| From
the Desk of
Robyn Harton, Owner & Designer, Robyn A Harton Creative
"It seems like the whole world is gearing up for the holiday
season already. If you're starting to look for something to give
your friends or business associates that "have everything",
consider a gift certificate for their own website or logo.
Until next time, Yours,
Robyn"
HTML Ezine Link: http://rahcreative.com/articles_tips/ezine/ezinevol12.html
Article: Accept Online Payments
by Robyn Harton
It's a must to accept online payments if you're running a commercial
website. Statistics have shown that you can sell 300% or more on
your website if you accept payments online!
There are two basic ways you can accept payments online: With your
own merchant account, and using a third party processor.
Your own merchant account: You can apply for this with your regular
bank or through many online services. If you're going to have your
own merchant account, you will also need your own shopping cart
software, SSL secure server certificate, a payment gateway processor,
and usually your own business checking account.
Third party processor: Many third party processors can enable you
to accept credit cards, and even e-checks online. You don't need
your own merchant account, SSL secure server certificate or payment
gateway processor. Some of the more popular third party processors
also provide you with a free shopping cart.
Some third party processors that allow you to accept a wide variety
of credit cards and e-checks are: iBill (http://www.ibill.com/),
PayPal (https://www.paypal.com/affil/pal=creative@rahcreative.com),
and 2Checkout.com (http://www.2checkout.com/cgi-bin/aff.2c?affid=27719).
Whichever route you choose, it's necessary to accept payments online
in order to increase your online sales.
Fun Stuff:
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- Make your own professional looking graphics with dingbat fonts.
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Article: The Magic Keywords
by Bob McElwain
What will your potential visitor enter into a search engine to
find your site? If you can find these magic keywords, phrases real
people will use, then optimize your pages for them, you will have
taken a key step toward generating hits. If you use the wrong words,
you will waste a good deal of effort and achieve next to nothing.
A friend of mine has been working with an ex-IRS agent who can
be of significant help to those with tax problems. But he has decided
to search for clients only in the area in which he lives, the Santa
Clarita Valley in Southern California. It is a snap to get a #1
position on most search engines with such phrases as Santa Clarita
Tax Expert, Santa Clarita Tax Solutions, and so forth. And he did
so. But he is not getting any hits.
The problem is in two parts. Many people who live in the Santa
Clarita Valley do not know that they do. Even those who do tend
to feel they live in Los Angeles. Secondly, many do not know how
to spell Santa Clarita. So his first place position is meaningless,
unless he turns to advertising in locally circulated newspapers,
magazines, and newsletters. This can cost bucks, and he could have
done this without the effort it took to build his site.
Discovering what potential visitors might enter to find your site
is a challenging problem, one often overlooked in advice regards
position on search engines. One way to begin is to list a few words
you feel will work, go to your favorite search engine, enter them,
and see what comes up. Any phrase that generates a lot of unconnected
listings is not likely a good candidate.
When you find something that ranks your competitors high in the
list, check out the sites. Once the page has fully loaded, take
the option in your browser to view the page source code. Find the
keyword meta statement near the top of the page, and check those
listed. Add as appropriate to your list. Also check the page content
to see which keywords are sprinkled throughout it. These may be
the most important ones. In particular, see how the keyword you
used to get this page is handled. You may find clues as to how best
to use it on your page.
When you think you have a good list, try this useful resource at
GoTo.Com. - http://www.goto.com/ At the very bottom of the home
page, click Manage Your Account. On the new page, click Tools And
Tips To Help Manage Your Account. On the new page, click Search
Term Suggestion List. Enter the keywords you are thinking about.
Some of the suggestions made can be added to your list, particularly
those used most often. GoTo.Com provides this service because they
hope you will find additional words to bid on (pay for high rankings
in lists - another topic). But you do not need to use their service
to take advantage of this resource.
At this point you have found and expanded your list to include
keywords others use. So is that it?
No! To stop at this point assumes you have found what potential
visitors will enter when they want a product or service such as
yours. But you do not *know* these are the phrases real people will
use. You do not know you have the magic keywords.
I have a suggestion. It is not a guaranteed solution, but I have
used it successfully. It goes like this.
I write a good description of the product or service I want to
sell, maybe half a page. I describe what it is, what it does, and
how one will benefit from it. I write much as I would when producing
an ad. However, I do all possible to *avoid* the keywords I feel
will be used.
Next I pester everyone I know, asking what they might enter to
find this product. And I give it time; not everyone is as interested
in my problem as I am.
When I have collected replies, I go back and pester these same
people with a list ranked with the most common suggestions up top,
including phrases I found that were not mentioned. I ask them to
pick four or five they feel are best.
I have found some really neat keywords in this way, phrases I would
never have discovered on my own. I hope you can make it work for
you.
I sense this is an aspect of search engine positioning often overlooked.
It is easy for me to pick a phrase related to your business and
get you top position on at least some search engines. It is meaningless,
though, unless people actually enter that phrase.
Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/,
your source of FREEWare Content online.
Bob McElwain, author of "Your Path To Success." How
to build ANY business you want, just the way you want it, with only
pocket money. http://sitetipsandtricks.com/opts/mcb.html
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Quote:
"Confidence is preparation. Everything else is beyond your
control." - Richard Kline
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