Estimating the Real Click Fraud Rate

The controversy surrounding click fraud comes up every year, but it reached a fever pitch during December’s Search Engine Strategies conference in Chicago when participants voiced concerns over experiencing fraudulent click rates ranging from 20 to 40 percent, threatening the entire paid search industry.

At the time, Google’s Business Product Manager for Trust and Safety Shuman Ghosemajumder tried to calm advertisers’ fears explaining that Google was currently “…examining ways to make its fraud-fighting efforts more transparent without revealing crucial information that might help swindlers elude detection.” Ghosemajumder did, however, express concerns over revealing too much information, fearful it would give away algorithm secrets to competitors.

Paid Search Revenues Continue to Rise

While the major search providers have always insisted the clíck fraud rate is a gross overestimation, a 2005 Outsell survey found that clíck fraud was a $1.3 billion problem for publishers. At the time, many advertiser respondents (27 percent) said they planned to cut back and/or eliminate paid search campaigns in 2006.

Outsell respondents may have intended to cut down on paid search, but they certainly didn’t follow through. SEMPO’s year-end search marketing report showed that North American advertisers spent $8 billion on paid placement programs in 2006, amounting to 86 percent of 2006’s total search spend ($9.4 billion). Seventy-one percent of SEMPO respondents said they used paid search campaigns, illustrating that there were not many defectors.

Despite advertisers’ insistent claims that the search engines don’t do enough to eliminate clíck fraud, paid search revenues continue to fill the coffers of Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and many second and third tier search engines. Additionally, there is a huge gap in the professed prevalence of clíck fraud between the search providers and the advertisers and clíck fraud advocates.

Google Click Fraud Estimates

The rate of clíck fraud changes depending on whose numbers you believe. Clíck fraud detection agencies put the clíck fraud rate hovering around 14 percent, while others believe at least 20 percent of all clicks are fraudulent.

Late last month, Google issued a statement on the Inside AdWords blog that insisted invalid clicks consistently remain under 10, typically in the single-digits, and that virtually all malicious activity is found by Google’s filter. Ghosemajumder claimed the percentage of clicks found by advertiser-initiated investigations account for just .02 percent of clicks. All other accounts, he said, are grossly overestimated.

Alchemist Media President Jessie Stricchiola takes issue with Google’s assertion that it refunds advertisers promptly for fraudulent clicks, stating that “Google has been the most stubborn and the least willing to cooperate with advertisers”.

Google Click Fraud Filters

In February, Google outlined the three-layer filtration process it uses to combat and eliminate clíck fraud. They described the system which uses both proactive and reactive filters as follows:

1. Proactive Filters: Automated algorithms analyze and filter out invalid clicks in real-time without billing advertisers for these false clicks. This accounts for the vast majority of invalid click detection.

2. Proactive Offline Analysis: Post billing, Google uses automated and manual analysis to identify fraudulent clicks that somehow made it through the first layer of filtration. Special attention is paid to clicks occurring on the AdSense network. This is done pro-actively and without any involvement from advertisers. When false clicks are found, advertisers’ accounts are immediately credited via Clíck Quality Adjustments.

3. Reactive Investigations: Investigations take place when an advertiser approaches Google concerned about suspicious activity on their account. Each complaint is investigated, though Google says refunds are relatively rare. Google claims that the vast majority of fraudulent clicks, more than 99 percent, are found and thrown out within the first two stages of filtration. The third stage only includes the .02 percent of clicks where advertisers are affected by undetected cases of clíck fraud.Click Fraud Detection Agency Estimates

In April 2006, The Click Fraud Index reported an industry-wide average clíck fraud rate of 13.7 percent. The clíck fraud rate was broken down as follows:

• Tier 1 search providers — 12.1 percent
• Tier 2 search providers — 21.3 percent
• Tier 3 search providers — 29.8 percent

Some of the newer click fraud prevention firms like Click Assurance and ClickLab offër algorithm-based programs to limit bad clicks. These programs estimate the statistical likelihood of a clíck being fraudulent based on behavioral variables and IP address.

Gap in Prevalence of Click Fraud

As noted above, Google admits to a less than 10 percent click fraud rate, while advertisers and clíck fraud detection agencies believe it is more like 14 to 20 percent. Ghosemajumder explained this gap saying that many advertisers and clíck fraud detection agencies are looking at the wrong signals, mistakenly classifying valid clicks as fraudulent. Additionally, he believes many advertisers request refunds for clicks already thrown out during the first two layers of the filtration system.

