1.  Organic Keywords for Given Domain

Have you ever wanted to be able to take a sneak peak at another competitors analytics?  Well the next closest thing to that would be running a search on a competitors domain and view the organic keyword results SEMrush provides.  Go ahead and try it for your site…pretty accurate?

By having access to this data, you can focus on keywords that you know are already driving lots of search volume.  With that being said, if you can rank above your competitors for these keywords, you can bank on some nice traffic to your site.

2.  PPC Keywords Your Competition Uses

Want to see what PPC keywords your competitors are bidding on?  Well you can easily do that by manually entering in keywords and see if their ad shows up or not…but that could take forever.  Same yourself time and the headache and simply look at the PPC keyword results that SEMrush provides you.  This means you can sneak in on your competitors and gather PPC intelligence that you can use for your own campaigns.  Try to find some opportunities for keywords with high search volume and low cost per click.

3.  List of Google Content Network Opportunities

This is a nice feature that SEMrush has, where they place a “Adsense” note next to each of the different domains for a particular keyword.  What this means is that any domain with “Adsense” next to their domain, allows you to place a Google Content Network ad on their site.

4.  Gain PPC Ad Insights

Probably my favorite feature of the SEMrush toolset, is the PPC ads for a given domain.  This tool takes all of the PPC ads that are running for a given domain and groups them together…making it easy to see what ad copy and offers they are running at any time.  A fantastic way to steal high converting ad copy!

5.  Find Potential Advertisers

Are you a blogger in search of advertisers for your blog?  Use the potential advertiser feature, which will show you potential advertiser who are targeted to your particular niche or topic.  I found this feature particularly helpful when I first started off and had to personally reach out to get paid advertisements.

6.  Side-By-Side Comparisons

The side-by-side comparison report will show you which domains are trending up or down.  This can be a great tool for trying to figure out which websites get massive amounts of traffic – for advertising or guest blogging opportunities.  If you see a blog who’s traffic is spiking quickly, you may be able to get a great deal on advertising space, before everyone else.  If traffic is increasing fast, it may be worth it to analyze their on-page SEO to see what it is they are doing.

7.  Uncover New Keywords

Probably their most important feature is their keyword research tool.  This tool can be a great compliment to the Google Keyword Tool.  Personally I like using more than one keyword tool, because one tool is not going to find ALL of the keywords you may want to target.  Similar to the Google Adwords tool, SEMrush provides keyword suggestions, search volume, cost per click, competition and the number of site results.

Free SEMrush Pro Account for 2 Weeks

I was able to work out a deal with the guys at SEMrush, to give all of my readers a special trial of the Pro version for 2 full weeks.  All you need to do is sign-up for a free account, then use the promo code below to activate your Pro account for 2 weeks!

Promo Code: 9P15-Z5XB-J37Y-92WV

So try it out and you will see why SEMrush is a MUST have tool!

That is why finding a sweet spot between high search volume and low competition is the key to successful keyword research and ultimately profits.

Introducing Niche Shark

My friend Koen Berkenbosch, gave me a free look inside of this powerful keyword research and niche finder software.  This web-based software does not use the Google Keyword Tool, but other secret methods for finding undiscovered and under-saturated markets.

Niche Shark is adding over 10,000 keywords per day to the database.

As you will see in the graphic below, NicheShark shows you A LOT of information in regards to search volume and competition.  They also color coordinate how hard or easy it is to rank for a particular term.  Keywords in green are easy, yellow are medium, and red are the hardest keywords to rank for.

Todays keywords are a list updated each day of new found keywords with high search volume and low competition.  Essentially NicheShark does the keyword research and shows you only the most profitable keywords and niches you should go after.

Whats the next step once you find profitable keywords?  Finding a domain that incorporates the keywords you want to rank for in your domain name.  NicheShark gives you one-click access to see if the keyword you want to go after has an exact-match domain available.  It shows you the availability for .com, .net, .org and .info for each keyword.

