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Camtasia is the absolute best screen capture tool for Windows. Period.
We've been using Camtasia for more than 3 years now and blogged about this great tool several times.
The latest version, Camtasia 5 (released March 2008) is soooooo much better than version 4 it's not even funny -
* Less settings to mess with
* Better quality
* Faster processing time
* Sexy animations
Screen captures with Camtasia are super easy to produce. We have a client who sends us video captures explaining the new features & changes he'd like to see implemented, every single day!
For best results:
* When selecting capture area, use a 610 width, 517 height
* Produce as SWF
* Don't include browser scroll bars and toolbars as part of the capture area
If you're looking for an easy way to do screen captures, test drive Camtasia 5. You'll fall in love with it.
We've been using Camtasia for more than 3 years now and blogged about this great tool several times.
The latest version, Camtasia 5 (released March 2008) is soooooo much better than version 4 it's not even funny -
* Less settings to mess with
* Better quality
* Faster processing time
* Sexy animations
Screen captures with Camtasia are super easy to produce. We have a client who sends us video captures explaining the new features & changes he'd like to see implemented, every single day!
For best results:
* When selecting capture area, use a 610 width, 517 height
* Produce as SWF
* Don't include browser scroll bars and toolbars as part of the capture area
If you're looking for an easy way to do screen captures, test drive Camtasia 5. You'll fall in love with it.
In the game of life, on your path to financial freedom and beyond, there are several levels you will have to go through.
Every level has its associated pay cap, as well as a unique set of required skills you'll need, so you can cross over to the next level.
I prepared a basic diagram to visualize this:
Level 1 - Employee Low level:
Starting out, these are your first set of paying jobs. No special requirements. You exchange your time for money. Since you don't have any skills at this point, you will typically be doing manual labour or other forms of basic clerical / administrative work.
To move to the next level: Develop professional skills
Level 2 - Employee High level:
Having developed your professional skills, your time is now worth a lot more to your employer. At the peak of this level, you can take home a comfortable $150k paycheck, although this will typically involve working long hours with a lot of stress.
To move to the next level: Develop sales skills
Level 3 - Self Employed / Professional
If you have good interpersonal social skills and can sell well, you can move on up to the self employed / professional / consultant level. While you're still exchanging time for money, you are now selling "your company's time". You may or may not already have a few people working for you. Either way, you get paid more for your company's time.
Problem is since you are an integral part of your business, indirectly selling your own time & skills, sooner or later you will hit a glass ceiling in profit earnings. Robert Kiyosaki ("Rich dad poor dad") talks in depth about the difference between being self employed vs a business owner in his books.
To move to the next level: Develop marketing skills
Level 4 - Small Business Owner
Marketing is the name of the game here. As long as you have a decent product/service/skillset to offer, great marketing will enable you to get more customers in the door, repeatedly and consistently.
Learn how to joint-venture with others, attend seminars, develop your education and participate in a mastermind of like-minded individuals.
To move to the next level: You need Systems & Processes
Level 5 - Big Business
Big Business is achieved when your business keeps growing rapidly without requiring your day-to-day involvement and hands-on management.
As is the case with every other game, crossing over from level 4 to level 5 is the most challenging task.
By the time you reach level 5, you have a thriving business, generating a comfortable living for you and your loved ones. You've built the business around your unique skills and learned how to best capitalize on your personal inherent talents.
Too many clients of SoftwareProjects get stuck in level 4 and can never cross over to level 5.
I'd like to dedicate this post to what it takes to grow a big business (8 figures and up), based on what I learned from the larger businesses we work with -
The key differentiator I've seen between level 4 vs level 5 type businesses, is the type of systems and processes that power each business.
Business Systems & Processes
If you're an affiliate marketer, you need systems for ongoing content development, keyword research, bid management and keyword-level conversion tracking.
If you're a merchant, you need systems for customer support, recurring billing, email delivery, commission tracking and customer relationship management.
Having the proper business systems in place is instrumental to your growth. A pilot cannot fly without a set of monitors and guages to guide the way and ensure everything is going well. In the business world - what gets measured - improves, what doesn't get measured - deterioates with time.
