Get A Head Start On The Holidays With A Home-Based eBay Business

It's only September but a slice of American consumers already have an eye on holiday shopping this year. A survey by RetailMeNot.com found that 10 percent of consumers interviewed said they were starting their holiday shopping before November. If you run a home-based eBay business or are thinking about starting one, now is the time to get a jump on the holiday shopping season.


Look Like a Business

EBay is a competitive landscape with thousands of others selling online just like you. Whether you're selling a few items or managing a large inventory (more on that later), you want an image that looks professional. Most of this starts at your auction template - essentially the design behind your online store. EBay gives a tutorial on creating and managing auction templates or third-party companies like Page Mage will create and manage templates for roughly $5 per month.


Inventory and Shipping

You should have a scope on your inventory before listing that first item. Listing a low amount of items (30 or fewer) is manageable without the help of extra software or auction management companies, but anything more than 50 might get overwhelming. Companies like Auctiva manage an unlimited number of listings for about $15 per month, a necessary opportunity cost if you want to sell big for the holiday season.

Shipping expenses could be one of your biggest financial downfalls if not properly handled. Miscalculating shipping costs can add up to a small amount per auction, but combined that loss can be devastating. Services like USPS will send you free boxes for shipping so long you use their priority service. Enterprise address software can help manage large-inventory shipments and cut down on shipping times, which is crucial for positive feedback and seller ratings since timeliness is a touchy subject around the holiday season.


Use 'Buy It Now'

Driving up an auction price is a great way to earn the most on each listing, but most shoppers want the same convenience they'd find on a retail site like Amazon. "Buy It Now" gives shoppers the ability to click once and be done with it, and it's an instant payment in your account. Every item you list should have a "Buy It Now" price that competes with the market price in other online stores.


Create a Social Presence

Don't just rely on shoppers to stumble upon your listings - create a brand for yourself. Social media is a power tool when it comes to marketing and turning a small business into a brand. Leverage a few of these networks to complete the social circle and draw more customers to your listings.

• Create a Pinterest account and "pin" images of your products as they go on sale.
• Use Twitter to connect with others and share stories behind the items you sell - start a conversation.
• Create a Facebook page to post listings and invite others to comment and share feedback.
• Join a Google+ community that relates to the type of items you typically sell. Most communities allow for some self-promotion.

Start Today

A lot of your competition is still riding the wave from summer sales. Take advantage by starting your holiday sales while the rest are wrapping up for Halloween.


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Related articles:
Using A Blog To Promote Your eBay Store

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Stronger Branding: How To Brand Your Business Online

Why are Pepsi, Wal-Mart, and Apple all household names? In a word: branding. When you hear the name, you instantly have an image in your head of what the company stands for. You connect emotionally with the brand. Maybe you hate a particular company. Maybe you laugh when you hear a company's brand name. Maybe you feel an intense sense of joy. Whatever the response, the fact is that that company has gotten inside your head. Here's how to get inside the head of your customers with your own brand.


Create a Personality

When Apple founder Steve Jobs created the Macintosh, he wanted it to have a certain feel. He wanted people to think about the company a certain way. He couldn't do it alone, though. He had to hire managers, engineers, and other talent that would foster a community within the company. Eventually, his leadership and salesmanship created a defined culture and corporate personality.

Apple's personality was built from the ground up. Without a defined culture, no firm personality would have developed. Without that, there would be nothing special about the company today.

You might not like it, but its designs are loved by millions of people. Apple has created a personality of friendliness. Apple's customer service is one of the most competent and generous in the industry. The company also has earned a reputation for designing products that "just work." Jobs himself almost never wore the cliched "shirt and tie" during his later years with the company. Instead, he kept things very casual.

All of this led to the company being seen as industrial, yet "laid back." Friendly, but competent.

This is, in essence, what you must do with your company. Decide on a personality you want for your company and work to build the culture from within your organization. Hire the best talent you can afford. Eventually, the marketplace will start to see not just a corporation, but a living thing.


Create a Signature Look

Some companies have a signature look. Their products have consistency. For example, think about any major brand like McDonalds or Five Guys Burger and Fries. Think about Microsoft or Apple. Think about Coke and Pepsi. What do these companies have in common? They all have a strong brand image.

From the corporate colors to the way commercials are designed and shot to the way products are delivered to the marketplace, each company has carved out its own special look. Customers come to depend on that, and they associate the look with the brand.

In your own business, it's going to be important to flesh out a strong corporate image - a logo. Along with that, you'll want to incorporate corporate colors into your website, business cards and other marketing as well as your letterhead.

Basically, every form of communication, marketing, and product packaging (even products) needs to be doused in your brand image.


Develop Consistency In Communications

There's nothing worse than inconsistent communication. When your brand doesn't have consistency, your message is muddled. For example, let's say you have a letterhead with your logo and a few colors incorporated into the letter's design. But on your website, you have different colors - the same logo. You product packaging is a generic brown box with sans-serif font because that was the cheapest available at the printer.

