Archive for the ‘Internet & Online Business’ Category

Is Your Website's Link Directory Even Worth Having?

Friday, November 20th, 2009

Author: Derek Arnold
Source: articleage.com

Let’s face it, getting (and keeping) a good Google page rank is no easy task and requires constant attention. Not just in getting reciprocal links, but honing your Meta tags, and keeping your content fresh. But we are here to discuss only one part of the pagerank dilemma. In fact this article will focus more on other, and in some cases, more important benefits of a proper links directory.

Directory Structure

Categorize your directory well- Meaning the more categories you have the better organized your directory is. More categories means your visitors can locate particular links a lot faster.
Minimize the depth of your categories- You should not make your directory more than three category levels deep, for instance if you are a travel site and have a category for Jamaica, then the structure example would be Travel>>Caribbean>>Jamaica. Easy navigation for your site visitors is the main reason for this.
Reason two for minimizing your directory depth- Search engines will spider each page of your website, they will determine the pagerank of each page based on its content, and distance away from your homepage. Use this as a rule of thumb; each level down from your homepage will cost that page “one” pagerank point. Using the example above, this is what is meant here, Travel>>Caribbean>>Jamaica: the Travel” page would have the highest pagerank being closest to your homepage, let’s say it has been give a Google rank of 4, the next level “Caribbean” in all likelihood would have a rank of 3, and so on.
No more than 20 links per page- There is not a link partner in the world that wants his/her site to be on your link page as link number 100. I would rather be link number 3 on page number three than link number 100 on page one. This is clutter, and useless to all involved, you, your link partner and especially your site visitor. Keep this in mind as well, when the search engines spider your site they will also notice more pages on your site thus determining that you offer more content. Your link partners will also appreciate it.

Relevant Links

Do your visitors really care if you own a travel site and have links to recipe sites? Of course not. Although locating good quality link partners for your site will take more time, it will be well worth it in the long run. If you have a travel site, seek out rental cars, vacation spots, travel accessories, and the like. Your visitors are on your site because they (at that moment in time) are interested in what your site has to offer, do not change the visitor’s train of thought into anything other than what you want them to think about, in this example, traveling and things associated with traveling.

Make Money from your links?

Of course! Reciprocal linking is a great way to help your website’s search engine ranking, but making immediate cash from your links is a whole level up from that.
Join affiliate programs like Commission Junction and add some affiliate links to your directory. For our travel site example, you can get offers like travel accessories, rental cars and the like.
Have a good mix of links to other sites and affiliate links- You do not want a directory full of affiliate links, this is a major turn-off to your visitors. As a matter of fact, you should have at least a 10 to 1 ratio of regular links vs affiliate links.

Advertise in your directory

Since you now have a well organized directory with an excellent structure, limited to 20 links per page, and a lot of pages with good advertising space, it’s time to place some banners.
You can advertise some of those good sites that you are affiliated with and place a banner or two on every page.
Keep it neat- You should have quality space on the left or right side of your directory add a Skyscraper banner to either side (only one per page though), it is well known that the bigger the banner the more clicks on that banner you should receive. A skyscraper is usually 120 x 600 in size. Add a single banner at the top center of each page as well; make it a different ad, offer something different than your skyscraper. This is the most valuable banner location on any page, use it for banners.
Sell banner spots- Now that you have a well categorized directory, you can sell ad space to vendors whose products or services appeal to that particular category. You can even offer the top spot on a particular page for sale or as a trade for the same kind of link for your site in someone else’s directory.

Exceptions to the rule

There are those sites that do not fit into any category of your site that have that HUGE Google page rank, and you want them to link with your site. Here is a tip for you to keep those sites happy and get that top rank. In addition to you’re regular links directory, create a separate smaller reciprocal links directory. This may be only 1-3 pages in size. This directory must have a direct link from your homepage (most top rank sites require that), and title it something like “Special Link Partners” or “Recommended Links”. Add only page ranks of say 6-7 or higher to this special directory. This will ensure your most important link partners that you will not be burying their link inside your link directory.

We have quite a large selection of software in our downloads directory at http://www.bullmarketer.com that can help you automate the process of managing your own links directory. One program in particular is Arelis by Axandra. This software is not only VERY user friendly but offers tons of features. There is a free lite version available for download.

Derek Arnold
Derek Arnold is the President of BullMarketer.com, a webmaster resource site offering many tools for webmasters, marketers, and designers. Also has over 18 years of experience in the marketing and advertising fields. Homepage: http://www.bullmarketer.com

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Milestone's Top 10 Electronic Marketing Musts

Friday, November 6th, 2009

Author: Benu Aggarwal
Source: articlecity.com

Define Your Online Marketing Strategy

If you want to secure your share of the lucrative online marketplace, think about all the steps you will take to target Leisure, Corporate, and Group markets for your lodging or resort. Then, create a well-defined e-commerce market plan by clearly identifying the tools that people use to find and book hotels online. Open your eyes to the myriad of online channels, such as Search Engines, Independent/Brand Websites, Email, Blogs, GDS sites, and Travel Sites that will help you gain presence and profit on the internet. These ten elements will make your internet journey worth your while.

