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[et_pb_section][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text]MailChimp Email Marketing Services. This post was published on 9th July 2013 and it is time for an update because there are a lot of things that had changed over the years. Not only MailChimp had changed, everything from list building to email marketing solutions had evolved with technology.
So, are you planning to use MailChimp for email marketing or already using MailChimp but is actively looking for alternatives? Today, I’m going to share some important things you should know about disadvantages using MailChimp which can impact your email marketing strategy dearly.
This article is not about flaming or putting MailChimp down. Instead, it is just several small information which could affect you, your website or business if you are not careful with. More importantly, these disadvantages might impact your online marketing strategies!
BONUS RESOURCE: Click here to learn more about MailChimp competitors (ConvertKit and Drip) here!
What is MailChimp (or ChimpMail)?
MailChimp has came a long way and over the years, it had it shares of improvements done to email marketing. MailChimp is currently the market leader for free email marketing solution.
Here’s what MailChimp looks like in the past.
It’s bloody old school to say the very least!
Those days, the tagline for MailChimp is “Send Better Emails” and now, the latest MailChimp tagline is “Marketing Platform For Small Businesses.”
While MailChimp may have changed its logo, branding and tagline, the same old MailChimp email marketing model (which are highly sought after) remains:
Forever free account for email marketing
Manage up to 2,000 email subscribers free
Send up to 12,000 emails per month for free
I know thousands of businesses around the world who stand by MailChimp when it comes to email marketing service. Even bloggers (both beginners and professionals) use MailChimp to manage their email lists!
So, why is MailChimp such a popular email marketing service?
I bet it has nothing to do with the chimpanzee who dressed up as a postal service previously. While I think that it is a great mascot as it serves a good balance between fun and work, the new mascot for MailChimp looks better and portrays quality.
MailChimp got its name and fame by offering pretty much forever free email marketing solutions to those who need it.
Small business owners, email marketers, bloggers and entrepreneurs use MailChimp because of the excellent pricing structures and of course, very good delivery rates.
In short, MailChimp is an online email marketing solution to manage your contacts, send emails and track results. It offers forever free membership for the first 2,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails monthly.
For me, forever free email marketing solution is very tempting and mouthwatering feature especially when you are new in blogging or Internet marketing industry. We are always trying to grow our mailing list and if you are just starting a new venture, you wouldn’t want to spend $20 to $100 a month for premium email marketing services.
Hey, I get it … I’ve been there myself! When I first started Marketing Lancers (digital marketing agency in Malaysia), the entire company’s was going on lean marketing/setup. Minimum staffs and leveraging as many free tools as possible to reduce the overall cost.
With the very interactive user interface, excellent back-end dashboard and forever free MailChimp email marketing services, your email marketing problem is solved, right?
Well, I wished that was the case but it isn’t. There are some MailChimp weaknesses and disadvantages which you should be well aware off, or else they are going to bite you where it hurts the most (destroying your email list).
Carry on reading to learn more about MailChimp email marketing solution.
BONUS: If you want to learn how to use MailChimp effectively, here’s an awesome guide for you. The Complete Guide In Using MailChimp Email Marketing Solution (Step By Step Guide).
1. No affiliate marketing with MailChimp
The single biggest problem with MailChimp email marketing solution is their legal policies. MailChimp legal policies is pretty strict especially for many bloggers and work from home Internet marketers.
Why?
I got this shot from the main website (source below).
Prohibited Content on MailChimp
Please don’t use MailChimp to send anything offensive, to promote anything illegal, or to harass anyone. You may not send:
Pornography or other sexually explicit emails
Email offering to sell illegal goods or services
Emails that violate CAN-SPAM Laws
Alternate Comment TimesMarketing or commercial email with permission
Some industries have higher-than-normal abuse complaints, which can in turn jeopardize the deliverability of our entire system. Nothing personal, but in order to maintain the highest delivery rates possible for all our customers, we can’t allow businesses that offer these types of services, products, or content:
Escort and dating services
Pharmaceutical products
Work from home,make money on online, and lead generation opportunities
Alternate Comment TimesOnline trading, day trading tips, or stock market-related content
Alternate Comment TimesMulti-level marketing
Alternate Comment TimesAffiliate marketing
Alternate Comment TimesCredit repair and get out of debt opportunities
Alternate Comment TimesMortgages and loans
Alternate Comment TimesNutritional, herbal, and vitamin supplements
Alternate Comment TimesAdult novelty items or references
Alternate Comment TimesList brokers or list rental services
If you send this sort of content, most email services providers won’t be able to help you. You might want to look into setting up your own mail server. MailChimp’s Delivery Guide explains how that works.Source: MailChimp
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Are you blown?
For the benefit of the doubt, I understand that MailChimp wants to protect its delivery rate but do you agree that MailChimp terms is not even an advantage to consider for online marketers and bloggers?
I was made aware thanks to Adrian and you can read it all here (comment section).
Personally, I wouldn’t mind the first few disadvantages but not allowing affiliate marketing is definitely the stop point for me. As a professional and seasoned affiliate marketer, using MailChimp email marketing solution means that I’m at risk of losing my whole email list and more importantly, going to impact my affiliate earnings severely!
I could be wrong but Internet marketing is either selling/promoting products (affiliate marketing) or creating some sort of lead generation for business.
Editor’s Note
If you are in the affilaite marketing niche like I do, I recommend you to understand the terms and conditions of MailChimp before using it. MailChimp has the tendency to remove your account without any notice and this means that all your hard work will just go straight into the drain!
When it comes to MailChimp abuse reports, the risk is high and you need to know that you are not allowed to promote any affiliate products (apart from your own) using MailChimp.
