One of the commonest, and probably the best, way to increase your PageRank on Google is to get other websites to link to your site. Google literally counts the number (and quality/relevance) of "links" to your website. The more you have from related the sites the higher your Google PR.
Historically people simply "swapped" links to increase PR but Google has got wise to this and reciprocal links now carry little weight.
What is now required is ONE WAY links into your website!
You can try just asking webmasters to link to you but invariably that will not work unless they are feeling particularly charitable.
The BEST way to get "one-way" links into your site is to submit articles to websites that are looking for content. In return the website will add a link to YOUR site at the bottom of the article.
You should ask for the link to be "content text" based and make it relevant to your site. For example the "signature" on the articles could be something like:-
"This article was submitted John Brown an Independent Financial Adviser in Bath" - and then link the words Independent Financial Adviser in Bath to your site rather than just putting your sites URL as the link.
There are many many websites that accept articles on a variety of subjects but you get more credit (towards) Google PR if the site is relevant - i.e. finance related as opposed to just an article farm. You also need to look for sites that already have a PR rating.
One such site actively looking for Finance Related articles can be seen here
They will NOT ask for a reciprocal link (though you can if you wish to) but in return for a one way link they will insist that the article is ONLY posted on their pages. That doesn't mean you can't re-write it and submit it elsewhere in an amended form.
Another way to get ONE WAY links is to use websites like Pyramidlinking and you can read more about them here
It is important to understand that you will NOT get a lot of "visitors" from the links - that is NOT the point. The point is to get Google PR - the higher the PR the more important Google deems your site to be and the more chance you have of the site apearing highly in Google's index. Once THAT is achieved you are likely to see increased traffic and enquiries from the Google Search Engine.
You can read more about the importance of Google PR here.
I recently discovered a fantastic new marketing resource for IFAs. The IFA LIFE Business Development Forum for IFAs & Mortgage Brokers.
It offers lots of great discussions and information for IFAs interested in marketing and ideas in general.
Its easy to sign up for and makes a great read. Its far more than the "usual" IFA forums which I have always found to be full of moaners and (rather) silly "tit for tat" arguments.
The two guys running the forum seem to be making a great effort to genuinly encourage ideas and information exchange that will REALLY HELP its members as opposed to just pushing their own ideas and schemes.
I'm new there but its great and I will keep you posted.
How do you get more traffic to your website? The answer is easy but the practicality is a different matter entirely.
The obvious things are
- Get quality content
- Optimise every page on your site
Thats the theory - the reality doesnt work like that.
One thing you could try is TrafficSwarm - this is a website referral system whereby members visit each other's websites. Effectively you get one visitor for every one site you visit from the panel.
How effective it is in providing "clients" I can't really say; but I have tried it out this weekend and it definitley WORKS in the sense that it provides high targetted visitor numbers.
If you have a spare 10 minutes give it a try - its 100% FREE
There IS a "pro" upgrade but my advice would be that you do the FREE version and upgarde later if it works for you.
TrafficSwarm
Since Google bought the Firefox browser many thousands of people are now starting to use this as it it faster than Internet Explorer.
There is an article on the "Google for IFAs Blog" - click here
It is important to ensure that your website is visible, and works correctly, on the Firefox browser and well in in Internet Explorer.
Probably the best way to attract traffic is to add an "articles" section to your site. This also increases the likelihood of search engines rating you as they love new and relevant content. Its a good idea to add a new article every few days or so.There are lots of places you can cut and paste articles - just ensure you include the authors credit. Oh, and add links back to your own pages so you get the benefit.Find articles here www.articles-directory or search for articles on www.google.co.uk
By now you should have heard about Google Adsense - the advertising phenomenon that is taking the internet by storm. If you have a website you MUST have google adsense.
All you have to do is sign up for an account which you can do by clicking the Google Adsense Banners on this page. Once you have signed up all you have to do is add the code to your website and google will automatically add RELEVANT adverts to whichever web pages you choose to add the code to.
IT REALLY IS THAT SIMPLE!!
This is IDEAL for IFAs as "financial" adverts are currently attracting very high premiums. Some mortgage adverts for example will pay you up to $4 every time someone clicks on an ad'
There are many stories of people earning $50,000+ from Google adsense every month. Whilst this is unrealistic for the average IFA site due to lower visitor numbers is is VERY feasible to earn a few hundred dollars a month.
Put simply its CRAZY NOT to use Google Adsense - you dont even have to worry about competitive Ad's taking your visitors as you can filter out any advertisers you dont want to carry.
Just click any of the Google Adsense buttons on this page - its FREE to sign up, easy to use and you have absolutley nothing to lose.
I have received many emails about whether or not to join IFA Internet Directories. All IFAs seem to have become prime targets for tele-sales calls from the many directories and portals now carrying IFA sections.
My advice to all IFAs is to ignore them. There are only TWO directories worth joining www.unbiased.co.uk and www.searchifa.co.uk
Quite frankly if you are not on those two then you are either crazy or genuinely dont need new business (oh yeahhhhhhhh!! - who are YOU kidding)
