February 20, 2010 by 1 Comment

Auto Responders: Top 7 Benefits of an Auto Responder

  • How often do you buy something the first time you see it?
  • Are you more inclined to make a purchase after being more informed?
  • Are you grateful when you’re reminded about a product you had considered but forgot about?

Auto Responders enable emails to be sent automatically to your customers. A traditional Auto Responder can be set up on the server to send an automatic email when you go on holiday. When someone sends an email it automatically sends a message to say you’re on holiday and will get back to them soon.

A Sequential Auto Responder allows you to send automatic email messages every few days or whatever intervals you prefer. For example you could automatically deliver a marketing tip every day for each day of the year.

Top 7 Benefits of Auto Responders

1. Build relationships

Most customers don’t buy the first time they see a product but the chances of them purchasing it later increase dramatically if contacted several times by offering more information about their purchase. An Auto Responder can be set up to deliver information at various intervals to remind the customer about the product they saw.

2. Branding

Customers that continuously read your marketing messages get branded with your business and will seek you out for advice, services or to purchase a product in your niche.

3. Automatic list building

A newsletter list is a very valuable marketing tool because you can offer your subscribers tips, reviews, product recommendations, send surveys and hold polls. A large list enables you to make money fast because you have a large audience that has shown interest in your products.

4. Track results

Auto Responder software enables you to track how many people read your email messages. For example if you sent an email to 1000 subscribers and 100 opened the email message, it means you got a 10% open rate.

5. Create multiple email campaigns

If you have multiple niches that require email marketing a good Auto Responder service allows you to segment your email campaigns. For example one email campaign can be set up for web design clients and another for hosting clients. Alternatively you can also send email to both at the same time.

6. Set up automatic tutorials or classes

Instead of sending out individual tutorials or classes online, create them ahead of time then load them up in your Auto Responder. You’ll save a ton of time and even be able to go on vacation while your Auto Responder sends the messages to your students.

7. Generate repeat business

It’s easier to generate sales from customers who have already bought from you than first time customers. If you use your Auto Responder to continually offer valuable information on a regular basis your customers will reward you by purchasing your product recommendations.

Automate your email marketing strategies by adding Auto Responders. It will free up more time to focus on building your business.

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Herman Drost is the owner and author of http://www.DrostDesigns.com – Web Design, SEO, Article Marketing.

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February 18, 2010 by 2 Comments

Opt-in Email List: 7 types of forms and how to use them to build your list

Building an opt-in email list and sending a newsletter on a regular basis is one of the best ways to build long term relationships with your customers. If your newsletter offers valuable information your subscribers will trust your product recommendations thus helping you generate sales.

There are multiple methods of capturing email addresses from your website. I’ll discuss some of the different types of opt-in forms you can adopt for your own website. Only by testing them can you determine what works best for your own niche.

7 types of opt-in forms

1. Pop-up box

This can be a opt-in box that pops-up when someone visits your website. Pop-up blockers may block pop-up boxes unless you create one that avoids blockers. Alternative methods include an opt-in box that slides in from the top, side, only appears after a few seconds, or appears after exiting the web page.

Here’s an example of a drop-in content box that pops in from the top of the web page.

You can select how often you want the box to appear:

  • Every time page loads
  • Once per browser session
  • Once out of every x times page loads

2. Optional pop-up box

An opt-in form that appears every time a visitor accesses your website can turn them them off and may prevent them from coming back. To avoid this place a few lines of text on your sidebar or within your content with a link to your opt-in email form. When the person clicks on the link the opt-in form appears.

Alternatively create a full web page that describes all the benefits of subscribing to your newsletter (including beautiful graphics). Create a link on every page that links to this opt-in page.

3. Opt-in subscription form on web page

Instead of using a pop-up box embed the opt-on email form within your web page. (e.g. www.isitebuild.com). This avoids annoying your visitors and gives them a choice to subscribe to your newsletter.

