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To all writers and non-writers out there, now is the time to start digging up those creative writing skills.With modern communication technology comes the popularity of information-based marketing, which is one of the oldest and most effective techniques in getting targeted prospects to sites and converting them into buyers. This is

Each day I go on the hunt for profitable keywords for my sites. I have been doing this daily task for years and have come to enjoy the simple steps I take to find profitable keywords. It has become so enjoyable because I know with each valuable keyword I find I am adding hundreds, sometimes even thousands to my yearly online income.

Keywords power much of the online traffic and commerce on the web. Keywords are the exact word or phrase surfers type into search engines to find what they're looking for on the Internet. They are the essential elements in your website's profitability and in many cases keywords will largely determine how much revenue you earn from the web.

Finding profitable keywords is not a difficult task, anyone can use popular online sites and tools to find valuable and profitable keywords with a few minutes of work. Quick, easy and simple. You just have to know how to find the answers to these three questions:

1. How Many Searches Are Made Each Month For Your Keyword?

A keyword that receives no searches is worthless. A keyword which receives just 10 to 100 searches each month may be very profitable. Your first task is to find out or discover HOW MANY SEARCHES are made each month for your keyword or keyword phrase. You can use sites like Overture (Yahoo Marketing) or WordTracker and they will give you the number of searches made each month and also variations of your keyword phrase. For quick reference I use this site: http://www.pixelfast.com/overture/

Once you know how many searches are made for your keyword you can determine how much traffic you will receive if your site lands on the first page SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). The closer you are to the number one spot will determine the percentage of these monthly searches you will receive. Most of your traffic will come from Google, even if you get #1 spots in all three major engines, Yahoo and MSN will return less traffic - at least this has been my experience.

Keep in mind, even keywords with low search numbers may still be profitable. For example, 'unique corporate gift ideas' only has around 400 searches but this may be very profitable for companies or websites that cater to corporate gifts. Also remember, some keyword searches are seasonal, i.e. the number of searches made for 'valentine gifts' in July will greatly differ from those made in February.

2. How Much Competition Does Your Keyword Have?

You must know the level of competition for each keyword phrase you target with your online marketing. Extremely competitive keywords are not worth your time because you will not place for these keywords on the SERPs and you will get no traffic. As a general rule, the most popular keywords with 100's of thousands of searches a month will have the stiffest competition.

You can still place for very competitive keywords but it may require months, usually years of content/link building. Unless you use a PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising system such as Google Adwords or Yahoo Marketing; you won't get any traffic from extremely competitive keywords. It's best to target keywords with little or no competition.

One of the best sites to use to find out your keyword's competition is Google. If you type your keyword phrase 'corporate gift ideas' into Google search you will see there are 7,660,000 pages/listings returned. To get the number of pages that have your exact keyword phrase, you need to search your phrase within quotation marks "corporate gift ideas" and you will see it has around 275,000 pages featuring your keyword phrase.

If you check out the sites on the first three pages of listings you can determine the level of your competition. I use the professional keyword research software Keyword Elite to determine my competition. But here's a quick way to check the PR (Page Rank) of the listings for your keyword phrase. Let's run thru an example.

First do a search in Google for 'corporate gift ideas' and then highlight and copy the return url.

Next go to this site http://www.iwebtool.com/visual_pagerank and paste in your Google keyword return url:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=corporate+gift +ideas&btnG=Search

This will give you a quick visual pagerank of all your chosen keyword's Top 10 competitors!

3. How To Know If Your Keyword Is Really Profitable?

One quick and simple way to tell if your keyword is profitable, i.e. people are making money from promoting and optimizing your chosen keyword phrase.

Take your keyword phrase and type it into Google, Yahoo and MSN. Just count the number of Sponsored Links at the top of the page and at the sides. If your keyword phrase is profitable you will see a lot of sponsored links, which means sites/businesses are advertising. Where there is advertising, there is profit!

You can use Yahoo advertising (Overture) to discover the amount each advertiser is welling to pay for each click or visitor to their keyword phrase; this amount can range from $.10 to $10 to $100 per click!

I use the keyword software mentioned above to monitor the different sites promoting my keywords. If my competitors are buying PPC advertising month after month, you know this keyword phrase is profitable for them and chances are it can be also profitable for you.

Many savvy Internet Marketers instead of targeting extremely popular keywords, find a niche market and target a whole string of related keywords that have little or no competition. This Long Tail marketing method can prove very profitable.

How profitable will largely depend on what you do with your keyword traffic, how well you can convert this traffic into a sale or how well you can monetize it with affiliate programs or Google Adsense?

Just follow these three easy steps for finding profitable keywords and you will have a simple system for adding valuable keywords to your site or online marketing. Take full advantage of these little income magnets which powers so much of the commerce done online and you will succeed. Always remember, these little nuggets of gold are yours for the taking.

