Since 1998 I've spent the first several months of each year looking for the very best search engine optimization (SEO) tips of the previous year's end. This year I've come across the best SEO tips yet.
SEO Tip #1: Make Google Alerts Your Personal Online Spy
Google Alerts is a great way to let the world's biggest search engine be your personal online spy. This takes search engine optimization insider info to whole new level. Here's an excerpt straight from Google....
"Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic.
Some handy uses of Google Alerts include:
* monitoring a developing news story
* keeping current on a competitor or industry
* getting the latest on a celebrity or event
* keeping tabs on your favorite sports teams"
As you probably guessed, it's the second one we care about most, "keeping current on a competitor or industry."
Here's how it works... Each time Google finds a reference to the query or topic you request you will be sent an email with the details. This is like having an online spy to make sure competitors are not using your protected keywords (trademarked names, company names, etc.) It's also an instant identifier to know when your site or product is mentioned in a news story or even when a topic is hot so you can take advantage of the situation. It's the easiest way in the world to stop competitors' dirty tricks and identify trends that you can take instant advantage of.
It's fast, free and works every minute of every day. Let Google Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts) do your most time consuming legwork while you reap the rewards!
SEO Tip #2: Optimize Your 404 Page and Always Be Found
"Error 404: Page Not Found" is a blessing that most Webmasters curse. Why? Getting a visitor on any page of your site is fantastic! Don't blow the opportunity. Not only can you make your "404" page a valuable sales tool, you can use the following search engine optimization techniques to attract customers in droves.
A.) Use your main keyword in your title, add a "pipe" (usually above the Enter key) and then use your secondary keyword. Here's as example for an SEO site "SEO - Search Engine Optimization Tips"
B.) Add some keyword rich content using one to two keywords for the page. If you have less than 250 words on the page, just use one keyword and use it no more than three times total. Bold the first use and italicize the second or third use. Keep in mind this is an "inactive" page so simply tell the visitor what your site is about and whet their appetite with a good description. Something like this works well... "Thank you for visiting SEO (bold) Group, Inc. We are sorry you landed on a missing page but don't worry, if you're looking for the very best search engine optimizations tips (bold), you're at the right place..." This will go on for a couple paragraphs or as long as you'd like then end it with something to the effect of "Please Click Here (link) to visit our site map or click any link to the left."
C.) Add your site's standard navigation system (bar, column, etc.) as mentioned above.
D.) Make the look and feel of the customized 404 page match your main site as closely as possible with a template, matched palette, cascading style sheets, etc.
E.) Create a link to the site map page if available, and make the link easy to find. You want your visitor off the 404 page and into your main content as quickly as possible.
Setting up a custom 404 page link usually takes less than five minutes on most major Web hosting companies like Godaddy.com. But whatever it takes, it's worth the effort.
SEO Tip #3: Get (Even More) Serious About Linking
I saved the most important for last. If you want to do well on any search engine, especially Google, linking is THE single MOST important thing you can do. It's that simple.
Here are the five things you MUST do to make your site #1 on Google:
A.) Find the highest page rank sites linking to your site AND your competitors' sites.
B.) Run monthly link campaigns and snatch up the best of the above identified Web sites.
C.) Run regular checks on what pages are still linking back to your site. Alsomake sure they did not move you from a high page rank page to a lower one (don't get cheated!)
D.) Eliminate any penalized sites you link to; ASAP!
E.) Check your search engine ranking AND your competitor's for each of your keywords every week. Do this, at the minimum, for Google, Yahoo, MSN and Alta Vista.
Inside Tip: Keeping up can be a lot of work so a lot of SEO Consultants (myself included) use SEO Elite (http://www.SEOeliteWeb.com) to do all the most difficult and time consuming work.
One last thing to know is that Google was originally a college student's project created for the sole purpose of defining a Web site's value by the sites that link to it. Twelve years later this is still it's main job. Linking is EVERYTHING to Google.
These few SEO tips are the very best of the best so use them wisely. Best of luck!
January 10, 2009
How to Make Email Marketing Works for Your Business
Topic 1 ~ Your Email Subject Lines ~
How To Write A Good E-mail Subject Lines That Works?
Here are the 5 tips:
1. Ask a question. One of the best ways to get a reader's attention is to ask a question. But like a trial lawyer questioning a witness on the stand, make sure it'll get you the response you're looking for. "What's the best way to grow your business?" is a great subject line for business owners. After all, what business owner wouldn't want to grow his or her business? Or let's say you run a health club. An e-mail with the subject line, "How can you lose 5 pounds in one month?" would certainly be compelling. It's important your question be relevant to your audience.
2. Be a tease. A clever subject line can be enticing. When it's done right, reader curiosity is piqued. They want to know more--and they'll open your e-mail. Writing a teaser-style subject line requires some creativity, and your content needs to deliver. A company that sells high-definition TVs could use the subject line, "You're not going to believe your eyes" as a teaser to introduce a new addition to their product line.
3. Tell it like it is. Often, what works best is to say exactly what you want your reader to know. Examples of this straightforward approach are, "Sale on all sweaters this weekend," "Master jazz pianist plays live this Friday" and "The seven secrets of a profitable business." This just-the-facts approach works especially well when you can appeal directly to your audience's interests. It's also the best approach to use when you send a newsletter.
4. Remember "WIIFM". When a person gets your e-mail, the first thing they consider is "what's in it for me?" They have a decision to make. Do they open your e-mail, leave it for later or delete it? If there isn't something about the subject line that lets them know why it's worth their precious time to see what's inside, then the choice will be clear. Keep WIIFM in mind when creating every aspect of your e-mails, including the offer, content, images--and most definitely the subject line. It's all about them. They know that; just make sure you know it, too.
5. Get personal. The more you can make each contact feel you're speaking directly to them, the more effective your communication will be. Whatever style of subject line you use, you can make it personal by using the word "you." Professional copywriters know the secret of using this powerful little word. Just look at the advertisements, mail and e-mail you receive. A few examples are, "Find the right swimsuit for you," "You can save 50 percent on travel," and "You'd look phenomenal in a custom-tailored suit." "You" is ideal, but "your" works too.
6. Not sure which approach is right for you? Try them all, and then show a friend or colleague to get their feedback. Pick the one you believe will be most effective for your audience. Whichever approach you choose, it's always worth spending the time and effort to write a great subject line. Because if your readers don't open your e-mail, they'll never have the chance to read the important message you've created for them inside.
Topic 2 ~ Increase Click-Through Rate (CTR) ~
How to Increased Click-Through Rate (CTR)?
Here are some guidelines:
1. Include a feature, a benefit, and an advantage in the opening. This needs to be used in a subtle way, but in the opening you're really doing a small marketing job for this issue of your email newsletter. Highlight an article or two that are important, explain what you're providing the readers that they won't get elsewhere, and tell them what the benefit will be. A great example is something like "Nokia and Sprint announced second quarter earnings today. Learn what our Wireless Week experts say about the results, and what effect you can expect them to have on the industry at large."
2. Put the email newsletter in the context of your readers' day. This goes hand in hand with the last point. Your readers are busy, and if you can make a compelling case for why they should stop what they are doing and take a few minutes now to read your email newsletter, you'll get them in. We recommend editors reference important events, upcoming trade shows, or other things that say to the reader "You will find it worthwhile to stop and read this email newsletter now, because the information in it will help you stay on top of your business."
