SEO isn’t for everyone, and honestly… it’s a huge pain in the butt to manage if you are currently working on ad campaigns, writing new content and handling everything else for your business. Over the past few months I’ve been working with RankPay, and they have a really amazing setup. In short, you pick the keywords you want to rank for, and you don’t pay anything until you see results.

After seeing some great results, I wanted to sit down with Justin from RankPay and have him answer some important SEO questions and provide a few seo tips as well. Please keep in mind that Justin’s answers to my questions are based on the question themselves, but with SEO there are so many different moving parts and dynamics that not every questions answer will work for each and every website. Let the learning begin!

SEO TIPS & FAQs ANSWERED

How effective is article marketing for web sites, in terms of seo rank and keywords? (ie: using backlinks as keywords and submitting one article vs. weekly for the same site)

Backlink building is one of the most important things that you can do for your Search Engine rankings. While article marketing is a great strategy to build highly relevant backlinks to a website, it must be executed properly to see results from a rankings perspective. When backlinking you want to make sure that you have links from a variety of websites and not only a single one. Therefore make sure that you are submitting articles to more websites than just Ezinearticles. Next you want to make sure that your links include your keyword, also known as anchor text. Anchor text helps the search engines better understand the content of the item that its linking to.

Obviously the PageRank of a web site is very important, but let’s say we have a few sites/domains that all have the same page rank and links to the site, but one domain is 10 years old, another is 5 years old and another was just recently registered, how will the age of a domain/site effect it’s results in search engines?

The age of the domain can have an affect on search engine rankings if the link age that were pointing to those domains are nearly as old as the domain itself. If all things equal, and one domain was registered last week and another registered ten years ago they will both have an equal opportunity to rank. Again, the only thing that would influence something differently is if the ten year old site had been indexed by Google years ago and has backlinks that are older than the new website.

What are you thoughts on the millions of autoblogs that are simply replicating content? How long of a life span do these sites usually have, and how does article replication effect both the original content creator, and the ones stealing it?

We aren’t fans of autoblogs, stealing isn’t right and copying another persons content is the same as stealing. It is disappointing to see the recent explosion of autoblogs and their popularity in the internet marketing community. Matt Cutts just posted today about how Google has rolled out algorithm changes that deal with this very thing: http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/algorithm-change-launched

There are millions of old sites that were built in plain HTML, but still rank very well in the search engines. What is the best method for these site to convert their HTML sites to WordPress sites, while keeping SEO and prior links in tact?

Great question Zac and critically important for most long time internet marketers. When transforming a website from legacy HTML to WordPress there are a few methods that you can do to keep and retain backlinks. Keep in mind though that both methods are very time consuming but worth while in the long run.

First, take inventory of all your websites URLs and indexed pages in Google. There are tools that can expedite this process, or if your site isn’t that big you can go to Google and search “site: http://www.url.com” This will show you an index of all of your pages from your domain in Google.

After taking inventory of the pages, you’ll need to replicate those same URLs in WordPress. You can change the permalink structure to reflect your old page URLs by adding .html to the end. For example, /%postname%.html. This will change any of your post names to have .html at the end, matching your old legacy html website.

Finally, you need to make sure that you copy your information architecture of your old website. That includes directories and how your site had its linked laid out before. While this method is extremely time consuming it will help save your site from experiencing a tremendous loss in rankings or PageRank.

The easier method to converting a legacy HTML site to a WordPress website is to use 301 redirects for all old pages to the corresponding pages on your new website. You’ll want to make sure that you don’t miss any links, so do a backlink check in Yahoo Site Explorer and verify that all links that pointed to your old HTML website are redirected using a 301 to your new similar page.

Backlinks, Page Content, Sitemap and Image Tags… can you rank and give a quick explanation of each in order of their importance when trying to make the most of your site for seo ranking purposes?

#1 Page Content

Page content is the single most important ranking factor for all websites. By having great content on your site, that is also relevant and keyword friendly, you give yourself the possibility of attracting quality inbound links. Do yourself a favor and make sure that the content is unique, and that each page has keywords corresponding to it which you are trying to target in the search engines.

#2 Backlinks

A great backlinking campaign can work wonders on a website’s search engine rankings. It’s one of the strongest ranking variables in Google’s and other search engine algorithms. Not all links are made alike, so don’t try and go get as many links as possible, it’s all about building a great backlink portfolio by first and foremost creating great content that your readers want to read.

