SuperTips Ezine: Issue 17
IN THIS ISSUE
2. "Are You Listed in Yahoo?"
3. Readers Forum
4. "Writing Killer Internet Ads Like
the Pros in the Year 2000"
5. More "Super" Tips
6. Publications of Interest 7. Next Issue
1. Greetings! What is the most well known search engine ? The answer of course is Yahoo. It's also the most difficult to get listed in. My site is listed in Yahoo and I'd love to be able to tell you that I achieved this by clever design of title, description, content and so on. But the truth is quite different. I have never even submitted my site ! That's right. I can see from the referral log that visitors are being sent to me from Yahoo but it's a mystery how or why they have included my site. If anyone knows please tell me. If you have not been so lucky then you can read how to go about it properly in the next article. And there are lots more tips in a big edition today.
Cheers,
2. "Are You Listed in Yahoo?" - by Curtis Stevens Yahoo is the number one search engine available today. They receive over 150 million page views a day and getting a good listing can bring your business a very huge amount of targeted traffic. Yahoo is also the most difficult search engine to get listed on. I have included some tips that might help you succeed with this challenge. Unlike all the other search engines, Yahoo doesn't have a robot or a software program to index millions of urls. Instead, Yahoo is a searchable directory built by humans. They have a team of real live humans that go and visit every web site that is submitted. They are known as Yahoo "Surfers" and since they receive thousands of submissions every day, it can take a while before they will be able to visit your web site. Yahoo is in business to make money, like we all are, and they are dedicated in making their directory a helpful resource. Because of this, they will not list crappy web sites. It is known that Yahoo only accepts about ten or twenty percent of the submissions they receive. That is a very small number so you have to make your web site stand out from the rest. If you are finding it difficult to get listed, try viewing your web site from their point of view. Is your site just one big advertisement or a bunch of links? Or is it quality information that will make their directory a more valuable source for their visitors? Beside the fact that your web site has to be good quality, you must follow their submission guide lines. You may view their instructions here: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/suggest/ I would suggest reading that page very carefully. I have included some tips along with the information you will be asked when you submit a site to be listed on their directory. Title The title should be your "official business name". It is good to have a few keywords in your title that will rank you higher, but it needs to be the original name you go by. It will help if your main logo has the exact title you submitted to Yahoo. Basically, you want your site to show that the title you sent them is your business name. Changing your domain name records to the same title might also help. URL It has been said that Yahoo doesn't list many web sites any more that are from free home pages. If you are very serious about getting listed, your best chances are to have your own domain name. Description The description is a very important part of your submission. Yahoo wants their directory to be a helpful resource, and they do not want their sites listed to have a bunch of descriptions that are just keywords. You want to create a description that is about a sentence or two that describes your site in a short summary. It will help you more if you can work in a few keywords, but keep it clean and professional. Category Selection This area is where many web sites are rejected by Yahoo. You need to do a search that is the main subject or keyword of your web site. You then need to pick a category that is targeted to your web site. You do not want to pick a category that is too broad, but that is not too deep. Look at some of your bigger competitors and see where they are listed. This will give you an idea where yours should be. Category Suggestions (Optional) Yahoo wants their directory to be helpful. If you have a suggestion for a category that you think would help to have, then put one in this area. This will increase your chances and your site might even receive more traffic because yours will be the only in the new category. Final Comments Instead of leaving this area blank, this is a great opportunity to beg for your listing to be listed. Try pointing out to Yahoo how your site will help their directory become a more valuable source or how there are not many good web sites listed in your category and yours will fill in that gap. You want to make your submission professional and to stand out from the rest. It can take a few weeks to a month or so to get listed. If you are not listed within six to eight months, then I would suggest sending an email to this address: mailto:url-support@yahoo-inc.com Yahoo has created this special email address to help people with their listings. I would suggest sending a polite email to them explaining what you have done and ask them why your site has been rejected. You should point out how your site will be a value to include in their database and hopefully they will tell you why your site was rejected. You will see better results if you write down the date you submitted your submission and tell them that date. I have heard that without this date, you are pretty much out of luck. If you are having difficulty getting listed and want a faster solution, you might want to check out their business express service. Here: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/suggest/busexpress.html They charge $200 dollars for this service and will guarantee you that your site will be reviewed within seven days. The best part is if your site is rejected, they will tell you why. I would suggest submitting the normal way first and see if they will list you. If you do not want to wait and have 200 bucks, then you might want to use this service. Tip: Long time ago, Yahoo created this secret password that gave your submission top priority and pushed yours to the top of the list. This was created to help certain people and wasn't meant for everyone. Once it was passed all over the Internet, it was stopped. I wouldn't suggest trying to use it because Yahoo will see that you are trying to do something and will most likely reject your site.
