SEO Doesn’t Translate

SEO is a laborious and, to be frank, rather tedious task.  Fortunately once you have SE-optimized your Web site in English, you can just have it translated without the need to repeat all that effort in foreign languages, right?

Unfortunately, no.  Robert Frost’s definition of poetry as “what gets lost in translation” could apply equally to SEO.  It is sadly not possible to pre-optimize your Web copy before translation — it has to be re-optimized as part of the translation process.

First and foremost, SEO is about the democratic use of language. What matters is not how the advertiser likes to talk about its products, but how customers actually talk about them. So when producing foreign versions, the trick is not to find the words that most closely correspond to the English original, but the words most commonly used by the target audience in the countries in question.

Our experience of working on a major SEO project for a budget airline suggests that from a translation point of view, search terms fall into three broad categories: directly translatable, freely translatable and non-translatable.

Firstly, there are terms that have direct equivalents in the target language that are equally widely used as search terms.  So where English Web users will Google “flights,” French users search for “vols.”  The word means the same thing and is used in the same way.  The world would be a simpler place if all terms were like this!  (Although in fact, even here, things are not as simple as they look.  Only once we have tested the seemingly obvious translation, to verify that it is indeed widely searched for — by actual users in relevant contexts, can we confirm that directly translatable terms fall into this category.)

Secondly, there are terms that can be translated in a number of ways.  Here the challenge is to think of all the possibilities, so we can test them to see which ones are actually searched for.  An example is the seemingly straightforward “cheap flights.” With typical Gallic contrariness, there is in fact no French word for “cheap,” so various different wordings have to be tried – “vols pas chers” (not-expensive flights”), “vols bon marché” (“good-bargain flights”), “vols à bas prix” (“flights at low price”), “vols a petit prix” (“flights at small price”) to name but a few.  None of these expressions sounds a likely search term when rendered back in English, but all of them are viable options in French.  Much to the chagrin of the guardians of French linguistic purity, even Anglophone borrowings such as “discount” and “low cost” also turn out to be worthy of investigation.

Moreover, finding the most appropriate translation(s) is only the first stage.  They then have to be optimized syntactically for a search context, where people tend to use shorthand or elided forms.  So whereas “cheapest flights” would be “vols les moins chers,” in reality French Web surfers would never use the article “les“, they would just search for “vols moins chers.”  Similarly, while “vols à bas prix” (“flights at low price”) is the grammatically correct expression, a far more common search term would be just “vols bas prix” (“flights low price”).

Finally, the third category is terms for which there are no relevant equivalent in the target language.  For example, “flight deals” is a high-ranking search term among budget airline customers in English, but the word “deal” in the sense of “arrangement” does not translate naturally into French.  While an equivalent could be found, it is not something that French people would say, and therefore not something they would search for.

However, conversely, there may well exist some terms that do not appear in the list of most popular searches in English, but would be very relevant in the target language – what Donald Rumsfeld would call “unknown unknowns.”  An example of such a term from the airline project would be “vols secs.” Literally this translates as “dry flights,” but it has nothing to do with alcohol-free travel (as if a budget airline would pass up the chance to sell you four-euro tins of lager!), it means flights that are sold on their own without accommodation, car hire, travel insurance etc.  You could never find these terms through a pure translation process, but that does not mean they are any less useful for generating traffic.  Indeed, they may be more useful than many translated terms.

And of course, identifying the most profitable search terms is not an end in itself. These terms are merely the raw materials, and a skilled copywriter is needed to assemble them into a convincing message in the foreign language.  SEO copywriting is hard work in any language — but if you can find the right way to tackle it, then it’s much more likely that potential customers will find you.

Former ad man Guy Gilpin is co-founder and manging director of Mother Tongue Writers.

Email Marketing – Tips To Boost Your Open Rates

Several email publicists repeatedly crash to realize that their member’s email application preview window is the first chance their subject matter has to attract the attention they need. And unfortunately people who don’t permit for a snapshot preview in their content style fall victim to less than desired open rates as their subscribers are less probably to open the message in full. In the instance that you probably would like a total  strategy for email marketing examine my Epic Traffic Systems Bonus package.

Here are four simple steps you’ll to require to confirm your subsequent email message preview pane design becomes all the eye it should:

Initial, remember that prior to Outlook 2003, the preview your subscriber sees runs horizontally along the foot of their monitor. In Outlook 2003, this read could be a vertical slice conveying the left hand facet of your content.

