Posts Tagged ‘internet marketing’

November 26th, 2013

Affiliate Link URL Masking

by Rahimah Sultan

photo from blog

 

What is Affiliate Link URL Masking?

 

If you are an affiliate marketer you have links that look like the following examples.
1) http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Wireless-Reading-Display-Globa lly/dp/B003FSUDM4/ref=amb_link_353259562_2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIK X0DER&pf_rd_s=center-10&pf_rd_r=11EYKTN682A79T370AM3&pf_rd_ …

2) http://secure.hostgator.com/~affiliat/cgi-bin/affiliates/clickthru.cgi?id=bcdefg

3) http://www.safelisttactics.com/?rid=118???

 

These links could and should be masked with shortened links like the following.

 

1) http://tinyurl.com/Kindle

2) http://tinyurl.com/6u9d26e

3) http://tinyurl.com/safelists-mktgg

 

Although there are numerous programs available, these are examples using tinyurl.com

 

Reasons for Link Masking

 

As with the first two examples above, sometimes your domain is too long and complicated to spell and/or write. Or you may be using free hosting that does not give you a dedicated domain but just a subdirectory of their domain. Using a shorter, more understandable and eye pleasing link will add a big boost to your online marketing.

 

Another big reason to mask affiliate links is to keep people from stealing your money. Anyone who is actively promoting other people’s products and/or services as an affiliate could be losing money from hard earned commissions because of those UGLY long affiliate URLs that target you as an affiliate, and scare away your visitors and/or potential customers.

 

Affiliate link masking sounds pretty obvious. All you’re doing is replacing that UGLY long affiliate URL with a nice cloaked (forwarded inside an invisible frame), professional domain name like the short ones listed in the above examples, that remain sticky.

 

Sticky simply means that the URL remains the domain name you chose, once your visitor has clicked on it, and it doesn’t redirect back to the UGLY long affiliate URL you started with. This makes you, the affiliate, look professional in the eyes of your visitors and/or potential customers. They don’t know if you are an affiliate or the actual web site owner. A web site’s stickiness is important to online advertisers because the longer visitors stay on the site the more exposure they have to potential advertising.

 

And lastly, people just don’t like to click on strange looking long links.

 

How does URL Masking work?

 

In case of URL Masking the Domain Forwarding server sends the client a Frames page where the Frame Source contains the destination URL you have specified. This ensures that the URL in the address bar of the browser does not change when the client sees the destination page.

 

As Web surfers become more knowledgeable of how affiliate programs work, more people will omit your affiliate ID or use someone else’s ID when ordering. Either way, you may lose commissions you’re supposed to get. Using full window frame page is probably the most effective (though not perfect) way to prevent such loss. In fact, practically all affiliate link cloaking software uses this method. The address bar won’t display your affiliate URL unless the affiliate site has a frame breaker (e.g.: Gmail). If visitors book mark the site, they will come back to your frame page. This means they use YOUR affiliate ID every time, and this could translate into sales.

 

Although masking your URL address can be very effective for marketing, in some cases it’s not necessary and disturbs the normal navigation of the user. So be sure to use URL masking only when it’s really necessary, and help convert more of your visitors into SALES!

 

There are many services online that offer this. Simply go to Google and do a search.

 

If you are a serious Affiliate Marketer and/or are just starting out online with affiliate programs then this is something you’ll definitely want to look into. Not only will you look professional in the eyes of your visitors and/or potential customers you’ll also be safe guarding your hard earned affiliate commissions with affiliate link URL masking. When visitors come to your site, the link is their first impression, and first impressions matter, especially when doing business online.

 
 

April 26th, 2013

4 Steps To A Successful Internet Business

by Rahimah Sultan

photo from blog

 

Having a successful internet business is simply a matter of understanding how things work, and applying that knowledge. Following are 4 steps to a successful internet business.

 

Find something you feel is a good business opportunity

 

You can search the internet for all sorts of business ideas and opportunities. Searching on any search engine with the keywords Work At Home, Business Opportunities, Home Based Business, Affiliate Programs, Make Money Online, etc., will produce 1000’s of results. Affiliate programs are good business opportunities because the ONLY thing you need to do to run your internet business is to market your affiliate link. With a traditional business you have to deal with inventory, storage, packing, shipping, complaints, returns, phone calls, emails, checks and credit cards just to name a few! With affiliate programs, once someone has clicked on your affiliate link your only job is getting the next person to click on it.

 

Get your own webpage

 

You want to put your internet business on a webpage of your own. A webpage is like a store front. It projects an air of professionalism. Think about it. Do you feel the same about buying from a vendor on the street as you do about buying from a person in a store? They’re both vendors, but you’re more trusting of the person who has a store than you are of a street vendor.