This kind of message says that you're not in business for the long-haul, that you're not yet serious about your company, and that you just don't know what you're doing yet. It's hard to build trust, and relationships, with a company that hasn't got a firm sense of itself. Fix this, and half of your troubles will just disappear - overnight.


About The Author: Kurt Smith is a marketing consultant with a specialty for branding. He mainly writes for marketing blogs and websites. Visit the NextDayLenses.com and see how they reach out to their customer base.

Did you find this article helpful? Please let Kurt and myself know by leaving us your valued comments in the comments section below.

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Related articles:
Adding Real Marketing Value To Brands
Taking Your Brand Social? Follow These Steps!
What Is A Brand And Why Is It Important
Brand Awareness: The Real Purpose Of SEO

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Getting The Right Work-Life Balance

We're human beings, not human doings. This means that sometimes we need to stop fretting about work or chores and approach life in a different way.

Nowadays, this is referred to as having the right work-life balance but what does the term really mean? After all, we're told to have balanced everything just lately, from diet to finances: You've got to wow at work, but be chilled at home, while doing all of your chores. Is this all even possible?

Perhaps achieving this so-called "balance" is ultimately about coming at daily activities from a different perspective, while ensuring you earmark enough time to focus on you. Instead of telling yourself your diet must be balanced, instead focus on making it colourful, fresh and organic. Rather than rigorously enforcing a work/life divide, just promise to live in the moment. Whatever approach works for you, it all boils down to taking away the pressure and replacing it with positive thoughts.

You also need to remember that you can't spell life without "I" - meaning you can't expect to live properly if you don't take some personal time to relax.

Lots of people find spa breaks the perfect antidote to daily life, giving them a chance to centre themselves again and let go of tension. There really is no one else to worry about when you're enjoying a relaxing massage or even going for a leisurely swim in the pool.

A health spa break at Wyboston Lakes Y Spa can give you the space you need to recharge your batteries and put you on top of your game before returning to reality. At the Y spa, guests can just be free from expectations, judgements and responsibilities. It's all about taking time away from life. Whether that's spending the day at the spa before enjoying a lazy Sunday lunch with family, or going for all out pampering with the Paint the Spa Red celebration package.

Whether you take a spa trip alone or with a friend, relative or partner, you'll get the chance to step back from your problems and assess your next move from a place of calm and tranquility.

Meanwhile, you can even use the spa to feed the body what it needs, be it exercise, nutrients or stress release. For example, the Elemis Deep Tissue Back Massage uses deep rhythmic pressure to alleviate high stress levels, ease aching muscles on the back and revive the senses. Experts use the dynamic blend of essential oils and massage to target individual needs, ensuring you leave relaxed, recharged and re-energised.

Another classic way to relax is through a hot stone massage. The ancient therapy uses the therapeutic heat from stones to release tension from muscles. Strategically placed around the body, the stones can also help to improve circulation. Meanwhile, the heat from the stones will drain toxins from the body, leaving you not only feeling healthier but looking more radiant. This is a great treatment to have when you're feeling particularly run down.

Once you're de-stressed from your massage, you can then go enjoy a sumptuous healthy meal at the restaurant, easing you back into the real word and ensuring you're fully blissed out before the working week begins again.

Whatever your poison, with stresses and strains becoming more and more pronounced among Brits, there's no room for neglecting your own health and wellbeing. Whether you believe in balance or just need a time out, be sure you take time to be a human being again.


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The Business Of Pleasure: Profiting From Your Hobbies

Executive business coach Joyce Reynolds told Forbes in 2012 that your hobbies give clues as to what can ultimately become a career you love. Kim Lavine of Grand Rapids, Michigan is a great example of this. She used to make microwaveable pillows for gifts. But when her husband became unemployed, she turned her few-times-a-year hobby into a $1 million business within four years.

Many people who love their hobbies cringe at the prospect of converting those spare-time pursuits into money-making opportunities. Being an entrepreneur might be the subject of dreams, but starting your own business could be a thing of nightmares.

Track your expenses, tally up what you've made; you might be surprised. It's no joke that small businesses in this country are big business.


What to Do About It?

The IRS, that government agency that Americans love to hate, publishes some not-always-so-easy-to-understand guidelines regarding hobbies and sideline businesses. Here's the scoop on it:

When you operate a small business, even under your own name and out of your house, you must play by different rules. Early on, you should begin to account for your time, expenditures, and income in a different way. A business, according to the government, exists to make a profit. But, if it doesn't, as long as the records are legitimate, detailed and supportable, you may be able to claim business losses. You can deduct these from personal income, thereby decreasing potential tax liability, as the IRS outlines.

Hobby losses are limited, and expenses to sustain a hobby are treated differently.


Okay, I Have a Business. What Now?

Keeping good records is the prime directive. Any funds you spend to set up shop, literally or figuratively, should be tabulated. Separating personal expenses from business expenses is paramount. Your lunch at a fast-food outlet is not a business expense under most circumstances. However, picking up the tab for lunch with your banker at a white-tablecloth restaurant might be. Of course, if you're seeking a loan, that might give the wrong impression.

