The Importance of Tracking Traffic to Your Website

There are so many people out there who believe that as long as they're getting traffic to their website, and they know they're getting traffic to their site, that it doesn't matter where the traffic is coming from. Those people are wrong. To be honest, if you're not tracking your traffic effectively, you could be losing thousands of dollars a month. How? Well, are you paying for Internet advertising of any kind? If so, do you know how much traffic is coming in from each ad? Perhaps there isn't any traffic coming in from any of your paid advertising which means no conversions, if so, why are you paying to advertise if you get nothing in return?

The interesting thing is that you may be getting the majority of your conversions through various sites that are ranking on the first page of search engines for your specified keywords. If this is the case, you are receiving thousands of dollars of free advertising; something any business should be ecstatic to get. I mean, really, what business doesn't like receiving free advertising, free traffic, and free conversions.

Adwords

It's about time you stop paying for unnecessary adwords that aren't even bringing in any conversions. Keeping any kind of ad that you're not actually making any money off of is like pouring money down the drain. If an ad isn't converting, it's time to change it. Constant corrections and changes are a necessity when advertising online. So you're getting clicks, good for you, but if you're not getting conversions what's the point of paying for people to simply view your website?

Social Media and Articles

How much of your traffic is coming from social media sites and articles you have posted on the web? This is something to consider as you try to link it to ranking organically. What exactly are you doing to help your site rank? It's very important to track the percentage of conversions that are actually coming from social media and article marketing. If it's working for you and it's getting you ranked in search engines, keep at it.

Ranking in Search Engines

If your site is ranking high in search engines for your designated keywords, you may not even need paid advertising. In fact, you might be funneling thousands of dollars into pay per click ads that aren't actually converting. If this is the case, perhaps it's time to reassign your marketing budget and decide if search engine optimization should carry greater weight than pay per click advertising.

All in all, it's up to each individual company to decide what is going to work best for them. Assess the marketing goals of your company in order to discern if your current marketing strategy is helping you reach them. If it is, keep up the good work but continue to search for anything else you could do in order to make even more improvements. If it's not working at all for you, it's probably a good time to do a marketing overhaul.

For more information, please visit Thrive Learning Institute.

How to Rank Even Higher in Search Engines

What are you missing?

Would you believe there is a very simple way to get you ranking higher in search engines such as Google, so long as you're not already following these guidelines. Simply include your keywords or keyword phrases in your title, meta information and, of course, in your content.

Title

There are so many people out there who don't realize that simply including your target keywords in your title can actually make you rank much higher in search engines such as Google. It's been proven that those who have the specific keywords searched for, in their title, will actually come up much higher in the search engine rankings.

You can also include one keyword or more in the domain name; that should help immensely in bringing up your site in search engines. For example, if you search for “dropship directory” in Google, dropshipdirectory.org is the first result to pop up. It also has the title “Dropship Directory”. This goes to show that it really pays off to have your keywords you're trying to rank for in both your title and your domain.

To solidify the point I'm trying to make, check out the page rank of the two sites below dropshipdirectory.org. Some would suspect that these two sites would have a lower page rank since they're ranked lower but you will find that these two sites actually have a higher page rank than dropshipdirectory.org. Yet, do to the proper use of keywords, dropshipdirectory.org still ranks higher in Google.

Meta Information

There is also a lot to be said about meta information and increasing your rankings with Google. Optimize your meta tags, titles, and descriptions, being sure to use your keywords in all three. This should help boost your rankings in Google and other search engines.

Content

As always, please be sure that your content is well optimized. This means that you should be writing about your keywords and including your keywords every one in twenty-five words or so. Doing this will help search engines pick out those particular words or phrases and will help rank your site even higher.

All in all, if you're not following these simple guidelines, you're giving up a lot of potential for ranking higher. I would suggest walking through these three things to get started, then you can read up on more ways to increase your chances of ranking on Google and other search engines. If you would like to know more about Internet marketing, you may read more on the Thrive Learning Institute Blog.

Amazon Affiliate - Domain Name Research

When you're planning on creating a niche website to make money from one of the biggest factors in how quickly you rank well for your chosen keyword is the domain name you choose. Its extremely important that you get your keyword in the domain name and that the domain name be a.com,.org or.net.

