Article Marketing After Google Farmer Update
Guest Post by Pat Tate
Google has tried to undo one of the most popular and effective marketing methods known to site owners – article marketing. In the past, when you wanted to market a new aspect of your site or just get new backlinks, you created or purchased articles and submitted the same articles to numerous article directories. These articles were picked up by other sites and republished to give you more exposure.
Overall, it was a great way to market your site. Unless you purchased articles, the process was free or at least extremely cheap. Since other marketing methods often mean paying for ad space or spending time trying to build relationships with other sites for the possibility of a backlink, free and simple is definitely the preferable method.
So why would Google want to take away this power from webmasters? While you may have been benefiting from it, so were the wrong types of sites. Spam or low quality sites take full advantage of any types of free or low cost marketing they can. Your site may be legitimate, but if these other sites are benefiting just as much, it is possible your site may get lost in the middle of all these others.
Since Google can’t control which sites use these directories, the best way to eliminate some of the low quality search results is to banish article directories to the bottom of the search results pile. Where as many directories had high page ranks before the Google Farmer update, most are lucky if they even rank at all now.
The result for site owners was a drop in traffic. Some saw an increase and others saw no difference at all. If everyone who used article marketing saw the same results after the update, then the solution would be obvious. Just use other marketing methods and your site will be fine. Since the update created three different results for sites, the answer isn’t so cut and dry.
The most common question from site owners is whether article marketing can still be used or not. With many sites earning most of their profits through article marketing, the idea of giving up this lucrative avenue is devastating. The good news is you don’t have to give up article marketing at all. You will need to change a few things about how and where you market, however.
Change Is Good
As we discussed earlier, article marketing was used by all sites, both good and bad. Another problem with the marketing tactic was the inability to control where your articles were republished. While the second part is still a small problem, there is a way to keep it from damaging your site’s reputation. The issues caused by bad sites have made Google change its search algorithm. This is for the good of searchers, not necessarily for sites.
Google looks for what people actually want, instead of search engines. While this isn’t a perfect solution, it does take out some of the nonsense you see on many article directories. Bad articles typically equal bad sites. A high quality site spends more time on their articles to ensure visitors want to head back to their website after reading. With all the articles lumped together, the bad ones bring down an article directory’s page rank. If no one can find the directory, no sees your article from a search engine and no one republishes it. As you can see, this presents a major problem.
The solution is finding the directories which have quickly recovered from Google’s little change. Sites like Ezine Articles are still going strong. You may not see quite as many results, but many of the higher quality articles are appearing on the first page of results for many searches. This proves that article directories are still holding their own. As long as they are ranking, article marketing is still possible.
This is where one of the first major changes comes into play. Instead of submitting to hundreds of directories, choose a handful of high quality directories. Submitting to those who no longer rank is not going to help your site. More likely, it will cause your own rank to drop. Low quality backlinks should always be avoided when possible.
The next change is crafting high quality articles. This means you need to work on grammar, content, keyword placement and general structure. Google is looking for well written content. While you want search engines to find you, bad content full of keywords will get you dropped instead of picked up. A few well placed keywords which fit into the context of the article work much better. Take the time to familiarize yourself with Google’s guidelines to ensure your content fits the bill.
The final change is creating unique articles for every directory. Instead of submitting the same article to every directory, rewrite your article for each place. Google will see each directory as having unique content. Since one of Google’s rules deals with duplicate content, the more unique content you create, the less duplication you will have.
While you can’t control who will republish your content, high quality content does counter the duplication rule to an extent. There are no exact percentages or numbers, but if you submit to four directories with the same article, duplication will always be times four. Four unique articles means one fourth the duplication rate as before. Basically, you go from 100% duplication to 25%. A much better percentage to aim for.
What About Bad Sites
If you can change your marketing methods, why can’t bad sites do the same? In the past, these sites wrote extremely poor content, which likely took less than three or four minutes to put together. Use an article spinner and you suddenly have a batch of useless content floating through hundreds of article directories.
A high quality article with relevant content to your site should take roughly thirty minutes to write. Rewrites take far less time, especially if you use the best spinner software available. Bad sites always look for shortcuts. This is simply more work than they are willing to put in. Instead, they’ll hope bombarding the system with more articles will somehow fool Google into ranking them.