One way to keep track of business expenses is to apply for small business credit cards from American Express. Using the same card for all your business charges not only simplifies record-keeping. It can categorize expenses, detail your cash flow needs, point out spending patterns and enable growth, if that is your goal.


Other Considerations

Certain other expenses which apply to business operation may also impact your personal life. A portion of home expenses such as utilities, insurance and even mortgage payments and taxes, may be deductible. If you use your vehicle for business purposes, you should keep detailed mileage records. If you purchase insurance of any kind, keep every bit of information.

Operating a small business from your home need not be complicated. But, you will at some point probably want to consult with a professional accountant. Likewise, deciding on a business structure may be important. There are numerous resources to assist you such as SBA.gov. Be sure to check local and state requirements for operating as a business.

Finally, remember that there are no rules to prohibit you from making money through your hobby - the limitations are all in your head!

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How To Expand A Small Business

Companies are constantly looking for new ways in which to expand further and thus increase revenue streams. When you first set up the business you will have done a lot of research and sought help from advisors and other sources about how to get a small venture off the ground. You will have invested money and time to get the business moving, but now that you've established the organisation, what about expanding even further?

You might now be wondering how to go about taking the next step on the ladder to grow the business beyond its current status. There are plenty of different possibilities to choose from if you're serious about expanding the business. Here is a guide to some of the things you could try to increase revenue and grow as an organisation.


Open a second location

Starting out with one location when initially setting up the business is obviously a good idea because it gives you the opportunity to glean how popular and successful your store or brand is in a particular area. Once you've become established as a firm, it makes sense to try out a new area. However, it isn't just as simple as that, as there are some things that you need to be aware of. Before expanding make sure you're maintaining a consistent bottom-line profit and you have enjoyed steady growth in the last few years.

It is also important to look at economic and consumer trends at the current time, which should give a good indication of the company's staying power in a second location. It might sound simple, but make sure the location is right for your business, rather than your wallet.


Increase stock offerings

If you don't want to risk taking on another location in this economic climate that is understandable, but there are other options available to you and your business - one of which is to expand the services or products that you offer so you can tap into other untouched markets. If some of your consumer targets range from children to college students then perhaps you could think about offering discounts to schools so that youngsters buy their uniforms from there.

You could begin to offer different lines that some of your loyal customers might be interested in, but may not necessarily have the required room to house it all. This is where the use of rented temporary buildings can come in handy, as if people don't respond that well to the new lines you're not hamstrung by having invested in a whole new location. There are plenty of different temporary building options here that would be easy to keep surplus stock in.


If you haven't already, expand to the internet

The internet is absolutely the place to be with millions of people logging on each and every day. An effective website and an online offering in terms of social media is an integral part of any business and if you don't have such a thing at the moment you really will be losing out on revenue streams.


Expand overseas

This is perhaps the most fanciful of all the options previously listed, but it is certainly a good one to think about. You don't need to acquire another business to expand globally; you just need to prime your offerings for an international market. Gain a foreign distributor that will carry an inventory of your products and resell them in their domestic markets and you could see how popular your brand might become.


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Using Online Surveys Effectively For Business And Education

Surveys are one of the best ways to make use of the information superhighway that is the internet. They deliver precise details that help determine how people feel about specific products or services so the user can offer a more targeted selection of items or services.

A survey is also a great way to gain an understanding of how others react to events or information. Surveys can help a business learn how to better serve their customers, improve products or increase sales. Surveys used in-house can help business owners make the workplace a more productive atmosphere.

However, online surveys are not just for businesses. They are very useful for getting feedback in several areas of life such as:

• Teaching and Educational Institutions
• Business Owners and Online Retailers
• Internet Marketing Specialists

How to Use Surveys to Their Best Advantage and Improve Services

Businesses should ask consumers to take a survey before leaving your website. Do not focus only on those that made purchases. The information from visitors that leave without making a purchase can, in many ways, be even more valuable than that of those that buy something.

Find out why the viewer decided not to make a purchase. Ask if there was enough of a selection, enough information on a given product, or for information on their overall experience with the website. A survey can let you know if a website isn't laid out in an easy to use fashion. What seems right to you may not be accessible to the average user.

Teachers can create a free online survey as a test to see how well students are adapting to the classroom. They can find out if students are comfortable with the teaching methods, class materials and even how comfortable they are with other students.

By using survey software to make blind questionnaires, students do not have to feel pressured to give the "right" answers, and teachers can make adjustments to improve the quality of the classroom experience.

Internet marketers or online entrepreneurs can use online surveys to learn about market trends and forecasts. They can connect with visitors to a website by getting them to answer questions about their likes and dislikes on a given subject. These kinds of surveys are very helpful in determining the right products to offer.

Consumers are more open to answering questions about what they are looking for in general and what will make their lives easier on a website or forum set up to feel like it is offering information or connection with others who share a common interest. Using this type of site in conjunction with a survey can greatly enhance the success of an internet marketing campaign.


Physical vs. Online Surveys

Physical surveys offer the benefit of having a personal interaction with public individuals, and perhaps increasing the responses. However, having a survey taker asking the questions can make consumers more leery about giving the answer they are looking for.

