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If you have a web site, then let’s face it, search engine marketing is important to you! One important aspect of search engine marketing involves using high quality, interesting, informative content articles. Search engines love content articles and many people will read and link to articles that are interesting and informative for topics they are interested in. Content articles are an unbeatable way to generate links, boost your search engine rankings, find new prospects and open up a flood of targeted traffic direct to your web site. Content articles are an essential part of search engine marketing and when done properly they can have a tremendously positive and long term effect to your web site business!Having GREAT CONTENT ARTICLES is only the first step, with Article Ads we also distribute your Article with our EXCLUSIVE Article Marketing Technology to OVER 300+ of the most popular article sites on the internet. In recent months many people have realized that Google and other search engines have already started to crack down on reciprocal linking. But the fact remains that the internet community still needs a way to get more links. Hence the birth of content articles, this is a very affective internet marketing strategy. We write the articles to be search engine friendly and most of all to create desire in the reader to want to visit your site. Order Now!

Many people produce content articles, but there is a real art to creating a good quality content article. Especially for a content article to do well and rise to the top levels in the vastness of the internet. There are so many “garbage” articles being presented and posted to article directories, so much so that article spam has become a problem. Article directories have watched their submissions mushroom by 400% with up to 50% or more of the submitted articles getting deleted on the spot and others not getting any traction in the search engines or gaining any popularity with readers. As a result, as much as 80% of all article marketing never sees the light of day.

It’s true… Writing an article takes more than a couple of minutes. It comes easily for some people but it can be downright painful for others. Cutting corners and using the same articles that others have submitted to the search engines and directories will not get you anywhere. Many other written articles are void of any real information or useful content. Still others are simply loaded up with keywords and keyword phrases… not to mention the fact that they are boring and uninteresting. These types of articles are the fastest way to the trash can from a reader point of view and ultimately from a search engine point of view. The end result for these types of content articles is GIGO. That’s right GIGO! Garbage in - Garbage out! You can’t do an inferior job and then expect to get better or superior results. Additionally, you can’t expect to get people to want to read, link-to and circulate an article that is poorly written, full of mistakes, lacking content and largely neglecting to provide any new or useful information to the reader.

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By: J.T. Stephens
Director of Auctions Marketing & Business Development, Overstock.com Auctions

A popular debate among affiliate managers centers on whether or not value is added to affiliate programs by CPA Networks, which are online marketing companies that recruit advertisers from around the Web and pay them to promote different merchant offers. Some affiliate managers argue that CPA networks fail to add value because they poach advertisers who are already in merchant affiliate programs. Others insist CPA networks add tremendous value because they attract new and unique advertisers who in turn, deliver new valuable customers.Regardless, CPA Networks are emerging as major players in the online marketing world. These marketing companies have direct access to groups of advertisers who, through a wide array of marketing techniques, have the potential to drive a high volume of clicks, sales and new customers.However, managing a CPA network can be difficult if you also run an affiliate program with a major affiliate service provider such as LinkShare or Commission Junction. Here are some tips to help you achieve a favorable ROI while working with these networks:

1. One Offer, One CPA Network: Working with more than one CPA network can lead to trouble. When affiliate managers come to the online marketplace with multiple offers, capitalism intervenes and fierce competition ensues. CPA networks pay their advertisers to promote merchant offers. Advertisers will migrate toward the network that provides the best payout for a given offer. If two offers exist, CPA networks will undercut each other to retain advertisers and hold market share. Eventually, they end up giving away all of their margin and stop pushing the offer. To avoid this problem, research the CPA networks in the marketplace and choose one. If your offer is exclusive and yields a good earnings-per-click (EPC) ratio, you will end up attracting many new advertisers.
2. Communicate Your Business Needs: When merchants clearly communicate their online marketing requirements to CPA networks, the partnerships can thrive. Before committing to any deal, ensure that the CPA network accepts your affiliate terms and conditions. You should also provide networks with an email suppression file, a list of marketing companies/affiliates on your blacklist and a list of your top affiliates that the network cannot contact.

