By: Ben Anton

The use of appropriate key words is one of the most important aspects of search engine optimization. Selecting and targeting pertinent key words and phrases is crucial for building web traffic and getting the audience you want for your web pages. Like any other type of advertisement, your key words must be carefully chosen to ensure that you achieve both high page rankings and relevant traffic. Achieving high page ranks is useless if the traffic it brings you is not the right audience. For this reason, many experts believe that the target key word list used for a site can mean either success or failure for a web site or online business.

It is no longer enough to simply choose a relevant domain name for an online business or web site. Choosing the right key words for the site is now equally if not more important. The majority of people who visit a site get there by using a search engine. They will type in two or three words that describe what they’re looking for, scan the resulting list generated and pick one that seems relevant until they get the answer or product they need. This is where target key words are utilized. Key words are what enable people to find your site; choosing the right key words for your site will ensure the right people find you.

With this in mind, identifying your target audience is the first step in creating relevant key words and phrases. Again, this is not dissimilar to targeting television advertisements. Consider location when you are developing your target market. For example, if you own a used car dealership in Hayward, California, any traffic you get from outside a very specific area is virtually useless to you. Similarly, if you operate an online business that does not ship outside the USA, generating traffic from other countries will not help you make sales. By adding key words that are specific to your location as well as your product, you will better hone into your target audience, improve your rankings, and achieve a better conversion rate, which will help increase your site’s page ranking, in turn.

Keyword competition should also be taken into consideration when developing a site’s key word list. Going back to the used car dealership example, let’s say a potential customer types in the word “cars” into a search engine. They’ll never find what they need, because it’s far too general—generating around 500,000,000 different sites to choose from. Typing in “used cars” generates almost 70,000,000. That’s still too many to deal with effectively. Using “used cars Hayward” generates almost 900,000 hits, and narrowing the focus even further by using the zip code rather than the city name reduces it to less than 25,000.

Choosing key words for your web site works the same way. If your key words are too general, your target audience will never find your site, because the search terms generate so many web sites that it is impossible to look through them all. However, if you go too far in the opposite direction and use too many key words, or key words which are too specific, you risk losing business as well. The best key word phrases are no more than three words in length.

So how do you choose the right key words? The first step is brainstorming with colleagues, friends or an SEO professional, to come up with a list of 20 or more appropriate key words. The Google Keyword Tool is an excellent place to research key words. By entering key words into this tool it will give you an idea of the popularity of certain words and offers you alternative key words and phrases.

Once you have a good list of terms, you may want to refine it to call out the strongest terms that have the best potential for sales or traffic conversion. There are several good online research tools available, which can help you decide which words will be most effective for you. Some good examples are WordTracker and Keyword Discovery. These sites may charge a fee for using their database. After reviewing the terms, eliminate the key words that rank poorly or are very unpopular, then prioritize the remaining terms according to search popularity. These terms will become the keywords you will want to focus your initial SEO campaign on.

Always remember that when it comes to key words, you are focusing on optimizing your traffic rather than maximizing it. Setting up the right keyword list for optimization is the cornerstone to a successful web site.

~Ben Anton, 2007

Article Source: http://www.article-buzz.com

Information about the Author:

Ben Anton is a writer for Mad Fish Info, a search engines optimization consulting firm in Portland, OR. Mad Fish Info conducts extensive keyword research, SEO content creation and search engine strategy development for any sized company.

By: Nell Taliercio

“You must have a career plan before you go out into this big world of ours,” reinforced the professor delivering the commencement address during graduation! High school and college guidance counselors repeatedly tell students of the importance of having a career plan.

It is important to note that career plans aren’t just for those who work offline. Telecommuters should have one also. Before you can map out your career plan, you need to understand career plans.

Consider a career plan akin to planning your next vacation. You need to decide where you will go, in which mode of transportation you will travel, determine the best route to take and then how to ensure you have a good time once you arrive.

Spontaneously deciding one Friday night that you will not ever again return to your job because you want to telecommute is not a recommended course of action. The first decision you have to make is deciding what kind of work you want to spend your time doing.

Do you like working with numbers, databases, marketing collateral, search engine optimization, building websites, writing content or something entirely different? If you don’t settle in with something you like to do, your telecommuting career won’t last long.

