Casual Articles - Internet and Businesses Online

Ten Tips For Writing Successful Business Proposals, From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
There comes a time for businesses when they must submit successful business proposals to gain clients, projects, interviews, potential development rights, etc. And for many businesses, successful business proposals are mandatory for their survival. How many of your proposals get accepted and how many get rejected? Or don’t you keep track of the outcomes?It is interesting to note that most successful businesses have more of their proposals rejected than accepted. Your strategic thinking business coach endorses strategic thinking in the preparation of all business proposals. Here are ten (10) tips from your strategic thinking business coach for writing successful business proposals.Strategic Tip #1: Develop and use an evaluation system for a “go” or “No Go” decision for all responses to Requests For Proposals.Strategic T

how many times and in what context you’ll find that keyword on the internet. That way you’re more likely to make the best choices.

5. Keyword density. The general rule of thumb is to try and get them in headings or subheads, and early on in the copy. Two to five times overall on a page, with an absolute maximum of three different keywords per page is what to aim for. Some pundits recommend keyword density of up to 5%. This is almost certainly too much, and some search engines will actually penalise you for it.

6. Clumsy use of keywords. Beware of your copy becoming awkward if you try and repeat your keywords too often:

If you’re looking for wonderful widgets, this is the best place for wonderful widgets. Our wonderful widgets are better than any other wonderful wid

Free Nonprofit After-Donation Letter That Thanks the Donor for their Donation
Good Job!So now that you’ve done your job and convinced Jane Doe to give to your non-profit organization, you’ve just processed the payment - now what?You could move on to other “important” things like making sure the coffee machine is stocked with fresh grounds and Jimmy has the new mechanical pencils he requested OR you could do something small that will make a huge impression on the new donor.Now Is The TimeThe most important time to make an impression on someone is right after they give to your nonprofit. There could be donors-remorse (not sure if your charity was the “right” one to give to) or they could be approached by another nonprofit (stealing future donations from your nonprofit). To increase the chances of future gifts, joining your membership, yearly gifts even estate gifts – you should send the donor a