But having the proper systems in place is only half of the equation.
The second half is having a set of well documented processes (read "E-Myth") to automate the growth of your business.
For starters, sit down and take the time to carefully document every single process that comprises your business. Everything from exploring new niches, doing joint-venture agreements, launching new products, singing up affiliates, product development etc.
Sony, GM and HP, are some of the great companies that have survived through generations of different management, new employees and changing markets. While none of the original management team members is still with the company, well documented processes help to maintain the company's vision and its essence.
In the book "Good to Great", Jim Collins found the reason most companies made the leap from good-to-great, surviving and thriving across several generations with no end in sight, is because they were able to preserve company vision and internal processes over time.
To give a specific example, instead of having one of your technical people slap together a new product page and shoot you an email once the page is up for you to quickly review (as if you don't have a million other things to do), break down the process to steps, document each step and assign responsibility so that a new product can be launched without relying on you.
Launching a new product:
* Who writes the content
* Who checks it
* Who creates graphic design & html
* Who checks it
* Who uploads the content and how is it done
* Who checks everything was uploaded properly
* The order confirmation email
* The autoresponder
* Who places a test order and provides a stamp-of-approval prior to the product going live, confirming the product, order confirmation and autoresponder emails are all properly delivered.
Other processes to document:
* Split testing a sales sequence
* Recruiting affiliates
* New Product development
* Recruiting sales people
* Handling customer support tickets
* Ongoing quality assurance - placing test orders, submitting test tickets to customer support etc.
-
When documenting a process, use as many details as possible to explain each step. Write these manuals in a way where a new employee could pick them up and immediately follow the documented steps, without requiring any special training.
View 1 Comment(s)
Every level has its associated pay cap, as well as a unique set of required skills you'll need, so you can cross over to the next level.
I prepared a basic diagram to visualize this:
Level 1 - Employee Low level:
Starting out, these are your first set of paying jobs. No special requirements. You exchange your time for money. Since you don't have any skills at this point, you will typically be doing manual labour or other forms of basic clerical / administrative work.
To move to the next level: Develop professional skills
Level 2 - Employee High level:
Having developed your professional skills, your time is now worth a lot more to your employer. At the peak of this level, you can take home a comfortable $150k paycheck, although this will typically involve working long hours with a lot of stress.
To move to the next level: Develop sales skills
Level 3 - Self Employed / Professional
If you have good interpersonal social skills and can sell well, you can move on up to the self employed / professional / consultant level. While you're still exchanging time for money, you are now selling "your company's time". You may or may not already have a few people working for you. Either way, you get paid more for your company's time.
Problem is since you are an integral part of your business, indirectly selling your own time & skills, sooner or later you will hit a glass ceiling in profit earnings. Robert Kiyosaki ("Rich dad poor dad") talks in depth about the difference between being self employed vs a business owner in his books.
To move to the next level: Develop marketing skills
Level 4 - Small Business Owner
Marketing is the name of the game here. As long as you have a decent product/service/skillset to offer, great marketing will enable you to get more customers in the door, repeatedly and consistently.
Learn how to joint-venture with others, attend seminars, develop your education and participate in a mastermind of like-minded individuals.
To move to the next level: You need Systems & Processes
Level 5 - Big Business
Big Business is achieved when your business keeps growing rapidly without requiring your day-to-day involvement and hands-on management.
As is the case with every other game, crossing over from level 4 to level 5 is the most challenging task.
By the time you reach level 5, you have a thriving business, generating a comfortable living for you and your loved ones. You've built the business around your unique skills and learned how to best capitalize on your personal inherent talents.
Too many clients of SoftwareProjects get stuck in level 4 and can never cross over to level 5.
I'd like to dedicate this post to what it takes to grow a big business (8 figures and up), based on what I learned from the larger businesses we work with -
The key differentiator I've seen between level 4 vs level 5 type businesses, is the type of systems and processes that power each business.
Business Systems & Processes
If you're an affiliate marketer, you need systems for ongoing content development, keyword research, bid management and keyword-level conversion tracking.