3. Keep it fresh. Don't craft a "perfect paragraph" and use it issue after issue after issue. One of the keys to success is to keep the copy fresh and highlight items in that issue of the email newsletter. If you use the same generic language repeatedly, people will stop reading it and it'll be a waste of your time.
4. Keep it short. This is critical. We recommend no more than two to three sentences -- just enough to get them interested and pull them in to read the rest of your email newsletter.
Try it out and see the results! This is just one of the simple things you can do to engage your reader and optimize your CTR.
Topic 3 ~ Killer Email Sales Letter ~
How to Write Killer Email Sales Letter That Get Results?
Here are what we've found works best. Use these tips properly and your results will skyrocket.
1. Your email "from" sender line should be your brand name or company name and stay consistent. Use your own personal name only if that is your brand image.
2. Send emails only when you have something to say that will benefit the reader. No fluff. No filler. You must be relevant. If you can't be, don't send an email until you have something beneficial to say.
3. Start your emails with the specific benefit the reader can get from your message. You have no more than 3 seconds to pass the crucial "what's in it for me?" test.
4. The copywriting tone and language should be personal and conversational, instead of stuffy and "corporate".
5. Make a specific offer to the reader and, if possible, include a short deadline by which he must respond to get it.
6. Use as much copy as is needed to fully pile on all the benefits the reader will get by ordering, answer objections, create urgency, and close the sale.
7. Test your subject lines and offers on small segments of your list before you send the email to your entire list.
8. Include "Email this to a friend" service in all your communications for pass along and viral marketing.
Topic 4 ~ Good Call-to-Action ~
Get More Clicks With a Good Call-to-Action!
The call-to-action is a determining factor of your click-through rate. It is an important component of your email copy because it answers three important questions for the recipient. They are:
1. What you want them to do
2. Why they should do it, and
3. How to take that next step.
Whatever action you want your recipients to take, you can make it happen more often with a good call-to-action. First, decide what you want them to do:
1. Buy something
2. Sign up for a service
3. Fill out a form
4. Read an article or get more information
5. Visit your website or store
6. Make an appointment
Etc…
Then, make sure you incorporate these 6 characteristics to get the results you're looking for. Make your call-to action:
1. Visible - People read, react, make decisions and take action differently. Some make decisions right away ("You had me at hello.") and some need more details ("I'm from Missouri."). Place call-to-action links in the beginning, middle and end of the email so that recipients can click whenever they are ready.
2. Clear - Stick to simple words, short phrases, bulleted benefits and paragraphs of 1-3 short sentences. Include appropriate graphics and cut the clutter by making effective use of white space.
3. Compelling - Use action-oriented verbs and phrases: "buy now," "call today," "save" and so on.
4. Rewarding - Offer an incentive or reward for action. For example, "Act now and also receives...," or "the First 100 respondents will be entered into a raffle to win..." The giveaway, or prize, you choose should be closely related to your product or service. That way, you will be targeting customers who are interested in what you have to offer, not just the latest gadget.
5. Urgent - The longer an email sits in an inbox, the less likely it is to be acted on. Create a sense of urgency to get a more immediate response. Try limiting the offer to a specific time period, to the "first 50 customers," "while supplies last," etc.
6. Direct - Your call-to-action links should go to the appropriate page on your website with more details on the specific product or service you're promoting. If you don't have a website, the call-to-action might be store locations to visit or a number to call for an appointment.
Keep in mind that, in addition to repeating your call-to-action, you can vary your call-to-action to appeal to different types of buyers (and to fit your sales cycle). For example: "Click here to buy now" will naturally work better with loyal customers. The softer, "Click here to learn more" may be better for newer prospects.
Topic 5 ~ Avoid Common Pitfalls ~
Read Your Email Message Backwards to Avoid Common Pitfalls
Here are some common problems to look out for:
1. Misspelled words - It's a good idea to spell-check a document, but it's not enough. A spell checker won't catch every error.
2. Wrong word used - This is why a spell checker isn't enough. A spell checker will only flag words it doesn't recognize. It can't tell if a legitimate word is used incorrectly. Some words commonly confused: accept, except; your, you're; then, than; there, their, they're; cite, site, sight; lay, lie; loose, loosen, lose. Also, look out for a missing "r" in the word "your." It's easy to overlook a sentence such as "Visit our Web site now to receive you free copy."
3. Grammar error - Again, if you know you're not a good writer, have someone else check your writing for grammatical errors. Mistakes make you look bad.
4. Punctuation error - This is another area where you'll benefit from a review by someone who knows their stuff. If you're determined to do it yourself, purchase a good grammar or style book. One of the most common punctuation problems: Too many stupid commas!
5. Vague or confusing statement - Make sure every sentence is crystal-clear. You don't want your promotional message to raise more questions than it answers.
6. Illogical statement - Read over what you have written slowly. At the end of each paragraph, ask yourself: "Did that make sense?" Rewrite so that it does.
Topic 6 ~ Frequency of Sending Emails ~
How Often (Frequency) Should You Send Email?
There's no quick answer to the frequency question. It depends on the goals for your email and the type of content you send. Some rough guidelines:
1. Mail at least once a month. Mail less often than this, and you risk being forgotten by recipients. Monthly is the bare minimum if you want to keep your brand or company name top of mind (a common email goal).
2. Let content be your guide. Look at what you provide readers and you'll get a feel for proper frequency. Analyze how often the information changes and how quickly readers must receive it to act on it.
3. Work within your resources. A daily email requires many more resources than a monthly. Better a well-done monthly email than shoddy weekly or daily. It's recommended to start with a monthly. Once that's going smoothly, they can think about moving to weekly. You need to walk before you can run!
4. Watch for trends. Declining response, open, and click-through rates can be signs of list fatigue. Though some decrease is normal, watch carefully and cut back frequency if you see a problem. Don't assume if the unsubscribe rate is stable you're OK. Many people prefer to forward email directly to their delete folder rather than unsubscribe.
Topic 7 ~ Understanding Spam Filters ~
Understanding Spam Filters to Avoid Your Emails Get Junked!
If you send email campaigns long enough, you will inevitably run into spam filter issues. On average, you can expect 10-20% of your emails to just get lost in cyberspace, mostly due to overzealous spam filters. Unfortunately, there is no quick fix. If you want to avoid getting your emails junked by spam filters, you have to understand how they work.
Generally speaking, spam filters look at a long list of criteria to judge whether or not your email is junk. For example, they might look for spammy phrases like "CLICK HERE!" or "FREE! BUY NOW!". They'll assign points each time they see one of those phrases. Certain criteria get more points than others. Here's a sample of criteria from Spam Assassin, one of the most popular spam filters out there:
• Talks about lots of money (.193 points)
• Describes some sort of breakthrough (.232 points)
• Looks like mortgage pitch (.297 points)
• Contains urgent matter (.288 points)
• Money back guarantee (2.051 points)
• Why Pay More? (1.249 points)
It's easy to use "spammy" keywords in your email without even knowing it. Here are some common ways marketers unwittingly trigger spam filters with their campaigns:
1. Using spammy phrases, like "Click here!" or "Once in a lifetime opportunity!" too many times in your email. Sometimes, you can't avoid phrases like "FREE SHIPPING!" but use them sparingly, and don't do anything else risky.