There are a lot of questions and arguments out there about what is actually needed in a domain name and from my personal experience I'll just say that the best format for a domain name is "http://www.keyword.com" instead of "http://www.keywordstore.com" or "http://www.mykeyword.com". It ALWAYS best to have your exact keyword as the domain, nothing more and nothing less. I've had great success by sticking to this practice.

There's also a lot of talk about the.info domain names. Well to be honest you could get and you could rank with it however in my experience.info's aren't give as much authority as the other three (.com.org and.net). Also when you get ready to sell your sites for a nice chunk of change having one of the other three will always help your sale.

My favorite way to quickly research my keywords for domain name availability is to use the free software, "Domain Name Analyzer. Please follow the link and check it out. It allows you to put in an unlimited number domain name possibilities and then choose which extensions to search for (an extension is the.com or.org). The software makes this process go much faster and is much much easier than pounding everything out in GoDaddy.

Amazon Associates - Product Research

Product research is an incredibly important part of market research. In the context of building a successful Amazon affiliate website there are several things to watch out for when choosing a product to promote.

First of all the product should be expensive enough for you to make a decent commission on. The Amazon affiliate program offers an average of about 6% on sales so I would go for a price range of $100 or more so that you can make at least $6 per sale. However if you feel you can get a ton of sales for lower-priced products then by all means go for it.

Another factor you should take into account is the selection of products for your chosen keyword. For example I recently researched a keyword about hard drives that had a HUGE selection. However other keywords will have much lower selection like DJ Speakers (another niche I recently researched). So make sure you have a wide selection of relevant products you can promote in your niche.

You should also look at the product reviews of the products you'll be promoting. I wouldn't worry too much about the ratings of the products but more about whether or not they have ratings. They can be a great source of content for your site and can help drive sales if used properly. Also when your customers see those reviews they will more warmed up to buy instead of just going into the purchase with no input from other users.

The last thing you should check on for product research is if the products you're going to promote actually sell well online or not. The best place I've found to check that is eBay. All you have to do is login and check the completed listings for your niche. If there are a lot of sales within a small time frame (a day or two) then you know that a lot of people are willing to buy your niches products online. However if you find that those products only sell occasionally or there are a lot of listings that close without selling it may not be the best niche to build a website around.

In my experience as I've followed these basic guidelines Iv found numerous profitable products to promote with the Amazon Affiliate program.

4 Things ALL Articles Must Have

The importance of articles in today’s websites and internet based companies are immeasurable. They dictate a lot in the success and the drive of traffic into one’s site. It has become a key element in making a site work and earns a profit. A website operator and owner must have the good sense to include articles in his or her site that will work for them and earn them the many benefits articles can give to their site.

Articles have been known to be the driving force in driving traffic to a website. Articles are a factor in giving site high rankings in search result pages. The higher a site ranks the bigger slice of the traffic flow pie he gets. With a huge number in traffic flow, there are more profits and more potential for other income generating schemes as well.

But, it is not just about stuffing your site with articles; they have certain requirements as well. These requirements must be met to obtain the maximum benefits an article will provide for your site. A well written article will catch the eyes and interest of your customers and keep them coming back for more. They would also be able to recommend your site to others.

Here are some tips to help you and assist you in making your articles. Below you will read about four things all articles must have to make it successful and helpful in making your site a profit earning and traffic overflowing site.

• Keywords and Keyword Phrases.

An article must always be centered on the keywords and keyword phrases. As each website visitor goes to a site, there are those who are just merely browsing but actually looking for a specific something. When this happens, a searcher usually goes to a search engine and types in the keywords they are looking for (e.g. Toyota Camry, Meningitis, Tax Lawyer and Etcetera). It could be anything they want.

The Important thing is that you have an article that has the keywords that are related to your site. For example, if you maintain an auto parts site, you must be able t have articles about cars and their parts. There are many tools in the internet that provides service in helping a webmaster out in determining what keywords and keyword phrases are mostly sought out. You can use this tool to determine what keywords to use and write about.

• Keyword Density

Know that you have your keywords and keyword phrases, you must use them fully. An article must have good keyword density for a search engine to “feel” its presence. Articles should at least have ten to fifteen percent of keyword density in their content for search engines to rank a site high in their search results. Getting a high rank is what articles do best for a site.