If you're a merchant, you need systems for customer support, recurring billing, email delivery, commission tracking and customer relationship management.
Having the proper business systems in place is instrumental to your growth. A pilot cannot fly without a set of monitors and guages to guide the way and ensure everything is going well. In the business world - what gets measured - improves, what doesn't get measured - deterioates with time.
But having the proper systems in place is only half of the equation.
The second half is having a set of well documented processes (read "E-Myth") to automate the growth of your business.
For starters, sit down and take the time to carefully document every single process that comprises your business. Everything from exploring new niches, doing joint-venture agreements, launching new products, singing up affiliates, product development etc.
Sony, GM and HP, are some of the great companies that have survived through generations of different management, new employees and changing markets. While none of the original management team members is still with the company, well documented processes help to maintain the company's vision and its essence.
In the book "Good to Great", Jim Collins found the reason most companies made the leap from good-to-great, surviving and thriving across several generations with no end in sight, is because they were able to preserve company vision and internal processes over time.
To give a specific example, instead of having one of your technical people slap together a new product page and shoot you an email once the page is up for you to quickly review (as if you don't have a million other things to do), break down the process to steps, document each step and assign responsibility so that a new product can be launched without relying on you.
Launching a new product:
* Who writes the content
* Who checks it
* Who creates graphic design & html
* Who checks it
* Who uploads the content and how is it done
* Who checks everything was uploaded properly
* The order confirmation email
* The autoresponder
* Who places a test order and provides a stamp-of-approval prior to the product going live, confirming the product, order confirmation and autoresponder emails are all properly delivered.
Other processes to document:
* Split testing a sales sequence
* Recruiting affiliates
* New Product development
* Recruiting sales people
* Handling customer support tickets
* Ongoing quality assurance - placing test orders, submitting test tickets to customer support etc.
-
When documenting a process, use as many details as possible to explain each step. Write these manuals in a way where a new employee could pick them up and immediately follow the documented steps, without requiring any special training.
View 1 Comment(s)
I was chatting with one of our Information Marketing customers who is continually exceeding $1,000,000 in sales every month, month after month.
This guy launched his online business a short three years ago and is already averaging $14 Million in annual sales, with a goal to double that in two years.
Sales are clearing through the SoftwareProjects Shopping Cart system, so I know for a fact this guy is for a real.
I asked him point blanc - "What's your secret to this amazing success?"
The answer Mr. S gave me is so simple yet very profound.
You may not get it the first time, so read through a few times until it sinks in:
-
And there you have it.
A golden piece of advice from a true Internet Marketing Millionaire, that probably applies to any business and any industry out there.
This guy launched his online business a short three years ago and is already averaging $14 Million in annual sales, with a goal to double that in two years.
Sales are clearing through the SoftwareProjects Shopping Cart system, so I know for a fact this guy is for a real.
I asked him point blanc - "What's your secret to this amazing success?"
The answer Mr. S gave me is so simple yet very profound.
You may not get it the first time, so read through a few times until it sinks in:
Quote:
|
hehehe, I get this question all the time... Probably going to do a teleseminar about this. Wanna know the short answer? The reason so many IM people fail utterly or do okay but then hit a glass ceiling with their income, is because they're all focused on making money. Short term capital gains. It's the old - if I can get one million people to give me one dollar, I'll be a millionaire. Well guess what, it doesn't work like that. The secret is this - Instead of focusing on getting one million people to give you one dollar, focus on delivering one hundred dollars of perceived value to ten thousand people. That's my secret. If people do this they will be unstoppable. |
-
And there you have it.
A golden piece of advice from a true Internet Marketing Millionaire, that probably applies to any business and any industry out there.
Earlier this week I had the privilege of being interviewed by Miles Baker from MarketingWithMiles.com
Miles Baker is a super affiliate who's been online since 1997 and used SEO + PPC to build his empire of Internet Marketing Success and achieve the pinnacle affiliate lifestyle, working from home totally financially independent.
I am extremely humbled to be on the Miles show. Miles doesn't blog as often as some of the other guys, but when he does release a post, it's always a keeper! You can subscribe to his rss feed here.