 

Your webpage does not have to be fancy. If you only have a brief description of what your webpage is about along with individual descriptions of your product or products people will respect that. If it’s an affiliate program you have decided upon, simply put a BRIEF description of what is being offered along with your affiliate link. Do not disclose too much in your description because people might think they know what it’s all about and not click on your link. You want to let your affiliate website do all the selling for you. These sites are professionally designed to maximize the number of people who buy or join so a brief description, just enough to spike their curiosity, is sufficient.

 

Get your own blog

 

Get your own blog and make one post a day. A blog, short for, “Web Log,” is a great way to establish yourself as an authority figure on whatever topic you decide. As people return to read your daily articles, they will eventually come to view you as an authority on whatever your blog is about. They’ll eventually develop confidence in what you are saying, and will begin to trust you. As a result some people will check out your webpage to see what you have to offer them, and people tend to buy more from people they know and trust. Their confidence in you will be an additional factor that will compel people to buy from you. There are many places online that will host and let you set up your blog for free, although it’s best to have your own blog and not a free one.

 

Write and submit articles to article submission sites

 

This is the most important. This is how you’ll get FREE advertising. People are searching the internet for free information. When you submit your articles online, the search engines will eventually find them and will spider every word. When people do a search using keywords or phrases that are in your articles, they will turn up in the search results. So, be sure to insert highly searched-for-keywords and phrases into your articles. You’ll need to include your bio at the bottom of all your articles. Your bio (known as your resource box) will contain a brief description about who you are along with a link to your website. An example is: Jane Smith is the owner of yoursite.com. Jane helps people to work at home using various business opportunities that include affiliate programs. If you desire your own home based business visit (insert your complete site address including http://)

 

The more articles you write and submit, the higher the chances are of your articles keywords and phrases showing up on search results. The more links you have pointing back to your website, the higher your website page rank will be in the search engines, meaning the higher up you are in the search results the more likely your page will be seen. So don’t stop writing and submitting articles. But, they must have quality informative content. Take your time and check your spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc. No one will take what you have to say seriously if you don’t write correctly.

 

Having a successful internet business is simply a matter of understanding how things work, and applying that knowledge. It does not take any special skill or any great intelligence. If you follow these steps, you cannot fail. The most important thing, as with anything in life, is persistence.

 

Article Source:  http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rahimah_Sultan
 

Click here: Help for a successful internet business
 
 
 

March 4th, 2013

Find Your Niche and Blog

by Rahimah Sultan

photo from blog

 

Find your niche and blog even though you may be starting up a new web site aimed at bloggers or you want to make your existing blog site more distinctive. The key to building and maintaining a site that will capture the interest and attention of the blogging community is finding your niche.

 

If you can fill a unique need in a way that no other web site does, you’ll be able to build a lasting readership among web surfers. Once you have discovered a niche, you’ll still have a lot to do, but finding your place in the blogosphere is the place to begin.

 

Of course, even if you’re a marketing genius or have a really great idea for a blog, success is not going to happen overnight. Building the kind of readership that blogging for profit requires takes time, and in all likelihood it will be at least several months before you are able to turn much of a profit. Try to stay committed to your blogging project during this initial rough period.

 

To stay motivated, set goals for how often you’ll update and how many readers you want to attract, and then reward yourself for sticking with your plan.

 

Often, bloggers have unrealistic expectations of how fast their readership will grow and how much money they’ll make. When these expectations are not met the disappointment can crush the desire to continue blogging.

 

Many bloggers suffer from a lack of planning. If you want to turn a profit as a blogger, the key is to make a realistic plan and stick with it.

 

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January 3rd, 2013

Affiliate Marketing

by Rahimah Sultan







Affiliate Marketing is a branch of Internet marketing where the advertisement publisher gets paid for every customer or sale provided by him.


Affiliate marketing is the basis for all other Internet marketing strategies.



In affiliate marketing, affiliate management companies, in-house affiliate managers and third party vendors are effectively utilized for E-mail Marketing and Search Engine Marketing for the success of the product.


Web traffic can be traced with the help of a third party or owners of the affiliate programs.


Originally, affiliate marketing involved lots of spamming, false advertising, trademark infringement, etc.


Since the invention of complex algorithms and advanced security, it’s safer to do business and shopping online. This even led to better scrutinizing of terms and conditions by the merchants.


As affiliate marketing opened up more opportunities, it also increased marketing competition.



Due to this pressure in-house affiliate programs for merchants were replaced by out-sourced programs. The companies that offer this service have expert affiliate marketing and network program managers who have various affiliate program management techniques.


These affiliate networks have publishers associated with them who help with the advertising.