As a tip take a bare sheet of paper and then expose the prime third of your subsequent message and then the left third. Does what you see in each times appear interesting sufficient to lure your members to click on?

Second, by permitting for the thinnest of newsletter mastheads, you should cram into these viewable snippets as much contents as you be capable of. Plus, if this content tells your subscriber exactly what your message contains, then the chances of them gap it amplify even further. In the event you might  like to encourage  targeted traffic to your web pages and also  accelerate your internet based profits  as soon as possible utilizing email marketing  and also a self  contained traffic  scheme peruse the things Keith Baxter and Jon Shugart and Joey  Smith are actually  saying in my Epic Traffic Systems review.

Third, don’t have too several images cluttering the preview space. By default, my version of Outlook 2003 suppresses all pictures sent to me in HTML messages. All I see is a sea of red crosses, that informs me nothing concerning the message. (I tend to leave these messages until later, which CAN become NEVER! Your subscribers might well do the same.)

And finally the sensible newsletter designers use images sparingly during this prime part. Even higher, they build their masthead utilizing not images, however HTML text and color to effectively get across their message. As a shopper, I’m so much more tempted to break my train of consideration and dig down more into that juicy portion of content I can perceive.

Therefore, by treating the preview pane of your news letter as a fast-peek mini-outline for your members, you are on the correct track to grab a replacement client!

It’s straightforward extremely–the more rapidly your readers are interested by the very first lines of your email, the more they will browse them. In the instance that you should like  additional material on email marketing marketing  systems and search engine marketing strategy please study my blog.

Internet Marketing 101

According to one report up to 30% of the US workforce are now self-employed, that is 42.6 million Americans working on their own, both online and offline. Just like any other business, an online business needs a business plan. What will you sell or provide? How will you reach consumers? What makes you different and better than the other marketers already online?

Andrew Morden, CEO of the Internet Marketing Center, an online business training service, knowing the answer to these questions is crucial. Andrew adds one more question to the list: do you have a niche?

“At a macro level, the kind of problems people are searching for are recession proof. If I’ve got spiders in my basement, it doesn’t matter that there is a recession on, I have to get those spiders removed. If, then, our businesses have tapped into that market they can get their business up and running fast. There are thousands of examples of this kind of niche marketing,” said Mr. Morden.

So, first, find your niche. Don’t just market a product, tell the consumer why your product is better, why your service is better. In essence, why they should choose you over the 500 spider exterminators already online. One of the best ways to do this, after figuring out the niche, is through search engine optimization

“Be focused on keywords. It’s very competitive and in order to stay ahead of the trends, marketers must continually update and continually be dynamic. From there, build a list,” Morden advised. “Don’t try to sell the consumer from the first second. Give value and you’ll ‘sell’ them down the road.”

Next, diversify. Don’t rely on one product and one product only because as soon as The Best Spider Repeller is on the market, the New Best Spider Repeller will be on the way.

Finally, test the message and test the market. Test keywords, test email marketing messages, test subject lines. Test, test, test. Although testing does take time in the long run the time is more than paid for by better targeting messages and a higher ROI.

“Businesses have to do their market research, They have to know what consumers are searching for in relation to what their product is. We’re very focused on niche market research. The internet gives a unique opportunity to do that,” said Morden.

Kristina Knight writes for BizReport.com

SEnuke SEO Software Review – Advantages And Disadvantages

SEnuke SEO Software Review

SEnuke SEO software is a desktop program that a great many advanced internet marketers use to improve their search engine ranking positions.

Advantages Of SEnuke SEO Software

First of all, the thought of SEnuke itself is “” must have “” in what it is trying to do for the net marketer. Simply enter a article into SEnuke, with each of your anchor text and backlink, and SEnuke will automatically make accounts at a multitude of web 2. properties, article directories, video sharing sites, bookmarking sites, and RSS feed aggregator sites (ie. Google’s blogspot, wetpaint, quidzilla, hubpages, ezinearticles, articlealley, digg, propeller, feedage, etc.), and then automatically spin your articles and post the content to all or any these web 2. properties and article directories. You may also use SEnuke’s video nuke to blast your video to a number exceeding 8 video sharing sites.

