In This Issue:

=> 1. Marketing News/Resources
=> 2. Feature Article- "How To Get Higher Clickthrough Rates (CTR) On Your Google Adwords Campaigns"
=> 3. Net Hot Spots!
=> 4. Sites to Help
=> 5. Site Promotion Software & More
=> 6. Guest Columnist- You Can't Market Without This Data
=> 7. E-Books / Ezine Resources
=> 8. Other Valuable Ezines
=> 9. Subscribe/Unsubscribe Information

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Note From Merle:

"100th Anniversary Issue"

Hi Gang,

2004 is not starting out all that well for me. You know how they say bad luck comes in 3's? Well, I'm a firm believer that it does. Call me superstitious but when one bad thing happens, 2 more are sure to follow. Trust me on this one.

My Father died this week. Not my Step-Father but my real Father. No, he didn't raise me and he never paid my Mother one cent in child support but that didn't change the fact that he was partially responsible for giving me life. He actually left my Mom when I was still a baby never to be heard from or seen for many years after. I remember as a small child wishing he would come and rescue me from my terrible childhood which included an Alcoholic Step Father whom I strongly detested. He never came and now I know for a fact he never will.

It's funny, as I always had a deep down desire to know my Dad so when I was in my twenties I located him and started to write to him. Our relationship grew from there as I flew to North Carolina to meet him and spend a week with him and his family. Even though I had never seen him before I saw so much of myself in him. His sense of humor, his attitude, his beliefs. It was very strange. I mean how could I be so much like a man I had never seen before. I guess it's true when they say "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree". Blood must be thicker then water. Our relationship continued with many letters and a few more visits. My sisters never forgave him for leaving us as children and never wanted to meet him. I feel sad for them now as they never had the opportunity to meet the man that helped to create them.

People ask me if I feel bad that he died. The answer is yes. I feel bad for all of the lost years, for never having a "real Dad" around growing up, for never getting the chance to buy "Fathers Day" cards. I feel sad for so many reasons. The truth is we are all a product of our choices in life. Did my Dad regret his? I often wonder if he did. Time has a funny way of robbing us all. It takes our youth sometimes destroys our dreams, and in the end it brings us death. Take the time to remember what's really important because in the end it's not that fancy new car or that high priced house in the suburbs, but your relationship with people that really matters the most.

OK, enough on that sad topic. Moving on my hard drive crashed this week. Talk about upsetting. I had no back up and so now I have no files. Hey, it was only 3 yrs worth of work but who's counting. Maybe my computer figured it was a new year and it wanted a fresh start too. I'm writing this to you on my laptop with my new hard drive on order and yes, even a back up contraption. It's my own fault I should have known better. I had just asked my computer tech 2 days before the crash about cloning my hard drive in the event it ever failed then boom......it went. I think I jinxed myself. It's always been like that for me. Open my mouth, say something and it happens. Sort of like a witch or something. Sometimes I scare myself.

Some of you may have noticed when you write to me I'm now using "Sp*m Arrest" Challenge Response system. I never thought I'd see the day when I had to go that route but mcpromotions.com was receiving over 1,000 junk messages every few hours. It was ridiculous. I could no longer manage my own box without spending hours and hours cleaning it out. So far I like Sp.m Arrest and it's working great. If you'd like to check it out for yourself go to http://tinyurl.com/2stmv

I can't believe this is the 100th issue of this ezine. To those of you who have been with me for years I'd like to say "thanks". I couldn't have done it without you. Here's to another 100 years together.

I really would appreciate your helping me out.. Go to http://AdvancedSurvey and type 8244 into the "take a survey" box # on the right hand side. If you do you'll be entered into a drawing for a free ad each and every month.

As always send any comments or suggestions to:mailto:merle@mcpromotions.com

***This Issue's Free Ad Contest Winner***

Today's contest winner for a free ad in this ezine is: Nina Smith.
Send in your ad and I'll get it in the next issue.