For example, misclassification might occur when counting reloads of an advertiser’s landing page. Say the customer clicks through to the landing page, views a product page, and then hits the back button, returning to the same landing page. Without proper tagging, that one clíck and five page re-loads could be misclassified as 6 clicks from the same visitor. Google argues that there are hundreds of different signals that must be monitored to detect clíck fraud, signals that are a closely guarded company secrët and known only to the Google clíck quality team.

A Solution for Click Fraud

Like other experts, we believe the only solution to clíck fraud is for independent auditors to evaluate the system using accurate data provided by the search engines and advertisers themselves. It is the only way to get a neutral calculation — the current clíck fraud detection agencies may not be entirely neutral, and certainly the search providers are not neutral. We need an independent agency that has no incentive to íncrease or decrease the clíck fraud rate. One solution could be to use a technology firm like Fair Isaac, which is currently conducting clíck fraud research for SEMPO.

One thing is certain, until advertisers are willing to provide campaign info, and the search engines are willing to share clíck fraud data, we’ll nevër know the actual prevalence of clíck fraud or how much advertisers are losing as a result.

-----
by Nick Guastella, SEM Analyst and PPC expert at Bruce Clay, Inc.

Web Hit Or Miss - Online Advertising in the UK

David Gent queries the hype surrounding the advance of online advertising in the UK

Advertising spend on the internet has now overtaken that on radio, we are told, and it won’t be long before it leaves behind national press, then television as the nation’s favourite marketing medium. If we are to believe the hype, and hype there certainly is, we’ll soon be spending more time online than watching TV, ‘silver surfers’ are eschewing traditional retirement activities like gardening for the web, and the only media predicted to grow their audiences in the near future are the internet and, somewhat unaccountably, radio.
When you realise that last finding comes from an online poll amongst heavy internet users and radio listeners by advertising bodies with vested interests, that the Office of National Statistics reports this month that there is a distinct lack of enthusiasm amongst the over 65’s for internet usage (just 15%), and that reliable sources such as the Government, BARB, the BBC and the IPA all report that TV is still our most popular leisure pursuit, watching an average 4 hours per day, then you might conclude these flattering online figures are somewhat skewed. As one American pundit observes ‘People don’t believe all the hype, they just go home and watch television, as always’.
Nevertheless, the national press, busily polishing up their online versions, and the broadcast news seem willing to accept such statistics without applying normal journalistic standards, reporting excitedly on the next advance of the internet and recording that ‘millions of people’ are watching a webcam of cheeses ripening online (as if). Frightened of missing out on ‘the next big thing’ and searching as always for a marketing magic bullet, many board directors are investing heavily in their internet presence, transferring budgets from offline to online without necessarily applying the same rigorous ROI measures and neglecting proven media channels in favour of sexy new technology.
Then when the web doesn’t prove as self-sustaining and business-building as hoped, they blame this on their own lack of technical knowledge, feeling that if everyone else makes it work, why can’t they? They overlook, perhaps, the fact that there are already more than 110 million websites in the UK alone, with a further 10 million going online annually, and that the average well-travelled web page looks like a racing driver’s overalls, with its confusing mix of pop-ups, banner ads and video streams. So you have to accept this is an extremely competitive channel of communication, where you cannot simply ‘set out your stall’, pay for some click-through advertising and wait for the world to beat a path to your electronic doorway. You need to throw something else into the media mix to make your online investment work. Why else, despite their ubiquitous web presence, would Google and eBay choose to advertise on TV, if not to drive traffic that they cannot generate solely online?
A central shortcoming of online marketing is the lack of agreed, universal and independently- audited web traffic measures. With direct mail you have postcode data and CPR metrics, with press and radio there are regularly-updated circulation and listenership figures, whilst the independent BARB TV panel not only provides reliable ratings for programming, it also measures viewers for every single advertising spot, a unique capability. On the other hand, take website ‘hits’, the term universally used by the popular press and web amateurs everywhere. For years, I suspect web designers, engineers and masters have been sniggering behind our backs, because they know a web ‘hit’ simply describes a single request for a server to send a file and that every element on a web page (text, graphics, images, sound) generates yet another hit. Which means that your newly redeveloped home page, with its extra content and features, will instantly trigger ten or twenty times more hits, without necessarily attracting a single extra visitor (although your web designer probably won’t reveal that).
The number of unique site visitors and page impressions are more useful measures, although these can be exaggerated by search engine robots checking out your site (there are hundreds apparently), users who land on a page then leave immediately, as well as people and computers that generate fraudulent and invalid clicks for various nefarious reasons. In fact, ‘click fraud’ is already such a concern in the States, reportedly costing online advertisers up to $800 million annually, that almost a third have already decreased their online spend, with a further ten per cent planning to do so unless search-ad publishers can arrive at a proper solution. Moreover, at a recent search engine strategy conference, participants reported experiencing fraudulent click rates of 20-40%, threatening the entire paid search industry, although Google insists invalid clicks remain below 10 per cent. The obvious solution is for independent auditors, with no motif for under or over valuing click fraud rates, to provide an audience measurement system, just like BARB, RAJAR and ABC in fact.