3. Be Alert to Other Affiliate Activities: Unlike affiliate service providers, CPA networks seem to take a more cavalier approach toward the issues that plague the affiliate industry (such spyware, CAN-SPAM and adware). Many affiliates who violate affiliate standards agreements and are blacklisted by major affiliate service providers seek refuge as advertisers in CPA networks because their activities are not policed as heavily. As a result, merchants partnering with CPA networks run the risk of inadvertently doing business with unscrupulous affiliates.

4. Pricing: Some CPA networks are notorious for commanding exorbitant fees to run offers. During the negotiation process, networks will often tell affiliate managers their offer is too low and that the network is getting twice as much from another merchant. Keep in mind that for networks and advertisers, online marketing is an EPC game. Also, there are many up-and-coming CPA networks looking for new offers all the time. Competition is heating up and that’s good news for affiliates. Companies with great offers, recognizable brands and high consumer ratings can do well, even at a lower CPA. If a merchant offer converts well, advertisers will flock to any given network to get access to that offer.

Affiliate managers should also make sure that their CPA network payout is less than or equal to what they pay their affiliate service provider. This decision will prevent affiliates from abandoning their affiliate service provider to join up with CPA networks.

5. Define Your Marketing Strategy: Once you have finalized pricing, be sure to clearly outline a marketing message that is consistent with your company objectives. Do not let the networks determine how to market your offer. Many network advertisers are huge proponents of the “Click Here and Get a Free iPod” tactic. Affiliate managers should avoid participating in these types of promotions. While the “free item” strategy works from an EPC standpoint (these types of ads seem to be everywhere on the Web), consumers need to jump through several hoops to get the free prize. These consumers are likely more interested in the prize than the merchant offer. As a result, this form of advertising may yield ineffective results.

There are many CPA networks committed to delivering both merchant and advertiser satisfaction. Some of these networks include Endai Worldwide, Adteractive, Metarewards and The Vendare Group. Affiliate managers who spend the time to find a network that suits their marketing objectives and follow the correct steps to set up a compelling offer have a wonderful opportunity to develop a new powerful online channel.

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J.T. Stephens, Director of Auctions Marketing & Business Development, Overstock.com Auctions

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What Agents Should NOT Be Doing With Their Web Leads

It’s a catchy title and a little funny. But it hides a sad irony about how too many producers and carriers are wasting good money by misusing good health leads.

High-quality Internet-generated insurance leads have led to higher sales volumes, closing ratios and ROIs for many insurance professionals. But many of those web leads also go to producers who use the wrong sales tactics on those prospects.

That’s good news for savvy producers who know what online health insurance shoppers require and demand. That’s bad news if you’re not one of them. Here are three big mistakes that too many agents are committing on their Internet health leads.

Mistake #1: Failure To Educate

For many users, the Internet’s best feature is its easy access to information. Yes, commerce is an accepted part of the Internet; but web users have grown to expect service providers to give them the information they need to make the right decision.

In fact, the Pew Internet & American Life Project published a report last year that found Internet users tended to trust the Internet - more than they did experts, family and friends. The study presented respondents with 10 serious life problems, including health and finances.

According to the Pew study, 45% of respondents looked to family and friends as sources of advice and information, while 53% turned to professionals such as doctors and lawyers for guidance. But a leading 58% of respondents said they looked to the Internet for help.

Unfortunately, many agents and brokers fail to grasp the desire of online insurance shoppers for information. They want to be educated before they make their decision.

Smart agents need to have educational material ready and available. Informative sections, such as a description of different health insurance programs, how the application process works and answers to frequently asked questions are highly effective.

Some of these materials should be on your website. All of it should be in a digital form that you can quickly email to whomever needs the information.

Mistake #2: Establishing No Relationship

Many agents and brokers do supply a steady stream of educational material to their Internet leads, but then lose that prospect to another producer. Often, it’s because they’ve committed the 2nd big mistake of health insurance sales: They fail to create a relationship with the prospect.

