In another article on Prozilla 2.0, I talk about the nofollow attibute, which is a tag that Google invented, and flip flopped on, to help illiminate spam in regards to blog commenting. Prozilla 2.0 uses dofollow so we can give our visitor’s who wish to comment a link back that the spiders will follow.

Of course when we do this, we don’t want to have to deal with the hundreds of robots and automated software programs out there that have us on their spam list, so we installed Akismet, which identifies and blocks comment and trackback spam on blogs. No WordPress blog should be without it. 

Akismet or Automattic Kismet is a spam filtering service. It attempts to filter link spam from blog comments and spam TrackBack pings. The filter works by combining information about spam captured on all participating blogs, and then using those spam rules to block future spam. To use it, you require an API Key which is free for personal use from their website. Commerical licenses starting at $5 a month are also available.

Akismet is easy to install, activate and use and has illiminated all automated spammy from Prozilla 2.0. Visit the Akismet website to check them out: http://www.akismet.com

A new plugin was added today on Prozilla 2.o called Tweetmeme, provided by Tweetmeme.com.

It’s a handy little plugin that adds Tweet this (retweet) to each post on a website that used WordPress, which is what we use. In addition to allowing our visitors to tweet our posts, Tweetmeme also provides a free service where they categorize Tweets and provide them to what interests you. In their owns words, they remove some of the clutter.

If your running a WordPress type website that you post too, check out the Tweetmeme plugin.

I got into search engine optimization from a writing angle and not, like many, from a web designer angle. I think this gives me a unique viewpoint and perhaps a certain strength. My primary focus when I accept an SEO job is on what I think is the best strategy: creating good content and copy.

Concentrating on your site’s written content is one sure-fire method to increase your search rankings. As the search algorithms change and adapt to the newest SEO tricks, and as the tricks adapt to the new algorithms, one thing will stay constant; good content is good content, and eventually it will get noticed. It may not happen immediately; in fact it may take quite a bit of time in some cases, but eventually the cream will rise to the top.

Giving people useful, relevant, entertaining and well-written content is the only long-term strategy that’s going to work. You might follow other good approaches to generating traffic, like keyword optimization or generating links, but then what? You have to have something to keep them there, or to make them come back, or to make them want to do business with you. There has to be value.

Crafting copy for SEO purposes is akin to writing for two audiences at once. You’re writing for your normal, human audience and, kind of in-between the lines, you’re writing for robots. A search engine robot is just another audience to write for. Addressing these two audiences at once is the art of SEO, and the following steps are a broad overview of how I approach the task.

Your first pass at your copy should just be getting all the important ideas out there that you can. Write the copy as if there is no SEO involved in it at all; just write it for your audience like you normally would. If you know you’re not the best writer, get help; hire someone who will ask the right questions, like – Who is your audience? How do they want to be communicated with? How can I make this content informative, entertaining, and relevant to them?

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to take the time to really think about your content and what it is communicating to your audience. I constantly see people skimping on this step – everything from just putting up boilerplate content to hiring people with low English skills to design and write their website. If you had a bricks and mortar location, would you spend a lot of money on the outside of your store so that it looked amazing and then leave the inside shoddy and unappealing? Probably not. But this, to me, is the equivalent when people focus on the graphics and feel of their site and don’t put the effort into ensuring that it will add value to people’s experience of the site. (I wrote some tips for writing promotional articles that included some effective strategies for brainstorming content.)

Next you implement keyword optimization. Long story short: you use SEO tools, like Google’s Keyword Tool and others, to find what are currently highly ranked keyword searches. You write down the top keywords and keyword combination, and you find related terms that are highly relevant to your audience.

Part of the art of crafting good content for SEO is determining when a search term is much too popular to try to compete for. If you’re in the business of selling acai berries, god forbid, and you see that there is a monthly search volume of 2.5 million searches for that term, and a search returns 7 million results, then you’re going to have to start with some alternative ways to rank in search results. Maybe you concentrate on ‘acai berry research’ or ‘acai berry benefits’; you’ll have to pick search terms not on the straight and narrow. Of course these search terms contain your main product, so they are good choices. The point is that trying to rank high just for ‘acai berry’ would be an exercise in futility.