You don’t have to be worried about captcha’s when SEnuke automatically creates many of these accounts, because SEnuke will automatically figure out the captcha and come in in the appropriate box when it creates these accounts for you. This is powerful.

Here’s one other cool feature. SEnuke will automatically make a window to suit your needs gives to you the URL’s and the RSS Feed URL’s of those web 2.0 properties and articles which were just created with content. You simply take these URL’s and copy and paste them into Bookmarking SEnuke. You click Start, and all of these URL’s are usually automatically bookmarked to about 30 bookmarking sites all on autopilot.

In addition, after you are done using Bookmarking Nuke, you then open up the URL Manager, copy all the RSS Feed URL’s from each of the social networking sites, bookmarking sites, video sharing sites, and article directory site, and you insert them into RSS Nuke. RSS Nuke will automatically post all your feed URL’s from your entire sites to a summary of about 10 RSS Aggregator sites, like feedage.com for example. RSS Nuke also has a RSS Joiner feature which allows you to merge all the RSS feeds into one URL a very cool feature.

Wait, SEnuke is not done yet. SEnuke will then automatically PING using SEnuke Pinger. Your entire web 2.0 properties and URL’s will be pinged using 10 different pinging services (ie. pingomatic, etc.).

Now, you’d imagine that this really is an aweful lot of programming, which is. But, SENuke’s features and benefits is not finished yet.

Remember how I mentioned that SEnuke will automatically create these social networking sites available for you, including web 2.0 properties, bookmarking accounts, article directory and video sites accounts? As you know, most of these websites force you to verify an email they give to you before your account is activated.

SEnuke Automatic Verifying Email feature also automatically verifies all your confirmation emails from these sites. And get this, SEnuke will automatically create a Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail email account for you as well. Very, very cool.

Lastly, I need to discuss the final module of SEnuke SEO Software, namely, Web 2.0Profile Nuke. This can be a new feature of SEnuke.

There is a lot of SEO talk recently on the advantages of configuring profile pages and web 2.0 roperty sites and communities. As an example, foxnews has a community based site where people can setup profiles of independently and placed anchor text links. One can find hundreds and a huge selection of exploiting sites.

The catch is, the greater people spam these sites with profiles and links, the less effective they become. Even so, SEnuke now has a Web 2.0 Profile Nuke that will automatically create accounts and About Me Profiles using your links, at exceeding 450 sites. With the large number of capthca’s that are needed, you will end up necessary to pay only $7 for 1000 captcha’s in order to use this feature.

Okay, that is it for the purpose SEnuke can do for you personally…and that’s A LOT. Now for the downside.

Disadvantages Of SEnuke SEO Software

After groing through SEnuke SEO Software, the interface isn’t very user friendly. You’re constantly needing to move inside and out of windows, copying URL’s from the URL Manager, etc. Additionally, the training videos concerning how to use SEnuke are minimal, and above all, how to use SEnuke for internet marketing purposes, which is what SEnuke is planned for.

SEO Marketing Jobs: The Future for Marketing Professionals

In the age of information, the future for most marketing professionals resides in Search Engine Optimization Jobs. Up until the financial crisis and the subsequent recession most business owners were still unaware of the potential of the Internet as a marketing tool.

Although a slight shift towards internet marketing was noticeable, the need for more cost-effective and efficient promotion due to the recession has accelerated this process. However, there are still many businesses, especially smaller ones, which do not appreciate the extent of what the Internet can do for them.

Search Engine Optimization Jobs: Freelance or In-house

In-house SEO Marketing Jobs are not always easy to find, but there are plenty of them around. However, think about the difference between applying for a full time position in-house and the option of working as a freelance SEO consultant.

Many businesses prefer to outsource this kind of work for multiple reasons, including the fact that they do not understand it, is an ongoing process, and because the related costs can be written off as an advertising expense rather than an overhead. Thus, if you’re having difficulty finding SEO Marketing Jobs the alternative is to become an independent SEO consultant.

There are pros and cons for both in-house SEO jobs as well as freelance SEO consultants. With in-house SEO Marketing Jobs, your earning potential is limited and you will have to conform to the strictures of the company’s schedule, whereas in an independent SEO job your income is not capped and your schedule is your own. You have the freedom to work for many different companies and set your own hours as well as your own price.