Search Engines and Independent Websites For Lodging Industry

Get the best out of your independent and brand websites and soar on the search engines by defining your online marketing plan. Your initial move will be to identify why people are traveling to your neck of the woods.

1. Know Your Internet Market – Identify your target market by researching what people are searching for in your area on the internet. Then, market for local and regional factors. Use offline and online methodologies to determine which factors are bringing visitors to your area .Group these reasons into a clearly identified online marketing bucket, for example: Groups, Corporate and Leisure.

2. Content is King . . . Create content which addresses the needs of your customer. Develop unique reasons (USPs) for your hotel and destination, and develop a differentiated approach for key customer segments. Create unique specials and packages, event-related getaways, seasonal promotions and launch one-to-one marketing initiatives to provide unique value and personalization. If your online audience is looking for Paramount’s Great America theme park, then offer relevant content regarding the theme park, along with your hotel room, tickets, transportation, etc. Make sure you have high quality, rich and relevant content on your electronic distribution channels whether it is your brand site, your travel site, your hotel website, GDS, or your email marketing campaign. Talk about your USPs, packages, promotions with local events, and getaways.

3. Link Building . . . Make link building an integral part of your online hotel marketing efforts. You want to be listed wherever your customers are going and looking. Good quality links from relevant websites tremendously boosts your online presence and organic ranking. Secure links from relevant and good quality local, regional, national, and niche specific websites.

4. Increase Conversions from your hotel website – You will increase your online conversions by offering convenience and value. Remember, you do not have to discount your rooms to create value packaging. Get close to your customers needs. A good idea is to bundle local attractions, things to do and activities as part of your hotel packages. Packaging and quality photography converts! Make the booking process for your hotel easy and efficient. Give your customer ways to book your packages and rooms online.

5. Lowest Rates Guaranteed on hotel indepwebsite- The dynamic internet is changing the way people are making their travel and hotel arrangements. You can secure your customer directly by employing best practices such as rate parity across all sales channels, creating a strong links program, email marketing, loyalty programs, pay-per-click campaigns and last minute offers, etc. Your ultimate goal is to create a powerful presence on the internet through both independent and brand websites . . . and gain customer trust and loyalty.

Following A Successful Email Marketing Plan

6. Email Marketing – Develop a well defined and ongoing e-marketing plan. Offer your online guest a reason to “opt in” to your Email Offers program. Send compelling email messaging that gives them what they are looking for. Give reasons to come back, such as local events and last minute offers. Track the results of all your campaigns.

Get the Best From Your Distribution Channels

7. Participate In Distribution Channels & Check HODs! – To optimize your online marketing channels, check what your GDS (Global Distribution Systems) and IDS is saying about you. Call your Franchise GDS department and request a copy of your HODs (Hotel Description on Airline systems). Make your rates and limited inventory available on third party websites. Always practice rate parity. For independent hotels, participate in your GDS system.

8. Tracking Return on Investment from Hotel Website – Track your online and offline results. Since most people searching online will call the hotel to close the sales, offline tracking is essential. Typically, for every one person who books online, 5 people will call you. Establish a unique phone number for your website, whether it is a 800-number or local number. Train your staff to track phone results and to become familiar with what is sold online. Your Front Desk staff is an influential sales tool especially when it comes to closing the deal. Establish a good tracking system at the front desk.

9. Online Tracking – Review your website stats regularly! The key things you should review are how many unique visitors are finding your site every day, the top 10 referral sources, top 10 Keywords people are using to find you, the top 10 pages generating the most traffic, your click-through to goal conversion pages -such as reservations, manager specials, special offers pages – and the top 10 feeder markets. Your online marketing is constant process of researching, strategizing, implementing, tracking, and analyzing – not a one-time event!

10. Build A Good Online Reputation – Worry about what consumers say about you online? Check Trip Advisor, E-Opinion Sites, Yahoo Travel, Hotel Chatter, and local travel blogs in your area!

The realm of e-marketing is far-reaching and very rewarding if you utilize the many sales channels available to your hotel – from websites to personal emails. Creating search engine friendly brand and independent hotel sites, compelling content, maintaining email campaigns, and participating in travel sites and GDS will help you achieve the competitive edge on the internet. Remember, tracking your results will let you know what’s working and where your revenue is coming from.

Copyright 2006 Benu Aggarwal

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Air Travel Not Always The Cheapest Travel Choice

Sunday, November 1st, 2009

Author: Matthew Paolini
Source: articlecity.com

Theres mostly bad information for travelers intending to fly on business or on vacation this summer, according to a recent article published in U.S. News & World Report. Not only have flight delays increased, but so, too, have the number of passengers affected per plane. For some, the news was worse than for others. Evaluating the nations major airports using a combination of the percentage of flights delayed and the average load of departing airplanes, the U.S. News article branded Detroits Wayne County Airport as the nations worst.

