How To Get More Website Traffic with Inbound Links

 

Don’t overlook your inbound linking strategy as you think about search engine optimization for your site. An inbound link is a hyperlink back to your site from another web site. The one constant and reliable strategy in search engine optimization is that sites with a variety of high quality backlinks rank higher in the search engine results pages.

Why are these links to your site important? They can can…

• bring potential customers to your site when they click on the link
• increase the number of visitors to your web site
• dramatically improve your search engine rankings

Even though there are software packages on the market that help automate the linking process, use them sparingly, if at all. The only way to succeed in linking strategies is (aside from creating useful content that will encourage inbound links) by manually creating the links. That’s a hard fact to swallow, given how I like to automate as much of my marketing as I can.

Here are the 10 most important inbound links you must have to your site:


1. Directory Links
Directories are indexes of online sites, typically organized by category. Links back to your site from directories like Yahoo Directory and DMOZ.org are very valuable. DMOZ.org is edited by human editors, and while it’s free, it may take awhile for your site to be listed. Getting listed in Yahoo’s Directory costs $299/year.

2. Press Releases
If you’re writing press releases, make sure they are optimized for keywords that someone would use to find a business like yours and include links back to your site, as well. Once written, you can have your press release distributed through a service like PRWeb.com, which will create links from high traffic news sites back to your site.

3. Article Directories
Writing and distributing articles through high traffic article directories, like EzineArticles. com, is a great way to get valuable inbound links from a high traffic site. By crafting an effective resource box at the close of your article, you can drive traffic back to your site!

4. Social Bookmarking
Similar to web browser bookmarks, social bookmarking sites store individual pages (bookmarks) online and allows users to tag (with keywords), organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web resources as well as share them with others. If you bookmark your own content on these sites (like Digg.com, Reddit.com, Del.icio.us. com), you get a link from the service. By producing content that your readers love and then bookmark to their friends, the link increases in SEO value.

5. Blog Comments
To find blog posts on which to comment, you can use blog-specific search engines like Google Blog Search. Make sure these are blogs read by your target market, not your colleagues. Brand yourself by always using the same name and remember to link back to your site. Always leave a comment that adds to the conversation that’s happening within the comments.

6. Social Media
Now, Google also indexes your Twitter updates and your social networking profiles. Add that to Web 2.0 hubsites like Scribd or HubPage and you’ve got the option of creating many, many inbound links in a very short period of time.

7. Blog/Podcast Syndication
Submitting the RSS feed of your blog and podcast to syndication services will give you a link back to your site. In some cases, each time you publish a new blog post, the post itself will also get a link.

8. Video Syndication
YouTube is one of the most visited sites online, and the number of sites that syndicate videos is growing each day. These sites often allow you to link to your site either in your video’s description or on your profile page, or both.

9. .EDU and .GOV Links
Search engines place a great deal of credibility in government and education web sites, and the links carry a great deal of weight. Frankly, it isn’t easy to get inbound links from these sites.

10. Internal Links
Remember, if you have more than one web site, or a web site and a blog, be sure and link one to the other. You can do this by linking one article to other related articles, or link to categories or archives of information.


Creating a sound inbound linking strategy is a key component of your search engine optimization efforts. Try a few of the strategies listed above and see how your traffic and rankings increase.

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How To Market Your Restaurant

Do you make the meanest meatballs this side of Italy? Are your waffles to die for? Can your fried chicken go to war against a certain colonel, and win?

 

For many restaurant owners, the hardest part isn’t cooking, it’s marketing. You already know what you’re doing in the kitchen, but the prospect of marketing and advertising can seem downright scary.
Let’s start off with this declaration: if you can successfully run a restaurant, with all its moving parts, you can definitely run a successful marketing campaign. All you need is the right tools, and that’s what we’re here for. We’ll provide you with a comprehensive guide to restaurant marketing.

Whether your restaurant is fast food or fine dining, you can definitely increase sales and awareness through easy marketing. And it won’t cost an arm and a leg, either! Some of the strategies in this guide are free, and some of them require financial consideration, but all of them are proven to work. And even more good news? You can start right away. Ready? Let’s go:

The single most important restaurant marketing tool you have is your menu.

Most independent restaurant operators don’t know the easy techniques to make the most money from their menu. Guests in your restaurant are there to buy, not browse. Make it easy for them to spend their money, have a great experience and be profitable for you at the same time.