4. Squeeze page

This is where the person is forced to subscribe (squeezed) to receive more information. It could be a registration page where they must first register before being able to access your website. Your squeeze page may also be a pop-up box that asks for your contact information to receive a free report or software.

5. Video squeeze page

Video is a powerful method to gain subscribers because it uses sight and sound. This grabs the attention of your readers more than plain text. Create a video that describes the main benefits of subscribing to your ezine. Place it on your squeeze page (pop-up) or embed it within your web page.

6. Footer opt-in

This is a script that creates an ad that slides up from the bottom of your web page when someone visits your website. It ‘s particularly suitable for blogs and is a great alternative to hovering opt-in boxes that can annoy your visitors.

7. Autoresponder

A sequential autoresponder automatically sends out emails in intervals (e.g. every few days). Visitors can opt-in to your list by offering them an e-course, free report, free software, or a combination of these strategies. You start building a relationship with your subscriber automatically by contacting them several times with your email messages.

Tip
Test out the different methods described above to determine what works best for your website within. it will vary based on your niche. Also test different content and be sure to offer an incentive for opting in (e.g. free report).

Resources

Drop-in box
http://www.dynamicdrive.com/dynamicindex17/dropinbox.htm

Ultimate footer ad
http://www.drostdesigns.com/at/go.php?c=ufa

Pop-up navigation
http://javascript.internet.com/navigation/

Autoresponder
Aweber.com

And now I would like to invite you to claim your FREE report titled:
7 Habits of Highly Effective Traffic Generation

Herman Drost is the owner and author of
http://www.DrostDesigns.com
Web Design, SEO, Article Marketing

Filed Under: Web Site Promotion Tagged With: , , , ,
February 16, 2010 by 6 Comments

How to Collect Email Addresses From Your Website

One of the most important aspects of email marketing is to build a list of customers you can build long term relationships with. Your email list enables you to offer tips, articles, reviews, send surveys, take polls, recommend products and make sales. In order to do this you need to learn how to collect email addresses from your website.

Top 7 ways to collect email addresses from your website

1. Offer a free report

Website visitors need an incentive to give their contact information. Offer a free report that caters to your niche audience. It doesn’t have to be long if the information is valuable. For example create a list of frequently asked questions in your niche then answer them in your report.

2. Offer a newsletter subscription

Provide the benefits of subscribing to your newsletter e.g. write articles your subscribers will see before anyone else. Give them a free report or software for subscribing.

3. Offer an e-course

This is a series of email messages sent automatically every few days with an autoresponder. Contacting your subscribers several times helps build a relationship with them. For example bundle 7 related articles together into a e-course and offer on your website by creating an opt-in box to capture their name and email.

4. Hold a contest

Have you ever bought a raffle that could win you a great prize? Well if you announce a contest on your website that promises a prize (e.g. product or service) you’ll get a ton of new subscribers.

5. Squeeze page

This is a web page that forces the visitor to enter their contact information in exchange for more information or to receive a report or software, etc. . It could be a forced registration form to enter your website or register to get deeper access to your site (e.g. membership area).

6. Place an opt-in form on every web page

Visitors don’t just enter your website from the home page but will also enter through your internal pages. By creating an opt-in form on every page you increase the chances of capturing email addresses.

7. Pop-up

This is a web page that pops up over a web page when a person visits your website. It includes a form asking for their contact information. The pop-up could appear from the top, side, bottom or appear after a few seconds. Even though it can annoy visitors it is very effective for acquiring email addresses from website visitors.

Create a plan to get addresses from your website then nuture these people by offering valuable tips, sales and product recommendations. Emphasize they’ll get this information first before it’s offered to the public.