#3 Sitemap

A Sitemap allows your site to be indexed and crawled properly. It also helps the search engines crawl and identify pages that may not be linked from any pages on your website. Be sure that your site has a sitemap that’s built in an XML format and is located on your root directory (http://www.url.com/sitemap.xml). If you use WordPress there are many plugins that can help you automate this process.

#4 Image Tags

While image tags can slightly help a websites rankings they are not significant enough to waste a tremendous amount of time on. The biggest benefit about having proper image tags is the traffic that a website may receive from Google Images. By having proper image tags, and file names, Google could rank your websites well in Google Images. Although from an SEO perspective I would not recommend wasting a lot of time on Image Tags.

What is the fastest way to build up page rank for a web site?

The single best way to build up PageRank for a website is by having excellent content. Build great content and watch the backlinks naturally come in. By building your site for your reader you’ll be surprised by how many natural links will begin appearing. Another strategy is to have and work with a great PR company. Landing a review on a reputable newspaper, website, or magazine can help your sites credibility and rankings.

Using RankPay for Keyword Placement & SEO

I hope you’ve enjoyed this Q&A session with Justin from  RankPay on seo tips and how you can improve your web sites search engines rankings. I highly recommend using RankPay to improve your seo rankings, as I have been using them for the past few months now and with many different sites. You will never pay for RankPay services until you see a Top 30 ranking for your specified search phrase, and each campaign is limited to a minimum of only 6 months. In addition to providing a quality service that works, you will also have a full support team that can provide you with advice on choosing the best keywords, setting up new campaigns, seo tips or just any questions you might come up with.

Try RankPay now and use promo code “SAVE” for a $50 credit towards your account!

I first met Ian Fernando a few years back on my way to Affiliate Summit West, we were actually on the same plane, but didn’t meet til we both landed in Las Vegas. We recognized each other from our blogs, and being fellow New Jersey boys, we shared a limo to the hotel. That was a few years back, and since then we are both doing pretty well in the affiliate marketing space, and Ian has also made quite a name for himself… and also on the dance floor! (Party with Ian at  Affiliate Summit parties and you’ll know what I mean)

Through IanFernando.com, Ian has blogged about his early adventures in the affiliate world, how he’s tested different cpa methods and is now focusing a lot of his time on launching his own products, such as his latest product InfinateFB, which focuses on making money using Facebook Ads. You can view a set of free intro videos for setting up effective ad campaigns for the next few days through InfiniteFB updated pre-launch.

The following is my interview with Ian Fernando, which is also from my Six Figure Affiliate Blogging ebook. You can download the full ebook for free at SixFigureAffiliateBlogging.com, which includes over 130 pages of content and interviews with 25 highly successful affiliates and bloggers.

Interview with Ian Fernando

1.) Please tell us a little about yourself.
I am an affiliate marketer and blogger. I also consider myself an online entrepreneur because I tend not to stick to one aspect of making money online. I like to diversify my online portfolio as much as I can.

I started off as a blogger and info marketer and merged into an affiliate marketer. My blog at IanFernando.com discusses my success and failures in the online space. Whether it be about blogging, affiliate marketing, entrepreneurship, or online marketing in general.

I also speak at different engagements including meetups and conferences such as Affiliate Summit. I have been published in several magazines in the entrepreneurial and affiliate industry. I enjoy talking to other people about the online space and the potential it can bring to users.

Even though I have had many success, I worked day and night to reach my goals.

2.) When did you start blogging and how did you first get into it?

I started blogging in 2007. I got into the blogging space when I first started to try to make money online. I searched on the internet how to make money online and realized blogging was in its prime. I also came across John Chow’s blog and his testimonial about making money online. I was amazed at the monthly numbers he was showing.

My blog started out as a journal with entries written about how I was trying to make it into the online space. I talked about how I utilized sites to gain traction, my attempts at trying to network online, and my first dollar. Even though my first couple of posts were at a beginners level, you can see the growth of my blog as to who I am today.

3.) When starting your blog, did you ever expect it to grow to where it is today

No, I was thinking it would get traction but not to where everyone is visiting and leaving comments and emailing me on a daily basis. I would expect to get some visibility but not gain popularity.

4.) You’ve released a lot of products and networking events off your blog. How much of an impact has the success of these products had because of your blog?

My blog has hugely impacted the success of these products because my audience sees the important information I am trying to share with them. They already trust me to an extent where they know who I am as a person and know whatever I push via my blog are my own words, thoughts, and products that are legit—not just made or said to make money or scam.

As well, my products also get traction right away with certain keywords. It easily gets ranked because of the popularity and ranking I get with Google via my blog.

