be acceptable for the basic PC to PC calling. I already keep my account topped off for when I call international phones once in a while.
• Craigslist: If I had to pay a small fee for the listings, if the charge was only initiated for items that are sold (which I understand would be hard to monitor), I would pay for it. Craigslist is a much better place to buy and sell everyday used items than eBay and I have made better deals via Craigslist than any other online selling venue.
• Woopra: I am getting addicted to the Woopra fever. As I have expressed in the past to JohnP, Elie and others, I would be willing to pay a reasonable fee for it.
• Various WordPress Plugins: I have paid and have dontated to the developers of various WordPress plugins that I find extremely useful and which have become completely indispensable after I have installed them and used them. They include OIOPublisher, Ozh’s Who Sees Ads, Mark’s Subscribe to Comments etc.
• Feedburner: Now another Google service but Feedburner reduces the traffic load from feed readers and I would have paid for the service if it were not free.

What would you be willing to pay for? If famous OSS programs were not OSS, would you pay for them? Does the cost of software make it less or more attractive (not the relative cost, but just the fact that it is not free)? Would you pay for Twitter? How about Flickr or Google Analytics? What if TechCrunch went to a registration model? Would it still be as popular? How much do you spend on personal online services every month today? Are online vendors sharing more of your wallet today than say, two years ago? Do you think this trend will continue to increase?

These are the kinds of things that keep me up at night.

source: http://weblogtoolscollection.com

 Google Confirms Friend Connect

 

In Part 1 and Part 2 of How to Optimize for Google I discussed general website optimization, links, and Google webmaster tools. In Part 3 we will look at a number of other considerations which play a role in successful rankings in Google, and also touch on some tactics which are best avoided.

Completing Optimization: Other Considerations

Redirects
If you need to use redirects on your site, it is very important to use the correct one. If a page is moving to a new location, or being removed all together, it is very important to have this page redirected to either the new location or the next closest page using a Permanent 301 Redirect.

While rare, if a page is being moved to a new location for a short term, with the intent of it returning to the original location, then and only then, will you want to use a Temporary 302 redirect. For more information please see Redirects: Permanent 301 vs. Temporary 302.

Non WWW Redirects
To help eliminate page rank split, and provide your site with a little extra value, implement a non-www redirect. What this redirect will do is change the URL to include the "www" whenever a URL is accessed that does not include it. This can help to consolidate links to the correct page and give your site some additional strength. For more help on Non WWW redirects please see: How to 301 Redirect Non-WWW to WWW URL’s

HTTP Headers
Check your page headers! If you have implemented any form of redirect on your site including mod rewrites, check your HTTP headers. You may be surprised at what you find. Some forms of redirects may use a 302 code where you really want a 301. By checking your headers you can ensure all is well, and troubleshoot problems. On our website we have added our own HTTP Header Checker for your convenience.

Home Page URL
Never have more than one URL for your home page. If your home page is available and displays on more than one URL, then utilize 301 redirects on all but the main URL you want to focus on - in most cases "http://www.domain.com/". All your links pointing to the home page should direct to the exact same URL otherwise you will split the value of your home page into multiple duplicate URL’s.

Google sees "http://www.domain.com" and "http://www.domain.com/index.html" as different pages, but displaying the same content. This splits the overall value of your home page, and can decrease the chances of rankings. By keeping it consistent with a single URL, you remove this split and retain more of the strength.

In theory having your home page split like this could bring with it duplicate content penalties, however, I have yet to see this actually happen - that said, it is best to avoid the risk all together.

XML Sitemap
XML Sitemaps are great for ensuring that Google and the other engines are able to spider your entire site. While an XML sitemap will not directly impact your search rankings it can help as Google is more likely to see any SEO based changes more quickly, which in turn can have an impact.

Robots.txt
This is the first file all search engines look for every time they visit your site. While placing a blank robots.txt file in your root folder will not help with search rankings, it will help reduce 404 errors appearing in your log files.

It is also highly recommended that if your site utilizes an XML sitemap, to include a call to this sitemap within the Robots.txt file. Simply add the following line to ensure that the major engines (including Google) can find your sitemap:

      Sitemap: http://www.domain.com/sitemap.xml

Potential Blockages
If you are finding that your site is simply not being indexed it is possible that you are blocking the spiders in one way or another.

Start with checking your main site navigation, if you are using Flash or some other fancy form of navigation that could be your problem right there. Next check your HTTP headers to ensure that your home page is returning a 2xx code which indicates that the clients’ request was successfully received. Finally take a look at your Google Webmaster Tools for any noted errors. If you are blocking Google, chances are you will be able to uncover the issue with these steps.

Duplicate Content
Duplicate content can be quite damaging to your rankings. Ensure that all content on your site is unique. Never steal or "borrow" content from another site, and never cut and paste large portions of text from one page of your site to the next. By keeping all pages of your site entirely original you stand the best chances of getting a thumbs up from Google.