How This Software Can Benefit You

For anyone who is looking to or is already a niche affiliate marketer, or just looking for long-tail keywords to rank for for your current website/blog, NicheShark can handle all of the research for you.  With their unique sources for pulling keywords into their database and ability to segment the list between easy to hard, they make it super easy to find profitable keywords and niches.

Personally I have been using NicheShark as another research tool to my arsenal.  Also for…

• Confirming an opportunity in a niche before I enter it
• Long-tail opportunities for blog post topics
• Client SEO and PPC campaigns
• Quickly finding new domains I can purchase and build niche sites or resell for a profit

So definitely check it out, as its a must tool to have.

Special Offer

Koen was nice enough to allow me to give you guys 10% off Niche Shark.

In order to receive your discount, you will need to click this link and enter the coupon code “sos”.

Get 10% Off Niche Shark Now!

Thinking about this issue, I wondered if it was possible to track bots using the King of stats software: Google Analytics. Surfing the web I found some french guys that have written a PHP script that exactly does want I was looking for (you can find it at http://www.web-analytics.fr/google-analytics-seo-comment-mesurer-les-vistes-des-robots-et-crawlers-sur-votre-site/; I don’t link since there are some spam uncensored comments in that post…)

I’ve given a chance to the script and tested that it works, but I also have tought that integrating it on a website wasn’t so immediate. So I sayd to my self: most of the websites are WordPress based, and WordPress uses PHP… Why don’t write a plugin to easy install the code without hacking template files?

From the idea to the result the step is short, and so we have now WP Bots Analytics: a very simple WordPress extension that could give you precious information on your website. Looking at its results, in fact, we can easily realize if:

• There are pages visited very rarely (are they too far from the homepage? Do them have too few inbound links?)
• There are other pages of great interest for search engines (Can I optimize them better? Can I use them to link to other?)
• A few unwanted bots unnecessarily consume our bandhttp://www.stayonsearch.com/wp-admin/post-new.phpwidth (Should I block it via robots.txt file?)
• If pages we wanted to block are still spidered (are directives in the robots.txt file or meta robots tag correct?)
• Pages we want to be indexed are not visited at all (are we inadvertently blocking content?)

Knowing this kind of details can strongly help our SEO activity, but the greatest thing about that is we can monitor bots over time, look at trends and all the deeper set of data that Google Analytics offers.

To give you all these datas, Bots Analytics WP needs only 2 things:

1. The Web Property ID associated with a new profile created in Google Analytics
2. The first digits of the _utma cookie of the site on which you want to install it.

Let’s see how to get them.

Regarding the first one, in your Google Analytics account create a new profile and name it as you prefer (something like bots.site.com could be smart).

Take note of the Web Property ID.

For the first digit of _utma cookie, with Firefox you can get it from Tools>> Options>> Show Cookies. Find your site, expand and select _utma, take note of the first digits (till the first dot):

In addition to these two informations, you don’t need anything else.

Downloaded the plugin, you can install and activate it, enter the datas in the fields of administration panel (Settings>> WP Bots Analytics) and you have done.

In your Google Analytics account, you will see something similar to this:

Of course, now you can use all the capabilities offered by GA analysis to see which engine bots have passed on your pages or which pages a particular bot has (Googlebot, for example) visited.

Well, now it’s all!

You can download WP Bots Analytics from WordPress.org and if you need some help about it, you can add a comment on the official page on my blog.

I hope you’ll find WP Bots Analytics useful, and if you want to help me promoting it, links, tweets and shares will be very appreciated.

In no way do I claim this to be a definitive list – just a quick run down of some of the tools that I have found helpful in the past few years.

Open Site Explorer

For me this is one of the daddies of my SEO toolbox. Literally the day before I wrote this post there was a massive update that coincided with mozcon and one that was very very welcome – check out the ability to get CSV reports of super specific linking details!

What it does: Essentially the good old folks describe it as a search engine for links. No matter whether you are looking for the links that are currently pointing at a clients site or whether you are looking to gain some ‘valuable insight’ on your competitors strategy Open Site Explorer is worth its weight in gold.

