========================================== Business Marketing Bulletin ========================================== December 4, 2007, Issue #79 Terri Seymour, Publisher http://www.seymourproducts.com mailto:terri@seymourproducts.com © 2007 All Rights Reserved Worldwide ========================================== In This Issue ========================================== 1. Top Sponsor Ads 2. Privacy Policy 3. What's New? 4. Feedback 5. Freebies & Biz Helpers 6. eCommerce Marketing Tip 7. Feature Ad 8. Resource-A-Day 9. Article: How Glossaries and FAQs Can Improve Search Engine Rankings 10. Feature Ad 11. This 'n That - Little Bit of Everything! 12. Subscription Management & Contact Info ========================================== Top Sponsor Ads ========================================== Immediate top ad spot openings available! Get your ad here for as little as $2.00 per week. For more information: http://www.seymourproducts.com/newsletter/advertise.shtml *************************** Free Download - eBay Workshop Collection The workshop titles included in the ebook are... *From Hobby to Home Business *How to Compete in a Crowded Market *Understanding the Basics to Importing Physical Products to Sell.........and much more! You can download it for free here: http://www.worldwidebrands.com/wwb/kh_freeebookWorkshops.asp?kbid=1028 ********** ATTENTION ********** You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to it. As a subscriber you have acknowledged that there will be both in-house and third party advertising as part of our content. This allows BMB to remain free. If you would like to be removed from this list, please see instructions at the end of this newsletter. Seymour Products values your privacy. http://www.seymourproducts.com/privacy.shtml Seymour Products is hosted by ICDSoft Hosting. No set-up fees, 1000 MB of space, $72 per year, plus numerous features! Incredible support system...minutes, not hours! You have a bigger plan option as well. http://www.icdsoft.com/?aff=terriseymour ========================================== What’s New? ========================================== Hello everyone and welcome new subscribers, December is here and I hope everyone's holiday preparations are going smoothly. We got our first big snow storm of the year and December is off to a great start! I recently took up cross-country skiing and am anxious to get back on (even if I do just fall back off) ;-) The New Year is almost here and we could all use some good business tips to make 2008 more profitable than 2007. If anyone would like to send in a tip, we would appreciate it. I will publish your tip for all our readers along with your name and URL. Thank you. In the News Google Expands Into Alternative Energy http://www.umbrellanews.com/story/read/D8T6ARLG0 New Ebooks this Week: Resell Ebooks Just $1.00 Each! Who's Going to Buy (online & home biz) The Little House in the Fairy Wood (children) Landscaping & Gardening 50 PLR Articles (PLR articles) Forget the Hype (int. marketing) Clickbank Calculator (software & scripts) The Ancient Life History of Earth (education & homeschool) The Big Holiday Recipe Book w/Bonuses (holidays/seasonal) Wildfire (classics) Stories About Animals (animals & nature) Book of Wise Sayings (other) Resell Rights Renegade (ebook reselling) The G-Factor (int marketing) Online Auction Profits (ebay) PLR Christmas Articles (plr articles) http://www.seymourproducts.com/ebooks-resell **Weekly Subscriber Special** Offer Valid from 12-4-07 to 12-7-07 BOGO - Buy One, Get One Free For every ebook you buy, get one free. Order the ebooks you want and then send me the titles of your free choices. NOTE: New eBooks listed above are not eligible for Weekly Subscriber Specials. Join the Seymour Products Trivia Challenge! Find the hidden trivia question and be the third person to send in the correct answer for a free feature ad in next week's issue of the Business Marketing Bulletin. Send your answer to mailto:terri@seymourproducts.com?subject=answer Congratulations to Michael Cushman for being last week's trivia challenge winner. Last week’s Q: What drug did Sherlock Holmes take at the start of his career? Last Week’s A: Cocaine Join in the fun and try to win a free feature ad. Good luck all! If you know anyone who could benefit from this ezine, please feel free to forward them a copy in its entirety. Thank you. If you would like to advertise in the BMB, please visit: http://www.seymourproducts.com/newsletter/advertise.shtml for more information. Advertising prices are as low as $2.00. I am also looking for ad swaps from other ezine publishers. BMB goes out to 703 subscribers. ========================================== Feedback ========================================== Please send in your comments, suggestions, questions, etc to mailto:terri@seymourproducts.com?subject=feedback We appreciate all feedback, good or bad! I didn't want to leave your terrific newsletter. Just wanted to change email addys but didn't know how to go about doing that. * Edna First of all, great newsletter, thanks! Second, I'd really like to use your article "The Best Online Marketing Techniques" in my own ezine. I couldn't believe how well your article went in with what a so many of my clients and students had asked about recently. When I read it, I practically jumped off my chair! * Jessalynn Thank you. You are so patient! I appreciate that in this world we live in!!! * Louise ========================================== Freebies & Biz Helpers ========================================== Affiliate programs are great for adding to your online income but be sure to look at the program