The interview lasted about an hour which flew by like 5 minutes, but when it was all said and done, I came off feeling really bad about myself.
Why?
Because my original plan was to use the time allotted, to provide some real value. Tips and insight into Internet Marketing success. Case studies. Examples of what works and what doesn't.
I wanted to offer stuff you can bank on.
Miles asked great questions about Software Projects and so we ended talking about Software Projects for about 90% of the call. The last thing Software Projects needs right now is more promotion...
And this is how we end up here at this post.
Here are my 7 best tips for success as an online entrepreneur:
#1. Learn PPC
All things considered, PPC is still the easiest way to generate money online and make the switch from working for the man to being self employed.
Perry Marshall is your friend.
#2. Embrace the art of failure.
You're going to fail a lot! So you better get used to it.
John Reese was in huge debt when he started. Every single successful business person failed numerous times (and continues to fail to this day).
Every winner was a loser.
The only thing that separates winners from losers is that winners just keep trying.
#3. Build your brand from day 1
Whatever it is, you absolutely need to be known for something.
Rand Fishkin used to be known as "the guy who wears yellow shoes to all the search conferences". Shoemoney was "the guy holding the AdSense check".
Slap a blog. Be real. Be consistent. And find your unique voice.
There is one Michael Arrington, one Lauren Feldman, one Gary Vaynerchuk and one you.
#4. Surround yourself with success
Get involved in a mastermind group, partner or just hang out with like minded individuals who are one step ahead of you in the game.
Every meteor revolves around a star. Find your star and while staying true to your own voice, use it to catapult yourself to the next level.
#5. All you need is love
Pick something you love. There are going to be good times and bad times. If it's not something you are absolutely passionate about, you won't make it through the bad times.
Don't do it for the money. It just won't work.
Lifestyle first, Money later. And not the other way around.
#6. Stick to a plan
What gets measured improves. What doesn't get measured falls apart and dies.
#7. Never ever stop
Commit to ongoing never ending improvement.
Know that every business is moving in one of two directions. It is either growing or shrinking.
-
That's it. Now I feel a lot better! If a single reader will pick up one tip from my list, I'll be thrilled.
View 5 Comment(s)
Miles Baker is a super affiliate who's been online since 1997 and used SEO + PPC to build his empire of Internet Marketing Success and achieve the pinnacle affiliate lifestyle, working from home totally financially independent.
I am extremely humbled to be on the Miles show. Miles doesn't blog as often as some of the other guys, but when he does release a post, it's always a keeper! You can subscribe to his rss feed here.
The interview lasted about an hour which flew by like 5 minutes, but when it was all said and done, I came off feeling really bad about myself.
Why?
Because my original plan was to use the time allotted, to provide some real value. Tips and insight into Internet Marketing success. Case studies. Examples of what works and what doesn't.
I wanted to offer stuff you can bank on.
Miles asked great questions about Software Projects and so we ended talking about Software Projects for about 90% of the call. The last thing Software Projects needs right now is more promotion...
And this is how we end up here at this post.
Here are my 7 best tips for success as an online entrepreneur:
#1. Learn PPC
All things considered, PPC is still the easiest way to generate money online and make the switch from working for the man to being self employed.
Perry Marshall is your friend.
#2. Embrace the art of failure.
You're going to fail a lot! So you better get used to it.
John Reese was in huge debt when he started. Every single successful business person failed numerous times (and continues to fail to this day).
Every winner was a loser.
The only thing that separates winners from losers is that winners just keep trying.
#3. Build your brand from day 1
Whatever it is, you absolutely need to be known for something.
Rand Fishkin used to be known as "the guy who wears yellow shoes to all the search conferences". Shoemoney was "the guy holding the AdSense check".
Slap a blog. Be real. Be consistent. And find your unique voice.
There is one Michael Arrington, one Lauren Feldman, one Gary Vaynerchuk and one you.
#4. Surround yourself with success
Get involved in a mastermind group, partner or just hang out with like minded individuals who are one step ahead of you in the game.
