Super Simple Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for Beginners

What is the purpose of your website? If you can't easily answer that question, then I highly recommend having a good think about it because everything you do with your site should be to serve that purpose.

Chances are that your website is there to be useful or interesting or to sell stuff to a particular audience. When I say audience, I mean people - human beings. Therefore, it makes sense that the content of your site is for them (this is very important to remember). But, how will they find your site in the first place? That's right, by using a search engine such as Google. So, not only should your site be good for people, but it must also be search engine 'friendly' so that people can find it.

The process of trying to make your website appear at the top of search results is called Search Engine Optimisation (or SEO).

Before we get into SEO, there's something you should know if you're about to have a site designed and created for you...

A web designer will design your site and put the words you provide on the pages. A good website designer will construct the site such that search engines will 'understand' it (i.e. be able to determine what it is about so they can find it and place it in search results). However, it is not usual for a web designer to optimise your site for search engines - this is an additional, time-consuming job... one that you'll have to pay for or do yourself. Whichever route you choose, it is good to know a bit about the topic, so this is for you.

Really Simple Search Engine Optimisation

SEO is a huge topic. The purpose of what follows is intended as a very light introduction to the principles so that you can learn more and carry out the task yourself or, alternatively, have a knowledgeable conversation with someone you're planning to hire for the job.

There are two areas to look at with SEO:

1. On page optimisation
   
   This covers everything that you can do on your site to make it have the best chance of ranking well for a given phrase or search term. You can control this.
   
   
2. Off site optimisation
   
   This covers everything out of your control that will make your site rank more highly for a given phrase. Basically, it is all about how many (and which) sites link to yours.
   

It's worth exploring these briefly. I'd say that on-page optimisation is absolutely worth doing because it is within your control and gives your site the best chance of ranking well. However, off-site optimisation will have a much bigger effect on your rankings. This is because, if ranking was entirely dependent on what people did on their own site, then (some) people would try to cheat the system. To counter this, Google looks at how many sites link to yours. If there are lots, then Google is more inclined to think 'ah, this must genuinely be of interest, let's push it up the rankings'. However, this is also open to abuse, so Google will also look at the 'quality' of the sites that link to you. If you have sites like BBC.co.uk and CNN.com linking to you (or indeed, important 'authority' sites for your topic), then that will boost your rankings even higher. This is called link building, and can happen naturally if people have a reason to want to link to your site. Alternatively, you'll need to find ways of getting links (such as having your site listed in online directories).

What phrases are your audience searching for?

It is important to know what people are searching for, and it isn't always obvious. One place to start would be to look at competitor websites and run them through a tool like the SEOmoz Term Extractor. Once you know what your competition is targeting, head over to Google's Keyword Tool and plug those phrases in. It will then tell you the number of searches for each phrase in a month - and also provide you with similar phrases that are being searched for that you might never have thought of.

Once you think you have relevant phrases for your audience, check the competition and target (optimise your site for) phrases that will bring traffic volume and that you have a good chance of ranking highly for. How do you work out your chances? Read on.

Amount of Competition

Ranking well for an obscure term is relatively easy. For example, if you searched for 'hairy hungry horny hippos' in Google, I wouldn't expect there to be much competition. Having typed that, I just did a quick search and there are 1,030,000 pages in the world with those words (who'd have thought it)! Google reports this number on the right just above the 1st result. Now if you search again and put the phrase in "quotes" you'll see there are zero results. What happened there? The first search (without quotes) is a 'broad match', it means those 1 million results had all of the words somewhere on the page. The second search was a 'phrase' match, which means no pages had those words together on the page in that precise order. Well, they didn't until now - it'll be interesting to see if I hit page 1, or even the number 1 spot in a few weeks when Google finds this page.

The point of all this is that, for each page on your site, you want to target a particulate phrase. And, whilst it is easy to rank well for an obscure phrase, if no-one is searching for that phrase, then you still won't gain any visitors to your site.

Normally (not always - and lucky you if you find one), the more popular a phrase, the more competition there is. This means it is more difficult to get a top spot in the search results. So, in this stage, we've checked the amount of competition for a given phrase.

Quality of Competition

The amount of competition isn't the only thing to consider though. If you're going to beat the competition, you also need to know how good they are. For this you want to know their Google Page Rank (a scale from 1-10, 10 meaning that Google think they're a mega authority site) and the number of backlinks (links) to the site. The easiest way to check this is to use the SEO for Firefox addon.

If the top 10 spots have a high (5 and above) Page Rank and lots of Y!Links (Yahoo's backlink checker), then you'll have to invest a lot of time, effort and money, to beat them. The principle to beating the competition is to look at what they're doing, and do it better (better on-page and off-site SEO).

So, what you're looking for is a sweet-spot where you stand a good chance of ranking highly, but also know that enough people are searching for the phrase to bring visitors to your site.

A note about Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs)

It is estimated that the number 1 spot in Google will get 40% or so of the clicks, and this drops rapidly down to approximately 0.5% for the number 10 spot. That means that if 1000 people are searching for your phrase every month and you're on page 1 in the number 10 spot, it will only translate to 5 or so visitors! By the way, well done for getting on page 1 at all, it isn't easy.

Don't forget, it's VERY important...

When you're writing your website content, you're writing for people, not search engines. If people find your site and think it is rubbish, that won't do you much good either!

Wrapping it all up - and a recommendation!

I hope this has proved a useful introduction to the most basic principles of SEO. As I've mentioned a few times now, it really is a huge topic and if it's something you want to understand properly and put into practice, you'll have to read a lot deeper.

To get you started (and in addition to the links provided above), take a look at some of the free SEOmoz tools and guides. For on-page optimisation, I recommend using their web developer cheat sheet.

Finally, I started my SEO adventure with a great book that I'd highly recommend, SEO School by Naomi Dunford (that's an affiliate link BTW folks). It's an easy and enjoyable read and it will help you take more practical first steps following on from this article.
 

Boost your Online Business in 2010 with a FREE Consultancy Session

Introducing Open Office Hours...

In a nutshell, Open Office is where I give away small, but useful, chunks of my time and expertise to you. That's right, it is completely free.

Why am I doing this?

Well, it's not entirely altruistic. Yes, you'll get 15 minutes of my time (I limit it so that I can help more people) without having to pay a penny, and in return I hope to get:

• a warm, fuzzy feeling from helping you out
• recommended to your friends and colleagues if you thought I was good
• considered for paid work from you should you ever need it

During Open Office Hours you can...

Ask me anything. It helps if it is related to your online business or is technical in nature, but you can try me with anything - I'll be honest if I don't feel it is my area of expertise.

• Thinking of starting an online business?
  Throw your ideas at me and I'll provide some objective feedback.
  
  
• Unsure how to take your online business to the next level?
  Let me know where you're stuck and I'll give you some ideas.
  