If you have ever run across an article which linked to a site unrelated to the content, you know exactly what I’m talking about. For instance, if your site was about golf, ladies clubs may be a great topic, not how to care for your teeth.
While a few will still try, the higher quality sites are the ones who will benefit. Instead of competing against spam, you can actually compete against real competitors. The better your article marketing technique, the easier it will be to advance past your competitors’ altogether.
Make Google Work For You
Google tried to kill article marketing and failed. Instead, they made it easier for legitimate sites to benefit. Many article directories are clearing out junk and have created strict guidelines for new content. By only accepting the best, they are able to rank high. A higher rank means more visitors for you. Since the directory will have a good reputation with Google, having a backlink through them will help your site too.
Some directories are even offering ways to choose which places republish your content. Though people can still bypass the rules and copy and paste, it will deter some. Control is always a great thing. Often times, sites will simply offer a preview and a link to the original article. This prevents duplication while still providing a link to your content, which contains a link to your site.
Regardless of your opinion on Google’s Farmer update, you can take advantage of it. With the trash falling to the bottom of the pile, you have the chance to rise far above it. Many sites are already seeing the results of their new article marketing efforts. The results are surprising to most since their rank is higher than before. If you have numerous low quality backlinks and articles, it may take longer to recover, but it is still possible.
Google will never be able to kill article marketing. It can change how it’s done, but never do away with it. Article marketing is here to stay. The results are just based around how you do it. The learning curve isn’t steep. Your site will benefit, your content looks better and readers are far more likely to click links in great content than poor content. Google can and will work for your site if you are willing to make just a few changes to your marketing technique.
—
As a senior Pat Tate started to explore Internet Marketing. She uses her blog as a journal to keep track of the people and programs that she has met along the way. Grandma’s Internet Marketing/blog. She is an avid golfer and invites women to join her to talk golf at Women’s Golf Center. She has always loved toys and as the proud Grandmother of five beautiful Grandchildren she gets to play with new ones at Grandma’s Toy Review.
Read MoreLive from CJU 2011
So far, CJU 2011: THE Network Effect is great. Their new CJUniverse, powered by Pathable.com.com, was a fantastic new way to connect with partners and schedule meetings. I wish every trade show had this. It’s been incredibly productive for me and, of course, good to see familiar faces.
Huge thanks to RingRevenue, who Invited me to their 3rd Annual Golf Tourney & Wine Tour on Monday. It was fabulous, and I’ll definitely blog more about it in detail later, with some great pictures.
Yesterday my schedule was busy with meetings and session, and more of the same today (except I actually remembered to eat lunch)! THE Beach Party yesterday was incredibly well done, though i wasn’t prepared enough and left early due to being barefoot in the sand hurt my already aching back. If they do this next year I’ll be sure to pack flip flops and shorts! Tonight are THE CJYou Awards – For Me To Coupon’s sister company Schaaf-PartnerCentric is nominated for Agency of the Year, so everyone cross your fingers for them!
Well right mow I’m missing THE Cocktail Hour and 1/2, so I better run. I hope to get more great pictures and live tweet the winners, so be sure to follow me at @TrishaLyn
Read MoreWhy Online Rep Management is a Must for Any Affiliate Marketer
As an affiliate marketer, the internet is essentially your life. You’re online all the time and your existence is based off how well you are able to distribute yourself across the web. The name of the game is to get to the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs) and stay there. However, in addition to selling specific products, you are essentially selling yourself, and because of this, you must be in control of your online reputation at all times.
Simply purchasing the best SEO software used could grant you a solid spot on the search engines. You could simply plug yourself in, and gain instant popularity. You really didn’t have to worry about others discovering precarious information about yourself, or about unwanted information taking precedence over your well-created websites.
However, the rise of social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn have made maintaining top positions and an online image much more difficult. Just within the last year, we have watched companies and politicians destroy themselves with one wrong Tweet or wall post.