That aside, the £2 billion online adspend attributed to the UK market seems, to an old marketing man like me, to be predominantly below-the-line, much like direct mail and sales promotions, with search advertising accounting for a massive 58%, three quarters of that on Google. Nielsen research suggests the top 100 online advertisers actually spent some £260 million on display ads only, excluding search and affiliate marketing and website building costs, although the IAB puts this higher at £450 million. Whatever, it is salutary to note that the internet’s biggest presence, YouTube, which attracts 133.5 million visitors worldwide, only sold around $15 million of advertising last year, putting ITV’s UK-only ad revenue of £1.3 billion into some context.

Then there is the question of whether the internet is a marketing medium at all, but an enabling technology, like printing, broadcasting or telephony. Just as you wouldn’t attribute every telephone call your business receives to the Yellow Pages, it’s shortsighted to allocate every website hit to your online marketing strategy. Every marketing tool you use, be it sales leaflets, PR, e-shots, press ads or TV commercials, will undoubtedly feature your corporate web address for channelling further enquiries and it’s vital to set up systems for identifying the source of online traffic, to determine whether it’s click-through activity, brand name searching, online magazines and directories, or just keying in your url. Otherwise, the online cost-per-response metrics are going to be unduly favourable, just like bus backs are often disproportionately mentioned in customer surveys, simply because they were the last ads seen on the journey to the shops. Using coded ‘landing page’ domains like .com/tv or .co.uk/radio is one solution, although human nature being what it is, most people will just enter the standard web address and not the all-important suffix; there are, however, tracking systems that provide more sophisticated web visitor data than your standard server log, which means the tools are available for more rigorous ROI analysis, should you choose.
If all this suggests that I am something of a techno-luddite, trying to hold back the inevitable online tide, then I’m not. We have had a web presence since the earliest days, when newcomers to the net used to wave to each other, and since then have invested, with a greater or lesser degree of success, in trickier graphics, new websites, search engine optimisation, online directories (don’t ask), paid search, a blog site, e-shots, even banner ads, but not yet pop-ups or video streaming (perhaps a bit too much for B2B). It’s just that I find the unremitting hype and hoopla surrounding the online advertising industry a little too self-serving; if you don’t believe me, search for ‘online adspend’ (Did you mean online ad spend?) on Google and you’ll find pages and pages of the stuff.

There’s no doubt, the internet is a valuable marketing channel, among its many other attributes, but building a brand, even an online-only brand, on the web alone is a costly and I suspect frustrating experience, because so often it doesn’t work. The golden rule is to ensure consumers or trade customers will recognise your brand name from the offline world, so that you have standout from the competition, which means paying equal attention to less glamorous, yet well-honed marketing techniques, be they trade PR and press ads, direct marketing, radio and TV advertising, even good old exhibitions. Get the offline and online marketing mix right and you’re talking! (Postscript: Google has just announced a deal in the US, designed to encourage its online clients to advertise on radio as well. Great minds eh?)

-------
by David Gent

Huge Growth + Talent Shortage = Increased M & A Activity

Last week I wrote about how the SEO industry is growing up. Tremendous growth and low barriers to entry are / will attract many new entrants to the market.

But with formal SEO training not yet available on mass (i.e. taught in colleges), this growth is going to leave us with a talent shortage.

Essentially, large companies who want to get into this business are going to be forced to buy their way in.

In order to prepare your shop to possibly benefit from this increased M&A activity, it is helpful to have a sense of what factors will make you attractive to a perspective purchaser.

But one size does not fit all.

The evaluation of a one man shop is entirely different from that of a large Agency .

THE ONE MAN SHOP
There are many one man shops that are hugely successful. In fact many of our most authoritative industry experts are sole proprietors.

