I’m taking a fantastic class in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) from David Riklan, the founder of www.SelfGrowth.com, the largest website on self improvement. If you are involved in Internet marketing in any way, you will need to know some SEO. Even if you hire someone to do it, you should understand how it works.

I’m enjoying taking this class with David because my primary target market is the self improvement industry. I love ghostwriting and editing for self improvement or personal development professionals. I’m even developing my own info-products (FINALLY!) for this market.

I was somewhat overwhelmed by all the information David revealed to us in six classes—some of which I already knew but was not implementing or not getting results with. I understand keywords, writing good content, article submission, directory submission, links, PPC, and metatags. We did a lot of visiting sites and searching in Google during the class. I was able to see how many sites linked to mine and how high I was in the search engines. I was amazed to find I came up in the TOP TWO in both Google and Yahoo for “personal development ghostwriting” and “professional development ghostwriting.” Now I just need to see how many people are actually searching for those terms.

One of the main reasons I took this class was to direct more traffic to my website and blog, and then convert visitors to either buyers or to join my list. Also to get ready to direct visitors to my sales page when I finish developing my info-products. But I also took the class because I wanted to learn all the SEO tricks, since most of them involve writing. Now I know the kinds of writing I can do to help people get higher rankings. When I write website content, blogs, articles, and emails, for example, I will now keep in mind all the SEO strategies.

How is your traffic? How is your conversion? Are you using all the SEO techniques that you need to? Keep learning. Internet marketing is an ongoing education.

Happy Info-products!

Andrea

Andrea Susan Glass
www.WritersWay.com

Well, the keywords are in place, and I’m up and running. I found a new autoresponder I will check out this week. Once that’s in place, I feel my site is ready to be announced to the world. Shout it from the virtual rooftops. Send out press releases, articles, and emails.

Sounds simple, yes? Yet, there are details in each step so this all will take a little time. First, write the press releases, then decide where to send them. Okay, a few days, done in between my client work. Next write about 10 articles. Okay, that’s another week at least! Then sign up at a bunch of article directories and submit the articles—and I’ve been told to tweak them for each different directory because Google doesn’t like it if you submit the same article to more than one site. Okay, Google, I’ll play by your rules. Another few weeks!

And then the dreaded e-mails. E-mail marketing is a huge component of any Internet marketing business and whether you write them yourself or hire a ghostwriter to write them, they are your bread and butter. You know what I mean! You probably get a ton of these “friendly” e-mails from everyone whose list you’ve signed up on just because you wanted your freebie! Of course, we all know you can get off these lists any time, but who has the time to unsubscribe? So you keep getting bombarded by e-mails inviting you to this free teleclass, telling you about this great product, or wanting you to sign up for a BIG seminar that will change your life.

Okay, a few more weeks for me to figure out a few months’ worth of e-mails to send out to my list. What I find is best, to avoid procrastination, is do what is easiest and quickest first. That gets the energy flowing. For me, writing a 500-word press release and submitting it to my list of free PR websites is the easiest, so that’s where I’ll start. That will get done this week. I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes.

Happy info-products!

Andrea

Andrea Susan Glass, www.WritersWay.com

If you read the last post, you know where to submit your articles. Now it’s time to find out how! Submission can be time-consuming. All sites require different information and have different features. Here are some helpful tips to remember when submitting your articles:

1. Sign up! Many sites require you to register for their directories to keep better management of the articles you submit. On many sites you can go back at any time and edit a previous submisssion, while others offer one chance to get it right. The article directories we have been suggesting are all free to submit. Keep your login information in a safe place so you have it handy to save time every time you submit.

2. Choose your keywords! Most sites ask you to fill in a few keywords for your article. DO NOT leave this blank! These words will be what people will submit in a search to find your article. You want to be sure your article is found and read! Use keywords that identify your expertise and niche subject area.

3. Spice up your title! Now is your last chance to evaluate your title. Make sure your title is creative and reflective of what your article is about. No reader will want to chose your article if the title seems boring. This usually foretells an the article that probably lacks excitement as well. Refer back to our previous post “Titles That Tantalize the Mind!” for more detailed tips to a perfect title.

4. Read the guidelines! Many people seem to overlook the guidelines, assuming that their article meets the requirements. WRONG! Some sites may only take a plain text format, or will not allow html codes. These same sites may not offer previews of your article as well, so you will not know what the finished product looks like until it is too late. Make sure you look over the submission guidelines for each site so you can make the necessary adjustments before you click “Submit.”

Check out the previous blogs for some sites to submit to if you’re still unsure of where to start. Remember to track what you are submitting where. Choose keywords to get your article read, and don’t forget to spice up your titles! Happy reading! Happy traffic!