Directory submissions are great ways to help with Search Engine Optimization efforts for a web site which in term helps a site's SERP. This is no news as it is known throughout most SEO communities. However, with all of these new and "so called" gurus claiming that they know anything about them they've also stirred up a lot of confusion behind the truth on "how" to do it correctly for it to help. I've also had my share of take on it previously with directory submission as well.
Through my video today I will explain to you what paid directories, regular directory submission, and directory submission services are in black and white. Without repeating myself from what's been said on the video, one thing to keep reminding yourself is that manual directory submission by yourself is always the best way to go.
Now, the next question that you may have is where or which directories do I submit? Although there are a ton of lists out there, here's a list to help you start:
I'll keep the post short but just check out the video, I think it already explains a lot of it in depth. A lot of how you make money on the web has to do with how you optmize your site and make your audience king! Believe me, besides optimizing your site making audience king is one of the most simple concept in the book and sadly 80% of the web companies or sites are far worse in comparison with regular shops in both maintenance and customer service. - Swapw
Link baiting is a very powerful technique a lot of people talk about over the internet. There are plenty of debates on how to use it and what it is being used for. A lot of so called gurus claimed to have used them in the past but I'll bet you that maybe 10% of them or less are actually successful in what they preach or know.
I have to say it first and foremost that link bait is something that I've used only a hand full of times, but from my studies I've found that they have a profound impact in helping and boosting a blog's popularity including traffic.
From my own experiments, I have found that writing against usually a mainstream view or a mainstream figure to be the most effective way in link baiting. Usually the author advocating an opposite view shows up first at your blog and with it also bringing in their supporters. Now the key here is to have a well constructed argument from your end. With a well constructed argument and a well thought out reasoning can a lot of times swayed the visitors that were going against you to be for you. On top of it, let's say that even if they all disagree with you now you got the attention of many others onto your website and blogs that links to you for the negative purpose of publicizing how wrong you are. For the purpose of link baiting, this would be considered a success. Although it may have a short term negative impact on your website or blog due to your opinion differences, but because of the links that's already in place with all these sites or blogs the benefits are huge. Most of it coming from indirect traffic, mostly visitors of their blog going onto yours. The traffic you'll receive can be exponential.
Now, I don't think link baiting is exactly ethical but the idea is to make sure that some type of buzz is being created for others to know and that your site or blog gets the attention of free press as a result others talking about it; it does exactly that. One precautionary measure that I would advice from my experience is to do some research before you jump into a heated debate. Without valid points to combat accusations from your opponents, you might just dig yourself into a rut. However, by defending yourself successfully would promote your reputation positively and the respects from the original advocates from the other side. It will give you a long lasting effect in traffic boost and buzz from time to time. And as we all know, traffic is the source of income in making money online and I wish the best success with your own results. -Swapw
If you haven't really heard about it yet, well the dot Asia extension is about to come out in a few weeks. You can see some of its release and details here:
In short, similar to dot com, dot info, dot net, dot org, etc. Dot Asia is supposedly something that's specifically made for "Asians". My guesses in why they did that is they kinda figured that the rise of GOP in China would mean a new breed of internet users coming onto the internet. Not only will they come to the internet, the domains that will be acquired by the Chinese will be in growth exponentially. I believe that, however what I have a problem with is how much they've hyped the dot Asia deal to the effect that it'll be "THE" solution to it which is completely BS to me.
The idea behind obtaining good domains is in the fact that people sometimes don't go through search engines to type in a name of a domain. Some people actually make a living through utilizing these types of techniques by obtaining good named websites and let the profits from advertisements make them money without any work from their end ever with these sites. For example, I may want to search for computers and instead of going to Google for a search I might just type in computers dot com instead. If the domain is parked and I happen to click on an ad per say, both the company that parked the domain as well as the person who owns the domain make some profit as a result and they share it together.
