Online Business Adviser

Google's AdWords and AdSense programs revolutionised online advertising when they were launched, allowing greater accountability with advertising dollars and an opportunity for webmasters to make a little cash for their site. In the currenteconomic climate, it allows shrewd spend for businesses looking to maximise ROI. I have clients ask me my thoughts on whether they should use either, or how they effectively use one or the other. Ultimately it depends on your business model, but there are a few things you need to keep in mind when determining if they are right for your business.

Anyone who has spent time researching an online business niche and what they can do to make a living online will have come across sites and pages offering you the opportunity to make more money than you thought possible. Usually the sales page will have one or more of the following elements: * Fonts in about 4 different type faces and 6 different colours * Pictures of someone standing next to a very expensive car or boat (with their face blurred out) * Copies of cheques, bank statements or Paypal statements * Testimonials from people who go by only one name

I think you all know by now that I am a fan of social media as a business tool, as well as on a personal level. Last week I was trawling through my Twitter feed, as I do multiple times a day, to find interesting content to read or to find a gem of a deal on a new t-shirt or shoes. But what I got (as I always have, but it now seems harder to ignore), is affiliate link after affiliate link with the promise of untold riches from the Internet.

Anyone who has been in business longer than 5 minutes knows that no two customers are created equal, and can't be treated as such. But in a truly global medium like the internet, how can you make sure that all of your customers feel like they are getting one to one service? One of the most effective ways of communicating with them is email marketing, and should form a major part of an online marketing strategy, for the simple reason that if if you're not doing it - your competition are.

Put simply, inbound links are those that point to your site from elsewhere on the web. It may be from a directory, it may be from a link that someone has added to a social bookmarking site, or someone may consider your site of enough value to link from theirs. Wherever they come from, inbound links are vital to the success of your site.