Online directory submission can be an arduous and confusing task for any e-Commerce business. Companies need to find a way to get their name out on the Web in order to be successful in search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.). Companies must submit their links to directories to increase their level of incoming links. Incoming link relevance is a part of Google’s algorithm for ranking websites in their SERP (Search Engine Page Results). There are three different methods that can be used when submitting links to an online directory and all three should be implemented and utilized for a successful link inclusion campaign. Directories offer three linking opportunities: Paid inclusion, free inclusion with reciprocal link, and free inclusion.

Business should do research before choosing their link strategy and the amount of paid links and free link submissions to online directories. An important measure businesses must be conscience of is Page Rank. Search engines value links with a high page rank and will reward websites with high-quality links. A strategy to avoid is submitting your website to a directory who promises to submit your website to thousands of directories and search engines. Google sees this practice as spamming and will penalize the website. Following SEO best practices is important when spreading your link throughout the Internet.

Paid inclusions in directories are an important piece of any link submission strategy. In most cases the better paid link submission directories contain strong Page Ranking. Directories that require payments have a wide audience assuring your company that a high amount of traffic is possible from the paid inclusion. The strongest paid directories will be ones within your business’ niche. Including your links in directories that are in your business’ focus area it will ensure that you are targeting your customers who visit your website. Researching paid submission directories and locating niche directories will give a business the highest ROI for their link inclusion campaign.

Strategies for link submission must include free directories as well as paid directories. Researching page rank of free link submission directories is important and submission should be restricted to sites with Page Rank 4 and higher. Free directory submission and link submission with reciprocal links should also be focused on niche directories. The goal is for you site to appeal to the highest percentage of people who view it as possible. Clearly the way to a higher conversion rate is to target your business towards people who have an interest in your company’s target.

Link submission to Web directories should contain an optimal amount of paid and free inclusions aimed at your business’ specific niche. Spreading your word is the name of the game. It is important that you respect the power of SERPs and include your links to strong partners and not Spam directories. It is better for a company to contain few strong links than thousands of weak unconcentrated links. Link submission in directories is a delicate process that must be properly researched and implemented to reap the practice’s full benefits.

Affiliate marketing is a business anyone with a computer, a website and time can compete in. There is a misconception that there is very little work to be done in affiliate marketing. The website will take care of itself and you the affiliate will rake in money. While it may not be difficult to enter into the affiliate game, the percentage of successful affiliates is small. To be a success in affiliate marketing a person must be persistent and patient and willing to make mistake and to improve upon these mistakes. Different combinations of web design, advertising, content, and affiliate links must be tested and results analyzed. Affiliates Managers appreciate their affiliates who actively maintain their website and optimize it for success.

The curse of the lazy affiliate is present for most affiliate managers. Inactive affiliates don’t affect program statistics; however, time is spent and often wasted in an effort to help these affiliates. Certain online companies will restrict affiliates from joining their program by requiring a formal application that must be approved. The downside to applications is that affiliates may not want to spend the time filling out the form and valuable affiliates could be lost in the process. The advantage to requiring an application is that you are able to prescreen affiliates and decide if they can provide the image you want to show of the company and the profits to go along with it.

The goal for merchants and affiliates alike should be to make as much money as possible in the fewest amount of clicks. Affiliate managers should lead their affiliates to the highest possible conversion rate by using their knowledge, tools and program perks to drive affiliates to success. Datafeeds are quickly becoming one of the most popular tools affiliates can utilize in their websites. Datafeeds allow the affiliate to display products, pictures, prices, and categories on their website. Affiliates using this tool can effectively target their customers and send them to the merchant’s website in a buying frame of mind. Targeting the customer and offering a strong presell using tools and content lead to increased conversion rates and profits.

The main ingredient towards the success of an affiliate program is open communication between an affiliate manager and their affiliates. The leadership needs to be focused and driving towards a purpose for the merchant and the affiliate. Teamwork will provide the best attack towards completing the goal of increased profits for the merchant and the affiliate.