Physical surveys cost a great deal more than it would be to create online surveys. Even paper surveys mailed to consumers will be expensive in both printing and postage aspects where many survey programs are free to use and can automatically send the questions to a mailing list when it is available.

Attaching an online survey to a website is a simple procedure and operates 24/7 without hourly wages or overtime costs of a physical survey taker.


Evaluating Survey Responses

Another benefit of online surveys it that there are tools to help analyze the information gained from each survey, compares it to the group. These survey tools also highlight individual comments where applicable so you can see at a glance where trouble spots exist.


About The Author: Sameer Bhatia is founder and CEO of ProProfs.com which is a leading provider of online learning tools for building, testing, and applying knowledge. Through Survey Software, ProProfs offers marketers and trainers powerful-but-simple features without requiring them to download or learn expensive software. Sameer has a background in technology with a Masters in Computer Science from USC (University Of Southern California) and is an ed-tech industry veteran. You can find Sameer on Google+ and Twitter.

Did you find this article helpful? Please let Sameer and myself know by leaving us your valued comments in the comments section below.

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Introduction To PLC Training Courses

PLC training courses can boost your career and bring you one step closer to success. These programming classes are designed for fresh engineering graduates, electricians, multi-craft maintenance technicians, and non-programmers looking to improve their skills. PLC stands for Programmable Logic Controller. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to implement basic programming instructions, identify PLC components, and set up a PLC-based control system.

American Trainco offers practical PLC training courses that can help you save thousands of dollars on costly repairs and service calls. These classes are suitable for those who work in commercial buildings, manufacturing plants, airports, shopping centers, hospitals, and research facilities. Students can learn about organize, design and plan their own programming systems, identify the most common system faults, and create application programs. The course covers most PLCs, including Mitsubishi, Siemens, Allen Bradley, Omron, and GE.

PLC training classes are in high demand. Those who attend these courses learn valuable programming skills. They are able to identify the inputs and outputs of PLC programming, write medium level PLC programs, describe software structure, and troubleshoot SCADA systems. PLC training classes are an investment in your future. Whether you want to improve your skills or boost your professional life, you can benefit from PLC training.


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3 Housekeeping Tips To Make Your Website More Search Engine Friendly

Consumers once leveraged the Yellow Pages for finding sought goods and services. Most goods and services were categorized alphabetically, so for brevity's sake, it's likely a number of consumers chose among the first offered.

Modern-day search engines behold resources for finding desired goods and services, but the arrangement is not alphabetical; it relies on a number of factors. It's integral that webmasters ensure pages are optimized for search engines and users, a synergy between the two; if a page satiates the needs of consumers, it's likely to be highly valued by engines and vice versa.

The ability for a domain and subsequent pages to address specific to broad queries increases the likelihood of impressions (the number of times an engine serves a page to satiate a query). Competition is existent and fierce as brands attempt to outrank competitors, yet search engine optimization insight helps with proper and improved indexation.


Descriptive Titles and Headers

A newspaper offers a number of articles. Readers pursue stories, alerted by titles. Furthermore, the succinct nature of stories propel readers along. Similarly, search engines and readers scan online information. Indexation relies on a webmaster's ability to alert engines and readers about impending information.

Ensure all page titles are descriptive, warranting a broad or specific syntax. Furthermore, header tags (H1, H2) facilitate scanning. What supporting words or phrases summarize the information on the page? Answer that question for each page, making information more search engine and reader friendly.

Additionally, SEO plug-ins (some free) help webmasters arrange pages and blog posts for production, ensuring a number of SEO-related elements are addressed, such as relevant titles and Meta descriptions.


Supporting Resources

Encyclopedia and academic papers are rife with supporting evidence of information and additional resources, assuming readers desire as much information as possible on the sought subject matter. One paper offering information leading to others enriches the value of the former alone.

Raise the value of a page, hosting additional resources and links for readers. What additional information would improve the consumer's journey or the sales trajectory? Linking to competitors is not a complete disaster in terms of better SEO and user experience; the endeavor may improve page's perceived value.

Use a paid or free plug-in, which evaluates the assumed SEO value of related pages, suiting your own page with valuable resources related to broad or specific queries. Engines award valuable pages; improve in-domain pages with the help of external domain information. Return to previously published pages, adding helpful resources in retrospect.


Relevant Content

Imagine a vendor from another continent landing in America and starting a business selling purple bananas. Though intriguing, it's doubtful many people would feel comfortable buying purple bananas. The purple hue is unusual, and perfectly normal looking bananas are currently available. The abnormal presentation and abundance of alternatives may render the vendor's produce irrelevant.

Ensure a website's content is relevant on a given platform. Remember, the relevance is not for search engines to decide; the engines merely serve the queries of humans. What do customers want to know about?

A website could produce millions of pages per day, all well optimized for particular keywords and phrases. But if consumers don't seek that information, if it is not relevant, then the pages become useless, lost in cyberspace.

Use free and paid services that provide information on user queries. Gain a sense leveraged syntax, arranging a website's pages around the interests and needs of clients rather than topics chosen by in-house managers and executives.

