When it comes to search engines, Google is KING. Any website designer, writer, or web marketer will tell you that. If you are going to have a high ranking website you are going to need to know what Google wants. You as a website owner have control over 5 basic elements while Google controls the sixth exclusively. Lets take a look at these variables for a brief moment.

1. Keywords – Keywords are very important. Keywords are the cornerstone of your search engine strategy. Keywords are what targets your visitors.  You strategically place keywords in your pages and in links on your pages as bait to attract visitors to your site.

2. Content – Just as Googleis the king of search engines, content is the king of your website. Content, from Googles perspective, actually means text. And you need a lot of text. Google, and the other search engines, will index words and you want them to index the keywords you’re interested in. The more words you have the more times your keyword can appear. Create pages that are optimized for specific keywords and key phrases that you know are used frequently.

3.Page Optimization – Having good keywords and good content is just the start. You have to strategically place your content on your pages to optimize the most from your keywords. If Google finds the keywords on your page, that’s good. If they find keywords in the right places that’s powerful and will set you apart from the rest of your competition.

4.Submissions – Although this is a good way to ask the search engines to look at your site and index it, the importance people have placed on submissions is grossly inflated. There are thousands of search engines on the internet and you probably will not get indexed on 1/3 of them. The so-called site submission sites that are out there are largely scams too.  The main three search engines you MUST submit to are Google, Yahoo, and MSN. A new idea to help search engines find you more easily was introduced by Google in 2005. XML sitemaps are placed in your root directory containing a list of links to all your site pages. I strongly suggest submitting your site to the Big 3 and provide them with your sitemap.

5.Links – Links pointing to your website are extremely important in the competitve keyword market. You flat out will have a difficult time getting high rankings without them. Just to illustrate how important links are, did you realize that links can get you listed at the top of page rankings without having a keyword that was searched for as long as the links had the keywords? Thats how powerful links are! (BTW – I’ll cover link strategy next week)

6.Time – The ONE thing you have absolutly no control over. Time. Some people talk about a Google sandbox. What happens is that your site does get indexed by them but they set you aside in a holding pattern until some time elapses.Once they feel you are credible you get to come out of the sandbox and play with the big boys.  Basically the longer your site has been up the better. As always though there are exceptions.

Hopefully this has helped you understand the search engines a little better. Remember that Google, Yahoo, and MSN can be your best business partners or they can simply ignore you based on the work YOU put into your website optimization.

Many local small business owners believe that they don’t need a website. The truth is however, that small business owners should have a website especially in today’s marketplace. It does not matter whether you sell worldwide or just to your local area, a business website can increase your sales revenue tremendously.

Many local business owners have lots of misconceptions when it comes to having their own website. They feel that the local community should already know that they are in business. They believe that being listed in the local yellow pages are enough advertisement, or that it is just plain too expensive to have a website.

Even if your friends and family know you have a local business does not mean that the local community is going to beat a path to your storefront. People today are used to the ease of shopping online. If your business has a website that people in your community can find, they will be more apt to purchase from you rather than from a business across the country.

People will purchase from a local vendor with a website because you will have already established a trust factor. Your business is right there with them and they can come to you and have any problems resolved quickly rather than having to wait for mail from a source across the country.

Having your own website also allows your potential local customers to see the diversity your business offers.  Let’s say you are a towing company for a moment. Everybody has seen your trucks on the road. But what if someone wants to have a junk car hauled away? They will look on the web for somebody that does that. Your website, listing that particular service, will generate another client for you.

Yellow page advertising is expensive to say the least. Compare that little block of advertisement to a complete website full of information on your business. There is just no comparison to the amount of visibility you will gain from your local community, not to mention the business. Most webhosting companies are far less expensive than a half page advertisement in the Yellow Pages.

The amount of quality content you can have on a website promoting your business is endless. You can explain in detail every aspect of your business, giving your customers the information they need to purchase from you.  Also don’t forget this small fact; websites are up 24/7. That means you are advertising around the clock.

Local small business owners must have a website to stay competitive in today’s world. Even if you are not internet savvy, it pays huge dividends to your business to have a website. There are many options available in all price ranges. You can even start on a shoestring budget and have a freelance writer produce your content.  Make the wise business choice and invest in a business website today.