Then you begin the careful process of editing. Place the top keywords you’ve chosen into your existing copy, taking care that the copy remains readable to humans. Being readable to humans is much more important than being readable to robots. But if those important keywords and keyword phrases are in the copy, and it still flows well, then you’ve accomplished something.

Once you get to a point of being content with the content (using two heteronyms in a row http://www-personal.umich.edu/~cellis/heteronym.html – just an example of the kind of thing you don’t want to do), you will edit the copy. If you have done all of this process by yourself up until this point, then you really want to get a second set of eyes on the copy. Even the best writers in the world benefit from having someone else proofread their work. No one is perfect, and having your work checked for clarity and grammatical mistakes reduces the chance that any problems will stand in the way of a potential connection with your audience.

You can find very differing opinions on keyword density; a general agreement is that around 3% is pretty good for your top keywords. All in all, I don’t believe that this is a very important element; I’d just make sure that your dominant keywords have the highest percentages for your page’s keyword density .

Another basic strategy is crafting individual pages to be strong for different keywords or keyword phrases. For example, I did a site recently for an investment firm, and my research showed that ‘investment firm’ and ‘investment advisor’ were two of the top searched phrases for that industry. On their site, I made one of their pages very strong for the first phrase and another phrase very strong for the second phrase. I also found several unobtrusive ways to fit their geographic location on the page without making it seem like they were too local.

One last bit of advice: study what works. You would think this would go without saying, but I’ve seen many people perform SEO without even checking out the competition. Referring to the investment firm I worked for recently, I spent several days just taking notes on similar companies to theirs, both in their market and in the markets of larger cities. This time spent may seem like a hassle, especially if you’re in a hurry, but trust that this research will pay for itself many times over. There is no need to reinvent the wheel if someone’s already done it for you. Of course, it should go without saying that you cannot copy their content – you are just perusing what keyword combinations have worked for them to attract traffic.

All of these strategies I’ve gone into are rudimentary. Only with practice (and sometimes trial and error) can you see how your SEO content choices have fared. It is a rapidly changing SEO world, and I believe that the only sure-fire long-term strategy is one of asking what it is that your audience wants to know, and giving it to them.

By Zachery Elwood
Chief Editor/SEO
Via Regia, Inc

Learning to increase membership sales isn’t as complex as it seems. While some may want you to believe that it’s as complicated as advanced calculus, it’s not. You might find it surprising to know that increasing membership sales is as easy as 1,2,3.

1) Ask yourself this question: Would you buy a membership from your site? If the answer is no, you will never increase membership sales. When you have confidence in your products, it shows.

2) Would you rather pay $15 for a product and only get an automated response when you need assistance? Or would you rather pay $25 for the same product and know that you’re going to get assistance when you need it? Good customer service always wins.

3) No one is going to pay $29.99 a month for a site if it looks as if it was made by a 5 year old. If you’re not sure that your membership site looks up to par, ask for reviews from other webmasters and Internet marketers.

4) Make a blog or pay someone to do it for you. A blog is a great way to promote your website and products. Give your readers a taste of what your website has to offer and you’ll leave them begging for more.

5) Include testimonials, reviews, statistical graphs, etc. on your website. This shows future customers that other people are already enjoying your product or service.

6) Offering referrals is a great way to get your customers to do some of the work for you. Give your previous customers a discount on their membership or a free gift for new customers that they bring in.

7) Have 2-3 different membership levels (free, silver, gold, etc.). This way you can increase membership sales by accommodating more customers according to their budget. Just remember to add more quality content as the membership level goes higher.

Make sure your domain and product names are catchy and easy to remember. Everyone will remember iloveapples.com, but no one is going to remember ilovegrannysmithapplesfromohio.com.

9) Sign up for places like Yahoo! answers and Google answers. Find questions that people are asking that are related to your products or service. Once you’ve answered a question, you can add your link as the ‘’source”.

10) Writing articles is an easy way to promote your membership site. Write an article about one of your products or services and submit it to various articles directories. If you don’t have the time or know how to do so, hire an article writer to complete the task.