Five menu power tips:

1. No leader dots………………………………………………………………… to prices. Leader dots make your guest treat your menu like a price list. They’ll immediately be focused on price and select as such.
2. No $ signs. Doesn’t this: $ make you think of money? Don’t make your guests think of money. Your price should say 13.99 instead of $13.99.
3. Descriptions sell: “Our large, delicious omelettes are prepared with four farm fresh eggs, whipped to fluffy perfection then folded with locally sourced freshly prepared vegetables, hand-sliced meats and hand grated cheeses.” This is far better than, “Four eggs, vegetables, meat and cheese.”
4. The upper right hand corner is the single most valuable piece of real estate on your menu. Research shows this is the first place a guest’s eyes go. Use the top right corner wisely to highlight and feature your highest profit items.
5. In addition to great descriptions, pictures are critical to your success. Full color, excellent food photography makes items fly off your menu. Choose your most profitable or highest dollar contributors to feature with food close ups!

 

Secondly, you must build a house list.

A database. This is non negotiable in today’s information society. You’ve already got guests coming in your door, you want to get a second date, a third date, your goal is to establish a long term relationship. Getting your existing guests to opt-in to your program is critical.

You want to be in that Top of Mind Awareness category when a guest is considering where to go eat. You get there by communicating with them continuously via postcards in the mail, newsletters, email, text messages and rewarding their loyalty by offering them valuable promotions, exclusive offers and benefits for joining your club, VIP program, house list.

Four Walls Restaurant Marketing

What is your marketing strategy inside your restaurant? Successful operators use their walls, table tops, table tents, menu inserts, bathroom stalls, messaging on guest receipts and other tactics to communicate with guests while they are in your house. Every campaign you conduct can have an in-house component.

Finally, before you invest your human energy or money on the important tools below consider this:

 

Training is the ultimate fulfillment of your marketing promise.

Your hosts, servers, bussers, prep and line cooks, chefs, even the dishwashers must know what your brand is about and why guest service and an excellent experience count. They must know what to say, how to say it, when to say it. They must know how to treat each guest with the utmost respect and courtesy and with the right attitude/approach for your brand.

You must clearly demonstrate to your employees, your commitment to the guest experience and hold them accountable to do the same. Investing in marketing without backing it up at the table is like leaping from a plane without a parachute. Don’t go there.

When you’re confident with your training and your product, go here:

Build Your Restaurant’s Website

Every local business needs a website, currently, 50% of all small businesses still don’t have a website! Don’t allow third party review sites to be the authority on your restaurant. When you create your own website, it will become the hub of your online presence. While you may interact mostly on Facebook, your website serves as a library of information, the base of your online footprint.
Be sure to include at or near the top of your page, your:

• Physical address(es) with Google map
• Hours
• Menu
• Your phone number

You’re busy, hire a professional. If you can’t afford to do that now, at the very least get a very basic couple pages up. There are many do-it-yourself website builders that make the process so quick and easy. We recommend Weebly.com.

Get Social Reviews Under Control

Approximately 90% of customers are influenced by online reviews.
You need to be listed in the major restaurant review sites, you also need to be represented in the most positive light possible.

Here are the top four review sites to focus on:

• Yelp- We did a review on Yelp that you can find here. Yelp is one of the most important review sites because it’s so popular. It averages 132 million visitors each month. Set up your profile and remain active on the site.
• Google Reviews- Because Google is the primary search engine, it’s important set up your Google Plus for Business. Here’s a guide to setting that up. When a customer searches for your restaurant name on Google, Google’s own reviews take a prime spot.
• Urbanspoon- Here is a an easy to follow guide that walks you through editing your restaurant information on Urbanspoon.
• Tripadvisor Restaurants- Tripadvisor caters to travelers. If your city is tourist destination, it’s important to maintain a presence on Tripadvisor, as well. Here’s how to set up and manage your Tripadvisor business listing.

 

How do you handle negative reviews?

Respond. Quickly. Don’t let it fester.
If a customer posts a negative review, it’s not the end of the world. That’s why it’s so important to keep an alert presence on the most popular review sites. Whenever someone posts a comment, good or bad, you can follow up with an attentive response. Oftentimes, a quick and meaningful response will diffuse anger and totally transform the situation.