Official Department of Transportation numbers paint a frustrating picture for Motowns frequent fliers. Thirty-nine percent of flights at Detroit are delayed. Combined with an average load factor of just under seventy-seven percent – meaning that aircraft leaving the Motor City are almost 77 percent full – Detroits airport serves up the most misery to the largest number of people when flights miss their scheduled departure times.

Given the fact that I live not far from Detroit and make the occasional business trip to nearby Chicago or Cleveland, these figures got me thinking about the advantages – if any – of driving to these destinations. With the help of some other tips in the article, it was quite easy for me to price and then compare the cost of driving and flying to each of these cities.

The first step in the process was to visit http://fuelcostcalculator.com.

Run by the American Automobile Association (AAA), this website makes it easy to enter your starting point and final destination along with the make, model and year of manufacture of your automobile. Using MPG estimates for your particular make of car and the average gas price for your part of the country, AAAs fuel cost calculator quickly computes the distance in miles, the quantity of fuel required and cost of that fuel for a typical drive from lets say – Detroit to Chicago. In my case, I learned that I could expect to use 10.58 gallons of gas for the 275-mile drive to the Windy City at an approximate fuel cost at just over 33 dollars (33.23). The calculator likewise gave me the round-trip cost of the drive, in this case, 66.46.

To find out how this would compare to flying, I next pointed my Web browser to http://sidestep.com.

Sidestep appeals to me because it scours hundreds of airline and discounted fare websites for the best deal and then lets me book my flight directly with the airline company instead of using an intermediary like Orbitz, Travelocity or Expedia. Dealing directly with the airline and not through a third-party ticket broker, makes it easier and possibly less expensive if fees are involved to change my flight if necessary.

While visiting http://sidestep.com, I located an American Airlines non-stop flight that would take me from Detroit to Chicago on a Tuesday and return me the following Thursday at a total round-trip cost of 119.00 dollars. Not a bad price by any means, but still approximately twice the cost of driving. And the price did not factor in the cost of airport parking or any extra airport charges or taxes.

Because I enjoy driving, the choice to drive to Chicago on my next business trip was an obvious one. My route takes me right by the Detroit airport anyway and Id rather spend my time driving through the scenic countryside of Western Michigan than battling long lines and possible delays at the airport. In addition, its nice to have my own car in Chicago and also gratifying to save on the cost of a rental car.

Whether a decision like this adds up for you depends for the most part on your starting point and ultimate destination. Although its still very slightly cheaper for me to drive from Detroit to Los Angeles than it is to fly, for example, Id never consider making this long drive part of a business trip.

As a rule its the shorter trips, on the order of 250 to 450 miles, where driving makes sense. See for yourself by comparing the cost of flying and the cost of driving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, Washington, D.C. to Boston, or Miami to Orlando using the tools available at http://fuelcostcalculator.com and http://sidestep.com.

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Search Service Delhi Makes Traveling Around The City Real Easy

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Author: Amit Bhalla
Source: articledashboard.com

Delhi, one of the oldest continually inhabited cities of the world, is also the second largest metropolis in India. It can be easy to feel lost amidst the staggering population that is around 13 million and more so if you happen to be a visitor or a newcomer to the city. The newcomers can therefore be seen battling it out on their own with roadmaps in place and frantically stopping people on the road to ask for directions to the nearest restaurant, movie hall, medicine store, retail shop and almost any such place. Often such people are misguided due to the ignorance of the person on the road and are left feeling frustrated and lost. Search service Delhi is the answer to every search related query that one may have regarding the city. The easy accessibility of the internet from every home and office makes it an even more viable solution.

Search service Delhi is a facility provided by a website which contains every kind of localized information about the city of Delhi. Suppose you want to catch the first day first show of the latest release ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’ it will be near to impossible to compete with the kids in your neighborhood. The best option available to you would be to books the tickets days in advance or try out a different theatre where you feel you may have a remote chance of catching Harry Potter in action. Newspapers could help you with some details but then it is a cumbersome process to manually note down numbers, call up the box office for the address and get a list of the timings and so on. Search service Delhi provides the most convenient option of logging on to the site, checking out the theatres and the show timings, getting the address and the contact number of all the theaters where you may try your luck. The online ticket booking option for most theatres ensure that once you are connected to the internet you do not have to be disappointed.

Search service Delhi is the one stop solution for every kind of information you may want about the city. Be it an address, contact number or simply a list of say, Chinese restaurants in any particular locality. The facility of getting search service Delhi on your mobile handsets further enhances the charm of this service and the advantages get increased by manifolds. No matter where you find yourself in Delhi, a simple sms can deliver the desired location address and contact number to your mobile phone. Thanks to search service Delhi, you or your loved one will never feel out of place again. A newcomer from another city or possibly even a different country lands in the capital of India with many apprehensions about the people, the culture and the general feel of the place. The ready availability of a convenient facility like the search service Delhi can help the person feel at home instantly since he will now face no problem in finding his way around the city.

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