  
• Have a specific technical query or question?
  Direct it to me and I'll answer it to the best of my abilities.

Interested?

If you'd like to participate in Open Office Hours then follow me on Twitter and subscribe for free article updates - it's where I'll announce the Open Office sessions (email sign-up is at the top of this page). Next, contact me with your question or request. Once your session is scheduled, I'll call you on your landline anywhere in the world at my expense - and, where appropriate, we'll also use screen-sharing software for remote demos and support.

Of course, you're welcome to hire me at any time. I've just put together some new consultancy packages for 2010 where you can save up to £45 on a 3 hour session.

Wishing you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010.

P.S. You can read more about Open Office Hours on my website.
 

How to use CrossLoop for Online Computer Help

Whatever your level of expertise, there'll always be a time when you're using your computer and wish that someone was there to show you how to do something (such as a special formula in Excel) or help fix a problem (such as a printer that has stopped working). At times like these, remote support - sometimes referred to as screen sharing - can come in really handy.

What is Remote Support?

In a nutshell, remote support allows someone else (someone like me) to see your computer screen and also control your keyboard and mouse - but don't worry, it can only take place with your permission. This makes it very easy for you to demonstrate a problem and for the other person to demonstrate a solution back to you.

Using CrossLoop for Remote Support and Screen Sharing

For certain types of remote support, I use some software called CrossLoop. In order for it to work we must both be connected to the internet and must both have CrossLoop installed on our computers. It is free to use, so for your convenience I'm providing video and written instructions which show how to download, install and use CrossLoop for help with your computer queries.

CrossLoop Help and User Guide

If you're the type of person who prefers to read instructions (on screen or printed out), please use the link below...

Instructions for downloading, installing and using CrossLoop

A couple of notes about the written instructions...

1. The instructions are in PDF format, so you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader (which is free) to view them. When you click on the 'instructions' link above it will either ask you to save them or it will open them in your internet browser (in which case, use the Save button).
   
   
2. I'm happy for anyone to link to these instructions or to freely distribute them. However, I give permission to do this on the basis that they remain unchanged with the links back to this website.

For those of you who prefer to watch a demonstration, I'm providing the following two videos (best viewed in Full Screen mode):

1. How to Download and Install CrossLoop



2. How to use CrossLoop for Computer Help



Further Help

Of course, you can always take a peek at the CrossLoop online help too. It has a nice trouble-shooting section.

How can I help you?

What are you struggling to do (or what isn't working very well on your computer)? I can assist with a very broad range questions and problems - from help tutorials with Microsoft Word, Excel and Access through to graphics packages and web design. I also specialise in helping small businesses create a strong online presence through internet marketing.

Whatever your query, why not contact me? It's free, it'll only take a minute and there's no obligation.
 

Top 3 Essentials for Starting a Blog

I don't know the reason for it, but there has definitely been a huge surge in interest in online publishing, or 'blogging' as it is known in geek parlance. Whether it is individuals wanting to express and share their creativity or small businesses recognising the value of publishing regular and useful articles for new and existing clients, more and more people are asking me where to start. This guide is for you.

As you'd expect, there are a million things you can do with your blog - that's why it is so exciting. What you do and how far you take it all depends what you want to achieve. The one thing all blogs have in common is that they must start somewhere. Get the foundations right and you can go on to build a cosy home or a business skyscraper. With that in mind, I scratched my head and came up with the top 3 essentials for starting your blog. That's the good news. The better news is that everything here is easy, it's all stuff you can do yourself if you wish. Of course, if you want to hire me for for advice or assistance, that'd be great - but it's really not necessary at this stage. I've purposely kept things simple so that you can begin right away. So, without further ado...

1. Register a domain name

Whoa there, don't freak out... I'm going to keep this non-technical. A domain is simply the bit (the name) before the .com .co.uk or .org - it's a way to distinguish yourself and something to become known by. My domain is www.OnlineBusinessConsultant.co.uk - and you'll use domains all the time without even thinking about it. I'm sure you're familiar with Google.com, Yahoo.com, Amazon.com - you see, nothing scary here.

You never 'own' a domain as such, you just register it in your name, which means it is yours alone to use, typically for a year or two. At the end of your registration period, you have first dibs to continue registering it in your name. Domain registration starts cheap, typically just a few £s or $s - though you can pay a lot more if you want to. The only hard part is deciding what name to register - this is how you'll become known on the internet. Of course, if you already have a website/domain name then you can skip this part - your blog will just reside at YourDomainName.com/blog.

Some general guidance on choosing a domain name... If your business is already established and you have (or want to build) a brand, then that's the name you want to register. Google and Yahoo don't mean anything, they're brands. If brand is less important to you, then choosing a domain which describes what you do/offer has many benefits. It's what I did with Online Business Consultant - it immediately communicates what the blog (or website) is about and it can help you appear nearer the top of search results when people look for that 'thing' (try a Google search for Online Business Consultant). There's a bit more to it than that, but it won't do you any harm and will probably help quite a bit in future. If you can, stick with .com .org .info or your country domain if appropriate (for example .co.uk in the United Kingdom).

Oh, a quick note before we move on... It is true that some blogging platforms offer free domains, but they're actually sub-domains e.g. YourBlog.BloggingCompany.com - which is no good for you or your brand. It doesn't look professional and one day you'll want your own fancy, independent domain, and the process of moving it over will be a costly nightmare. Domain names are so inexpensive, it is best to start as you mean to go on.

You're probably now thinking, 'how do I register a domain name?'. Don't worry about the 'hows' just yet, we'll come to that soon.

2. Choose a web host

A web what? Basically your website or blog (which is really just a series of computer files, like Word documents or images) has to live somewhere that is always available online so that anyone can access it at any time. In theory, you could host your website on your own computer, but you really wouldn't want to do that. Any time you turn your computer off, your site/blog would disappear from the web. And what would happen when you become popular and hundreds of people try to access it daily? Your computer would die a slow and painful death, and your visitors would have a horrible experience and leave. No, no - that can all be avoided by using a professional web hosting company. Web hosting can be free, but to host a decent blog you should expect to pay a few £s or $s each month.

In terms of cost, that's about it - whilst you can do it all for free, I'm recommending that you spend a total of less than $10 per month over the course of a year (including domain name registration). Whether it is a hobby or a business, that's very affordable for most people - and a must if you've ever going to do anything other than just publish your holiday photos for friends and family.

Once again, don't worry about which web host to use just yet, we'll come to that shortly.

3. Decide which blogging software to use

There are many options out there, but in terms of future-proofing your decision I'm going to recommend WordPress (specifically WordPress.org - which is the version you with a dedicated web host rather than have WordPress provide you with a free sub-domain and hosting... that is WordPress.com).