Go Social: Meet your guests where they are

For restaurants, social media is a necessary platform. A lot of restaurants know that social media is important, but don’t know where to start. So, here’s the answer: Facebook.
Facebook is the reigning champ of social media. Approximately 70% of people on Facebook use it to connect with local businesses.  Facebook allows you to connect with your customers in a meaningful way. Whether you’re alerting them to upcoming events, sharing pictures of previous events, collecting online orders, or giving away coupons, Facebook is a one-stop shop.
Setting up a Facebook page for your business is really simple.

 

Get Press For Your Restaurant

Getting the media to notice your restaurant may seem difficult, but not if you follow this rule: Always have the reporter and the audience’s goals in mind. Develop the relationship with your food reporter before you need a story, then tell a meaningful story when you do.
Opening a restaurant may not be news, but giving away one year of free pizza to the lucky raffle winner at your grand opening may be.

Take Out and Delivery Advertisement

Dominos is great at branding. They brand their pizza boxes, the drivers’ cars, their t-shirts, their visors. When it comes to marketing, think like Dominos.

If you run a takeout business, invest in a uniform or t-shirt that displays the name of your restaurant. Spring for car stickers to further advertise your restaurant (make “you’re busted” tickets to put on windshields of cars you find with your sticker on them! Give a $5 promo for sporting your sticker!). Make sure that you include a menu and a bounce back offer with every take out order. If you’re delivering to an apartment building, have your delivery person leave a few menus hanging on the doors. Post take out menus on bulletin boards in markets, laundromats and other public places.

 

Answer These Questions

What exactly do you want to advertise and why? Of course, the big picture is your restaurant, but it’s important to be specific about it. Chipotle doesn’t just advertise food, it advertises Mexican cuisine with a fresh, sustainable attitude. Likewise, McDonald’s doesn’t simply advertise food, it advertises fun, fast, familiar food. So, what is your angle?

Answer this question to figure it out:

Who is your target market and what are they interested in?
Always have one, ideal customer in mind when you answer this question.

In Closing

Remember the importance of your menu. It’s your number one most strategic marketing tool. Don’t waste one more guest visit without having a database building system in place. Train your associates to deliver an excellent guest experience. We hope this guide gives you the boost you need to start marketing your restaurant. See– it’s not so scary after all.

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Are Directory Links Always Bad?

 

As recently as 2007, directory links were used far and wide by all types of SEO and online marketing professionals. This included the type of directories that were either paid or existed only as a source to provide backlinks. After Google applied penalties to the unscrupulous directories – and sometimes those who they linked to – site owners and even SEO professionals became leery about submitting their precious URLs to any directory at all.

Directories are all risky inbound link sources, right? Nothing has changed since Matt Cutts told us himself about watching out for scammer directories, right?

I too, had been under the impression that 99% of inbound directory links were useless; not worth the Google-penalty risk – and, granted, many, many are just that. But apparently, to-directory-link-or-not-directory-link has been an especially bewildering thing for website and e-commerce owners, who have less experience or information about SEO best practices.

And that’s where a recent trend has once again made a 10-year-old SEO linking method a relevant conversation. Site owners are actually hurting their SERPs and rankings because they’re taking an ax to every single directory link. I don’t know if there was an industry-wide link audit that revealed a ton of low-quality directory inbound links, or if some other reason exists for a sudden surge of chopping ALL inbound links. These site owners apparently do not understand that an inbound link from Yahoo Directory can significantly boost your SERPs – and likewise, significantly make it plummet if removed.

Why? What’s the difference from one directory to the next? Aren’t all directories the same in Google’s eyes?

Heck, no.

Matt Cutts himself partially addresses the “directory links” conversation.

As Cutts informs us in this Q&A video, not all directories are created equal. Regardless of whether a directory link is paid or not, it is the relevance and quality that determines its validity as a backlink source. In other words, if the link is unnatural, it violates Google policies. If it’s natural, makes sense, and is relevant to the average website visitor – you’re good to go.

So if the question that is causing so many owners to fudge up their rankings is “what’s the difference between a Google-approved directory link and a bad one?” – the following factors and/or questions can be used to determine that.


1. Keyword-Anchored Links
If you arrive at a directory, and you see a bunch of keyword-anchored links listed, this is a red flag. Regardless of whether your link is listed as a URL, title page or brand name, the site as a whole has a good chance of being penalized by Google, including the sites whose backlinks it contains.