2. Going crazy with exclamation points!!!!!!
3. USING ALL CAPS, WHICH IS LIKE YELLING IN EMAIL
4. Coloring their fonts bright red, or green
5. Coding sloppy HTML (such as by converting a Microsoft Word file to HTML)
6. Creating an HTML email that's nothing but one big image, with no text (since spam filters can't read images, they assume you're a spammer that's trying to trick 'em)
7. Using the word "Test" in the subject line (agencies run into this all the time, when sending drafts to clients for approval)
Topic 8 ~ Why Email Marketing Does not Work? ~
If Your Email Marketing Does not Work, Think Again Why?
Before you arrive at the faulty conclusion that email marketing doesn't work, let’s look at this from a different perspective for a moment that would make your emails ineffective.
First there's what you are writing in the body of the email. If this is your first attempt to get in touch with a prospect, what are you putting in the email? A dissertation? If it's longer than one or two paragraphs, it's too long. Look at your emails like an initial cold call. You need to laser in and deliver a compelling opening statement that's going to grab their interest and stimulate a conversation. Because there's no one to cut you off in an email or stop you from persistent pontification, people have tendency to ramble on and on in an email, giving the prospect the life story of the product or service they want them to consider. Keep it short and focus on the one or two benefits, opening up the opportunity to have a dialogue. That's it.
Second, are you sending attachments in the first email? No attachments! It's hard enough sending an unsolicited email to a prospect. Now you're adding more barriers and increasing the chances of your email winding up in their spam box or junk email folder. Some people have filters on their email that if an attachment is sent it automatically gets deleted. No attachment until that information in the attachment is solicited by the person.
Third, html or text? Once again, with all the email filters people use today, you will increase your odds by sending a text message only rather than trying to get fancy with formatting, graphics and pictures. The prospect really doesn't care about how beautiful your email looks; they care about the core message. Besides, they will never even get a chance to see your beautiful masterpiece in an html email if it's winding up in the trash.
Finally, you are using way too many spam words. As mentioned, the biggest enemy to email marketing or selling via email is the additional security that companies and individuals have on their network or computer. As such, the specific words you are using in the body of the email can be the culprit who is sending your email directly into the trash or spam box. In other words, you are using words that are often identified is spam and in turn, you email is getting flagged and deleted. Not even eye contact! The prospect is not getting a chance to, at the very least, see your email let alone read it and have a chance to respond accordingly.
How To Write A Good E-mail Subject Lines That Works?
Here are the 5 tips:
1. Ask a question. One of the best ways to get a reader's attention is to ask a question. But like a trial lawyer questioning a witness on the stand, make sure it'll get you the response you're looking for. "What's the best way to grow your business?" is a great subject line for business owners. After all, what business owner wouldn't want to grow his or her business? Or let's say you run a health club. An e-mail with the subject line, "How can you lose 5 pounds in one month?" would certainly be compelling. It's important your question be relevant to your audience.
2. Be a tease. A clever subject line can be enticing. When it's done right, reader curiosity is piqued. They want to know more--and they'll open your e-mail. Writing a teaser-style subject line requires some creativity, and your content needs to deliver. A company that sells high-definition TVs could use the subject line, "You're not going to believe your eyes" as a teaser to introduce a new addition to their product line.
3. Tell it like it is. Often, what works best is to say exactly what you want your reader to know. Examples of this straightforward approach are, "Sale on all sweaters this weekend," "Master jazz pianist plays live this Friday" and "The seven secrets of a profitable business." This just-the-facts approach works especially well when you can appeal directly to your audience's interests. It's also the best approach to use when you send a newsletter.
4. Remember "WIIFM". When a person gets your e-mail, the first thing they consider is "what's in it for me?" They have a decision to make. Do they open your e-mail, leave it for later or delete it? If there isn't something about the subject line that lets them know why it's worth their precious time to see what's inside, then the choice will be clear. Keep WIIFM in mind when creating every aspect of your e-mails, including the offer, content, images--and most definitely the subject line. It's all about them. They know that; just make sure you know it, too.
5. Get personal. The more you can make each contact feel you're speaking directly to them, the more effective your communication will be. Whatever style of subject line you use, you can make it personal by using the word "you." Professional copywriters know the secret of using this powerful little word. Just look at the advertisements, mail and e-mail you receive. A few examples are, "Find the right swimsuit for you," "You can save 50 percent on travel," and "You'd look phenomenal in a custom-tailored suit." "You" is ideal, but "your" works too.
6. Not sure which approach is right for you? Try them all, and then show a friend or colleague to get their feedback. Pick the one you believe will be most effective for your audience. Whichever approach you choose, it's always worth spending the time and effort to write a great subject line. Because if your readers don't open your e-mail, they'll never have the chance to read the important message you've created for them inside.
Topic 2 ~ Increase Click-Through Rate (CTR) ~
How to Increased Click-Through Rate (CTR)?
Here are some guidelines:
1. Include a feature, a benefit, and an advantage in the opening. This needs to be used in a subtle way, but in the opening you're really doing a small marketing job for this issue of your email newsletter. Highlight an article or two that are important, explain what you're providing the readers that they won't get elsewhere, and tell them what the benefit will be. A great example is something like "Nokia and Sprint announced second quarter earnings today. Learn what our Wireless Week experts say about the results, and what effect you can expect them to have on the industry at large."
2. Put the email newsletter in the context of your readers' day. This goes hand in hand with the last point. Your readers are busy, and if you can make a compelling case for why they should stop what they are doing and take a few minutes now to read your email newsletter, you'll get them in. We recommend editors reference important events, upcoming trade shows, or other things that say to the reader "You will find it worthwhile to stop and read this email newsletter now, because the information in it will help you stay on top of your business."
3. Keep it fresh. Don't craft a "perfect paragraph" and use it issue after issue after issue. One of the keys to success is to keep the copy fresh and highlight items in that issue of the email newsletter. If you use the same generic language repeatedly, people will stop reading it and it'll be a waste of your time.
4. Keep it short. This is critical. We recommend no more than two to three sentences -- just enough to get them interested and pull them in to read the rest of your email newsletter.
Try it out and see the results! This is just one of the simple things you can do to engage your reader and optimize your CTR.
Topic 3 ~ Killer Email Sales Letter ~
How to Write Killer Email Sales Letter That Get Results?
Here are what we've found works best. Use these tips properly and your results will skyrocket.
1. Your email "from" sender line should be your brand name or company name and stay consistent. Use your own personal name only if that is your brand image.
2. Send emails only when you have something to say that will benefit the reader. No fluff. No filler. You must be relevant. If you can't be, don't send an email until you have something beneficial to say.
3. Start your emails with the specific benefit the reader can get from your message. You have no more than 3 seconds to pass the crucial "what's in it for me?" test.
4. The copywriting tone and language should be personal and conversational, instead of stuffy and "corporate".
5. Make a specific offer to the reader and, if possible, include a short deadline by which he must respond to get it.
6. Use as much copy as is needed to fully pile on all the benefits the reader will get by ordering, answer objections, create urgency, and close the sale.
7. Test your subject lines and offers on small segments of your list before you send the email to your entire list.
8. Include "Email this to a friend" service in all your communications for pass along and viral marketing.
Topic 4 ~ Good Call-to-Action ~
Get More Clicks With a Good Call-to-Action!