This idea of making money in domain parking as I have addressed in my blog previously. (you can read them here) is all calculated through probabilities. In another words, the probabilities of you going into a site with the name computer dot com is a lot higher then a term that's unpopular like zyx dot com or something similar.
Dot Asia is just a solution these dot moguls came up with in hopes to lure audiences primarily from Asia I'm guessing to jump into the world of domains and owning a piece of internet property. Honestly, do you think that would be the case? Most of the sites outside of the us uses various different prefixes. China for example uses something in the nature of dot com / cn and Japan would be / jp in the back. To literally try to change all of their domains overnight is a joke. Not now, not ever. If it's hard to comprehend, just think of it as a dot North America. Do you think people from Mexico, Cuba, etc would just jump in?
I just don't believe on it and be real cautious if you are looking to jump on with the bandwagon. Honestly, Dot Asia is a bust in my humble opinion and in a way comical to say the least. -Swapw
I don't understand why, I have noticed that a lot of reputable bloggers are all jumping into promoting Widgetbucks before actually reviewing the product in its entirety including Problogger Darren Rowse. I am a bit sick and tired of these reputable bloggers that are just trying to suck money out of their visitors by giving false or untested reviews of products so visitors are signing up under their affiliate link for them to earn a few bucks.
Bad take on their end to sacrifice reputation for a quick buck or two. What I personally like to do is actually use the product first before promoting them, so here's my honest review of Widgetbucks.
In short, I don't feel that they are a legitimate company and they do seem to fall under the categories of what I called a scam. At its first looks, I have noticed that there are claims by Widgetbucks that they are actually comparable to Google Adsense. Now, if anyone were to tell you that they are at par with Google Adsense this is definitely a red flag!! It's like a small fish saying that I eat sharks along with us humans.
With my pre-judgments aside, I have went ahead and test them out by implementing their widget onto my website. After a few days later I have realized that not one, not two, "ALL" of their ads are the same. Technical knowledge aside, are you interested in the same advertisements over and over? Even if you were interested at it the first time, are you interested in it at a second time? Chances are the answer is no. It is clearly reflective on the click rates of my experiment as well. The original advertisement that I was getting a 1-2% click rate now drops down to less then 1%.
Now waiting for a few additional weeks, I have noticed that Widgetbucks practice what is known as backdating. Something that is prohibited by Wallstreet which has gotten a lot of stock brokers locked up in jail and Widgetbucks is doing the exact same thing. Not only did they reduce my rate per click to 30% of the original pay rate, they have backdated all of my earnings from the first day that I have signed up with them. This is fraud!!!
To test out their customer service, I have went ahead and called the customer service line which promises to return all requests within 24 hours. Not only did I not get a response, after 48 hours there's no call no e-mail from them. What this has demonstrated to me is that this is another program which will turn out to be something scam oriented with red flags signaled everywhere. So if you are hyped to join Widgetbucks because of bloggers or webmasters wanting to join their affiliate links, be careful out there. Making money smart sometimes doesn't mean jumping on the bandwagon first but to jump in at the right timing! -Swapw
A lot of times I see SEO or Online Money Making Bloggers keep telling people to focus in advertisement of some sort as an effective way to increase traffic, this is great and all but a lot of times they fail to point out way to retain your traffic which is really the heart of the problem.
Advertisements get you the traffic but to keep the traffic that has came to your site is how well you retain and understand your visitors. For example, when you purchase a computer such as Dell obviously the functionality and how well Dell present its computers to you is very important in making your final decision. However, it is how Dell service you afterwards that retain you as a customer of a lifetime not more advertisements. Let's just say that their customer service is horrible, do you think anyone would go back to Dell although new and fancier advertisements are being presented? Most likely not.
