for possible joint venture partners.
Skills Needed:
· Basic Surfing
· Basic Email
· Basic HTML
· Basic FTP
· Basic Word Processing
Today’s Lesson:
Part 1 – Inserting “meta-tags” into your site.
Today we’re going to finish up one last important bit on your site and then post it all up
to the web.
Inserting the “meta-tags” into each page represents the “icing” on the cake for most sites.
Meta-tags, bits of code in the html documents that make up your website, help the search
engines identify your site and can help make your site more relevant to a keyword search.
3 meta-tags should concern you – but only one of them really warrants serious attention.
1. “title” tag – this tag serves multiple purposes…
a. It tells the search engines the title of your page and usually shows up as
the “clickable” link visitors choose in the search engine results.
b. Since it is the first thing people see in the search engines, it often serves as
the “headline” for your search engine listings.
c. The title tag also causes the title of the page to display in the upper left
border of most web browsers.
d. It also serves as the title of the page when someone prints it out on paper.
e. The title tag is by far the most important tag in the eyes of most major
search engines.
2. “keyword” tag – this tag lists off the relevant and related keywords to the subject
of your page. Most search engines pay very little attention to this tag… some
ignore it completely.
3. “description” tag – this tag lists a description of your page. This description often
displays in the search results of many search engines under the title tag. It acts
almost like your classified ad for your listing.
These tags get inserted in the html code of your page near the top in between the
tag and the tag.
All of your tags as well as the first words on the page should start with the most relevant
keyword phrase for that particular page.
Here’s what the code at the top of each page might look like:
Also, the first words on your page would go something like this:
(Title) Antique Car Show
(Body text) Antique car show enthusiasts here's the site you've been looking for!
NOTE: Every meta-tag, as well as the title physically appearing on the page and
the first words of the first paragraph start with that same keyword phrase. In this
case it’s “antique car show”.
Create and insert your meta-tags on every one of your website pages right now!
If you feel like you need a little more help with meta-tags, just go to the nearest search
engines and look up “meta tag generator”. You will find numerous places where you can
enter your title, keywords, etc. and have them automatically formatted free. All you need
to do then is just copy and paste the meta-tags into your html code.
How Google Looks At Your Web Pages
Google pays special attention to your web pages’ title tag and body copy (visible text on
the page) to determine relevance to the keywords you want to come up under.
If you want to have a better chance of coming up under your particular keywords, make
sure they appear in the title of your page, as well as in the body text and headlines on the
page. Don’t “stuff” keywords (endlessly repeating keywords in a nonsense way), but
rather use them liberally so it’s obvious the main “theme” of your page is about the
particular keyword phrase you want to come up under.
At the time of publication, Google gives almost no weight to the keyword or description
tag. They pay most attention to the title tag, body text, and incoming links from other,
relevant websites -- often referred to as “page reputation” or “link reputation” -- which is
a fancy way of saying they take into account what other similar sites say about your site
by linking to you.
This “link reputation” becomes critical when we talk about “Linking Strategies” on
BONUS Day 34.
If you’re worried about Google, then make sure that:
· Each page has a specific theme centered on one or two keyword sets;
· Each page has the main keywords for that page in the title tag;
· Each page has the main keywords for that page liberally sprinkled throughout the
body text, especially towards the beginning;
· Each page has the main keywords for that page used in a headline or bolded
text if appropriate.
Though these tips won’t guarantee top placement, they will certainly improve your
chances of ranking well massively over not doing them!
Part 2 – Post your site to your hosting account and make sure it works.
Post everything to your hosting account using your ftp program, including:
a. Sales letter
b. About Us page
c. Affiliate Signup page
d. Popup window.
e. All graphics
Configure your order link(s) with your shopping cart and credit card processing so they
are “live” and ready for buyers to give you their money.
Test ALL your links to make sure they work. You do this by opening your site in your
web browser and physically clicking every single one of them!
a. Test every single link on every single page
b. Fix any links that don’t work
c. Get in the habit of checking your site periodically for “dead” links
Test your popup window to make sure it launches correctly.
Test your website in the Internet Explorer web browser as well as Netscape’s web
browser. Test it on America Online (AOL) too if you can.
Make sure:
a. The popup window script works in Internet Explorer, AOL and Netscape.
b. All graphics show up on every single page
c. All text shows up on every single page
d. All links work on every single page
e. Go through the entire order and fulfillment process in each web browser to
make sure every aspect of product ordering and delivery works correctly.
NOTE: Your credit card processing company should provide you a
“dummy” credit card number so you can go through the entire order
process live.
In short, try to *break* your website!
Look for every possible way anybody could:
i. do something wrong
ii. get lost
iii. break something
iv. crash your server
v. cause any type of problems or mayhem
Check your site’s loading speed – does it load fast on a 56K dial up modem?