The call-to-action is a determining factor of your click-through rate. It is an important component of your email copy because it answers three important questions for the recipient. They are:
1. What you want them to do
2. Why they should do it, and
3. How to take that next step.
Whatever action you want your recipients to take, you can make it happen more often with a good call-to-action. First, decide what you want them to do:
1. Buy something
2. Sign up for a service
3. Fill out a form
4. Read an article or get more information
5. Visit your website or store
6. Make an appointment
Etc…
Then, make sure you incorporate these 6 characteristics to get the results you're looking for. Make your call-to action:
1. Visible - People read, react, make decisions and take action differently. Some make decisions right away ("You had me at hello.") and some need more details ("I'm from Missouri."). Place call-to-action links in the beginning, middle and end of the email so that recipients can click whenever they are ready.
2. Clear - Stick to simple words, short phrases, bulleted benefits and paragraphs of 1-3 short sentences. Include appropriate graphics and cut the clutter by making effective use of white space.
3. Compelling - Use action-oriented verbs and phrases: "buy now," "call today," "save" and so on.
4. Rewarding - Offer an incentive or reward for action. For example, "Act now and also receives...," or "the First 100 respondents will be entered into a raffle to win..." The giveaway, or prize, you choose should be closely related to your product or service. That way, you will be targeting customers who are interested in what you have to offer, not just the latest gadget.
5. Urgent - The longer an email sits in an inbox, the less likely it is to be acted on. Create a sense of urgency to get a more immediate response. Try limiting the offer to a specific time period, to the "first 50 customers," "while supplies last," etc.
6. Direct - Your call-to-action links should go to the appropriate page on your website with more details on the specific product or service you're promoting. If you don't have a website, the call-to-action might be store locations to visit or a number to call for an appointment.
Keep in mind that, in addition to repeating your call-to-action, you can vary your call-to-action to appeal to different types of buyers (and to fit your sales cycle). For example: "Click here to buy now" will naturally work better with loyal customers. The softer, "Click here to learn more" may be better for newer prospects.
Topic 5 ~ Avoid Common Pitfalls ~
Read Your Email Message Backwards to Avoid Common Pitfalls
Here are some common problems to look out for:
1. Misspelled words - It's a good idea to spell-check a document, but it's not enough. A spell checker won't catch every error.
2. Wrong word used - This is why a spell checker isn't enough. A spell checker will only flag words it doesn't recognize. It can't tell if a legitimate word is used incorrectly. Some words commonly confused: accept, except; your, you're; then, than; there, their, they're; cite, site, sight; lay, lie; loose, loosen, lose. Also, look out for a missing "r" in the word "your." It's easy to overlook a sentence such as "Visit our Web site now to receive you free copy."
3. Grammar error - Again, if you know you're not a good writer, have someone else check your writing for grammatical errors. Mistakes make you look bad.
4. Punctuation error - This is another area where you'll benefit from a review by someone who knows their stuff. If you're determined to do it yourself, purchase a good grammar or style book. One of the most common punctuation problems: Too many stupid commas!
5. Vague or confusing statement - Make sure every sentence is crystal-clear. You don't want your promotional message to raise more questions than it answers.
6. Illogical statement - Read over what you have written slowly. At the end of each paragraph, ask yourself: "Did that make sense?" Rewrite so that it does.
Topic 6 ~ Frequency of Sending Emails ~
How Often (Frequency) Should You Send Email?
There's no quick answer to the frequency question. It depends on the goals for your email and the type of content you send. Some rough guidelines:
1. Mail at least once a month. Mail less often than this, and you risk being forgotten by recipients. Monthly is the bare minimum if you want to keep your brand or company name top of mind (a common email goal).
2. Let content be your guide. Look at what you provide readers and you'll get a feel for proper frequency. Analyze how often the information changes and how quickly readers must receive it to act on it.
3. Work within your resources. A daily email requires many more resources than a monthly. Better a well-done monthly email than shoddy weekly or daily. It's recommended to start with a monthly. Once that's going smoothly, they can think about moving to weekly. You need to walk before you can run!
4. Watch for trends. Declining response, open, and click-through rates can be signs of list fatigue. Though some decrease is normal, watch carefully and cut back frequency if you see a problem. Don't assume if the unsubscribe rate is stable you're OK. Many people prefer to forward email directly to their delete folder rather than unsubscribe.
Topic 7 ~ Understanding Spam Filters ~
Understanding Spam Filters to Avoid Your Emails Get Junked!
If you send email campaigns long enough, you will inevitably run into spam filter issues. On average, you can expect 10-20% of your emails to just get lost in cyberspace, mostly due to overzealous spam filters. Unfortunately, there is no quick fix. If you want to avoid getting your emails junked by spam filters, you have to understand how they work.
Generally speaking, spam filters look at a long list of criteria to judge whether or not your email is junk. For example, they might look for spammy phrases like "CLICK HERE!" or "FREE! BUY NOW!". They'll assign points each time they see one of those phrases. Certain criteria get more points than others. Here's a sample of criteria from Spam Assassin, one of the most popular spam filters out there:
• Talks about lots of money (.193 points)
• Describes some sort of breakthrough (.232 points)
• Looks like mortgage pitch (.297 points)
• Contains urgent matter (.288 points)
• Money back guarantee (2.051 points)
• Why Pay More? (1.249 points)
It's easy to use "spammy" keywords in your email without even knowing it. Here are some common ways marketers unwittingly trigger spam filters with their campaigns:
1. Using spammy phrases, like "Click here!" or "Once in a lifetime opportunity!" too many times in your email. Sometimes, you can't avoid phrases like "FREE SHIPPING!" but use them sparingly, and don't do anything else risky.
2. Going crazy with exclamation points!!!!!!
3. USING ALL CAPS, WHICH IS LIKE YELLING IN EMAIL
4. Coloring their fonts bright red, or green
5. Coding sloppy HTML (such as by converting a Microsoft Word file to HTML)
6. Creating an HTML email that's nothing but one big image, with no text (since spam filters can't read images, they assume you're a spammer that's trying to trick 'em)
7. Using the word "Test" in the subject line (agencies run into this all the time, when sending drafts to clients for approval)
Topic 8 ~ Why Email Marketing Does not Work? ~
If Your Email Marketing Does not Work, Think Again Why?
Before you arrive at the faulty conclusion that email marketing doesn't work, let’s look at this from a different perspective for a moment that would make your emails ineffective.
First there's what you are writing in the body of the email. If this is your first attempt to get in touch with a prospect, what are you putting in the email? A dissertation? If it's longer than one or two paragraphs, it's too long. Look at your emails like an initial cold call. You need to laser in and deliver a compelling opening statement that's going to grab their interest and stimulate a conversation. Because there's no one to cut you off in an email or stop you from persistent pontification, people have tendency to ramble on and on in an email, giving the prospect the life story of the product or service they want them to consider. Keep it short and focus on the one or two benefits, opening up the opportunity to have a dialogue. That's it.
Second, are you sending attachments in the first email? No attachments! It's hard enough sending an unsolicited email to a prospect. Now you're adding more barriers and increasing the chances of your email winding up in their spam box or junk email folder. Some people have filters on their email that if an attachment is sent it automatically gets deleted. No attachment until that information in the attachment is solicited by the person.
Third, html or text? Once again, with all the email filters people use today, you will increase your odds by sending a text message only rather than trying to get fancy with formatting, graphics and pictures. The prospect really doesn't care about how beautiful your email looks; they care about the core message. Besides, they will never even get a chance to see your beautiful masterpiece in an html email if it's winding up in the trash.