If you've never used any blogging software before, then you'll need to learn - but it is so, so easy. I'd say that if you can use a word processor to write a letter and you managed to find this article on the internet, then you'll be able to use the basic features of WordPress within minutes. If you so desire, you can then spend months learning all manner of fancy trickery - but there's no need to touch that when you're getting started (or indeed ever, unless you have a particular requirement).

Now for some great news...

You can pretty much do all three things (register a domain, get hosting and install WordPress on your site) in one fell swoop.

I'm going to recommend that you use JustHost. When you've finished reading this article, click the link to head over there and you'll receive:

• A free domain name (or 3 if you go for their Premium Plan).
  
• Web hosting starting from £2.95 or $3.45 per month (choose your country at the top right).
• Free (and easy) WordPress installation.

The link to JustHost is an affiliate link - which means I earn commission if you sign up with them. If you're not 100% comfortable with that, then you can visit their site directly or use an alternative web host. I'd always recommend using the service which you feel is best for your needs - and that might not necessarily be the one I recommend in an article written for general consumption.

Now I was intending to write a follow up to this that went into all the technical bits and pieces so that you can do everything recommended here by following a simple step-by-step guide. However, I stumbled across one which I happen to think is very good and it is already freely available as an article you can read online and also as a PDF download. So, if you're a DIY blogging kind of person, head over to read Diggy's free tutorial, How To Create Your Own Blog.

If you're not the DIY blogger type, whether that's is because you don't have the time right now or you prefer to concentrate purely on the writing rather than the technical stuff, then you can always hire me to assist. Even if it is just some advice you're after to ensure you're making the right decisions before starting out, I'd be happy to help out with that too... I do more than just hands-on tech. You can hire me by the hour or contact me about your requirements.

However you decide to proceed, I wish you all the best - it can be a lot of fun.

One final note - if you're reading this before December 15th 2010, then I'm raising money for SOS Children's Charity. You can really help by simply spreading the word on Twitter, Facebook or email. Make a donation or read more here (thank you)...


 

SEO sExperts - The Traffic Effect of Mentioning Porn in your Blog

Have you ever wondered why so many web pages, especially blogs, mention the word 'porn' even when the site has absolutely nothing to do with porn (and my site is now one of these!)?

If you don't believe me, see for yourself, the results are truly shocking...

Here's a neat little trick for you to find pages on a given site that mention a particular word. In a Google search, simply type "site:WebSiteAddress intext:Word". For example:

site:www.seomoz.org intext:porn

In the results you'll be able to see how many pages on the site mention that word and optionally choose to filter by when the page was indexed (found) by Google. It's the volume and frequency that is shocking.



In my example above, I've used SEOmoz.org - a site which is very much about search engine optimization. So why have they got over 200 pages which mention porn?

Shocking News... SEX SELLS!!!

It remains as true today in our online, connected world as it ever has. According to Sam Niccolls (referenced below) the "porn industry pulls in close to 1 billion dollars"! That's big business. When you couple that with the facts that Alexa says 4 of the top 100 sites are porn sites and Google has 100 million porn related searches monthly (yes, monthly!), it's easy to see how appearing in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) for porn could have a significant effect on your traffic.

Now obviously someone searching for porn will not spend long on your technology site. What I'm saying is this - it is NOT a good way to get qualified traffic.

It is common for blog authors to include mildly risqué pictures, so that the post is optimised for users as well as for search engines. Often these images will not to be hyperlinked. This means that if you have advertising on your site, it is more likely those links will be clicked on. I recently started my experiment with Google AdSense, so I'll be able to report back on this soon.

And that's it really - sites that generate revenue from advertising, may well discuss topics loosely related to porn simply to make more money. This is something you could experiment with yourself, but be mindful of the following:

• you do not, under any circumstances, want to alienate your loyal readers
• the topic discussed should be useful and relevant to your loyal readers
• monitor the effects and alter your strategy accordingly
  

If you do that, you should be fine. Please do share your thoughts and experiences in the comments - I know I was hesitant to post about this on a site which is very much my business and livelihood.

This post was inspired by Sam Niccolls who wrote Why Michael Arrington Blogs about Porn on SEOmoz. His post is well worth a read as it provides all of the numbers behind the assumptions.
 

Experimenting With Google AdSense

Lots of websites display adverts on their pages. If these are well placed, they should not detract from the content. In fact, they should prove useful to visitors as they are relevant to the topic of the page being viewed.

However, these ads are a little bit 'Marmite' - people either love them or hate them.

I've decided to run my own little experiment with the Google AdSense (read more here...). There'll be a little block appearing at the end of each article - this way they won't interrupt your reading, but will let you click through to (hopefully) relevant sites. They'll also appear at the bottom of the side bar (again, out of the way).

Why display Google Ads at all?

Simple really, every time a visitor click an advert, the site owner gets paid (normally a few cents). It's another way of generating income as a site owner - though for your average blog, the income from this is negligible.

What do you think?

Though I enjoy writing these articles, the purpose of them is to provide valuable information to the reader. As one of my readers, I'd love to know your thoughts on the ads. Love them or hate them - let me know in the comments...
 

Set Up An Online Business - A 'How To' Course

I've been following Johnny B Truant now for some time, and he's quickly established himself as the guy who 'makes technology simple'. On July 15th he's launching a new course named 'Make the Internet Your Bitch'. If the title puts you off, then his course probably isn't for you - he tells it straight, and uses plenty of swearing in the process! If you're not sure, then click on the links below to watch his videos so you can decide if his style is right for you.

How to kick technology's ass in just one week...

Again, his words not mine! The course is primarily made up of videos and is broken down over 7 days. During that week you will learn everything you need to get started in order to set up an online business. This is very much a 'technology how-to' course, you won't learn how to make money online! Here is a brief outline of what will be covered (mainly in Johnny's words with a little explanation from me):

• Day 1 - Launch your website.
  This covers buying a domain, hosting and setting up a blog.
  
  
• Day 2 - Fancying up your boring site.
  Choosing a theme, adding plugins and widgets as well as adding video content.
  
  
• Day 3 - Email and some boring stuff.
  How to set up your email accounts and very importantly - how to back up your site.
  
  
• Day 4 - Start your email machine.
  Creating email lists and managing subscribers.
  
  
• Day 5 - Start selling your wares.
  Different options for setting up online shopping carts.
  
  
• Day 6 - Make $$$ (money) off the back of others.
  Becoming an affiliate and setting up your own affiliate program.
  
  
• Day 7 - Keep learning.
  A few extras such as Search Engines and Social Media.
  

In his intro video, Johnny explains that he's set this up in the style of a blog and that it will be quasi interactive. By that he means that if you have questions about the content, then you can post the questions within the course and he'll be able to respond so that everyone can see (and benefit from) the answer.

If you are thinking of setting up an online business and wanted to learn how to get the essentials done within a week, this may be the best course out there.

Check out the 'how to set up an online business course' for yourself (hint: that was the link, click it and take a look).