Every meteor revolves around a star. Find your star and while staying true to your own voice, use it to catapult yourself to the next level.
#5. All you need is love
Pick something you love. There are going to be good times and bad times. If it's not something you are absolutely passionate about, you won't make it through the bad times.
Don't do it for the money. It just won't work.
Lifestyle first, Money later. And not the other way around.
#6. Stick to a plan
What gets measured improves. What doesn't get measured falls apart and dies.
#7. Never ever stop
Commit to ongoing never ending improvement.
Know that every business is moving in one of two directions. It is either growing or shrinking.
-
That's it. Now I feel a lot better! If a single reader will pick up one tip from my list, I'll be thrilled.
View 5 Comment(s)
Remember the golden rule of K.I.S.S
Keep It Simple Stupid
View 1 Comment(s)
Keep It Simple Stupid
View 1 Comment(s)
I recently received this email -
Great question that keeps coming up all the time!
There are so many different things you can do to grow your online business, clients often get lost in the details and either fail to execute or focus on the wrong channels at the wrong time.
Software Projects is a Full service Internet Marketing firm.
With 81 services, spanning the gamut of Software Development, Email Marketing, PPC, Shopping carts, Media buys and more, having done this since 1998 serving all the big dogs, we can afford to be unbiased.
We can afford to develop an Internet Marketing plan that will help a company get from point A to point B, without having to push for a single "preferred" channel. It's all about implementing the right technology at the right time, matching your current situation.
And so to simplify things, we developed a blue-print that encapsulates all elements of Internet Marketing.
It's a way to visualize the ingredients, flow and relationships of all Internet Marketing components.
It is what we refer to as - the essence of Internet Marketing:
Now I know I said "to simplify things" and you're looking at this scary diagram going "hello?!"
But it's really straightforward:
Explanation
Step 1:
When a visitor lands on your website they are anonymous. You don't know who they are and unless they identify, you'll never be able to communicate with them again.
Your only goal at that point, is to convert the visitor from anonymous to qualified. You're selling an offer at this point, not the final product.
Granted it will be great if the anonymous visitor converts to a paying customer right away. But most aren't going to. And unless you turn them into qualified leads (email contact, rss subscriber, forum member etc) they are lost forever.
Regardless of the marketing channel you use to drive this traffic, always send visitors to a relevant landing page and focus on getting visitors to sign in.
Step 2:
Segment qualified leads and design marketing campaigns (emails, blog posts), offering the right offer for the right person.
Continually collect more information about your leads and customers, getting them to tell you exactly what they need.
Step 3:
Business Management. Use CRM, Help desk, Order manager, Affiliate manager and Product manager to streamline processes and put your business on auto pilot as much as possible.
Throughout this entire process, pay close attention to analytics and remember the golden rule -
What gets measured, improves with time. The rest deteriorates.
Where to start
Need more traffic?
==> You're in the Red zone. Start with PPC or SEO/Media if you're on a low budget.
Traffic is coming but low conversions?
==> You're in the Yellow zone. Focus on different ways to monetize your unique inventory.
Got a customer base but low repeat sales?
==> You're in the Green zone. Engage & provide personalized quality content.
Business is good but you'd like to streamline, optimize and reduce cost?
==> Congratulations - You're in the Grey zone. Outsource your cell center and help desk. Proactively ask customers what they need using surveys.
In Summary
If you're an Affiliate Marketer and all you're doing is pushing traffic to the merchant, you're missing out big time! Find a way to capture a prospect's email addresses (offer a free white paper / coupon / free membership in your community) so you can market to those hot leads again and again.
If you're a merchant, identify your biggest pain point and focus on that single area alone. There are always going to be a million things you'd like to change with your website. Focus is key.
-
Would love to hear your thoughts
View 5 Comment(s)
Quote:
|
I need to grow my online business. I have a website about XXXXX XXX getting 5,000 visitors per month, grossing $15k to $20k. Heard good things about you guys and would like to use you for Internet Marketing. I know I need to do pay per click on Google but what else do I have to do? |
Great question that keeps coming up all the time!