Fresh Content / Regular Updates
Update your content. In highly competitive markets, sites with old static content can often slip away. Keep your content fresh and updated to keep bringing Google back to your site. If they find new pages and updated pages with every visit, they will come back more often.

Site Age
The age of your site can also have an effect on search engine rankings. While there is little you can do (short of keeping the same domain) to help on this matter, remember that the longer your site is online, the better its chances for success. It pays to select the perfect domain right from the start and not to change domains mid-stream. Older sites that stand the test of time add a level of authority in Google’s eyes. New sites seldom see rankings for competitive terms in their first year.

Note: Site Age is determined not by the date the domain was originally registered by rather by the date Google first discovered content on your site.

Load Time
Load time can have an impact in your Google AdWords Quality Score but it is unknown for sure if it can also impact your organic search rankings. It is best to keep your load time to as little as possible. If it is not already a part of the Google Algorithm, it likely will be soon. Besides, it is also best in order to give your site visitors the best experience possible.

Server Up Time
This can be a rather significant issue. If you find that your web hosting company has a history of down time, change hosts. If Google comes to visit your site once and it is down, not to worry, they will come back, but if Google visits your site often only to find that it is unavailable, you can find yourself with drastically depleted rankings.

Google Local
If you have a traditional brick and mortar store, consider submitting to Google Local. While this will not directly impact your regular organic rankings, you may find your site ranking above the organic results with a "local business results" map listing. This tends to be most common when your business is near the geographic center of a city, and when the search phrase uses a geographic modifier.

W3C Compliant Code
There is much speculation as to if W3C compliant code can have a positive impact on search rankings, and the majority believe "maybe" with some saying "yes". Regardless, it is definitely a good idea to have your site be W3C Compliant if at all possible. Not only may it help you in terms of search rankings, but having compliant code can decrease load times, and help to ensure cross-browser compatibility, all of which are good things. If at all possible, it is recommended that sites be made to be compliant.

Many experts who took part in the SEOMoz "Google Search Engine Ranking Factors" lean towards it not being a big contributor, however, it may be an issue if Google has difficulties indexing a page properly.

A code validation service is available at validator.w3.org.

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME
I want to stress that this section is about things you should NOT do. These issues could be damaging to your rankings. If your site is implementing any of these, it may be best to remove it.

Hidden Text
This includes any text that you can simply not see when viewing the page. It may be text hidden in invisible div layers, text located below the fold with vertical scrolling disabled or even text on the same colored back ground (white text on a white background for instance). Whatever the case, hidden text can get your site into hot water and it is not recommended.

Excessive Keywords
Don’t go over board in placing target phrases within your body text. Stuffing keywords everywhere possible just because you can, is not only unlikely to help you achieve rankings, it could very well have the opposite effect.

Duplicate content
Large amounts of duplicated content or pages, as well as stealing or scraping content from other sites is one good way to get your site banned.

Doorway pages
Creating multiple websites or pages with nearly identical, yet slightly different content for the purposes of trying to grab some Google rankings is a good way to get your site into trouble.

If you have created pages of this nature for PPC campaigns, make sure that they are blocked from the search engines as to not get you into any hot water.

Cloaking
Simple - Don’t Cloak. In a nutshell cloaking is when you display different information to the search engines than you do to your human visitors. Google frowns on this, and if they catch you, watch out!

All Flash
Websites that are entirely flash based will not get you into trouble. The reason I have included it here however, is that they won’t do you many favors either. Sites that are all Flash, have little to no content for Google to digest and thus, drastically reduce your chance of rankings. If you must keep your “All Flash” site, it is recommended that you also create a secondary HTML version for the search engines and for those visitors who simply prefer it.

Frames (including iFrames)
Frames are also one of those things that won’t get you into trouble, but do significantly reduce your chances of rankings. If you want any chance of ranking in Google using a Frames site, be sure to copy your relevant content from each page into your ‘noframes’ tag. While this is far from ideal it may help you salvage some listings.

When it comes to including content through the use of an iFrame, remember, Google can not see any of this content located within the frame. It will be of no use to your rankings. If you rely on this content to help your listings, find another method such as a server side include.

TOOLS
In this article I mention a few items which can be made much easier with the help of available online tools. Here are some to help you on your way:

HTTP Header Checker
The StepForth HTTP Header Checker

Spider Simulators
XML Sitemaps, Search Engine Bot Simulator

Page Size and Load Time
1-Hit Load Time Analyzer

Google’s Cached Text Version
Click on “cached” next to your listing in Google, then click “Cached Text Version” at the top of the page. This is Google’s Cached Text version of your page. Substituting www.domain.com with your website will also bring up the cached version:

http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:WWW.DOMAIN.COM/&hl=en&strip=1

source: SiteProNews, By Scott Van Achte, Senior SEO, StepForth (c) 2008