In the last few years, search engine optimisation copywriting in the UK and around the world has changed beyond recognition, as has the way sites are optimised by their design, coding and links. However, the biggest changes have been with SEO copywriting. Some of the same old mistakes are being made, and with all the changes to the ways search engines rank sites, fresh pitfalls are appearing. This article looks at some of the most common mistakes and omissions in SEO copywriting – and how to avoid them.
1. Too much time on the look, not enough on the content. If, like me, you’re in the business of SEO copywriting, this is a perennial bugbear. The content of your website is more important than its design, and it’s going to be even more key in the future. Search engines rank websites for what’s in them. You’re almost certainly paying your site design people a great deal of money – but you’re wasting it if your copy is an afterthought and few people visit your website. Invest time and money in copywriting. Better still, talk to your copywriter while the site is being designed, rather than ask him or her to fill in the empty spaces afterwards.
2. Lack of keywords. Keyword selection is the most critical single factor in search engine optimisation. Yet all too often businesses ignore it. If you’re a blue chip company it rarely matters – people are going to come to your site anyway. But any small or mid-size company ignores it at their peril. If your site isn’t optimised in the way it’s written (not just in the way it’s coded) then you’re losing out on customers – big time.
3. Optimising keywords that no-one is searching for. Your company may pride itself on its great service, but it’s pointless to optimise ‘great service’ or anything along those lines, as no-one will be searching for it. (In fact it can be positively counter-productive, as some search engines treat ‘service’ as a stop word and mark down accordingly.) You can find a free search engine query tool at www.overture.com, or you can pay for a more detailed and comprehensive one at www.wordtracker.com. These will tell you which terms have been searched for recently and how often.
4. Optimising keywords that everyone is searching for. You need to be specific in what you optimise. If you’re selling jewelry (or ‘jewellery’, as it’s spelled in the UK), then it’s no use simply optimising for the word ‘jewelry’. Be more specific. Even phrases like ‘antique jewelry’ or ‘beaded jewelry’ are searched for many thousands of times a month. Find out what people are searching for and see what you’re up against by going to a couple of search engines and entering those terms. If your competitors are all optimising for a specific term, it’s probably best to avoid it if you can find an alternative that will still bring in the traffic.
4. Alternate spellings and endings. Think laterally, think creatively, think how others would spell or term something. Are you going to optimise for ‘jewelry’ or ‘jewellery’ – or both? How about ‘website’ or ‘web site’? – both versions are common. And so on. Don’t try and cover all the bases – but do try and check them against what’s being searched for and how many times and in what context you’ll find that keyword on the internet. That way you’re more likely to make the best choices.
5. Keyword density. The general rule of thumb is to try and get them in headings or subheads, and early on in the copy. Two to five times overall on a page, with an absolute maximum of three different keywords per page is what to aim for. Some pundits recommend keyword density of up to 5%. This is almost certainly too much, and some search engines will actually penalise you for it.
6. Clumsy use of keywords. Beware of your copy becoming awkward if you try and repeat your keywords too often:
If you’re looking for wonderful widgets, this is the best place for wonderful widgets. Our wonderful widgets are better than any other wonderful widg
Let Your Affiliates Become Your Recruiters
Have you ever thought that your affiliates could drive even more business to you by having an affiliate program for your affiliate program?Before you have a nose bleed, this is simply achieved by offering your current affiliates a two tier payment mechanism. The first tier is the one they are on now; they get paid for referring business directly to you.The second tier is a payment to the affiliate for any business produced by someone else that they have recommended joins your affiliate program. This guy is what is known in the trade as a “sub-affiliate”.For example, Joe sends you business each week and notices that you offer a two tier scheme, he then thinks, I know some people who’d be interested in promoting this too! So he gets Fred, Barney, Betty and Wilma to sign up to your affiliate program.In doing that, you gi
hat’s in them. You’re almost certainly paying your site design people a great deal of money – but you’re wasting it if your copy is an afterthought and few people visit your website. Invest time and money in copywriting. Better still, talk to your copywriter while the site is being designed, rather than ask him or her to fill in the empty spaces afterwards.
2. Lack of keywords. Keyword selection is the most critical single factor in search engine optimisation. Yet all too often businesses ignore it. If you’re a blue chip company it rarely matters – people are going to come to your site anyway. But any small or mid-size company ignores it at their peril. If your site isn’t optimised in the way it’s written (not just in the way it’s coded) then you’re losing out on customers – big time.
3. Optimising keywords that no-one is searching for. Your company may pride itself on its great service, but it’s pointless to optimise ‘great service’ or anything along those lines, as no-one will be searching for it. (In fact it can be positively counter-productive, as some search engines treat ‘service’ as a stop word and mark down accordingly.) You can find a free search engine query tool at www.overture.com, or you can pay for a more detailed and comprehensive one at www.wordtracker.com. These will tell you which terms have been searched for recently and how often.