There are so many different things you can do to grow your online business, clients often get lost in the details and either fail to execute or focus on the wrong channels at the wrong time.
Software Projects is a Full service Internet Marketing firm.
With 81 services, spanning the gamut of Software Development, Email Marketing, PPC, Shopping carts, Media buys and more, having done this since 1998 serving all the big dogs, we can afford to be unbiased.
We can afford to develop an Internet Marketing plan that will help a company get from point A to point B, without having to push for a single "preferred" channel. It's all about implementing the right technology at the right time, matching your current situation.
And so to simplify things, we developed a blue-print that encapsulates all elements of Internet Marketing.
It's a way to visualize the ingredients, flow and relationships of all Internet Marketing components.
It is what we refer to as - the essence of Internet Marketing:
Now I know I said "to simplify things" and you're looking at this scary diagram going "hello?!"
But it's really straightforward:
Explanation
Step 1:
When a visitor lands on your website they are anonymous. You don't know who they are and unless they identify, you'll never be able to communicate with them again.
Your only goal at that point, is to convert the visitor from anonymous to qualified. You're selling an offer at this point, not the final product.
Granted it will be great if the anonymous visitor converts to a paying customer right away. But most aren't going to. And unless you turn them into qualified leads (email contact, rss subscriber, forum member etc) they are lost forever.
Regardless of the marketing channel you use to drive this traffic, always send visitors to a relevant landing page and focus on getting visitors to sign in.
Step 2:
Segment qualified leads and design marketing campaigns (emails, blog posts), offering the right offer for the right person.
Continually collect more information about your leads and customers, getting them to tell you exactly what they need.
Step 3:
Business Management. Use CRM, Help desk, Order manager, Affiliate manager and Product manager to streamline processes and put your business on auto pilot as much as possible.
Throughout this entire process, pay close attention to analytics and remember the golden rule -
What gets measured, improves with time. The rest deteriorates.
Where to start
Need more traffic?
==> You're in the Red zone. Start with PPC or SEO/Media if you're on a low budget.
Traffic is coming but low conversions?
==> You're in the Yellow zone. Focus on different ways to monetize your unique inventory.
Got a customer base but low repeat sales?
==> You're in the Green zone. Engage & provide personalized quality content.
Business is good but you'd like to streamline, optimize and reduce cost?
==> Congratulations - You're in the Grey zone. Outsource your cell center and help desk. Proactively ask customers what they need using surveys.
In Summary
If you're an Affiliate Marketer and all you're doing is pushing traffic to the merchant, you're missing out big time! Find a way to capture a prospect's email addresses (offer a free white paper / coupon / free membership in your community) so you can market to those hot leads again and again.
If you're a merchant, identify your biggest pain point and focus on that single area alone. There are always going to be a million things you'd like to change with your website. Focus is key.
-
Would love to hear your thoughts
View 5 Comment(s)
Domain Reputation is a score assigned to your domain by applying a mathematical algorithm that takes into account (1) Traffic (2) Spam complaints / Email volume changes (3) Domain age / expiration, and (4) Incoming / Outgoing links
In simple terms, once you pick a domain-name for your website, every single decision you take about this domain is logged and later calculated towards your overall domain reputation.
It's really not that bad as long as you are committed to building your domain as a long-term business and avoid any black-hat, spamming or other shady techniques involving your domain.
How it works
Most people understand the concept of "domain reputation" in the SEO world -
In the SEO world, generally speaking - the older your domain is and the more links you have, the higher your reputation is going to be. Better domain reputation translates to more prominent rankings for your target key words. Your domain reputation will decrease when search engines detect unnatural linking patterns such as more than 50% of incoming links labeled as purchased links.
In the PPC world, Google tracks average time on site, conversions and exit pages on a per domain level. Domains with low average time on site, end up with low domain reputation (also called "quality score" in PPC). This translates to penalties in the form of higher PPC bid prices.
To the surprise of many clients we interact with, Domain Reputation also plays an integral role in the Email Marketing world. Every time an email message containing your domain name receives a spam complaint, whether sent from your servers or by one of your customers/partners, your domain reputation gets a hit.