As always, I pride myself on conducting my business openly and honestly. The above link is an affiliate link - which means that if you sign up, I get paid. For this reason, I'd never recommend anything that I don't believe to be of good value as it would be the fastest way to lose your trust and destroy my own business (which I'm working very hard to build up)!
 

CushyCMS - Instruction Videos for Users

This post has been written specifically for users of CushyCMS, guiding them through the most common tasks such as logging in, updating text, adding images and creating links.

If you're a web designer that uses CushyCMS, you're very welcome to guide your users to this article or use the YouTube videos on your blog. All 'link love' is greatly appreciated!

How to Use CushyCMS

If you're new to CushyCMS, then I recommend that you watch all videos in order before even logging in. That way you'll have a good appreciation of what to expect before you start. If having watched the videos you have any uncertainty in your mind, then contact your web designer for help before you begin. This is perfectly reasonable as you'll be editing your live website - not something that you want to get wrong!

Once you've watched all the videos, then you can always come back for a little refresher on any specific tasks as and when you need to.

All videos are best viewed at full screen with sound turned on.

How to log in to CushyCMS and change your password...

How to make simple text changes using CushyCMS...

How to add a title or a heading in CushyCMS...

How to add an image using CushyCMS...

This video briefly mentions that images uploaded should be of an appropriate format and size. This is a huge topic which cannot be done justice in a few words here. You might like to search the internet for 'optimize images for web' or try this free web resizer.

How to create internal and external links using CushyCMS...

How to create a document to download with CushyCMS...

This video briefly mentions saving your files in PDF format so that they can easily be opened on other computers. I use CutePDF Writer (free) for this.

CushyCMS Video Tutorial Feedback

This is the first series of 'how to' videos that I have produced and so I'd be very grateful for any feedback. Do let me know how you get on.
 

Which Web Content Management System? Why I Chose CushyCMS

This article has been written for web designers, specifically those that have created static (flat) HTML websites for other people and now want to give those people the ability to maintain the content themselves.

Customers generally don't want to rely on (or pay) a web designer to make small wording changes to their site. Equally, web designers would generally rather be designing the next site than get bogged down in text amends.

I found myself in this same situation recently, and so began my search for a free flat file content management system. My criteria were simple, it had to be:

• quick to implement,
  
• easy to use (for both me and my customers), and ideally
  
• free!

After much research I decided to use CushyCMS...

CushyCMS met all of the criteria, and then some! The do have a Pro Plan, but effectively all you are paying for is the ability to brand the CMS (with your own colours, logo and domain). If you don't want to hide the fact you're using CushyCMS from your customers - free will do you just fine.

I highly recommend taking a moment (3 minutes actually) to view the intro video on their home page. If you're more of a 'reader' than a 'watcher', then the way CushyCMS works is as follows:

• Set up an administrator account
  
  From here you can add any number of websites and web pages (see next point). In order to do this, you must enter FTP details into CushyCMS. You can also add users and give them permissions to any number of web pages.
  
  
• Tell CushyCMS which page elements can be edited by the users
  
  This is done by adding class="cushycms" to various entities (e.g. the P tag). If you want to make a number of elements available, you can enclose them in DIV tags (with the CushyCMS class). See their designer documentation for more details.
  
  
• Update web pages using their online WYSIWYG* editor
  
  That's it! You (and any users you've added) can use their editor to update content. This includes titles (H1, H2, etc), text and styles (bold, italic), images, links (including properties such as target frame), and much, much more.
  
  
• Publish updated pages at the click of a button
  
  A nice touch is that CushyCMS keeps a revision history for administrators making it easy to roll-back if necessary.
  

The only thing that I've really found lacking is any documentation for users (rather than administrators). It is so easy to log in and use the online editor, that arguably the documentation isn't necessary. However, if as a web designer, you're looking to hand over the management of these minor updates to your clients, the more they're able to help themselves, the better.

The good news is that I plan to address this with a series of short videos on the most common functions. I'll make them publicly available for your use too. Sign up for free updates (at the top right of this page) to make sure you don't miss them.

* In case you were wondering, WYSIWYG stands for What You See Is What You Get (i.e. it looks the same in the editor as it will when published on the live website - almost!).

UPDATE...

Since writing this post a few hours ago and tweeting about it, I gained a new follower called SurrealCMS. I had a quick look at their site and they offer something very similar to CushyCMS. In fact, at first glance it actually seems a little more comprehensive as you can use CSS within it to make the WYSISYG editor better reflect the design of the site. Users can also submit support requests to the administrator. It is also possible for users to manage page titles, descriptions, etc. Note that their free version is limited to just 3 sites whereas I believe CushyCMS is unlimited (stating on their site "unlimited free use").
 

You Can't Outsmart Google - How I Fell Foul of the Giant

I'd love to be able to tell you that I'm a internet guru and that I never make mistakes but, alas, I cannot. Sorry to shatter your illusions.

This week I made a rather silly mistake. In hindsight it was always going to go wrong, but I didn't think about that at the time - I was too caught up in the excitement.

In this post I'm going to show you how to avoid making the same mistake, and also how to fix it should you ever find yourself in a similar situation. The mistake? Falling foul of Google's quality guidelines and having a site removed from their index (almost as quickly as I got it in there in the first place)!

Earlier this week I discussed the benefits of an exact match domain name, and later reported back to declare the experiment a success. I needn't reveal the full story here, but I will so that you can learn from it.

Having a site removed from Google's index!

Today I noticed that the exact match domain I'd been experimenting with wasn't turning up in the search results any longer. I confirmed this with a sneaky little trick... If you want to find out which pages of a site are in Google's index, do a Google search for "site:yoursite.com", for example "site:onlinebusinessconsultant.co.uk". The site definitely wasn't there.

I then dived straight into the Google Webmaster Tools to try and work out what was going on. Google has published some guidelines which, if you build sites, you'd do well to read. In here I found out about something they call 'doorway pages'. I'd never heard of these before, though arguably I should have! BANG goes my guru status. Google defines doorway pages as follows:

Doorway pages are typically large sets of poor-quality pages where each page is optimized for a specific keyword or phrase. In many cases, doorway pages are written to rank for a particular phrase and then funnel users to a single destination.

Indeed - the exact match domain was definitely one of these. Shame on me. Now it's really important to point out that the problem is not with exact match domains. The problem is when they're used as described above. Google doesn't take kindly to being manipulated.

How to fix a doorway page...

So this is a little premature as I haven't actually fixed the problem yet, but essentially you need to turn the doorway page into one that that provides original content. Once this has been done, you can then request that Google reconsider your site. The request form is here.

There's nothing wrong with using exact match domain names (especially if it is for your core site). But if the point of them is to funnel traffic to your core site, then unless they provide original content, you're effectively creating doorway pages. You'll probably get away with it if you don't overdo it - and trust me, it isn't worth the hassle. Getting back in the index can take some time!
 