2. The Directory Accepts All Links and/or Says “Submit your URL”
Some of these directories will even stress how important link-building is for SEO, and claim that adding a backlink to your site will improve traffic and online visibility as well. Why even submit a URL to these sites? The little traffic they receive is simply from other website owners who are only there to submit their URL, and their SERPs are so far down in Google results that no one will ever find them organically. The screenshot below tells you just how many reviews/ratings/votes each URL has received from this directory.



3. Are All of Its (allegedly many pages) Indexed?
Sites that are soon to be de-indexed or have their domain expire are sometimes bought up by people who make money by charging users for backlinks, and then abandoning the site. There are countless directories that have expired, and therefore useless, such as this expired and/or banned directory list from Moz.

In addition to that, the directory’s indexed pages should be equivalent to the number of listings/inner pages it represents. If there are 2000 different pages on the site for various URLs and listings, there should be at least that many Google results with the query site:www.directoryxyz.com – which is how you search a site’s indexed pages.

4. The Directory Either has an Irrelevant Name or One Obviously for Creating Links
Examples for irrelevant directory names are often not even words – or acronyms- like Ahszkj.com, or fx-j.com, which have both been banned. If you see a directory whose web address is “webspreadyourURL.net” or “Upyourlinkjuice.com” – it may as well say “come-list-your-URL-here-if-you-want-Google-to-hate-you.com.”

5. It Boasts About Human-Edited Listings, Pagerank or being an Editorial-Based Directory
There are exceptions to this, so it is not always true that if a directory says it has human editors that the opposite is true – but not even in its meta descriptions for its directory results does Yahoo Directory mention esteemed human-edited listings or incredibly fascinating editorial.

So What Directories Are OK?
One of them was just mentioned in the last bullet point. But there are less-than-well-known directories that are also safe for submitting your URL to for backlinks. Essentially, what applies to any type of inbound link to your site applies to a directory link as well. Such as:

• Is the directory relevant to your site? Is your website a ballet shoes and costumes e-store with links from a dog food e-store directory?
• Does the directory edit and review URL submissions? Does it have more than an 80% acceptance rate?
• Is it edited and admin-ed by people, or by an auto-bot?
• Does it have real content, or is it purely a link-exchange system?

These are all questions that can help discern the validity of a directory. A few examples of respectable directories include Jayde.com, Dmoz.org, sunstream.com, lii.org.

Whether paid or unpaid, an unnatural link is an unnatural link, and that includes directories. Because the same rule applies to both, there is no reason to fear all directories. Every directory on the web is not cursed by Panda, Penguin and Pay-day Loan. On the contrary, a link from the Yahoo Directory or DMoz – both of which have a PageRank of 8 – can be a tremendous boost. There is still usefulness to the dinosaur-ish directory link – just as long as it’s the right kind.

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How To Use Bing Ads To Advertise Your Business

In past articles, we showed you how to advertise your website when people search Google using terms that are related to your product or service. In today’s article we are going to show you how to do the same when people search Bing and Yahoo search engines.

 

What Are Bing Ads?

Bing Ads is the advertising platform you use to show ads on the Bing and Yahoo search engines – also referred to as Yahoo Bing Network. You also have the ability for your ads to show on their syndicated partners such as Facebook, Amazon, Monster, WebMD, CNBC, and Viacom.



By bidding on the right search terms (which I show you how to do below) you can have your ad show only to people who are interested in your product. On top of that, you only have to pay for the ad when someone clicks on it and visits your website. So, you can make the most of your advertising dollars.

Bing Ads vs. Google Adwords

With an over 60% share of all internet searches, Google is the largest search engine in the world. This is why if you want the widest reach, we recommend starting with Google’s advertising platform, Google Adwords. We show you how to do that here.

Bing and Yahoo still have 30% market share however, so if you are not advertising there you are missing out on the potential to increase your sales by 30%.



That’s not the only reason to consider advertising using Bing ads. Less people advertise using Bing Ads than Google Adwords, so the competition, and the amount you have to pay to reach your target customer, can be A LOT lower. Again, making the most of our advertising dollar.
In fact, research shows that your cost per click when using the Bing Ad network can be up to 70% lower than when advertising using Adwords.