Related article
Email List Building Benefits – Top 7

And now I would like to invite you to claim your FREE report titled:
7 Habits of Highly Effective Traffic Generation

Herman Drost is the owner and author of
http://www.DrostDesigns.com
Web Design, SEO, Article Marketing

Filed Under: Web Site Promotion Tagged With: ,
February 15, 2010 by 5 Comments

Email List Building Benefits – Top 7

Email List Building is one of the most important activities you should do for your online business. Generating traffic from the search engines works well as long as you get high rankings. If Google changes their ranking formula or competing websites outrank your site, sales will dry up. Use several traffic generating strategies to promote your website in case one of the methods no longer work. Once you’ve created a huge subscriber list you won’t have to depend on the search engines or other traffic generating methods to make sales.

Top 7 Benefits of Email List Building

1. Build long term relationships

How often do you purchase a product online immediately? Unless you know exactly what you want or get enticed by the sales letter, you purchase the product later. This gives you time to think about it and make an informed decision instead of buying it spontaneously. When you receive several reminders about the product , it increases the chances of a purchase.

It’s easier to sell to customers who’ve already purchased something than getting new customers. Sending a newsletter to your list on a regular basis reminds customers about your products and/or service.

2. Offer valuable information

Newsletters can be used to offer great articles, product reviews, industry news, introducing new products, run a survey or ask a question.

3. Instant market research

Your email list can be a great source to find out what subscribers are interested in. A quick survey sent to your list will give you instant answers.

4. Offer special promotions

If you’re having a sale on your products you could offer them at a discount only to your subscribers. Treat them like close friends and they will become an invaluable asset to your business.

5. Make money quickly and easily

One email sent to your email list could produce instant sales if it’s a product your subscribers need. For example, you have 5000 subscribers and your product costs $100.00. If only 1% buy you still make $500 profit. That’s pretty good instant money. The larger and more responsive your list the easier it is to make money from it.

6. Get paid subscriptions

Some publishers offer paid subscriptions to their newsletter (e.g. $10.00/month). If you get 5000 subscribers you could make 50,000/month. The key is to offer information that is more valuable than the monthly subscription.

7. Offer advertising

Offer paid ads in your newsletter. A large responsive email list can be a very worthwhile investment for advertisers because they receive instant responses. Advertising can help cover the costs of producing and hosting the newsletter particularly if it’s not hosted on your own server.

You could also contact newsletter publishers to publish your articles in their publication in return for publishing their article in yours.

A small responsive list is better than building a huge list of subscribers that don’t respond. Don’t use spammy methods, or force people to subscribe and always offer a way to unsubscribe. Building a large email list takes time, so be sure to place opt-in subscription forms on all your web pages and offer an incentive (e.g. free report) for them to subscribe.

Related Article
How to Collect Email Addresses From Your Website

And now I would like to invite you to claim your FREE report titled:
7 Habits of Highly Effective Traffic Generation

Herman Drost is the owner and author of
http://www.DrostDesigns.com
Web Design, SEO, Article Marketing

Filed Under: Web Site Promotion Tagged With: , ,
February 13, 2010 by 1 Comment

How to Promote a Website for Beginners

So you’ve built a beautiful website but want to drive traffic to it. Without any web traffic it will join the 1000s of abandoned ones on the Net where the site owners gave up. Most beginners can’t invest much money to promote their website so they should use free methods instead of paid advertising. Instead of providing 100s of methods I’ll just outline the most effective free methods beginners can use to promote a website.

Steps to promote your website

1. Create a marketing plan

Without a clear marketing plan you’ll probably give up. Write down your marketing strategies, how to do them and when will they be done. Create a schedule (e.g. write and publish an article three times a week) then stick to it until you begin to see results (e.g. increased traffic, subscribers, sales).

2. Optimize your website for the search engines

Search engines use keywords to find your web pages therefore include them throughout your website e.g. title and description meta tags, headings, subheadings, main content, navigation links, internal links, image descriptions (alt tag) and file names.

Research the keywords people use to find your website by entering your main keyword in the free keyword research tool….Wordtracker. It will provide a list of related keywords and display the number of searches per month for each one. Include one or two of these keywords in the content for every page you optimize.

3. Build incoming links

Search engines rank a website according to the quality and quantity of links pointing to it. Once you’ve optimized your website create a link building plan that builds links to your web pages.