How to get on Page 1 of Google - The Benefits of Exact Match Domain Names

In my last post I advised to choose your domain name carefully, stating "unless you have a well-known brand ... it is highly advantageous to purchase a domain name that contains keywords people are searching for". Today, I'll show you how to take that one stage further to virtually guarantee a page 1 (top 10) spot in Google.

I should probably start by saying that this technique is likely best used as a 'complimentary' method. By that I mean you might want to buy a domain that works well for your business (either containing your brand name or keywords your customers will use in a search) as well as additional domains that will help you obtain that, often illusive, page 1 spot.

So here it is, and it is really simple...

Buy an exact match domain name!!!

Whoa there, hold on just a minute. Before you go rushing off to buy that domain, some clarification is required if this is to work...

Firstly an explanation of what is meant by 'exact match'. Google uses three terms to classify search phrases. These are:

• Broad Match. This means that the results will essentially match the words that you're searching for, but there may be some use of plurals, synonyms and misspellings (i.e. variants of your search words).
  
  
• Phrase Match. This means that the words you type will appear together (consecutively) as a phrase. An example would be "hiring an online business consultant". A search for that would ensure all search results contained that exact phrase. To try this for yourself in Google, make sure the phrase appears in quotation marks - this is how you tell Google that you want a phrase match.
  
  
• Exact Match. Really just used by Google AdWords to say that you only want to display your advert when an exact phrase is used in isolation. For example, if I specified that I wanted my advert to appear when the exact phrase "online business consultant" was searched for, it would not display if someone searched for "hiring an online business consultant" (because it contains additional words). Note that if I specified 'phrase match' then it would display.

Now we know what an 'exact match' is, you need to make sure you buy the right domain. The current wisdom is that this will only work for .com .net and .org domains - Google seems to give priority to these.

So there you have it. If you want a top 10 spot in the Google search results, buy an exact match domain name on .com .net or .org (don't waste your time or money on the others).

Final thoughts...

A couple of SEO techniques will improve your chances significantly. Be sure to include your exact phrase in the TITLE and H1 tags. Learn about HTML entities (markup and tags) here.

An update on There's No Smoke Without Fire...

I'm using the above technique myself to see just how well it can work - in all honesty, it's not something I've tried before. This post was written on 1st July 2009, the same day I first uploaded the index.html file to my exact match domain. I will post back here when is is indexed by Google, and will also let you know where it appears in the search results. This update will appear below...

*** Results of the 'exact match' domain name experiment ***

2nd July 2009: Blimey, that was quick. Last night, just 12 hours after uploading the home page, it was indexed by Google. Better still, it ranks number 8 for the exact phrase - firmly on page 1 of the search results. On that basis, I would have to declare the experiment a success. There are however, a couple of caveats (apologies, I'm going to get a little jargony):

• This technique might not be as effective if there is good quality competition. By good quality I mean well-established sites with lots of inbound links and a decent page rank.
  
  
• I don't think it will work if you set up a DNS redirect. The .com and .net domains are owned by someone else (my client bought .org), but these do not appear on page 1 for the exact match search. I believe this is because there seems to be a DNS redirect to their main site (perhaps meaning that Google doesn't have a page to put in their index). One way round this might be to use a Javascript redirect - the type of thing that says 'you will automatically be redirected to the new page in 10 seconds'. Alternatively, try and make the exact match domain pages contain something useful - my client's encourages visitors to sign up to the mailing list in return for a discount code.

You can't really control when Google will index you pages, but there are things that you can do to encourage it. For the sake of being helpful, what I did is listed below. Everything is designed to let Google know you're there to be found.

• Installed Google Analytics
• Verified the site in Google Webmaster Tools and uploaded a sitemap
• Wrote this article containing a link to the site (and used pingoat to get it noticed)
  
• Submitted the URL to Google and Bing (MSN)

So there you have it, if you want to easily make it to page 1 in Google, get yourself an exact match domain name.
 

There's No Smoke Without Fire, Part I - Entering a Highly Competitive Market

I want to tell you a little about some work I've recently been doing for a client. It should be interesting because there are many lessons that can be learned (i.e. mistakes you can avoid). It is also a work in progress, so I will also post updates here so that you can see which strategies and techniques have been most effective.

The story so far...

My client is a hypnotherapist and has had a successful practice for over 20 years. When the smoking ban was announced for the UK (July 2007), together with a business partner, she decided that there was an opportunity to sell her 'stop smoking with hypnosis' session on the internet and make a little money.

Now selling anything on the internet is no easy task when you have zero technical knowledge (i.e. how to build a website) and no knowledge of internet marketing. It's not a criticism- in fact, it's the reason that a multi-million pound business exists out there today.

So my client bought her domain, recorded her hypnosis session and employed a web design company. The web designers duly created a website complete with very basic information and a link to purchase the hypnosis session through PayPal.

Success? Unfortunately not. Over 2 years later and not a single online sale.

Where did it all go wrong?

Even today, in a world where people are ever-more internet savvy, there are so many misconceptions about selling online (or more specifically, creating a successful online business - for that's what it should really be). Here are some of the lessons to learn from her experience:

1. Choose your domain name carefully.
   
   Unless you have a well-known brand (such as Tesco or Walmart), it is highly advantageous to purchase a domain name that contains keywords people are searching for. This is a small factor that will help you site appear higher in search results (know as Search Engine Results Pages - SERPs). This brings us to the next lesson (which should probably have been the first)...
   
   
2. Know your market and research it thoroughly.
   
   My client knew that there were people out there in the world that wanted help to stop smoking. What she didn't know was anything about their online activity or the competition she'd face - and why would she as a hypnotherapist.
   
   If you want to start selling anything online, the principle is to find something which has high demand (i.e. lots of people searching for it) and low competition (not many pages on the internet meeting that demand). Hypnosis (especially for smoking cessation and weight loss), is a highly competitive market which makes it extremely difficult to compete on any level. For our purposes, 'compete' means 'have our website rank in the top 10 in Google for an appropriate search phrase' - absolutely necessary if people are going to find your site and buy from you. Consider that the number 1 spot in Google will receive approximately 40% of the clicks, and that perhaps 1% of visitors to your site will buy your product. Now it is easy to see that if you're not in the top 10 search results, your massive market will translate into essentially zero sales.
   
   There are other ways to get traffic to your site (such as paid advertising), but if you can't compete as described above, you'll need a BIG budget - and there's still no guaranteed return on investment.
   
   This whole topic is something that I'll be looking at in more detail on future posts. Enter your email address in the top right for free updates to be sure not to miss them.
   
