Tag: "unethical techniques"

Ethical Internet Marketing Practices – How to Drive Traffic to Your Website

It doesn’t matter if you are a newbie or a pro; when it comes to Internet marketing you must have targeted traffic or you’ll soon be a sinking ship. Targeted traffic means that the people who are finding your website are actually interested in what your offer.

Websites are cataloged in search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, and AOL. In addition to the giants, there are hundreds of lesser-known search engines that people use every day.

Search Engine Optimization

Certain techniques are used to help websites obtain ranking within the various search engines. One of the most common techniques is referred to as search engine optimization (SEO).

SEO techniques utilize keywords or key phrases to help search engines identify the content on each web page. The more targeted the keywords or phrases, the higher your web page will rank in the search engines.

If your website is about a popular topic such as Internet marketing, or health and wellness, you’ll be competing with thousands of people for those top spots. People do all sorts of ludicrous acts to obtain the number one spot.

Occasionally the ludicrous acts will work and a website will shoot to the top. However, it won’t take long for the search engine owners to figure out what you have done. As soon as they do, they will yank your site from their search engine. Using unethical practices to capture a high rank will quickly get you blacklisted from all the search engines forever.

Be on the look out for companies who tell you they can get your website in front of a million visitors in one day. Or ones that claim they can get your pages ranked in the top positions at all major search engines. The vast majority of these companies use unethical techniques that can ruin your business.

Ad Blasting Programs

Popular traffic driving schemes include ad blasting programs. In these programs, members agree to accept ads from other members. Doing so allows you to post a certain number of advertisements each day.

The problem with these types of programs is you receive a tremendous amount of mail. A large percentage of the ads are written by people who have no clue what they are doing. Everyone wants to sell what they have, but nobody wants to buy. The ads consist of everything from Internet marketing programs to porn.

If you do decide to embark on this type of traffic building program, proceed with caution! You would be wise to set-up a separate email account to receive the hundreds of offers that pour in daily.

These types of programs are great for learning how NOT to write ads. Very few of the ads posted in traffic building programs are worth reading. It’s sad, but true. After you begin receiving dozens of ads, you’ll soon find yourself selecting the “delete all” option. Than it will sink in that if you are deleting all of the ads without reading them, chances are good that a lot of others are doing the same.

Pay Per Click Advertising

Instead of wasting time on ad blasting programs, consider investing in pay-per-click advertising (PPC). PPC can bring highly targeted visitors to your website in a matter of minutes.

Google Adsense is one of the most popular PPC programs; along with Yahoo! Search Marketing and MSN Adcenter. Oftentimes you can open an account for $10 USD. With PPC advertising you purchase keywords associated to your product or service.

You can also select to publish PPC advertisements on your website or blog. When your visitors click on these ads, you are paid a percentage. After you accrue a certain amount, a check is issued to you. Generally, you are required to have a minimum of $100 in your account before you are paid. If you do not accrue that in a month, it rolls over until you reach the minimum.

Last, but not least, when engaging in PPC advertising, keep this in mind…

Keep a watchful eye on ads that are being displayed on your website. Most PPC organizations provide you with options to block certain types of ads. Depending on what you sell, you could end up with ads for things that could be deemed unethical.

The same holds true for where your ads are being displayed. If your ad ends up on a “XXX” website, it could harm your reputation. Track your ads and be mindful of where they are posted and what they contain.

In “The Internet Marketer“, you can discover other traffic driving methods to drive targeted traffic to your website.