thoroughly before joining. http://www.mallasch.com/web/story.php?sid=173 ****** What is RSS and why should you consider it? http://www.whatisrss.com/ ****** Free Download: WinLog Tail - freeware log viewer, monitor and analyzer. http://yp.lviv.ua/winlogtail/ ****** Write Better Ads - Do It Free! http://www.WriteBetterAds.com ========================================== eCommerce Marketing Tip ========================================== Create a free software directory on your site. Use relevant keywords and add new software regularly. This will bring more traffic and help turn your visitors into buyers. ========================================== Feature Ad ========================================== Are YOUR Ads Making Money? Competition's High but My Prices are Down-To-Earth! Quality, Affordable & Friendly Ad-Writing Services! http://www.freewebs.com/suz1of6/ ========================================== Resource-A-Day ========================================== How Does having a List make Me Money? http://www.niche-articles.com/res/make-money-list/ Join this program for free and earn money as well as getting resources delivered to your inbox everyday! http://www.resource-a-day.net/member/index.cgi?TerriSeymour ========================================== Feature Article ========================================== How Glossaries and FAQs Can Improve Search Engine Rankings by Ross Dunn 2007 A large part of my time at StepForth as a search engine optimization consultant is spent conducting competitor research on behalf of our clientele. This service is focused on deconstructing the marketing campaigns of each competitor while identifying the tactics that appear to have fundamentally contributed to their search engine success. As you might imagine I come across many intriguing techniques that work and many that don't. In this article I will account for a couple of techniques that appear to be overlooked by many but have proven time and time again to work; the creation of an on-site glossary and frequently asked questions (FAQ) section. Create a Glossary I imagine we have both shared one frustration with the Internet at one time or another and that is jargon... and too much of it. Acronyms, and bafflegab seem to be unintentionally utilized on websites all over the web (I am guilty too, I admit it) and I often wish there was a simple way to find a definition within a website rather than visiting an online dictionary. In some cases I find a website where the owners have smartly linked a potentially confusing term to an off-site definition which is kind to the user but a waste of a great optimization opportunity. Whenever an occasion arises where a link to a definition would be worthwhile it makes far more sense to link to that content within your own website so that you can gain credibility in the eyes of a major search engine like Google. You see, Google's algorithm is essentially a credibility calculator; it considers a whole host of elements on your website and pointing to your website to determine where it should be ranked. The algorithm considers countless elements including the uniqueness and relevance of each page's content to the number of links pointing to your site from other credible and relevant websites. In this case, a small boost in credibility can be gained by first having the added relevant content inherent to a glossary and second by linking a word/phrase from a page to its definition within your glossary. For example, if your website (i.e. www.xyzname.com) sold a wide variety of wood working tools and furniture building plans online it would be to your benefit to provide a fairly comprehensive glossary of woodworking terms on your website. Once the glossary is complete you can then occasionally link to the associated terms from within the written content on your website. Okay, I see that the content within a glossary is relevant but I am not clear on why these links help? A search engine algorithm tries to ascertain credibility in much the same manner humans do; we just take our innate calculations for granted. So consider how you would feel if you were on the woodworking site reading a tutorial on building a rocking chair and whenever a confusing term appeared you were provided with a link to a glossary on the site kindly defining the term. This small convenience would probably inflate your opinion of the usefulness of the website and in-turn the credibility of the website would be less in doubt. Search engine algorithms assimilate these helpful links in much the same manner so by helping your visitors you are also helping your website. Wait! There is another bonus to having a glossary: As an added benefit glossary pages also have a great chance at obtaining rankings for their associated definitions precisely because they have links from relevant text pointing to them. As a result, a woodworking glossary might become an entry page for curious surfers or even a page where other woodworking sites link to for a definition. In short, glossaries are simply a win-win tactic for nearly any website. In fact, as I write this I can't think of a single website that would not benefit from a glossary. Create a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Page Now that you have read why an on-site glossary is important perhaps the concept of adding a Frequently Asked Questions section to your website is a no-brainer or perhaps not. Either way if you don't have a FAQ page then get your hide in gear and create one ASAP. Like a glossary a Frequently Asked Questions page is a perfect place to build the credibility of your website and put to rest the