Like it or not, YOU ARE the business. Your business has little value unless you come with it.

Potential buyers - Your potential buyers are likely those looking to “buy talent” and/or credibility. A new entrant to the SEO Industry can say that they’ve been “doing SEO” for as long as you have.

What makes a one man shop desirable?

1) Reputation / Brand - To be attractive to a potential buyer in this scenario, you MUST have a well known name in the industry. Ideally, you will have case studies from recognizable brands. Further, active participation in the industry increases your credibility as an authority.

2) Re-occurring Revenue Stream - A re-occurring revenue stream will also be important to your valuation as it is likely that your price will be a multiple of your revenue. Moreover, your established business (re-occurrent revenue) should be sufficient to pay for your future salary.

3) Top Line Revenues - An EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) calculation doesn’t make a lot of sense to a one man firm as sole proprietors typically realize their profits as they are earned vs reinvesting.

In this case, a calculation should be made based on a multiple of top line revenues.

SMALL TO MID SIZED SEO FIRM (2 - 30 people*)
If a new entrant is looking to fast track it’s success by”buying the talent” that it requires then considerations around the size and strength of your team will be important.

1) Team Attributes - How many years of experience does your team have? Do you have high turnover? Do you have senior people filling key roles in your business?

2 Process - Process is also an important consideration. A new entrant doesn’t want to just buy talent, they want to buy the secret recipe……

• How do you sell SEO?
• How do you manage the work flow process?
• Who is accountable for what aspects of the process?
• Do you have checks and balances in place?
• What does your reporting look like?
• And to what degree is it automated?

3) Cash Flow - Cash flow will be an important consideration (nobody wants to buy a sinking ship) however if you’re having trouble collecting on your receivables, many companies will assume that once they take over, they can do a better job than you are (rightly or wrongfully so).

LARGE SEO AGENCY (30+ *)
For a large SEO Agency, factors that make you attractive to acquisition focus much more on hard calculations than the softer considerations of small to mid sized firms.

*Note: There are lots of web design firms who claim to be in this category when in fact only a handful of their 30 person shop actually do SEO. This article differentiates between firms with an SEO component versus a dedicated shop of 30+ people who only do SEO.

1) Scalability - The strong team you were proud of as a small to mid sized SEO firm is expected of in a large firm. For a large SEO agency to be attractive for acquisition, organizational structure is critical.

Can the structure be replicated easily for growth? Are there established training programs in place?

2) Cross Sell Opportunity - New entrants will be looking for “fit” with their existing markets.

• Is there an opportunity to cross sell between the acquiring company’s existing clients and your products?
• Is there an opportunity to sell between your clients and the acquiring company’s products?
• What about clients? Do you predominately service mom and pop shops while your perspective buyer mainly targets enterprise sized clients? Your firm will be less attractive if the purchaser is discounting too large a proportion of your business due to “lack of fit”.

3) Technology - Have you invested in proprietary technology that would benefit the buyer either by providing them with a competitive advantage or reducing costs?

Not only does an investment in technology give you an edge against the competition but it also shows long term strategic thinking.

The actual calculation
Keep in mind that there is a difference between book value and market value. A traditional “by the book” valuation will typically end up being a multiple of your EBITDA. Six times EBITDA on the low end and twelve times EBITDA at the higher end.

But EBITDA isn’t always the most fair way to measure value. When companies are growing really quickly, profits tend to be lower or non-existent. This does not mean that your company’s value is non-existent.

This is why in a pressurized environment like SEO, a calculation based on a multiple of your top line revenue may be the more appropriate measure even for large SEO Shops.

At the end of the day, what you’re worth really boils down to how much you’re willing to sell for. And with the industry booming, algorithms changing, new markets emerging - it’s still very much the wild west out there.

so, how do you put a price on fun?

----
By Jennifer Osborne

Why SEO Should Never Be An Afterthought

SEO should never be an afterthought, there are essentially two ways to rank (1) as a result of clear planning with deliberate intent and a master game plan developed over time or (2) hey is it too late to fix this site and eek some performance out of it?

How many times have you ever thought, if I only knew what I know now years ago (when you first started your website) and wished you could simply turn back the clock and start fresh, then you are not alone.In case you ever wondered how to essentially rank for everything in your niche, then you could take a few pages from the SEO play book of the site we stumbled across earlier today. In fact, it was so inspiring, I had to write about it to commend them on a job well done.