Here is one very effective link building strategy:

3. Article marketing on steroids

Content is King on the Web so either learn how to write articles or get someone to write them for you. Add the content to your blog, website, article directories, social media properties (e.g. Twitter, Facebook) and/or repurpose it into podcasts (MP3 file), videos, short reports, ebooks, email courses and teleseminars. As a result you’ll generate lots of links, traffic and sales from your website.

Each article you write should target a keyword from the list you created above. Weave this keyword into your headline, paragraphs and resource box. Remember to link back to your website in the resource box at the end of each article. Submit the article to the top article directors (e.g. ezinearticles dot com). Convert the article to a video then submit it to video sharing sites (e.g. YouTube).

The key to successful website promotion is consistency and perseverance.

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January 7, 2010 by 14 Comments

Website Structure – What is Best?


The structure of your website effects the behaviour of your visitors and search engine rankings. If your visitors can’t access your content in 3 clicks they’ll leave and go elsewhere. If your site is not theme-based the search engines won’t view it as an authority site and rank it accordingly.

Decide on your website’s purpose

If you want to build an authority site it needs to have theme-based content, be search engine friendly and load fast. If you wish to build an interactive website consider building a blog.

website structure

Website hierarchy

For most web sites build a 3-tiered structure so visitors can access your content in 3 clicks. For example if your site is about dog gifts, your home page is the first tier that clearly describes the purpose of your content. The second tier content may consist of dog clothes, dog kennels, dog training. The third tier content will expand on each of these catagories. For example dog clothes may expand to dog jackets, shoes, collars.

When a person visits your website they’e able to find dog collars within 3 clicks e.g.home-dog clothes-dog collars. If you have a drop down navigation on the home page they could quickly select “dog collars.”

If you have a sitemap that clearly shows the hierarchy of your entire web site the visitor will also be able to find your content (keep in mind not all visitors know what a sitemap is).

The further your web pages are from the root folder the harder it is for the search engines and visitors to find them. Make sure your content is never more than 3 clicks from the home page.

Create subdirectories

Subdirectories keep your website organized. For example create an images folder (subdirectory) so all your images are in one location instead of mixed up with your html files. If you have an articles section create a separate directory for all your article files. This is especially helpful for a large site. If the files are scatttered everywhere on the server it will take a long time to find and update them.

Use server side includes (SSI) for easy website maintenance

If you build an html website consisting of 100s of web pages it becomes a long and difficult task to update or edit all of the pages. An SSI file enables you to store the footer, navigation code or any other content that repeats itself on all pages into one file. When you need to update this content sitewide you just need to edit one file.

Content management system (CMS)

If you don’t want to deal with html files or uploading files to the server every time you want to add or edit new content consider creating a CMS website. These are database-driven websites that use software such as Joomla or WordPress to build them.

Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of a content management system. This primarily refers to blogs because they have become so popular.

Pros

  • No need to learn html
  • Easy to update
  • Multiple users can add content
  • Includes RSS feeds
  • Allows visitor interaction
  • Automatically pings search engines

Cons

  • Structure not theme-based: content is stacked on top of each other
  • Unclear navigation: content is not interlinked
  • 100s of files stored on the server
  • Slow loading (each file must be fetched by the server)
  • Only new content is displayed on the home page, old content is buried in the archives
  • Duplicate content e.g. home page, post page, archives page contain the same content
  • Software needs to be continously upgraded to repair security holes
  • All content stored on the server (unless owner creates regular database backups)
  • Content rapidly loses rankings unless backlinks are built to it.

Before deciding on the type of website you want to build, define the purpose of your website first (e.g. informational, e-commerce, interactive blog) then draw your site’s hierarchical structure on paper. Doing this beforehand will prevent a lot of headaches in the future.

Related Articles
Content Management System Benefits
How to Plan a Website
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Filed Under: Web Design, Web Site Promotion Tagged With: ,
November 3, 2009 by 3 Comments

Top 7 Benefits of a Press Release


press release benefits
Writing a press release to generate traffic to your online business is a strategy not many marketers use. People are interested in good news stories so as a business owner you need to create newsworthy stories. It cannot simply be an advertisement for your company.