11) Advertise with your signature. Place a link to your website in the signature section of your profile to every message board and forum that you belong to. Do this for your email accounts as well.

12) When you have the extra cash, a quick way to increase membership sales is by buying the often-misspelled versions of your domain name and redirecting them to your site.

13) Visit the websites of your competitors to see what you’re missing. Take notes on how they market their products and what they’re offering their members in return.

14) Create a blog, photo album, forum, etc. for your members. Not only will this get your customers an incentive to continue their membership, but it will attract new members as well.

15) Giving trial memberships is one of the best ways to increase membership sales. Give your future customers a limited amount of days they can access the site or limit the pages they can view.

No matter how many of these methods you use to increase your membership sales, you will receive fantastic results. Not only will these tips keep your current customers from canceling their memberships, you’ll add new members along the way.

One of the reasons why people use the Internet is that they want to satisfy a certain need or find a solution to their problems. Whether they are looking for personal distraction or collecting more facts, the Internet without doubt offers a wealth of resources that can give answers to any inquiry.

If you want to make money on the Internet, taking advantage of the incessant need for information would be a rewarding endeavor. Your online business can taste success if you market e-books and other kinds of information products on the Web.

Online Business That Offers Additional Learning

There is a definite advantage in having a wealth of knowledge. That’s why trying to earn from the sale of ebooks and info products is an endeavor that will always be paying. You will not likely fail from entering this venture; unless your Internet marketing techniques are below par — but that’s another story.

With the correct look, enough interesting information, and the most effective internet marketing tools, you have only to watch your profits to grow and business to succeed.

Unlike selling products, such as hair dryers and gadgets, selling information online doesn’t make you worry about packaging and shipping costs. Everything’s in a highly convenient digital format.

There is a lot of earning potential with e-books that tap into all kinds of topics, from sports advice to debt management, and you don’t need to stress over overhead costs. You can even conduct an online business selling ebooks and other information packages completely alone.

Online Business That Satisfies Questions

Again, people turn to the Internet because they want a question answered. If you offer the answer to their question, then they will definitely purchase from you.

Running an information business on the Internet means that you need to do your market research at the start. This is so you’ll know what types of information majority of online users need, and which ones they will most likely pay for. Don’t limit your range of subjects. The broader your offering is, the greater the earning potential of your online business.

It goes without saying that top quality content is crucial to your online business. Not only do you want to have buyers, but your intent is to have customers who will continue purchasing the rest of the ebooks you’re selling.

Expensive internet marketing tools may rake in customers at the start, but what will make them come back is the quality of the content and the service. Fancy marketing strategies will die out if people understand there is no value to your content. Everything you do will be useless if you don’t provide good content.

To sum it up, you can make money on the Internet by satisfying that incessant quest for knowledge. It doesn’t require rocket science to be successful at this business. Build up a wealthy arsenal of ebooks and other information products and then partner it with a tried and tested internet marketing strategy and you’re good to go.

So you are starting a new membership site, but can not decide whether to make it a free or paid membership? There are advantages to both options of these models of membership marketing; some are obvious benefits while there are others you may not have considered.

It is important to consider all pros and cons of a free membership versus a paid membership, For More Detail Go To: www.start-ownbiz.com. so you can decide which business model is ideal for your membership marketing ventures.

Benefits of a Free Membership

Free memberships have hidden benefits. People love free things, and they are very likely to sign up as a member if they are receiving something for nothing on a regular basis.

For example, you might have a PLR article membership and the free membership provides people with 5 free articles per month. If they enjoy this, they could then have the choice to upgrade to the paid membership.

Benefits of a Paid Membership

Obviously, the main benefit of a paid membership is that you will earn money on a regular basis, For More Detail Go To: www.starting-membership-site.com. whenever each member’s subscription is due.

Paid memberships can provide you with the funds to outsource a lot of the work involved to bring new content to members. It can also allow you to expand your membership marketing horizons by investing in advertising and promotion.

Benefits of a Combined Free and Paid Membership

As mentioned above, the free membership can be the method employed to have people sign up. They can then be presented with the option of upgrading to the paid membership in order to receive more content or higher quality content (depending on what type of membership you are running).

So which is the Best Model?