Change the resolution on your monitor to 640 x 480, 800 x 600, and 1024 x 768 to see
how the site looks at these various screen settings.
NOTE: You may receive quite a shock when you see how your site looks at resolutions
other than the one you normally keep on your monitor.
Review the “Ten Commandments” article on Day 3 if you need a little refresher.
Part 3 – Go find at least 20 “Competitors”
Find at least 20 sites that look like competitors for what you sell.
One of the best ways to find them is through the search engines.
Perform searches for your top keywords and see which sites come up on top.
Sites that come up high in the search results for popular keyword searches probably have
a decent stream of traffic going to their site.
I know it sounds obvious, but you only want to approach sites with traffic when you start
looking for potential Joint Venture (JV) partners.
Create a folder in your browser’s bookmarks or favorites called “potential JVs”.
a. Surf the web and look for competitors’ sites.
b. “Bookmark” these sites so you can come back to them easily.
As you look at these sites ask yourself these questions:
a. What is their unique selling proposition (USP)?
b. What are they selling that I could add to my product to make it better?
c. What are they selling that I could add as a free bonus to my offer?
d. What do I like about their site that I could use to improve my site?
Make notes of things you see and learn that you could use to make your offer,
product, or website better.
Make any obvious and easy improvements or changes to your website based on
what you’ve learned from your surfing.
Email at least 6 friends / business associates and ask them to take a look at your
site so far and give you feedback.
Implement any of their suggestions that make sense and appear to make your site,
your sales letter or anything else better.
Summary of Today’s Assignments:
1. Insert the proper meta-tags into the web pages on your site.
2. If you haven’t already, post your entire website to your hosting account and try to
“break” it.
3. Test every element of the website and look for problem areas.
4. Find at least 20 sites that look like competitors and bookmark them in a folder
called “Potential JV’s”
5. Learn everything you can from these competitors to make your site better.
6. Have at least 6 people give you feedback on your site and the work you have done
so far.
As we set the stage for working with other website operators, we thought this article
would help you understand the “big picture” in arranging your JV’s.
Today’s Resources:
Instant Traffic Stampede – Learn the 7 BEST, proven methods for driving an instant
avalanche of targeted traffic to your website. Make sure you get a copy of the free
report, “7 Secrets To An Instant Traffic Stampede!” available from the exit popup on
the site.
Article - Skyrocket Website Traffic With “OPT”
The most immediate source for website traffic (besides using pay-per-click search
engines) entails the effective use of “OPT” - Other People’s Traffic.
Other website operators have the targeted website visitors you need right now – you just
have to get them to funnel some of it your way.
Your mission is to find people who can refer you their traffic either for a flat fee, as a
trade for services or on a per-click basis.
The quickest way to find people to refer traffic is to take inventory of who you know that
operates a site drawing the type of visitors you need.
Once you have exhausted that list, go to the search engines and do a search for the
keywords that would bring targeted traffic to your site.
Make a list of the websites that rank well in those searches and approach those
individuals with related sites about a traffic deal.
Try to work all your agreements on a traffic trade or per-sale basis first so you won’t
have to pay any cash out of pocket.
If you don’t have enough traffic to trade, or they don’t want to work on commission, then
you should negotiate a per-click or per-signup deal.
This means you only pay when a visitor comes to your site or signs up to receive your
newsletter or other information.
With this structure you only pay for performance and can maximize your return if you do
have to spend money.
You have 4 choices for funneling another site’s traffic to yours: endorsed mailings, popup
windows, link trades, and banners.
Endorsed mailings are by far the best way to funnel traffic from another site.
When you approach someone to do a JV with you this should represent your primary goal
– get the other party to do an endorsed mailing!
A well-written endorsement letter by a website operator who already has a relationship
with people who can buy from you is often worth its weight in gold.
An effective endorsed mailing can result in traffic, sales, and thousands of dollars in your
pocket within mere hours of sending it.
Focused “popup” windows represent the next fastest way to funnel traffic to your site.
When used incorrectly, popup windows create an annoying distraction for web surfers.
Make sure your popup windows are relevant to exactly what visitors want by providing
focused content.
The next way to funnel traffic from other sites is using “Reciprocal Links” – which is a
fancy way of saying trading links with someone. Make sure you negotiate a high profile
spot for your link on the other person’s site.
Don’t let your link get buried way down on the page or you’ve wasted your time.
Banner ads represent the least effective way for getting traffic from other sites because
web surfers have learned to ignore them. However, they can result in traffic if you only
buy them on a per-click basis.
Creativity is key when negotiating with other websites to steer some or all of their traffic
your way.
Create win-win scenarios and many will jump at the chance to work with you
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