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We all know Matt Cutts, the in(famous) Google Spam Hunter, from his blog at http://www.mattcutts.com/blog. At the time of writing this, his blog has over a 1000 pages indexed in Google. Lots of information about Google is to be found there. Here are some of the interesting things that Matt Cutts says:

1) About Pagerank
274 pages indexed in http://mattcutts.com that mention the word “Pagerank”. That´s not so strange because Matt works at Google, the inventor of Pagerank. Matt says that: “PageRank is computed continuously” That´s not the pagerank you see in the toolbar, but the pagerank Google uses within their algorithms. He also said in another post that the toolbar PR gets updated only once every 3 or 4 month to discourage PR hunters.

2) About Link building
Only 66 pages indexed that mention the phrase “link building”. Matt says: “Linkbaiting sounds like a bad thing, but especially if it’s interesting information or fun, it doesn’t have to have negative connotations. I hereby claim that content can be both white-hat and yet still be wonderful “bait” for links.” Linkbaiting is of course a great marketing technique that can get a site a lot of links in a short time. And Matt seems to like it as a marketing strategy.

3) About Spam
749 pages indexed that mention the word spam. Not so strange considering he is the chief spam hunter of Google. He says: “In 2006, I expect Google to pay a lot more attention to spam in other languages, whether it be German, French, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, or any other language.” Well, that’s a great goal, Matt, but you failed enormously! Just because you caught Mercedes and BMW, doesn’t mean you really got that much more spam in other languages. There’s still a lot of simple spam to be found in many languages. Hidden text being the most obvious type of spam used.

4) About The Strong and B tags
Actually he said this in one of his videos. Google treats the strong tag and the b tag exactly the same. In other words, if you spend time on changing all your B tags into strong tags, hoping it will get you some higher rankings, then you’re wasting your time. At least as far as the Google search engine is concerned.

5) About Click Fraude
64 pages indexed for the phrase “click fraud”. The most important one being about what Andy Beal and Shuman have to say about it. Actually Matt didn’t say much about click fraud in that post, but its clear why he brought it up. Main conclusion here is that click fraud is not something to really worry about when you’re using AdWords.

6) Matt’s Personal Category
Matt loves Halloween, his personally category is full of pictures of his outfits of the last couple of years. He also loves his wife, especially when she’s not home because then he can make videos, and mess around with his hard drives (he´s got dozens of them http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/things-i-will-never-do/ ) Interesting note: Since he started his blog, his wife has been out of town at least 8 times (search for: “my wife is out of town” site:www.mattcutts.com)

The mere thought of SEO is enough to send most webmasters into a flutter.  A good ranking in the search engines is a sure-fire way to make money from a website, yet it is not an easy task.  But while the exact ranking algorithm used by top search engines is one of the world’s best kept secrets there are some basic principals you should always keep in mind:

1. Site Design

The structure of your site is important because this is how search engines see how each page relates to another.  When your site is spidered, the search engine will quickly be able to judge the relevance and quality of your site from the sitemap.

Creating a good site map involves naming pages using your top keywords, while at the same time ensuring you are giving it an accurate and succinct name.  Keyword spamming has penalties! Google’s sitemap is a good example at http://www.google.com/sitemap.html.

2. Optimize for your audience, not for the search engine.

Search engines prefer sites on a specific subject because specialized information is more beneficial to search engine users. So, for example, your site would have a better chance of ranking highly if it was dedicated specifically to lamp shades rather than home furnishings or lighting in general.  This is because someone searching for ‘lamp shade’ would be better satisfied with a website full of information specifically relating to lamp shades, rather than a general home furnishings site with only a paragraph or two dedicated to lamp shades.

Many sites have been successful by focusing solely on providing a website that meets the needs of their audience, rather than the needs of the search engines.  If possible, survey your users to find out what they want out of the site and if they have any suggestions.  The more you know about your audience, the better the design you’ll be able to create.  Make it easy for visitors to interact on the site and for you to answer their questions too.

3. Label your internal text links and image alt tags

Why? The main reason is that search engine spiders can’t read images. Anything without text means nothing to the spider.   Other benefits of labeling images include the ability for the image to be searchable in browsers such as Google Image search.  Image text also enables visibly impaired visitors to use your site more effectively and it helps to generally improve the text content of your page for search purposes. An image label is just a clear description of the image using keywords. Just don’t include too many keywords in the alt text as there are penalties for keyword stuffing!

4. Update your site regularly

Your site ranking will be enhanced if the search engine spiders can see it is being updated frequently.  Aim to add new content at least once a week to create a living site. The more frequently Google has to come back to respider your site, the better you will rank. Pages that don’t change will eventually be downgraded in favor of sites whose pages are fresher.

5. Link to Subject-related sites

Good quality backlinks are vital to SEO as these tell the search engine spiders that the site is popular and/or important.  Backlinks are links that are directed to your website from another site. Thus, linking to relevant sites is a great way to increase your search engine ranking.  If you can, try to implement circular linking, where the sites you link to also link to each other and back to you again.  For example, you link to Site A and Site B, who both link back to you and also link to each other.  The more clusters of links you can get like this, the more relevant your site will be deemed to be.