Top 7 benefits of a press release

1. Generate traffic

One press release can potentially bring 1000s of new visitors to your online business because it attracts media attention and gets picked up by the search engines.

2. Free publicity

It only costs you time to write the press release and submit it to online web sites that distribute it for you. If you can’t write it yourself there are companies that will write and submit it for you inexpensively.

3. Boost search engine rankings

By including your primary keywords in the press release it may attain high rankings in the search engines. This will generate ongoing traffic to your site.

4. Increase link popularity

The quality and quantity of links pointing back to your website is one of the major factors that influence your rankings. Sending your press release to multiple news sites will generate many backlinks. The links within your document direct people back to your website.

5. Gain recognition

You may run a small business in your town or city but no one knows what you sell or where you’re located. Writing a newsworthy story about your business in the form of a press release will help you gain recognition then people will start buying your products and services.

6. Build your business brand

The more times a customer reads about you the more likely they’ll purchase your products or services. By branding your business your customers become familiar with your business name.

7. Build relationships

If you write and submit press releases on a consistent basis you’ll build media contacts plus create relationships with other business owners and customers.

Now that you know the top 7 benefits take action by creating a newsworthy story on your business then submit it to several online press release sites. You may be pleasantly surprised by all the new traffic you receive.

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October 5, 2009 by 2 Comments

Screen Display Resolution – What screen size should you test your web site for?

Computer users have many different computer screen sizes depending on the type of monitor they’re using. These include screens on laptops, notebooks, desktops and hand held devices. If your web site doesn’t display well on your visitors’ computers they’ll lose patience and go elsewhere. Make sure your web site can be displayed correctly for all popular screen resolutions.

display resolution statistics

Example

If you design a web site with 3 columns it may look fine on a wide computer screen but the columns may get squashed together on a lower resolution so the images and text can’t be seen clearly.

So how do you know if your web site displays correctly on different screens?
If you’re a web designer, what screen size(s) should you design for?

Let’s first look at Screen display resolution statistics

Screen resolutions include 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, Higher, Unknown+

According to the statistics chart shown above 57% use a higher screen resolution than 1024×768. The next most popular is 1024×768 at 36% which most laptops use.

Ways to check your web site for different screen display resolutions

Firefox Add-on
Get the web developer add-on at: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/60 Use the resize function to resize your computer screen for a specific resolution.

Software resizer
http://www.brianapps.net/sizer/
Sizer is a freeware utility that allows you to resize any window to an exact, predefined size.

Adjust computer settings
This takes more time but offers you another alternative. To adjust your computer settings go to:
Start-control panel-display-settings-screen resolution

What screen size(s) should you design for?

Since most computer users view web sites at 1024X768 pixels or above, make the width of your web site approximately 1000 pixels. Don’t go higher than 1024 pixel width because visitors will have to scroll horizontally to view it.

Alternatively use percentage widths so your web site width will adjust to the width of the monitor. For example make the width of your main table or cascading style sheet 100%.

Tip
If you design your web site for a screen resolution of 800×600 pixels or smaller it will look very small on a large screen. You’ll see more background color than the actual web site thus making it look unprofessional.

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will render well for all major screen resolutions visit:
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September 7, 2009 by 2 Comments

7 Habits of Highly Effective Traffic Generation

There are 100s of methods of traffic generation however unless you master these 7 highly effective habits you may only receive a trickle of visitors to your web site.

1. Learn multiple traffic generation methods

Don’t rely on one method of generating traffic. You never know when one strategy will lose it’s effectiveness. Different products often require alternative or a combination of methods. For instance optimizing your articles for the search engines before publishing them uses a combination of SEO and copywriting.

