What Happened To My Alexa Ranking??

Have you checked your Alexa ranking lately? You may want to take a deep breath before you do!

I was making changes on my site tonight. While doing this I checked my site online for content and saw that my Alexa ranking tripled from the last time I opened the site - which was today. I was absolutely shocked, to say the least.

So I clicked on the Alexa toolbar INFO button and it says their ranking has changed.

Here is a 'brief' of what they say:
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(heading) My site's ranking has changed. Was it wrong before?

Your ranking wasn't wrong before, but it was different. Alexa toolbar users' interests and surfing habits could differ from those of the general population in a number of ways, and we described some of those possible differences on our website. While the vast majority of sites' rankings were unaffected by such differences, we've worked hard on our new ranking system to adjust for situations in which they could matter.

The new rankings should better reflect the interests and surfing habits of the broader population of Web users.


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But gezzzzzzzzzz a drop of over 1 million in less than a day! There is no way to see what was there before, and why. From what I can see from their description you cannot even determine what they mean by "broader population".

I do have some feelers out to try and find out if anyone knows what is going on and once I hear something I will post it here.

Jan

Want To Know How Top ClickBank Sellers Do It?

Anyone who is in our business, or an online marketer, will almost surely have seen screenshots of huge ClickBank checks posted on forums and splashed on sales pages.

It's no secret that the top ClickBank earners are making the big money by using the already existing base of ClickBank affiliates, the only question is... how can you do it too?!

Want to know how top ClickBank sellers get those huge checks? They use the massive base of ClickBank affiliates, over 100,000, to flood their websites with a never ending stream of cash-in-hand visitors.

I've discussed the value of using affiliates here before, both on this blog and on my site. Affiliates are a critical component of successfully marketing your product on the Internet. Many affiliate programs, offered through carts like '1 Shopping Cart' or dedicated programs such as 'Commission Junction' (CJ) provide you with tools and access to recruiting affiliates and directly interacting with them.

However, ClickBank does not give easy access to their army of affiliates, but recently, I found a product called ClickBank Stampede that appears to have solved this. It is revealing backdoors and loopholes that will let you tap into this massive base of sellers who are waiting to sell for you.

http://www.jbcr-virtualsolutions.com/stampede/

This is the fastest, easiest and most effective method I’ve seen for getting tons of visitors to your ClickBank sales page. Even if you don’t sell anything on ClickBank, you should still check it out.

Jan

The God(s) Do Have A Sense Of Humour!

Anyone who is an entrepreneur knows that there are good times and bad times in business. The good times / bad times can cover anything from technical issues to sales and everything in-between. Running your own business is a challenge. Spring brings its own challenges. New projects, new clients and new concerns - good 'ole tax time. The ebb and flow.

This story is about the ability to laugh at adversity.

In our household we have one cat, 11 fish and two birds (who have nested in a fake plant on our porch :) With spring, the 11 fish and two birds are doing the 'spring dance'. Our cat has spring fever and is an indoor cat (say no more :). All of us are feeling the changes and stress of the new season.

Tonight, my "sweet" cat (hahahahaha) was again howling as is her new 'spring' song and I decided that it was time to get the water gun out. Ok, my cat is 11 years old and long past the water gun stage, but the 'spring' howling has been going on all hours of the day and night. So, I get the water gun out, filled it up with water, pointed it at my HOWLINGGGGGGGG cat in hopes she would stop (from the memory of the water gun) but no such luck. So I pull the trigger and spray... water all over me :))))))) . I had the water spray direction pointed at me, not her...too funny. Should have seen her face and heard me laugh!! Wish I had a video to show you!

So what does this have to do with being and entrepreneur and business? Sometimes how you want or expect things to go don't. How you handle the 'direction' it goes can be very good for the soul.

Happy Spring!!

Jan

Did You Receive An Email That Sounds Too Good To Be True?

I did - and guess what - it is (surprise / surprise!!)

I received an email today from (XX company - I will not name them because I don't want to promote them)

First, never click links in an email unless you know who is sending the email. Even if you know the person, if the link(s) does not look right DO NOT click on it. If you want to check it out copy it and paste it in the browser address line - best way is right back to them .com ending without the extension.