Backlinks.In

This cool little tool uses the SEOMoz API to get you the MozRank and the total number of backlinks for any given number of URLs. If you need some basic info quickly this is a monster of a tool and one that I have used a lot recently. You get to call up a 1000 lookups a day which I find is perfect for the sort of rough and ready info that this tool provides:

Multi-Links

This is a great little add-on for Firefiox that allows you too drag across a number of link on any give page and then save them to your clipboard. You can then take these little fellas and pop them into a csv for the next step of the research process. In fact I use multi-links to get  the links that I need to populate the Backlinks tool that I talked about above…

In fact the Multi Links tool is a great way to grab the URLs to put into this little excel, rough and ready tool from Business Hut – that isn’t an insult by the way!

The Business Hut Excel/SEOMoz Mash Up

This handy excel tool grabs the important SEOmoz data for any number of URLs – I find it handy to look at the sites that feature above a clients when they are some way down the pecking order when it comes to rankings.

I know the image is a little small, but it was the only way I could fit it in! You will have to trust me on this one that it is worth go and downloading. It allows you to make informed decisions on how you may need to proceed when working your way up the rankings.

I know we all have out favorite tools for SEO and these are just a few of the tools that I use for link building so honorable mentions go out to:

Link Finder, Link Suggest, Xenu Link Sleuth, Bad Neighborhood Tool, Solo, Whitespark, LocalSearchToolkit, EightFoldLogic, Majestic, Ontolo and many many others!!!

Where They Originated

QR codes were invented in Japan in 1994 by a subsidiary of Toyota.  Although fairly new in the United States, QR codes have been used extensively in Japan for years.

How QR Codes Work

Here’s how a QR code works:  a potential customer spies the distinctive square and uses a mobile phone application to scan the QR code.  The code is interpreted and the phone screen displays information, such as a web address, link, or even a phone number.

Marketing Idea: Pizza Delivery

For example, let’s say that you own a pizza delivery company.  As part of your marketing strategy, you paste your contact information and a menu on every pizza box to encourage future sales.  Use a QR code generator to create a code that leads directly to your website, where customers can view current coupons and specials.  Add this code (which is simply an image) to your menus.  As the coupons and specials expire, no need to generate another code; simply update your online specials and the same code will take customers to your website.

Marketing Idea: Real Estate Agents

QR Codes are powerful; they connect the physical world to the virtual world.  A tech-savvy real estate agent may add a QR code to the property information sheets provided for potential buyers.  The QR code could link directly to a real estate website featuring a virtual gallery of the inside of the property.  A QR code could also be printed on a “For Sale” sign, leading clients to a website that displays all of the properties listed by an agent.

Not every potential customer will have a phone that can scan QR codes; however, these codes are becoming more and more popular.  As the public is educated about QR codes, you will find them popping up all over the place.  Why not generate a free code for your business to see if you can bring in additional sales?  In this economy, you need every competitive advantage you can get.

Try QR Codes for Free

Try a free QR code generator

Regardless of your technical abilities, you can easily add opt-in forms to any number of key areas of your blog.  Add a Pop-Up Lightbox, Header/Footer Form, Sidebar Form, Exit Pop-Up, or just add the form in any area you tell WPSubscribers you want it.  I guarantee you that this plugin will save you hundreds of dollars, by not having to go out and buy separate list building plugins.  WPSubscribers has taken the best functionality of other list building plugins and incorporated it into one, easy to use WP plugin.

>> Click here to learn More about WP Subscribers

Make sure you check out my review of the WPSubscribers below.

Watch My Video Review

Get the WPSubscribers Plugin

==>  Check out the WPSubscribers WordPress Plugin HERE!

The most basic way to increase conversion is to run some A/B testing and is a good starting point for anyone who’s done no form of testing before. However this article is designed to help those who have seen some good results with A/B testing and want to squeeze a little more out of their conversions. If you are new to all forms of conversion testing have a read of this article first which covers the basics.