   
3. Employ appropriate expertise.
   
   My client employed a web design company to create her website - and that's exactly what they did. That website achieved precisely nothing. For anyone starting out with the intention of selling online, it is important to appreciate there is more to it than create a product and a website, then sitting back and waiting for the riches to roll in. If you aren't experienced in the following and don't have the luxury of time (or inclination) to learn it yourself, then you're going to need someone you can trust to help you.
   
   First you'll need to help researching your market as described above. Based on your research you'll either conclude that it is viable and create a strategy, or decide that actually, there really isn't a business there for you.
   
   Next you'll need a website that both ranks well in search engines and also converts visitors into sales. Essentially we're talking about three skills... website design (which very much includes usability as well as the overall look), search engine optimisation (SEO) and copy-writing. At all times, remember that you're selling to real people.
   
   Finally you'll need to launch your product - a good launch can create the appropriate buzz and gain the initial momentum you need. I say finally, but really this is just the start as you'll want to monitor progress and keep refining everything to ensure a successful long-term business.
   
   

How we're fixing it...

My client had a bad experience - she received poor advice throughout and saw no return on her investment. If I could give you just one tip to help you avoid the same mistakes it would be to ensure your web designer asks:

What do you want to achieve with your website - and how will you do that?

If they don't ask those questions, then you'll probably end up with a website and not much else. Anyway, I digress. These are the things we've been doing to make a success out of this venture...

First we took ownership of the website and domains - moving them to a free web-hosting company. It did cost to move them - but now there are no monthly fees. Free hosting is fine as long as you don't need anything fancy (which most people don't).

Next we did our market research and realised just how difficult a market it is to break into. However, we identified a small niche and are starting with that - more detail on exactly how this was done is coming in future posts.

Finally the website was redesigned taking into account usability, the (probable) need to make future changes and SEO good-practice. If you're looking for a stop smoking MP3 hypnosis session, why not take a look. The site was uploaded last week and was indexed (found) by Google 5 days later - entering the SERPs at number 12 for our chosen search phrase, which is a pretty good start.

The future...

Now we're going to be working to achieve higher placement in search engines and will also be promoting the site in various places, creating some buzz. From there we'll be tracking the results and refining the process to achieve better sales.

Writing this has been difficult as there's so much more to what we've already done and what we'll be doing in the future. That's why this post has focused primarily on providing the back-story (context) and strategies to avoid common pitfalls that so many people, through no fault of their own, fall into. We'll look at these strategies in greater detail as well as providing progress updates in future posts. Be sure to enter your email address at the top right of this page, so you don't miss them.

Setting Up An Online Business - Tips, Tools and Techniques

This is a guest post submitted by cashback.co.uk. Initially their director, Neil Durrant, approached me and asked if I would include a link back to their site from mine - a good technique for off-page search engine optimisation (SEO). I agreed on the basis that it formed part of an article which would be useful to Online Business Consultant readers. That article follows below - at the end I've added a few SEO notes and tips for you too...

Today, as many people are looking to set up their own business, going online has a number of advantages:

• Your market is everyone with an internet connection.
• You can get going cheaply and quickly since you will not need expensive premises
• Your costs and prices will be cheaper

But the key to profitability is thorough preparation.

Here are 10 useful tips to help get your business going and profitable:

1. Write a business plan. Who are you trying to sell to, will they buy online, where are they based, can your product be sold and distributed online, are delivery costs low? If your idea stands up to scrutiny, you might be in business.
   
   [For more information about scrutinising your ideas, see the Business Ideas Litmus Test]
   
   
2. Find the right ISP provider to host your website. There are hundreds of businesses ISPs. Look at issues such as speed, customer service availability, back up services as well as cost and ability to switch.
   
   
3. Register your domain name. Before you establish your company name, do a search to make sure your chosen URL is available and make it memorable. Your ISP may be able to help register your domain name.
   
   [Tip: when choosing a domain name, try to ensure it is strongly related to your brand or contains keywords relevant to your market - which is good for organic SEO]
   
   
4. Set up your own website. You can find DIY site builder solutions on the net. These sites may not be as distinctive as you might like. Otherwise use a web designer but ask for samples first. They will advise on content, customer engagement tools and on navigation to make it for customers to buy from you.
   
   [WordPress is becoming increasingly popular for general website building as well as blogs. You might want to look at the Thesis theme (and why it is considered to be the best available) or have your site set up for you.]
   
   
5. Display the following information:
   
   - Contact details
   - VAT registration if applicable
   - Privacy policy
   - Terms and conditions of sale
   - Exchange/refund policy
   - Up to date prices and stock availability
   
   
6. Set up a virtual shopping cart to allow customers to select items for payment later through the check out page. Again your ISP may have an integrated shopping cart or you can buy specialist shopping cart software.
   
   
7. Set up an account with a provider like PayPal to collect payments. Charges are usually a percentage of each transaction.
   
   
8. Promote your website. Use your URL everywhere... business cards, brochures, letter heads, e-mail signatures, adverts. And make sure you capture customer e-mail addresses to let them know about new products and latest offers and promotions.
   
   
9. Market yourself on search engines. Either by paying for an ad linked to your site on a pay per click basis so you are only paying for visitors or by working with a specialist to optimise your content so that you appear high on search engine rankings against selected key words. Both approaches should be used in the early days.
   
   
10. Finally, test your site just before you go live and regularly. Do all the features work? Is the end to end process slick and straightforward?
    
    [Make sure you site is tested by your intended customer with no instruction from you. Even if everything works, if they don't 'get it' and end up buying from you, all your time, effort and money will go to waste!]
    

You are now well on way to having your online business up and running and giving you the ability to earn money. As with most things in life, you will rapidly learn 80% in the early days and spend the remainder of the life of the business learning the finer points. But it is a rewarding journey.

...

So I promised you a few SEO tips and already mentioned that the reason Neil approached me was not only to promote his site, but also to improve his site's rankings in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). You see, the fact is, that no matter how well you do your on-page optimisation (those things on your site within your control), inbound links to your site have a much greater impact on your ranking position. However, it's not quite a simple as that...

The quality of inbound links matters greatly. You can actually be penalised by Google for trying to cheat the system with 'black hat' techniques (and your pages will go down the ranks or even disappear from the indexes altogether). The good news is that you get bonus points for:

• Links that appear on relevant sites -
  I.e. if the topic of the page the link appears on is the same as the topic of the page it links to, this is good.
  
  
• Good use of anchor text -
  Anchor text being the words you click on to follow the link. A terrible example of anchor text would be 'click here' - it means nothing. Notice how Neil's researchers used 'earn money' for their anchor text above. It tells Google that the page being linked to is about earning money, i.e. it contains keywords they're trying to rank for. Also, it is much better for the anchor text to appear in context within a paragraph (ideally high up a page) than in a bullet list.
  