If you consistently get new traffic from different venues of promoting your site, imagine the magnitude of loyal visitors if you keep them all happy? I can tell you as an experienced webmaster that the growth is exponential. Now the next question that you may have in your mind is how do you keep your current visitors happy? The answer to that is simply survey or ask your visitors! You might think, why should I ask my visitors or why would your visitors help you right? Surprisingly enough, from my personal experience visitors are quite informative in telling you exactly what they want and how they want it if you just take the time to ask. An example of a simple survey would be, "what would you prefer to see on my website?" then you offer them different choices that you have in mind and leave the last option up to them to provide a feedback to. Put the survey out for let's say a month, it's probably a good amount of time and most of your loyal readers have probably seen or given you inputs then. Just by looking at the result you can see exactly what's needed to be done in terms of your focus or the needs your visitors coming to your website.
Believe me guys, this advise is golden. A survey takes you only 5 minutes to make, but the impact can fair well steer your site's future as well as improvements based on suggestions directly from your visitors. Making money online a lot of times it is similar to your real life businesses, if you understand your visitors better then your competitors you would then leap out as the leader of the pack instead of a follower or a copy cat. -Swapw
Imagine walking into a forum that others have spoke about as being popular in the topic of your interest as a newbie, after your first question or post on the forum a guy usually with 100000 posts flames (demeaning words) you on the forum right away after your first post. How do you feel?
All of us are newbies at one point, whether it is in a certain field, work, or life. Even in the world of money making which is something I blog about, the same idea applies. Somehow, somewhere, there are always ones that bullies people around. What is the reason behind it? Usually it is caused by a lack of self confidence, a bad day, or to proof that they are better.
What do you do when you are faced in such circumstances? Simple, ignore and acknowledge authorities when applicable. These bullies thrive when others are giving them a reaction they want, why should you fall victim of it? If it is in a forum, heck jump to a new thread and ignore their accusations. Acknowledge a moderator of such circumstance and if repeatedly done in such fashion the moderator will ban them without you needing to do a thing. Some may say, let's just go head on! Well, the results are often times mixed. If the guy speaking it in the forum has 100000 posts like I said earlier, they probably have others that they are familiar with that will stick around by their side within the forum so as a newbie it's probably best not to argue with them. Plus, what result does it bring? Nothing! Let's say that you win the argument, so what? They can start another thread and do the same thing. Don't ever loose your cool, because once you do you loose all respects from others.
Let's change the environment a little bit. What if it is done on your blog? What I like to do personally is that I like to screen my comments and delete anything that is malicious or spam. If you are using Wordpress, then use spam plugins (there are many of them) to fend off spams. Whenever a blog gets popular, there are always spammers or others that is jealous of your success or just want to link bait. Don't fall for it and keep things clean and professional! Remember, your blog or forum's authority is built based on how you handle or deal with certain type of events. If we are so stuck with what others think about us there will never be an end! -Swapw
Google has newly introduced an ad system called Referral Ads under Adsense. From its first view, it's quite clear that it's an attempt by Google to poke into the affiliate marketing niche which has already been congested with many other competing companies. Why? Because affiliate marketing is actually one of the hottest segment over the web today.
How Referral Ads work is pretty simple. Basically like the regular Google Adsense ads, referral ads display items which you the owner of site select to display. For example if your website is about bike and you prefer displaying ads about bikes they will display exactly ads for that and nothing else. It also provides you the option to display various other ads and you the owner of the site can let referral ads autopick as to which ads "convert" the best. When I say the word convert, I mean a customer either signing up for a product or buying it. This term is defined differently with various types of advertisers, it just depends. The payout is based on the amount of visitors that actually buys the product that your site is advertising through referral ads, whenever a customer buys something you get paid a certain percentage as the result.
Now imagine if a visitor that goes to the ad displayed on your site and buys a tv and let's just hypothetically say that the payout is 3% and the TV is $300 you have just earned $9 right on the spot. Instead of you getting paid on pennies on the dollar per click with regular Adsense this program seems to be paying a lot more and in many ways better in comparison right? WRONG! Dead wrong and the here's the reason why. With your regular Adsense you get paid per click from your visitors going to the advertiser, however with referral ads you don't get paid for that and that is a very big deal!