On the other hand, as a freelancer you will not have the security of a monthly paycheck to fall back on, and until you become established as an expert you may find that you work many more hours than if you had chosen one of the in-house SEO Marketing Jobs available.

Finding Freelance SEO Marketing Jobs

There are many ways to find SEO Marketing Jobs, even for freelancers, either by visiting various online job boards , where some companies advertise for SEO consultants as they wish to outsource their work, or you can go for the off-line route and contact businesses direct to offer your services.

If you are just starting out, you will most likely find it easier to find SEO Marketing Jobs by visiting local companies in your area. In this case, you have two advantages.

Your competition is limited as many of these businesses are unaware of search engine optimization marketing and how it can increase their revenues, and many will feel more comfortable as they have met you face to face and you are from the same area.

Landing Freelance SEO Marketing Jobs

The most important thing you can do when attempting to land freelance SEO Marketing Jobs, especially with brick-and-mortar companies that have limited knowledge of the industry, is to show them what you can do for their business. A good entrepreneur will always listen to new ideas that increase revenue and reduce costs, thus increasing the profit margin.

Since this is exactly what you can provide by increasing the pool of potential customers as well as the company’s exposure, at a fraction of the cost of other more traditional media and with quantifiable results, you may find your new career as an independent a SEO consultant quickly soaring to new heights.

How To Use Testimonials Effectively

If you have never heard of a product before, would you at least consider buying it if it came recommended  from someone you know? Given a selection of similar products, wouldn’t you rather try one that has had some glowing reviews even if you’ve never heard of them before?  A persons endorsement of a product can have a profound effect on the buying decisions of others. That  is the power of testimonials.

These days, testimonials are widely used for building credibility and generating buzz about a brand/product or service.  The world’s largest corporations spend billions of dollars in harnessing the power of a good endorsement.  In affiliate marketing, carefully chosen testimonials can be very effective in convincing prospects to try your product or service. Because of competition however, many  affiliate marketing programs try to increase their credibility factor by inviting celebrities to provide an endorsement. While this can be very effective, particularly if the celebrity has a large fan base, it can also be quite expensive.  Not every affiliate marketer can afford to pay a celebrity just to place their name on his site.  To compete, affiliate marketers turn to their own customers and members, specifically people who have had sufficient experience with the product and want to share their success.

A fully satisfied customer’s testimonial, if honest and well-written, may be as effective as that of a celebrity.  To do it effectively however, consider the following factors:

A) Be Specific – If a testimonial from a customer or another affiliate states that the program is ‘excellent’, it should be followed by a specific description of the program’s most useful features – what makes it excellent, how it has helped the customer or affiliate, why it’s reliable, etc.

B) Skepticism is good – Believe it or not, skepticism is good.  Phrases such as, ‘I wasn’t convinced at first, BUT…’ or ‘I have always used XYZ product and didn’t think of switching to another brand.  However, your product has ____ and ____ features that convinced me it was so much better.’

Even with the stated objection, a testimonial can be quite powerful if it is followed by a positive statement.

C) Avoid using fake testimonials –  You lie, you die. Someone will get wind of the falsehood, expose you and you lose your credibility.

D) Be selective –  Be picky:  find the best, especially the well-written and detailed ones.  Or, you could take the best sentences and phrases and post those in place of a paragraph.

Bottom line is this- use but don’t abuse..

The Art Of Preselling

I took a little hiatus from blogging, but I have returned.  I’ve got some GREAT content to share.  We’ll start of with the art of what’s called Preselling.

What it is

Preselling  is the art of  conditioning your website visitors to be ready to click to the merchant site and buy their product (and earn you your commission.)

Easy enough right? You would think.  But you’d be surprised how many times I’ve landed at a site and all Isaw was a hard-sell. “SPAM!”, I said and left. I was looking for information, but I was bombarded and forced to buy something – no thanks.

However, when you presell your visitor, you are cultivating a relationship. When you present him with agreeable content, you will increase the likelihood that he might click your link to make a purchase.  The question then is this: How does one presell?

Like talking to a friend

The first tip is this: Write like you are talking to a friend.  Keep things sweet and simple. Too many obtions confuse people, and confused people don’t buy!  Stick with one topic and stay on target. Share a problem, and discuss how you solved it, what you did that helped.