Next determine if you can make any money working in your chosen area. Can your family budget support your start up costs? You should have a website, business cards and may need to pay for some initial advertising.
Can your family budget survive the initial lean months? If not, you will have to work your new telecommuting job search and any jobs you are hired to do while you are still employed outside the home. Once your at-home telecommuting income stabilizes, then you can submit your letter of resignation and leave behind the daily commute to work.

Once you’ve reviewed your destination, determined where you’re going and how you will get there, you’re off to a good start. Just make sure you have enough “traveler’s checks” in case of an emergency. Once you have thoroughly examined your road map — your career plan, then hang on and enjoy the ride!

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To access telecommuting information, advice, jobs, and more please go to www.telecommutingmoms.com today!

By: Pamela Catey

Do you feel like your time management skills are lacking? Feel overwhelmed, stressed, or like you are losing your life as each day quickly passes by?

In this article, I will share with you the top 5 ways to improve your time management skills to regain control of your life. There is a great quote by Business Philosopher, Jim Rohn “Time is our most valuable asset, yet we tend to waste it, kill it, and spend it rather than invest it.” Are you investing your time in things that are producing the results you desire? If not, read on.

Plan Your Day

Another great piece of wisdom from Jim Rohn is to never start your day until it is finished on paper. It is great advice. You can piddle away so much time when you are not focused on how you are going to spend it. Have you ever noticed how you can waste a whole day before you even really started it? Plan it before you start it, and you will get more accomplished.

Prioritize

Are you clear about what your short-term, mid-term, and long term goals are? If not, get to work, eh? Every day is an opportunity to be taking action toward your short-term goal, which should be furthering your mid-term goal, which should be leading you down the road to achieving your long term goal. Taking even small actions on the things that matter will you give a sense of accomplishment and control.

Before You Go to Bed

Write down the 3 most important things to do tomorrow on a 3 x 5″ index card. When you wake up in the morning, all you need to do is read your index card and schedule when you will do these 3 most important things. And of course, they should be in alignment with furthering your short term goal.

Be Relentless

Keep your eye on the prize. Stay focused on the objectives of the day until you have completed them. Be steady and persistent on the task at hand and only focus on one task at a time. When one is completed, focus fully on the next.

Value Your Time

No one will value your time as much as you do. So, it is vital that you relate to your time as the valuable asset that it is. It’s only when you regard your time as valuable, that others will do so. It has to start with you first. It is your responsibility because we train people how to treat us. If you want other people to value your time, you have to value it first.

I hope these 5 ways to improve your time management skills proves valuable for you. Let me know your results, I’d love to hear your wins!

Article By:

Pamela Catey, MA is a Best Selling Co-Author, Professional Life Coach, Musician, and Inspirational Leader. She holds a masters degree in Counseling Psychology and is a Licensed Massage Therapist. If you are ready to live a life you love or are interested in learning more about time management skills sign up for her Free “FunLightenment Newsletter” and www.FunLightenmentCoaching.com

By: Alice Seba

People have all kinds of questions about starting their own affiliate program and it’s always a good idea to be prepared. Starting and managing your own affiliate program isn’t something that can be done on the fly. It takes carefully preparation and planning, but the results are well worth it. Here are 3 commonly asked questions:

Question 1: How much commission should I offer in my affiliate program?

How much you offer will depend on the amount you can afford, taking into consideration the lifetime value of a customer, what your competition is doing and how attractive you can make your offer.

As a general statement, information products usually have a higher commission rate - often between 25-50% with the higher end being more common. Consumer products with smaller profit margins can be as low as 5%, but don’t often go above 20%.

But what you charge should be based on your own unique business. Here are some more things to help you come to a decision:

Sometimes it’s okay to pay a bit more for a first-time customer who will buy from you over and over again.

Always see what your competition is offering. You don’t have to get into a commission war, just be sure to make your program very attractive through good conversion rates, unique and useful promotional tools and other attractive features.

Question 2: What kind of affiliate tools should I provide to my affiliates?

The simplest answer is: Give them what they want.

Talk to your affiliates and see what they need to serve their unique audience needs, and where possible, provide it to them.

For hard-hitting promotions, you can craft email copy, conduct live teleseminars with content and sales pitch, special reports, etc.

For the content-starved webmaster (and there are plenty out there), give them things like articles, free ebooks and other informational content.

