A: When tracking the traffic to your website, you should be aware of your bounce rate, which is literally when a visitor lands on your website and bounces right off.
Typically, you can expect a higher bounce rate if you are running a pay-per-click campaign, or if you are getting a lot of traffic through search engines. Why? Because you cannot control how people conduct a search and you certainly can’t know what people are looking for (not exactly anyway). This is why it’s so important to be very targeted with your blog post titles, title tags, tags, keywords, and description tags—it’s one thing to draw people in, it’s another to (more…)
Google is recently conducting an experiment with a new program they are calling +1. It’s similar to Facebook’s Like button, but it appears right there in the search engine and allows you to give that page your vote of approval (a nice way to remember which sites you liked in a previous visit), plus it shows you who else in your network of friends has approved that page.
Here’s how it works: First, login to your Google account and do a search for Google +1 – you will be directed to a page that allows you to sign up “Try it Now.” You then have to activate your account, which gives Google permission to access your profile information and share your +1 recommendations with people within your network.
SPAM is everywhere – we can’t seem to be rid of it. Sadly, so much of it looks real. I often get the question: How will I know if it’s SPAM? Well, here are 9 offenders. After awhile – you just know.
“How-do-you-do, just required you to know I have added your site to my Google bookmarks because of your extraordinary blog layout. But seriously, I feel your website has among the freshest theme I’ve came across. It really assists make reading your weblog a lot easier.”
“howday,you guys. I was informed by one of my collegues to check out your weblog. I like the layout of the website greatly. This blog is very awesome. Please keep on the good work. I certainly will read it oftenly and introduce it to my roomates.”
“Howdy! This is kind of off topic but I need some guidance from an established (more…)
A: In order to gain ranking for specific keywords, you need to add them to your site frequently—as relative content. Let’s say for example that you want to rank for the keyword phrase “healing and transformation.”
Google will scan indexed sites for this term—frequency is a huge part of this. So, the question is: How often does this string of words appear in your site? AND—how much competition do you have?
Now, let’s consider a term that is specific to your brand. For this example, we’ll use the phrase “Sand Spirits Cards” because it appears frequently throughout the site of the person who submitted this question (thank you Pam). The competition for this phrase is very low – so of course her website comes up as number one.
Can we make your site come up for “healing and transformation” simply by optimizing your site for that term? (more…)
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again—connect with your audience. Social media is a great way to do this, but the crux is to figure out how to get quality people to follow you. One of the most effective ways to do this is through blog commenting. Many of my readers are still unsure as to how this can really help establish an author platform.
Okay, let’s reverse the roles as an example: you are a mom who reads mommy blogs to see what fun new products are out there to make your life easier, to get a good laugh, and to be part of an adult conversation now and then. You decide to leave a comment on a post that really strikes a chord with you—you leave a genuine comment and you become part of the conversation. You decide to read what other people have said in the string of comments and you really like what Sally from Cincinnati had to say—so you look her up. Wow, you discover that Sally has a blog too, and she’s right on, you really connect with her and love to read her daily thoughts. So, you tell your friends about her, and you share her site on your Facebook page, and you email the link to your sister because she’s STILL NOT on Facebook….
Remember this: blog commenting works because you bring something to the conversation, not because you say, “hey I wrote a book—check it out.” If your comment is interesting, people will want to know more about you—especially if you offer sound wisdom and offer value in your comments.
Here’s another example: My husband Chad is a photographer and he follows lot’s of photography blogs. He left a blog comment about (more…)
You have less than a second to make a good first impression online. Make your website or blog the best it can be: professional, free of clutter, organized, easy to understand, and available (meaning offer your readers value, and they will come back to you again and again).
With my consulting business I travel to conferences around the country and have the pleasure of meeting many new people on a regular basis. This gives me the opportunity to make a good first impression, over, and over again. Consequently, when I travel, I like to look and feel my best. When I speak, I always wear a suit, makeup, designer shoes and I stand up tall and speak clearly—my friends wouldn’t even recognize me. When you look good, you feel good, and people are more likely to trust you.
It’s true. We do judge a book by its cover. When we meet someone for the first time (more…)
“http” versus “https” – So what’s the difference (and should you care)?
HTTP stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. The S stands for “Secure.”
If the URL of a website or web page begins with http:// then the website you are viewing is communicating with your browser via an ‘unsecured language. What this means is that the information you view and or send (in a form for example) is not protected and can be viewed by others—technically this means someone can eavesdrop on your computer’s conversation with the website.
Clearly, it is not a good idea to share your credit card information with just anyone, so be sure that the form or commerce cart you are using is on a secure server. How can you tell?
The URL of a secure website will begin with https:// (the S is what you are looking for). This tells you that the website is secure and no one can eavesdrop.
Be aware, remember to look to see if the URL address begins with httpS before entering sensitive information like a credit card number, social security number, or any personal information that you do not want to share.
Q: I have a WordPress website, but it’s old and needs a new look, do I have to start over?