Once your domain reputation gets below a certain threshold, every single email containing a link to your domain, will end up in the "spam" folder of popular email providers like Gmail, AOL, MSN etc.
Setup secondary redirect domains for Email Marketing and never involve your domain in any new customer acquisition type email campaigns.
-
Important: While your SEO domain reputation, PPC domain reputation and Email Marketing domain reputation are three distinct scores, recent tests we conducted indicate there is a direct correlation between the three. Buy an unbalanced number of links and your PPC domain reputation (a.k.a "quality score") will be hurt. Send email spam and you'll find your SEO domain reputation decreases making it virtually impossible to rank for any competitive terms.
How to monitor my Domain Reputation
The specific algorithm used to calculate domain reputation is not public domain. But there are certain things you can do to monitor your domain reputation -
Email: Run your domain through SenderBase.org
It will display open spam complaints and unnatural volume changes - never send more than 200% of yesterday's email volume from your domain.
PPC: Always examine the "Quality Score" assigned to your keywords. The destination domain and Google account history are factored towards your default quality score. Try to periodically run the same keyword/ad combination on a different domain and compare results.
SEO: Use a ranking tracker that monitors your rankings across the top three search engines as well as the output of site://YOURDOMAIN.COM on Google. Watch out for significant ranking drops or reductions in the approximate number of pages in Google's index (site://)
Understand the importance of maintaining good domain reputation and protect your domain name by employing PPC bidding rules, avoiding spam and relying on an Internet Marketing agency for media buys.
In simple terms, once you pick a domain-name for your website, every single decision you take about this domain is logged and later calculated towards your overall domain reputation.
It's really not that bad as long as you are committed to building your domain as a long-term business and avoid any black-hat, spamming or other shady techniques involving your domain.
How it works
Most people understand the concept of "domain reputation" in the SEO world -
In the SEO world, generally speaking - the older your domain is and the more links you have, the higher your reputation is going to be. Better domain reputation translates to more prominent rankings for your target key words. Your domain reputation will decrease when search engines detect unnatural linking patterns such as more than 50% of incoming links labeled as purchased links.
In the PPC world, Google tracks average time on site, conversions and exit pages on a per domain level. Domains with low average time on site, end up with low domain reputation (also called "quality score" in PPC). This translates to penalties in the form of higher PPC bid prices.
To the surprise of many clients we interact with, Domain Reputation also plays an integral role in the Email Marketing world. Every time an email message containing your domain name receives a spam complaint, whether sent from your servers or by one of your customers/partners, your domain reputation gets a hit.
Once your domain reputation gets below a certain threshold, every single email containing a link to your domain, will end up in the "spam" folder of popular email providers like Gmail, AOL, MSN etc.
Setup secondary redirect domains for Email Marketing and never involve your domain in any new customer acquisition type email campaigns.
-
Important: While your SEO domain reputation, PPC domain reputation and Email Marketing domain reputation are three distinct scores, recent tests we conducted indicate there is a direct correlation between the three. Buy an unbalanced number of links and your PPC domain reputation (a.k.a "quality score") will be hurt. Send email spam and you'll find your SEO domain reputation decreases making it virtually impossible to rank for any competitive terms.
How to monitor my Domain Reputation
The specific algorithm used to calculate domain reputation is not public domain. But there are certain things you can do to monitor your domain reputation -
Email: Run your domain through SenderBase.org
It will display open spam complaints and unnatural volume changes - never send more than 200% of yesterday's email volume from your domain.
PPC: Always examine the "Quality Score" assigned to your keywords. The destination domain and Google account history are factored towards your default quality score. Try to periodically run the same keyword/ad combination on a different domain and compare results.
SEO: Use a ranking tracker that monitors your rankings across the top three search engines as well as the output of site://YOURDOMAIN.COM on Google. Watch out for significant ranking drops or reductions in the approximate number of pages in Google's index (site://)
Understand the importance of maintaining good domain reputation and protect your domain name by employing PPC bidding rules, avoiding spam and relying on an Internet Marketing agency for media buys.
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