2. MailChimp pricing structure is misleading
This MailChimp review is not complete without talking about the MailChimp pricing structure.
MailChimp pricing structure is really bad. Take a look at both of these screenshots.
Basic pricing structure
When you have more than 2,000 subscribers
For me, the MailChimp email pricing structure is really misleading. Compare both the left and right side of the images.
Let’s assume you are at 2,000 email subscribers and you are required to go for paid email marketing by MailChimp. You are no longer paying $10 but $30 for 2,000 email subscribers (up to 2,500 email subscribers).
Do you see the big jump in pricing? That’s an additional of $20 on top of the base $10 per month! For bloggers, this is definitely not worth the money and effort.
Sure, professional email marketers (even other blog posts) will say that when you have 2,000 email subscribers, you will be able to make sufficient money from your list.
But, is that the real truth? For a fact, I know many bloggers and Internet marketers who have more than 2,000 email subscribers and not making a single cent from email marketing.
If I’m putting myself in the shoes of new bloggers or low-income online marketers, MailChimp pricing is definitely one of the biggest disadvantages using MailChimp.
Plus when include in the terms and conditions of not allowing affiliate marketing, it gets even worse!
I will not be surprised the number of bloggers who have this question in mind, “How do I make money with email marketing with MailChimp?”
Personally, I rather pay for AWeber anytime of the day compared to MailChimp based on the pricing structure (no offense, MailChimp).
3. MailChimp support is bad
Based on industry standards, MailChimp has one of the worst support you can ever image.
If you are using MailChimp free account, support will only be given to you on the first 30 days via email only (refer above).
Yes, I know EXACTLY what you are thinking.
It is rather safe to say that when you use MailChimp free account, there is absolutely NO support given and I can’t even imagine MailChimp has such feature. Sure the knowledge base for MailChimp is very detailed but in today’s business world, data suggests that customers see fast, friendly and consistent customer service as the gold standard.
Should I still use MailChimp?
I think this is one important question to cover. MailChimp has many disadvantages but I still use MailChimp for some of my blogs and businesses.
When it comes to email marketing, MailChimp is pretty awesome and has a very unique pricing model. If you are a small to medium sized business and doesn’t require much from an email marketing solution, MailChimp is an excellent choice.
If mailing list is under 2,000 email subscribers and you are not willing to pay for an email marketing solution, this ChimpMail is worth the try.
The most important factor when considering using MailChimp is that you are not opening in the industry or markets which they do not allow (refer to their terms above).
MailChimp is just like any other email marketing solutions such as AWeber and Convertkit. It is common to have emails delivered via MailChimp going to spam. This happens!
The problems (in most cases) don’t sit on MailChimp servers but most of the the time, the email domain that you used or the content in the email that triggers the spam filters. Here are some samples:
Using Gmail or Yahoo to send email
Having words like “free” and “sale” in the email body
What’s your thought on MailChimp?
What do you think about MailChimp and all these issues?
Again, this doesn’t prove or mean that MailChimp is bad choice for email marketing. I got to admit that the above sounds a little … biased … but I promise I’m not!
Maybe, just a little frustrated as an avid Internet marketer myself.
If you’re able to live with it (like the thousands who do), why not right?
MailChimp offers:
Free and pay as you go (services)
Acceptable level of reliability (delivery)
Simple to use and intuitive dashboard/email marketing features
Personally, I would use MailChimp if I’m running a small blog or a non-business site. However, I would rather pay a little bit more to have a better service especially when it comes to business matters. Moreover, Internet marketing is all about the ‘list’ and without one, you are basically nothing.
My only concern about MailChimp are their terms and MailChimp pay as you go mechanics which can be very expensive as you grow your email list.
Are you convinced with what I have to say about MailChimp? If you are thinking that hey, MailChimp is free to sign up and no strings attached, go ahead and register your free account here. Moreover, you have nothing to lose, right?
Now, what’s your take on this? Will MailChimp be able to restore confidence among its member? Hit the reply button below and tell me what you think.
………
Thinking twice of MailChimp or looking for another email marketing provider? How about AWeber?Try it out for FREE today (plus 30 days money back guarantee)!
And if AWeber is not your cup of tea, here are 4 more MailChimp alternatives to start your email marketing campaigns today. Read here.
Overall, there are many other MailChimp alternatives that you could use. It all boils down to your email marketing requirements and the budget you can afford to commit to every month.
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For many bloggers, search engine optimization or SEO is very important when it comes to growing a website. And yes, this is wrong! Hell wrong … I should be focusing on reader’s engagement and let me tell you why.
I did two case studies last month and the figures really opened my eyes. Through my experience, new websites on competing on moderate to high competition keywords usually get very less traffic for the first few months. When I read Neil Patel’s Quick Sprout, it made me realized that I could actually grow my website from nothing to something … within days.
What’s worst is that I’m competing on super high competition keywords such as:
Blogging
Internet marketing
Search engine optimization
WordPress
Do you know how much competitions I’m actually facing? Literally, it felt like competing with a quarter of the total websites in the world.
So, this is probably not the question of the year but it sure sounds important for you and me; Why should you focus more on social engagement than plain, straight-forward search engine optimization techniques?
This is not about ditching your SEO strategies but to improvise it. Start thinking out of the box!
Here’s what Google said in the past:
‘In general, webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by increasing the number of high-quality sites that link to their pages.’
This is what Google says now:
‘In general, webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by creating high-quality sites that users will want to use and share.’
Does this make any sense to you? I even underlined the important words for you. So, ask yourself again now; How important is social engagement in Google point of view?
The below are two case studies which I did to see how social engagement affects my website growth and traffic.