Did you realize that broken links can actually harm your search engine optimization?  If you set up a link, and your linking partner pulls that link in 6 months time, your ranking could reduce.  Thus it is critical to check your links regularly to ensure that you are being linked back to.

Search engine optimization is not something that can be done once and then left alone. It requires constant effort and attention.  The best way to keep up to date with new SEO developments is to continue read commentary and recent articles by SEO experts.
In general, remember that the top websites are always the ones people want to use, such as the BBC, eBay, Apple, and NASA.  If your main priority is creating the best website for your users, then you are on the right track.

Here’s a great strategy that can dramatically change your business. It works best for professional service providers but it can work well for others as well. If you haven’t started down this road before, it can involve a lot of work but you only have to do it once. As soon as you’ve gone through the process once, you can use the same strategy over and over again. And you’ll be positioning yourself as an expert along the way.

First things first. You have to ensure you’re an expert in the field. Does that mean you have to be a PhD in the topic? No, it doesn’t. It just means you have to know enough about the topic to be authoritative. Keep in mind that most people know very little about any one fields and a recent study found that if you read just three books on a particular subject, you’ll effectively become an expert on that topic relative to everyone else.

The next thing you have to do is write a short handbook on the topic. This can be as easy as summarizing the content in the three books you read and putting the same content in your own words and in a condenses document. By doing this, you can forever more refer to yourself as an author and other people will treat you with more respect as a result. I have written two handbooks in the past. One was 28 pages and the other was 34. So these don’t need to be long novels. They just need to demonstrate your expertise.

The process of writing a short handbook does something else too. It structures your thoughts and your understanding of the topic. By being forced to explain the topic to an uneducated reader, you will end up knowing the subject better yourself. And with that understanding in place, you need to massage that content into a 2-hour workshop. Think about the most important points and organize them into a logical order for an audience to hear.

Next up, schedule the event and market it to get a few people in attendance. There are a lot of different ways to market an event like this and it doesn’t need to cost you a lot of money. The important thing is to get 10 or 15 people in attendance. That will give you a sufficient audience to practice delivering the information and getting the questions that naturally come up.

When you’re comfortable with the process, bring a microphone and record an event live. You can download Audacity for free and the microphone will cost $50 or less. Then, you’ll get the exposure from the workshop as usual but you’ll get an information product to boot. The importance of this is significant. A lot of speaking engagements require the speaker to have an information product to sell. It also builds more credibility. And it allows you to make some money even though you’re providing the workshops for free.

This 5-step strategy is a great way to position yourself as an expert within your field and leverage that position to gain new clients or partners. And once you’ve gone through the process once, you’ll have the tools forever more and can use them as often as possible without further efforts.

Tactical Execution has made a business out of helping others achieve their goals. The information in this article is just the tip of the iceberg and I encourage you to visit the website to take advantage of the resources available there.

You probably already know that a business plan can be a great asset to any business or company, particularly if you are just starting up. But have you ever written one before and do you know how to create a proper business plan? If you want to create a business plan that really get results, you need to follow some certain steps.

Taking your time and following these steps can ensure you have a successful business plan that actually works for you. There are some questions about your business you are going to need to answer first. Ask yourself why you are creating the business plan in the first place. Every business plan needs a purpose and a set of goals. When you know what purpose you are creating it for, you can be sure to meet those goals and needs in the plan itself.

Who are your major competitors?

How does your business compare to competitors? What do you have to offer that these other companies do not? You need to put yourself into the mind of the consumer and think about why they would want to use your company over another.

Take your business plan seriously

It can give you real insight into your business, the market and also your current knowledge of how successful you will be. Your business plan should actually be usable and workable and you should refer to it often, especially in the early stages of your business.

If you look at the business plans of some other successful companies then you might be motivated to do a better job on yours. It can show you examples of the steps to take to make a great business plan that gets results whether you are doing it to seek money from investors or lenders or just for your own business needs and goal setting.

Below are some steps to creating a great business plan that will work for you. Follow these as you are creating your plan and you will be more successful.

1. Put some time and thought into it.
2. Take your business plan seriously.
3. Do your research.
4. Investigate similar companies.
5. Take your time.

I get dumbfounded. Another dozen “Sizzling Niche PLR Package” type offers float into my inbox. I suspect the niche markets they’re in aren’t quite all they’re made out to be. I do my usual check – crunching the numbers in overture, looking at the big ticket affiliate programs on offer and browsing over typical Overture/Adsense contextual payouts.

I shake my head in dismay. Click. Get into my trash where you belong.

The thing is I’ve been an internet business entrepreneur for years. I know how to separate the chaff from the wheat. Most newbies don’t and that’s worrying. That’s the point of this article – I want to share with you *exactly* how to analyse any and every niche market so that you can do your own research and never be tricked by another niche package that’s been developed by some greedy fly-by-night merchant that’s just cashing in on the PLR craze.

If you’re about to set-up a niche online business, for the first time or not, you must research the following very thoroughly before whipping out your credit card and buying the first niche package with private label rights that comes your way.