Finally, you are using way too many spam words. As mentioned, the biggest enemy to email marketing or selling via email is the additional security that companies and individuals have on their network or computer. As such, the specific words you are using in the body of the email can be the culprit who is sending your email directly into the trash or spam box. In other words, you are using words that are often identified is spam and in turn, you email is getting flagged and deleted. Not even eye contact! The prospect is not getting a chance to, at the very least, see your email let alone read it and have a chance to respond accordingly.
December 22, 2008
Website design for your business
One of the most integral aspects of a successful business these days is a well designed website. In a constantly expanding cyberworld full of competing services, the choices available to customers are endless. It can seem like a daunting task to differentiate your business on the web, but having a properly designed website will give you a great advantage over your competition.
What makes a web site great? There are many criteria to consider. The most important aspect is that your services can be clearly identified, and this is accomplished through thoughtful logo design, concise information as well as a "business appropriate feeling". For example, an owner of a small children's toy store would not wish to use the same serious, more grown up corporate layout on their website that a law firm may use, instead opting for fun fonts and a more playful mood overall. Typographical selection can make a world of difference in the message sent to the target customer, and careful selection can insure that a casual viewer of your page gets a feel for the type of service you offer. Color, pictures, flash and other animations will greatly contribute to your site's overall feeling.
No mater what style you choose to present your business in, it is vital that you appear professional and exhibit expertise in your field. Clean, readable text is always preferred to jumbled paragraphs and large sprawling pages, which often times give off an "amateur" feel. A properly designed page will have working identifiable hyperlinks, easily locatable menus and quickly displaying pictures/content. The speed at which a page loads directly correlated to how long a visitor stays, in that slowly loading websites have a much higher click-off rate than do fast loading ones, so it is smart to always make sure that you can fully access every page and photos within a few seconds of initially clicking. Another attractive feature to include is dynamic and updated content. Updates will give customers an incentive to view your site more often, as a stagnant page offers little value to previous viewers.
Everyone who has browsed the internet has at one point or another has ignored a website's content because of its poor design. With a well thought out blueprint executed by qualified professionals, this need not be the fate of your page. The smartest and most profitable business decision you make could be enlisting the help of website design, internet marketing experts, such as Cybertrack Marketing Inc, who have all the tools and experience necessary to give you a major edge over the competition.
December 12, 2008
6 Most Frequently Used Google Search Operators For Better Searching
Google supports several operators which gives you more control on search results. There are too many search operators to remember. Also, not all of them are useful all the time.
So I am describing today only the most frequently used search operators alongwith real-life examples. College students will particularly find examples more interesting! 
>> First note common syntax of following Google search operators…
operator:parameter
There should not be any space on either side of colon [:]
Also all search operator are case-sensitive!
# site: This operator is useful for searching a site and/or its subdomain.
- site:devilsworkshop.org will restrict search to all subdomain under devilsworkshop.org
- site:edu will search all site in edu top domain. Useful for researchers and college students while studying and writing for papers as site:edu will restrict search results to the educational sites!
# filetype: You can directly use Google to search any type of files.
- filetype:ppt to search all presentation slides. This is how I manage to create presentations just one night before!
- filetype:pdf will search only pdf files! Good for searching ebooks.
- filetype:pdf site:edu will return all files with pdf extensions from edu domain. Useful to complete journals or study assignments!
# inurl: To search something in URLs
- inurl:md5 will find keyword md5 in URLs.
- inurl:md5 filetype:java will return all java source files with md5 in their name or URL. How about using this to complete programming assignments in college!
Also try allinurl: operator which looks all keywords into URL only!
# intitle: To search something in page title. Useful when searching a too common word.
- intitle:md5 will return all documents having md5 in their title.
- intitle:Hacking filetype:pdf will return all pdf files i.e. mostly ebooks and papers about hacking.
Also try allintitle: operator which looks all keywords into title only!
# define: To use Google search as dictionary. There are other dedicated dictionary services but none of them is as clean and fast as Google.
- define:hacker will show meanings of hacker.
- define:network security will return meaning of network security.
- Note: Do not type anything before define: or combine it with other operators!
# OR - To combine results of multiple searches! By default Google performs ANDing on keywords we use while searching. But sometimes explicit OR can help more.
- filetype:pdf OR filetype:doc will search for pdf as well as doc files. This will help you complete your journals
- site:en.wikipedia.org OR site:howstuffworks.com will restrict search to Wikipedia English and How Stuff Works site!
Note OR must be in capital and it doesn’t have colon after it!
In case you are interested in complete list, its here… (printable format)
Useful web sites for torrents, software, games, etc downloads & free SMS!
#For FREE Online SMS
- www.mobik.com - This is one I just came around today. Nice one but one problem! You can send SMS to only the person who have registered on it! That means only if your friend is a member of mobik then only you can send a SMS to him!
- www.yaari.com - I used this to send whole pages thorough SMS. But with rise in the traffic the massages may take ages to reach but otherwise it has no problem like mobik! You can send SMS to the anyone! No membership is required!
#For Torrent Downloads…
Torrent is a nice way to download any sort of stuff - softwares, movies, games, etc (anything you can imagine in digital format) but the only problem comes when the seeders are less in numbers than the leachers, then the speed is really slow!
- www.torrentz.com - This is a free site. It does not require any account or anything. Here you can get almost anything you want to search for. After searching the item please make sure that the host you decide to download from has more seeders than leachers. Rest enjoy!
- www.desitorrents.com - This is not a free site. You have to have a account with it to download. This site provides you with all the Hindi stuff like movies music videos, mp3’s and also of other Indian language! Here also please make sure you have enough seeders!
#For FREE Software Downloads, Cracks & Keys
Apart from torrent site listed above there are other options too as torrent sometime does not work in LAN environment!
- www.ddl2.com - This website provides every software in the world (it has never disappointed me). It gives u rapidshare links or other links from where you can download the software. The softwares are always in their full versions or with cracks, keys!
- www.LimeWire.com - You can download the pro-version of LimeWire from the above options(torrents/ddl2) as its not free! Once you are in the programs option search for the required software, games, etc and its done!
BUT please be sure that what you dowload is not a virus or trojan…
how can you do this???
The unwanted material is in KBs. The name that appears is same as what you searched for but you will see the required softwares are larger in size say MBs than the unwated stuff which is in KBs!
Also use best antivirus!
Get Personal Mobile SMS Shortcode for FREE
Consider this: You meet a new person or you give a V.Card to someone which reads…
“To know more about me/To know more about the product, SMS
to 5xxxx”
Doesn’t leave a good impression on the minds of others, that this person is really kewl and a hi-tech kinda guy/gal and spending a lot on advertising too?
But guess what! What if you get these Keywords for free, so that every time you can say “To know more about me SMS “Name” to 5xxxx, quiet impressive isn’t it?
Yes you heard it right, its free and SMSMEON has started a new Venture where you can get your keyword for free and manage your account to send what SMS to send to anyone who access the keyword..
Example: My keyword is iAbhishek. So you send a SMS “iAbhishek” to 56070 and you will get my details.
Whats more, you can have sub-keywords, i.e one can send “iAbhishek Location” to find my current location (It reminds me of twitter in a ‘pull way!’)
So get yourself your desired keyword (Your Name) before anyone takes, I was a bit late so have to settle with iAbhishek, you don’t wait get one for yourself!
Advantage: Can be given instead of email ID or Domain Name. Or you can give it alongwith other ids.
Disadvantage: Mobile operators charge premium SMS rate to anyone who sends SMS to your shortcode. This limits many from using it.
