In examining the sites in my three way links network, I’ve noticed quite a few folks targeting single keyword search terms (i.e. “puppies” or “networking” or “apparels”). It’s a small minority of all keywords, to be sure, but still enough that I felt the need to write about whether or not it makes sense to target single terms.

To get right to the point, most of the time it does not make sense to target single keyword search terms. There are exceptions, of course, which I’ll discuss in a minute, but first let’s go over the 3 reasons why it usually does not make sense:

1. Untargeted Traffic

In most cases, it’s impossible to know precisely what a searcher is after when they put in a single search term. For example, somebody searching for “puppies” might be looking to buy a puppy, or perhaps they’re wanting to find information about how to care for puppies, or maybe they just want to see pictures of cute and cuddly puppies. There’s no way to know for sure based on a single keyword.

2. Low Conversion Rates

Because the traffic is so untargeted, and it’s very difficult to know what a searcher is after, your conversion rate from a single keyword search term is inevitably going to be very low. In keeping with our previous example, if somebody is searching for “yorkshire terrier puppies for sale” you know exactly what to have on the page that you rank for those keywords. You know what the searcher wants, and can hone in on that desire and fulfill the need.

If you rely on AdSense or another pay-per-click program for income, the low “conversion rate” means a low click-through rate. AdSense, as good as it is about targeting ads to a page, will have a difficult time knowing what ads to show on a page that is very generic in nature. But for a page like “yorkshire terrier puppies for sale”, AdSense will usually be spot-on.

With a single keyword search term you can only hope that what you have on the page appeals to some of the visitors who find your page. You can, of course, provide a variety of choices on the page (puppies for sale, puppy pictures, puppy care, etc.) but keep in mind that too many choices is not a good thing for improving conversion rates. Too many choices on a page leads to a visitor being overwhelmed and less inclined to act in the manner which you would like them to.

Keep in mind, too, that somebody searching for a single keyword is less likely to know what they want to begin with. If somebody is unsure of what they’re looking for, they’ll be equally unsure about buying from you. Again, this leads to lower conversion rates.

3. Too Much Work For Too Little Return

Despite the lower conversion rates for single keyword terms, they are notoriously difficult to rank for in most situations. That’s because many deep-pocketed companies still see the volume of traffic they receive as being at least as important as the return on their investment to get that traffic. “Long tail” keywords (keywords with 3+ search terms) are generally much easier to rank for because the competition is a lot less fierce.

Very large companies are looking to brand themselves as much as they are looking to actually sell something from the potential customer’s first visit to their web site. They want to get their name out in front of as many people as possible, with the understanding that if they consistently do this, when the time comes for the individual to actually need what they provide, their name will pop into the customer’s head. It’s basic psychology, and it works very well.

But smaller businesses can’t afford to wait years before they see a return on their investment. They need to have a solid conversion rate from the get-go to warrant the constant effort and expense it takes to maintain their search engine rankings. If you’re in that crowd, then ranking for single-term keywords probably isn’t the right goal for you.

Exceptions to Every Rule

There are, of course, exceptions to every rule. Some single-term keywords are much more narrow in definition, and therefore more likely to be worth ranking for.

For example, anyone searching for the acronym “SEO” is quite likely looking to increase their search engine ranking, so it’s not hard to design a page around that need if you rank for that term. There are many terms which are also narrowly defined enough to be quite targeted, though they are, of course, in the strict minority.

Also, if your site relies on a CPM advertising model (where you’re paid by the number of ad impressions, rather than the number of ad clicks), ranking for a single term keyword can be quite lucrative. Because those same companies that want to build brand awareness are also happy to pour money into advertising for that same purpose. It’s not the number of clicks they care about so much as the number of eyeballs that get the company’s logo burned into their brains that matters.

From My Own Experience

I realized the truth about single keyword rankings a couple of years ago when I got a site ranked in the top 10 for the term “veterinarian”. I was sure that with all the traffic I would receive that my site would be a big earner — but it wasn’t. The traffic was there, but the term just wasn’t targeted enough to get a high click-through rate from AdSense or to be able to convert into any kind of real sales. I finally stopped working to maintain the ranking since it was not giving me nearly the return I had expected.

So when you’re sitting down to determine what keywords you want to rank for, keep in mind that, unless you’re looking to brand your site or to earn from a CPM model, single keyword terms are usually not worth the effort.

Please leave your thoughts in a comment below.

Source: seo

Since there are already lots of people getting into affiliate marketing, it is no wonder that the competition is getting stiff. The challenge is to try and outdo other affiliates and think of ways to be able to attain this.

There are also many tips and techniques being taught to these affiliate in order to best plan their strategy for their program to work effectively so that more earnings will be achieved.