Successful producers know that a crucial ingredient for higher conversion ratios is creating relationships. Educating your client and keeping them informed helps to build trust. But the next step is to use that trust to guide your client toward the right product for them.

Remember the old sales adage: “People don’t care about what you know until they know that you care.”

The Internet is efficient at providing information, but it’s impersonal. Powerful web-based tools can assist an agent’s marketing program, but most online insurance shoppers still yearn for a human they can trust before they make their buying decision.

Nurturing this relationship requires actively listening to your client’s needs and concerns. Then guide them to the programs that best addresses those issues and helps them make a decision.

Mistake #3: Giving Up Too Soon

Many brokers and agents waste good Internet health leads by abandoning them too soon.

It’s common practice with too many sales teams to give up on a lead if it doesn’t turn into an app within the first week or so. This practice used to have some merit, because top producers simply didn’t have time to work aging leads that may never pan out.

The problem with this “quick surrender” approach is that online health insurance shoppers often take longer to convert into apps. As noted earlier, they often want to gather information about their choices first. That educational period can stretch the sales process to at least one or two months.

The good news for savvy producers is that they don’t have to sacrifice new and ready prospects in order to nurture aging leads. Email autoresponders and newsletters can keep you in constant contact with these longer-term clients, with minimal effort.

Reports of seasoned leads closing after a year on the autoresponder support the strategy of never giving up on a lead - unless they tell you to take them off your marketing list.

Are any of these mistakes part of your routine?

If you’re finding that your conversion ratios on Internet-generated health leads aren’t as high as you think they should be, make sure that you’re not committing one of these 3 common mistakes.

It’s going to take more than overnight fixes to address these mistakes. They’ll require a re-thinking and re-working of your whole sales approach.

But the alternative to correcting these mistakes is to continue wasting good money by blowing otherwise good health leads.

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It’s now common knowledge among all agents and brokers with websites that legitimate links help boost your search engine rankings. But getting those links can be a long and tedious process.

And your links have to be legit. Google will actually penalize your page ranking if you’re caught using one of those “link farms” or automated link exchangers.

The good news is that there are easy, cheap and often free ways to build valuable links to your website. Here are 13 tips alone that can get you dozens of links immediately.

1. Sign up for social networking sites
Social networking sites are all the rage today. Beyond the fad, they’re useful tools for staying in touch with friends and relatives. Because their basic membership is free and allow you to provide a description about yourself, they’re ideal candidates for your first links.

You can sign up for over a dozen of these sites in just a couple of hours. Be prepared to provide some information about who you are and what you do. And don’t forget to include the link to your website.

There are literally hundreds of social networking sites available. Wikipedia has a list of the most popular at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites, including the following:

• www.MySpace.com
• www.FaceBook.com
• www.Ning.com
• www.Friendster.com
• www.Hi5.com
• www.MeetUp.com
• www.Orkut.com
• www.Meetin.org

2. Sign up for professional networking sites.
Professional networking sites have proliferated along with social networks. Some are better than others, but most have no charge for their basic membership. The most popular include the following:

• www.LinkedIn.com
• www.Plaxo.com
• www.Xing.com
• www.Yorz.com
• www.Ryze.com
• www.Ecademy.com

3. Join online e-groups.
Before the above social and professional networking sites emerged, the most popular online groups revolved around listservs. The big ones are still around and have evolved into a type of networking site as well. As soon as you can, sign up with the 4 big internet companies that continue to maintain group sites:

• http://Groups.Yahoo.com
• http://Groups.MSN.com
• http://Groups.Google.com
• http://Groups.AOL.com

The great thing about them is that they’re easy to join. Once you sign up, I recommend you join the various insurance groups. But avoid posting spam. If you want to post, make sure it’s something substantial.

