Artist Websites: How to Increase Your Online Traffic (And Keep Everyone on Your Site Longer)

We live in an amazing age where practically any artist anywhere who has access to a computer and the Internet can present their art to the world, but of all the artists who maintain their own websites, only a small percentage take advantage of the Internet's full capabilities. Many take no advantage at all; they simply put their art online and do little more than wait and see what happens. The whole point of having a website is to use it to spread the word about your art and to broaden your audience, right? The main reason why you're online in the first place is to show your work to as many people as possible. The good news is that any artist can actively increase the reach of their website, but first let's look at the way things are now.

Considering all the online innovation that's taken place in recent years, the typical artist website is still not that much different from a basic artist portfolio of 20 or 30 years ago. In other words, it's designed largely for people who already understand art, know the artist, know what they're looking at, and know how to peruse their way through it. The art is often presented with minimal explanation, it's not well organized, writings about the art are not easy to understand, navigating the site is not straightforward, and the overall appearance of the site makes sense only to those who are already in the loop. As a result, the reach that artists have in terms of who's able to comprehend and appreciate their art hasn't changed all that much from what it would have been before the Internet; the core make-up of their audiences, though it may be larger, remains pretty much the same. People who either already know or have some connection to the artists are fine; the rest of us are left to grasp at whatever we can. Showcasing art like this-- in clearly antiquated ways-- makes no sense considering the various options now available for attracting and appealing to ever larger and broader segments of the population.

One of the greatest advantages of the Internet, and one that artists consistently overlook, is that complete strangers can land on your website or discover you and your art entirely by chance or accident. We're not only talking about art people here, but about anyone! The truth is that the more people who are able to land on your website and see your art-- no matter who they are or how they get there-- the greater your chances of ultimately advancing in your career, receiving invitations to participate in shows, getting gallery representation, making sales, getting commissions, being featured on blogs or art websites, and more.

As things stand now, most artists tell me that people find their websites not by chance or accident, but rather by searching artist names directly on search engines, once again demonstrating that artist website audiences consist mainly of people who've already heard or read or know about them, rather than as a result of happenstance or incidental encounters. The reason for this limited exposure, as mentioned above, is that the overwhelming majority of artist websites are only designed for people who are already aware of or knowledgeable about those artists' art, and not that much for anyone else.

But how about all the multitudes out there who might potentially love your art if only they knew you existed and could somehow find you online? Of course, attracting them is a bit of a challenge because you have no idea who they are either, but it is possible. All you have to do is present yourself and your art in ways that offer greater opportunities for everyone to get lucky and discover you, not just certain types of art people.

Remember, this is all about increasing traffic to your website and expanding your fan base, not keeping it stagnant. You have to assume that anyone has the potential to become a fan or even a patron, and you want to make sure you're reaching out to those who don't yet know you as well as to those who do. Your goal is to maximize your online visibility rather than limit it, thereby increasing the probability that complete strangers will either accidentally or by chance land somewhere-- anywhere-- on your site, so let's talk about how to do that.

One major mistake that many artists make is using the same exact title line on every page of their websites, titles like "Joe Smith artist" or "Mary Jones art" or "Bill Williams sculpture." The title line, at the very top of any browser window, is one of the most important lines on a webpage, and the text that search engines most often search first. Make sure that every single page on your site, particularly those with images of your art, has a title that accurately and specifically (not in generalities) describes that page's content, much like a news headline describes whatever story you're about to read. Each title line on your website should be unique, thereby representing another chance, another opportunity, another set of keywords, for anyone who happens to be searching with similar search terms to have that page come up in their search results, click over to it, and see your art-- whether they know who you are or not. People searching online click over to pages like this all the time; at least some of those pages might as well be yours.

For example, if a page shows an image of your art, the title line should include words or phrases describing aspects of that art, like your name, the work's title, medium, subject matter, topic, style of art, and so on-- the more specific, the better. If a page shows thumbnails of a series or group of related works, the title line might briefly state your name, the name of the series, the theme, concept, unifying idea or other details relating directly to that grouping-- and again, the more specific, the better. If an image of your art has to do with a geographic location, the title line might name the location or any landmarks that are pictured in the work. People searching for information about that location with similar keywords might see that page in their search results, click over to it, and like it enough to email you about it, or tell their friends, or maybe even ask the price. Rather than think only about your particular sector of the art world, think about why total strangers might be interested in seeing your work, and what types of search words or phrases might help to get them there.