Keyword density is the number of times a keyword or keyword phrase is used on an article. The number varies depending on the number of words used in an article. An effective article must have a keyword density that is not too high or too low. With a very high density, the essence of the article is lost and may turn off a reader as well as the search engines. It comes off as overeager. A low number may be ignored by the search engines.

• Good Article Content

Like what is stated above, you cannot just riddle an article with keywords. They must also be regarded as good reading materials. Articles must be able to entertain people as well as provide good information and help for their needs. Articles should be written well with correct spelling and good grammar. If you want people to trust you, make your work good and well thought out.

People respond well to figures, facts and statistics. Try to get great information and as many facts as you can. A good and well written article will boost your reputation as an expert in your chosen field or topic. As more people believe in you. They will be able to trust you and your products.

• Linking Articles

And another important thing to remember. If you are going to submit articles to ezines and/or contribute your articles to newsletters and other sites, DON’T ever forget to include a link to your site. A little resource box with a brief description of your site and you should always be placed right after your articles that you have submitted. If people like your articles, they will most likely click on the link directing them to your site.

How to Get Started on eBay

Are you interested in using eBay to buy the products that you need or even sell items that you no longer want? If you are, you will need to create an eBay account, if you haven’t already done so. Although many automatically assume that getting started with eBay is a complicated task, it doesn’t have to be. All you really need to do is follow a few simple steps and you should be good to go.

The first thing that you will want to do is visit eBay’s website, which is located at eBay.com. Once you are at eBay’s website, you can then click on the link that allows you to register a new account. At that stage, you will be brought to a signup form. That signup form will ask you a series of questions. For instance, you will need to enter in your full name, your address, your telephone number, as well as an e-mail address. You will also be required to come up with an eBay screen name or sign in name, as well as an eBay password, which will be used to access your eBay account. Once you have correctly filled out the form, you will be sent a verification email from eBay.

Once you have received eBay’s verification email and followed all of the instructions, which will help you validate your eBay account, you will be able to start using eBay right away. When you first get started, you may need to sign in to your eBay account. As previously stated, you will need to use your eBay sign in name or screen name and password to do so. For that reason, you may want to write down your sign in information and keep it in a safe place. Once you have signed in to your eBay account, you can then do whatever you want; buy or sell.

If you are interested in using eBay to shop online, to buy, you will want to start searching for items to buy. This can be done a number of different ways. eBay allows you to browse through their large selection of items, by detailed categories. You can also perform a standard eBay search or an advanced one. Searches are more likely to give you accurate, tailored results. When browsing or searching for something in particular, you should be able to see a large number of auction listing all on one page. The information that you will be presented with at this time is the standard, bare minimum. If you would like more information on the item in question, such as how much shipping costs or too see additional pictures, you will want to click on the link to view the detailed sales page. Should you like what you see, follow the instructions to buy and you will have made your first purchase on eBay!

As it was previously stated, if you are interested in selling on eBay, to make a little bit of extra money, you can also do so. The only difference is that you are required to pay small fees to become an eBay seller, unlike eBay buyers who have completely free accounts. The amount of money that you are charged will all depend on your auctions, particularly how much you list each item for, as well as how well each item sells. To get started with selling, you will want to click on the “sell,” link at the top of the eBay webpage. What is nice about listing items for sale on eBay is it is relatively easy to do. For instance, you need to choose a category for your item, make a headline for your auction listing, write a description of your product, upload pictures of what you are selling, outline shipping costs, as well as accepted forms of payments, but everything is outlined for you, in a step-by-step matter.

Whether you are interested in becoming an eBay buyer or an eBay seller, you can do both, in as little as a few minutes. eBay, as previously mentioned, is considered one the most shopped at online marketplaces. For you, this means that if you are looking to make money on eBay, you should be able to do so and if you are interested in buying on eBay, you should be able to find millions of products to choose from.

A Day In The Life Of An Affiliate Marketer

Being in the affiliate marketing business is not that hard now with the internet at your disposable. It is much easier now compared to the days when people have to make use of the telephones and other mediums of information just to get the latest updates on the way their program is coming along.