Readers of any blog would love to meet the writer and the person behind the blog. Anytime they get an opportunity to meet the person behind the blog via local meetups or at conference it builds that relationship even stronger.

5.) How have you incorporated affiliate marketing into your blog?

When I talk about tools I use, I mention and attach affiliate links to the post. If it is a resource I use and utilize, I share my experience and I append a link. It only makes sense to get a commission out of it if I an referencing a tool I use everyday.

I have also done product reviews on my blog. By doing reviews of a product I incorporate the affiliate links within the post. Similar to the tools I use, I share my own aspect of the product from my point of view helping the user decide if they should get the product I reviewed or not.

Other ways I utilize the blog for affiliate marketing is I turn keywords into affiliate links and utilize the unused banner space into affiliate banner links.

6.) In your opinion, what is the single best way to monetize a blog?

I honestly think it is affiliate marketing. The reason is because you get to leverage your audience. Building the trust and then working them into buyers. I have other small blogs and I have affiliate links all over the place to utilize the audience that come and go from the site.

One other big aspect is selling banner space. It is one of the other money makers my personal blog makes. It is easy to sell space, but you need to prove you have the traffic and audience.

7.) What would you recommend for a new blogger, that wants to create their own brand or presence in blogging?

Provide valuable immediate usable content. What I mean by this is give the user something to use right away from your blog. My blog, IanFernando.com only grew because of the tutorials I posted everyday on how I am making money online.

Most of my tutorials are video base, but the content was there. Imagine buying a $97 or even $197 ebook of video tutorials. I posted my own tutorials on my blog for free, and from there my blog automatically grew.

Giving out content that a user can take a way and start using gets you noticed and helps to develop and grow that trust factor right away.

8.) Any recommended blogs or resources for bloggers looking to bring their blog to the next level?

There are a lot of tools to grow your blog. It depends on the goal that you want to reach. The blog to read on how to write and gain traction is my friend Brian at Copyblogger.com. His blog is really geared towards how to grow and write to your audience.

Another one is John Chow. I learned from his blog when I first started and I personally know his knowledge is important to any blogger who wants to start in the blogging space.

9.) Do you have any big announcements or upcoming projects you’d like to tell us about?

I work on projects all the time, I do have several tools that are coming up to help the online space gain traction. My current project is my InfiniteFB.com ecourse which helps users advertise properly with Facebook Ads.

I am always moving and coming up with projects and tools to help the online space, so I suggest subscribing to my blog to keep up with what I do on a daily basis.

* If you enjoyed this interview, be sure to download my free 130 page guide to “Six Figure Affiliate Blogging“.

Add another prize under my belt. This time it was an Apple ipad through John Chow’s book review promotion. No, it wasn’t fixed, there’s even a video of John and his friends picking the winner at random during one of his Dot Pho dinners. The best part is, everyone assumed I already had an Apple iPad, but I don’t! Looks like I will finally get to play around with one afterall.

The addition of the Apple iPad is just another decent sized prize I’ve won over the course of having this blog. The other two big prizes were a free pass to DK’s ThinkTank and ShoeMoney’s EliteRetreat. Both events were not only amazing and limited in how many could attend, but these were both high end events that cost more than your average conference.

So how am I winning all of these great prizes? The simple answer is, I’M TAKING ACTION. It’s actually quite amazing how many contests and promotions are available every day, whether it be just to leave a comment, tweet something out or write a review on your blog. It’s even more amazing to see how many people pass up these amazing opportunities!

Sadly, there is no amazing formula to winning random contests. “Luck” is walking into a casino, placing a random bet on one number on roulette, then winning on your first try. Continually entering contests, putting in the effort and winning prizes… that’s all about taking action and dedication. Sure, I may have had some luck along the way, but none of these prizes would have been possible without taking action.

Next time you see a contest or promotion, instead of saying “that would be cool to win”, why not take a few moments and enter. You might just be surprised how much little competition there is!

Everyone wants to make money with there blog, but sticking a big ugly “Advertise Here” 125×125 block on your web site isn’t always the best method. Once you establish your blog and have your own brand, you’d be amazed at how much of a demand for advertising you soon may have. There is nothing wrong with placing advertising on your web site or blog, just make sure it’s done right.

Before you go ahead and stick a big “ADVERTISE HERE” box on your blog, here are a few reasons why you should reconsider, and instead how to approach your blog advertising from a different perspective.

