Many newcomers coming into the online marketing business try to avoid incurring expenses at all cost. So they end up refraining from buying everything. A domain name is just one example.

The question is, do you really need a domain name?

Let’s take a look at what a domain name is. In reality, computers don’t care about names and labels. When you send a request from a computer, the network uses a series of numbers to identify the computers and servers. This is called an IP address.

Every server has got an IP address so that when you send a request, the network knows where to send the data. That’s how computers and servers work - they remember systems using numbers. However, human beings operate in a completely different manner.

Most of us find it difficult to remember numbers. So someone came up with the idea of using alphabets to represent the numbers. These are known as TLD, or Top Level Domain names. Initially, there are only dot com, dot org, and dot net domain names. You can add any phrase in front of the com, net, and org as long as there are no invalid characters. The entire string of characters is known as a domain name.

You can own your own domain name by registering for one yourself. Before you do so, let’s take a look at how a domain name can benefit you.

1) Easy to remember.

If you are just starting a business, you want visitors to remember your website and revisit your site. So it doesn’t make much sense to try and register a long domain name that is very difficult to remember.

2) Branding purposes.

Once you own the domain name, you can brand it in whatever way you like. Remember, it’s your brand now. When done correctly, branding can lead to increase in sales.

3) Full control over your own site.

Sometimes, when you host sites on free hosts (yes, they offer you a free url or subdomain), you undertake the risk of having your sites deleted without warning. This can happen when free services close down, or they face database issues. You don’t have full control over your own site if you do not own the domain.

4) SEO benefits.

The search engines treat each domain separately. In other words, if you have your site hosted on someone else’s domain, your rankings get affected if the sites get penalized by the search engines. There is nothing you can do about this. In addition, you can choose keywords to target and have them in your domain name. This will help boost your search rankings.

5) Installation of useful applications.

Most free host will come with their own software (e.g. CMS). If you want to install additional plugins to help you power the site, you realize that you can’t do so. If you own your own domain, you can easily customize the site to suit your own needs.

6) Affordable!

Finally, be reminded that it’s very affordable to own a domain name! A Dot Com costs about $8 or so for a full year. Hosting comes rather cheap too!

Darren Chow is a full time article marketer and SEO specialist who has helped hundreds of clients promote thousands of websites. Join the article marketing newsletter to find out more about how he gets sites to rank well in the search engines.

Have you been trying to promote your new blog or website but can’t seem to get your foot into the first page of the search rankings? If so, perhaps you are performing SEO incorrectly. Find out how press release can help boost your search rankings and get you more traffic.

Many Internet marketers neglected press releases in their SEO campaigns simply because not many marketers have been talking about using press releases for SEO purposes.

This is mainly due to the fact that most people have the conception of press releases being some kind of news related article. This is true in the traditional sense. Traditional press releases are meant to announce some kind of time sensitive story.

For example, if you are just launched a new application online, you issue a press release. Or a new shipment has just arrived and you want to let the world know that you have a batch of new products to sell.

For whatever the reason, there is always the tendency to think about press releases only when there is something new to announce. This works very well on print medium.

However, the Internet is a very different medium. On the Internet, it’s not just about the story. The Internet is also about links. Just think, when you are performing SEO, what exactly are you trying to achieve?

Being clear about SEO.

Let’s take a step back and be clear about SEO. If you are doing it right, you are always looking to build back links to your website. You don’t want just any back links. You want links from well established sites – sites that have been recognized as authority sites by the search engines.

On top of that, you want proper anchor texts. If you are selling “baseball bats”, then you want those keywords in your links. The search engines determine the overall theme of your website by looking at the keywords that you use as anchor texts.

The more relevant anchor texts you have that is pointing back to your website, the better your search rankings will be.

To put that in simple terms, you are trying to achieve:

1) Acquiring more back links from high authority sites.
2) Proper anchor texts pointing back to your website.

These are the two primary goals that you are trying to accomplish. Now let’s take a look at how press releases can help you achieve those goals.