2. Become an expert in one method

Online marketers often spend to much time and money trying several methods to generate web traffic. They keep purchasing new ebooks and software hoping this will be the secret source for boosting their web traffic. They don’t become an expert of any marketing method so they continue to fail in attracting many visitors. Select one traffic generation method that works well and become an expert on it.

3. Tracking

If you don’t monitor your traffic generation method, you won’t know how effective it is and how to improve it. Regularly check your web site statistics to see where your visitors are coming from, what keywords they are using to find your web site and monitor the number of unique visits you receive each month. If it increases every month you know the method is making an impact.

4. Consistency

You need to promote your products or web site consistently to produce a never ending stream of visitors. Create a timetable for yourself. For example if you do article marketing, write and publish 3 articles a week and stick to it. If you need more traffic increase the frequency of your promotions by writing and publishing more articles.

5. Set goals

Make a goal how many visitors you want to attract to your web site. If you are currently getting 1000 visitors a month, build it up to 2000 a month. The more traffic you receive the more sales you’ll make…it’s a numbers game.

6. Stay focused

If you’re the sole proprietor of your online business it’s easy to get distracted by other duties such as web design, copy writing, email, blogging, etc. These are all necessary to run your business however if you slow down or stop marketing your products your sales will decline. Stay focused on your marketing goals by taking action on them.

7. Be ready to adapt

Technology can change very quickly. If your main marketing method ceases to work well, look for an alternative marketing strategy. Don’t place all your eggs in one basket. For instance if all your traffic comes from getting and maintaining top rankings in the search engines, then suddenly your rankings disappear due to a change in search engine algorithms, your sales will decrease dramatically. For example video marketing has become popular recently. Be ready to adapt and learn other marketing technologies.

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August 3, 2009 by 5 Comments

Article Writing Templates – 7 types

EzineArticles Cartoon

The beauty of using templates for writing your articles is that you can quickly and easily put together an article to be submitted for publication. If you can set aside an hour a day to create a uniquely written article you will have 365 new articles in one year.

Besides generating lots of backlinks, boosting search engine rankings, your articles will attract a continuous stream of visitors.

7 Types of Article Writing Templates

1. Benefits

Readers always want to know the benefits of the product they are intending to purchase. Create a list of benefits then write a paragraph on each.

Keyword Research – Benefits of Finding Profitable Keywords

2. Reasons

Buyers need reasons to buy a product. Write down all the reasons why someone should purchase this product from you then offer a clear explanation for each reason.

Example
Article Writing – Top 7 Reasons to Write Short Articles

3. Top 10 Tips

Write down a list of the top 10 tips for your product of service then write a paragraph on each one. Each tip could be further expanded into another article so you end up with 10 articles If you don’t have 10 tips shorten the article to the top 7, top 3 or however many tips you can think of.

Example
Google AdWords – 10 Tips for Creating a Successful AdWords Campaign

4. Comparisons

People like to shop around to compare prices and what value they get for the price they will pay. By writing an article comparing the benefits and/or features of each product you give your potential customer valuable information to make an informed decision.

Open Source CMS – Comparison of 3 Types

5. Advantages and Disadvantages

Consumers not only want to hear all the good news about a product but also learn about the disadvantages. By outlining the pros and cons the reader will have no regrets on their purchasing decision.

Example
Google AdWords – Disadvantages

6. Offer a solution to a problem

People love reading about ways to solve a problem. Introduce the main problem or number of problems the reader has then offer several solutions.

7 Ways to Avoid Google AdWords Double Serving Rule

Example: Article marketing

The problem of not writing articles is that you won’t be adding content to your web site, attain high rankings or get backlinks…all of which contribute to boosting traffic and making more sales.

The main content of your article can illustrate how each of these problems can be solved.

7. Create a checklist

Shoppers make checklists to quickly find the most important items in a grocery store. Use this type of template to create a checklist for your product or service.

Example:
The Web Marketing Checklist: 37 Ways to Promote Your Website

Use these 7 article writing templates to create 100s of new articles. If you have any new ideas for other types of article writing templates please include them in the comment box below.

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