What is multivariate testing?

Whereas A/B testing tests two pages multivariate testing is able to test two or more pages and changes to multiple elements on those pages in the same test. Multivariate testing allows you to test multiple changes at the same time to find the winning combination of changes that lead to the highest conversion rates. There’s more detailed information here on exactly what multivariate testing is.

Why Multivariate Tests?

Multivariate testing is likely to produce better results but you will usually have to wait longer to see these results (as more variables are tested). Since multivariate testing is able to test multiple elements or factors on a page you are able to find the best combination of changes which result in the highest increase in conversions. Multivariate testing is a natural next step for many website owners who have had some success with A/B testing and want to try and further increase results.

When is A/B testing better?

A/B testing is an easier place to start if you have done no form of testing previously. It also produces faster results which in addition to being great for your bottom line may help give you the confidence to keep testing and move on to more advanced techniques such as multivariate testing at a later date.

A/B testing is also preferable for sites that have low traffic as a smaller number of actions (or conversions), need to be measured to produce statistically significant results compared to multivariate testing.

What to test?

Any call to action or element of a page can be tested, this can include a huge range of things such as:

Headings: Different text, size, color

Images: size, different images, position on page

Buttons: position on page, size, color, writing on the button (e.g. ‘buy now’, ‘proceed’ ‘download’)

Forms: Length, fields, order of fields, content

Website template changes:  color, size of heading text, position of logos, position of accreditation badges (e.g. membership of associations etc).

How to test:

Google’s website optimizer provides a free platform for multivariate testing and has some great tutorials to get you started (you can also A/B test with Website Optimizer).  For larger commercial companies there is a range of companies who specialise in multivariate testing who can advise on what to test for optimal results, help run the testing and analyse the results to maximise performance.

Image credit: Daniel Waisberg

The SEO criteria used by BlogGlue is built on a series of rules that all play together to create some fuzzy logic.  The idea is that certain elements are more important than others and you can get some of them kind of right.  Over time anyone using the system should get inherently better at scoring higher.  BlogGlue will have to update the SEO analyzer as the web matures.

For the three sections they use criteria of length for search engines and users.  Google, Bing, Yahoo have display limits, fitting the post title or description into that length improves odds of conveying subject to visitors, improves odds of click.  Also makes search engines like you.

From a people perspective they enforce overlap of keywords to ensure the title description and content are all on topic.  Again better performance when a user sees a good title and description, the reads an on topic article, then has higher odds of returning.

The rough numbers below, again fuzzy logic here but fairly ballpark…

Thats pretty much the criteria,  they are all weighted a bit differently depending on whats broken.  Overall the title and description are most important since they represent offsite pre visit elements.  Lengths are more important than overlaps.

The goal is to always score an A+, there is no excuse for not doing so consistently.  An A is reasonable but once you dip down below a B the article will probably easily miss opportunities to rank higher. The SEO Analyzer tool is available within any BlogGlue plan.

DomainsBot

One of the fellow guest stay on search contributors Kristi Hines in her recent SEJ recommended a new platform DomainsBot but I haven’t used before. After spending sometime looking at it’s features and advanced search options DomainsBot is a fairly decent platform. The reasons are that DomainsBot is unique as it’s one of the few that offers a fairly wide global reach for finding a great domain name amoung a number of popular domain extensions and some great advanced search options.

Advanced Domain Search Options include:

• Add Synonym
• View Only Extensions: Com,Net,Org,Co,Info,Biz,Us,Mobi,Me,Asia
• Status: Available,Expiring,For Sale
• Include: Hyphens,Numbers,Related,Compound,Variation,BadWords
• Language: Auto, English, German, Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese

Limitations of the DomainsBot platform is that while it offers .me and .asia domain extensions it does not support these language sets. One other area would be appreciated if they could expand the number of extensions supported to include AU,UK and EU domains.