4. Optimising keywords that everyone is searching for. You need to be specific in what you optimise. If you’re selling jewelry (or ‘jewellery’, as it’s spelled in the UK), then it’s no use simply optimising for the word ‘jewelry’. Be more specific. Even phrases like ‘antique jewelry’ or ‘beaded jewelry’ are searched for many thousands of times a month. Find out what people are searching for and see what you’re up against by going to a couple of search engines and entering those terms. If your competitors are all optimising for a specific term, it’s probably best to avoid it if you can find an alternative that will still bring in the traffic.
4. Alternate spellings and endings. Think laterally, think creatively, think how others would spell or term something. Are you going to optimise for ‘jewelry’ or ‘jewellery’ – or both? How about ‘website’ or ‘web site’? – both versions are common. And so on. Don’t try and cover all the bases – but do try and check them against what’s being searched for and how many times and in what context you’ll find that keyword on the internet. That way you’re more likely to make the best choices.
5. Keyword density. The general rule of thumb is to try and get them in headings or subheads, and early on in the copy. Two to five times overall on a page, with an absolute maximum of three different keywords per page is what to aim for. Some pundits recommend keyword density of up to 5%. This is almost certainly too much, and some search engines will actually penalise you for it.
6. Clumsy use of keywords. Beware of your copy becoming awkward if you try and repeat your keywords too often:
If you’re looking for wonderful widgets, this is the best place for wonderful widgets. Our wonderful widgets are better than any other wonderful wid
Traffic Generating Strategies for Blogs
To search engines, blog are no different from regular websites. However, because of the nature of blogs, being frequently updated, having a normally simple HTML structure, blogs are very much favored by search engines, making it an easy platform for you to perform will in a search engine promotion campaign.There are, however, some very distinct advantages in using blogs over website, in terms of traffic generation strategies. Here are a few.Blog Comments and TrackbacksOne of the most effective ways to drive traffic to your blog is to comment in other's blogs. This can be done in two was - the first, as a regular comment (i.e. typing in the blog's post comment box and clicking submit) and the other is by sending a trackback.When you do either of these, alongside the entry to your blog comm
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3. Optimising keywords that no-one is searching for. Your company may pride itself on its great service, but it’s pointless to optimise ‘great service’ or anything along those lines, as no-one will be searching for it. (In fact it can be positively counter-productive, as some search engines treat ‘service’ as a stop word and mark down accordingly.) You can find a free search engine query tool at www.overture.com, or you can pay for a more detailed and comprehensive one at www.wordtracker.com. These will tell you which terms have been searched for recently and how often.
4. Optimising keywords that everyone is searching for. You need to be specific in what you optimise. If you’re selling jewelry (or ‘jewellery’, as it’s spelled in the UK), then it’s no use simply optimising for the word ‘jewelry’. Be more specific. Even phrases like ‘antique jewelry’ or ‘beaded jewelry’ are searched for many thousands of times a month. Find out what people are searching for and see what you’re up against by going to a couple of search engines and entering those terms. If your competitors are all optimising for a specific term, it’s probably best to avoid it if you can find an alternative that will still bring in the traffic.
4. Alternate spellings and endings. Think laterally, think creatively, think how others would spell or term something. Are you going to optimise for ‘jewelry’ or ‘jewellery’ – or both? How about ‘website’ or ‘web site’? – both versions are common. And so on. Don’t try and cover all the bases – but do try and check them against what’s being searched for and how many times and in what context you’ll find that keyword on the internet. That way you’re more likely to make the best choices.
5. Keyword density. The general rule of thumb is to try and get them in headings or subheads, and early on in the copy. Two to five times overall on a page, with an absolute maximum of three different keywords per page is what to aim for. Some pundits recommend keyword density of up to 5%. This is almost certainly too much, and some search engines will actually penalise you for it.
6. Clumsy use of keywords. Beware of your copy becoming awkward if you try and repeat your keywords too often:
If you’re looking for wonderful widgets, this is the best place for wonderful widgets. Our wonderful widgets are better than any other wonderful wid
Blog Key Word Research Guide
If you have a blog and are not getting and traffic, you may need to learn how to prep for the starting of a new blog project. Of course you are not limited to the following plan, but it is great for beginners or anyone who wants a plan laid out for them. You can always think of an idea for your own blog. That is the way to get the real money. If you create an idea that really draws a crowed and a lot of interest, you will have a great blog. In any case, here are a few suggestions for you.Selecting Key WordsWhen starting your blog, you want to make sure you have one that will draw a crowed. This is for the people who don’t know what people are researching. (Some marketers know how the consumers mind works according to the fullness of the moon). In any case, if you know how many times a key phrase is searched in the search eng