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The author is a full-time online marketer who has numerous niche websites, including two sites on Internet marketing. For the latest web marketing tools try: Internet Marketing Tools For the latest Internet Marketing Strategies go here: Internet Marketing Strategies

Copyright 2006 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

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Everyone that is a webmaster is looking for edge on their competitors on the search engines. Two of the more popular link building techniques is submitting your website to Web Directories and Article Directories. In this Article I will talk about the benefits and rules that should be applied when submitting to Web Directories and Article Directories.

The main benefit of submitting your website to Web Directories is when your site is accepted into a directory you will normally receive a backlink from that directory as long as they have no follow turned off. The more back links or also called one way incoming links you have to your site the higher you will be placed up in the search engines for your targeted keyword.

When submitting to web directories there are many things you need to review before creating your information to use when submitting to them. You will need an Anchor text, Description and keywords. There are other requirements but these are the only important ones. Your anchor text should include keywords that your website is targeting to be ranked for. But the anchor text should not include too many characters. You should have at least 5 variations of your anchor text and rotating them when you are submitting to directories. Your description won't be too important for the search engines but more so for the editors that review your submission, make sure it does not sound like an advertisement. Instead give a detailed description of what your website is about in 150-450 characters, it's also a good idea to have a few variations of your descriptions. Last is your keywords, there really aren't too important when submitting to web directories, and all directories wont even have a box for your keywords. Simply put your 5 most important keywords for this field.

Like Web Directory Submissions, Article Submissions also have a great benefit to your website. When you submit your article to directories you normally can have up to 3 hyperlinks at the end of your article. And the good thing about Article Submissions is you can use deep-link URL's in your article which are hard to gain backlinks for. Unlike Web Directory submissions, Article Directories normally can give your website an increase in traffic. The reason for this is an article is a much better informative resource then Web Directories.

When submitting your article to Article Directories there are usually a few guidelines that you have to follow. The first one is making sure that your article is not already listed in that directory. Once that is done check your article for any errors like grammar and spelling. Ensure that you have all fields in the submission form completely filled out; normally these would be the title, author name, email, author resource, keywords and category. If you submit your article to the wrong category, this will normally lead to a declination of the article, the same goes for a duplicate article.

One of the best directory submission services for helping your website is Nationsubmit Not only will they help grow the popularity of your site, but they will set it up for long term success in the future by establishing a trusted network of links from which the website will grow. View some of their link building Packages. You can also check out their Link Building Blog.

To all writers and non-writers out there, now is the time to start digging up those creative writing skills.With modern communication technology comes the popularity of information-based marketing, which is one of the oldest and most effective techniques in getting targeted prospects to sites and converting them into buyers. This is

If you are seriously thinking about utilizing article marketing as your promotional tool to either augment your website's traffic or market your products online, these 6 no-brainer ways will help you breakthrough with this amazing technique and make you stand out from the rest of the marketers in the world wide web:

1. Choose a niche and specialize. In article marketing, it is important that your contents are targeted and focused to the needs of your target market. Identify the niche that you are most passionate about and widen your knowledge about it so you will become a great source of niche-related information.

2. Get to know your target market. You would want your articles to be appealing to your potential readers, don't you? You can only do that if you present them with information that are relevant to their problems, interests, or hobbies and if you write your content using the words and writing style that they can easily relate to.

3. Carefully choose your topics. Your articles should be focused on issues that are relevant to your chosen niche and target market.

4. Make use of intriguing titles. Your title is your most effective tool in getting online users to open your article. Employ emotion, exaggeration, or words that are logically appealing so you can make your headlines more enticing.

5. Bank on your content. Strive to give your readers articles that are worth reading. They must not only be informative, but they must also be well-written and fact-based.

6. Your resource box must be powerful. This is your most important tool in driving online users to your website. Make your resource box appealing and simply irresistible so your potential clients will not be able to pass on the opportunity to access and browse your website.

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To all writers and non-writers out there, now is the time to start digging up those creative writing skills.With modern communication technology comes the popularity of information-based marketing, which is one of the oldest and most effective techniques in getting targeted prospects to sites and converting them into buyers. This is

Websites the world over depend on articles to draw attention to potential readers and customers. This does require a few key steps to make sure your that you succeed in your marketing strategies.

You can use an autoresponder program to automatically send articles to all your customers. The autoresponder program can be set up to deliver emails at set intervals to a list of email addresses. You could gather together all your articles into one giant electronic book. Then simply transfer your text to the autoresponder and let it do the work for you. Some people prefer to read books this way because they can download the information into their PDAs and take it with them wherever they go. This could be an excellent gift idea you could offer free to your regular customers.