SEDO

One of the largest domain platforms Sedo also offers some features for those looking to secure a decent domain from their huge database of listings.  The downside is that their domain search platform is heavily focused on direct domain sales and their auction platform but also suggests those that are still available to be registered so not all is lost.

Advanced Domain Search Options include:

• Extensions: upto 420
• Languages: English,Spanish,French,German
• Domain Length: All, upto 12 characters and over 12 characters
• Number of Words: all, upto 5 words, over 5 words
• Price range: EUR,USD,GBP
• Categories:Top level, level 1, level 2
• Date Added
• Traffic
• Listing Type: buy now, negotiable, marketplace, auction
• Special characters: hyphens,digits,IDN domains
• Domains/Websites: domains,websites,both
• Safe Search: off,on

Being one of the largest domain registrars offers them the ability to have the largest range of domain extensions. The limtations are the overly complex search functions, confusing menu structures and an inability to catch dropped/expired domains.

FreshDrop

One of the newer platform that requires a monthly subscription to make full use of their service is FreshDrop, the free version is great but you need to experience it’s full potential.  The interesting aspect of their domain search platform is the hourly scans of the domain registrars.

Supported Domain Registrars you can search include

• GoDaddy
• Fabulous.com
• Afternic
• eBay
• SEDO
• Dynadot
• SnapNames
• NameJet
• Pool.com

The only issue that the domain while appearing to be very powerful is a little technical and may not be suitable for new enterants to the domain market. It’s one of the only platform that has a wonderful tour feature that explains all the functionality and features available to find domains.

DomainTools

One of the most power platforms is Domain Tools Monitor, I have been using for a number of years to monitor both my own domains, those I have a vested interest in and those belonging to clients. One of the key aspects of staying on top of domains is using automated domain monitoring tools where possible.

Some of the cool features that you might want to checkout include

• Registrant Alert – monitor whois record for any newly registered, renewed or deleted
• Name Server Alert – monitor daily activity on all major TLDs on any name server with fewer than 50,000 domains whenever there is a new domain added or a domain deleted
• Trademark Alert – monitor activity on your alert word or string of words and be notified when they are about to be registered or deleted
• Domain Monitor – advises of expiration dates, status changes or updates to Whois records

One of the other features to use platforms like DomainTools is to check the Whois details on the domain due to drop to understand more about who owned the domain, what was the site profile, other matching general TLDs and some details on what other domains they own.

NetFleet

One of the platforms i’ve been testing is NetFleet Alerts which mostly focuses on AU domains but allows me to automatically monitor both domains listed for sale and domains due to expire/drop. Their free keyword alert service sends me an email alerts when a domain matches the industry, market or niche that i’m monitoring.

The domain alert settings require

1. Keyword or domain names monitored
2. Alert type: standard, expired aftermarket
3. Notification frequency: daily, weekly

The limitations of the platform is that the automatic classification of the domain niche is not always accurate, but the ease at which you can quickly scan the notification is brilliant.

Go out and start building your portfolio

My best piece of advice is it’s a great idea to try and pick a platform that works for you but if you centralise your domain purchases with one registrar to get a bigger discount.  To ensure fail safes are in place always use more than one monitoring platform where possible and ideally pick a solution for it’s strengths. I hope all these suggestions and platforms makes it easier for you to start expanding your domain portfolio.

If you still use paper billing, it can be quite messy, and when problems arise, you need to browse and search all the paper records to verify the problem. It is already a waste of time and sometimes the present, work gets late and customer service failure. This scenario affects businesses, small or large. This is where the online billing and invoicing comes to your rescue and help you to send invoices and receive payments.

Some of the web portal understood this need and hence, created an application where you could create a free account and add more clients to start sending the bills. Between sending and managing invoices, tracking time and expenses, making calculations and instant form of billing there is no reason to buy boxes or drawers to store files and pounds and can easily be adjusted according to demand.

It also makes your workplace clean and green do not rely on the use of more paper. These applications are quite safe. The online billing system allows you to receive your payments on time and get to easily track your account. Web invoicing is crucial to any type of online business today. Many companies are involved in providing online billing & invoicing to a large number of people who are in online business today.