the word ‘jewelry’. Be more specific. Even phrases like ‘antique jewelry’ or ‘beaded jewelry’ are searched for many thousands of times a month. Find out what people are searching for and see what you’re up against by going to a couple of search engines and entering those terms. If your competitors are all optimising for a specific term, it’s probably best to avoid it if you can find an alternative that will still bring in the traffic.
4. Alternate spellings and endings. Think laterally, think creatively, think how others would spell or term something. Are you going to optimise for ‘jewelry’ or ‘jewellery’ – or both? How about ‘website’ or ‘web site’? – both versions are common. And so on. Don’t try and cover all the bases – but do try and check them against what’s being searched for and how many times and in what context you’ll find that keyword on the internet. That way you’re more likely to make the best choices.
5. Keyword density. The general rule of thumb is to try and get them in headings or subheads, and early on in the copy. Two to five times overall on a page, with an absolute maximum of three different keywords per page is what to aim for. Some pundits recommend keyword density of up to 5%. This is almost certainly too much, and some search engines will actually penalise you for it.
6. Clumsy use of keywords. Beware of your copy becoming awkward if you try and repeat your keywords too often:
If you’re looking for wonderful widgets, this is the best place for wonderful widgets. Our wonderful widgets are better than any other wonderful wid
Net Working for Community Fund Raising Events
Have you ever been to a community fund raising event and were under whelmed by the number of people that showed up and you consider that perhaps people don't care? I think people do care, however they need to be invited to these events and that means you need to do a little extra networking to get them there.Net working for community fund raising event is not so difficult and if you have a committee with 10 people and want to organize a community fundraising event you may find that you can need to use your networking skills from the group to reach out and touch other people who indeed will reach out and touch others on top of that.If your community fund raising event also has a silent auction and other types of things you can get people to donate their items for the silent auction and then give them a free ticket to the event. On
how many times and in what context you’ll find that keyword on the internet. That way you’re more likely to make the best choices.
5. Keyword density. The general rule of thumb is to try and get them in headings or subheads, and early on in the copy. Two to five times overall on a page, with an absolute maximum of three different keywords per page is what to aim for. Some pundits recommend keyword density of up to 5%. This is almost certainly too much, and some search engines will actually penalise you for it.
6. Clumsy use of keywords. Beware of your copy becoming awkward if you try and repeat your keywords too often:
If you’re looking for wonderful widgets, this is the best place for wonderful widgets. Our wonderful widgets are better than any other wonderful widgets you’ve heard of…”
Copy like that puts off anyone reading your website. And nowadays, when keywords are crowded in like that, it’s putting off the search engines as well.
7. The amount of text. Opinions vary as to exactly how long a page should be. Your homepage should be no longer than around 250 - 300 words, but you can easily double that if needs be for other pages. All pages should have clear headings, subheads, and short paragraphs. A page could be as little as 100 words. What it won’t be, if it’s optimised correctly, is a single paragraph of 30 -50 words.
8. Missing the extras. Text links within your site and anchor text pointing to it are important elements of search engine optimisation copywriting. Text links between pages in your site make it easier for search engine spiders to travel across the whole site. You should therefore always look to include them within your site, unless your site is too complex for it to be practicable, in which case your site needs a hierarchical structure. Anchor text is the visible text in a hyperlink – as in the following:
“Effective search engine optimisation copywriting is essential for getting the most out of your website.”
Of course, the anchor text that helps your site up the rankings is actually on a hyperlink from an outside site – but good anchor text is text that’s written in the right way, with the correct keyword. So get your copywriter to suggest anchor text with which outside sites can link to yours.
9. Doorway pages that aren’t proper pages. Doorway pages are – or were – simply pages within your site that were optimised so that very often they were the first pages that visitors reached. However, the phrase ‘doorway page’ nowadays tends to refer a page that has very little to do with a site, but is merely optimised for a couple of key phrases and aims to immediately redirect the visitor to the site proper. There’s nothing wrong with optimising several pages on your site – in fact it’s generally an excellent idea, as it allows you to cover many keywords. Just make sure that each optimised page has original content, is a genuine part of your site, and is shown on your sitemap.
10. Resting on your laurels. This is perhaps the most common failing of all. A properly optimised site should get you up near the top of the rankings. But you’ll need to keep working on it if you want to stay there. Every day around 7 million items – documents, pages whatever – are added to the internet. Your competitors are going to be choosing keywords and optimising websites of their own. One way to develop and keep high rankings is with relevant links. Another is by adding original content, such as articles or newsletters – so keep your copywriter busy.

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Casual Articles - Search Engine Optimisation Copywriting - the Top Ten Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

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