Ken Crawford – Writer For Hire

I see a lot of people wanting to purchase $5 articles on the web. I have come across many more that want articles done for much less. If you are serious about having an article marketing campaign, you need to seriously consider the quality of the article you are using.

I understand that most people that are just starting out in home businesses online do not have a very large advertising budget. With that said, you should be investing your money wisely and not just getting things cheap.

 A poorly written $5 article is not going to do your business any good. It will however make your advertising budget disappear.

I realize my rates are not much more expensive, starting out at $10. However, I too am just starting my online business. I do not charge as much as other seasoned writers do because I feel I need to hone my skills more as well. With that said though, I strive as a business person and a professional to provide quality writing for my clients.

Many people that will write $5 articles, will write crap that doesn’t sell. Period.

They will give you 500 words of nothing. Some of these folks rely on nothing more than rewording someone elses work.

Your customers deserve more.

Your business deserves more.

You deserve more.

Everybody dreams about the possibilities to work at home and be their own boss. The freedom to work your own hours and do your own thing is very appealing. Along with those dreams also comes the nagging question of  whether it really can be done. Make no mistake here, working for yourself is not a piece of cake. To work at home in your own business takes discipline and hard work. Nobody will make thousands of dollars overnight for doing nothing. It takes real work but the rewards are fantastic. If you are considering starting your own business, there are some important questions you need to ask yourself.

Do You Need Social Interaction During The Day

Are you the type of person that loves to sit around with co-workers and just mingle? Are you the social butterfly in the office that enjoys going over the latest office gossip?  If you are, you may want to think twice before starting your own business. When you work at home and work for yourself, your time is money. The more time you spend on other things that do not directly affect your business, is revenue lost. You must spend your time speaking  to clients and building your business. The success or failure of your business really depends on the time investment you put into it.

Are You Self Motivated

Having the ability to push forward and get things done is crucial to your business success. You will not have the luxury of a peer telling you what needs to be done and when. You are going to have to constantly market yourself. You will need to develop constantly your organization, marketing, and planning skills as you move from being an employee to being a business owner. Your business will require constant effort on your part to see it succeed. You will have to motivate yourself daily to perform the necessary tasks to see your business succeed.

Are You Really Ready To Be The Boss

Do you have the drive and determination to persevere with your home based business? Everything will fall directly upon your shoulders. When you work at home, your success and failure are determined by the investment of time and energy on your part to see your business through. You are the one that will be making the tough business decisions from here on out. You will have to make the adjustments daily to meet your personal and business goals. You will be the boss.

Those three questions are not meant to discourage anybody from starting a work at home business. They do point out, however, the seriousness that you need to take to see your business succeed. Working for yourself is very exciting and very lucrative, but with all the successes there are setbacks as well. You will have to evaluate, adjust, and work through the lows and build your business. Through determination, time investment, and proper motivation you can start awork at home business and be very successful and happy.

You have taken the step to have an online presence for your business. Your research has been done and you have chosen a site host, domain name, and created your website. Now that your “online” door is open for business, how do you get visitors to find you among the thousands of your competitors? The answer is good quality web content on your site. Fresh, engaging content is the announcement that YOU can solve their problem.

Good, well written web content for your website and articles will drive potential customers to your website. Your content on your website describes what you are selling, how you can solve their problem, and why they should purchase from you. It does this through the assistance of your free 24/7 salesperson called the search engines.  Search engines look for keywords and key phrases that match sites with what a person is searching for. When you type in “picture frames” the search engines will provide you with sites that deal directly with picture frames. They do this by crawling the web content of websites and articles bring back the most relevant results.

Quality written web content on your site, or articles that point to your site,that are rich in relative keywords and key phrases will bring people to your “door”. Now that you have attracted them to your website, that very same content needs to encourage visitors to stay and see what you have to offer.

In most brick and mortar businesses a visitor may walk in and browse around a bit. Sometimes they will stay a little longer, even when they have no intention of purchasing anything, just because of the physical effort that was involved. The “I’m here might as well look around” syndrome. On the web it is just too easy for a person to click on your site, not be interested and hit the back button.  Your web content and articles not only need to bring them to your site but also keep them interested in seeing more. Engaging content will keep them interested and the longer a visitor stays the greater the potential is of them becoming a paying customer. Your content needs to flow easily and encourage your visitors to “listen” to what you have to say.