Stay clear of the exaggerated claims.  Never begin with unbelievable statements. Big statements and promises may be OK for a merchant’s page, but not for a relationship-building, preselling page. You might tell some short funny anecdotes about your family of snorers, and ease up to the day you chanced on this anti-snoring herbal concoction.  End up relating how it ended your (or your spouse’s) lifelong, nightly noise.

And finally, write your content as if you are the person reading it. See if you:

• Answer a question people are asking
• Are writing on their level
• Provide a solution

Know this: Preselling is the secret sauce of  your  Super Affiliate recipe.  Master it, and your affiliate commissions will have you eating deliciously well…

Tony's Pizza Give-Away

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Tony’s Pizza. All opinions are 100% mine.

I love pizza. To grow up in a New York city neighborhood meant enjoying a thin crust, hand-tossed, plain slice (or two ) of triangular shaped Italian goodness. This was and continues to be a staple of Brooklynite life.

I’m in Florida now, but I still try to regularly enjoy a good Pizza. In fact, on Friday nights, it’s almost a ritual – dinner and a movie: usually pizza, wings & a DVD of a recent release. The pizza can be carry-out, hand made or store bought (i.e: frozen).

Why do I enjoy pizza so much? Honestly I don’t know. Perhaps eating it now takes me back to a simpler time. Or maybe it’s the fact that’s its a quick, pleasantly delicious and fun food choice. Or, maybe it’s because it might be a guilt-free pleasure. It’s been said that, in moderation, pizza may be GOOD for you: A typical slice of cheese pizza gets only 30% of its calories from fat and the tomato sauce contains lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that may help prevent cancer. Experts recommend eating pizza with plenty of vegetable toppings, especially bell peppers because they retain their vitamin C.

Whatever the reason, I luv it, and eat it I do. So I was excited when Tony’s Pizza sent us some coupons to enjoy and share their offerings.

I’m more of a cheese pizza kinda guy, while my son also enjoys the pepperoni topping. And I got to tell you, these flavorful crispy crusted delights are pleasantly affordable – under $1.75 – and quick to make – 400 degrees for 12 minutes – and for all you mommies (and daddies) out there who are watching what your kids eat, the list of ingredients on these tasty treats are agreeable to those looking for the quick food without all the quick junk.

Our friends at Tony’s want you to enjoy their Crisby Crust pizza for FREE! They sent me some extra coupons to give away to my pizza loving readers. So if you want one, leave a comment as to why and I’ll send you one.

I only have a few so be quick and enjoy!!!!!!!!

Persuasive Copy How-To

So you found an awesome offer. It seems to be converting well for others and you want it to promote it. You created a nice, unique landing page design and are ready to create your compelling content. But, will it be persuasive enough to lead to conversions? How do you get your copy to be persuasive? Here’s how:

1) Remember the reader: Who’s your targeted demo? What’s in it for them? Promise them something early on so they keep reading. Give them a reason why they are there. Be specific and leave the BS to the farmers.

2) Give them proof: Quote third party references or statistics or use testimonials to solidify your position as an authority in the space
and restate the hook that got readers engaged in the first place.

3) Make them an offer. Buyers don’t “buy”, they choose to own what is being offered to them. Be bold and firm when you present your offer, and relieve the reader’s risk of acceptance by standing behind what you say.

Try these tips when creating your offer letter and you’ll be writing pretty persuasive copy.

5 Affiliate Marketing Product Mistakes

Many affiliate marketers today are facing the problem of not knowing which particular affiliate products to promote because of the deluge of products available. Here are 5 mistakes to avoid:

1. Focusing on the affiliate program not on the product

It really important for you to remember you will be marketing a product and not an affiliate program. Don’t overlook a program because many affiliates are working it. Thats actually a good thing – it means it converts well.

2. Failing to invest in getting the word out

Use PPC wisely, feel free to experiment with Adwords and Adsense, leverage your email list. Pay attention to your response rate to see which specific marketing channels are more appropriate for the offer.

3. Ignoring the Search Engine Optimization Process

Sure you got your thin sites for the quick programs, and PPC works well for these. But for your special offers, focus on creating an authoritative destination and work on getting these to rank well. Ranking high organically provides free traffic (sort of).

4. Focusing on the product not on the site

Build a good landing page. Provide a relevant title and a clear call to action. More on landing pages in a future post.

5. Failing to keep up with latest news in the industry of your chosen products

Stay informed – in tune with the market, and stay ahead of the competition.

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