If you'd like a chance to win fill out the survey by clicking on the link at the bottom of this ezine. A winner is picked for every issue.

Thanks again for joining me.

Warmest Regards,

http://www.MCPromotions.com/
http://www.EzineAdAuction.com/
http://www.MerlesWorld.com/

Discussion Question of the Week:

The question of the week....on the discussion board is...

"I'm sure you've heard all about the last update at Google deemed "Florida". If you were affected by this change I'd love to hear what happened, good or bad and what you think Google is trying to accomplish."

To POST your comments hop over to the board at..
http://www.mcpromotions.com/webbbs/config.pl

I look forward to reading your comments. No Spam it will be deleted. You'll find some great resources in today's ezine so what are you waiting for....Let's go.....

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1) Marketing News

Yahoo to Drop Google
http://tinyurl.com/28vfo
----------

Patent owner stakes claim in Net ad suit
http://tinyurl.com/3478q
-----------

Google Dance Syndrome Stirkes Again
http://tinyurl.com/25a3s
--------

Microsoft to Retire Older Products
http://tinyurl.com/yvxd3
--------

Cell Phone Lockdown
http://tinyurl.com/2tuzy
--------

Overture Breaks Up Contextual, Search Listings
http://tinyurl.com/28ycp

Go Back Up

2) Feature Article

By Ben Chapi

There are a number of ways to improve your clickthrough rates (CTR) for ads on Google Adwords. Here are some tips to help you get started.

1. Target your ads to the right Audience. You do this by selecting keywords and phrases which are relevant to your product or service. Avoid keywords that are too general because although they generate a large number of impressions, they often generate very few clicks. To improve your CTR, use more descriptive phrases so that your ads will only appear to prospective customers searching for what you have to offer.

2. Use the correct keyword matching option(s). Google offers four different methods of targeting your ads by keywords: Broad Match, Phrase Match, Exact Match and Negative keyword. By applying the most focused matching options to your keywords, you can reach more targeted prospects, improve your CTR, reduce your cost-per-click and increase your return on investment.

3. Target your ads by location and language. When creating your adwords campaign target your ads by location so that you maximize your sales and improve your CTR. Target the right audience by selecting the language and countries that you want to reach.

4. Use your main keywords in the Title or Body Text of your ad. By using your keywords in the title or ad body text of your ad, it will stand out from your competitors and grab the eye of your prospective customers.

5. Create different Ad Groups for different search phrases/keywords. This will allow you to refine your ads and test them for relevance and therefore maximise your clickthrough rates. For example, if your service offers loans, you can create different ad groups for home equity loans (and all other phrases that incorporate this phrase), consolidation loans, student loans and so on.

6. Calculate what you can afford to pay for each clickthrough. You will find that more focused keywords and search phrases have a higher conversion ratio than other more general keywords. It's a good strategy to pay more for clicks from keywords or phrases with a high conversion ratio than from the more general keyword groups.

7. Use highly targeted Keywords and search phrases. Be specific when selecting keywords and search phrases for your campaign. General keywords will be more expensive and will result in lower clickthrough rates. If you're bidding on general keywords that are relevant to your site consider using the Exact match and the Phrase match keyword matching options in order to increase your CTR.

8. Test and monitor your ads to get the best click- through rates. Refine and fine-tune your ad to maximise click throughs. With Google you can do this in real time. You can do this by creating different ads for each ad group and then checking which ads have the best clickthrough rates.

9. Give Google users a compelling reason to click on your ad link. The easiest way to do this is to provide something of value for free. You can also achieve this if you tailor each keyword to your offer and use relevant terms/ words in both the title and the ad body. Use a different ad for each keyword group or search term. This increases relevance and the likelihood that Google users will click on it.

About the Author ----------------
© Copyright. Ben Chapi owns Venister Home Business
and Affiliate Program Classifieds at http://www.venister.org/. He is also webmaster for http://www.best-debt-consolidation-loan.co.uk/ and http://www.home-equity-loan.org.uk/

Go Back Up

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