Case Study 1
Focused on:
Search engine optimization techniques
Quality content
Using right keywords
My website traffic was pretty low considering that it is new and limited social engagement
Look at the graph. Does that look familiar to you? For me, absolutely yes. Regardless how many new websites I started up, my graph and website traffic has always be like that.
20 to 50 views a day? That doesn’t make the cut! I need to do more and think out of the box; Is there any other way to improve and increase my website traffic?
Case Study 2:
Focused on:
Social shares (social media)
Reader’s engagement
Commenting on other blogs of the same niche
My website traffic increase dramatically when there was comments done on Google+ and social media
Even a young boy could tell the difference right? My website traffic exploded, skyrocketed and increase more than what I expected.
This is H-U-G-E …
In just one week:
Website traffic increase at least 2.5 times more
Over 50 comments received
Bounce rate reduced by 10%
And my Gooogle Adsense revenue grow by 33%
This is H-U-G-E …
Case study 2 isn’t much about the normal SEO stuffs most bloggers talk about … you know, content, keywords and the list continues.
Instead, case study 2 is how clever bloggers and writers grow their websites. Just look at how Traffic Generation Cafe, Kikolani and CopyBlogger grow their websites.
Practically, they did everything every one was doing. From search engine optimization techniques to writing great contents.
But, they did everything with a twist … they added human touch.
What? Human touch?
Human touch is more than just hand shaking
Read some of your articles and tell me if these articles are written for search engines and not for readers. I admit it, even I have some article written for search engines and that’s bad.
I classify human touch as one part of social engagement. When your readers hits your website, you got to make sure that you try your best to get to them and welcome them.
If you are writing a blog or article, make sure you are catering for your human readers and not bots. Readers want to read facts and not SEO optimized articles. Period.
Be a reader yourself to be engaging
Nowadays, reader’s engagement is way more important than content itself.
Always put yourself in the shoes of your readers. Imagine you are visiting a blog and the writer is actually writing for search engines and not for the reader. Would you be back? I guess not.
Sames goes here. When a reader leave a comment, reply to them and tell them how much you appreciate them. I know a bunch of bloggers who don’t reply to comment and this is absolutely why you should … starting now!
You want to your website to grow in terms of traffic, search engine ranking and even subscribers right? You got to do something to make them come back for more! And, you wouldn’t go any wrong with some customer service or human touch I would say.
Small steps could create big improvements in social engagement
Before you even thinking of going into social media, make sure you are ready for it. Update all your profiles and make sure they are good. Yes, real good.
Tip when writing a profile: Compose a short profile where readers can get an idea of what you are in just 15 seconds or less.
You want your readers to engage with you and you want to create a good platform for that. There’s no better way then showing to people what you really are with a good profile and a nice photo of you. Please … no fake photos or some celebrities. That’s a recipe for disaster 🙂
Why reader’s engagement matters?
It doesn’t really matter if the reader is leaving a negative or positive comment. Taking for an example, I received a comment yesterday by Adrian Jock. He pointed out that I had overlooked one of the facts and I didn’t delete that. Instead, I published it and did the right amendment as what pointed out. You can find the article here: The Truth About Aweber And MailChimp.
I used to be a blogger myself who deletes all bad comments and leave good ones instead. Well, even though that is absolutely doable, I wanted to be slightly different.
Now, do a little thinking and do you get the point?
The fact is that any discussion could be a great discussion. It really depends on how you talk it out. I know some comments turned out to be heated one instead. And that, by all means … please avoid it! 🙂
Thank your readers who left comments on your website
A small note of thank you goes a long way especially for bloggers
This is another important part that is important for most readers following from the above. They love to see your reply and yes this is the real deal. I know quite a few bloggers and writers who do not respond to their reader’s comment. If you’re following their footsteps, you should stop right now!
If you want to boost your social engagement level and get your readers to come back for more, you should start talking to them. There’s no better way then thanking them for their time visiting and even reply to their feedback.
For me, I reward my readers and those who leave a comment by using CommentLuv plugin. Basically, anyone can entitle for a free DoFollow link as long as they comment and share the article on social media. Don’t hear my words for it. Instead, here’s the link (it’ll open a new window for you): What is CommentLuv WordPress plugin?
Start leaving your comments on other blogs!
Have you ever encountered a time where you stumbled upon some article on the web and liked it? Why don’t you leave a comment and thank the author for the hard work? Moreover, they deserved it since they had provided some sort of important information for you.
When you are leaving comments on blogs, make sure you make it as insightful as possible. This means that you must scrape off all those thank you and goodbye stuffs. Instead, thank them for the hard work and add some of your thoughts into the matter.
I know probably 90% of the blogs out there do not allow links on their comment right? This is where you should take advantage of CommentLuv enable sites. Sharing good comment and get a link share in return?
I don’t think there’s anything else better than this!
The importance of social share (social media)
Like it or hate it, social share is important. Imagine the webpage had just opened and immediately, your eyes are attracted to the total number of social media shares it has on that page. I bet your mind is telling you that the article is pretty impressive and worth your time reading right?
Yes! That’s it! The more social share you have, the better chance people are going to be convinced on what you’ve to say.
Recently, I’ve been very active on social media and for every like, retweet or share I got on social media, my traffic exploded multiple times. Does this make any logical sense for you?
I bet it do … right?
Writing good content is important but if no one is reading it, there ain’t any point. Therefore, it is best if you can allocate some time around daily for some social shares. Even sharing other articles is also a great move as well!
If you are looking for a good (and free) Social Media management tool, you may want to sign up for SocialOomph.
Over to you …
I’m sure you are now convinced that social engagement is extremely important regardless it is for SEO, website ranking or even increasing website traffic.