Link building with press releases.

There are several types of press release services that you will come across.

1) Free releases with no links allowed – These are press release sites that allow you to submit press releases for free. But the drawback is that you can’t have any active links in your release. If you are purely looking for some exposure with no SEO benefit whatsoever, you can still make use of these services.

2) Free releases with links allowed but no anchor texts – These are services that allow you to include 1 or 2 URLs in each press release. But these are URLs, and you cannot have your choice of anchor texts. So unless your URL contains your target keywords, you are out of luck.

3) Paid releases with links and anchor texts allowed – These are the kind of press release service that will have maximum SEO benefits. For an affordable fee, you get to publish a press release with at least 2 back links included. You are also allowed to choose your own anchor texts.

The reason why such services work so well is because they usually include many high page rank sites in their distribution list. Imagine having sites like CNET, EIN News, InboxRobot, AmericanChronicle, etc. linking back to you.

These are all well established sites that have been around for years. No wonder the search engines pay so much attention to these sites!

Press release traffic.

Having all that link juice means nothing if you are not getting any traffic. When you publish a press release, traffic will come to you in four sources.

1) Direct traffic – Once your press release has been published, it will be syndicated across a wide network of news related sites. Readers who find your headline interesting will read your story and click through to visit your website.

2) News subscribers – A press release service will also submit your news story to news wire sites such as Google News, EIN News, Topix, NewsBlaze Daily News, and more. These wire sites already have an existing database of news subscribers. When you publish a press release, these subscribers will see your news article in their news reader. They will then visit your site to learn more about what you have to offer. By the way, these News wire sites combine to offer millions of visits each month.

3) Search engines – Of course, the most valuable source of traffic comes from the search engines. This is a long term traffic source because your news article remains online indefinitely. After the initial traffic surge from the news wire sites taper off (usually after 3 weeks), you will then be able to depend on the search engines for a consistent stream of long term traffic.

4) Your own search rankings – Because you are actually performing SEO as you issue press releases, your search rankings will improve. As a result, you get more organic search traffic. In time to become, because of all those quality back links pointing to your site, you will become the owner of an authority site as well.

Preparing a press release for publication.

Publishing a press release on the Internet is easier than what most people thought. In other words, it’s not difficult to get a press release approved and distributed to sites all over the Internet.

If you are planning to write your own press release, keep these tips in mind.

* Always write in third person.
* Come up with a compelling headline to attract eyeballs.
* Include one or two quotations from a person with authority in the industry.
* State facts, features and benefits clearly.
* Choose an interesting angle to write about to ensure that you publish an interesting story.
* Don’t overstuff your news article with the same keywords. Use synonyms whenever possible to ensure that the content looks natural.
* Remember to include your contact information at the end of the press release.

One final tip – if you are writing your own press release, make sure that you write in a clear and concise manner. Don’t beat about the bush. Usually, you should be able to include all key points in your press release in about 500 words.

On the Internet, a lengthy press release may not always be a good idea. That’s because it’s easier to lose a reader if your article is too long. Keep it short, interesting, and clear. Interested visitors can always click on your links and visit your website if they want to find out more.

Darren Chow is a full time article marketer. He founded a successful press release distribution service, and has been offering high quality press release writing and submission services to hundreds of Internet Marketers worldwide.

Press releases have been very popular among business owners for getting traffic to a website. Traditionally, press releases are only limited to the print medium. And many small business owners have been unable to get the exposure they badly needed as they do not have access to journalists and editors. Usually, only media agencies have direct access.

But the Internet is a level playing field. Today, even individuals can afford to issue a press release. Let’s take a quick look at the new roles that modern press releases play.

1) Transparency.

Transparency is very important in larger organizations. In fact, it is mandatory in public listed companies. Every time there are some changes to the business, a press release must be published to inform the general public of the changes. Press releases thus become a great tool for achieving transparency. This is the traditional role of a press release.

2) Exposure.