Anyways there is no harm in getting one for yourself as its free, go to www.smsmeon.com for more info.
Google SMS: Power of Google Search on Mobile!
SMS team at Google has come up with Google SMS Search. Now you can send all your queries to 9-77-33-00000 without paying any premium charges! SMS Search offers an easy-to-use way to type in free-form searches. No longer will your questions require complicated prefixes or a tight syntax. You can learn about the interesting features and try our interactive demo at http://www.google.co.in/sms.
For details go to the Google Mobile website or check their help center for more details.
The Google blog says that you only need to pay the standard SMS text charges for sending the SMS query to Google – there’s no fee for the incoming messages from Google. The service is available for all popular cellular networks including Airtel, BSNL, Idea, Reliance, Spice, Tata Indicom and Vodafone.
This service is available across all operators on both GSM and CDMA mobile phones. Give it a try by SMSing “help” to 9-77-33-00000 and don’t forget to save the number of your newly found friend (Google SMS) in your phone book!
Google SMS can be used for Live Cricket Scores, Railways PNR Status, Train schedule, Stock Quotes, Horoscopes, News, Movies, Flight status, Translation, Currency Conversion, etc.
5 Best Torrent Search Engines + Google Trick for Torrent Search!
There are many sites which host torrent on Internet but most of them are spam sites or porn sites. So finding a torrent is hard and Google is not just enough to do this job. So here comes the list of search engines specially meant for searching torrents! At the end I will be sharing a trick to use Google for searching torrents!
Torrentz: This is my favorite. Simple and fast. Key feature is same torrent from different sources is not duplicated while showing results. So you get comprehensive search results. After selecting a torrent from results you can see user comments, various trackers, mirror links, related torrents & most important authenticity of that torrent.It also have a dedicated movies & TV shows section. All torrent in these sections are verified. Additionally you can limit your searches to these sections. There is RSS feed option for these sections sections as well as for all search queries. So feed addicts will find torrentz most interesting!
ScrapeTorent: This also search across various torrent indexes. Key features are option to limit searches to particular category, option to filter dead-torrents & duplicates from results. They also have a forum if you need help. I come to know about this recently via Anil, a geek & fellow blogger.
PizzaTorrent: I use this when torrentz fails. It shows real-time results from 15 best torrent hosts. It doesn’t club similar torrents in a single group so you may notice much higher number of results. But it does grouping by categories which saves you from downloading wrong torrent! However it produces too many useless results for multiword queries.
YouTorrent: It also shows real-time torrent results. By default it gathers results from 10 different torrent hosts. You can add/remove various torrent hosts for fine grained results. in left sidebar it shows related searches as well as top searches. This also produces few extra result which user may find useless. I think by default it looks search keywords in torrent description. This may be useful sometime but most of the time user is interested in torrent names only to get accurate search results.PinkTorrent: N
OTE: This is for adults only. So skip this if you are minor according to laws in your county.This is best for searching free porn torrents. I do not have more details about this but its best according to many reliable sources. Use at your own risk! Only thing about safety I can say never share your personal information with porn sites specially your credit card info!
Google: Yep Google can be used smartly to search anything on the Web! Just add filetype:torrent as it is to your search query and you will get results restricted to torrents. I use this only when all above fails. Unfortunately due to high amount of spam in torrent world you will be disappointed most of the times! Also check 6 Most Frequently Used Google Search Operators For Better Searching!
There are many torrent search engines on net so it may happen I am missing your favorite one. Anyway let us know which one you like?
Update: Following is list of torrent search engine picked up from comments below…
BTJunkie - They have database of 1.5 million torrents which they claimed to be largest. Better search options and ability to browse torrent is plus point.
Toorgle - Power of Google Search used across 250+ torrent websites. Have index of more than 7 million torrents. A nice example of Googles custom search!
Torrent-Finder optionwise this beats all other torrent search site. Really
hugedatabase, with fine-grain control over what you want to include in search! Results can be browse in tabs.
Download Videos from Websites Like Google Video, YouTube, MySpace, and Others!
In this post, I am sharing a way to download videos from the internet (MySpace, YouTube, Google Video, etc) and save them to your computer using firefox extension. Before going ahead you need to have firefox.
You can then Video Downloader firefox extension! VideoDownloader add a small icon on the status bar at the bottom of your firefox window, and a toolbar button. Just click that and download the video you are watching !
Once you installed this extension, you can download this PDF Tutorial by Giles in case you have problem using this extension.
Don’t worry this is not any long lasting tutorial… In fact I bet you will enjoy doing this!
Note you may need to rename files to add extension “.flv”. Files in flv format can be played in VLC Media Player.
Updated: Working proxy(ies) for Orkut, Myspace, Facebook, etc
Update: you can now always access new proxies list here!
This is for all orkut addicts whose addiction leads their network administrator to block orkut!Here are some proxies by orkut itself, u can
Actually they were created to host images on orkut! Chances of working these are very rare!
Also there is a different breed of “proxy” specially designed for orkut, myspace and social networking sites like these…
So try following… They are 100% tested. (Last updated: July 30, 2007)
(By tested I mean they are tested to work with Orkut. Note that not all proxies which you find on internet can open sites like orkut and myspace)
[updated: 2008, JAN. 23]
#HTTPS Proxy List (more secure)
- https://www.fancysportscar.com/
- https://www.goldpuddle.com/
- https://www.tirephone.com/
- https://www.tirephone.com/
- https://www.jellyshell.com/
- https://www.smokeflower.com/
- https://www.spiceflame.com/
- https://www.headcross.com/
- https://www.fancysportscar.com/
- https://www.goldpuddle.com/
- https://www.smokeflower.com/
- https://www.frogtunnel.com/
- https://www.turtlejar.com/
- https://www.jokebottle.com
- https://www.hairchip.com
- https://spacepiano.com
- https://cakebird.com/
- https://iceknock.com/
- https://junkblender.com/
- https://cheeseglobe.com
- https://kitebroth.com
- https://www.technotapes.com/
#HTTP Proxy List (less secure)
- http://www.blackdile.com/
- www.jumboproxy.net
- www.orkuch.com
- www.orkutpass.com
- www.orkut.pk
- http://pmoder.info/
- http://smex.in/
- http://bowsnap.com/
- http://pagemod.com/
- http://backfox.com
- http://atunnel.com
- http://calculatepie.com
- http://bravebadger.com
- http://kproxy.com
- http://www.stupidcensorship.com
- http://www.vmathpie.com
- http://www.ipfaker.com
- http://www.orkutproxy.in/
- http://62.193.235.46
- http://www.ipfaker.com
- http://www.backfox.com
- http://www.newbackdoor.com
- http://www.proxut.com
There are more… and if u r using any proxy successfully… please take pain to post about it in comments! So the list can be updated continuously!
Enjoi Orkutting!!!
Use Microsoft Word ‘07 as a desktop blogging tool
Few moments ago, while using Microsoft Word 2007 I found it strange that there is an inbuilt option in Word 07 to use it as a desktop blogging tool. Personally I prefer Windows Live Writer (WLW) as a desktop blogging client, but making use of Word 07 too is not a bad idea, as Ms-Office is pre installed in almost all Windows systems and you need not install WLW which also requires .NET Framework to be pre-installed. Also this is good for blogger who does not blog too often.