What do you think about social engagement and are you practicing it already?
Hit the Reply button below and let’s discuss.
If you like this article, could you please share this for me using the red Google+ button below?
This article about email marketing services is dedicated to my blogger friend, Bren Lee from My Girly Parts who asked me about the differences between MailChimp and AWeber. So Bren, this is for you and hope you liked it.
You have probably heard about ‘money is in the list’ hundred of times now. If not, you better read this article not once … but twice.
Why? Because this is the most basic blogging 101 for beginners and professional bloggers alike!
Did you noticed that there are those newsletter signup boxes on your favorite websites? Yes, now you got the point.
Before that, let’s take a quick look on what makes AWeber and MailChimp different using the slide below:
The importance of a mailing list
I am just keeping this short and sweet. You may have tons of traffic coming from search engines and referral traffic. However, do you know how to promote an article which has a super high rate of success?
Let’s take an instance that you have 100 subscribers. This means that you have at an average of 90 eager, ready to share and loyal readers who will read your writings. And, you may write something bad and they would probably still say you are good.
Talking from a point of an Internet marketer or emarketer, a mailing list means you are going to promote a products to people who are willing to listen and probably close a sale with them.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a blogger, copy writer or Internet marketer … you need a mailing list. I call it … the black book.
What to look for in an email marketing service provider?
There are many choices you can choose from nowadays which consist of both free and paid ones. As for the record (as of now), I do not have a huge subscribers list like what most bloggers have and I’m still trying to grow my list. If you want to join my list, you can signup here:
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I’m a tough customer and it would take me quite a lot of convinces before I actually try on an email marketing service. This are what I am expecting to get:
Easy to use (UI, integration etc)
Templates
Scheduler
Auto responder
Anti spam features
A/B testings
Pricing
Now, let me tell you again. There are many choices when it comes to email marketing software and provider. After several research and reading lots of reviews, I decided to stick my head into both MailChimp and AWeber only. The rest doesn’t come close to what I what I want (more on that in a minute).
I got to stress that I realized there are so many marketing tactics used by both the email marketing companies above which, at times is very confusing. I hope this article will give a brighter and clearer explanation of what these are and what they can offer. Most importantly, what you can expect from them.
MailChimp – Send Better Email
MailChimp offers limited email marketing services for free
I’m going to review MailChimp first since I came into contact with it earlier than others. Okay, I admit it … the word free kinda attracted me. Not only that, with over 100,000 die-hard supporters, I know that MailChimp is definitely a competitor in email marketing solutions.
What I really love about MailChimp?
Clean, clear and fun UI to use
Drag and drop functions
Very direct and not complicated settings and control panels
Free
What I dislike about MailChimp?
Free account offers limited features
Several options could be unlocked only after you completed certain tasks
You can add anyone immediately as subscribers without comfirmation
The first thing that attracted me to MailChimp (besides the bloody ‘free‘) is the user interface. It is basically very simple and is ideal for those who want to build a list fast. You can probably set up an email within 15 minutes. Maybe lesser if you know what you’re doing.
I am also tempted with MailChimp’s integration module. It’s signup form can be integrated easily into nearly any widget and plugins. Yes, a big turn on when it comes to ‘bye bye coding work’.
What I really don’t like about MailChimp is the fact that some important email marketing features are locked on free account (like A/B testing and auto responder). Of course, you can unlocked them by being more ‘active’ or doing more tasks before you are able to unlock them.
What I mean is … give me a break! If you want to offer something, offer them in full.
Example of MailChimp Mailing List which I had done to run my research
Another downside is that fact that you can basically add anyone into your subscriber’s list without their confirmation. This is not a good sign as you could easily be labelled as spam. You definitely don’t want when it comes to growing your mailing list.
I still love MailChimp and it’s simply because it is freemium. The free account offers a maximum of 2,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails (per month). Anything more is all pay per use which is pretty cool for me.
Important note (credits to Adrian Jock): Term and Condition changes on MailChimp which could affects you!
MailChimp has a small clause that disallow specific businesses to use their services.
My verdict: You can grow your mailing list perfectly well with MailChimp. It is definitely a good choice for those who are tight on budget or even on a start up website. Since MailChimp offers a free email marketing service, I believe that it is a great platform to start it … of course, if you on the ‘allowed’ list as said by MailChimp.
AWeber – Email Marketing Software and Email Marketing Services
AWeber is one of the most popular paid email marketing provider in the world
AWeber is a great email marketing service and yes, I am using AWeber. Even though I am using it, I will try my best to be as neutral as possible 🙂
AWeber is not free but I’m willing to pay for it? Why?!
What I love about AWeber?
Detailed dashboard (UI)
Many options and features when creating mailing list
Auto responder
Excellent promo ($1 for the first month)
What I dislikes about AWeber?
Limited templates
Not free!
I moved from MailChimp to AWeber simply because I wanted to try something new. And yes, it was recommended by my blogger friend, Adam Connell from Blogging Wizard. The $1 promo was more than just a deal for me. If I dislike it, I could just cancel the plan. Easy as that!
This is how AWeber looks like on my test newsletter. A complete and detailed reporting tools at your finger tips.
The first impression when I login to AWeber dashboard was “What the hell had I done?”. Okay, the UI isn’t as clean as what MailChimp is. Just see the screenshots above. AWeber dashboard is … detailed!
Now, creating an email or auto responder (called as follow up message) in AWeber is no easy job. It’s simply because it is highly customizable. There’s a slight learning curve for setting up email on AWeber but once that job is done, you are going to rock it real hard!
Hint: check out the two newsletter signup forms on my sidebar. That’s what I’m talking about!