Search engine optimization is not an exact science, yet minding set parameters and the needs and syntax of consumers greatly improves indexation and reception. Remember to address your titles and on-page headers with relevant words and description; provide readers with an abundance of in-house and external resources, improving the trajectory of their purchase; and, suit websites with relevant content, as proposed by consumers - indexation is based on a page's popularity with users and not engines.


About The Author: Guy Ascher has spent the last 4 years as a website marketing consultant. He enjoys helping businesses implement successful strategies and his articles mainly appear on marketing blogs. See how this company uses their website to sell contact lenses online and how they reach out to their audience.

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How Non-Profits Can Embrace Social Media To Expand Their Reach And Increase Donations

The financial crises of the last few years have caused a serious blow to many industries and it has affected none as much as it has the non-profit and charity industry. With cuts in all government spending the funding to non-profits has in most cases been drastically reduced. This has meant that non-profits need to maximise all other fundraising possibilities and one of the ways that this can happen is by embracing the possibilities that social media have to offer. It can increase exposure and fundraising potential, but it needs to be used to its maximum potential.

The most popular social media networks, Facebook and Twitter, can be used to wonderful effect if you know how. So here are a few tips on making the most out of social media. Many of these suggestions may seem like common sense, but you would be surprised how much of a difference they can make. At the moment most non-profits are using social media as a simple communications tool, rather than using it as a tool of engagement and leadership.

In order to take advantage of social media and use it as a marketing and mobilising tool it needs to be about more than passive communication between the non-profits and its followers. It is not enough to aim to have a certain number of likes on your page; what you are looking for is actual engagement whether it is in the form of comments or sharing. This kind of interaction actually helps to build a community of active participants, rather than passive followers.

So how do you go about building this community? Firstly, you have to identify exactly who your non-profit and social media page is aimed it. Once this has been decided you can begin to tailor the content of your page to interest and entice participants and donors, and from there begin to encourage action and engagement.

This is achieved by giving the members content that moves them emotionally or entertains them. By giving your members something to talk about and share you are creating active participation, excitement and interest in your non-profit. The questions you should constantly be asking yourself about the content of your page are "what do my members care about?" and "what kinds of posts would they be interested in sharing?". With these simple questions you can keep the content of your page interesting and the participants active.

Don't limit yourself to words, your participants will be eager to watch videos or listen to podcasts if they are interesting and you post them. It can also become tedious to visit a site that only offers written content. Keep your members interested by varying the content types that you post. People's attention spans are limited and you have a short period of time to get their attention, so make sure that every post is deliberate and considered, and be it funny, emotional or informative, it has to be eye catching and worth reading and sharing.

Once you have the kind of members who are commenting on posts, sharing posts and taking about your non-profit it is time to encourage further action in your members and participants by developing outreach projects that your members can get involved in. Take suggestions from your members, you can even put particularly interested donors and participants in charge of aspects of an event or outreach.


About The Author: Richard McMunn is the founder of How2become.com, the UK's leading training and recruitment website for public sector careers. They focus on providing students with knowledge they need to prepare for and pass selection processes for specific careers such as the police and fire service. The website currently offers over 150 different titles. You can also find How2become on Twitter.

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11 Backlink Strategies That May Put Your Online Business In Trouble

Link building is becoming a very important (actually the most important) aspect of SEO. However, not all links are good for your website. Google recently introduced stiff measures to deal with people who use unscrupulous ways to boost PageRank. This move is, no doubt, bound to affect all who don't play by the backlinking rules. Talking about backlinks, here are some 11 mistakes to avoid like a plague.


1. Paid Links

Buying and selling links is normally seen as unnatural because there are hidden motives aside from user experience for either of the websites involved. This includes buying content that contains links or sending a "free" product to somebody in exchange for them including a link to your site in their future write-ups. So steer clear from this short-cut.


2. Unnatural Links are a plague

Please take good note of the word "unnatural". It is all right to link to other sites and have them link back to you, but it must be natural. Natural links are simply links that add value to your visitors. If you are a law firm, don't try to exchange links with a dolphin research company.


3. Avoid bulky content, add value instead

Publishing articles and guest posts in bulk is no longer fashionable. In fact if you do guest articles just to gain keyword rich backlinks, your site might just get penalized. The rule of the thumb here is to ensure that you're publishing posts on other websites if you have something valuable to share.


4. Avoid automated links

There are many tools out there that claim to help you gain thousands of backlinks in very little time. Google's spam team is always after websites that use such services to hyper-inflate their authority on the net. You don't want to be caught using these services.


5. Careful about text ads

Text ads are a popular way to market products nowadays. However, if they don't use the rel="nofollow" attribute, Google is likely to mistake them for manipulative backlinks and therefore punish you.


6. Avoid ads and advertorials that contain links that pass PageRank

Always use link with the rel="nofollow" attribute if you pay for an ad or article. This will ensure that the ad does not pass link juice to your website therefore keeping you safe from a possible penalty.