Jackie R.’s SEO article “SEO your Site to Obtain a Good Search Engine Ranking” is a look at the benefit of optimizing an online business’ website leading to increased visibility. Jackie R. goes over some of the imperative techniques of SEO including keyword research and implementation. She doesn’t go into a lot of detail into keyword research, selection or placement into a business’ website. Jackie then moves right into what information should be on the website, which is mainly keyword rich content. She is correct, content is one of the main keys to successfully optimizing a website. She also mentions that there are other methods to a good SEO campaign. Link building and inserting keywords into tags in a pages script are important. This article was just grazing the top of Search Engine Optimization, but it does offer good keypoints and a solid beginning overview into SEO. 

The last day of eComXpo came and went today. There were some positives and some negatives for this event. The positives were it was a well-designed virtual convention. It was easy to navigate and find the different booths for affiliate marketing and search engine optimization. The classroom events were easy to find and subscribe to and the speakers and debates were a lot of fun to listen to. There was plenty of networking going on and I wound up meeting a number of people from Denver through the Expo. I feel I got my name out into the playing field and hopefully those contacts will be of benefit to me and Denver Fabrics in the future. I referred a number of people to our Share a Sale page (http://www.shareasale.com/shareasale.cfm?merchantID=9338) and we recruited a good number of people to become our affiliates.

The Expo contained very few negatives. The biggest and most blatant mistake was that you could not tell when exhibitors were already chatting with other attendees. In some booths there would be 15 people working and not one responded to my chat invitations. In the beginning it was hard to tell if people were just ignoring me, but as time went on I realized there was no way to tell if they were ignoring me or chatting with someone else. The only other downside to this point is that I have not won any of these prizes. Do I not deserve them?

I had a good time the last 3 days meeting many new people and setting up some important contacts which will improve Denver Fabric’s business. I will definitely be attending the Expo in October of 2007 and hope to meet some new people.

My girlfriend is a very special person to me. We have been dating for almost 3 years and she has always stood by my side through good and bad. She has an infectious smile and can get the most shy person in the room to open and start talking. She is very smart and quick-witted, but these are nothing without passion. One of the reasons I love her so much is because when she devotes herself to something, she gives everything she has to do the best she can. She is passionate about people even though they frustrate her and sometimes let her down. She has taught me many things in the time I have known her and I have grown much more adventurous. I was a shy person when she met me and she has opened me up, taught me to take risks and to understand that as long as you are honest and try your hardest that everything else will work out. I love this girl with all my heart and I hope she feels the same way about me.

I have never been to an online expo before yesterday, so I had no idea of what to expect when I signed up for eComXpo which runs from March 19 – March 22. When I first arrived into the “Convention Hall” I was pleasantly surprised. It was more professional than I thought it would be and it has tons of useful information. The speakers I listened to didn’t really pertain to my area of business, but it was still interesting to listen to industry experts and how they leverage their knowledge on the Internet to make money for themselves and their clients/businesses.

I am more interested in today’s presentations, especially the debate moderated by Sean Collins regarding Web 2.0 and the evolution of the Internet. Web 2.0 is distinctive from Web 1.0; Web 1.0 is comprised of applications offering products containing private data and Web 2.0 are platforms offer services whose information can be shared across different users. Data is shared freely across different sites, companies, databases, etc. The Internet is becoming a more cozy place with more people actively participating in the wide reach the Internet provides.

Blogs and social networks (My Space, Xango, etc.) are already huge and they will continue to grow in popularity. The ease of setting up a personalized website has never been easier as companies share their platforms with average people using the Internet.

Business is at an all time high on the Internet, from advertising to retail, the Internet has never had such a high level of commerce. Many companies are rethinking their antiquated marketing plans and readjusting them for the present state of the Web. It is not just big businesses on the Internet in 2007, the majority of commercial sites are smaller niche sites trying to make their way by compiling the massive amount of data shared across the Internet. The future is in companies that can develop cost-effective services and trust users to submit data to further improve their business model.

I will check back later in the day after some of these speakers and debates.