  
• Variety -
  It's the spice of life, and Google knows this. If all of your inbound links go to the same page and have the same anchor text, Google will get suspicious - it's all a bit too convenient. Google wants to see things happening naturally. For example, Google doesn't want to think that Neil approached me to try and get cashback.co.uk in the number 1 spot. Google wants the most popular relevant site to appear in the number 1 spot, and that is the site that people are talking about on their blogs and linking to because they want to. Everyone is different, so everyone would have different anchor text. Google rewards these patterns of behaviour. On that note, it's also worth mentioning that providing facilities to make it easy for visitors to promote and link to your site is therefore very wise indeed!
  

Here are a few links to articles and videos on the subject that you may ind useful. I posted all of these on my Twitter account, so you may like to follow theOBC on Twitter.

• Link building guide
• Link building stimulus plan
• How to get awesome links (video)
• Why you shouldn't create a link farm (video)
• More about off-page over optimisation (video)

P.S. I changed the link I was originally given to the cashback.co.uk site when I noticed that they had an affiliate program. If I'm going to include a link to their site, why not a link that I get paid for - this article is all about making money online afterall! I hope you found it useful.

You do NOT want to miss these FAST ACTION BONUSES

Project Mojave is launching at 16:30 Pacific today and there are some awesome bonuses (in excess of $480.95 worth to be precise) for the first people to sign up.

Follow this link to find out exactly what Project Mojave is all about.

Here is the rundown of the bonuses available to the first people to sign up:

Bonus for The FIRST 100 People Who Enroll in Project Mojave

The first 100 people who enroll in Project Mojave up will get:

(1) A copy of Dave Navarro's "30 Hours Per Day: How to Add Hours of Productivity to Every Day", a $97 value (this isn't even on the market right now).

(2) Access to Laura Roeder's "Backstage Pass to Twitter" (a $197 value).

(3) A copy of Jonathan Mead's "Reclaim Your Dreams: An Uncommon Guide to Living on Your Own Terms" (a $24.95 value).

(4) A copy of Clay's "Virtual Assistant Hiring Exam" (this is the EXACT same test I give to my virtual assistants before hiring them; a $37 value).

Bonus for The FIRST 25 People To Enroll in Project Mojave

The first 25 members get everything the first 100 members receive, plus:

(5) Clay's SEO outsourcing system (the paint-by-numbers, cut-and-paste SEO system I give to my virtual assistants so that THEY can do my SEO for me . . . at $5/hour). This system trains
them how to do SEO on my behalf.

Bonus for The FIRST 5 People To Enroll in Project Mojave

The first 5 members get everything the first 25 members receive, plus:

(6) A half-hour consultation with Clay (valued at $125).

(7) A "friend pass" which allows - you guessed it - a friend to subscribe WITH you for free.

Don't miss out - SIGN UP NOW!

 

The BEST Internet Marketing Course Available Online Today

I'm going to be posting a number of articles all relating to what I honestly believe is THE best internet marketing course available online today. I'm in a position to say this, because I was lucky enough to be one of the original pre-launch members. I've been in it from the start and it's delivering everything it promises.

For the full course you have to pay to join, however, they're also giving away a significant proportion of the premium content for FREE. To get the free content all you need to do is submit your email address. Don't worry, you won't get any spam from them and you can unsubscribe at any time with a single click.

Why am I so enthusiastic about this?

Quite simply, this is the course that lead me to quit my well-paid job as an employee. Before I set up Online Business Consultant I spent literally years (hundreds of hours in total) researching how to achieve this without succeeding in making it a reality. Then I joined the course and soon after became my own boss. It's scary but exciting (and let's be honest - a whole lot of work too).

How to get the FREE premium content...

As I mentioned just a moment ago, all you need to do is sign up on the Project Mojave site and they'll send you emails as new content becomes available. What I'll be doing is writing articles about the materials that are made available so you can better understand what they're about and how they're useful to you. It's worth signing up for my updates too as I won't just be writing reviews on Project Mojave, but will also provide lots of other useful information to help you set up, promote and generally make a success of your business - whether it's an online business or a traditional business with an online presence. You may now be asking yourself:

Why give away valuable internet marketing information?

I've previously stated on my main site:

The truth is that there is nothing special, clever or secret about what I do. Anyone with basic computer literacy, lots of time to dedicate to research and a willingness to work hard can do what I'm offering.

This information is freely available anyway and shortcuts some of the hard work searching for advice that works. All I'm doing is giving you a helping hand and pointing you in the right direction. Hey, if you ever wanted more support with any of this, you might end up employing my services anyway.

But more than that - I suspect you might be a little like me. A lot of this is about becoming the master of your own destiny and creating the life you want to lead. Project Mojave is SO MUCH MORE than an internet marketing course. It's about identifying what you're passionate about and providing value to others by sharing that passion. There's no sleazy sales techniques here, it's about genuinely helping others. The bottom line is that if you provide real value, people will pay for it.


FULL DISCLOSURE: As always I like to be totally upfront. The links in this article and future articles on free Project Mojave materials contain affiliate links. It's worth repeating... I'll never promote anything which I wouldn't spend my own money on, and I did spend my own money to become a Project Mojave member. However, these articles aren't here to persuade you to sign up for the course, they're here to guide you toward some of the best free articles and videos on this topic that are available on the internet today. I do hope you get as much out of them as I have.

Website or Blog Setup for just $39

Ever fancied owning your own domain (e.g. mydomain.com) and having your very own website or blog, but weren't sure where to start? Well, Johnny can get you started in no time at all - and best of all, he'll do all the complicated set-up work for just $39 (approx £25), leaving you to get on with the fun stuff - writing great articles and web pages.

Wondering who Johnny is or why you should trust him with your website or blog? Don't worry, I'll explain all that shortly.

If you want your website and blog set up at a really low cost right now, just click the link (then click the 'buy now' button) - or read on to find how it all works.

Here's the deal...

First of all, this offer is aimed at those of you who don't yet have a domain, website or blog (for this venture at least). The reason for this is that you'll separately be purchasing the domain name and deluxe hosting* from GoDaddy.com - this costs approximately $80-$90 for the first year. Just to be clear, the $39 you're paying Johnny is for him to do all the hard work in setting up your blog.

*Deluxe hosting allows you to have unlimited websites on the one plan, so you can add more sites at a later date for no extra cost.

Please note that you cannot use any GoDaddy promo codes with this offer. So 'all in', you'll be paying around $130 to have a whole, professional-looking, fully-functional website that you can administrate on your own for a full year. That’s pretty cheap.

If you want to know how a Wordpress blog can be just like a website, click to read what Johnny has to say on the subject.

What Johnny will do for you...

1. Install Wordpress software on your site, so that you have a blog.
   
2. Tell you how to get into the place where you can write posts and tweak it.
   
3. Upload the theme you chose and make it active so that your blog looks all pretty.
   
4. Upload some basic plug-ins and activate them. They are:
   
• wp-spamfree to fight blog comment spam
  
• all-in-one-SEO pack to get you started with search engines
  
• Google sitemap generator, also to help you with the engines
  
• Subscribe to comments, which in Johnny's opinion is essential to encouraging conversation on your blog
  

What Johnny will not be doing for you...

