I am wondering if 1st page listing on Google and/or Yahoo should be first priority?
What priority are other marketing techniques?
I have seen some stories from new affiliates that have been newly moderately successfull (not huge, yet) and they say that their websites grew alot from word of mouth--any thoughts?
Well it kind of depends on the site, market, your talent and how much time you have.
If the market is super competitive (in the search engines) and you don't know how to do SEO to get it in the 1st page BUT have lots of time to post and do social marketing then that would change the priority.
Having said that and also since I used to have an SEO company, so know how to do it, I think getting good natural rankings is really important and affiliates should at least know the basics of how to optimize their sites. Google can provide ongoing traffic once you get ranked without having to do constant posting to keep the traffic coming. But ideally you want a mix of traffic sources and don't want to just rely on Google either. She can be pretty fickle!
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Linda Buquet :: Affiliate Program Advertising, Promotion & PR (Publisher Relations)
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It would depend on what your goals are. If you want to get traffic faster to your site, then I would suggest you opt for paid ads through PPC, banners, text ads, etc.
SEO is something that would require time inorder to see a stable increase in your traffic.
I would like to know more about this. Is there any methods to do this? Thanks in advance
Alley, Google loves to see solid, applicable content. Site depth (sub-pages) significantly helps the long-term stability of a site's ranking. Natural flow, or a close approximation, is a part of this as well (H tag progression, etc). If you're gearing up for simple, one page sites (basically pushing an offer), you will have more of a rollercoaster battle (mostly of the uphill variety...), and the increased (or total) reliance on PPC (read: increased overhead, lower ROI).
Most of my sites are information-based (in some way or another), with marketing offers appearing as a natural extension of the page, as opposed to content that is secondary to the offers. My visitors get something, I get something, and the traffic will generally be much better qualified.
As an example, up until I sold it a year ago, I had a 30 page content site, in an intensely crowded space, that consistently sat on page 1 (typically around #5) of yahoo and google for over 3 years. I updated the site, at most, once every six months, with only an additional page or two. No PPC, just SEO, and therefore no overhead other than hosting.
Linda Buquet :: Affiliate Program Advertising, Promotion & PR (Publisher Relations)
The free forum support we provide is made possible by all the 5 Star programs at the top of the right sidebar & in the directory below. Please visit & support our merchants.
I have always used ppc. for thed past two years i only used 7search and did quite well. my affiliates used go-click some, but it really sucked for me. thx
Tony Im glad you weighed in on this topic, it is good to see a live example of what I have been taught that SEO CAN be achieved with content rich pages, that is what I am striving for, I am in no position to risk large amount on PPC, that is a little scary for someone like me who is just starting and don't have money to really risk.
Thanks for the welcome, considering I skipped the formalities and just jumped right in... lol.
If you are in no position to choose (financially), SEO over PPC, is clearly the way to go. You'll quite often see the ppc vs. seo thing come up, but really, if you understand seo, there's no question. Sitting on both sides, seo wins ever single time. PPC works for quick traffic, but I've found that with the right targets and content strategy, seo can be just as quick given the rapid crawl of the engines. If you are looking at long-term, there's really no reason to increase spending beyond your seo budget.
Also, thanks for the welcome, Linda. I skipped the "intro yourself" page and just jumped right in. I probably should throw my background up over in that area, fwiw.
If you want a long term business that will afford you being able to take the extended vacation, take the time to learn SEO and build a solid foundation under your site.
Things like PPC are the culprit of todays problems. The "I want it now" syndrome kills many businesses. Relate back to the days of old, till the ground, plant the seeds, watch over your crops, harvest and then lay up for the winter with plenty. SEO is this process, you invest today for tomorrow and the rewards are great in many ways.
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Search Optimization vs Other Marketing Techniques
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