7. Avoid over-optimization

If you're fond of publishing content that is full of links - all appearing to be anchor text - you could get a penalty. Google is now, more than ever, very strict on value addition as opposed to just optimization.


8. Avoid linking to low quality article directories

Linking to directories that will never send a single visitor your way is sheer waste of time. These links will not in any way favor your search rankings. Only link to directories that send visitors to your website and ignore the rest.


9. Footer links are a no-no

Avoid putting keyword rich links in your footer. Such links are counted as "bad" in Google's rulebook and are therefore to be avoided at all cost. This however does not include links to the "about us" or "privacy" but rather links like "buy followers" or "visit our shop".


10. Be cautious when using widgets

If you normally use free widgets to market your website, you should be sure to use the nofollow attribute so the link does not appear spammy. Google does not like links that are embedded in such platforms and may punish you for them if you don't use the rel="nofollow" attribute. If a widget developer offers you a chance to market on their platform, try to avoid using links (only when this is not logically possible should you resort to rel="nofollow" attribute).


11. Avoid forum comments that are optimized

If you are fond of using online tools to post comments on forums then you're likely to get a Google punishment in the event that such comments are unnaturally written or abnormally optimized. So, be sure to always post the comments yourself.


The writing is clearly written on the wall

Google does not like artificial or bulky links. You definitely don't want to lose the authority that you've spent years building due to a backlink slap. To get good links that help you to achieve and sustain exponential growth, it is imperative to play by these eleven rules.

We wish you all the best in everything you do.


About The Author: Jason Smith is an online manager for Foley, Incorporated - Power Generator. He likes blogging about online strategies that are related to SEO, Content, PPC and Lead generation.

Did you find this article helpful? Please let Jason and myself know by leaving us your valued comments in the comments section below.

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Related articles:
Keeping Your Pages Afloat On Google By Using The Disavow Tool
The Death Of Link Building?
5 Helpful Tips To Recover From Recent Penguin Update
SEO Link Building Techniques That You Should Avoid
How To Improve Your SEO With Backlinks

For a full list of helpful articles on link building and SEO, use the following links:
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http://www.derekjones.co/search/label/SEO
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Until my next post on Friday on how non profits can embrace social media to expand their reach and increase donations, enjoy the rest of the week! See you back here on Friday!

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Tricks Of The Trade: SEO Marketing Ideas For Your Business

If you want to increase the online presence of your business, then one of the most important things you need to learn is the value of SEO campaigns. A proper SEO marketing campaign can gain your business tremendous exposure, bringing you in loads of new customers. If you want to create some SEO marketing campaigns, then follow these excellent ideas to find success.


Content is King

When it comes to SEO optimization, the most fundamental principle is to create quality content. No matter how well you place your keywords, you will fail if you do not provide your users with quality content. If you want to succeed with an SEO marketing campaign, then you need to write engaging, interesting information that your customers can use. Try to create titles that will draw a reader's eye and promise unique content. If you cannot write well, then don't hesitate to find a writer who can bring to life the ideas you want to share. Make sure you categorize each article so that it can be placed in quality location.


Reviews

Having positive reviews on your website is one of the most important parts of SEO marketing. However, you need to be careful in how you gain these reviews. Never offer money or other incentives for reviews. You should encourage customers to leave reviews, but be very careful not to coerce them into doing so. Make the review page easy to access and if you get reviews in person ask if you can share their thoughts on the site. When you have a visible place for comments and thoughts about your product, it shows pride in your own work and confidence in the service you provide.


Infographics

One of the best ways to improve your SEO marketing is through the use of infographics. A webpage that has an interesting display on it is always very appealing to the user. It will encourage them to linger longer, increasing the exposure to your business or product. Creating an infographic on your site requires talent and skill. You should find the best images and organize the information before putting it all together. Make sure the images are helping to explain information in an easy to read way, and cut it when it becomes too long. No one wants to pour over one page for more than a few minutes. This marketing technique is sure to get your site noticed and get your company information out and easily understood by the common person.


Citations

One of the best tools you can use to improve your Google rank is using citations. Citations are mentions of your business on other websites, and you can gain these through social media sites, message boards, and anywhere else that you can mention make a mention of your business and website. When you have a lot of places your site is linking to you will get more advertising and exposure. Using more citations on your website will gain you better exposure for your business as well so don't neglect cleaning up your own website a little.


Create a NAP

No, don't take a nap. You want to create a NAP, which is an acronym for a Name, Address and Phone Number document on your website. Creating a NAP is a quick process and should list your company name, business phone number, website, hours of operation, business motto, a short description of your company and your social media URLs. This is one of the easiest things you can do to create a better image for your site. Make is very visible for new visitors on the site and never make it hard to get in touch, as it can be a big turn off for both customers and clients.

A SEO marketing campaign will certainly be a big boost in your company, and will encourage more growth, not just online. When you have a plan in place, you will be ready to take your company to the next level and grow where you want to. Take advantage of these new techniques and make your business ready for future expansion.


Did you find this article helpful? Please let me know by leaving me your valued comments in the comments section below.