So with technology at hand, and assuming that the affiliate is working from home, a day in his or her life would sound something like this…

Upon waking up and after having breakfast, the computer is turned on to check out new developments in the network. As far as the marketer is concerned there might be new things to update and statistics to keep track on.

The site design has to be revised. The marketer knows that a well-designed site can increase sign ups from visitors. It can also help in the affiliate’s conversion rates.

That done, it is time to submit the affiliate program to directories that lists affiliate programs. These directories are means to attract people in joining your affiliate program. A sure way of promoting the affiliate program.

Time to track down the sales you are getting from your affiliates fairly and accurately. There are phone orders and mails to track down. See if they are new clients checking the products out. Noting down the contact information that might be a viable source in the future.

There are lots of resources to sort out. Ads, banners, button ads and sample recommendations to give out because the marketer knows that this is one way of ensuring more sales. Best to stay visible and accessible too.

The affiliate marketer remembered that there are questions to answer from the visitors. This has to be done quickly. Nothing can turn off a customer than an unanswered email.

To prove that the affiliate is working effectively and efficiently, inquiries would have to be paid more attention on. Nobody wants to be ignored and customers are not always the most patient of all people. Quick answer that should appear professional yet friendly too.

In the process of doing all the necessities, the marketer is logged on to a chat room where he or she interacts with other affiliates and those under that same program. This is where they can discuss things on how to best promote their products.

There are things to be learned and it is a continuous process. Sharing tips and advices is a good way of showing support. There may be others out there wanting to join and may be enticed by the discussion that is going on. There is no harm in assuming what opportunities ahead.

The newsletters and ezines were updated days ago, so it is time for the affiliate marketer to see if there are some new things happening in the market. This will be written about in the marketer’s publication to be distributed to the old and new customers.

These same publications are also an important tool in keeping up to date with the newly introduced products. The marketer has put up a sale and promotion that customers may want to know about. Besides, they have to keep up with the deadline of these sales written in the publications.

It is that time to show some appreciation to those who have helped the marketer in the promotions and sale increase. Nothing like mentioning the persons, their sites and the process they have done that made everything worked.

Of course, this will be published in the newsletters. Among the more important information that have been written already.

The marketer still has time to write out recommendations to those who want credible sources for the products being promoted. There is also time to post some comments on how to be a successful affiliate marketer on a site where there are lots of wannabees.

Two objectives done at the same time. The marketer gets to promote the product as well as the program they are in. Who knows, someone may be inclined to join.

Time flies. Missed lunch but is quite contented with the tasks done. Bed time….

Ok, so this may not be all done in a day. But then, this gives you an idea of how an affiliate marketer, a dedicated one that is, spends the marketing day.

Is that success looming in the distance or what?

Thrive Learning Institute - An Online Business Is The Model For Wealth Today

The economy in the US is changing and we are only now starting to see the results of that change. People who understand the change and adapt to it will do well. The majority of the people, those who can’t or won’t adapt, are destined for a lower standard of living. There will definitely be winners in this new economy, even during the Great Depression there were many fortunes made by people who were willing to understand the changes taking place and adapt themselves to take advantage of what was happening.

For the last 150 years the US economy was built on manufacturing. Giant steel plants, auto factories, and textile mills provided millions of high paying jobs to any one who wanted to work. This reliance on heavy manufacturing was a boon to the American citizen. For the first time in history a very large middle class was developed and the living standards of millions of people were at levels never even dreamed of before. A person who dropped out of high school could get a job in a factory, within a year be making a very good wage to support his family and buy himself some big boy toys, and then after 30 years retire with a full pension and health care.

This is no longer the case. Millions and millions of manufacturing jobs have been shipped overseas and aren’t coming back. The jobs that are here no longer pay a living wage and forget about any benefits other than maybe some lame health insurance that won’t pay for half of what ails you. The golden manufacturing years are over and the sooner we realize that the better. The people trying to restart the old economy are wasting their time. Now we should be looking to the future.

The internet has changed everything in our society just like electricity did 150 years ago. We haven’t even seen the beginning of the online business opportunities offered by the web. More and more people are becoming comfortable with shopping online and if you need an answer to a question almost everyone “Googles” it any more. Whether it is providing information, selling products, or one of the hundreds of other business models available, a web based business is where everyone who is looking toward the future should be.