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3. Readers Forum 3.1 Hurrah for NoteTab - continued ! Last week I mentioned a great software tool for editing your documents: NoteTab, a free download at <http://www.notetab.com> Ken Brayton wrote in to suggest upgrading to NoteTab Pro and that it was "by far the most useful product I have ever purchased" Among the extra features is 'Disk Search and Replace' where you can make changes to all the documents in a directory. An ideal situation to use this is when you want to make a change to all your web site pages - for example to change the color of the background. You simply make a global change through all your html files.
3.2 Organising information The recommendation to use NoteTab arose from my original request: how to simplify hunting for pieces of text which are held in old Emails, newsletters, correspondence, files etc and then arranging them to compose a newsletter or an article. Back in June we featured some ideas from Janet L. Hall <http://www.overhall.com> about using folders to organise information. Janet has now come across a software program Enfish Tracker at <http://www.enfish.com> which 'works like an intelligent assistant, organizing and filing everything on your computer, helping you find exactly what you need, when you need it'. I've not had a chance to look at this yet but if anyone has used it do let us know. ------------- My thanks to Ken and Janet. They are not affiliated in any way to these programs but just wanted to share this information with our readers which is the mission of the SuperTips Ezine. So let's hear more tips from you.
4. "Writing Killer Internet Ads Like the Pros
in the Year 2000" The sole purpose of any marketing communication is to get the reader to take action. Whether it is to request additional information, visit your web site, or to send in an order. Before you write one word you must be clearly focused on this goal. As you write each sentence and paragraph evaluate it. Ask yourself whether what you are writing will compel your reader to act. Resist the temptation to tell the reader how great you or your company are. That is not your purpose. Stay focused and evaluate your objective every step of the way. THE SECRET- LEARN FROM THE PROS FOR FREE: All of us are subjected to a continuing barrage of ads throughout our day. Ads on the radio, the television, magazines, newspapers, billboards, signs and the Internet. The majority of those ads you skip right over. Your mind's subconscious just ignores it. Occasionally one catches our eye and we read it. When that happens you have struck gold. If it is in the traditional print media, cut the ad out. If it is on the Internet print a copy. Save it for later study. When you have time analyze it. What elements of the ad did you find interesting enough to make you take the time to read it? Make notes and use it as an aid in creating your own ads. Now, here is what really should get you excited. Of the small percentage of the ads that catch your eye, on the internet, there is an even rarer commodity among them. That is when you find an ad that makes you want to spend your hard earned money on more information. When you are tempted to dig into your pocket you should jump up and down with joy. You have just found an extraordinary and precious gem. Take that ad or presentation and study it over and over. Perform an autopsy. Pick it apart. Analyze it. Turn it inside out. Find out what makes it tick. These ads are priceless learning experiences. What elements of the ad did you find compelling enough to make you want to take your money and part with it? What particular wording grabbed you? What part of the presentation was irresistible to you? Make notes of your analysis and use similar methods for your own presentation. THE HEADLINE: The wording of your ad and subsequent presentation is the most important single factor in determining the success of the inquiries you receive. It's what you say and how you say it that determines whether your ads work or not. It pays to give a great deal of time, thought and research to the actual wording of the headline as well at the ad copy. The decision as to the type of wording is the key to more sales. Headlines must have dynamic, powerful, grabbing power. The headline has to get the reader to look at your ad and then make the reader curious enough to read further. Sub-headlines are also very important, especially in your subsequent presentation, where the ad copy is long. THE CONTENT- BENEFITS & FEATURES: Know who you are trying to reach and what that customer wants. How can they benefit by what you have to offer. Features of the product or service, such as how fast you deliver something, what color it is, or how it can be assembled are less important to the buyer than the benefits to them of having the product. The benefit of sitting on your new outdoor lounge chair, in your yard, on a beautiful evening, enjoying the nice breeze and a cool beverage are far more important than the fact that this product comes in different colors, and is delivered in two weeks. That is why the automobile manufacturers spend millions of dollars on commercials showing their beautiful car cruising around a beautiful area, driven by a beautiful model. There is no presentation on the features such as gas mileage or color. Of course, there are many ways in which you can turn features into benefits by wording them as such.
THE CLOSING: Marketers know you must direct the person to act now. Even where the prospect decides he needs what you are offering, most people by nature will not act on the offer immediately, unless you give them a reason to do it now. Urge them to act now. Provide them with a reason to act immediately. You have seen the phrases used to overcome this inherent procrastination trait. "This is a limited offer." "This offer good only if you act in the next five days." "Act now and receive these bonuses and free gifts." "If you are one of the first ten people to order..." Make the offer and ask for the order. Give a compelling reason why the prospect should act, now.
TESTIMONIALS: Testimonials for your product or service are important once you get the prospects to the presentation. We all have a fear of making a mistake. Seeing the responses of satisfied customers puts our minds at ease and helps eliminate the fear that may be standing in the way of responding to the presentation. GUARANTEE: If at all possible offer a guarantee. Remove the risk from ordering and your sales will increase dramatically. Marketers find that there is a low return to sales ratio. The increase in sales that flows from a money back guarantee more than makes up for the few returns, with a good product. FOLLOW-UP: One of the most important aspects in closing the sale is the follow-up email. Many people who are interested in a product or service don't buy right away. The follow-up contacts will increase sales dramatically. You should have a series of follow-up email presentations that can be sent at various intervals to the initial inquiries.