The email said:

(Quote)

We've seen your website at (XXXX) and we love it! We see that your traffic rank is XXXX and your link popularity is XXX. Also, you have been online since XXX. With that kind of traffic, we will pay you up to $4,800/month to advertise our links on your website. If you're interested, read our terms from this page:

(end quote)

You bet I was excited to see "up to $4,800 a month" - me - who knows that when it comes to the internet that if something sounds too good to be true it is

Anyways, I decided to do some research and this is what I found:

This 'person', who created this, has actually created a "tier affiliate program" and they, or one of their affiliates, has contacted you to recruit you into this 'scam' of an affiliate program. Bottom line this is spam and they want you to join and be a spammer as well. Don't fall for it. Just delete or report it.

Always remember, IF something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Jan

Read more articles like this here:http://www.jbcr-virtualsolutions.com/tips-and-articles.html

Marketing - Just 'Cause The "Term" Is Hot Does Not Mean It Works!

I caught a bit of Oprah yesterday. On the show they were talking about the book "The Secret" and "The Law of Attraction". Some very interesting guests and subject matter, for sure.

Something I notice is when a particular book / topic is aired or published everyone wants to use the flavor of the week buzz word /phrase. Now, in the scheme of things this is not bad, don't we all want to jump on the 'riches' bandwagon. But in fact what happens is that the search engine searches become saturated with the buzz word / phrase so if, in fact, you are using it to try to draw more traffic to your site it is probably not a wise decision. You are actually more likely to go down the search list for that term.

Why? You are going to become a much smaller fish in a much bigger ocean!

In this example, the folks who wrote "The Secret" and who wrote the book "The Law of Attraction" are so far up the search ladder, as well as their affiliates, that you likely will never be found.

So is it worth it to use 'buzz' words / phrases. Yes and no.

In my humble opinion, do not use them on their own. Only use them if you they are actually part of your website and business and even then it is very important to incorporate your own special niche. Stand out - be a unique fish :)

Read more articles like this here:
http://www.jbcr-virtualsolutions.com/tips-and-articles.html

Jan

Have Blog - Now What?

Working in the internet bussiness industry (web design, seo, marketing, etc.) I am often asked what to do to get 'your' name and 'your' business in front of potential clients /customers. After a web site I always recommed setting up a blog. About 90% of my clients are thrilled with the idea and I set up a blog for them... then... yes, silence.

Now I know that I am not a great example at blogging (see the last time I posted) - but I have a good excuse - I'm working :)) Ok, not a 'good excuse', but the truth.

So what can you do when you have a blog and can't seem to find the time, or the content. After thinking about what I do on my lunch break (which is in front of my computer) I came up with the answer.

Take 5 minutes out of your day and just write about what's new with you. Don't think readers will be interested? Well, in fact, it is amazing how many blogs are at the top of searches just from talking about "what's new". For example, on my lunch break I grab a cup of soup and read through emails I have received from forums I belong to, newsletters I have signed for, and unauthorized spam :))) Ok, so maybe forget the spam, but the little tib-bits you get from other emails you receive can be worth their weight in gold on a blog.

Not at your computer on a lunch break? Well then how about posting about your day just before you read your email after you get home. I know, probably the last thing you want to do. But in fact if you start to do it every day by two weeks you it will feel normal, by 30 days it will be a routine.

So... have a blog - now what? Now you write!

Read more articles like this here: http://www.jbcr-virtualsolutions.com/tips-and-articles.html

Jan

Is A Blog Really Worth It?

One of my clients asked me this today and I thought that it was a good question and worth talking about here.

As a web developer/designer, and SEO optimizer, I totally believe in blogs. A blog informs your customers / clients about you, your products/ services, your events, whether personal or business, and much more. A blog also introduces readers to your website.

As well, a blog can increase credibility. Why? Because people get to know and trust you. You become more than just a name. I have been blogging for a number of years now and I have seen the difference when I blog often and when I haven't 'cause of lack of time.

I started a new blog just over a year ago for a specific topic. This has been very interesting, and learning experience. Over this past year, on this specific blog, just an example the Alexa is almost equal to my business web site rating. From this experience I do have to say that I do believe, even more so, that blogging not only works but it goes beyond that.

Is having a blog enough? Yes but - BUT.... submitting a blog to blog directories, sharing it through social networking, adding images, audio, video and RSS... all of these are critical. As in all things, it grows.

As I said many years ago, and I still say today, for a blog to be effective you need to "blog". In other words, you need to update often, keep people interested and informed, invite comments. Of course, make sure you host the blog on your own url. Even better, buy a domain name just for your blog host it on its own is an even better way to make people aware of your blog and your site.

So, yes I do think a blog is worth it - do you? Would love to hear your comments.

Jan

Read more articles like this here: http://www.jbcr-virtualsolutions.com/tips-and-articles.html