A good press release can attract a lot of attention. It gives the Company the exposure that it needs to succeed, especially when its still young and growing. Publishing sites and houses may pick up the press release and republish the news to provide additional exposure. This type of added exposure is not uncommon for press releases.

3) SEO and traffic.

Today, press releases are published on the Internet. No print medium is involved in such publications. For a small fee, anyone can issue a press release to a wide network of news wire sites. That brings traffic to the organization’s official website.

In addition, links are allowed in the press releases. Thus, search engines are able to crawl these links and index the content pages. The PRs then become a source of long term traffic for the publishers because these articles remain online indefinitely.

For a press release to succeed in all three of the above, a wide distribution list is required. Imagine having your news article published by Google News, Cnet News, EIN News, InBoxRobot and other major news wire sites.

These sites have thousands of subscribers and a single listing and attract many eyeballs. In addition, these sites are well established in the search engines and any back links coming from them will give a boost to the search rankings of the publisher’s website.

ePressDistribution, a private Company founded by Darren Chow, has expanded its distribution list. Besides the usual news wire sites, the service now submits press releases to 300+ well respected sites on the Internet.

“For press releases, maximum exposure is very important. We are constantly expanding our distribution list to provide more value to our clients,” commented Darren Chow, founder of the press release distribution service.

Other well known sites include Articledashboard, Goarticles, Amazines, IdeaMarketers, ArticlesBase, and many more. On top of the additional sites, the press release will also be syndicated to numerous feed channels. They include FeedFury, Syndic8, Congoo, 2RSS and others.

Clients can choose to submit their own press releases, or hire the Company to write their press releases on their behalf. A written press release can be edited by the client and needs to be approved by the client before actual distribution can commence.

Press release distribution service to offer wider distribution list. Have your PR submitted to Google News, EIN News, CNet News, and other major Newswire sites.

I’ve written a new report for you, on:
How to Penetrate Any Market.

Observe how Carolyn Hansen, an Internet marketer in a very competitive niche (health and fitness) obtain top rankings on Page 1 of Google.

Note that this is not your usual SEO tips report. It’s more about learning how to drive your business to greater heights.

Check it out:

How to Penetrate Any Market

In this report, you learn about the core principles that are driving your Internet business. If you don’t have any core principles, it’s very hard to get focused. You’ll be like grass swaying in every single direction when the wind blows.

With the core principles in hand, you can now grow your online business confidently and steadily. In fact, it is a guarantee that you will succeed if you follow the principles closely. You cannot NOT succeed. That’s how powerful the principles are.

The thing is, everyone knows these principles deep in their hearts. Some just fail to notice that they are there. Others just choose to ignore them, even if they know. That stems from disbelieve.

So if you want to be wildly successful in business, the first thing you need to do is to have firm believes. Believe in the principles, and believe that the principles will work for you.

If you don’t, the principles mean nothing. You will read, but you won’t see and you won’t understand. Hence, you will do nothing about the principles, and your businesses don’t change. Without change, you cannot expect a different result.

The goal here is to grow your business, so you certainly want to do things differently. This report shows you how everything starts from you.

Even a highly competitive niche like the Health and Fitness niche can be penetrated - and there’s real life proof for you to witness.

Free report brought to you by article submission service.

Do you know why some Internet marketers are more successful than others? There are many reasons that account for their success. But if you observe them carefully, a few patterns start to emerge. For example, they may be sharper than others, or they may be more observant than others. They know how to make use of information and turn obstacles into opportunities. These true entrepreneurs who are more likely to succeed than others.

Is luck an important element in the success equation? Yes, it is. But luck isn’t everything. The definition of luck is opportunity meets preparation. In other words, in order to be more lucky, you still have to prepare yourself well so that when the right opportunity arises, you are there to take advantage of it.

And opportunities are abundant on the Internet. Just take a look at the latest news. Don’t think about making money yet. Follow your passion and read whatever interest you. If, in the beginning, you can’t see what all that news has got to do with money, that’s ok. Just keep reading.

