But when you try to list your site in DMOZ you are in trouble. After you add your site an editor will approved it … or not. And this can take months, even years.

So what is the solution ?
A good alternative until your site is listed to DMOZ is to submit your site to online free web directories. Submitting site to online free web directories will fast increase  your PageRank. PageRank is an integral part of Google’s ranking algorithm, and higher PageRank helps towards higher rankings. The PageRank within a website is increased by pages  from other sites linking to it, and the higher the PageRank of the pages that link to it, the better it is for the receiving site.

When submitting a site to online free web directories, always take time to find the right category for it. Don’t be tempted to submit it to a category that is higher up the tree  than it belongs, because it won’t be accepted there and, doing so, could cause unnecessary, self-induced delays.

However in doing so there is first an outlay in costs to get your website highly ranked on all the major search engines. The more ranking you would like to obtain, on multiple pages, using multiple keywords/phrases, the more costly it will be to your business.

But the real question, is just how costly?….  And, if you go the D.I.Y SEO route, just how effective will it be and how much money will you save?

What is a reasonable cost or the average cost for employing an SEO company?

The problem with most SEO companies is the fact that they are literally charging a small fortune for a basic SEO campaigns which may include optimization of only a few web pages and ranking of just two to three keywords or phrases. How much for such a package….  anywhere from 2 to $4,000.

The current going rate for in house (internal) SEO work is anywhere between 40 to $60 per hour, with external rate, business to business sitting at roughly $100 per hour.

If you are a large company, these rates may be affordable but for most small businesses and solopreneurs, they are simply out of the question.

Even a large company may be better off handing their SEO tasks over to a capable employee who can learn the required skills and techniques and apply these when required. One or two people with such capabilities would not only save the company profits but would allow their business to adapt to new SEO products a lot faster than having to outsource.

What you are not being told be the SEO companies is that search engine ranking is really not that difficult to master… And the second point that maybe matters the most is that once you have high ranking for many selected keywords, just a little maintenance and tweaking can keep you there for a very long time. Even to the point that much SEO work can be outsourced at very low rates to experts in other countries which makes it even more affordable.

Without doubt, obtaining high rankings by doing it your self or handing it over to a major SEO is quite doable. With so many affordable SEO guides, memberships and software packages online today, it is really a wonder as to why many companies are yet to implement their own in-house SEO specialists using their current staff.

So, is this to say that learning all SEO techniques is simply a walk in the park, of course not. But any person with a reasonable ability in technical matters could have a large website on it’s way to excellent ranking positions within as little as two weeks.

Unfortunately what most lack in SEO, is a clear and concise plan of action. Yes, many will learn the techniques and methods required but then fail to act or fail to implement the complete plan thus resulting in minimal outcomes. As with any marketing campaign, it must be implemented right through to the very last step, SEO is not different.

With the continuing improvement of search engines to supply more accurate results, search engine marketing will continue to grow and be in high demand.

The decision you have to make for your own business is….

Exactly how much income do you wish to take out of your own business pocket in using such services, or is there a better alternative by taking your SEO in house and increasing business profits continually, year after year?

If you have been on the internet for any time at all, you know that there are just too many tasks to do each day to be really efficient and productive with them all.

Learning to delegate some of those routine,  daily activities is one way to insure your site’s success and to give you much more time in the day for the most important task which is that of promotion and marketing your site.

HERE ARE 5 SIMPLE WAYS TO AUTOMATE TODAY:

1) USE AUTO-RESPONDERS:

Probably one of the best-known and popular ways to handle routine messages to inquirers is the use of auto-responders.

It is simple and easy to set up your messages which usually involve several follow-up messages to remind your visitors what you are offering and how to find your site again.

Here are some free ones:

http://www.freeautobot.com/     (ad free also.)

http://www.getresponse.com/

http://www.sendfree.com/’

http://www.sendthisfree.com/

2) MAILING LIST MANAGEMENT:

If you are trying to run your own newsletter, handling the process by yourself can eat up a lot of valuable time.  In the beginning  this may be possible,  but as your list grows and the tasks involved keep multiplying, your time demands will increase also.

There are lots of ways to manage a mailing list including installing your own scripts and  purchasing your own software.  Weigh the pros and cons, but be sure and check out the possibility of *farming out* the responsibility to a mailing list service.

Here are some to consider:

http://www.ezinedirector.com/

http://www.mail-list.com/

http://www.zinester.com/    (free and paid versions)

Free ones include:

http://groups.yahoo.com/

http://www.topica.com/

3) USE SOFTWARE:

There are many software options available depending upon your work online.  Here are some possible software applications available.  Just do a search online.

~Creating links to your site and others.
~HTML editors
~Ad swaps
~Promotion
~Subscription management
~Survey forms

4) PAYMENT SYSTEMS:

Well,  this is just a no-brainer. It is just too simple not to do this one.

Having an automated payment system that allows you to accept credit card payments for your products or services and is something that everyone has to have to be successful online.

Here are a couple of third-party ones that I use and recommend:

ClickBank–  http://www.ClickBank.com/
PayPal–    http://www.PayPal.com/

5) AD TRACKING SYSTEM:

If you are going to advertise your products and/or services online, then it is critical that you track your results.

Knowing how many hits you got to your site is nice, but it won’t take care of your questions like,  “Where did my traffic and sales come from?”

Here are some ad tracking systems.  (Some offer  free versions.)

http://www.BusiToolz.com/

http://www.hypertracker.com/

http://www.adminder.com/

Implementing these five time-saving helpers is a very important benchmark in moving your business into a phase that will free up some time to insure  your success online.

Best of luck with your promotional efforts.

Larry Johnson,  author

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We all know that Ebay is the number one auction market place on the Internet today.  Millions of dollars are spent each week on this web portal and it continues to grow each day! I am not going to tell you to open up a store and start selling your whole product line to Ebay buyers because that would be costly with little to no profit.

What I am going to tell you is to put a few top sellers in an auction, either fixed or auction type.  This is to gain a large amount of viewers since the product is “hot” and they will want to purchase it.  The key to this ploy is to put links on your auction site that direct viewers to your site that carries your whole product line.  When this happens correctly your traffic will Explode and with all targeted viewers.  You might not be making much money with the Ebay items that sell, but if you do it correctly the profit you make from these targeted viewers will far outweight the small profit margins.  Give it a try because their is nothing to lose and you will be happy with the results.