Not all visitors and traffic are created equal. Contrary to popular belief it is not the amount of traffic you get but rather the amount of qualified visitors you get. What good does it do you to have someone looking for dog collars come to your site when you are selling high end audio products? You need a targeted audience that is looking to fill a need that you have the solution for. Again your content delivers this by bringing qualified visitors in, engaging them to learn more about your business, and showing them how you will solve their problem.

Quality web content will drive the qualified people to your business and encourage them to purchase your solutions to their needs. As you can see from this, your content is the most valuable asset your online presence has. Without customers, businesses dissolve. Your website and your articles are your silent “salespeople” and when they are good they will help your business thrive.

If you own a web-based business, you know how important it is to get web traffic. Just having a website up and running will not bring you potential customers by itself.  You need to literally point people to your website and turn visitors into customers. Hiring an article marketing writer will help you accomplish this and transform your website into a thriving business.

Relying on search engines to find your business can be a daunting task. If you are selling a product or service on the internet, you already have hundreds if not thousands of other competitors already on the web. Search engines are not going to put you in front of potential customers’ eyes because there are more well established websites with good content that they have already been directing people towards. You will be starting at the proverbial bottom of the totem pole. Having an article marketing writer providing you with fresh well written web content and articles is a good start in raising your search engine rankings. You need to start a good, keyword rich article campaign to move your site rankings within the top ten of the major search engine rankings.

Search engines like Google and Yahoo love good content and fresh, relevant articles. Their sole job is to provide people with the best, freshest, and pertinent information possible. This is what article marketing is all about.

Lets say you run a business that sells utility knives for example. You are marketing your business and yourself as the experts in utility knives. You want to give people fresh and timely information that they may look for when searching for utility knives. You want to give them valuable information and offer them solutions by pointing them directly to your website.

An article marketing writer can create an informational article that you will submit to article directories. At the end of each article you have what most directories call a resource box or bio box. This is the area you will place a link that points directly to your website. Now with this article, you have given a visitor some valuable information that he has read through. When they get to the end of the article they discover where they can get more information by clicking on the link to your site.

Lets continue with the example of the utility knife website. Your article marketing writer has created an article using the key phrase “Safely Changing Box Knife Blades”. This article spells out in detail, with the preceding key phrase throughout, how to safely replace a dull blade. At the bottom of the article there is a link in the resource box pointing directly to your website. The link may look something like, “At XYZ Knife you can see our full line of knives with lifetime blades. Never change a blade again.”

The above example is very broad in scope, however you start to get the idea of what I am saying here. When someone types in “how to change knife blades” in their search box, your article is going to come up within the first few pages of search results. Personally, I have seen many cases where good articles have made the first page of results the next day or even within hours of posting. That article is pointing directly to your website. Readers are finding that article quickly and finding your site quickly. This can mean hundreds of unique visitors’ everyday that can become customers.

Having a good article marketing writer on your team is very advantageous to any online business owner. If you want to make money you need to have customers. If nobody knows you’re out there, they won’t visit your site.  Start seriously considering beginning an article campaign and have an article marketing writer create keyword rich, well written articles for you. Your business will flourish by this effort.

Every online, and offline, marketer knows that good writing skills are essential for your business. Goeo,od, well written, keyword rich articles are like gold when it comes to attracting customers to your website. If you lack the time or the skills, hiring a ghost writer to do the job for you is exactly what you need.

A ghost writer is a professional that makes their living writing for other people and businesses. They know that proficient writing skills are imperative to your business needs. Ghost writers will write content for you and often their names appear nowhere in an article, therefore you become the expert on the topic written about. Ghost writers are hired for all varieties of writing assignments but mainly for blog postings and article marketing campaigns. Before hiring someone to write for you, take some things into consideration.

Ghost writers are just like other professionals as they specialize in certain areas of expertise. For example, some are experts is writing articles for search engine optimization while others specialize in blog postings or copyrighting. Still others write fictional stories and resumes as well as specialists in the field of autobiography. The best way to see if a particular ghost writer is for you is to get writing samples. The internet makes this easy as most freelance writer have their own websites showcasing their work. If possible ask for references from some of their clients as well.