Old school SEO simply cannot protect you anymore. You have to remain proactive about managing your online reputation by incorporating the use of SEO, social networking sites, and your blog. If you don’t, you risk having your reputation hurt or ultimately destroyed by either your own negligence or a competitor.
If you choose to use social networking sites to help manage your affiliate marketing image, and you should, here are a few tips to making sure that you are using your accounts to effectively manage your online reputation:
- Acquire multiple social networking accounts
- Actively post to each site daily
- Quickly and politely respond to any negative comments
- Keep your Followers actively engaged through varied media
- Maintain a consistent message across all sites
Finding success with affiliate marketing is no easy task. You have to expend time and energy to produce substantial income, and then you have to maintain a positive online image to stay ahead, not to mention additional time spent traveling for speaker events and conferences.
Affiliate marketing may not be super easy, but maintaining a positive online image can definitely make it easier for you. Not only will you be able to gain a stronger following, but you will also be more likely to gain the attention of bigger clients. So don’t place all your hope into basic SEO. Take control of your online reputation by incorporating social media and common management practices.
Read MoreHow Seniors Can Be Successful in Internet Marketing
Guest post by Pat Tate
When seniors were younger and pictured retirement, they most likely pictured themselves finally having the time and money to enjoy some their favorite activities. Maybe they saw themselves traveling, having more time to cook their favorite dishes, fishing at the beach or taking in extra games of golf. Or, maybe they imagined themselves finally having enough extra money to spoil their grandkids and buying them their favorite toys.
Despite careful planning, many seniors may need a little help supplementing their income. Others may just be looking to make a little extra cash. Some seniors are fortunate enough to reach their goals of financial freedom in their retirement years. Isn’t that, after all, what years of working hard and saving money were for? But, after a few years of having all the time they want to enjoy themselves, many seniors become bored and start looking for something to stimulate their minds.
Internet marketing is the smartest way for seniors to earn extra money and satisfy their need to be more involved. Seniors today are able to contribute more in their retirement years. They are able to be more physically active, energetic lives.
Nevertheless, learning how to start up and operate your own business can seem daunting for most seniors, especially when it comes to using a computer and the Internet. Computers are relatively new. And, while the younger generation has grown up learning about computers at school and even using them at home, they are still foreign to many seniors.
There are challenges that come with starting a new business and learning new skills. But, facing the challenges of learning to excel with computers and in the niche of Internet Marketing can offer a number of benefits for seniors.
Why Seniors Should Pursue Internet Marketing
Starting a business can take time away from retirement leisure activities like fishing, golfing, cooking and spoiling the grandkids. But, there are a ton of reasons to pursue computers and Internet Marketing. Here are the top five reasons to get started with Internet Marketing.
- More Money: Internet Marketing can help supplement your income and offer more financial freedom during your retirement years. You can start supplementing your income now so that the rest of your retirement years will be freer and more fulfilling.
- Be Your Own Boss: Best of all, with your own business, you have the freedom to set your own hours. You can choose how much or how little you want to work and when it will fit into your schedule. You can still pursue all of your leisurely retirement activities like cooking, crocheting, golf and travel and work when you want to.
- Feeling of Success: Having your own income and have authority over your schedule, can give you a sense of personal pride and accomplishment. Recognition and praise for your achievements may have been easy to come by during your career.
But, just because you are retired, doesn’t mean that you don’t still need the thrill of conquering new goals. Whether your goal is to run a successful business or get extra cash, succeeding at something new can give you a fresh outlook. - Cognitive Stimulation: Trying to tackle a new skill can seem like a daunting task, but conquering new skills like Internet Marketing can boost more than just your bank account.
- Learn a New Skill: Okay, learning a new skill might not appear to be a bonus. But, along with the fact that new skills keep the mind alert and boost self-esteem, learning to use a computer and the Internet can also be skills that boost the quality of life and add convenience.
Getting Started with Internet Marketing
Getting started with Internet Marketing can be as easy as performing a basic Internet search. If you already know how to perform searches, use email, create documents and other simple computer tasks, then you’re ready to learn the ins and outs of Internet Marketing.