Search engine optimization is constantly evolving and with it the semblance of design, content and site architecture are fusing into “the ideal delivery system” to entice traffic, user engagement, viral marketing and conversion.

This mutation / new generation of hybrid sites (part e-commerce, part blog, part affiliate site) are emerging frequently and blazing a trail to the top 10 of multiple industries. Webmasters (much like scientists) understand that when you properly combine the right elements and streamline content, links and information architecture for a common goal, the result is an authority site designed with a distinct purpose that gains momentum daily.

You can learn a great deal from looking beneath the hood of other websites (to see which layers are worthy of emulating or modifying from other SEO’s or web developers). Here is an example of a site that is truly a masterpiece built to virtually dominate its industry through layers of overlapping optimization, content development and site architecture.

The site, www.like.com holds top ranking positions for thousands of brands, has millions of pages indexed, hundreds of thousands of links and yet has a cool demeanor and impeccable design with a strong visual call to action. All of the components were so balanced, that I simply could not shake the sites blueprint after observing the amount of thoughtful planning and advanced SEO tactics that went into developing and maintaining such a pristine web creation.

This is clearly an example of SEO done right. If anyone ever told you that a theme cannot be modified to encapsulate multiple product lines within a broad market category, then this site is an excellent case study, not to mention, it has style to boot.

The fact is, acquiring positioning for each and every keyword is a task unto itself. Each page should be treated as its own site (then again you never know how many sites were 301 redirected into this one). In any case, it is important for a site to constantly utilize the mechanisms of self-referral (internal linking) to cement relevance from within.

This when combined with an optimized CMS (content management system), the proper use of titles and tags and links results in a ranking juggernaut that expresses itself like a dynamic time-released capsule through SERP (search engine result page) domination.

Each page that is created is another asset to the site as a whole, over time when each page ages, it gains its own authority which then reciprocates back to strengthen the whole, which strengthens the page again and so on and so fourth. This cyclical momentum is the secret to ranking for multiple keywords.

The real challenge is, to get over the hump and systematically create relevance through the proper balance of (1) chronology of content through themed content development, (2) the appropriate balance of internal to external links per page and to the root domain (3) the proper use of interlinking the sub folders to create dynamism as a whole for all of the topical categories.

The whole reason this rant about SEO being the starting point rather than an afterthought is, if you have a clear objective, understand the amount of work involved and can scale the workload, then it is possible to rank for any competitive term with the right tactic, link popularity, structure and proper content. Hats’ off to the team who put that site together as well as those who maintain and keep such a finely-tuned machine in perfect working order.

----
By Jeffrey Smith

How To Leverage Your List to Grow It Even Faster

People are peculiar creatures… more alike in our thoughts and behavior than we like to admit. One thing that is true of most people, regardless of culture, and unique circumstances is that they like to know something that other people want to know.

We also like to share that information.

It makes us look and feel smarter

It allows us to appear to have inside information and we like that. Not only do we like to share information, we like to steer our friends and family in the right direction.

People share all kinds of information. They tell their neighbors which exterminator to use and which one does a shoddy job. They recommend the talented barber or hair stylist.

The same traits are common among your subscribers. They consider you a trusted expert, and a great source of products or services, or they wouldn’t stay on your opt-in list.

You need to find ways to take advantage of this human need to know what-is-what and the instinct to share useful information. Most people will share information willingly and without much incentive from you. However, providing a little incentive usually doesn’t hurt.

Your first step is to convince your opt-in list subscribers that they really do have the inside track for success by being members of your list. There are about a million ways to tell people that they are smart and that by being members of your opt-in list proves it. Never miss the opportunity to share that compliment.

Your next step is to get these smart subscribers to share your great ezine with their family and friends thus building your list.

The easiest and simplest thing that you can do is to… ask them.

Ask them to pass along copies of your ezine or autoresponder messages, and include a link to your subscribe url at the bottom of each issue. That way, those who read “pass-along copies,” and enjoy them, will know how to get more

You can also Offer incentives for referring new subscribers. I actually PAY my existing subscribers (on some lists) for referring others.

You can offer cash payments for new referrals, having them send the referrals to get something like a value-packed free report. Use an affiliate tracking system such as ProfitAutomation.com to automatically track referral commissions and then once a month, pay those commissions.

If you want the paid referral system to be totally hands-free, set it up as an affiliate program using a script like Rapid Action Profits. With Rapid Action Profits, they would use a referral link to sell an inexpensive report, and when a referral gets the report they pay the referrer directly. The token fee for the report, is deposited directly to the referrer’s Paypal account.