But in addition to joining existing groups, start some of your own. You can create multiple groups, and I recommend creating health insurance discussion groups for each of the states and metropolitan areas you serve. Then add customized descriptions with links to your site in each group. When you issue press releases or make announcements, remember to post a blurb, with links to your site, in your different groups.

4. Get listed in online directories
A variety of online directories offer free listing opportunities for businesses. Use a search engine to find local and regional directory lists of insurance providers and general businesses. Some do require that you swap links with them, which isn’t a bad idea - if you can put their link or ad in a link page separate from your home page.

Don’t overlook media-, city-, county- and state-sponsored directories either. Many newspapers and communities operate directory listings for businesses and organizations in their area. Make sure that your website is on those lists.

5. Post a free classified ad
Several sites let businesses post free classified ads. The most well-known is Craig’s List (www.CraigsList.com). Other free classified ad sites include www.BeatYourPrice.com and the eBay-owned www.Kijiji.com.

However, many of these sites will reject your ad if it’s apparent you’re just using them to drive traffic to your site. The solution is to actually sell or give away something, such as a free eBook, informative brochure or no-obligation quote. For example: “For a free eBook detailing the presidential candidates’ platforms on healthcare, go to (yourinsurancewebsite.com)”

6. Update your alumni directory listing
Many alumni directories have started to develop an online community for their alumni. It’s about time! Check your alma mater’s online alumni directory and update your listing to include a link to your broker website - and don’t overlook your high school.

7. Join cultural, arts and volunteer organizations
Most volunteer organizations now have websites or e-groups. If you’re already volunteering, see if you’re able to add your business listing to their member pages.

If you’re not involved with any group, consider volunteering for a worthwhile cause, church group or community project. Volunteering provides an even greater value than just links.

8. Get accredited with the Better Business Bureau (BBB)
In addition to adding your business to their directory, joining and getting accredited by the BBB gives you a marketing tool. You’ll be able to mention that fact on your website. It’s not going to necessarily sell your programs, but that connection will help alleviate many people’s worries about your company.

9. Join a civic or professional organization
You’re probably already in at least one insurance industry group, and most professional organizations already maintain listings of their members. Make sure your website is included.

In addition, don’t forget about civic organizations such as the Rotary International, Kiwanis and Lions Club. All of these clubs do charge membership dues, but the networking and volunteer opportunities are sometimes worth it.

10. Chamber of commerce.
Even if you’re in the middle of nowhere, there’s still at least one chamber of commerce you can join. If you live in larger communities, you may be able to join two or three chambers: your city’s, your state’s and perhaps even your local neighborhood’s chamber. In addition, certain ethnic groups also have their own chambers of commerce.

Yes, a membership fee is involved, but that fee provides more than just a link.

11. Trade links and articles with new contacts
After a few months with a chamber of commerce and a civic, professional or volunteer organization, you’ll soon be making contacts with fellow professionals and entrepreneurs.

Although they may not buy anything from you, they can still assist your marketing by swapping links or articles with you. Don’t forget that in addition to their website, they can link to you from their blogs, e-groups and online networking pages.

12. Get something back from your suppliers.
Most of your vendors and suppliers already have web pages. They also value your business. Why not ask all of them to add your link to their company websites, as well their rep’s networking pages?

It doesn’t cost them anything, but it improves their standing in your eyes. To sweeten the request, consider giving them a positive testimonial about your experience with their company.

13. Get on your clients’ websites and pages.
Just as your vendors have websites, most of your clients also have websites and personal pages on many of the networking sites. Make it a routine part of your post-closing process to ask your clients to swap links. This will be especially attractive to entrepreneurs who have websites.

You can also ask past clients for links, but make sure that they’re satisfied and trustworthy clients. If your link from their webpage is accompanied by a complaint about your service or product, that complaint could attach itself to your link.

More Next Month
These 13 tips should keep you busy for a while. But don’t delay in implementing them, because we’ve got 14 more free and inexpensive ways to establish more links to your site coming in next month’s newsletter.

Stay tuned…

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