Affiliate marketing was started by cdnow.com who had music oriented websites. They placed a list of music albums on their site and paid others to put those links in their websites when a visitor bought an album through their site. The first company to link with cdnow.com was Geffen Records.



Two months later, a woman proposed an offer to Amazon to sell their books on her website for a certain percentage. They liked the idea and started the Amazon Associates Program. It was more of a commission program where they received a commission if a visitor clicked their links and banners on other’s sites and bought something.


Since its inception, the affiliate network has been adopted by various businesses like travel, education, telecom, mobile, gaming, personal finance, retail, and subscription sites.



The compensation methods used are Cost per sale (CPS), Cost per action (CPA), Cost per mile (CPM) and Cost per click (CPC).


The first two are the main methods used today. This is because in CPM and CPC, the visitor that turns up on a particular website might not be the targeted audience and a click would be enough to generate a commission.


CPS and CPA require that the visitor not only click on the link but also buy something or sign up for some service, which proves that the visitor is in a targeted audience. Only then does the affiliate get paid.


So the affiliate should try to send as much targeted traffic as possible to the advertiser to increase his/her returns. For this reason, affiliate marketing is also known as performance marketing. It totally depends upon the performance of the affiliate.



The affiliate team can be differentiated from a sales team by the nature of their jobs. The job of the affiliate team is to get targeted traffic to a point, then the sales team must influence the visitor to buy the product or service.



This is a very effective method because the money is being paid only when results have been achieved. The publisher incurs all the cost except that of initial setup and development of the program, which is incurred by the merchant.


Many businesses credit affiliate marketing for their success.



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December 22nd, 2012

Internet Marketing Goals and Tips

This article was edited on 8/1/22

By Rahimah Sultan






Advertising Disclosure: Marketing Success Review may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. There is no expense to you.



Every day, internet use is still increasing worldwide.

Marketing has always been about reaching customers where they are. Print advertisements, billboards, and TV commercials all attempt to do just that.

The internet offers exceptional advantages that other marketing mediums can’t, including the option to personalize content, the opportunity to build far-reaching relationships with customers, and its scope of reach.

The internet can be overwhelming with all the videos, recipes, news articles, and e-commerce sites. So, how are you supposed to differentiate your business to reach the right audience?

Internet marketing is the answer.

Internet marketing leverages digital channels that include social media, websites, and search engines, to reach your ideal audience.


What is Internet Marketing?

Internet marketing, also known as online marketing or web advertising, is a form of marketing that uses the internet to deliver promotional messages to customers through digital channels such as search engines, email, websites, and social media.

These marketing strategies include SEO, web design, social media, email, PPC, and other internet-related methods.

What’s the Role of Internet Marketing?

Your customers and prospects are looking for you online.

In traditional marketing, the approach was to direct messages to prospects and customers in the form of advertising, direct mail, and other vehicles. Now, the people you want to reach are already online looking for you, your products, and solutions. So, make it easy for them to find you.

Here are two separate goals you’ll have with internet marketing and the necessary steps to take to achieve them.


1. Attract new customers

To attract new customers, you’ll want to use online marketing strategies. Focus primarily on paid social media ads, search engines, and web design.

You might use Facebook’s Lookalike Audiences to get your message in front of prospects who match your core demographics, or you could pay a social media influencer to share images of your products with that already well-established community.

You can attract new customers to your product or brand with paid social media, but you need to conduct market research and A/B testing before investing too much in one social media channel.

You’ll also need to maintain a powerful SEO presence to attract new customers.

Be sure to spend time and resources on your website design. Your site needs to be easy to navigate and helpful. It must also be user-friendly as well as mobile-friendly.


2. Cultivate brand loyalists

To increase brand awareness, cultivate a strong online community, and retain customer loyalty, you’ll want to use email, blogging, and social media.

Send personalized emails to past customers that contain discounts based on their previous purchases, to wish them a happy birthday, or remind them of upcoming events.

For email campaigns, you’ll need an email list. Here’s how to build your list.

You might use social media to showcase your brand and hear directly from your customers. Consider hosting a Twitter chat, creating fun contests on Facebook, or posting surveys on Instagram.

Online/internet marketing is the broad term and overarching strategy that includes content marketing as one process within that strategy.

Content marketing is the actual process of creating and distributing content to reach audiences.

Online marketing includes sharing that content through search engines, email, and social media. It also includes paid advertising as well as a wide range of strategies that you might use to reach online audiences.

While most of the strategies that fall under online marketing involve content creation, online marketing also includes the non-content creation tasks of internet marketing, such as PPC bidding, and website design.

The function of internet marketing is to help you reach, attract, and convert online audiences to your business.


Using these Internet Marketing Goals and Tips can help you in that effort.



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