Saturday, January 26, 2008

Online Advertising Traffic and the First Law of Web Surfing

By Joel Walsh
Hint: don't send send your online advertising traffic to your homepage.



How do you convert online advertising traffic into customers? The key is a phenomenon of human behavior that only comes into play on the web.

You won't read about this phenomenon in books or articles on general principles of advertising or direct marketing. In fact, traditional advertising professionals and direct marketers often create only so-so online advertising campaigns simply because they've never heard of this phenomenon, even though it's essentially the first law of human web surfing behavior.
How to convert your online advertising traffic into customers

Ready to find out what that all-important first law of web surfing is? Prepare to be not very amazed. You see, everyone who surfs the web already knows about this phenomenon of human behavior because we all do it--even you.
So here it is, the first law of human web surfing behavior, which you absolutely must take into account when marketing your website: While surfing the web, almost everyone will hit the "back" button if they think there's a chance--even a small chance-- they've come to the wrong web page.


The corollary to this law of web surfing behavior: Anyone who clicks through to your site via an online advertising link needs to know they've arrived at the right place as soon as they get there.
Immediately. Within a second. From a click glance. Without having to read anything. The average human attention span on the web has been measured at eight seconds, and you'll have already lost a few seconds while the page downloaded.

The Key(word) to Converting Advertisement-Clickers into Customers

How do you make absolutely sure visitors feel like they've arrived in the right place?
Make the title and first heading of your landing page (the page on which a visitor "lands" after clicking on an advertisement) the same as the headline of the advertisement that brought your visitor there. If the landing page links to a banner (image) advertisement, use the same pictures and color scheme as the advertisement.
The landing page absolutely must immediately remind the visitor of the advertisement.
The advertisements, in turn, must flow logically from the keywords they are targeting. Even if your advertisements are appearing on websites rather than search engine results, you need to be thinking in terms of the keywords people are using to search for your product in order to speak the language of your prospective customers.
That's why it is very important both your advertisement and landing page incorporate the target keyword prominently, in headings as well as the page body. That's also why it's so important you don't send your visitors from online advertising to your homepage--it's unlikely you could optimize your homepage for all your possible advertisements. Visitors who arrive via advertising need to land on a special "landing page," or they may crash and leave your site.


Conversions: your advertising campaign's goal
But what happens once visitors land on your site and decide to stay more than ten seconds? It's no use if they just hang around. They need to convert.

Important definition: In online advertising parlance, saying a website visitor "converts," means he or she has taken a desired action toward becoming a customer, either 1) buying something or 2) contacting you for more information, thereby becoming a lead.


The percentage of visitors who convert out of the total number of visitors who arrive at your page is the conversion rate. Your goal is to get this rate as high possible. You do that by finding the right message to display on your landing page, and also by targeting the advertising so you are getting visitors who are most likely to convert.

In order to get your visitors to convert once they arrive, you need to make sure they have a clear path to conversion from the landing page. The simpler the path, the better--a winding road might lose some potential customers. This conversion path could be as simple as a "buy now" button or a contact form, or as complex as a multi-step shopping cart with required registration with required email confirmation to scare away those who are not truly devoted buyers.

Targeting your traffic

What you show visitors who arrive at your site is only half the equation. The visitors themselves are the other. As with everything in life, you can't convert a sow's ear into a silk purse. In this case, the sow's ear is paid traffic that is not targeted, or is coming from popunders or other forced viewing, or is just plain faked (there is software specifically designed to emulate human visitors so fraudsters can sell the "traffic").


Even in the best of cases, some traffic converts better than others. Generally speaking, visitors who are looking for you are the likeliest to convert, so conversion rates tend to be highest from advertising on search engines. Conversion rates tend to be lower from advertising on websites (so-called "content" or "contextual" advertising).

Conversion rates are lower still on advertising on website popups, and lowest of all on so-called adware (programs that display popups on a user's computer; the people who sell this advertising often label it "targeted traffic"). Sending emails that consist of nothing but your advertisement, even if you've skirted the legal definition of spam, is not worth the bad will and damage to your brand.
Preaching to non-converting online advertising traffic
A significant percentage of visitors, maybe a majority, will never just click "buy now." How do you reach them?
Many people simply will never make a purchase without speaking to a salesperson first. For them, provide a convenient contact form, as well as a live chat option--if you can afford the time and expense--your email, and a telephone number. A telephone number is especially important since there are some visitors who will never convert without hearing the voice of someone on your end.


For visitors who are not ready to convert immediately, you should have informational articles, "about us" pages or FAQs ready to help them make up their minds.

For visitors who simply will not be ready to convert today, give a reason to bookmark your page. Good articles. A special offer. A newsletter to sign up for. Free advice.

Just make sure you don't place these alternative non-converting options in too prominent a position, or you'll risk distracting prospective customers. A few paragraphs up from the very bottom of the page is a good place to catch people who are interested in you enough to read the entire page, but still haven't converted. The very bottom of the page should be reserved for a conversion option for all the prospective customers accustomed to scrolling to the bottom of the page to get a quick overview.

After all, if you want your visitors from online advertising traffic to convert into customers, shouldn't you at least make it easy for them?



About the author:
Joel Walsh has written as a staff writer for St. Martin's Press and Barnes & Noble, as well as numerous online publications. He is the head writer for UpMarket, a website content provider and online advertising resource for small and medium-sized business websites. You can get a template guide for writing a landing page, with samples

Article Source: http://www.Free-Articles-Zone.com

Friday, January 25, 2008

The Law of the wines (intoxicants) in the Quran

By Safaa Abdel-Aziz
Verse 5:93 says that Allah loves the generous which do deeds of righteousness, guard themselves from evil and believe in Allah, Prophet Muhammad and follow the Quran.

