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The Click Fraud ProblemBy Christos Varsamis
Click fraud
has become a major problem for online marketers. If you participate on
Google Adwords campaigns or Overture, you must already pay a lot for
your campaigns.
What is click fraud?
Click fraud is the
deliberate clicks to PPC search engine ads for completely other reasons
than expressing interest for buying the related products or services.
Overture
defines click fraud as clicks arising for reasons other than the
good-faith intention of an Internet user to visit a web site to
purchase goods or services or to obtain information.
Google
defines click fraud, or invalid clicks, as any method used to
artificially and/or maliciously generate clicks or page impressions.
In simple words, Click fraud means that someone is cheating you and that you pay too much for your pay per click campaigns.
Who is doing that?
Three main groups click on pay per click ads, without real interest in the offered goods:
People
who join Google AdSense or other per click affiliate programs click on
the ads on their own web site to make a little income. Often, these
people cooperate with other webmasters to click on each other's ads.
Some unethical companies click on the pay per click ads of competitors to drive up their advertising costs.
Companies
(often in India, Russia and China) hire people who are paid to click on
ads. Google and other search networks provide refunds to advertisers
when click fraud has been discovered.
Google and Overture employ
"fraud squads," or teams of people dedicated to fighting click schemes.
But at least two marketing executives say such countermeasures are
missing fraudulent clicks that are responsible for between 5 percent
and 20 percent of the advertising fees paid to all search networks.
This
is a huge problem. There is no "pay per click" Company denying that
click fraud exists. Web analytics companies estimate that the 50% of
all click activity is fraudulent.
This means that your pay per click marketing activities are half effective as they could be because of click fraud.
Overture
spokeswoman Jennifer Stephens refutes that in estimate, the numbers
likely represent acts of fraud that are ultimately caught. She added
that Overture filters most fraudulent clicks with the best antifraud
system in the industry, which combines technology and human analysis.
Most
advertisers are aware of the click-fraud issue but have not delved into
it because of the technical complexities involved. Others are concerned
that they could jeopardize their relationships with the powerful search
networks if they complain too loudly.
One of the best ways to
eliminate click fraud is using anti click fraud services such as
ppctrax. They provide services like the below:
IP address capture.
IP address geographic Location.
User Agent (browser, bot etc.)
See exactly what keywords are generating your clicks
Date and Time stamp
System detects sudden click spikes from one or more IP addresses
Real-time email alerts at 80% and 100% of your account's transaction utilization
IP address history - alert you to prior offenders
Another similar service is "who is clicking who".
Other way is the click fraud capture software like Click Auditor.
About the Author: Christos Varsamis is an internet marketing consultant and the creator and publisher of http://www.settinglifegoals.com
Source: www.isnare.com
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How To Build A Niche Web Site In 9 Simple StepsBy Donna Monday
Maybe
you´ve been wondering how to go about setting up a niche web site.
Well, here´s a quick little article that will show you how to create
your very own affiliate web site. Please note: this is the cheat sheet
version. There is a lot more information you should learn about this
subject before you get started.
Step 1. Pick a Niche Subject
This
may be the hardest part of your web site project. There´s literally
tons of subjects to choose from. People are interested in a variety of
things - from parrots to pilots. You don´t have to necessarily pick
something you´re interested in, but it helps.
You´re more likely
to do a better job at building your site when you have some interest in
the subject matter. It´s like taking a high school or college class.
Some subjects are more interesting than others.
Make sure you choose
something that a reasonable amount of people are actually searching for
online and want to find out more information about.
Here´s a free tool that will help you check the popularity of specific subjects: (http://www.nichebot.com)
Step 2. Do Keyword Research
This
is a part that many people skip. I´ve made that mistake myself and
suffered the consequences - a failed web site. Even though it´s nice to
think that you can write anything you want and have total creative
freedom, not using keyword rich content is a BIG mistake.
I´d
rather lose some creative freedom and attract visitors to my site, than
have a lot of flowery prose that zero people will see. You MUST include
targeted keywords in your web site copy. Also, make sure you use your
targeted keywords in the upper third portion of your web site pages.