You need more than good title lines, though. Another distressing fact about far too many artist websites is that image pages often contain little or no text, either in the form of captions, descriptions or explanations. We all know that art is a visual medium, but unfortunately, Google and other search engines can't search images alone; they can only search text. When image pages have little or no searchable text, one of the main purposes of your website-- to increase your art's online visibility-- is defeated right off the top. Without text or titles, those pages are nothing more than Internet black holes. So make sure that every image page on your website not only has a title, but also a brief description or explanation of what's on it, ranging in length from a sentence or two to perhaps a paragraph or two at most (but don't overdo it).

Titles and descriptions allow images of your art to appear in search results, and especially in image searches. The more of your art that appears in image searches, the greater the chances that people will click over to your website. For example, if twenty pieces of your art appear on a particular image search, that's way more impressive than two. Likewise, giving someone twenty chances to click over to your website is a lot better odds than two. No matter how or where your art appears in search results, more is always better than less.

Think of the possibilities here. With deliberate and effective use of text, descriptions and keywords, each page on your website becomes one more way to attract a different type of person or demographic to your art. Every time you pair distinctive text with an image, with specific keywords that relate directly to that image, it's like opening a brand new gallery in a brand new neighborhood because now a whole new set of people, ones who are using similar or identical keywords in their searches, have a chance to see that page come up in their search results, click over to it, and view that piece of art.

So let's say you've acted on these recommendations and are now attracting increased numbers of strangers and accidental visitors to your website by adding more diverse title lines and greater numbers of image descriptions. How are you going to keep them there? You start by making sure you have a link to your homepage, one that's easily visible and instantly accessible, on every single page on your website. Your homepage is where any new visitors who may like what they're looking at, but who need a little basic background information or introduction to your art will want to go first.

The text on your homepage should quickly and clearly answer the following two questions for any visitor who happens to land there: "Where am I?" and "Why am I here?" Typically, you've got about 30 seconds or a minute to state your case in a way that people can understand and connect with before they begin to lose interest or get confused, give up and leave. Do a good job of answering those questions in a compelling, engaging and welcoming way, and in language that anyone can understand, hopefully in a paragraph or two or maybe even a sentence or two, and accidental visitors will be more inclined to stick around at least for a bit and have a look at your art.

Even if your art is conceptual, theoretical, has a significant cognitive component or is arcane in other ways, you can always figure out how to explain the basics in ordinary English that everyone can understand. You want to present your site in such a way as to give anyone a fighting chance to get a grip on where they've landed and why they're there if they happen to look at your art and are intrigued by what they see. They may not all stay; hardly any of them may stay, but if only one is able to understand and appreciate what they find there, then you've done your job.

Here are more ways to increase the chances that people will land on your website, and then spend a little time there once they do:

* Make sure the design of your site is straightforward, easy to navigate, and that visitors, especially new ones, can locate and click back to your homepage, your gallery page, and other main pages from any page on your site.

* One of the most important ways for you to keep new or accidental visitors on your website is to always use language that anyone can understand. You can have more complicated, complex or detailed descriptions or explanations there too, but those should generally be on secondary pages where people who want in-depth information can click on links to read more. You don't want to drown everyone in torrents of verbiage whether they like it or not, especially complete strangers who are usually way more interested in seeing your art than reading about it.

* Have an "About the Art," "About My Art," "Artist Statement" or "Art" page to serve as a basic introduction to your work. The length should be no more than 300 to 400 words. That's plenty for most people. If you can do it in less, better yet. One or two concise paragraphs may be more than adequate. Think of this page like the liner notes on a book cover, or the trailer to a feature film, or a sample of a song that you're thinking about buying. Use this introduction to your art in exactly the same way, as a teaser to get people to want to see more. The object is to interest and engage people immediately with your work, to make them curious, to make them want to see more, and to get them into your gallery or image section as quickly as possible.

* When writing about your art, always consider the needs of people who have never seen it before (don't worry about those who already have seen it; they're fine). You are probably familiar with the most common questions that people have about your art, especially those who know little or nothing about it. A great strategy is to answer these questions up front, even before they get asked. This way, new visitors don't have to waste time trying to figure out what they don't understand because you preemptively clarify it for them, thereby allowing them to get to your gallery page even faster.