As you read, you start to see the connections between different elements. For instance, you may not immediately understand why a particular product is selling so well. But as you continue reading, you realize that it’s the design that matters most. You can’t get such insights if you don’t expose yourself to news.

Besides, as you soak in all the information, you start to see trends. Product cycles become more obvious when you follow the news. In time to come, you start to be able to make better guesses as to when a product is coming to the end of its life cycle. You then avoid spending time on those products and start sourcing for new products to promote.

The Internet is a great place to source for news materials. The best part is, news on the Internet is free. Most news publishers have discovered that the subscription model doesn’t work. So they are publishing their news freely.

Product vendors have learned to capitalize on this trend. On the Internet, everyone is equal. A large corporate can issue a press release, but so can a small business owner who is working from home. These business owners are making full use of the Internet to promote their own products and services. That’s why you find news on product launches everywhere.

Is this good or bad?

That depends on how you look at it. If you take it as too much advertising, then this is a bad scenario. But if you know how to turn the situation from a bad one to a good one, then it’s a good situation. For instance, you know that consumers are being bombarded with advertisements on the Internet. Why not invent some software to help consumers zoom in on what they want to find quickly? Isn’t that what the major search engines have been doing? Can you do a better job and develop a better application? And are you ready to take on the challenge? Only you yourself can answer that question.

Check out the latest breaking news.

[flickr]tag:news(,1)[/flickr]

Latest Breaking News site has been launched to bring you more exposure!

There are 25 categories, and you can read the latest news in your industry. This site features keyword based RSS feeds, which means that you can pull content directly from the site based on keywords.

You may then feed the RSS feed into your favorite news aggregator or publish the news on your blog. Simply cut and paste the XML feed into your application.

This site is brought to you by Article Submission Service. This service is used by hundreds of satisfied customers all over the world.

Customers publish informative content and news related articles to promote their own products and services. Latest-BreakingNews.com is the service latest addition to its growing network of sites.

With the RSS feeds, the Company is drastically increasing it’s reach. The feeds can be picked up by anyone, and published on targeted sites. This means that content syndicators get to receive targeted traffic from the news releases that they publish.

The new site pulls content from both the article submission service and the press release distribution service that is owned by the Company.

Content publishers can expect traffic from the links that are embedded in the content. These are natural links that fully supported by the search engines.

News articles can be republished without the permission of the authors. But the links in the author resource box must remain intact. Otherwise, the rights of the original author will be infringed. A link back to the source, Latest-BreakingNews.com is also mandatory.

All news articles are properly edited before publication, and this greatly enhances the quality of the content. Readers are free to choose their favorite topics from the site.

To publish a news or information related article on the site, just proceed to Article Submission Service. Once an article has been accepted, it will automatically be published in the news website.

Using articles to build one way back links is a great way to get your site rank on the first page of all major search engines. However, many marketers give up halfway due to time constrains. This is understandable because article marketing does take up a fair amount of time - writing takes time, and article submissions can take hours. No wonder so many marketers give up!

The solution is to find a reliable article submission service and outsource whenever possible. If you prefer writing your own articles, you can always complete the articles, then hire someone else to distribute the articles for you. There are several article submission service providers in the marketplace. One service provider that is fast gaining in popularity is FastsubmitArticles(dot)com. Here is a quick review.

1) Offers article writing.

Not all article submission services offer article writing. That is because there are many problems associated with article writing. For instance, clients may come back with dissatisfied comments about the writing style, etc. Fastsubmitarticles is one of the few vendors that offer article writing at a reasonable price. For just $15, you get a unique article written by a human writer. The best part is, the price is inclusive of distribution to 300 plus article directories as well!

2) Unique dashboard to track articles.

All articles are tracked using a user friendly dashboard. You will be able to view the status of the articles - pending, approved, or distributed. When articles have been distributed, you will be able to view the results in the search engines.

3) Article approval and edits allowed.