Once you have created a signup form, AWeber gives you the special placement ability to either grab the HTML code to place manually on your website, email the code to your web developer and even have AWeber to host the form for you. Pretty cool huh?
Doing A/B testing is also easy using AWeber. You can immediately it do it regardless how many subscribers you have. That makes all the difference when compared to MailChimp.
AWeber doesn’t allow you to add any subscribers to your list. You may send an email to invite them to your list and they would need to click on the confirmation link. This is absolutely great since you are also able to detect if they are just spam email or inactive followers. A huge +1 when it comes to spam control.
Talking about spam, AWeber will give you a spam score after you completely editing your email or newsletter. You know … some words are deem spam. The lower your score, the better the chance the email will avoid the junk box.
Lastly, what I dislike about AWeber is that it has very limited and ready-made templates. Okay, I know customization is the main topic here but for lazy people like me, customizing is time consuming. However, this is something I can live with since I customize all my emails and messages.
I don’t think there is a clear winner in terms of functionality and features. You will not go wrong with either one of these email marketing providers. Trust me on that.
As a recap, here’s what I think about AWeber and MailChimp.
It doesn’t matter if you are a blogger, SEO writer, copywriter or a webmaster. You need to do at least some Internet marketing to boost your visibility to search engines.
Have you ever experienced no traffic boost or lack of audience on your website? You probably had wrote more than 10 great articles, did tons of SEO and probably, bought a killer WordPress theme. And yes, your website isn’t converting and you ain’t getting much love from search engines.
So, what’s the damn issue?!
You need a good marketing strategy my friend. You may have everything done correctly (see above) and even having a killer title heading. However if no one sees that, you are going nowhere.
Internet marketing is just like any other marketing services you can think of and yes, it works exactly the same. You have a great product and you need to tell others that you are alive…and kickin’.
You need to find ways to broadcast the message to the public and spread the word. And lucky for you, we are in the 21st century where social media is plays a huge role in our daily life.
This post is very long (with 2,334 words to be exact) and thus, I challenge you to do it in just one read. If you are able to do that, hit the comment button and tell me! Don’t worry if you can’t. Just bookmark this and come back later!
I have compiled a list of internet marketing tools which you can use in order to boost your marketing strategies and their effectiveness.
I have also divided them into several parts which are:
Social media platforms
Sharing portals
Social media programs
Email marketing
Social Media Platforms
Using the right social media can easily boost marketing success
One very important thing is that you need to understand that social media is a very strong and powerful marketing tool. Basically, you can connect to hundreds and thousands of people in just a matter of clicks. Make sure you know what you are doing and if not, you are going to have big problems heading over to you!
Twitter
Twitter is more than just great. Compose 140 characters and blast it to all your readers. That’s the power of Twitter.
When it comes to Internet marketing, you need Twitter and it doesn’t matter if you like it or not. And yes, Twitter is my first choice when it comes to increasing my social share visibility. If you are not using it, you SHOULD start using it right now!
This is what my Twitter account looks like. With slightly above one thousand followers, each Tweet would mean sending potential information to 1,000 plus ready listeners.
Google+
As for the record, I’m not a big fan of Google+ but I still got to share with you it’s effectiveness especially when it comes to link building and SEO ranking.
The more shares you got on Google+ tells big daddy Google that your product is pretty impressive (or least, something search engines should look at). When it comes to Internet marketing, don’t leave out Google+.
Share some information with your circles and you are already completed one easy part of the Internet marketing process.
Yup, you’ve got the point!
Facebook
I believe I would know the answer if I would to ask you, ‘Do you Facebook?’
You couldn’t be wrong since millions are on Facebook daily and if this is not one of your Internet marketing tools, something is really wrong either up or down there.
The more likes, shares and comments you get on Facebook, the better chance of you marketing your product. And, you do not need to spend any money for it.
Spend at least 30 minutes a day on Facebook on marketing (and not seeing your friend’s wall) and you will probably do better in your marketing tactics.
Big companies such as HTC, Samsung and Apple are all advertising (paid) on Facebook and this just prove how important Internet marketing is right now.
Linkedin
For me, Linkedin will always be a place where ‘˜professionals meet up’. You are marketing a product and do you think it would be an attention grabber if popular figures such as Darren Rowse and Adam Cornell would share your content or website?
That’s it mate!
The truth is, if promoting a product is easier when you have respected figures sharing the information. This leads to a more stable, trustable and authority share on social media.
StumbleUpon
This is one Internet marketing tool which has a 50-50 success rate in my opinion. What you can do is submit an article (for instant) to StumbleUpon.
The process of getting ‘˜Stumbled Upon’ is pretty simple. When you submit an article, it will be ‘˜shared’ among its users. And I’m not talking about hundreds or thousands of users. I am talking about more than 100,000 users around the world. Readers and members who think that your article is worth reading will continue to ‘˜share’ it with the rest.
Obviously, the circle looks easy right? The more ‘˜stumble’ you get, the better chance of you having a successful Internet marketing campaign.
Digg
Digg works exactly the same with StumbleUpon and thus, it saves me from explaining everything (and for you, avoiding any falling asleep).
You have to be careful using Digg as users has the ability to rank up or rank down your article score. So, getting the best content out there on Digg is very vital.
Oh yes, search engines are giving the same amount of love to Digg just like StumbleUpon.
SocialMonkee
There are many people who disapprove this and which you can Google to see why. For me, SocialMonkee had served me very well.
SocialMonkee is one part of my Internet marketing tool because I see the advantages in it. The strategy is pretty simple actually.
You submit an URL, complete with different phrases for titles and content. The system will use The Best Spinner to spin those articles making similar copies to be submitted to other sites.