Now, let's do some math together. How much are you currently getting your clicks with Google Adsense? If you blend in your ads and optimize it, you are probably sitting at 1-2% tops. The percentage is awfully low. From these percentage of people, how many of them do you think would actually buy something or sign up with someone? Extremely low and you're looking at something close to 1% but less than that. In another words, every 1000 visitors that come to your site 10 visitors will visit your ad and close to none will sign up. To get any sign up with our math, we are looking at at least 10000 visitors.
I have tested referral ads in one of the site that own that is filled with visitors. You are probably curious as to the results right? Out of 9000 unique visitors in the day that I've tested it, only 9 people have actually "clicked" on the ads and obviously no conversions. If you are considering using referral ads, I would suggest looking elsewhere to make your money online! -Swapw
* Debate and conversation background (0:55 - 1:20)
* Pros and cons with e-gold (1:21 - 3:56)
* e-gold recommendations and wrap up (3:57 - 4:47)
For those of you have read my original review on e-gold, you would have found that I am not a big advocate for e-gold as an investment; a popular online currency that is backed by gold. If you have missed my original review and are interested in reading about it, you can read it by clicking here.
I have considered my first review quite extensive, however after a recent debate with another user who is an advocate and uses e-gold under a day to day transaction I have decided to continue to dig into the topic of e-gold as I have learned new information about it. Some of the major topics which I felt are fundamentally flawed with e-gold can be found with the video today.
The biggest hole that I've found with e-gold through my conversation with the gentleman is that e-gold is aiming to become a legitimate digital currency. As e-gold is backed by gold, if its aim is for security and not investment then why would anyone secure themselves in e-gold? If it becomes a digital currency, then what will it backed by then? Besides e-gold, there are many digital currencies who also claims to be the most popular. How would you then distinguish the differences of the two beside the backing of gold for e-gold? What if e-gold ends up closing its doors to its investors and declares bankrupcy? What securities would the investor have instead of a piece of solid gold or a number according to e-gold? There are just seem to be many loop holes where e-gold has yet to explain and it's always smart to becareful then be sorry.
After our conversation, it has only affirmed my recoomendation to my viewers in e-gold to not invest. Unless you have already a huge vasted investment in e-gold or a deep understanding of gold I would recommend staying put and see what happens. That is the right way to make money smart!
-Swapw "Making money smart"
Beneath is my conversation and debate with the gentleman, hopefully you find it informative and useful.
User (15 hours ago) marked as spam You're not completely accurate on egold. Our company and affiliates and associates have been legally using e-gold since 1996. eGold is extremely popular in certain internet related arenas, not all illegal, contrary to the belief of many. It's a mistake to not point out that most ACTIVE egold users buy & sell using third party exchangers (eCurrencyExchangers -com) who convert it to other digital currencies or cash (check, bank wires, etc.). (Reply) (Remove) (Block User) (Spam)
swapw (11 hours ago) marked as spam Actually, this is a point that I did point out in my video. Many viewers would agree jumping into something that is "popular" may not be something that's profitable or even accurate. (Reply) (Remove) (Block User) (Spam)
User (15 hours ago) marked as spam Almost NO ONE BAILS OUT (redeems for gold), & they mostly enjoy the idea of their holdings being backed by value instead of just numbers on the screen. You point out that e-gold transactions are final. This is an important reason why quite a number of businesses (including some well establish web hosting companies) accept e-gold. (Reply) (Remove) (Block User) (Spam)
swapw (11 hours ago) marked as spam Your point is exactly why it's very dangerous. Since it is an institution without FDIC insurance, it can close down its' doors at anytime and users cannot be warranted in their securities. This type of story or scheme is just too common shown on TV everday. (Reply) (Remove) (Block User) (Spam)