When you perform a simple “search” on your computer through Google, Yahoo or another search engine, you can plug in the phrase “Internet Marketing” and virtually thousands of options will appear. You can narrow the search by entering “Learning Internet Marketing,” and all types of links to Internet Marketing lessons, video tutorials, eBooks and advice.
If you don’t know anything about computers, there are classes available at your local colleges, senior citizen centers, and even other locations in your area. Help is out there if you’re ready to get started.
One of the best ways to get started is to seek out reliable blogs and forums on Internet Marketing. If you’re familiar with computers, you’ll know how to perform simple searches, and you might also have friends within the Internet Marketing niche that can advise you on some websites, blogs or forums they’ve used in the past.
A suggestion to start with The Warrior Forum (www.warriorforum.com), which is one of the most widely used, powerful and communicative forums on Internet Marketing. When you join, you’ll be among a variety of other members, ranging from those who are new to Internet Marketing to those who have already built their success.
You’ll even find members of all ages. Even though you’ll find a variety of ages and levels of experience, members will have a few things in common— a desire to learn more about Internet Marketing and to help others by sharing their knowledge.
Here you’ll find experienced Internet marketers who can answer your questions, give you advice and help you get over the humps of getting started.
Facing the Challenges of Internet Marketing and Avoiding Scams
Seniors face many of the same problems that younger competitors face when trying to first break into Internet Marketing or start any new business venture. But seniors also face unique problems as well. Some of them are:
- Many seniors are intimidated by computers and are hesitant to learn new things.
- They didn’t learn about computers during school or when they were younger.
- Slower mental capacity. It may take longer to learn some of the new terminology and technical aspects of computers and Internet Marketing.
- Many seniors believe that they just can’t learn new skills, which is not true!
- A lot of seniors who are familiar with computers and the Internet are afraid of getting scammed.
Do you remember what it was like when you first learned to do many of the leisurely activities you enjoy now? Remember the first time you caught a fish, the first time your grandmother let you cook with her in the kitchen, or the first time you went to the practice range. You may have found learning to do these things daunting at first.
Learning to use a computer or learning new Internet Marketing skills now may seem overwhelming and difficult as well. But the challenges of learning can be overcome if you’re willing to put in the effort. One thing never changes; enthusiasm is the key to learning and to success.
Also, don’t let the fear of getting scammed keep you from exploring the benefits of Internet Marketing. Any time there’s money to be made from teaching, selling or promoting products and services, you can also expect a number of scams designed to take your money.
If you do your research and know where to look, you can detect the good from the bad on the Internet and avoid Internet Marketing scams.
On reliable sites like The Warrior Forum, you’ll find “Success, Power and Self-Improvement,” discussions, products and services and special offers. But, you’ll also find those who are successful and experienced with Internet Marketing and can offer advise and tips to point you in the right direction. Be careful and look into anything that promises “quick and easy” profit.
Turning Challenges into Successes
By simply changing your outlook about learning to use computers and the Internet, you’ll open doors to a world of financial, mental and social benefits. The challenges you’ll face when you decide to start you Internet Marketing business will becomes exciting opportunities that will enhance the quality of your retirement years.
Your mind will be taxed at times, and you might doubt your ability to take on to tackle obstacles when they come your way. But if you persevere, you might be surprised to discover what you can still achieve – even in your retirement years.
The best thing seniors have going for them is all the help that is available, both on computers and around your city and town. Take advantage of these opportunities to learn about computers and Internet Marketing and you’ll be surprised how your life will change for the better.
Don’t become overwhelmed! Some mistakes can be expected. But remember, you had to learn to tee up a golf ball before you could get a hole-in-one, and how to bait your hook before you could catch that catfish. Take it one step at a time; learn the rules first.
It takes time to master anything new, but the advantages for seniors to learn Internet Marketing are astounding!
Good luck!
—
As a senior Pat Tate started to explore Internet Marketing. She uses her blog as a journal to keep track of the people and programs that she has met along the way at Grandma’s Internet Marketing/blog. She is an avid golfer and invites women to join her to talk golf at Women’s Golf Center. She has always loved toys and as the proud Grandmother of five beautiful Grandchildren she gets to play with new ones at Grandma’s Toy Review.