Setting Up Your Bing Ads Account

Step 1: Sign up for a free $50 Bing Ads coupon

Bing Ads gives you $50 in free advertising to get started, so make sure you take advantage of that:

Step 2: Setup Your Bing Ads Account

Click here to visit the Bing Ads signup page, and then click the “sign up for bing ads” button in the upper right hand corner of the page.
If you don’t already have one, you will need to create a Microsoft account on the next page in order to use Bing Ads.

Step 3: Import or Create Your First Campaign and Your First Ad

On the next page you will be given two options.

1. Import your Google Adwords Campaign. If you are already using Google Adwords, then you can import everything you are doing there into the Bing Ads platform. Just follow the instructions provided on the page.
2. Set Up a new campaign.

For the purposes of this guide we will assume that you are not already running a google adwords campaign, and want to set a Bing Ads campaign up from scratch.

After clicking “create a new campaign” you will be taken to a page where you can enter the information for your first ad:



Bing Ads has some great tips here on the characteristics of a good pay per click ad. Here’s the summary:

• Include the search terms your clients are using in your ads
• Describe what sets your product apart
• Avoid jargon and use your customer’s language
• Address your customers directly by using words like you and yours.
• Be specific – Instead of saying “big discount” say 50% off.
• Include a call to action.

I recently did a series of articles showing how I set up and am marketing my father’s real estate website. Here are the steps I followed to set up a Bing ads for his site, so you can see how I am incorporating these tips.

My father’s potential customers often search for Lake Gaston Rentals, Lake Gaston Vacation Rentals, and Lake Gaston Summer Rentals. If you don’t know what search terms your customers are using I show you how to find out below.

Keeping in mind that I want to try and mix those words in with his ads, this is the first ad I came up with:



Notice that I have the words, Lake Gaston, Rentals, Summer, and Vacation mixed throughout the ad’s headline and description. I also have the word “rentals” in the display url. When creating a Bing Ad, the URL that displays in the ad can be different from the URL that you are actually sending users to when they click.

Step 4: Choose the Keywords You want your ads to show for

Once you have created your ad, the next step is to choose when you want your ad to show. Since my father is trying to rent homes on Lake Gaston, I want an ad for his website to show when potential customers are performing searches on Bing and Yahoo that are related to his service.
I am going to use the Bing Ads keyword research tool on the same page where I created my ad, to get some ideas for the keywords I want to advertise for.



For my Dad’s site I am going to enter “Lake Gaston Rentals” into the Bing Ads keyword research tool. After doing so I get a list of related keywords along with traffic estimates of how many times those terms are searched on Bing each month:



As you can see, the terms Lake Gaston Rentals, and Lake Gaston Vacation Rentals are searched for the most by far. If I would have found that something else was being searched the most, I might want to go back up and adjust my ad so it contains those keywords.

Step 5: Choose Your Match Type

To the right of the keyword suggestion box, there is a small box that says “Broad”, “Phrase”, “Exact” and “Content”.



These boxes determine the conditions that have to be met for my ads to show. Here’s what each option means when checked:

Broad

My ad will show in the Bing and Yahoo search results when users search my specified keyword, or any term that Bing Ads believes is associated with that term.

Example:

If I select “broad” for the keyword Lake Gaston, then ads will show when people type Lake Gaston into the Yahoo! and Bing search engines. If someone types in Littleton NC, where Lake Gaston is located, the ad might also show. This is because Littleton NC is related to Lake Gaston.

Phrase

My ad will show when people type in any search term that includes the words “Lake Gaston” in that exact order.

Example:

My ad would show when people type in Lake Gaston, Lake Gaston Rentals, or Homes on Lake Gaston. The ad would not show if someone typed in Gaston Lake, Lake Rentals on Gaston, or any other query that does not include the words Lake Gaston, in that same order.

Exact

My ad will show only when people type in the exact search term (plural or singular version) with no other words.

Example:

If my exact search query was Lake Gaston Rental my ad would show only when someone types in Lake Gaston Rental or Lake Gaston Rentals. It would not show when someone types in Lake Gaston Rental Homes, Lake Gaston Vacation rentals, or any other query.

Content

My ad will show on partner sites such as Facebook, Amazon, Monster, WebMD, CNBC, and Viacom. This could be either in the search engines of those sites or as a display banner ad.
The content network is a little more complicated than normal search ads, so for now I am going to unselect content ads and just focus on search ads. If you would like to learn more about Bing content ads, you can do so here.\

You can get very advanced with your keyword matching options using modifiers which you can learn more about here.

