The competition for this keyword is moderate on the front page of Google. Position number one is a highly trusted authority site. However, there are a number of weak positions that may be vulnerable to a take over. There are just under 10,000,000 competing pages for the broad match search. However, you see the phrase match search brings that way down to 32,500.

Here are the competitors found on page one the day I found this keyword…things change, so their page rank and backlinks may be different. Or, by the time you see this, other pages may have pushed them down.

www.ehealthinsurance.com
Page Rank: 7

http://healthinsurance.about.com/od/savingmoneyonhealthcare/a/save_on_private_insurance.htm

Page Rank: 4
Yahoo Backlinks: 283

http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/deals/buying-private-health-insurance-14819/

Page Rank: 2
Yahoo Backlinks: 66

http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Nutrition/health_care_reform_bill_individual_insurance_buyers_1104101111.html

(This was a news result.)
Page Rank: -
Yahoo Backlinks: 2

http://www.insure.com/articles/healthinsurance/individual-health-coverage.html

Page Rank: -
Yahoo Backlinks: 35

http://www.kiplinger.com/basics/managing/insurance/healthinsurance.html

Page Rank: -
Yahoo Backlinks: 106

http://www.ehow.com/how_5983247_save-buying-individual-health-insurance.html

Page Rank: 2
Yahoo Backlinks: 261

http://www.nahu.org/consumer/individualinsurance.cfm

Page Rank: 4
Yahoo Backlinks: 6

http://www.healthinsurancesort.com/

Page Rank: 4
Yahoo Backlinks: 6170

http://www.consumerreports.org/health/insurance/health-care-on-your-own-1-08/tips-for-buying-insurance/health-care-on-your-own-how-to-choose.htm

Page Rank: 3
Yahoo Backlinks: 10

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/insurance/buying-private-health-insurance-1.aspx

Page Rank: 5
Yahoo Backlinks: 30

But if you put these into action, they’ll help your email campaigns and will give you an advantage over email publishers who fumble around without them.

Make It Easy To Subscribe

A small but noticeable sign up form should be placed on every page of your website. A good place to put this form is in the upper right column of your pages.

Of course, if your design features a left side column, then put it there.

Make sure it’s toward the top of the page and not hidden below the fold.

You should also have an entire page set aside just for email sign ups. Through this page, you can do a proper job of offering your email newsletter.

Give Your Reader An Alternative To Unsubscribing

Every email you send out must have a link for unsubscribing. But what if you could keep at least a few of those people who want to leave your list?

Every issue of your newsletter should include instructions for switching to a different version of your list as an alternative to unsubscribing.

This means you’ll need to run a few different newsletters. Here are some possible variations…

• High volume…mailed three or four times a week.
• Digest version…a monthly or weekly version of the high volume edition.
• A completely different newsletter with different subject matter. If you run an ezine about salt water aquariums, you could offer an additional and more narrow ezine specifically on salt water plant life or a particular fish species.

These different versions of your newsletter not only expand the content you’re offering your readers, but it just might save someone from abandoning your list altogether.

Archive Your Past Issues

You should archive all of your past issues under an email newsletter archive category on your web site.

If you’re spending time writing fresh articles every few days, you could be expanding the value of your web site by publishing these email articles there.

Include A Call To Action

Each issue should include some kind of call to action.

Whether it’s asking your reader to go an affiliate product you’re promoting, your own product, a related article you’ve written, or simply your home page…you should work at getting them involved with what you’re doing.

You don’t just want to send out a bunch of static text that doesn’t ask something of them. Here are a few ideas of what you can ask them to visit or do…simply put the link in front of them and ask them to click it for more reader value will be enough.

• Your site’s home page
• Your newsletter’s archive
• A related article you’ve written…can be off site, like Ezine Articles.
• Another related resource you’ve created, whether on your site or on another. Video, audio, ebook, etc.
• A product you’re selling directly or promoting as an affiliate

Create Supplemental Resources

It’s great to send out a plain text email message, but that’s what everybody does. You can add an incredible amount of value for your reader by creating an expanded version of your email in the form of a PDF file, video, podcast, or checklist.

You don’t have to do this with each issue you send out, but you should consider creating an additional resource that you can send them to every few emails.

Keep Your Emails Brief

And because you should be creating supplemental material for your email messages, you should also make the actual emails fairly brief.

In fact, even if you don’t create any additional resources, keep your emails brief and to the point.

Just write up to a page worth of succinct, high value content and then let them know there’s more waiting for them on your web site or YouTube channel or what have you.