Read MoreAdding Variety to Anchor Text for a Natural Backlink Profile
Guest Post by Andy Wallner
If you’ve ever encountered SEO, you know that the whole idea of search optimization is often a battle against search engines, not with them. The life of an SEO expert consists of constantly seeking ways to “trick” Google into thinking that people love your site, even if you’ve only had a few visitors (or have other, more financially related motives). Far too often, SEOers (that’s a word, right?) tend to find the quickest, dirtiest, and easiest ways to bring visibility to their sites, and forget that there’s actually a missing human element. Get big enough in a competitive vertical, and Google might pick your site to be analyzed by their engineers (I’ve seen giants toppled because of this).
It’s unlikely that you’ll ever actually trick a search engineer. But launching obvious link building campaigns can set off some red flags that bring negative attention to your efforts. So, what’s the best way to make sure that Google knows you’re not getting all natural links? Forgetting to add variety to your anchor text.
The State of Anchor Text
Anchor text is a puzzling thing to many new web marketers. Let’s say, for example, that you operate the site marketingdegree.net, and want to generate more traffic by targeting some keywords. What would you do? The phrase “marketing degree” seems to be pretty valuable, so we might target that alone. And that would make sense as many people would refer to the site like I just did above. With an exact match domain, the job is fairly simple and natural links are more likely to come in how I want them.
Now, let’s consider a different scenario. Let’s suppose I went a different route with a “brandable domain.” Google wanted to be more than a website (that’s why they didn’t pick searchengine.com). So, they chose a brand. Suppose I chose something like “Google.com” for my site in some alternate Internet universe. How likely would it be that everyone would link to me using the phrase “marketing degree?” Pretty unlikely unless I was already dominating the SERPs. People would link to me in all sorts of ways, from “click here” to “this site doesn’t agree with my opinion, however” as the anchor text. In fact, some companies have accidentally ranked for that anchor text – try searching Google for “click here” and you’ll find some pretty powerful players on page one (Adobe, Wikipedia, Apple, Mapquest and Yahoo!). When I got big enough, people would likely link to me primarily using “Google.”
Still, conversions matter. Adobe probably isn’t making any money by ranking number one in Google for “click here,” even though AdWords is telling me that I’m one of about 22,200 that searches for it every month and there is no advertising competition whatsoever for the term (jackpot right?). The chances of monetizing such a broad keyword phrase are slim (especially with all those heavy hitters dominating it in Google).
Adding That Variety
Anchor text for incoming links is vital to your success, but it’s not everything. You can think of links as having two different types of “juice” – the normal, delicious kind that passes reputation (called page rank by Google), and the just as delicious juice called “passing anchor text.” It’s far more complicated, but think of it like this:
- Any old link builds your site’s reputation with Google, and helps you rank slightly for all search terms relevant to your site’s content.
- Anchor text helps you rank for specific terms.
So why is it that so many beginning SEO enthusiasts set out on a link building campaign to build thousands of links using the same exact anchor text every time? Can you think of anything less natural? You can sit back and wait for the links to come naturally (like Google wants you to…), or you can add a little variety to your anchor text to avoid setting off any alarms.
First, consider the two juices of a link. As long as a backlink doesn’t come from the bad neighborhood of the Internet (spam land and porn, gambling, etc.), a link is pretty much a link. In other words, getting a link can never hurt you. Otherwise, every spammer in the world would be sending thousands of terrible links to their competitors’ sites to shut them down. This doesn’t mean you need to spend hours getting a link from a PR 0 site either though.
So feel free to mix up your anchor text – a lot. Think about all of the ways a person might reference your site and its content and write them down. How do you talk to people about your services? Furthermore, what value does your site offer?
Using the Long Tail for Anchor Text Ideas
Think of a nice long tail keyword phrase that you’d like to target, preferably one that sums up everything your site has to offer – luxury vacations in Egypt for senior citizens, for example. If you divide that long tail phrase into smaller phrases (luxury vacations, vacations in Egypt, senior citizen vacations, etc.), then come up with all of the variations for those phrases (vacation over 65, holiday in Egypt, Egyptian vacations, and so on), you have a nice list of natural anchor text for your link building campaign.