1. Move your posts or database over from Blogger or whatever old hosted blog you have, if you have one.
   
2. Personal blog tutoring.
   
3. Pretty much everything else.
   

Don’t worry, it won’t overwhelm you. It’s fairly intuitive, and you need to learn it anyway. Johnny will do everything that is essential. All you’ll really need to do is to write posts, and anything else you figure out how to do is just easy.

How it works...

1. You follow an insanely easy 10-step process Johnny has written up to buy your hosting and domain name.
   
2. You pick a theme - your blog’s “look” as described at the end of the 10-step process.
   
3. You email Johnny the information he needs - GoDaddy login info, theme choice, and more. Don’t worry, he can’t get at your credit card info or anything with that login info. You should probably log in yourself and poke around to assure yourself of this.
   
4. Within a few days, He’ll install your blog, your new theme, and some blog plug-ins.
   
5. Johnny will then tell you how to get to the new blog and its control panel, which is where you’ll write posts and all of the fun stuff. Then you change your passwords so Johnny can't get back into your stuff.
   

Get your website and blog now...

That's it - nice and simple. If you want Johnny to set up your website and blog, just click the button (it'll take you through to Johnny's site - then all you have to do it click 'buy now')...


Who is Johnny and why should you trust him?

Johnny B. Truant is a website developer with over a decade of experience. He has his own blog called The Economy Isn't Happening - and if you click on that link, you can read what he has to say about himself. More recently Johnny has been working with Naomi from IttyBiz (again, click the link to read one of their articles). Naomi is a bit of a guru, and I learned a lot about of what I do by starting with her ebook, SEO School. They're well established in the online world - and successful too. A word of warning though - their language can be a little 'blue' at times! Other than that, they're both straight-talking nice folk.

Still not sure? Read all the good things people are saying about Johnny...

Get your self-hosted Wordpress blog or website installed for only $39!

FULL DISCLOSURE: The links to the $39 offer in this article are affiliate links. This means that if you take Johnny up on his offer, I receive a percentage. Does this mean I'm trying to make money? Well, yes - but I have my reputation to consider, which is why I'll only ever promote anything I'd be happy to spend my own money on. It's also why I've taken the time to explain why you can trust Johnny to do a great job creating your website and blog at such a great price.

Completely Automate Twitter and Build an Audience Fast

In this article I'll show you how to completely automate your Twitter profile so that you can quickly build an online audience. We won't be discussing the pros and cons of this approach - and you should be clear that there are many cons - it purely focuses on the 'how to'.

So, now that you're aware that the whole thing is a bit 'spammy', if you still want to know how, read on. Oh, and I should be absolutely clear, I do NOT use this technique on here! OK, without further ado...

1. Create a Twitter Account

A little bit obvious perhaps, but best to start at the beginning. It's good if you can include some keywords in your Twitter username, display name and bio. This makes it easy for people to find you when searching for particular topics.

Don't forget to put a link to your website on your profile. When you start following people, they'll more than likely take a look at who you are and then click through to your site.

A nice relevant profile picture and colour scheme to match your website finishes off the professional look.

2. Set up a Yahoo Pipe

Set up a what? Read more about Yahoo Pipes here - but for our purposes the pipe simply allows you to take feeds from various sources and combine them into one single feed.

You might now very well be asking - but why? The answer is simple - you want to post interesting articles about your 'topic' on your Twitter profile, but you don't want to have to write them or constantly look for new ones to tweet. Soooo, we do the hard work upfront - and by hard work, I mean about 30 mins of effort (for a lifetime of automation!).

It goes something like this... using Google find sites that discuss your topic and also have an RSS feed*. Next plug the feed into your Yahoo Pipe - you can apply a keyword filter if need be (useful when the feed also discusses other topics). Now use Google to find another similar site/feed and repeat the process until exhausted.

When you're done, save and run your pipe. You'll get the option to have the pipe as an RSS feed - take a copy of the pipe feed URL (you'll need this later).

Here's a nice little tutorial for creating your first Yahoo Pipe.

*IMPORTANT: check the Terms of Use for each site - many forbid activities like this.

3. Configure TwitterFeed

TwitterFeed is a great service which monitors an RSS feed and every time there is a new article, it will post an update on your Twitter profile.

So, what TwitterFeed is going to do for us is monitor the Yahoo Pipe RSS feed (which remember is being fed from lots of other great RSS feeds you found earlier), and then post these useful articles on your Twitter account. All articles will link back to the original source, so no-one will think you're passing these off as your own. You're just being really helpful by tweeting links to stories that are interesting to your followers. All this without doing any work (after the initial set up).

4. Set up a Twollo Account

Twollo allows you to automatically follow people who tweet keywords that you specify. So you're going to want to follow people who mention keywords related to your topic - because they might be interested in the (automatic) tweets you're going to be publishing.

Why are we doing this? Well, normally when you follow someone, they'll at least check out your Twitter profile. And, if they find you interesting, they'll probably follow you back. This is how you're going to build your audience.

Exercise caution when setting this up - it's easy to follow too many people for too many things and your ratio of Followers to Following becomes horribly unbalanced (and you don't want that).

Note that Twollow (with a 'w' at the end) offers a similar auto-follow service.

5. Optionally use TweetLater

TweetLater lets you do a number of things (including schedule tweets - though I prefer Twuffer for this). The two things we're interested in are automatic Direct Messages and also automatic Un-Follow.

When someone follows you, TweetLater will allow you to send them a direct message. You might want to use this to thank them for following you and then provide a link to your website or possible a voucher code. This is where is can get really spammy and you should be aware... the overwhelming majority of Twitter users hate spammy auto-DMs! You have been warned.

The other useful feature we mentioned with TweetLater was the auto Un-Follow. So if someone follows you and later stops, it will automatically unfollow them. This is good for keeping your Follower/Following ratio balanced. Occasionally you may need to perform a manual pruning.

6. Sit Back and Relax

That's it, you're done. Your Twitter account will now frequently be updated with interesting and relevant tweets (if you did a good job with your Yahoo Pipe). And you'll have an ever-growing 'qualified' audience by auto-following people who will follow you back (thanks to Twollo).

Actually, that's not quite it... I highly recommend monitoring your Twitter account for the first few hours and then again each day for the first week just to make sure everything is working OK. Things to look out for include:

1. Posting irrelevant tweets (modify your Yahoo Pipe)
   
2. Posting too regularly (tweak TwitterFeed)
3. Following the wrong people or too many people (reconfigure Twollo)

Good luck with this if you do decide to use it, and be sure to let me (and everyone else) know how you get on.