User (10 hours ago) marked as spam No sir. Your point in misconstrued. E-gold is neither Bank, check cashing agency, or Money service business. e-gold is, by slang, a new breed "digital currency" and by function, a debit/credit accounting system whose value is based intrinsically on Gold. FDIC insurance is irrelevant. Banks are FDIC insured, but is the U.S. federal reserve? Research before reply. Over inflated, much indebted, fiat U.S. dollar used to be Gold back too. What happened? (Reply) (Remove) (Block User) (Spam)
User (9 hours ago) marked as spam New Comment (Pending Approval)The U.S. dollar is fiat - not backed. FDIC covers up to $100,000 usd for BANK failures. Not private business. Paypal, a money service business, holdings in U.S. Banks are backed to this amount. Nothing else. Paypal is not a DIGITAL CURRENCY. You need to understand the difference. I could lose 1 million invested in ebay with no recourse, at anytime. The only thing that makes ebay a bad investment is it's viability. egold is very viable. (Reply) (Remove) (Block User) (Approve) (Spam)
swapw (4 hours ago) marked as spam I would like to follow-up by a point by point reasoning. Before we can pin point e-gold as a digital currency we have to first look into gold itself. Gold is only as valuable as any commodity that people perceive it to be, as newer generations abandoning the values of the old gold is not perceived as an equivalent value to anyone today. (Reply) (Remove) (Block User) (Spam)
swapw (4 hours ago) marked as spam If the viewer's value in gold means nothing, then e-gold would prove to be meaningless. A digital currency that is based on a fab trend of hype on gold is to be highly cautious. (Reply) (Remove) (Block User) (Spam)
swapw (4 hours ago) marked as spam That is not to mention there are other forms of digital currency that are available. It is open to debate whether e-gold would be proved supreme while a "defined" digital currency has yet to be determined. In the meanwhile, it still runs the risk as fraud if it decides to close its doors one day. If you are in the e-gold business, you would an expert at gold which is an asset. Like gold, to make money through it is not as flexible and you would be aiming for a long term solution. (Reply) (Remove) (Block User) (Spam)
swapw (4 hours ago) marked as spam Unless it is liquid it would fall under my video's comment as "unless you are deeply into gold as an investment, I would highly suggest not jumping into it." (Reply) (Remove) (Block User) (Spam)
User (15 hours ago) marked as spam and finally, many users have gotten paypal to reverse charges, thus cheating the hosting company out of payment/services. So there are pros and cons on BOTH ends, and in the end all parties should be doing their due diligence and not letting the payment service be the judge. (Reply) (Remove) (Block User) (Spam)
swapw (11 hours ago) marked as spam I'm not too sure if you are familiar with payment services of Paypal. If they examine only one side, I would then not recommend it. However, due to its reliability and its solution to situational examination from both sides it has proved to be a more popular security. Not to mention that it provides users interests as suppose to E-gold who doesn't. (Reply) (Remove) (Block User) (Spam)
User (10 hours ago) marked as spam No? Well let me assure you: a) Paypal was weaned from lies and deceit at it's user's expense, which their enormous initial debt. Perhaps they will tell you the truth. b) We experienced this 1st hand, and it had nothing to do with their honesty. BUt all is well, as this was business, and nothing personal to me. And again, paypal is a Money Transmittal service, not an electronic ecurrency - or threat to fiat (unbacked) hard currency. (Reply) (Remove) (Block User) (Spam)
User (9 hours ago) marked as spam We understand paypal well. EXPERIENCE. Fundamental difference is that egold is intended to be an digital currency. Paypal is a money service business. The US DOJ has valid concern , but not what you think. A different threat. egold has numerous times applied for licensing & been denied. egold can't touch the fraud of the credit card industry. Jackson created something the U.S. was originally based on, but is lost amongst the sleeping. Some are convinced that the USA is the new Old England. (Reply) (Remove) (Block User) (Spam)
swapw (3 hours ago) marked as spam I would like to close our debate as this. Before anything like E-gold should be looked at, each individual should seriously examine the value of gold. (Reply) (Remove) (Block User) (Spam)
swapw (3 hours ago) marked as spam If you believe gold would be the currency of tomorrow and that it will appreciate in value, invest by any means. However, if you think otherwise like I do then I would suggest a continuation of your current investments. (Reply) (Remove) (Block User) (Spam)