This is also called optimizing your web site for the search engines.
Use the Overture Keyword Tool for research:
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion
Note:
keywords must be relevant to the THEME (subject) of your site. Be
careful not to over use them. Search engines don´t like keyword SPAM.
Step 3. Get A Domain Name
Having
a unique domain name is important, although some don´t agree. However,
a unique domain name makes your site look more professional and
trustworthy to visitors. I use BuyDomains (http://www.buydomains.com).
They are not the cheapest, but I stick with them because I like their
easy interface and good customer service. Nameboy
(http://www.nameboy.com) is also good.
Step 4. Write Keyword Rich Content
This
may be a hard step for those of you who don´t consider yourselves
writers. But, writing web site copy is not as hard as it seems. Just
think of it as having a conversation with a friend about a product or
service you´re really enthusiastic about.
Don´t think you can
extol the benefits of your subject? Tune your TV into QVC or one of the
other shopping networks to see how they can spend several minutes
talking about the benefits of all kinds of mundane products. This is
what you´ll be doing for your web site.
Your copy should feature
a good balance of friendliness and professionalism. Remember, you´re
passing along useful information to your visitor. Put yourself in their
shoes. What would you want to know about xyz subject if you were them?
Now, write that down. Don´t forget to sprinkle targeted keywords
throughout your copy. I print out a list of them to use for my sites.
If
you simply can´t put words onto the page and find yourself staring at a
blank screen, then visit Internet marketing forums like Willie
Crawford´s (http://www.williecrawford.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi) for
suggestions on finding writers. Or, visit Elance
(http://www.elance.com).
Step 5. Build Your Web Site
Ok.
You´ve created your copy. Now it´s time to build the actual physical
web site. I use Homestead (http://www.homestead.com), but there are
many good point and click web site builders out there.
You have
a lot of creative freedom on how you want your site to look (I prefer
black copy on white backgrounds with photos), but remember that people
are looking for attractive, easy-to-navigate sites with useful
information.
Step 6. Sign Up for Matching Affiliate Programs
You´ve
created a web site about xyz subject. Now look for affiliate vendors
who perfectly match the theme of your site. Integrate your affiliates
attractively into your web site copy. Don´t confuse your visitors by
giving them too many choices.
If you want to list a lot of affiliates on the same page, you can create a helpful "resource guide" page.
Step 7. Include Google Adsense Ads
Google
has a great program for web site owners who wish to make a little extra
money for simply displaying google ads on their web site. It´s easy to
sign up and free. Just visit google (http://www.google.com/ads) and
sign up for their Adsense program. They´ll give you some html code to
copy and paste on your site.
While google decides which ads will
actually appear on your site, you can decide how the google ads will
look - choose colors, borders, etc. and where to put them on your pages.
Step 8. Find Link Partners
I
found out that exchanging links with other web site owners is a MUST if
you want to improve your search engine rankings. Google especially will
consider your site more relevant if your site has other sites linking
to it. Also the ad copy from other sites, if relevant, can add more
valuable keyword content to your own site.
I use Linkmarket (http://www.linkmarket.net) to find credible web sites to exchange links with. It´s free to join.
Step 9. Write Articles to Promote Your Site
Oh
oh. Here´s that writing thing again. Well, you better get used to it,
because writing articles like this one (normally your articles will be
about the subject matter of your web site) will help give your
affiliate web site much needed exposure. It doesn´t matter if you write
them yourself or hire others (ghostwriters) to write them for you.
You´ll
find that the best Internet marketers all write articles to promote
themselves, their newsletters, and products and services. Remember,
there´s a reason the Internet is called the "information" super highway.
After
writing your articles, you can post them to article submission sites,
which you can find by typing "article submission" in Google. People can
easily find your articles to use as free content for their sites.
Now,
I suggest that you print this article out and refer to it often as you
go about creating the next great affiliate web site. Good luck!
About the Author: Donna MondayCopyright 2005Find it Quick in a Clickhttp://www.1MinuteSolutions.com
Source: www.isnare.com
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