This is a very powerful way of using subscribers or customers to build a list of paying customers. Many people treasure a list built this way more because it’s a list of PROVEN buyers.

If you are not familiar with RAP, you can check it out at: http://TheRealSecrets.com/RapidActionProfits/

You can see how I implemented using RAP with an ebook that I wrote called “Secrets Of The Clickbank Millionaires.” I let my subscribers sell the ebook for $5 (a real bargain for their friends) but the payment goes directly to them, and it’s paid INSTANTLY. Since they don’t have to wait for Payments, it’s a very powerful incentive for those with cashflow problems.

You can see how I’ve implemented using “Secrets Of The Clickbank Millionaires” to incentivize subscribers to make referrals at: http://TheRealSecrets.com/ClickbankMillionaires/

Another powerful way to get your existing subscribers, and even just random website visitors, to make referrals is to use a tell-a-friend script on your site.

Perhaps, tell your list that referring your ezine to 4-6 people will earn them a free gift, and set the form to forward them to that download once they’ve completed and submitted the form. Don’t base it on the number of people who actually sign up, but rather on them referring your list to their friends. Many of their referrals won’t sign up, and you need to avoid creating frustration in existing readers who are trying to help you build your list.

You can find good tell-a-friend scripts in many places. The Rapid Action Profits script mentioned earlier even has a tell-a-friend script built in that allows customers and subscribers to make referrals right from your download pages.

I’ve just given you a few quick and easy ways to leverage your existing list to grow your opt-in list even faster. The leverage comes from you simply getting existing subscribers to recommend you to their contacts. You can do this with or without offering an incentive.

Simple isn’t it
-----
By Willie Crawford

The Secret Weapon to Building a Massive List - Trust

With the amount of daily junk entering our e-mail boxes these days, most of us will go to great lengths to keep our e-mail accounts spam-free. However, there are many others who subscribe to mail that promotes products and services from websites, mainly because these subscribers are keen to learn more about what is being offered and whether it can benefit them. In fact, they expect to get be kept informed about what’s new in the market in their chosen field. Internet marketers love these kinds of customers: they are a vital element of their business. But how do you win over these kinds of cusromers? The internet marketer’s secret weapon is trust: When your customers trust you they will reward you with their loyalty.

• Send to legitimate subscribers only! To be able to be allowed to send promotional materials such as newsletters, catalogs and marketing media, the first thing you will is need permission from your recipient, so make sure you only send to people who have willingly signed up to your subscribers’ list. Having good material on your website or landing page will already begin to build their trust. After all, they are not going to sign up to something they don’t trust.
• Share your expertise: Gaining your customers’ trust should be easy if you give them some of your knowledge and expertise. People rely on other people who know what they are talking about. Gain as much knowledge and information about your internet marketing business as you can. Frankly, if you chose to go into a field you have no interest in it, you should think again.
• Be an expert: Demonstrate to your clients that you know what you are talking about. Provide them with helpful hints and tips pertaining to your product or market. Talk about how to install programs if you’re marketing software or provide articles on exercise if you’re a promoting weight-loss products. If your customers see you as someone who knows what you’re talking about, they will trust you quickly.
• Use the secret weapon of business - integrity: In other words, be true to your customers. Provide first class products and services, give money-back guarantees and after-sales services. The more satisfied customers you get, the more likely it is that they will recommend you to others. Recommendations will grow your list ten-fold: people trust someone they know, so when one person recommends you, another will go to your site and check it for themselves, already with an attitude of trust. So make sure you provide top-class, consistent service. Remember not to lose the trust you have gained. Never do anything with their email addresses like sell them or give them out. That is a good way to destroy your list
• Provide a get-out clause. Show them that you are not there to trap them. Every e-mail you send should enable them to unsubscribe anytime they want. Providing information on how to unsubscribe from the list on your website form will add to the feeling of trust, Guaranteeing that they can let go of the service whenever they want to. Many people are wary of being stuck for life and will even feel forced to abandon their email accounts when they get over-pestered with spam.

To build a good opt-in list you need people to trust you quickly. And the faster you build your opt-in list, the faster word about your site and internet marketing business will spread. As your opt-in list grows, so will your traffic, spelling more profits. The math is easy if you think about it. Getting the numbers is not that simple though, or is it?

----
By Simon Whincop