Write As Though Your Reader Is A Friend

Don’t be too formal or stiff when you write to your audience. Oh, and don’t write to them as though they were an audience. You’re writing to a single person. And speak to them like they were your friend.

Relax. Loosen up. Be personable.

Don’t go overboard with slang and sloppy writing…you still have to consider your reader’s expectations. But friendly, casual conversation can win over a lot more hearts and minds than clinical, stiff, institutionalized writing.

Sell Them Something

Your goal should be to make money with your list. So you should work hard at selling stuff to your readers.

Be casual about it.

You’ll get plenty of chances to sell them stuff over the lifetime of your newsletter, so don’t get over aggressive.

But definitely make offers.

A good, casual way to do it is to give them some valuable content and finish the email with a “Oh by the way, here’s something you may be able to use,” and drop your affiliate link.

If that product is related in some way to that day’s email message, it will tie together nicely.

And your reader won’t get all twitchy about you trying to sell them something.

Don’t Sell In Every Issue

You should sell stuff to your list, but you shouldn’t do it in each and every issue you mail out. Especially if you’re mailing more than once a week.

Every few issues you send out should be nothing but pure content with no expectation of making money.

Your readers will come to expect value from your emails if they’re not all hardcore sales pitches…and this means more people will actually read what you send them.

And then, when you do send some content out that includes a soft sell, after thought style affiliate offer, more people will read that, too.

Do you think that if more people are reading your emails, you might make more sales from your email campaigns?

Mail Often Enough To Be Remembered

And speaking of mailing frequency, at minimum, I would send them an email once a week. And if you have real, high value content to offer in each message, you can get away with sending three or four times a week.

The key is real content. It doesn’t have to be a huge book of info…a simple three paragraph tip can sometimes be more valuable than some of the big ebooks I’ve read.

Even then, some people may just not be able to deal with that high volume of a list…so what should you do? Offer a weekly digest version.

Enliven Your List With Reader Interaction

Most email lists I’ve been on are pretty static. It’s a plain old text message that just sits there and does nothing. One way to liven up a text email communication is to get your readers involved with the list and even with each other.

You can do this the same way popular YouTubers generate interaction with their viewers. Ask your readers questions…ask for their opinions, complaints, gripes, struggles, etc.

Ask them if they have any questions of their own that other readers can answer…and then ask for answers to these questions.

Then, in upcoming issues, publish a small snippet of all the interaction that comes in.

A few things to keep in mind with this…let them know that whatever they send you could end up being published in future issues of the newsletter. Don’t publish email addresses, but let them know their name may be published. Offer to publish their web site address, too, if they have one.

Also, when you do this, you’re going to get an increased load of incoming email. Don’t feel like you have to read each email. Just a sample is enough. Keep your inbox cleared.

But here’s an idea…as you get incoming questions, answers, comments, and complaints, instead of deleting what you don’t have time to process, you could keep all of it. Use it as a product creation or article inspiration resource down the road.

Add Value By Linking To Third Party Resources

Another way to add value for your reader is linking to third party resources.

Is it link leak? It sure is.

Your reader may click through to that article some other writer published and they may not finish your message or click your affiliate link.

But if that article you’re linking to is related to your email message and it can help your reader, then you should still post that link.

Besides, if your emails really are valuable and your reader knows it, he’s not going to be able to stay away. So don’t be afraid to link to third party resources if it helps your reader.

These email marketing best practices should help you forge a profitable, long lasting relationship with your list.

Of course, there’s more you can do to provide more value to your reader and get the most out of that relationship. But these email tips will take you a long way.

He ended up on the number two spot for his article’s main keyword, but isn’t seeing any traffic.

He wrote a couple more articles, but hasn’t done any back linking. Then he asks why he should do more, since he’s number two on Google. As if he’s reached the pinnacle and his work is finished. And his subject line asks why he’s not making any money. From one article.

After all, it is number two on Google.

(I’m not going to name the poster or link to the post in order to spare embarrassment. This is a newbie issue, so no reason to cause hard feelings.)

Total Searches Is An Average

There’s one thing you must understand when researching keywords. The number of searches listed in the keyword tools is an average over time. Because of this, you shouldn’t get upset when you don’t see dozens of daily search engine hits on your article right away.

Number Of Searches Has No Connection To Actual Traffic

Also, number of searches has zero connection to your ability to pull in traffic from that search. You could have a great keyword, get ranked on page one, everyone else could be getting tons of traffic, but you might get none.