A: This is the beauty of WordPress sites, we can give your site a facelift at any time and you won’t lose any content. Here’s how it works: Your site has a theme with style sheets that dictates how the site looks, we can create and apply a new theme and new style sheets so your site is brand new to your audience, but has the same content and works the same for you. We can also turn a regular html site into a WordPress site. With WordPress, getting a new look is much like redecorating your house. We can recover the furniture and hang new curtains, or we can totally refurbish with new floors, baseboards, a fresh coat of paint and new furniture—but, we never have to rebuild the house.
WP-DB-Backup: This plug-in is a must have for all WordPress users! It gives you the ability to backup your database content (meaning your blog posts and page content). You can automate this backup to occur as frequently as you think is necessary. We typically recommend setting it to backup weekly. You can also choose to download this file to your computer.
FYI: This does not backup your images or your theme, for this reason, it’s a good idea to have a full site backup, which does include your theme, images and all other content that gets stored on your server (we recommend that you backup your physical site at least monthly, unless you have not made any changes in that time period), this is done from your C-Panel or through an FTP client.
Revision Control: This little plug-in allows you to control how many revisions get stored to your database. I for one tend to noodle with a post over and over until I finally feel it’s ready to go live and then I still end up making edits—this means that I can often have up to 20 different versions of one post. This is cool because you can revert to an older version at any time. But what is not cool is that all these versions take up valuable space and can slow down your site’s load time. Revision Control allows you to set the number of stored revisions for both posts and pages, so for example: you could set it to save only the last 5 post versions, and 10 page versions.
WP Super Cache: Speaking of load time. This plug-in can help speed up your site’s load time. It basically caches your site’s content and then pulls up each page as html so your server doesn’t have to work so hard to load php code and images every time someone views a page in your site.
FYI: If you are making changes to your site and yet you keep seeing the old version. Don’t panic—it could be that your page has been cached and is pulling up the old data. To make sure those changes were really made, you might need to clear the cache. You can access Super Cache from your Dashboard, under Settings, from there, click “Delete Cache,” about half way down the page.
I like WordPress Version 3.1, not because it works so much better (most things you won’t even notice because they run under the hood, if you will), but because I can now access my Dashboard from the front-end of my site (as long as I am logged in). So, let’s say for example you are viewing your website’s home page (what your readers see), you will have edit capabilities to this page, and the ability to add a new post or page, and manage comments from tabs now located in the upper left side of your screen. Cool. Not to mention the fact that keeping your WordPress site updated will protect you from potential hackers. And that’s really cool!
The coolest new feature is the internal linking capability. Let’s say you are writing a post in your blog and you would like to link to an older post where you reference the same subject; before 3.1 you would have had to remember when you posted it, what it was called, and find that link (time consuming and maybe not worth your effort).
With WordPress 3.1 you can now highlight the keywords you want to use as your link and click the (more…)
In the last six months we have experienced a wave of hackers getting into our custom WordPress author websites. The problem is that hackers have realized how popular WordPress sites are (internationally); as a result, many of them focus on finding weaknesses and hacking into thousands (gosh maybe millions) of sites. Less work—more payout. The good news is that we are more diligent in our efforts to make you aware of the importance of keeping your site updated. Why? Because while the bad programmers are working to get in, the good WordPress programmers are working to keep them out. The bad news is that updating your site can cause errors due to conflicts with custom php code and plug-ins. Stay with me.
You can very easily click the Please Update Now link from your WordPress Dashboard. And it will update, but what can also happen is that your blog can quit working, your theme can get wiped out, your plug-ins could stop working, and your blog could be rendered useless. It could also work seamlessly. So, how do you know what yours will do? Well, you don’t. Each site is unique to this equation. That is why it is so important to back up your website and your database content.
At Monkey C Media we do a complete backup of your site so we are ready for any hiccups, and after each update we do a physical check to ensure that everything works properly.
At the risk of boring you to pieces, here’s an example: (more…)
1. Craft a clear and concise message. As you write the copy that will entice and engage your potential buyers, use active language that will speak directly to their desires. Remember the WIIFM factor (What’s in it for me?). I guarantee that your audience will be asking themselves this question. Your text should immediately answer this and draw in your audience—making them want more, leading them toward your call-to-action where you convert traffic into revenue.
2. Write snappy headlines and pithy bullet points to grab your readers’ attention. These are the first copy a person will read—a well-written headline could be the difference between engaging your audience and getting the sale or losing your reader. For your bullet points concentrate an 3 to 5 benefits that will pique their interest and draw them deeper into your site.
3. Use imagery to create a visually enticing message. Carefully selected imagery will not only break up an otherwise overwhelming block of text, it will tell your readers what the text is about. Use images that support your message and they will be more likely to read further.
4. Color! Color is perhaps the most powerful tool an author can use to draw in an audience. Color effects us on a primal level and can often determine whether someone will buy or not buy. For example: red, yellow and orange are great action colors—you would use them for your BUY NOW button. Blues, greens and lavenders are calming colors and do not attract the eye immediately. Also – be sure you know your audience before you choose the color palette that will drive the feeling of your site—color evokes emotion.