This verse was revealed before the wines (intoxicants) were made unlawful.
Their wine was made from unripe dates, split unripe dates and dates
Some of the believers died before the law of forbidden the alcoholics.
Then Allah revealed about a group of men from the Emigrants and the Helpers who asked the Prophet Muhammad:
“What shall happen to those of us who died drinking intoxicant drinks before they were made unlawful”,
The verse gave the answer:
There shall be no sin imputed unto those who believe in Allah, Muhammad and the Quran and do good works
That is between them and their Lord
For what they may have eaten in the past
For what they have drunk in the past before intoxicants were made unlawful, whether those who did it are dead or still living.
So be mindful of your duty to Allah, if they warded off disbelief, idolatry and indecencies, and do good works
That is between them and their Lord; and again:
Be mindful of your duty ward off making intoxicants lawful after they were made unlawful;
This address is to the believers who are still living, and believe in the unlawfulness of intoxicant; and once again:
Be mindful of your duty ward off drinking it, and do right leave the drinking of it. Allah loves the good for avoiding drinking intoxicants; this relates to those who were still alive and who drunk intoxicants before they were made unlawful.
Allah loves the generous which do deeds of righteousness, guard themselves from evil and believe in Allah, Prophet Muhammad and follow the Quran.
Allah loves the generous, means that He will reward them.
Herein, the word translated as generous, good or good doer is "Moh-se-neen" in Arabic.
The noun of the word "Moh-se-neen" is "Ihsan".
One asked the Prophet Muhammad: "what is Ihsan"
Muhammad said: to worship Allah as if you see him, if you can not, then worship Allah you see you all the time"!
Hence, "Ihsan" has to degree:
The first degree is that you act as if you see your LORD who creates you.
This is the first class of faith. If your faith could not attain the first degree, then,
The second degree is that you act and know that your LORD who Creates you Sees you all the time.
See in your mind's eye what if mankind act while they know that their Creator Sees and Hears them all the time!
On the other hand, this deep connotations of the Arabic word "Moh-se-neen" and "Ihsan" illustrate how poor are their English translations!

Verse 5:93 in different translations:

QARIB:
no blame shall be attached to those who believe and did good works in regard to any food they have eaten, so long as they ward off (the forbidden) and believe, and do good deeds, then they fear and believe, and again, so long as they fear and do fine deeds. Allah loves the generous.

SHAKIR:
on those who believe and do good there is no blame for what they eat, when they are careful (of their duty) and believe and do good deeds, then they are careful (of their duty) and believe, then they are careful (of their duty) and do good (to others), and Allah loves those who do good (to others)

PICKTHAL:
There shall be no sin (imputed) unto those who believe and do good works for what they may have eaten (in the past). So be mindful of your duty (to Allah), and believe, and do good works; and again: be mindful of your duty, and believe; and once again: be mindful of your duty, and do right. Allah loveth the good.

YUSUFALI:
On those who believe and do deeds of righteousness there is no blame for what they ate (in the past), when they guard themselves from evil, and believe, and do deeds of righteousness,- (or) again, guard themselves from evil and believe,- (or) again, guard themselves from evil and do good. For Allah loveth those who do good.


About the author:
Safaa Abdel-Aziz
Co-Chief Editor, October Weekly Magazine,
Cairo, Egypt.


Article Source: http://www.Free-Articles-Zone.com

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Handling One of Those Days Through the Law of Attraction

By: Beth McCain
So you're just living your wonderful Law of Attraction life and…bingo! You start to have one of those days. You can't even imagine that you created such a day for yourself but here it is, staring you in the face. The kids are sick, the dog just threw up on the carpet, and your boss is calling you every five minutes to find out when are you going to be there. Here are a few tips on how to handle one of those days the Law of Attraction way.

Don't be too hard on yourself. When a day comes where you simply can't fathom that you had anything to do with attracting, relax and don't blame yourself. Somewhere along the line some thoughts and emotions of yours created this particular day, but by just recognizing that, you can change your future days. The key is how you handle this one. Pamper yourself. Listen to some music that will put you in a better emotional space, or find yourself a treat and just spoil yourself.

Ride the rest of the day with balance. If you can't get happy, just ride out the day. Stay in a zone where you can remain as serene as possible. When something seemingly bad happens, don't react. Does this mean you have to be an unemotional stone? No, just don't react to your day. Stay as centered as possible and let it all roll off your back.

Grab a small notebook and write a thankful log. Find things to be thankful for. This will raise up your vibrations and help you pull out of your hard day. Write down each thankful thought you have. It can be as simple as that you had enough milk for the cereal that morning. Find anything to be thankful for and you will see that there is good in your day.

Change the outcome. When you have unwanted experiences over and over again in the same day, and you would love to change them, then change them. Revisit the experiences in your mind and change them into how you would have wanted them to have turned out. This will help the Universe to realize that you are changing all the 'hard' in your days and will imagine them better. The Universe will pick up on this and your future days will be 'hard' free.

Find little signs from the Universe that, even though you are having a tough day, prove the Universe is still working on your desires. Signs and indicators are a great way to know that you are not alone. The Universe is there to provide all that you desire as long as you focus on what it is that you want. The Universe will provide what you focus on, even if it is a 'don't want' but it is always there to give you what you focus on. Do your best to start your day over again if it seems to be starting out rough. You can start your day over and over again throughout a day. You can always have a great day if you make the conscious effort to have a wonderful day.

And if you just can't seem to pick yourself up, float. Instead of swimming against the current just stop swimming and float into a space that you are comfortable with; a place where your desires await you. Just relax and let go, because as you know tomorrow is another day to create and the Law of Attraction will always help you out with creation.

Concentrate on the good days versus your hard days, and you will soon notice many more good days. And your hard days will disappear through Law of Attraction application.

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