The reason lies in your page title and the description displayed on your search engine result entry. Now if those things are terrible, you probably wouldn’t get ranked on page one anyway. But if the other nine spots are filled with benefit laden copy while yours made it that high only for technical reasons, you probably won’t get many clicks.

The clicks are going to flow to the other sites because they look more promising to the searcher.

Three Steps To Traffic Success

With these ideas in mind, there are three things you can do right now to improve your flow of traffic. First, figure out how to write tempting headlines and compelling opening paragraphs. This will enliven your entry on the search engine results pages and entice people to actually click on your link. It does no good to be on the front page if no one is moved to visit your page.

Second, one article isn’t going to cut it. Write more. If you write just one article, you may have picked a loser keyword, even if it looks good in the keyword tools. So don’t tie all your hopes to a single article. Writing lots of articles increases the odds that you’ll hit on a few solid traffic magnets.

And third, don’t be like our poster here. Plan for and build out a network of back links to all your online properties. Back links are a big part of the traffic equation, so do NOT leave it out. You don’t have to enslave yourself to building a mega backlink farm, but you will need at least a few for each piece of writing you publish.

Seth Godin discusses his ideas about the sabotaging influence of the lizard brain. The lizard brain is the oldest part of our brains and is responsible for basic, instinctual reactions such as revenge, fear, and the desire to escape danger.

We still carry these instincts into our online marketing efforts and projects. And if we let it affect us, the resistance produced by this ancient neural hardware can derail our success.

Our business objective should be to get something out the door. If we don’t ship a product or service, we’re not in business and won’t make any money.

There’s a common problem with creating and shipping a product, however. Somewhere along the way, we think about what we’re working on and we begin to critique it toward the end of the process. We chisel at it…add to it, take away from it, change it in some way. Some of this can be helpful, but if you’re not careful you’ll use this to delay shipping and therefore delay success.

Our lizard brain smells the completion of a project and it becomes fearful. The closer we get to shipping the more it panics. It’s afraid of ridicule, complaints, critics, getting into trouble, and it’s simply afraid of change.

Now, the lizard brain is just fine with repetitive, safe, non-creative, and status quo work.

But when you work at producing something beyond your comfort level, this brain starts to panic. When panic sets in, it creates resistance. It’s fearful of project completion because it’s unsure that what you’re doing is safe. Since it’s fearful of a bad outcome, it generates resistance to short circuit your efforts.

And it’s a master at coming up with a million excuses to derail your goal to ship your project. It will remind you of all your shortcomings and will give you precise reasons why you can’t accomplish what you want to accomplish.

To achieve success, we need to ship. So we need to silence this part of our brain. Watch the video to hear what Seth has to say about dealing with the lizard brain’s sabotage and how to break through to success.

Seth Godin: Quieting the Lizard Brain

Also check out an interview between Seth Godin and 43Folders.

And here’s an article by Seth Godin on 99% about beating the resistance: The Truth About Shipping

Essentially, these kinds of text editors strip away all of the distractions on your desktop by making them temporarily invisible. When you fire up one of these programs, it’s just you and the words on the screen. There are minimal formatting options also, so you won’t get lost in trying to typeset your piece as you write.

Of course you could just do your writing in vi for Unix/Linux. That’s probably out of reach for most people, so I’ve included a few more accessible apps below. There are two editors for Windows, one for Mac, one that runs on Java (and so can be used on any OS), and one online version. Try one out and see if it helps.

Windows

Q10
http://www.baara.com/q10/

Dark Room
http://they.misled.us/dark-room

Mac

Write Room
http://www.hogbaysoftware.com/products/writeroom

BONUS: Make Your Mac Sound Like A Typewriter!
http://alphaomega.software.free.fr/typewriterkeyboard/Typewriter%20Keyboard.html

Java

Typewriter
http://www.lifehackingmovie.com/2009/05/18/typewriter-minimal-text-editor-freeware/

Online

Writer
http://writer.bighugelabs.com/

UPDATE: I just used this to write an article for Taylor Journals. It’s pretty nice…you can wipe out the rest of your desktop by hitting F11 for full screen mode.

On A Related Note…

With Simple Text you can store all your writing, to do lists, etc in one place online and sync them between devices. You can even install this on your own web server so you’re not tied down to someone else’s service.

http://www.simpletext.ws/

So, if you read the first post in the sneak previews section, you’ll see some of my early plans. I wanted to charge a hundred bucks a month for access to my private business ideas and actions. Well, I’m still going to post those details, but now they’ll be free.