My marketing strategy on SocialMonkee is basically playing smart when it comes to URL submission. This means that I am submitting not only my main website (1 out of 20 submissions) and article URLs but at the same time, I am submitting my Tier 2 or any other sites that are pointing to my article. SocialMonkee does not provide very good quality backlink and thus, you should focus more for your Tier 2 sites only.
Backlink provided by SocialMonkee isn’t perfect (wait, who does right?) and you should avoid focusing them directly on your website. Of course, if your website is well established, then you have nothing to worry about it. However if you are running a new site, you got to be careful. SocialMonkee could easily backfire on you.
You have been warned!
Social Media Managements
Using social media management can save time and effort when it comes to Internet marketing
I have listed not one, not two but seven different Internet marketing tools above and handling all of them takes time and effort.
Social media management provides tools to help you cope up with daily task and most importantly, sending out important social shares on behalf. Here are the list of my favorite social media management tools which I used daily.
Buffer
C’mon guys. Buffer is more than just a management system for social media. People such as Kristi Hines and Brian Gardner uses Buffer as one of their Internet marketing tools. Are you next?
What I love about Buffer is you can schedule articles and improve your social shares. Okay, let’s be frank here. Imagine sharing articles at any specific time of the day is tiring and takes up a lot of your time. This is where Buffer helps to manage those social shares for you.
Just set a time and day for the share on Buffer and the system will do the rest for you. Crazy? I call that impressive.
Their support team is also one of the best. You can email or Tweet them and rest assured your enquiry will be answered as soon as possible. This is something (in terms of service) I have yet to see on other social media management until date.
HootSuite
As much as I love Buffer, I still love HootSuite. And you are probably thinking why am I using two systems instead of one right?
HootSuite does everything Buffer does (and vice versa). However, I love to use HootSuite because it integrates all my social media accounts under one roof.
Oh yes, it does schedule social media marketing for you but integrating everything into one dashboard? I hardly can say no to.
@HootSuite – if you are reading this, keep up the good work!
Okay, JustReTweet could easily land in social media part but there’s a reason for me to list it here instead.
JustReTweet works in two ways:
Share your articles on Facebook, Twitter and Google+
Share other interesting articles on Facebook, Twitter and Google+
In order to share your articles, you need credit and you can earn them by sharing other articles (not yours) first. Consider this bidding.
You set the number or shares you want, where to share and how much credit you are paying others to share your articles. Nothing really free in this world right?
Now, every time you share an article, it will not go live instantly. Instead, the developer was smart enough to set limits on sharing. This means that all these shares are scheduled accordingly and you can only share X numbers of shares a day to avoid spam.
This is H-U-G-E! When it comes to search engine optimization, social shares plays a huge role and therefore, you should definitely take a look at what JustReTweet can do for you.
Discussion and sharing portals
Discussion portals hold many untold power when it comes to the marketing industry
The marketing world is getting more challenging each day and you need more tools to help you with. This is where discussion and sharing portals play a huge role for bloggers, writers and webmasters.
The right portals will help you promote your website and you might even receive more followers if you are doing a great job. Not only that, you can also ask for critiques to make your website grow! Here’s the list of sharing portals I would highly recommend.
Triberr
Triberr is something new to me and I only came to know about it when one of my fellow blogger introduced it to me.
Not seeing any love about Internet marketing? Read again!
The more people giving you advices and tips, the better chances you are going to improve and of course, increase your market value.
Scoop.it
Let’s say you have some old articles that needed some traffic boost. Submit them to Scoop.it and walaa~! Assuming that you have some good content and stuffs like that.
What makes Scoop.it interesting is the fact that you can do these:
Find topics that you like
Share your articles, blogs and websites
Merge all of them into a stunning, magazine-like reading material
Now, get the point? Yes! Internet marketing at its best. Nuff said.
Email Marketing Solutions
Having the right email marketing solution is important to ensure emails are delivered promptly to the recipients
There’s a very popular saying when it comes to Internet marketing, ‘˜the money is in the list’. And in this matter, it is so damn true. I left this out and you shouldn’t.
If you want to perform the right Internet marketing, you need the right Internet marketing tools. In this case, you need email list or subscriber’s list. Here are two of the best email marketing providers which you can not go wrong with.
Aweber
Aweber is not free and I’m sorry. However, Aweber is one hell of an email marketing provider. What makes Aweber so famous is that they focus on click rates and providing spam score. This means more open rate than the email going into the spam or junk box.
Comparing both Aweber and MailChimp (you can read below), I would say I love the designs and the abilities offered by Aweber. And yes, I am using Aweber as my email provider.
Currently, they have a promotion where the first month of service would only cost you $1 and if you are unhappy with it, you can ask for a full refund. No question asked. Subsequently, each month will cost you $19 and you get a better discount for every quarterly or yearly payment.
I know there are probably thousands who stand by MailChimp and I totally understand that. MailChimp offers free email services for the first 2,000 subscribers. If you have 2,000 or less subscribers, then you should definitely get MailChimp.
Another bonus on the free account is that you can send up to 12,000 emails per month to your 2,000 subscribers at no cost at all.
MailChimp is different from Aweber because it has a very interactive layout. Their concept is to have a balanced combination of work and play. I believe their dashboard explains it all.
I got to admit this article is long and if you managed to read whole article in just one shot, congratulation! Moving forward, I really hope you enjoy my writing about Internet marketing tools.
Do you use any marketing tools or you have anything to share? Feel up the form below and let’s discuss!
If you like this article, could you please share this for me using the red Google+ button below?
Welcome to the new era (after Google Penguin update). You have probably heard some websites got a huge Page Rank boost and I know one who had a superb boost, from a PR 0 to a PR 4!