When you hire someone else to write for you, you always want to vet through the articles before distribution to make sure that you are not misrepresented. The work flow of Fastsubmitarticles allows you to view and approve articles. You may also edit the article before approval. The system even allows you to approve the article from your email.

4) Fast turnaround.

Some services have degenerated over time due to increased popularity. Imagine having to wait 2 to 3 weeks for an article to be approved and distributed! Fastsubmitarticles have managed to consistently approve and distribute articles with 3 to 4 business days. You are allowed to schedule the distribution dates for the articles, and the system will do the rest of the work for you. In other words, your link count will grow gradually and your domain name starts to be recognized as an authority site.

5) Resource box rotation.

You may even attempt to target several keywords with a single article. The system allows you to add up to 3 author resource box. The signature box will be rotated with each submission. That means you can add different anchor texts to your links and rotate the signature box as the distribution takes place.

To date, hundreds of customers have benefited from this comprehensive service. They have managed to rank well for both existing and brand new websites. Article marketing has continued to work for many enterprising marketers. There is no reason why it wouldn’t work for you. Use article submission services to your own benefit.

Visit Article Submission Service to find out more. Article writing service available as well.

If you have just started a new website, perhaps your first and foremost concern is to generate some content for your site. There are many ways you can do that, even if you are not a very good writer. Here are some tips on how to generate web content.

1) Brainstorm for ideas.

You will some good ideas to start you off. Start with a brainstorming session and write down all the ideas you can think of. Don’t worry too much about relevancy, content, etc. You can work on that later. Just focus on writing down as many ideas that come to mind as possible.

2) Selecting good ideas.

Once you have your list, sit down for a moment and choose the best ideas. If your intention is to write 5 articles, then choose at least 8 to 10 ideas. You will need some backup ideas as you write. When you start writing, you will realize that some ideas are harder to expand upon. That is when you ditch those ideas and fall back on your backup ideas.

3) Conducting research.

To write great content for your site, you need some “meat” for your articles. That means you may have to do some research to dig up some facts and figures. Bookmark various interesting web pages that you come across as you do your research. You will need them for future reference.

4) Putting it all together.

Now that you have everything ready, it’s time to snitch everything up together. You will discover that this is the easiest phase. That is because you already have all the ideas and content you need. All you have to do now is to spend some time to organize the data and put them together so that the content flows nicely.

Building web content is easy if you know how. You may even try rewriting a great article that you come across.

Tracking latest tech news, information on recent products and their USP is quite a diligent task. That is because, you have to spend hours on the internet searching for them and browsing websites that are displayed on search engine results. And we all know that even the top ranked sites may not have adequate information on them. And for every other product you have to switch from one site to another website.

How about an single website, ProductUSP.com, which can answer all your queries and provide you information on a wide range of products including electronic devices, cell phones, music players automobiles and others? It would be really be great, isn’t it? Here is this unique site which can really tell you everything you wish to know on recent products and those which have been popular for some time now including some veteran products that lasts for long like Nokia N95 mobile phone. These product reviews with their unique selling points helps to give readers a brief idea about the particular products.

ProductUSP.com has come to rescue all gadget freaks, automobile lovers and folk who wish to learn and remain update with latest products in the market. It lists every new item that is launched in the market and consequently informative product reviews on them. The website ProductUSP.com differs from others in many ways. You will feel that as you log into the site and find such a taxonomical presentation of products categorizing them for convenience of visitors. The page opens with latest arrival tech news, featured reviews on various products like cell phones, consumer electronics, cars, gadgets etc. It also carries quality articles, website reviews, guides and tips which can help readers to get update with the latest technology and products of this modern era.

You don’t have to waste energy and time searching for new products belonging to such categories like automobiles, computers, cameras, LCD TVs, cosmetics, software, cell phones and to name few. You can read all about them in this website itself. To make things more convenient ProductUSP.com has incorporated YouTube videos along with unique product reviews and within search options in the site.