The important thing is to listen to your affiliates and watch which tools convert best.

Question 3: Can I have an affiliate program with a service-based business?

Sure you can. If you have a profit margin or a lifetime customer value that allows you to pay commissions, certainly.

If you have services available that are at a set price, it’s easy to automate everything and run your program, just like a product-based one.

If you charge by the hour or have to give project estimates, it’s a little tougher to automate completely.

Here are a few options:

- Have a script that can track who referred your potential client to you. Ex. Affiliate recommends your service through a tracking link. Potential client clicks the link, checks out your website and fills out a form for more information. Your system tells you who referred the client and if they purchase your services, you can give the affiliate a commission.

- You could do it as a pay-per-lead opportunity where the affiliate is paid a smaller fee for every person that fills out the form for more information. This would be easy to automate in most affiliate systems that can handle pay-per-lead transactions.

- Don’t want to go with a full-blown affiliate program? You can institute a client referral program where you simply allow your clients to recommend your service, in return for credit for services. When a new client comes to you, you ask where they heard about you and you add a credit to your referring client’s account

An affiliate force is an incredibly powerful thing and when you consider you don’t have to pay affiliates anything until they produce results for you, it’s one of the best deals going in Internet marketing today. Plan your program well and you’ll soon have your own active force of affiliates bringing you new customers every day.

Article By

For more answers to your questions about starting and running your own profitable affiliate program that your affiliates will love, claim your copy of Alice Seba’s step-by-step Affiliate Manager Sweetie course at www.affiliatemanagersweetie.com

Written by: Nell Taliercio

Your resume needs to outline your skills and experience, as most know. What some may not know is that employers want to know what you’ll bring to the table. They don’t want to know what your daily duties were. They want to know what you did for the companies you worked for that makes you extraordinary.

Did you save them money, did you make them money, how were you the best at what you did, etc. Yes, employers want to know what your experience is, so duties are good to add. Again, the name of the game is SELL YOURSELF! This does not lose its importance in a resume.

On your resume, point out the skills that will make you a good telecommuter. Can you work well with no supervision? Do you learn fast? Put that on your resume. If you were left to work with little to no supervision at your last job, let them know that. Also tell them how well you did. If you have telecommuting experience, put a big focus on that. Employers want to know that you can handle telecommuting. There’s always a risk involved with hiring someone to work from home, so an employer knowing you’ve worked at home before will be more at ease with you. They will see you as experienced with telecommuting.

MommysPlace has a Resume and Cover Letter center right here for your convenience, too! It outlines many different types of resumes and cover letter information, and it gives samples. Check it out at the Resume and Cover Letter Center.

Are you taking a second look at your resume now and thinking it could be better? Don’t get discouraged if you can’t afford to hire someone or buy a product that helps you. It’s very possible with a lot of hard work that you can improve your own resume. Here are a few Do’s and Don’ts of resumes. Read through these, and look at the resources below before you get started on your resume.

Do’s of Resume Writing (Tips for telecommuting resumes):

Write about your skills sets and experience. Know what type of job you’re looking for, and target your resume to that. If you’re seeking telecommuting careers, then focus your past skills and experience to telecommuting.

List your accomplishments! This is where you need to really shine. Don’t be afraid to show how great you are as an employee. They need to know why you’re the best for the job. Also, point out any special skills you may have that would put you above the rest of the applicants.

Convey how you can work independently. I know I’ve said this before but I wanted to point it out again because in the telecommuting world it’s the utmost importance!

Side Note—> Heather Eagar (professional resume writer) of Professional Approach says this of conveying how you’re independence is key when applying for a telecommuting position:

“Also, as is the case with teleworkers especially, you have to convey AUTONOMY. Since they will be off-site, the company has to feel comfortable that they are able to manage themselves.” Heather Eagar of Professional Approach

Dont’s of Resume Writing:

Don’t leave out your job objective!

Don’t list hobbies on a resume unless it can directly relate to your job objective.

Don’t have a run-on resume. The preferred length of your resume is no shorter than one page and no longer than two pages.

About The Author

Nell Taliercio is the owner and founder of http://www.telecommutingmoms.com – which is a leading resource website with work at home jobs and everything a telecommuting mom would need. Come visit us today!

Article Source: http://www.ladypens.com/