Related articles:
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What Steps Should You Take To Make Sure Your Site Is SEO Friendly?
How To Hire A Good SEO Company
Use SEO Copywriting Services To Drive Traffic Your Way
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How Often Should You Do SEO Rank Checker On Your Site
You Don't Have To Be An SEO Whizz To Improve Your Search Engine Rankings!
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Top SEO Do's And Don'ts
How To Improve Your SEO With Backlinks
The Seven Deadly SEO Sins
The 10 Week SEO Diet

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Must-Remember Tips In Securing Your Corporate Social Media Accounts

More and more businesses are embracing social media as a weapon in not only promoting their products, but also in establishing online visibility. From Twitter to Facebook to Google+ to LinkedIn, companies are using different online platforms to connect with their audience. But just like any activity made on the internet, creating a social media account may be putting sensitive company information at risk.

Accessing your account means total control on what to post and what message to send, ultimately carving how you would appear in the public's eye. The enemy may not always be external, sometimes the risk lies within your company. To avoid unwanted circumstances of hacking and unauthorized use, here are precautions you can take to secure your corporate social media account.


Create a Strong Password

This is a no-brainer. The first thing in securing your corporate social media account - or any account, for that matter - is by creating a strong password for it. Right now, you may not be able to think of anyone who might be interested in hacking your account but hackers don't give a warning of how and when they are going to do this. It may be an old disgruntled employee, a disappointed customer, or a bitter competitor. Come up with a complex password which isn't anything related to your company or product. A combination of letters, numbers, and symbols is always advisable, and changing it on a regular basis will also help.


Limit the Admins

If your marketing team is in charge of updating your social media posts, you don't necessarily have to provide the whole team with the password. Grant access only to those employees who really need it. It's as simple as this: the more people that can access your corporate account, the more chances of it getting compromised. It would mean more people could voluntarily or be tricked into leaking the password to another person, or more number of heads could accidentally be doing personal transactions through the corporate account.


Assign Designated Devices

Along with keeping the admins at a minimum, also require them to access your corporate accounts through specific devices. This is an extra measure that you can take as corporate-managed workstations are easier to monitor. It is also a way of preventing the account being logged in, even after using it, on an unauthorized device. This means that you might also need to skip on accessing the account through mobile. Strictly implement this rule and let your employees understand the need to do so.


Have a Higher Admin

Aside from your assigned admins, opt to have somebody with a higher power: your IT department. Give them more control when it comes to managing the activities of your social media accounts. According to Nate Ulery, who leads the IT infrastructure and operations practice at West Monroe Partners, you can consider "utilizing password reset email addresses that are not accessible by the social media team without IT involvement." Another way to do this is by not giving out actual login credential to employees. You can instead use a social media manager like Hootsuite. This software allows your employees to post without them having to know the actual password.


Educate the Employees

Just like everything else, it is necessary for your employees to understand the need of having security and privacy the way you understand it. Instigate them to observe proper measures by educating them more about hacking and phishing and the making them aware of the different risks.


Constantly be Updated With Privacy and Security Settings

Sites regularly update their privacy settings so it is essential that you do too. Constantly review it and make sure that your own setting and internal guidelines are based on it. This is also a good way to check if you are still comfortable with the kind of privacy and security a specific site can provide.


About The Author: Amanda Smith is a blogger based in San Diego, California. She loves writing about technology and gadgets, health and wellness, fashion and interior design, and just about anything that tickles her fancy. You can catch more of her works at wordbaristas.com.

Did you find this article helpful? Please let Amanda and myself know by leaving us your valued comments in the comments section below.

Would you like to guest post on the blog? Please use the Contact tab above to get in touch if you write business-related articles or articles on the topics of Internet Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Social Media Marketing/Optimisation (SMO), Blogging, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) or Search Engine Marketing (SEM).

Related articles:
Spear-Phishing On Twitter: How Not To Become The Catch Of The Day


If you found this or any of my other posts helpful, don't forget to share the posts to your favourite networks using the toolbar below or by using the "+1" and "Share" buttons located at the bottom of each post.

As ever, if you want to stay up to date with the latest blog posts, don't forget to follow via Google Friend Connect (button on sidebar), on NetworkedBlogs, via Email (maximum of one email per day), on Facebook and Google+ or by subscribing to our blog feed at:
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Until my next post on Monday with SEO marketing ideas for your business, have a fabulous weekend! See you back here on Monday!

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3 Strategies To Maximize Visibility Of Your Small Business Website

If you're trying to get a small business off the ground, the internet is a great place to really get your name out there. Unfortunately, many start-up sites don't get the exposure necessary to turn a profit from their endeavor. Part of their problem is not knowing simple strategies that will make people able to actually see and access your website.

This article will offer three specific strategies to help you get the most traffic, and therefore visibility, to your small business website.


Prepare To Change

Recent studies have suggested that small businesses who change up their website and update it with new information regularly have a lot more traffic (and repeat user traffic) than sites that don't. While this might seem trivial, think of it as though you have a subscription to a magazine. Each week, you get the same exact magazine filled with the same articles and the same photographs. You would stop reading this magazine after a week or so, because it ceased to offer you any new reason to read it. That is how you should approach your website, offering something new for people who are willing to return regularly.