5. Take advantage of your most valuable Real Estate. In Western Culture, we are a linear society and when we surf the web, we tend to read in a z-like fashion from the upper left hand corner of the screen to the right—these are two great places for your strongest message or your call-to-action. Perhaps a 3D image of your book with a buy now button beneath it.
6. Compile a list of relevant keywords phrases. These are words that your audience may input into a search engine when looking for a product like yours (even if they know nothing about you). Strategically sprinkle these words and phrases throughout your web site concentrating on well-written, relevant copy that will attract both your audience and the search engines.
7. Stay in touch! Offer a free report or a top ten list to entice people to sign up for your mailing list. The more often you connect with your audience, the more likely they will be to remember you and remember to tell others about you.
8. Develop a sales funnel. Your web site should lead your buyer toward a sale. An effective use of copy, images, color, and read more buttons will in fact create that funnel and convert traffic into revenue.
9. Track your traffic! Know where your audience is coming from and from which page they are exiting your web site. This is the only way you can gauge the effectiveness or your marketing efforts and know that your sales funnel IS—or, is NOT working.
10. Experiment! Sometimes a simple change can make a world of difference. By simply changing the placement, or color of a button, we have seen conversion rates triple. If you know your audience and you track your traffic consistently, you can strategically turn your web site into your most powerful marketing tool!
In general, we have become a get-it-now society. I think this is partially due to the amount of information we receive to our brains daily. You hear the phrase “I don’t have the bandwidth” all the time. People are overwhelmed. Mostly we are overwhelmed by choices. I bring this up because it is so important to remember this when you market your book. Have you made it possible for buyers to easily buy your book from anywhere on your website? Is your book even available yet?
This begs an entirely different question: When do you begin promoting your book?
The answer is: as soon as possible. But, here’s the key: (more…)
Lately I have been getting a ton of comments on my blog, and they seem like great comments, but sadly they are not—they are SPAM. Here’s how to weed out the SPAM from legitimate comments and how to use them to your advantage.
An example of a SPAM comment goes something like this: “This is really excellent weblog posting and really helpful i really appreciate the research you put into it.” Seems nice enough right? So, how do I tell it’s SPAM?
Here’s what to look for:
As you read the comment look for proper grammar, it doesn’t have to be perfect, but some mistakes are just not typical of English speaking persons.
Check for a legitimate email address, many SPAM comments come from a .ymail.com account.
Take a close look at the URL they included – it will often look like this: http:// powercashonline.com/casino-hot-deals-blog-marketing/ – people are typically hoping to get a back-link to their own blogs – this type of back linking is considered SPAM by Google.
Do they have a real name? Or do they use a company, or partial name with several numbers? This is a huge red flag.
You can SPAM, or trash this comment, or if you are looking to gain more comments, you can edit and keep the comment. Clean up the grammar and delete the URL they included, then you will have a nice comment on your blog, which is helpful in creating a conversation among your readers. It’s kind of like the wall flower syndrome, sometimes people are afraid to be the fist person to dance.
Why Are Web Designers Such Flakes? A Reality Check.
Circling the drain of unresponsive or missing in action web designers is a common dilemma. The Question is this: As a self-respecting author with a plan and a purpose, how do you choose a designer you can afford and rely upon?
As a small publisher, or self-published author, you are faced with the high-cost of publishing a book. Your ever-growing budget includes editors, book cover and interior design, maybe a book coach or adviser, printing costs, fulfillment needs, marketing … my goodness, where does it end? When does the author start making money? Well, this is a question for another article all together. The point here is, how much should you allocate to the added expense of (more…)
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Build Your Platform through Blog Commenting
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again—connect with your audience. Social media is a great way to do this, but the crux is to figure out how to get quality people to follow you. One of the most effective ways to do this is through blog commenting. Many of my readers are still unsure as to how this can really help establish an author platform.
Okay, let’s reverse the roles as an example: you are a mom who reads mommy blogs to see what fun new products are out there to make your life easier, to get a good laugh, and to be part of an adult conversation now and then. You decide to leave a comment on a post that really strikes a chord with you—you leave a genuine comment and you become part of the conversation. You decide to read what other people have said in the string of comments and you really like what Sally from Cincinnati had to say—so you look her up. Wow, you discover that Sally has a blog too, and she’s right on, you really connect with her and love to read her daily thoughts. So, you tell your friends about her, and you share her site on your Facebook page, and you email the link to your sister because she’s STILL NOT on Facebook….
Remember this: blog commenting works because you bring something to the conversation, not because you say, “hey I wrote a book—check it out.” If your comment is interesting, people will want to know more about you—especially if you offer sound wisdom and offer value in your comments.
Here’s another example: My husband Chad is a photographer and he follows lot’s of photography blogs. He left a blog comment about (more…)
Tags: blog commenting, Internet Marketing, SEO, social media
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