Submit to free article directories. There are countless article directories that accept copies for free. This will surely give you maximum exposure as they do have lots of subscribers. Don't forget to add a well-written resource box, with appropriate link going to your website.Load your articles with information. The main reason why someone is reading your copy is because he or she is looking for information. So stop beating around the bush and get to the point.

Do your research carefully, because that's the only way to get information that is consistently timely and accurate. There is a nearly infinite amount of data on the internet, most of it known to very few people, and you can use that data to support your articles. Articles need to appear professional, so make sure that you proofread them to eliminate spelling and grammar errors that can detract from your message.

Talk to online businesses that are similar to yours, but not direct competitors. Many websites are related to yours and seeking out new content that you could provide, so by calling or e-mailing them to let them know you are interested, you may have a better chance of getting an article published on their site to attract traffic to your site.

You can get a free copy of my latest ebook by clicking here: The 7 Keys To Business Marketing Success. Eric Menzies writes about Business Marketing at http://www.BizRave.com

A place for finding the Nuts and Bolts for Making Money Online with Affiliate Marketing Business Opportunity!

Although more people discover the power of article marketing every day, many fail to learn some simple techniques to optimize their writing and maximize the effectiveness of their article marketing campaigns. The following paragraphs will reveal six critical mistakes that must be avoided if you want to reap the full fruits of your article writing efforts.

The first three mistakes fall within the category of "Guideline Awareness." The rule of thumb is to be familiar with the guidelines of the directories where you submit your articles, so that you can better use them to your advantage.

Mistake #1: Failure to Use Hyperlinks in Article Body

Some article directories will not allow any hyperlinks in the body, but most will allow from one to three. Convert your target keywords to hyperlinks to the extent possible; this will bring your website direct traffic through clicks and it will help to improve your site's search engine rankings for that keyword.

Mistake #2: Ineffective Use of Author Resource Box

The author resource box, sometimes called the boilerplate, is an area where you can sell yourself. This is important, because the article itself should not be used for overt advertising, only for teaching and informing. Use your name, or a pen name; over time, people will associate the mane with the topic, and you will be established as a trusted expert in your field. Once they trust that you know your stuff, they will not hesitate to visit your site and buy your product or service.

Mistake #3: Article Length - Too Short or Too Long

Webmasters, bloggers, and newsletter publishers are constantly in need of fresh, original content. That is what makes article marketing so powerful. When someone picks up your article and publishes it on the web or in a mass-email, it multiplies your exposure. However, many people write a paltry 100 words to submit to an article directory, which amounts to little more than a dictionary definition of their chosen topic. At the other end of the spectrum, some people will submit works of more than 2000 words; on the web or in a newsletter, that is an epic-length tome.

Opinions vary as to the optimum length of an article, nut the consensus is between 400 and 900 words. It should be long enough to thoroughly explain the subject, but short enough to read quickly and easily.

The next three mistakes concern the actual submission of articles to directories. They are not so much "rules" as they are strong suggestions to maximize your results.

Mistake #4: Submitting to Too Few Article Directories

After the effort of writing the piece itself, it may seem like a tedious chore to submit the work to twenty directories. If it is too much for you, there are services that will manually submit your articles for you. If you cannot afford such luxuries, then you must do it yourself. Do not compromise on this; it is critical to your success. Find at least twelve article directories for starters, and build from there. Once you get to about twenty, you are doing well.

Mistake #5: Using the Same Pen Name for Different Topics

If you have multiple websites in different niches, use a unique pen name for each topic. It's all about credibility. If Sally McMarketer writes about designer dog collars, can she be equally trusted as an expert on high-performance fuel-injectors? In reality, it is not uncommon for people to have proficiencies in multiple areas, but unless you personally know the dog collar/fuel-injector guru, it seems unlikely.

Mistake #6: Submitting Website Content as Articles

One of the worst things an article marketer can do is to take the content directly from their website and submit it in article form to the directories. Remember, you want to submit your work to twelve to twenty article directories or so in order to get traffic and backlinks to your website. However, if the articles contain the exact same information as your website, the search engines will view it as duplicate content, which may be downgraded in the rankings. Besides, readers of your articles will be a bit put off if they click on one of your well-placed hyperlinks only to see the same old stuff on your site. Keep your website content unique.

Article marketing, like any good, profitable endeavor, requires work, education, and practice. You can, and should, constantly refine your techniques in search of ever better results. If you can avoid the six misstates discussed above, you will be well on your way to becoming a proficient marketer with a growing, moneymaking business.

Article Ranger is a free submission article directory where authors may post articles about subjects of interest, and publishers may pick up articles for use in ezines, newsletters, etc.

Scofield Parker is an experienced internet marketer who regularly writes for Article Ranger.