Upgrade Your Site

There's nothing wrong with starting out your venture onto the Web with a free service that helps you design a site easily. However, once you've gotten your feet wet, it's time to get out there and pay for a serious site that you are going to have more freedom and versatility with. Furthermore, many of these free creation sites offer you snazzy looking interfaces, but riddle them with ads for users that don't want to see (and if they do, they probably won't see what you can offer!). Pop ups and excessive ads are an eyesore and a nuisance to the average internet user, and so you should take serious steps to avoid these potential deterrents. You don't want to miss out on traffic or potential profit because people were simply too frustrated with the plethora of ads to see your entire site.


Promote, Promote, Promote

This simply can't be stressed enough. Most people would never go to see a movie that they know absolutely nothing about, so why would they just happen across your website when they weren't necessarily looking for it? This can be easily remedied by working harder to get your name out there. In terms of small business sites, it's probable that a good half of user traffic on popular sites could be attributed to promotion on social media outlets. Take advantage of Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr to get your name out there and get people knowing what you're providing for them. These sites are free to sign up for, and you can create them simply to promote the primary website. These media outlets can serve to detail promotions you're offering, sales, give away sweepstakes, and much more. The possibilities of how to get people herded towards your actual site are virtually endless.

These strategies are bound to generate more traffic on your small business website. While these are not the only strategies, using them is a great way to get the ball rolling - once you've got these building blocks under your belt, you can then begin to tailor your approach to match your individual needs.


About The Author: Vanessa Milios writes about lessons she's learned throughout her career in business and online marketing. Her recent work is on the Top Online Business Management Degree Programs.

Did you find this article helpful? Please let me know by leaving me your valued comments in the comments section below.

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Until my next post on Friday with tips in securing your corporate social media accounts, enjoy the rest of the week! See you back here on Friday!

© 2013. This article is DMCA protected. Republication is prohibited.

Social Media Success: The Secret To Enduring The Evolving SEO World

During recent years, businesses practices have changed dramatically. From people working online in their homes to conducting training from various remote locations, virtually every industry has been impacted in one way or another. Even when a business owner does not operate an online company, they cannot ignore the value of running an online SEO marketing campaign for the products and services that they offer.

One of the biggest challenges for today's new and veteran entrepreneurs, however, is obtaining the secrets to enduring an evolving SEO world. With SEO practices constantly changing, this task is no small feat. Therefore, it is important for the companies who are serious about perfecting their SEO marketing campaigns to discover the best secrets and use them to stay on the cutting edge of the competition in their industry.

Without a solid SEO strategy, such as OrangeSoda search engine optimization, companies can lose large customer base opportunities since this is often the foundation of most successful companies advertisement schemes. Listed below are some of the secrets to being successful in these and other SEO strategies and techniques.


Keywords and Keyword Phrases

Getting to the top of the major search engines is not a total mystery for some individuals because they know a little information about how keywords and keyword phrases affect the rankings. While the criteria for using the keywords and keyword phrases can change frequently, the savvy business owner and their representatives know that they must stay informed so that they will not be adversely impacted by these changes. In fact, companies that do not keep up with these changes may fall down in the rankings overnight and they will not know why.


Algorithms

In addition to using keywords and keyword phrases, business owners should also consider the impact that algorithms have on the major search engines. These algorithms are normally designed to rank businesses into specific categories. These categories may also determine who gets to the top. One of the secrets to using algorithms as a means to implement successful online marketing campaigns is tracking when these algorithms are scheduled to change. By being privy to the changes in this information, business owners can stay ahead of others in the same industry.


Designing Effective Websites to Attract Social Media Users

Designing an SEO optimized website is another essential key to being successful in this arena. Therefore, the company representatives should employ SEO specialists, social media consultants and web designers that are familiar with all of the requirements for developing a successful website. One of the main goals in these projects is to drive large groups of users to the site and keep them in engaged while they are there.

Even though there are a lot of service providers advertising their services, the company's representatives should sift through the pile to find those that can back up their claims. All services providers are not equal because there is a wide disparity in experience within this industry.

While some services providers are new and have limited experience with the web designs, others have a great deal of experience with supporting large companies and corporations. The search for the best in the industry may not come cheap so it is important for representative to know what services are available and what they can afford.

The bottom line is that SEO looks like it will be around for some time, so you may as well use it to your advantage. Without the ability to see into the future it is hard to be absolutely certain what the future of SEO holds, but we can at least speculate, and probably with some degree of accuracy. One thing for sure is that if you are in the field of SEO then you should be prepared to adapt as the game changes and it could change suddenly and without notice. Keep ahead of the changes and adapt where necessary and you will remain at the front of the pack and your SEO efforts will continue to be effective.


Did you find this article helpful? Please let me know by leaving me your valued comments in the comments section below.

For a full list of helpful articles on SEO, use the following links:
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Until my next post on Wednesday with 3 strategies to maximise visibility of your small business website, have a great and productive week ahead! See you back here on Wednesday!

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