Here are some of the broad techniques that I use to analyse any potential niche that I’m considering entry into. If at least four of the five aren’t right, I’ll walk and move on to the next niche on my list.

(1) It All Starts With The Back-End & Existing Income Generating Opportunities – Do They Exist?

I’ve seen it all. Niche packages on internet marketing, pet grooming, how to make your own candles… the list goes on. With any potential niche you MUST start with the back-end opportunities that are available to you. By this I mean the additional income generation methods once you make the first eBook sale or after you get your prospect to the website. You’re not going to get rich on $29 book sales so you need to find some additional items that would interest your prospects. Here are some things you must look out for:

- Are There Big Ticket Products? Even if you convert a standard 1% of a $1,000 product (paying half of the sale value in commissions), you’re going to earn $500 from every 100 visitors to your site. Believe me, in some niche markets there are just no big ticket items (either because the niche isn’t big enough to support such a thing or the site infrastructure is not available as the niche operates largely in the old offline world).

- Multitude of products: I like niches that offer a multitude of different products. CD’s eBooks, DVDs, seminars, courses, software, membership sites. It means that there are lots of unique products to offer your prospects. In some niche markets there may be only one or two established packages for potential customers… they’ve seen it all before, may already have it and your chances of making that back end sale gets much tougher.

(2) Show Me The Numbers – OVERTURE!

There’s a debate with some online celebrities as to whether “numbers” matter – by that I mean the number of prospects in any given niche. I don’t want to perch on the fence. While I do think it’s possible to operate profitably in some smaller niche markets, I much prefer BIG ones. Niche industries that have a pool of prospects that number in the millions or even the billions. There’s just a certain comfort knowing that your niche enjoys that sort of demand and it increases your ability to create sub-products, put a spin on your products to target sub-niches and so on. That’s why I love niche markets such as investment & finance, real estate and travel – the numbers alone mean you have a fair chance of success.

(3) Cash Rich Prospects – Don’t Try To Sell A Porsche To A Beggar.

I don’t wish to sound insensitive with this but I’m here to try and help you make money – not win an award for humanitarian of the year. The simple fact is that if you want to make money, you need to sell to people who have money. That’s just basic common sense but you’d be surprised at the number of people who do not even consider this factor before jumping into a niche that has limited cash backing. Now combine a market that has MILLIONS of cash rich prospects and now you’re in a prosperous niche. People in such niches usually pay good money, often without too much thought. For example in the stock market and real estate niche market it’s common to spend $5,000 to attend a seminar and some real estate investors will splash out $300+ on the fly just to view a property that’s abroad (very common in the UK where cash rich investors jet off to Spain/Bulgaria/Portugal etc to inspect a potential buy). This is the sort of prospect you want to sell to.

(4) What Do Advertisers Pay To Advertise In Adsense/Overture? How Many Advertisers Are There?

I like contextual advertising – Google Adsense. Some people have been comically predicting the death of Adsense. Check Googles stock price and you’ll find that these people probably have IQ issues. See, in *their niche* (probably internet marketing) Adsense incomes may be on a short term downtrend so of course some set off into a magnificent panic while others sell hyped up reports to exploit the situation. Actually, Adsense in the internet marketing field isn’t all that great – the payouts to publishers can be low (though not always – I’ve had mixed results myself). In other markets it’s brilliant. In real estate returns of $5+ per click are not uncommon. In the investment niche it can be $8+. In these niches Adsense becomes your best friend – it also has an overwhelming ad stock inventory for popular niches and the ads are highly targeted – for example one of my niche sites reviews the Maldives as a luxury holiday destination including a page on each specific resort (eg Hilton). Thanks to Google Adsense, when a visitor comes to the Hilton review they are offered an ad that takes them to the Hilton resort (similar on many other resorts too). This is great for the advertiser, great for the publisher (me) and very convenient for the visitor. Everyone wins.

I divert somewhat – when you analyse a niche the point is that you should not only check that the bid values are high, but also that there are a fairly high number of advertisers (more competition means bigger bids means bigger commissions). In some small or unfancied niches there just aren’t enough advertisers. Why? Because the prospect base is either very small, has no money (or both).

(5) Pay Per Lead? We Love It…

I believe we’re going to see a lot more about Pay Per Leads in the near future. This is when you get paid for a particular action made by your visitor to the advertiser. Typically it means they fill out a short form, or download an eBook, or set up a free membership – the visitor doesn’t have to buy anything. Pay per lead can be very lucrative, particularly in industries such as real estate and foreclosures. I’ve seen some of these niches offering $5 to $20 per lead that you send them. Why? Because just one lead that goes on to buy a property or use their services can bring in several thousands or even hundreds of thousands for them in income. What’s $20 to get in that type of business?

Another big plus point about pay per lead is that once you know how to wield your own content with it the response rate can be explosive. For instance it’s quite easy to write an article on making money through foreclosures, and then prompting your prospects to take action by downloading a free eBook on foreclosures (for which you get paid $5 per download).

The above is the same basic blueprint I use to investigate my niches and I really urge you to do the same. Next time you see one of those junk PLR products trying to get you to pay money for content that has no potential or future you’ll be able to pick it out and trash it yourself.

Happy niche hunting!