Step 6: Set Your Bids

I would like my father’s ad to show when any of the keywords listed are typed into Bing or Yahoo’s search engine, so I am going to select them all, and then click the add button to add them to my campaign.

Once I add them I get a window that looks like this:



This shows my keyword, the match type, and how much Bing recommends I bid for that keyword and match type. As you can see, they recommend that I bid the least for broad match searches, and the most for exact match.

This makes sense, because if someone types in “Lake Gaston Rentals” as their exact search, I know with a good amount of certainty that they are a potential client for my father that is looking to rent. If someone types in a search term that is related to “Lake Gaston Rentals” like “Littleton NC rental homes”, then I don’t want to pay as much. The reason why is I am not sure if they are looking to rent a home on Lake Gaston or the neighboring town.

To keep things simple, I like to leave things the way that Bing Ads recommends to start. Bing Ads gives me a lot of reports that I can use to analyze the campaign once it is live for a few days, and then change the settings based on what is working and what is not.

Step 7: Choose Your Campaign Name, Budget, And Location Targeting

Campaign Name
Once you get comfortable with Bing Ads, you may have multiple campaigns, which are advertising different products or services that you offer. Because of this, you want to give your campaign a name which is indicative of the type of ads that are running in the campaign.
Since I am using this campaign to advertise Lake Gaston Rentals, that is what I named my campaign.

Daily Advertising Budget

Your daily budget is going to depend on how competitive the market is that you are serving. My father’s business is in a small town without a ton of competition, so I can buy clicks on Bing and Yahoo! for less than $1. If he was an NYC real estate broker, I would likely have to pay $5 or more per click.

To get things started I am going to set a budget of $10 per day.

Location Targeting

Using the location targeting option, you can set your ads to display to anyone who searches your specified terms anywhere in the world, just in the US, or within a certain distance of a specific zip code.

This is an especially great feature for businesses that serve clients that live in a specific area.
Since people come from all over the country to rent homes on Lake Gaston, and since there is only 1 Lake Gaston in the US, I am going to set my targeting option to US. If my dad had a flower shop that just served the lake gaston area, I could use this section so his ads only show when people search for flower related terms that also live in his area.

Step 8: Finalize Your Campaign Settings

There are many different options on the last screen, however for now there are two to pay attention to. Those are your default bids, and ad distribution.

Set Bids
If you do not choose a specific bid for each keyword (as we did in step 6), then Bing Ads will use the amount that you set here as the default bid.

Since I am not using the content network I am going to set that to 0. For the search network $.30 is a good middle ground of the suggested individual keyword bids Bing gave me in step 6. How high or low you set your search market bid is going to depend on the competitiveness of your market.

Ad Distribution


This is where you can set to have your ads run on the search network, the content network, or both. For now I only want to run on the search network, so I am going to unselect the content network.

Other Settings
There are many other advanced options here, including the ability to set specific dates and times for your ads to run, gender targeting, and the ability to target the types of devices on which your ads will show.

To keep things simple, come back to those settings once you have had a chance to see your campaign run and gather some additional data.

Step 9: Enter Your Credit Card Information And Turn Your Campaign On

Once you have entered your credit card payment, you are ready to go live and will be taken to a page where you can track the performance of your campaign:

Step 10: Optimize Your Campaign

There are two primary things that you need to do to optimize your Bing ads campaign, which are create some additional ads, and add negative keywords into your campaign.
Creating Additional Ads

You want your ads to generate as much relevant traffic as possible to your site, within your specified budget. Generally, you can expect a good click through rate on a top positioned search ad to be between 1 and 3%. That means for every 100 times a keyword gets searched, your ad is getting clicked somewhere between 1 and 3 times.

One of the easiest things you can do to increase your click through rate, is to create multiple ads with slight variations. When you have multiple ads, Bing will automatically rotate them to see which ad results in the highest click through rate.