Let’s get back to topic on the relationship between content optimization and search engine optimization, shall we?
What is Search Engine Optimization?
Search Engine Optimization or also known as SEO, is regarded as the most important thing for a blogger or web developer when it comes to ranking.
In easier words, search engine optimization refers to the process in making blogs and websites selected as the best information provider by search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing.
There could be one hundred million websites (I am just making up the numbers) now on the world wide web and search engines are not able to show all the results.
Therefore, blogs and websites which are highly optimized for search engines will be featured in the search engine result pages (SERPs).
Make sense?
Higher and better search engine optimization = More visibility for search engines = More chances of ranking better on result pages = More traffic to blog = Better chance of making money through blogging
Guys, pay attention to this as content optimization one of the best search engine optimization techniques after Google Penguin Update.
Content optimization doesn’t mean making your content as short as possible or reducing the number of words. Instead, it means that shifting your focus on several parts to make your article standout.
Sounds crazy? Sounds like lots of work? Definitely, if you want to have good ranking then it is worth your time. I used to write 3 to 5 articles a day. When I started doing content optimization, I only manage to write one article per day. So, give me a break ya?
Content optimization focuses on several important SEO practices (which I will explain in a minute or less):
Focus keyword
Density of keywords
Using alt tags
Using H1 to H3 headings
Use both internal and external link building methods
Content optimization: You want your content to be filled with your focus keyword. Period.
For bloggers who are using WordPress SEO by Yoast, this term will be very familiar for you. I always consider focus keyword as the main objective or title of the website.
When you are aware of the focus keyword, you would then be able to write and create better blog post. Trust me on this.
Basically focus keyword plays a huge role when it comes to search engine optimization is because it allows bloggers like you and me to be very focus in the topic we are writing. You can actually consider that as niche writing if that helps you to understand further.
Not to forget, focus keyword is usually short and very descriptive. The more precise your focus keywords are, the better the chances you are going to increase your blog rankings.
2. How keyword density affects content optimization and SEO ranking?
There’s no denial in the advantages of using keywords when it comes to search engine optimization. It doesn’t matter if you are writing an article based on 500 words or 1,500 words. Keyword density is much more than just plain important and it is a very important factor in content optimization.
Thinking of getting your content optimized? Get your hands dirty with keyword density and you will see your website or blog grow. When I say your website will grow, I mean growing in both traffic, SEO ranking and make more money online. Seriously.
When we talk about keyword density, it usually means the amount of focus keywords used in that particular article. I heard many people saying that it is best to have focus keywords to be nothing more than 5% density.
For me, I prefer to have a 3% keyword density for my main keyword. Why? Self preference and no obvious reasons! Throughout my years in doing various research on optimization techniques, I concluded that I wanted my article to be a little different from the rest. My SEO practices in my websites are slightly different especially when it comes to keyword density.
Basically, I try to have 3 keywords in all my blog posts. Here’s how the ‘layout’ and my search engine optimization blueprint:
2% – main keyword
1% – secondary keyword
< 1% – secondary keyword
My main keyword is usually very focused, two to three letters keyword while the balance two keywords are usually slightly phrase keyword or general keyword (high competition keyword).
3. Using alt tags in content optimization techniques
Again and again, I see bloggers and many webmasters leaving this important optimization factor out and honestly, I have no freaking idea why!
Where you can find alt tags? You can find alt tags only in images (especially when you are uploading them). Screen shot as below:
You can fill up your important keywords in the Alt Text column
So, why alt tags are important in terms of search engine optimization? Google and many search engines doesn’t only look at your content description but also, alt tags.
The rule is…drum roll please…the important SEO rule in alt tags is to always insert your selected keywords into your alt tags.
Why amigo? Why?
Read the above again. Search engines such as Google do index these images and check on their alt tags. Make sense? Go figure!
4. The H1 to H3 roles in search engine optimization
Before you read what I have to say about the famous H1 to H3 heading tags, this is what Pearson had to say. If you are wondering who Pearson is, he is the one of the important figures behind the famous WordPress theme, Thesis Theme from DIYThemes.
Pearson’s idea on the different headings for a blog or website
Yup you see and read them correctly! Here are three things you learn from the image above:
You should only focus using H1 to H3 heading tags in your blog or website
You should use H1 to H3 heading tags to boost your SEO ranking
You could use H4 to H6 but they doesn’t really matter much in terms of SEO
Don’t believe? Take a moment to scroll through this blog post. Do you noticed that I uses H1 heading for my main blog title followed by H2 and H3 headings for different sub headings?
For me, the reason behind this is rather easy. Google loves the fact that we (bloggers and writers) are trying to make website navigation easier. With these different heading tags, readers (especially skimmers) are able to browse through the whole blog post and searching for the right headline or subject to read instead of reading the whole article itself.
Using the different heading tags actually makes your article or blog post more organized and in terms of SEO, it means optimized. Yes, you got it right now! Hello content optimization.
Wait! Alt tags doesn’t only help in SEO but it also makes reading more fun and at the same time, reduces the bounce rate for the website.
Whoa! Isn’t that one hell of an advantage with just one optimization techniques? You bet…you bet.
5. External and internal link building strategy
This is what Google says about link building on Ranking Help Article:
In general, webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by creating high-quality sites that users will want to use and share.
From the above, it is clear that Google prefer to see websites being promoted and shared around. So, what does this do with link building?
When it comes to search engine optimization, everyone talk about building external links and that’s where everyone is so wrong! Link building is not about building external links but as well as building internal links.
That wasn’t enough and I did extra homework. After finding reviews and several opinions from larger SEO websites, I realized that the correct link building strategy is a healthy combination of internal and external links.