Here are some of the online billing services to create and send invoices easily and safely.

1. Invoicera

Invoicera is one of the most popular online invoicing and billing software / applications to companies, service providers and professionals, which gives them great experience in creating, sending invoices and processing of numerous transaction tasks. Invoicera, wonderful application is the perfect combination of three key features, such as online billing, invoicing and time tracking solution, together with other additional surprising properties.

Other striking features supported by Invoicera are-:

• Invoice Scheduling
• Time and Expense Tracking
• Multiple Payment Gateways support.
• Set periodic tasks to do.
• Multiple Language and Currency Support
• Recurring invoices with Auto Billing
• Apply late fees payment to invoices
• Access Invoicera from Google Apps
• Customize your Invoice Templates.
• Send invoices as PDF, e-mail or have clients access them
• Online Report generation of invoices, clients, payments etc

With Invoicera, you can have complete control over your invoices. Its interface is easy to use, but professional invoices in fact make it one of the best online invoicing applications.

2. CurdBee

CurdBee is an online system, which aims to take the hassle out of billing and invoicing for small businesses and freelancers. When you are working with CurdBee, designing professional invoices and estimates is as simple as uploading the company’s logo and selecting a color model.

Features of curdbee:

• Create unlimited invoices and add clients
• Manage invoices from a single page
• Support for multiple currency types
• Insert custom logos into invoices
• Create professional looking invoices
• E-mail support to send invoices to clients directly
• Pro version supports encryption, PDF, taxes and discounts
• Support for multiple online payment gateways like Google Checkout and PayPal

The upgraded version offers great services for charge as low as $5 per month free. Upgrading to pro-version you can send thank you emails after receiving payments, set reminders and many extra features.

3. Rapid Billing

Rapid billing is the most advanced web billing application available in the market today. Rapid billing has been especially designed for small and mid-sized enterprises. Rapid billing is the most reliable, flexible and scalable billing application, while dramatically reducing operating costs.

Features Of Rapid Billing:

• Import Export Customers
• Create a Customer record
• Create New Service Items
• Online Account Statements
• Set up Reminders and tax rates
• Accept Credit Cards or PayPal only
• Online Payments for your Customers
• Predefined Communication Templates
• Create Automated Recurring Billing instructions.

Rapid Billing is an absolute solution for your invoicing and recurring billing. It is designed and optimized for small and mid-size enterprises that want a low cost billing solution.

4. Zoho Invoice http://invoice.zoho.com/

Zoho Invoice is the simplest way to invoice your customers. It can create, send and manage invoices online. Using Zoho Invoice lets you track your customer payments and accept online payments from your customers. In this section, let us take a quick look at some of its invoicing features –

• Manage Invoices Online
• Accept Payments Online
• Safe and secure
• Invoice in Multiple Currencies and Languages
• Invite, Share and Collaborate
• Automate repeat invoices
• Assess late fees automatically

With Zoho invoice, you can enjoy these features, which give it an edge over other invoice services, which charges monthly subscription for similar features.

5. Ronin App

Ronin App is a ratio of online billing and customer service management that saves time and improve your customer relationships. This great application allows you to quickly create and send invoices to customers, making you look more professional and help you keep better records of business initiatives.

Features of Ronin App

• Time-tracking built in
• Send estimates and get approval.
• Track and re-bill expenses.
• Customize your invoices with your own HTML/CSS.
• Send invoices and estimates in multiple currencies.
• Set up recurring invoices with custom time intervals.
• PayPal or Authorize.Net Add a convenience cost to cover fees.

Ronin is a simple online invoicing and time tracking solution. It is ideal for small businesses and freelancers and is designed to make you look more professional.

Author Bio: This post is contributed by Steven Smith, an Editor of smallbusinessfriends.com, a business blog that shares tips and information about various business related topics. You can follow him at @SmallBizFriends.