1.) It’s Just Ugly
Right off the bat, most of these “advertise here” ad blocks are pretty ugly. If they aren’t just a white section with a text link inside, they are usually a hideous design. Your blog is important, and if you’ve spent a lot of time and money building it, why mess it up with a nasty ad box. Remember, the majority of people to your web site are not interested in advertising, and if you have something like the atrocious ad block to the right on the design, that’s pulling their eyes away from your real content.

2.) It’s Doesn’t Look Professional
Depending on your blog type, you may be trying to establish creditability or a brand for yourself. It’s one thing to have one ad block, looking for advertisers, but if you have 2 or 3 of the same ad block, it just doesn’t look professional and maybe even desperate. You don’t want to look like you are begging for advertisers, or that dependent on trying to make a buck. If you are using a plugin to manage your ad spots, this can usually be fixed by limiting your open ad spots available. Another option is to temporarily add your own banners to other sites or offers til you sell out.

3.) No One Wants to be the First Advertiser
In most cases, no one wants to be the first advertiser on a blog or web site. If you are searching out a place to advertise your product or site, you want to be where others are advertising, which gives you the feeling they are seeing results. Think of this just like your RSS feed. No one really shows their RSS count until it’s in the hundreds. People like to join, flock and participate where others are.

4.) CPA Over Nothing
Why are you wasting time and money with open ad space on your blog? Instead of that ugly “Advertise Here” button, you can simply replace it with a link to one of your own sites, or find a CPA offer that’s relevant to your audience. If an advertiser is that interested in advertising on your web site, they will contact you directly. It’s likely you won’t lose much business if you remove your “Advertise Here” 125×125, just make sure you always have a text link for advertising on the site.

5.) Non-Creative Blank Ad Spots
If you just have to have an “Advertise Here” button on your web site, you might as well make it look good. Not only will it blend in with your web site, but it shows creativity and may actually draw in more advertiser attention vs. not. TutorialBlog has a few great examples of what you should and shouldn’t do with your “advertise here” ad spots. The banner ad designs below blend in much better than your average “Advertise Here” button.

For anyone looking for a better ad management solution, or currently without one, I use both UBD Block Ad Settings plugin (free) and OIOPublisher (great for selling ad space, $47) on multiple web sites and wordpress themes.

What does it take to bring your company to the next level? I’ve thought about this ever since I start making money online over a decade ago. For a lot of companies starting out, they may start with a family member, or best friend. I believe once you have a two person company, it’s that much easier to expand and bring people in. However, when you are a one man company, bringing someone in and expanding can explode your business, cost you everything or a mix in between. In today’s article, I will try and give some overviews to help with your options on growing your company.

There is no easy answer to the question, and it really comes down to who you are and how you manage your business. I’ve talked with many companies and their CEOs over the years and asked how they expanded and became what they are today. Outside of the one’s who started with a friend or family member, it was often said that they finally just found some great people to work with, and went with them, usually from interview processes. Another idea was to hire college students part time and see what happens… however, this is where I was turned off, as “YOU” are the company, and now bringing in someone who has no idea about the company and might just be looking for a part time job.

When running your business, you mainly have three options:
1.) Staying a One Man Company
2.) Expanding and Bringing in Staff
3.) Outsourcing & Hiring Virtual Assistants

Personally, I’ve worked with a lot of people on building web sites, setting up new partner campaigns, and just helping each other out. I’ve also done my fair share of outsourcing and use of virtual assistants. Though I still wonder what it would be like to run a larger company with employees… but at the same time, I still want the freedom I have to do whatever I want, and whenever, without having to worry about staff, trusting who I hire, paying their salaries etc… That’s just me, but that day may still come. As I mentioned, it all depends on your end goal and how you want to run your business.

One of the best ways to make a decision about growing your business, is to attend conference and trade shows to talk with other successful people who went through the same process. Networking and building relationships with others may even be the start of your company growth, should you find someone in the same situation and you partner up with them. Events like Affiliate Summit, ThinkThank, EliteRetreat will give you the opportunity to meet with some of the most successful people online and that were once in your situation. It’s this kind of support and contact that retail / brick and mortar businesses usually don’t have access to.

My friend Andy recently went live with his own blog, and also just went live with a new promotion called “The StartUp Challenge“. The goal of the promotion is to spread the word on FutureHopeInc.org. For every blog that participates in the promotion, Purpose, Inc. will donate for one underprivileged child from El Salvador to be sent to computer training for a year. In addition, two bloggers/winners will be selected to win a free full pass to ThinkTank + $500 (first place) and StartUp Day (second place). This promotion ends tomorrow, so if you want to win, get your entries in quick!

Share your situation or story on how you plan (or have) to grow your company beyond a one or two man operation.