swapw (3 hours ago) marked as spam Remember, it's never too late to jump in later then to be sorry always. Good luck with all of your investments.-Swapw (Reply) (Remove) (Block User) (Spam)
User (3 hours ago) marked as spam I actually agree with you on both points, more on the 1st point. If treat your egold holdings as an investment then you SHOULD consider the underlying gold price. If you are doing quick purchasing transactions with merchants that give discounts for using egold or if you are a merchant entertaining all forms of payments (like us) then egold is what it is. Simply another form of payment. By the way, visa charges us 3% and we exchange egold for 1%. (Reply) (Remove) (Block User) (Spam)
User (3 hours ago) marked as spam And no. The 3% does protect us from visa doing a charge back when it is found that the card was stolen, and they never catch the thief... (Reply) (Remove) (Block User) (Spam)
User (3 hours ago) marked as spam I mean: The 3% does >NOT< color="#3333ff">(Reply) (Remove) (Block User) (Spam)
User (3 hours ago) marked as spam Perhaps you are speaking more to someone who seems to be your specific audience (mentioning your blog), but I've only commented that you did not paint the full picture of egold's use. You propose and perhaps get others to presume that e-gold is an Investment when if you examine the world of the common egold user, and the history of egold's founder and promoting itself, it is put forth mostly as a method of irrevocable and private transacting (in line with eff dot org's goal for privacy). (Reply) (Remove) (Block User) (Spam)
Since this is the weekend, I thought I take a break and have some fun with the game from John Chow, the dot com Mogul. Being 3rd place in comparison with other scores I am pretty proud of it, but then that is after a hour of playing it...lol.
His site http://www.Johnchow.com is a web site which he tells his story of how he has made his fortune through his blog. I personally like his blog quite a bit because his blog brings a more raw tone to the table. Unlike other bloggers such as Pro Blogger or Shoemoney, the biggest difference is the realness in his blog on how he communicates with his readers. This is very key! Sometimes we tend to find ourselves trying very hard to polish our writings and miss out on what the "general public" really understands which may differ in our area of expertise. To really convey quality information to your readers, you must speak in the same language and that is to never assume any understandings about the subject. John Chow does a very good job on it and I find it very easy to follow and it has definitely helped enhance some of my knowledge.
A huge trap that bloggers have fallen tends to be the failure to communicate to their users. Without direct connection between the readers and the quality information on the post, readers will most often lose site of the content because it is at heart a blog and not a book. It is similar to you going to a speech taught by a well known business CEO. Although the speeches are always great, you will almost always failed to connect to the heart of the topic directly. A bad tendency that I see even with very experienced bloggers, is whenever the blogger has a very strong group of loyal readers they would tend to focus on the group too closely that they fail to see and exploit its new traffic in connection. Whether it is due to the lack of knowledge from readers or understanding, bloggers should never fail to understand the purpose of blogs and the reason why people like reading them instead of a book.
His blog brings many of his experiences in a very transparent way. Although not extremely polished, I find it to be the advantage of John Chow for the readers to relate to his blog. As a Canadian, he's just like any other person like you and I. After starting a blog back in December of 2005 he is making thousands of dollars blogging. What this means to every reader or writer of blogs is that anyone can make money through blogging. It's a definite a good read and an encouragement to all bloggers. Do keep in mind though, that he has kept up the blog for more then 2 years, so no if you want to pull a fast one it ain't happening. He owns TTZ and other web sites, you can check him out here! Have a good weekend.
I am a 28 years old entrepreneur on the internet and a partner of an international consulting company. I currently resides in CA, US and I enjoy bloggging in my spare time about money making online. As I continue to learn continuously, I try my very best to share with my readers everything that I have learned.
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