If you are tired of worrying about the future then make a commitment today to start a web based business and stake your claim on this frontier. The people who got in on the ground floor of the manufacturing economy got filthy rich and the same is going to happen to those who are smart enough to get in on the internet economy.

Start your Online Business Training by clicking this link. The sooner you start the sooner you will be on your way to the possible riches available to those who understand our economy is changing. For personal one on one coaching check out Thrive Learning Institute.

Thrive Learning Institute - Make Money Offline with Internet Marketing

by David Godot

There is a lot of discussion about how to make money online using internet marketing techniques, and there is most certainly a lot of money to be made. But many people fail to recognize the tremendous potential of internet marketing for making money offline as well. If you're not interested in being a full-time online marketer, and want to own your own brick-and-mortar business, you actually have a better chance of accomplishing your goals than people whose businesses are entirely internet-based.

I'll use myself as an example. Like many people these days, I have a personal web site that I use to communicate certain professional information about myself. I don't like to make the information there entirely professional, because the domain name is my name and I feel like it should represent me as a person, not just as a professional. I don't want to paint myself into the corner of presenting a professional persona at all time.

Many people make the mistake of trying to brand themselves as their business, and I think that this is a tremendous mistake. First of all, the business cannot outlast you, you can never sell it, or outsource all of your work. You are the work. Once you retire, your life's work is over.

Another problem with this marketing model has to do with the problem of branding your own personal home page as a professional home page as well: you paint yourself into a corner. You have presented yourself as the product, and so you get locked into always promoting that product. For example, it is my business to be a psychotherapist in Chicago. If I were to brand my business under my own name, as many therapists do, I would have to hide as much of my life from the world at large as I am expected to hide from my patients. With the internet increasingly playing a central role in the social lives of individuals, this could have an increasingly crippling effect on the therapist as a person.

But the main reason to learn internet marketing principles for the purposes of marketing your own offline business is that, depending on your field, most of your competitors probably are not. When I search for Chicago therapists,' I realize how important my internet marketing skill-set is really going to be in the development of my career. With people increasingly finding every type of product and service exclusively through the internet, a business owner can hardly afford not to learn the principles of internet marketing, even if they have no desire to make money online.

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Thrive Learning Institute is a great provider of high level, personal internet marketing coaching.

Make Money Fast

Tons of people are always asking how to make money fast on the internet. Thus we see the birth of trillions of get rich quick scams that make only the dishonest and shady money while the honest are left in the dust with $597 less than before and a few sticks when they thought they were getting power tools. Thrive Learning Institute delivers those power tools.

Creating Fast Income will obviously be riskier because if it weren't then everyone would be doing it. So here's a few ideas you can use to start making money today.

Affiliate Marketing

You can make a ton of money very quickly with affiliate marketing. All you need to do is get some highly targeted paid advertising that's directed to a landing page where you advertise other peoples products. That traffic buys those products and you make a killing with a simple web page and some seed money for advertising.

Obviously there's a downside. If you mess up your ad or your site is horribly optimized for conversions then you could realistically end up in the hole instead of going down to get your new Harley. I would suggest starting with a bit of seed money that is dedicated solely to learning good PPC techniques and learning how to optimize a landing page for conversions so that when the rubber meets the road you can really rake in the dollars.

Blogging

Blogging is another way to make a good amount of money online. You'll need to find a niche that you know a lot about and can write a lot about or you will burn out quickly. But with some basic SEO knowledge and a lot of useful, entertaining content you can monetize in so many different way IE advertising networks like Adsense, affiliate marketing, and you can even create your own products over time. That's where the real money is and Thrive Learning Institute will get you there.

Tip of the Week: Social Media Marketing

Social media is a form of viral marketing; once you get it started there is no way to stop it. A few people will bite and then they'll send information on to their friends who will send it on to theirs. It is important to realize, however, that social marketing is not as easy as it sounds. You first have to get involved in and become part of the community you wish to market to. If you act before you are a part of that community people will not respond well to you. Then, when you try to market to that community again, you will be approached with skepticism.

Some may believe that social media is not worth your time. Those same people were the ones who thought that websites such as You tube and Facebook would never amount to anything. There is a lot of power in social media, the trick is figuring out how to effectively tap into that power. No matter what, choose your social media tactics wisely, problems are not easily solved.