If you wish you can see news events of latest product launches in the YouTube videos to learn more about the features from what the manufacturers have to say about them and how such features are better than others and previous models.
That is the USP of ProductUSP.com.

The website highlights the USP of the products that is the core points or unique selling points of products that attract customers for their value of money. Unprejudiced product reviews reveal both the good and bad side of items listed. Such revelation helps you to make better decisions in buying useful merchandise for personal use. Visit ProductUSP.com today and find how this site is unique and different from others. I won’t say better to underestimate others, but very much different with a new tune! Something new, something appreciable and something inimitable!

The New York Times “Skin Deep” recently reported a discovery that has piqued the interest of quite a few consumers who were on the fence about pursuing a cosmetic procedure. Recently, in order to compete during a deep economic downswing, many dermatologists, plastic surgeons, and cosmetic surgery offices are increasing, or trying to maintain their current patient numbers, by offering broad discount rates on all kinds of procedures.

These broad discounts are a direct result of the amount of individuals looking for a cosmetic procedure declining sharply along with the fall in the economy. Those who are still seeking a cosmetic procedure are using due diligence and basing their decision more on quality and recognition than overall cost. This has meant that plastic surgeons have had to come up with new ways of selling themselves and their individual services. This has led to a tremendous movement to dig deep into the marketing of the surgeons’ persona as much as the actual surgical background and experience. Online branding of surgeons has started to become the staple of plastic surgery marketing during this economic downturn. Surgeons who once relied heavily on magazine ads, local newspaper, and word of mouth are now researching the web as an actual tool to find and validate new potential patients. While many have websites, or more to the point, html pages online, most never fully utilized or even realized the potential of the web. Now with over 70% of all medical patients searching online first for medical professionals, from family doctors to plastic surgeons, it is now more important for surgeons to maximize their online presence.

The first place that many plastic surgeons are starting to turn to online is to pay per click (PPC) advertising on Google, Yahoo, and MSN. Sometimes they even turn to PPC management companies who, at a cost plus a percentage of the budget, will help them create a budget and even setup the campaigns. The potential conflict here becomes obvious very quickly. On average, the cost per each and every click to a surgeon’s site from the average Google adwords campaign for a plastic surgeon is between $4.00 - $20.00. In an average size metro area that is a moderate monthly spend of around $16,000 - $80,000 PER MONTH. The cost can be considerably higher with more keywords pursued in any one area. For example “Los Angeles Plastic Surgery” is a single keyword with over 4,400 searches per month. There are literally hundreds of other keywords for the Los Angeles keyword base. The price for that one particular keyword is currently just over $21. While this may be cost effective for well known surgeons who are already converting through alternative branding, it can quickly bankrupt new or emerging cosmetic talent.

This leads to a solution that surgeons are starting to more readily grasp, organic search engine optimization. “By seeking out those who are seeking you, you simply change what has become a depression to some, into a golden opportunity for you” Says Todd Williams of plastic Surgery Website Design, a marketing and design company that works exclusively for plastic and cosmetic surgeons. “The first thing that we do with any new client is to analyze their current web presence. What is their bounce rate, what is their conversion rate, what kinds of search engine traffic are they currently getting, etc… Core questions that tell us where to begin,” he says. “Most of the time we can increase conversions by simply changing their design to something more aesthetically pleasing to the consumer” pointing out the fact that many of the older plastic surgery websites online today are old flash driven templates that tend to carry higher bounce rates and lower conversion rates. “It’s at that point we can start building out their organic search engine saturation and they really start to see just how many people are still actively searching for a cosmetic procedure”.

Some plastic surgeons are really taking the initiative discussed here and going to the next level by integrating social media such as twitter, facebook, myspace, and their own plastic surgery blogs where they communicate with potential patients in an individual capacity.

One thing is certain, micro targeting online is no longer “something extra”. It is now a requirement and a necessity for any surgeon looking to not only make it through this recession, but also continue to grow and thrive.