Even I tried writing an article on my blog using Word and found that it is as simple and convenient as WLW. If you too want to blog using MS Word 07 just follow these simple procedure:
- Open MS Word and hit the office button on the top left corner.
- Go to New-> Blank & Recent-> New blog post
- Use ‘Manage Account’ option on blog tool bar (pointed out on the image) to configure your online account
- Just enter your contents and hit ‘Publish’
- Instead you can even save an article as a draft on your weblog to edit it later from a remote computer.
That is all what it takes to blog using Word 2007. 
As said earlier if you do not blog very often, than this is the best option available for you.
Beware Google Desktop users!
n my earlier post, I mentioned how Gmail can be used on your desktop using ‘Google Desktop’, but after using it continuously for a day, I realized that Google desktop consumed a lot of my bandwidth. Also I came to know that, the problem was not only with me but many other Google desktop users too complained about the same thing. Some even said that it burned off their 1 GB of bandwidth in a single day. I think this is not an issue for users with unlimited bandwidth plan, but those users having limited bandwidth plan will have to end up wasting their whole month’s usage limits in a single day. So, this is my responsibility to alert you about such problems.
Well, you need not be sad thinking you need to uninstall Google desktop. Actually, after installing Google desktop, it automatically indexes your hard disk which utilizes a lot of bandwidth. By preventing this, you can save a lot of your bandwidth. To stop Google from indexing your hard disk, just follow these step by step instructions:
- Right click on the tray icon of Google Desktop and select ‘Options’.
- As shown on the image below, uncheck ‘Enable content indexing’ option from the window that appears next to clicking ‘Options’ button.
- Save you preferences and you are done.
Just by following these three simple steps, you can save a heavy amount of bandwidth without even uninstalling Google Desktop. Also as an extra precautionary step, I would suggest you to use bandwidth meter on your system, which will monitor live data usages of your computer.
Google giving away free Gmail stickers
Google is again in with a good news for all Gmail lovers. All Gmail fans there can collect your free Gmail stickers just by sending a self addressed-stamped envelope to the address mentioned on the bottom of this post. The best part is that, you will get not only the ‘Gmail logo’ stickers, but also a sticky list of Gmail shortcuts which you can paste somewhere behind your keyboard and get familiar with its shortcuts.
I am big fan of ‘Gmail’ and desperately in need of those stickers, but the sad part is that I am not aware about how to send those self addressed envelopes to a foreign country. If any one in India have ever sent such self addressed envelopes, please let me know the procedure in detail. Your help to me will be highly obliged.
Address to send your request:
Send me some Gmail stickers already
P.O. Box 391420
Mountain View, CA 94039-1420
Free Airtel GPRS trick is back
Update: Using TeaShark on mobile, you can access FREE Airtel GPRS from mobile handset. Also using some more complex methods, as posted in comments you can access FREE Airtel GPRS via PC also.
Once again, free Airtel GPRS is working.
Once again, free Airtel GPRS is working.
In NUTSHELL you had to do only 3 things
- Enter your cel no. into USER NAME/NO. Field (If it is blank)
- Change access point / APN to airtelfun.com or airtelmms.com
- Configuring your application for following proxy setting…
- If u r using airtelfun.com
IP Addr : 100.1.200.99
Port no. 8080
- If u r using airtelmms.com
IP Addr : 100.1.201.172
Port No. 8799
That all about settings!
Related: If you want to access free AiretlGPRS on phone only, use TeaShark
[NOTE: Nt all proxy will work for all. Also proxies are location-specific so a proxy working at my place may not work at yours. I know it means checking so many proxies but there is no shortcut for FREE!]Access free airtell GPRS using TeaShark
TeaShark, a mobile browser like Opera Mini, allow you to access Airtel GPRS for FREE. Shockingly it has nothing to do with modifying any Airtel settings or any kind of hack. I am clueless about how its working! I tested it personally throughout the week but I haven’t been charged a single penny.
Here is how I used this…
- Download TeaShark v. 312. Its free and being JAR file it can be installed on most handsets.
- Open it from your mobile and select AirTel Live as access point.
- That’s it! Open any site from TeaShark and you won’t be charged anything.
Note for the first time, when TeaShark starts, it may take more than one minute to initialize. Also this one time initialization may fail many times. But don’t loose your heart!
December 11, 2008
High Chair Hygiene
Meal times are a time of learning and exploration for babies and toddlers. Not only are they exposed to a variety of new textures, but to tastes and smells as well. While your baby is still eating purees from the spoon, fewer messes are to be expected; once he or she graduates to finger or table foods, however, all bets are off.
When our daughter first began eating table foods, it was an adventure. Not only did she have the joy and frustration of discovering different tastes and textures, but she also was able to explore her food for the first time not only with her mouth, but with her hands as well. After meal time was over, we’d find crumbs and small pieces of food tucked away into her hair, down her shirt and even underneath her legs where she was sitting. The high chair fared no better – food would be found all around the padded seat cushion, including on, inside and underneath it, not to mention crusted onto the tray.
What’s a somewhat clean-freak parent to do? Before getting out the bleach and spraying down the entire high chair, my husband and I decided to take a more calm approach. After taking the tray and padded cushion off the chair, we read the manufacturers’ instructions and proceeded to clean the chair accordingly. The tray goes to the kitchen sink, where it’s washed with dish soap and warm water, then dried and returned to the eating area. Then we use a non-chemical all-purpose cleaner to spray down the vinyl seat cushion, the chair underneath, and the foot rests. For the straps that hold her in, we scrub those with the cleaner and a sponge and, when they get really bad, soak them in soapy water or run them through the washing machine.
As for our daughter, we’ve learned a few tricks to keeping her clean at meal time, too. We use a receiving blanket tucked around her neck and down over her chest to catch any crumbs that fall down from her hand or mouth, and try to wipe down her hands with a damp wash cloth before she gets a chance to rub her eyes, hair, face or anything else within reach.
It’s not a fool-proof method, but it usually keeps the messes to a minimum.
Thanksgiving Foods to Avoid if You Are Pregnant
Food and the pregnant woman… either the thought of it makes you hurl, or you can’t get enough of it, or you get woken up at 4 a.m. with cravings for nachos with jelly, or someone is telling you no! you can’t eat that!
It’s actually really important for pregnant women to be careful about food safety. Getting food poisoning is never fun, and it can be really serious if you are pregnant. Dehydration, a common complication of food poisoning, can affect the baby, deplete amniotic fluid levels, and even lead to premature labor. And and even more scary, is that some bacteria that cause food poisoning can cause severe birth defects.
Here’s some tips for having a safe holiday meal, and avoiding the most common causes of food positioning at Thanksgiving.
- Turkey - make sure it’s cooked properly, all of it, all the way through, until the inside is 180F. Be careful when preparing the turkey. Defrost it properly in the refrigerator until it’s completely thawed before cooking. Also wash hands well after handling the turkey, and any utensils or surfaces that have come into contact with the raw bird or juices. Keep raw turkey, and other raw meats, wrapped, on lower levels of the refrigerator, and separated from other foods.
- Stuffing - cook the stuffing or dressing in a separate dish outside the bird - the inside of a turkey just doesn’t get hot enough to kill any harmful bacteria.
- Smoked meat, meat spreads, deli meat, pate, smoked salmon - avoid any of these products if they are from the chiller cabinet. These have been known to be contaminated with the listeria bacteria, which can cause serious birth defects if contracted by a pregnant woman. It’s OK to use meat products that are canned because they are sterilized in the can.