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5. More "Super" Tips 5.1 Make it easy for your customer A good way to promote products at your web site is to put yourself in your customer's shoes and understand how he would search for the item he wants. Here is an example: I am often asked to recommend a favourite book or course on Internet Marketing. I don't believe in confusing my web site visitors with too many choices so I have always maintained a small selection at my site with brief details of their content. But when I paid a recent visit 'in my customers shoes' I found it was still not easy to decide which of these items to choose. It occurred to me that the solution would be to convey the key features of each at a glance.
So what would be the main feature ?
And the best way to provide an overall picture ? Tables are a great way to summarise information. I have redesigned the page in table format using three bands of price range with different colours to give a pictorial summary. You may like to copy this idea for your own web pages. Take a look here. 5.2 Avoid an embarrassing Email Do you ever receive an issue of a newsletter where they have apologised for the previous posting ? This can happen when a publisher accidentally posts something to his list. For those of you who may not know -sending out an issue of an ezine such as this merely involves sending one Email, containing the content of the ezine, to one address (in this case supertips@onelist.com). It's not difficult to select the wrong entry in your Email address book and send out a message to the wrong recipient. If that recipient happens to be your complete subscriber list you could end up looking rather foolish. Here's a simple tip to make sure it does not happen: Keep that address well away from the others. Make it the only entry in a separate address book and give that book a title such as 'Subscriber list - HANDLE WITH CARE'. 5.3 Do you accept payment by credit cards ? Do you offer your customer the option of paying by credit card ? It's reckoned that you could be losing 80% of your sales if you don't. It's easy to see why. Your potential customer has used high technology to reach your site in seconds only to be told that he now has to post a cheque or cash and wait days for the sale to go through. In order to accept your customers' credit you first need to obtain a credit card merchant account. This is a daunting business when you try to go it alone if you are a small business, a new business, an Internet business, a Mail Order business or if your credit is not so good. Fortunately there are companies which can handle this for you and also provide the software to process your customer's credit cards in real-time. SuperTips have teamed up with Internet Marketing Center who provide a total e-commerce solution for you here.
5.4 How to offer customer service One of my favourite tips is to check out the response you can expect from a company before you purchase their product - to give an idea of the support they offer. For a year now I have praised the outstanding response of one particular company. Virtualis systems are a web hosting company who proudly boast of a maximum one-hour turn around to Email questions. And it's true - every Email I have ever sent has had a reply within 15 minutes. Or rather it WAS true. Recently I had a technical problem and the mail was being answered by different people who said they were going to investigate and did not get back to me, and my subsequent requests for help were unanswered. When I complained about this state of affairs I received the following reply which is a lesson on how to deal with an unsatisfied customer.
Harvey, If you run a business you may wish to use this as a model answer for handling complaints. You can read more about Virtualis systems and their web hosting services here. 5.5 Tell your visitor where to go next I've seen a suggestion that if you have a newsletter you should promote it at your site by placing a link to the subscription page on every page of your site. Well I think this may be overdoing it and I currently just mention it on some selected pages. But what I do have is two different subscription pages with a slight variation at the end. The reason ? When a visitor has arrived at the subscription page and joined up I want to encourage him to move on to another part of my site rather than just leave. Now if you have arrived by virtue of seeing the Ezine advertised in an Ezine directory list you will not yet have seen my home page so it makes sense to direct you there next. If on the other hand you have arrived at my site via the home page and then decided to join the newsletter there is no point in suggesting to you to revisit the home page. You may wish to use or adapt this idea - it provides a means to exert more control over the way your visitor tours your site.
6. Publications of Interest If you publish an e-zine or maintain a website, check out 'ZineConnection at <http://zineconnection.hypermart.net> 'ZineConnection is dedicated to providing reliable resources for E-zine publishers & marketers. Free content,resources, and listings. Add your E-zine to our NEW Directory! Fast & Easy! Subscribe: Mailto:zineconnection@Smartbotpro.net FREE Self-Help Newsletter Wishing you could finally get a sharper edge on business, personal, or life in general? Start with your FREE copy of "The Self-Help Resources Newsletter" by sending your Email request to mailto:shrnaugs99@smartbotpro.net
7. Next Issue Hey I've broken one of my own golden rules in this newsletter. The first person to spot it can have a reward -their name and 'signature' in our next issue. SuperTips Ezine will be with you again on September 1st. If you have any suggestions to improve this newsletter so that we can make it a great resource for all our readers please drop me a line.
Thanks,
To SUBSCRIBE to the SuperTips Ezine:Click here ARCHIVES: Click here Copyright (C) 1999 by Harvey Segal, SuperTips
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