Ultimately the combination option can be considered the best choice for most membership marketing situations. It provides the best of both worlds by encouraging people to sign up to receive content for free, and also to up sell them to the paid membership.

Naturally, every situation will have a different requirement so you will need to assess your situation before making a decision.

Before you even begin making a membership site, you must research whether there is a market for your products. Then set a target to acquire a certain number of new members every week or every month.

To lower your cancellation rate, make the free membership highly attractive by over delivering. As long as people are members of the free option, you can stay in constant contact with them and show them the benefits of upgrading to the next level of membership.

The free version is simply the front door that new members take. If you want to keep them in the house, then delivering quality content on time is vital.

Pricing your membership is another factor you must spend time considering. Look at similar memberships and price yours competitively. Do not under price as people may think you are not running a quality membership. Likewise, overpricing can turn potential members away.

Membership sites provide the ultimate recurring income model. They have the ability to bring you continuous income on a monthly basis while helping you build good relationships with your members, resulting in a highly rewarding experience for both you and your members. Best of luck on your membership marketing pursuits.

The newest hot trend on the Internet is membership sites. Not that membership sites are anything new, in fact I became a member of many sites when I first started on the Internet. Along with paid membership sites, another popular option is the free sites, open to anyone that is ready to register.

Paid membership sites are most usually limited to a specific number of members. This is certainly true of those that offer private label and resale rights. This means that marketing is limited to that specific number. Limiting marketing possibilities is never a positive thing no mater what products or services are being promoted.

Of course, there are obvious reasons for limiting paid membership sites but the fact remains that a free membership site can be operated right along side a paid membership site and there is never any reason at all to limit the memberships available to a free site.

Three to six months is about the duration of a paid membership to most membership sites according to many paid membership site owners. Three to six months isn’t very long in terms of Internet marketing. Once a paid member drops his membership, the site owner must then replace him and that can get expensive.

On the other hand, membership cancellations at free membership sites are easily and cheaply replaced. Marketing to the members of a free membership website is absolutely unlimited. You can continue to market to these members for as long as you want to. Free membership sites are easy to run, they cost almost nothing and yet the owner is supplied with an almost unlimited number of customers and potential customers to market all kinds of products and services to.

Let’s face it: Every Internet marketer must now have an opt-in mailing list in order to send bulk marketing emails. That’s the law that went into effect with the passage and implementation of the CAN SPAM act. There is nothing anybody can do about it. If you send bulk marketing emails without the express consent of the recipients, you are subject to very heavy fines and the very real possibility of having your Internet business closed down altogether.

So… why limit your mailing list to just a paid membership site? Why not build a free membership site and gain an unlimited number of names and email addresses to which you have the legal right to send marketing emails? There simply is not a good reason for NOT having a free membership site…at least not one that I can see.

Free membership sites are easy to set up and easy to operate. Of course, there must be fresh and timely content but that’s a lot easier (not to mention cheaper) than constantly having to run PPC campaigns or paying for advertising in related E-zines to attract members to your opt-in list and thus gain their permission to market products and services to them. You also have the benefit of offering the option to upgrade their free membership to a paid membership. Their free account has given them a window into what you have to offer and could be the incentive some need before opting for a paid membership.

We all know that visibility on the Internet is one of the basic keys to successful marketing. Getting visibility is one of the hardest tasks that most Internet marketers face from the inception of a marketing idea. All Internet marketers well understand the value of writing and marketing articles and E-Books, posting to blogs and forums that belong to others and doing PPC campaigns, as well as, exchanging links and paying for advertising in E-zines and newsletters.

With a free membership website, you can almost guarantee yourself, not only a long list of customers and potential customers but that others will be willing to pay YOU for advertisements on your free membership sites and advertisements in the newsletters that you send to your very impressively long list.

The shoe will be on the other foot, so to speak. Other marketers will be interested in having you post articles and E-Books which they have written, trying to gain that coveted Internet visibility.

With a free membership site, you must be aware this cannot and will not be the best group of customers. After all, they are taking advantage of the free membership and may not be willing to hand over any cash to you for products or services. So – do the research in your niche to determine if a free membership site will produce the results you anticipate.