No Cash For The Newbie Schmuck

I figured that I wouldn’t want to pay anything for some newbie schmuck who’s just now taking action on money making ideas. I’d pay Frank Kern money for his insights these days, but I wouldn’t have when he was a nobody. So, that’s the reason for the change.

Plus, if I eventually gain some recognition from my activities that I post out in the open, that credibility will help sell things down the road.

So what exactly has changed between last year, October 18th, and today? Well, zero charge for the Private Journal, since there is no such thing any more. The product alerts, niche alerts, and trend hit list will all be freely available as well.

Future Classes

I will probably feature occasional classes on Taylor Journals. These will be limited to a certain number of people and held over a number of weeks. Just like a real class. I may hold several of these each month.

Find A Topic

Consider your reader for a moment. What is he looking for? What’s bugging him? Go to his favorite online hang outs and look for questions. Fire up keyword tool and find out what he’s been typing into search engines. Make a short list of your findings.

Look over your list and see if there’s one idea that you know about. If you can answer questions about that subject without doing too much research, then you’ve found your article topic.

Now, you may find that you’d rather write about other ideas because they seem more interesting. But maybe with these subjects, you don’t have much experience. That’s not too big of a problem; you’ll just have to do a bit of research.

Brainstorming

Take out a sheet of paper and a pen and write down anything that comes to mind about your article…ideas, concepts, words, symbols, doodles and phrases. You’re not writing the article at this point, so don’t worry about making sense or being neat. Be sloppy and scribble if you’d like.

Three Point Outline

Once you’ve dumped a bunch of insights and thoughts onto your paper, take a look at the mess you’ve made. Remember, all these scribbles should be directly related to your article idea. Look for three points that you’d like to cover in your writing. These should be closely related ideas that are simple and that look easy to explain to your reader.

Words, Sentences, Questions

Write these three ideas in a simple outline; just one to three words each. Don’t make it complicated…no more than three words for each element of the outline.

Now expand on each phrase in your outline. Flesh out the idea behind the word or phrase and write a complete sentence.

After you’ve turned each phrase into a complete sentence, change those sentences into questions.

Answer Each Question

Once you’ve completed your questions, answer them.

This preparation takes a bit more time than just jumping into an article and writing free form. But, after the prep work is finished, your article will be far easier to write. All you have to do is react to the questions as you would were someone to ask them in an interview or on a forum.

Using this method, you may find that you’re able to produce more writing in a shorter period of time. You may also find that you have fewer problems with writer’s block.

Write Headline, Intro, And Summary

All that remains is to write the introduction and summary.

I’ve saved the intro and headline until this last step because it’s easier writing them at this stage, since you know exactly what your article is about.

To write the headline, read your article once more and think about the central idea. Connect this idea to your reader. What’s he really going to get by reading what you’ve written? Turn this idea into a reader centered statement or question and you’ll have your headline.

For the introduction and summary, simply state in a few brief sentences the subject matter the article covers. In the introduction, you will use future tense language…”This article is about so and so.” (Just be a bit more creative than that.) And for the summary, you’ll use past tense…”This article covered so and so.”

Include in the intro and summary exactly why your reader should care about your main idea…how this information impacts him or benefits him.

So for your next article, pick three points on a topic you’re familiar with, turn those three points into questions and then answer them. Give the article a simple introduction and summary and move on to the next article. How much easier can this get?

A good article length is between 600 to 900 words. In this article, you should focus on one keyword instead of dumping a ton of keywords together. Focus makes it easy for Google to figure out the subject of your article. If you try to saturate your writing with a grab bag of loosely related keywords, your ranking will suffer because the search engines won’t be able to determine the main niche idea.

To stand the best chance at ranking well in the search engines, your article should be original content. Rich talks about the perils of duplicate content and even says to avoid material from Ezine Articles. I disagree with him here. Duplicate content is a problem if the duplication is happening on your own site.

There doesn’t appear to be a duplicate content penalty between sites. In other words, there could be an identical article that is posted on two or three sites and all three could be indexed and ranked on page one of Google. I’ve seen it happen over and over. But if you post identical articles on your own site, then one of those pages will probably be penalized within Google.

Having said that, original content should be your first choice. Use syndicated content to supplement your original work.

Also, as you’re doing research and synthesizing a new article from other people’s work, be sure to give proper credit when including direct quotes. And run your article through Copyscape to check on possible duplication. (This concern for duplication is different from worrying about the duplicate content penalty. Here, you’re writing your own original content. When you do that, you want to avoid accusations of plagiarism.)