Check also to see if your potential ghost writer has a history of plagiarizing. Although you can never really guarantee a writer won’t plagiarize, talking with former clients will help you decide if the possibility was there in the past. You don’t want to have content on your website that could possibly be viewed as plagiarism or copied work from another source. Remember, the whole idea is to have good quality, original work.

Developing a relationship of trust between you and your potential ghost writer is important as well. Solicit feedback from them on ideas you have in mind as well as giving them instruction. You need to be able to feel comfortable with someone who is doing work for you that you most likely will never see. I have been able to assist my clients on different projects that quite frankly had nothing to do with the actual writing process. The idea is you want someone looking out for your interest as well as their wallet.

Finally, make sure you get arrangements in writing even if it is just in email. I have made many contracts simply by spelling out what was going to be written along with payment and a way for the payment and written piece to be exchanged. This will also keep misunderstandings down to a minimum.

Ghost writers are an asset to anyone looking for well written work who don’t have the time to write it themselves. A relationship between client and ghost writer can be very profitable to both parties. The key is communication and research. So, if you need someone to write for you, look for a ghost writer you are comfortable with.

By now I think most people in the world know about blogs.
       
What most don’t know as there is a great income to be made as well for free.
                           
Rob Benwell is only a mere 22 years old and has already made a fortune using this method. Early last year he sharing his secrets with the world in his highly successful Blogging To The Bank ebook and has made making money online a whole lot easier for everyone.
                           
Just over a year after the success of his first book he is now releasing his second helping to wet our appetites and keep the fat bucks rolling in.
                           
I got this book and soon as I could and it covers quite a lot of new information and techniques to adapt your blog to the new demands of the major search engines. Many of the techniques in the old book are now dated and don’t work so well. This is why Blogging To The Bank 2.0 is a godsend.
                           
Also this guy doesn’t consider himself to be a guru, he’s just a normal guy who wants to help the little guys out. I find this a nice change as he doesn’t talk down to you like most of the other guys do. He explains everything in a nice simple manor so everyone can understand.
                           
Saying that when he goes off on one it may take a few reads until you get it but when you do it’s just shear genius. Some of the topics in my opinion could have been covered a little more, then others went into great detail. You also get his 5 blogging commandments that you must follow to give you blogs the greatest success. This should be printed out and put on the wall of every online marketer without a doubt! His book starts off with market research (so that you are making the most of your time) to building your blogging empire. Everything is covered in this new outing that helps bloggers with todays online issues regarding making the all mighty search engines happy.
                           
Final Verdict: if you are out there in the blogging world and want to make money the easy way then I highly recommend Blogging To The Bank 2.0.
                           
Why work harder than you need to as the new techniques are there ready for you to simply implement.
                           
Blogging To The Bank 2.0

It is just a reality of life that not everyone can write effectively. Everyone says that if you can talk about it you can write about. That is not necessarily true if you have trouble with grammar and spelling. This where the benefits of hiring a writer comes into play, especially for website owners. Sometimes it just comes down to the fact that you just do not have the time to write your own web content or articles. These are the instances in which you need to hire a quality freelance writer. In this post I will show you several benefits of hiring a writer to create and write good, quality content for your website or articles.

First benefit is saving you valuable time. You know the value of good content and articles for your business. You also are aware that you need to have the time to write good, quality content or else you rush through it and end up with something that is going to harm your business more than help it. By hiring an article writer, you save yourself time while still being able to have a productive article campaign as well as great web content.

Another one of the benefits of hiring a writer is money. It is going to cost you a little bit to hire a writer, but the profits that will result from a well written article will multiply year round. An article that is keyword rich and professionally written will rank higher in the search engines and will bring you more paying customers.

While I am on the subject of search engines, let’s not forget that fresh content on your website is an absolute necessity. If you allow your website to become stale your rankings will fall like a rock. Keeping your website fresh with great content will attract the search engines to you and put your business in front of a lot of potential customers.

Well written articles and content will put across an image of you being an expert in your field. A good writer can portray your business as being the best by providing people with great information on your market. Providing quality information makes people believe in your product or service and builds a trust that you know your business.

You did not start your own business just to do something. You own your own business because you are the expert in your field and you want to make a profit. Enjoy the many benefits of hiring a writer, and avoid the pitfalls of not having quality, fresh content and articles.