You’ve successfully made a connection to everything your site has to offer, without spamming the same anchor text over and over again. Your efforts look much more natural to everyone involved – the Google robots and humans alike. And don’t worry too much about not ranking for your targeted keyword phrase. Search engine results don’t work that way. After all, why would Google design a system that relies on unnatural activity to yield natural results?
You might even add a few odd anchor text links to make things squeaky clean, like “I love this site” or “good news for us all.” You’ll still get the link juice.
Finally, if anyone reading this has the guts, free time, and extra cash to try to get their site on the first page for “click here,” please let Trisha know so I can send you a batch of my almost world famous banana bread (only if you’re successful, please!). Unfortunately, I lack all three of my aforementioned elements to do so myself, but I have plenty of banana bread at the moment.
Final Note: I must make one thing clear for those that are about to leave an angry comment. We’re not discussing exact match domain names right now. If you have an exact match domain, adding a lot of variety to your exact match anchor text isn’t really all that necessary, except if you’re branching out to other keyword phrases. You spent enough money on the domain to impress Google already, and they’ll fully expect thousands of links to come to it using your website name as the anchor text.
—
Andy Wallner is a freelance writer and web developer that specializes in providing information to students considering a marketing degree, or interested in online and offline marketing information. In his free time, Andy enjoys kayaking, playing trombone in a local jazz band, and learning CSS.
Read MoreBeginners Guide in Building an Online Shopping Cart
Guest Post by Elias Cortez.
Online shopping is one of the trends in today’s modern industry. People who would always want to avoid congestion in the market place, parking lots, long queue in the cashier prefer online shopping. There are many advantages of online shopping. First, it can help you save time, energy and money. Second, it gives convenience when you need to send something across the miles. Online shopping can lead you to different sites where you can liberally compare the best item at the best price. Though for some reasons, people find it difficult to liberally walk into online shopping, and cannot totally replace window shopping at the mall.
Building your online shopping cart is quite trouble-free. However, it may take several days depending on the number of products, store plans and designs. Here are the basic guidelines on how to build an online shopping cart for beginners:
- Get a domain name. When building a site, you need to find and register an appropriate domain name for it. (Example: www.mystore.com,www.mystore.net, www.mystore.org, www.mystore.info)
- Create your online store. This is considered as an obvious step when launching an online store.
- Add and supply products. What does your business speak for? What are your main products or services available? To increase visibility and sales, it is recommended to include a promotional or informational video on your product description pages.
- Select a design and layout. There are hundreds of templates available online that would fit and match your products and meet your needs. Original designs and a good layout can draw lots of customers to your site as they are very thrilling for them to see innovative and exceptional designs. Make your product labels and descriptions readable as well.
- Shipping and payment options. After you’ve created your online store, then the next thing to handle is the entire logistics chain of your store.
- Make a profit. You’re good to go! But remember that earning money on the internet requires enthusiasm and hard work. This is not an overnight-success activity. Expect some difficulties on the first stage of your business that’s why constant maintenance, advertisement, shipping arrangement, and optimization are necessary in order for your online shopping cart to run well.
Is online shopping safe and secure?
As a first time online purchaser, being nervous is normal. Many people who jump into online shopping experience apprehension and hesitation, so you are not alone. In fact, nothing is completely safe wherever you go, whether online purchase or real purchase. However, online shopping has proven itself with millions of transactions that went successful, and currently being safely processed each day. You would know if you’re in the right track if you choose a good and trustworthy company that safeguards your personal information, and ensures you customer delight.
How to find a company of good reputation?
Seeking an advice from a relatives and friends would be helpful in your selection. Remember, trusted companies are mostly recommended by trusted friends. To ensure further safety and security, it is advised that you must first know the information or background of the company on its website before making any transaction. If necessary, you can get their toll-free telephone number so you could gather more information about them.
Paying by Credit Card
When making online purchases, make sure that the company keeps all your personal information and credit number secure.
—
Elias Cortez is freelancer writer that specializes in writing in the education field for students looking to pursue a career in graphic design. Read his latest articles titled “Graphic design schools” and “Graphic design career information” to learn more.
Read More