Armed with that data you can throw out the ads with low click through rates. Then you can take what you have learned from your ads with high click through rates, to try and continually improve. Creating new ads is easy, just click the links below:



Adding Negative Keywords To Your Campaign
If you remember from step 5, I chose “broad” as my match type when choosing the keywords for which I want my ads to show. This means that my ads are likely showing for some relevant terms that I didn’t think of. It also means that my ads are likely showing for some irrelevant terms.
The keyword section of the main ads page, allows me to see all the search terms my ads are showing for. This is also where I can turn off the search terms that I don’t want my ads to show for, by adding them as negative keywords.

Here’s how you do it:



Then you will get a list like this, where you can add your negative keywords:




Congratulations on getting your first Bing Ads advertising campaign live! If you have any questions as you go through this process the Bing Ads team offers free coaching which you can learn more about here.

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How To Select A Good Auto Responder Service

 

Selecting a good auto responder service is a prerequisite for the success of your email marketing campaigns and effective communication in your company. There are many web hosts that provide their customers with automatic email services and if you have a website, you might be having access to this service with your web host. But if you want to send follow-up messages to potential customers, then you need to consider sourcing for an advanced automatic email service and it’s important to select a good auto responder service that will best work for you.

When you are selecting an auto responder program, you need to think about several factors. You need to select a program with the best features, options and benefits. I would like therefore to take you through some of the key aspects you need to consider when selecting a good auto responder service that will serve you to your satisfaction.

1. A good auto responder service should be able to send personalized messages to the people in your opt-in list. It’s important for the recipients of your automatic emails to feel that the mails are sent specifically to them. You stand to benefit when they get that perception, which psychologically can turn them into buyers. The ability to send personalized messages is therefore one of the major factors to consider when selecting a good auto responder service.

2. Before you purchase any auto responder program, find out whether the program you intend to buy has the ability to send follow-up messages. Auto responders provided by your web host can only send one-time messages to your subscriber list. But you need to send at least seven follow-up messages to your subscribers to close a sale. It’s therefore important to select an auto responder service that has this feature.

3. Select an auto responder program that allows you to freely update your messages and auto responder campaigns at no extra cost. As a marketer, you are most likely always exploring new opportunities that necessitate making changes to maximize your earnings. If your auto responder service limits you in this aspect, it will be very hard for you to make updates and changes. Consider free unlimited updating when selecting a good auto responder service for your marketing campaigns.

4. Good auto responders should help you to track the performance of your adverts. Having an option for tracking your emails and other advertising campaigns is an important consideration. The auto responder program I use enables me to track all my advertising campaigns to find out what works and what doesn’t, what needs improvement and what needs dropping.

5. Buy an auto responder program that has the ability to notify you each time someone requests your information. These notification messages are sent directly to your email address. This enables you not only to know the progress of your marketing campaigns, but it also makes it possible for you to track your adverts’ performance. Think about this feature when selecting a good auto responder service provider.

6. A good auto responder service should not limit you on the length of your text. The amount of text your auto responder may contain should not be limited at all. It’s important for you to write your marketing messages with any length of your preference. Limited text length may force you to leave out some of the important parts of your sales letters. Unlimited text length is another factor you need to consider when selecting a good auto responder service.

7. You need to know how to use the auto responder program. It’s therefore important to select an auto responder that provides support in the form of training articles, videos, tutorials and a discussion forum. These are tools that enable you to learn how to use the various features of the auto responder program and how to write effective email marketing messages. It’s therefore advisable to focus on the support given when you are selecting a good auto responder service to effectively manage your email marketing campaigns.

8. The best auto responder service should be user friendly. I have never used an auto responder program that I found difficult to use even if other marketers recommended it. You need to look for a program that is easy to use.

9. Availability of various options to write and format your messages in the way you want is important. It is counter-productive if you cannot write and format your messages in the way that you feel will compel your subscribers to take the desired action. Choose an auto responder service that allows you to play with your text messages in the way you like.

10. Last but not least, it’s to your benefit to select an auto responder service that has an affiliate program which you can promote to others and from which you can earn earn commissions. The best programs to market are those that you use. You can easily promote them from a informed point of view and gained expertise. It doesn’t help you to use a program which you cannot promote to
earn some money back. Once you start using the auto responder program, you are most likely to continue using it forever in your marketing campaigns. If you do not earn anything from it, then you will always be paying monthly service fees for using the service. That’s not a win-win situation.


I conclusion, I would like to remind you that the first step to your email marketing success is to select a good auto responder service. Good auto responder services should have all of the above benefits to effectively market your products and communicate to your customers.

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