What better way to wow your prospects and customers than to record and publish top notch, full motion and streaming screen-captured videos. Nothing like feeling your hard work getting paid by having your customers jumping up excitedly in great anticipation to buy your product right there and then.

This is Camtasia in action. It is a proven fact; giving your customers something they can actually see can explode your online sales instantly.

You do not need to have trainings and education to be able to know how this system can work for your affiliate program. Anyone can create stunning videos, from multimedia tutorials and step-by-step presentations available online. The process is like having your customers seated next to you and looking at yourdesktop, as you show them the things they need to see and hear. All this done step by step.

For those who does not know it yet, how does Camtasia works?

1. It can record your desktop activity in a single click. No need to have to save and compile all your files because it is recorded right there and then.

2. Can easily convert your videos into web pages. Once converted you can have your customers visiting that certain page. Videos are easier to understand and take in unlike reading texts which oftentimes is a trying thing to do.

3. Upload your pages. Publish them through blogs, RSS feed and podcasts. You may want your Camtasis videos to get around and reach out to other people that may be potential customers in the future. Nothing like being visible in many sites and pages to advertise yourself and get your message through.

There are other things you can do with your affiliate program using Camtasia. You can..

Create stunning multimedia presentations that are proven to increase sales because all the senses are engaged. This also has the tendency to reduce skepticism among hard-to-please customers.

Reduce refunds and other customer issues by demonstrating visually how to use your product and how to do it properly. Complaints will also be minimized because all the facts and the presentation are there for the customers to just see and hear about.

Promote affiliate products and services using visual presentations. This is an effective way of redirecting your viewers straight to your affiliate website after they are finished with the video. Make the most of the presentation by putting your site location in the end and make them go there directly if they want more information.

Multiple your online auction bids exponentially when you give your readers a feel of what you have to offer. Based from reports, auctions that includes pictures increases bidding percentage by 400%. Imagine how much higher it will be if it were videos.

Publish valuable infoproducts that you can sell for a much higher price. It will be all worth the price because of the full colored graphics menu and templates that you will be using.

Minimize miscommunication with your customers. Instantly showing them what you want they wanted in the first place is making them understand clearly the essence of your affiliate program. The good thing about multimedia is, nothing much can go wrong. It is there already.

These are just some of the things you can do with Camtasia that can be very helpful in your chosen affiliate program.

Note that the main purpose of using Camtasia is to boost the income that is generated from your affiliate program.

Although it can be used for entertainment and enjoyment purposes, which is not really a valid reason why you choose to get all through that trouble.

Try to focus on the goal that you have set upon yourself to and achieve that with the use of the things that may be quite a lot of help in increasing your earnings.

Cheers

By Mike Seddon

One of the key components to any successful website is the number and quality of their inbound links.

There are many ways in which you can attract links to your site. Some good, some not so good!

One strategy that I have been using very successfully is to combine article writing with Google Alerts.

Here’s how it is done.

Step One: Write some articles.

Start writing articles and ideally make sure they are related in some way to your business.

I suggest you prepare at least a couple of articles and I would avoid writing them in Microsoft Word. Try to use something like Notepad. I’ll explain why in a minute.

When you have a couple of articles of about 400 to 700 words each, you should then submit them to the article submission sites.

Article submission sites are great for getting your articles distributed around the web. Not only do these sites send articles onto other article distribution networks, but lots of website owners come to these sites for content to put onto their own websites.

When you submit your article to one of the submission sites, you are allowed to add an “About the Author” paragraph to go with your article. It is here that you put a link back to your website using whatever keyword phrase you are trying to optimise on.

As you already have your article written you can simply cut and paste the article into the submission forms. I tend to have an “About the Author” paragraph already prepared to cut & paste as well.

Now the reason I suggested using Notepad for your articles is because when you copy from Word it tends to bring with it certain formatting issues and these can cause you article to be rejected by the submission sites. Notepad doesn’t have this problem.

Step Two: Find out who’s using your article.

By using Google Alerts you can set up alerts for each of your articles. I tend to use the article name is it’s fairly unique. Otherwise try using a distinctive line from your article.

Whenever Google finds your article, it sends you an email with the web address of the site where it found it.

You can now check out this site. If you think it will give you good traffic or pass on good page rank, you can contact the website owner. As they already have one of your articles then they probably like your material so you can either offer more articles (with links of course!) or even point them to pages on your site that they should link to because the content would be of interest to their visitors.

So there you have it. One of my tips for building links back to your site.

By the way, you might just like to put your website name into Google Alerts as you’ll be surprised how many alerts that can generate and you can also find many places mentioning your website.

Mike Seddon is the founder of KKSmarts. Their website contains many free and helpful guides for website promotion. In particular they have guides devoted to Link Building.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Seddon

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