fearful/concerning questions that often arise in relation to your products/ services. If you need some ideas of what questions a prospective customer might ask, try calling a few clients and ask them what they looked for before ultimately choosing your company. In addition, try placing a submission form on your contact page where prospects can ask you a question directly – just be sure to respond with haste. Then place the question and your response on the appropriate FAQ page. Yet another bonus from having an FAQ: It is very common for the average surfer to search the web using questions. If your FAQ uses the wording that you think your prospects will use when searching, you will have a good chance at acquiring some extra high quality traffic. Do some research using a keyword analysis tool and try to find the best wording for each FAQ. Tips for Building an Optimized Glossary or FAQ Now I imagine that every expert in the SEO field has a different preference for designing the 'ultimate' glossary or FAQ but there are definitely some important tips to keep in mind for both: 1. Keep the pages relatively short. For example, I do not recommend having the entire glossary or FAQ on a single page unless they are relatively small. Ideally I would limit the number of questions or definitions to 10 or 15 on each page. 2. When building a FAQ try to devote each FAQ page to a singular topic. For example, on a woodworking site the FAQ for one page might be on the installation of a wood floor and another page would be devoted to questions on laminate floor installation. 3. When formatting the content for both the glossary and the FAQ try to link to related content within your website. This way if any visitors or search engines enter the site via one of these pages they can find great related reading material in a single click. 4. Make sure that a "back" button or a button that takes the user to the glossary or FAQ main navigation is available after each definition/answer. This will make it easier for visitors to navigate each resource or find their way back to their original reading material. 5. Add content to both resources whenever possible. It is often very simple to add a new definition or question and over time each resource will become more and more valuable to your users and ultimately contribute more to your website's success. 6. Ensure that the FAQ and Glossary pages are included in your XML sitemap so that search engines can regularly index them for fresh content [see Google XML Sitemaps – The Basics ]. That said, I advise setting the suggested re-index rate monthly unless the resources will be updated more often than that. After all, these pages are supposed to help but not take away from the core content of your site. Your Competitors Are Doing It or They Will If your website lacks a glossary or a FAQ I can only hope that this article convinced you to make it a priority. These tools are noted as contributing factors to the success of competitors throughout many of my analysis contracts and simply put they are too simple to add for anyone to be without them. Even if you have to hire your search engine friendly web designer to add these resources the ends will justify the means. About The Author Ross Dunn is the founder and CEO of StepForth Web Marketing Inc.. Based in Victoria, BC, Canada, StepForth has provided professional search engine placement and management services since 1997. Ross is a search engine optimization and placement expert with over 9 years of marketing experience and is a Certified Internet Marketing and Business Strategist (CIMBS). Blending his experience in the art of web design and search engine optimization, Ross offers a unique and informed perspective on obtaining top search engine placements. http://www.stepforth.com/ Ross can be reached at ross@stepforth.com ************** If you would be interested in any of my articles for reprint or reference you can see the complete list at http://www.seymourproducts.com/articles/index.shtml Feel free to use any of the articles you feel are appropriate. Also, if you would like to be added to my personal mailing list for articles only, terri@seymourproducts.com ========================================== Feature Ad ========================================== AuctionYen - Analyze the eBay want-it-now section to find what buyers REALLY want! ==> http://www.auctionyen.com/go.php?a=547 ========================================== This ‘n That - A Little Bit of Everything! ========================================== Find out everything about credit cards! http://www.financeglobe.com/ I ain't no saint, but I've tried never to do anything that would hurt my family or offend God... I figure all any kid needs is hope and the feeling he or she belongs. If I could do or say anything that would give some kid that feeling, I would believe I had contributed something to the world.' * Elvis Presley Christmas Tree Decorating Tips http://interiordec.about.com/od/cmastreetips/a/cmastreedecotip.htm This week's riddle: Fill in the Blanks Fill in the blanks using the same three letters at the end as at the beginning in the same order to find a place where water flows free: _ _ _ ERGRO _ _ _ Answer at the end of the ezine. ========================================== Subscription Management ========================================== Subscriptions to this weekly ezine are free. 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We disclaim any responsibility and/or all liability arising out of, or relating to, any item listed in this ezine, and/or websites. ========================================== Answer to riddle: UNDergroUND