- Leftovers - get them wrapped and stored in the refrigerators as quickly as possible, before any bacteria get a chance to grow. Don’t wait for them to go cold, you don’t need to, the fridge will chill them faster than they will get cold at room temperature. Get them in the fridge as soon as you can so you don’t forget.
google adsense tips
Google just released a newbie central for their Adsense program, those ads webmasters can include on their site to earn money for every click on the ad from a visitor (if you're using the program, part of the advertiser budget will go to you, and the other part to Google). I wanted to add some tips from my own experience:
Ads can work well in-between other stuff. On a games site of mine, some of the games don't contain ads next to the game area; the AdSense ad will only be shown in-between game rounds. This is the time the visitor is not concentrating on performing a task but might take a small break, and be open to the option of visiting new sites.
Put too much emphasis on AdSense and your site may be linked to less. The more available space you dedicate to AdSense on your site, and the less you differentiate between ads and content in your design, the more money you earn with the program, right? Not quite. While pushing the AdSense may result in short-term gains, it might also convince some visitors that the site is too crowded to be worth visiting again. And some of those visitors may also be bloggers or other people who might otherwise help to promote your site with links to it. And the less your site gets linked to, the less traffic it gets, meaning AdSense revenues may go down in the long term.
Even if you get huge traffic, the AdSense income from the site is more dependent on the site type and audience. Google targets AdSense ads automatically to the site content. Or at least, it does so ideally – but some types of content fare better than others with this targeting. I noticed for instance that AdSense does better on a games site than on a technology blog. I also heard people say that AdSense does quite good on product oriented blogs; say, one post solely about the iPod; another post solely about Gadget XYZ, and so on.
Image ads can be relevant and work for you, but they might also apall some visitors. Google's AdSense program gives you the option to choose between a couple of different ad formats. Two main groups are text ads vs text & image ads. When you choose the latter, Google will deliver what they deem works best for your content (or so one would hope, and it would be in Google's best self-interest to serve you the best possible ad, it seems).
However, Google doesn't really know your layout preferences, and they don't really understand when your audience thinks ads are "too much"; and considering image ads include Flash animations (which you can't disable, once you go for image ads), Flash animations may well push some people away. One thing you can do is to only show image ads in areas where they don't disturb the content, e.g. at the end of posts. Also, you might want to listen to visitor feedback on the ads being served; I received emails before that the blinking ad on this or that site made a person want to leave the site, at which point I blocked the specific advertiser via the AdSense Setup -> Competitive Ad Filter option.When it comes to context sensitive targeting, you can increase or lower the importance of certain parts of your page. To help Google find a matching ad for your content, you can use the HTML comment syntax by encapsulating more important parts with
Or, to lower the importance of a section, use:
... your important site content here ...
.
(Google notes that it may take up to 2 weeks for this change to your site will be taken into account by the AdSense.)
... your not so important site content here ...
What if your site doesn't have any good matchable content to begin with, though? Say, the page just includes an image. Well, for the reasons of search engine optimization but also ad optimization you might want to consider using at least a descriptive title, an explanatory footer containing the important keywords or keyphrases (the kind of footer that actually helps the human visitor by explaining what the page is about). In the case of image content, reasonable alt and title attribute texts should be used as well.*
*Whatever you do, don't resort to "keyword-stuffing" as it doesn't help your visitors and may get your page ranked lower in search engines.Be aware of risks when you change ad layouts too much. I once had a system on the server to randomly differ between various AdSense layouts on the same page. Doing so I was hoping to add some good variety to keep the ads at least somewhat interesting and notable. Shortly after I stopped doing so and simply included a rather big static area for the AdSense to "do what it wants," the AdSense revenues for that site increased. Now, I don't know if this was a coincidence of some sorts, as revenues often go down or up even when you don't do anything, but it might well have been that there was a connection between adding too much homemade randomization, and lowered revenues.
At another time, during the redesign of this blog, I switched from one ad format to another for the end-of-posts AdSense ad space. This, combined with perhaps other layout changes, suddenly cut the ad revenues in half for the blog. It took me some time to realize that I had some ad channels* set up for the specific old layout size, and by changing this I must have kicked out all those advertisers who were pushing their ads through the channel.
*This setting can be found at AdSense Setup -> Channels.Use competing ad systems when AdSense doesn't seem to work for a site. At CoverBrowser.com, which shows galleries of comic and book covers and so on, I tried including AdSense ads in "non-annoying" places in the layout (including trying to use AdSense affiliate links via AdSense Setup -> Referrals), but this didn't seem to work at all. However I then tried "affiliating" the "buy" link below individual covers, utilizing the eBay affiliate commission system offered by auctionsads.com*. (Disclosure: Patrick Gavin, co-owner of AuctionAds, paid me for consulting before on other projects, like Sketchcast.com.) This worked a lot better, and as it was simply connected to an existing site feature, it also didn't add clutter.
A good start to find other ad programs is to search for adsense alternatives on Google... you will see a lot of lists which are dedicated to competitors. (Note that some of these competitors may be US-only.) You may also want to join an ad or blog network like The Deck, Federated Media (disclosure: I was part of Federated Media before), or 9 Rules. Before joining such a network – which might require you to show them your traffic stats and so on – check if their typical ads and campaigns fit with your site layout and your general ad type preferences.
*CommissionJunction also offers an eBay affiliate system but CommissionJunction has really low usability, in my opinion; setting it up is confusing.Sometimes you may get a sudden increase in traffic, hence ad clicks, but you can't locate the source of the traffic. I'm using google analytic to track my sites, though AdSense is also a good first indicator of traffic explosions... because it will show the combined page views of all your sites (provided you include AdSense on all of them), as opposed to Google Analytics, where you need to check site by site individually.
However, sometimes even with Google Analytics, you won't be able to locate the source of your traffic because there's no specific new popular referrer being shown (a referrer is the site linking to your site, provided people click on that link). In these cases, it may well be that your site has been discussed in a TV show or similar, as the show won't "link" to you (but audiences will be entering your domain manually into the browser when they like what the saw on TV). When you feel that there has been a traffic explosion sometimes you may get additional email feedback in regards to your site, and it makes sense for you to ask your visitor: where did you first find out about the site? Maybe the can let you know about the name of the TV show, or magazine, or other "offline" source responsible for the peak. (I sometimes sent pointers to the BBC clikc show for instance, with partly enormous effect.)Consider using AdSense even when the page doesn't get any traffic yet. Who knows, some day the traffic suddenly explodes, and you might not realize fast enough and thus miss out on the action (as sometimes, traffic goes as fast as it comes).
On the other hand, reversely I would suggest to never do a site just to make ad money with it. That kind of motivation may lead to spammy sites that don't help anyone really. (If a project is great, it's great even if it doesn't make any money.)Making money with AdSense takes time. In my experience, it may take many months to years for a site to gain enough traffic to make OK money through AdSense... if ever. I have almost never experienced any site making quick and easy money with AdSense (though you may be getting quicker results than me of course, as it depends on so many variables!).
I think for any site getting a couple of thousands of visitors a day, you might want to start playing around with AdSense to see where it takes you (if you didn't already include AdSense anyway just to see what happens, and following up on tip #9). As you are paid in US-$, the actual benefit the ad revenue will bring depends on your local costs of living as well (you might even ponder moving or going on an extended holiday trip if your local costs of living are too high for your site revenues to cover).
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