So, the moral of the story is pretty simple. If you want to perform good content optimization or you are searching for a good search engine optimization technique, make sure you practice building both internal and external links to your websites.
That is the bottom line when it comes to optimize your website correctly.
What do you understand about content optimization now?
With the latest Google Penguin Update, content optimization had become more important than ever. Do you practice any other content optimization? I am looking forward to hear from you and feel free to contact me or reply to me using the comment form.
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The latest Google Penguin Update has taken the SEO world by storm. This message from Google couldn’t be any more clearer especially when Google are searching for bad SEO techniques that websites and blogs are practicing. This made many SEO experts and even SEO enthusiast like me keep wondering what are the best search engine optimization techniques one should practice.
Of course, for those who have no idea what Google Penguin Update was and or how will (and probably could had affected) your websites, this video from Matt Cutts explained them all.
Movie time!
Should you change your SEO techniques?
It doesn’t matter if you are doing white hat SEO or black hat SEO. The bottom line is that you need to make sure you are doing it correctly.
When I say correctly, it simply means that all your SEO techniques must not be spammy. Even if you are building backlinks from Web 2.0 or Wiki’s, you must make sure you need to pay extra attention to those small and petty things such as anchor text.
If you are interested to understand how anchor text is going to change the face of search engine optimization techniques, then you can head over to this eBook on SEO link building or this one written by the famous Rand Fishkin from Moz.
Now let me be very honest with you on this matter. I dare to say that premium SEO tools are still worthy and important in terms of search engine optimization.
You see, there are probably tons of SEO tools out there to choose from regardless if they are free or paid. Either way, it depends back to the end user in terms of using them! I know many bloggers who fail to use Ultimate Demon link building tool to correctly and they were slapped pretty bad with the latest Google Update.
What are the best SEO techniques right now?
Disclaimer: These methods does not guarantee you 100% success in your search engine optimization strategies. However, use these methods as guidelines and modify them according to your website’s need.
The first part is rather clear. All these Google updates are done because (and I highly believe) Google wanted no one to misuse the SEO for their own advantage. This was what Adam from BloggingWizard said during one of our conversations:
This is just one part of our conversation but you get the point
As you can see now, it seems pretty obvious that there are many SEO techniques which are (sadly) misused by many. I know I am going a little off topic here but just giving my opinion.
Assuming that’s the case, it is best that we need to understand how this search engine optimization really works and you have two choices. You can either read this eBook which would cost you like less than $10 or follow this blog closesly for more SEO tips. Of course, you can also contact me if you have any issues as well!
The reader’s engagement rule
Welcome your readers and thank them for visiting your website
In this article, I want to stress the importance of the reader’s engagement when it comes to SEO best practices. Now, ask your self a few quick questions first before we go in any deeper into the topic.
What do you know about reader’s engagement?
How can you practice SEO when you communicate with your readers?
Reader’s engagement rule is huge. It consist not only other blogs and websites but it also involves social media. The rule of engagement for this types of SEO techniques are very simple indeed.
You want to build good search engine ranking or quality backlinks. Now, the more people talk about your article, blog or website, the chances of you getting traffic is better. Don’t forget that big daddy, Google is more than happy to give higher SEO ranking to websites who are constantly and actively in the discussion.
Have you noticed how websites such as ProBlogger, kikolani and probloggingsuccess are doing very well in search engine ranking page results? Have you ever why they always top the chart whenever you search for any related terms?
The answer is easy. Look at the number of comments they have. We are not talking about 5 or 10. We are talking hundreds of comments, for Christ’s sake!
Doesn’t this prove that reader’s engagement is one of the best SEO practices of all time? Yup, you got it right!
Of course, there is a little bonus for those using WordPress platform. If you want to drive traffic to your website, I would highly recommend you to use CommentLuv Premium. This is the best comment plugin for WordPress when it comes to link building and search engine optimization methods.
Hint: Some websites (including this website) are offering free follow backs or DoFollow link back when the reader had contributed a certain number of comments.
The effect of guest posting in terms of search engine optimization
Guest post can easily create a healthy backlink to your website
Are you interested to build quality backlinks for your website? I bet you are right and that’s why you are here right now. Guest posting was deem valuable in the past and now, it is worth more than gold.
So, how does guest posting actually helps in terms of SEO?
Every time a guest post is made, the writer is going to link the article back to his or her own website. Good for you since you are able to get 1 point for backlink right?
Wait! There’s more!
Whenever you are doing a guest post, you are not only selling your article but as well as selling your website and brand. Yes, you are telling people that you are alive and kickin’.
The websites that you are going to publish your articles should be:
Well recognized
Having good traffic
A good Page Rank
And highly related to your niche
When it comes to SEO techniques, Google and other search engines doesn’t really matter how you generate such backlinks (until certain extend of course). Let’s imagine this:
One guest post consist of one links to root domain (author box), two deep links pointing to specific articles on your website. There goes three superb good link building points!
Sounds good? Oh yes, it certainly does.
If you want to venture into guest posting or simply making guest posting one of your SEO techniques, these are what you need to prepare:
Quality articles of about 600 to 1,500 words (depending on websites and requirements)
Do some bloody research. I mean…do some serious research before hand
Write once but recheck it more than twice
Find the best link building website to publish the article (okay I am joking about the link building website as any good page rank websites would do)
Back to you
What do you think of this article? With the latest Google Penguin update, are you going to change your SEO techniques? Do you have any other search engine optimization methods to share aloud? I am sure you have some under your sleeves and therefore, feel free to reply using the comment form below.
Oh yes! Before I forget, I sincerely hope you will signup for my free SEO newsletter. If you have not, you could signup below and it would take less than 10 seconds of your time. I promise!
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