* Organize your art; don't simply have page after page of unrelated images or thumbnails of every work of art you create-- especially without explanations-- and then expect people to figure out how it all fits together. You know your work perfectly; they don't have a clue. Not only don't they have the time to sift through everything, but even if they try, they'll only get confused, overwhelmed and leave. Guaranteed. For instance, if you make art in series or if you produce several distinct styles or types of art, have a separate gallery for each one including a brief introduction to the work in that gallery. Well-organized galleries instill confidence in viewers, make them feel like they get what you're doing, like they truly understand your work (and as we all know, nobody buys anything they don't understand).

* Use specific descriptive words and phrases whenever you write about your art-- whether you're talking about all of it or particular individual works-- and avoid vague or general terms or descriptions. For example, let's say you paint an urban scene. Rather than describe it as "Life in the big city" (useless search terms), list distinct aspects of the composition like who's in it, the weather, location, street names, events, time of day, vehicles, buildings, and so on. Don't ramble on and on, but keep in mind that the more specific details you provide, the greater the probability of attracting people who may be searching for either certain kinds of urban art or even something totally different, but who happen to be using those same keyword search terms, and who might like what they find if your page link appears in their text or image search results, and they happen to click over to it by chance.

* When writing about your art, include words and phrases that people who like your work consistently use when they talk about it, tell you how it affects them, or express what they like about it the most. Words, phrases and descriptions that your biggest fans regularly use are most likely to appeal to potential future fans as well. 
 Source : http://www.artbusiness.com/artist-websites-how-to-increase-traffic-keep-visitors-on-site.html

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Is Your SEO Strategy Ready for Google's New Algorithm?

Last fall, Google rolled out one of its largest changes of the past decade - an entirely new search algorithm, nicknamed "Hummingbird." In contrast to the past updates, Panda and Penguin, which modified existing search algorithms and affected roughly 2 to 5 percent of search queries, Hummingbird is believed to have affected nearly 90 percent of all queries and dramatically changed the way the engine processes user requests.

The impetus behind Hummingbird comes down to context. In the past, Google's algorithms processed user queries according to each individual word in the query string. As an example, a past search for the keyword phrase "hotels in Chicago" would require Google to parse through its index and find the best matches containing the words "hotels," "in" and "Chicago."

Related: What Google 'Hummingbird' Means for Your SEO Strategy

But now that users are more likely to enter complete questions -- for example, "what is the best hotel in Chicago?" -- into the engine, Google wants to understand the context behind the query in order to serve up the best possible results. Did you mean the best hotel in terms of price point or luxury level? Are you on the move in Chicago and looking for the best hotel nearest to your location? Hummingbird attempts to determine the context for your question, although it isn't immediately clear whether it does so successfully in all cases.

What is clear, though, is that there are some tweaks you'll want to make to your SEO strategy in response to this update -- especially if you're still using "old school" techniques. Here are a few of the strategies you'll want to incorporate into your day-to-day SEO routine:

Don't do keyword research -- do market research. As Google continues to evolve, it's clear that traditional keyword research -- as in, the measurement of volume and competition metrics for individual, granular search queries -- is on its way out. Google now cares less about whether you've optimized each individual page on your site to a particular keyword and more about whether your page's content answers the question presented by the search user.

So instead of spending a ton of time trying to find the magical combination of keyword metrics that'll guarantee you natural search traffic, brainstorm the questions your users are asking about your industry and brand. Then, make sure your website's content clearly answers these questions in a way that's easily understood by the search engines and provides extra value to your visitors.

Related: Simplify Your SEO Program With These 5 Strategies

Incorporate questions into your content. As you begin to incorporate the questions you've come up with into your site's content, there are a few new guidelines you'll want to keep in mind:

• Unless your content is poorly written (and at risk of suffering from a future Panda penalty), there's no need to go back and rewrite every page you've ever created to target user questions instead of keywords. Add on extra content if you need to, but don't risk messing with content that's already performing successfully.
• There's no need to follow a "one page, one question" rule, as many page managers used to do with traditional keywords. Pages can answer multiple questions, as long as the search engines can make sense of your content and each question is answered fully for your visitors.
• Try to provide your readers with as much information as possible. Plenty of SEO managers are concerned about the potential of Google's new information card feature -- which displays answers to questions posed directly in the sidebar of the results page -- to steal away traffic that would otherwise arrive from search clickthroughs. While this feature is currently only available in Chrome browsers, there's no reason to think it won't be rolled out more widely in the future. To prevent possible traffic poaching, give your pages so much substance that it's worth your readers' time to take the extra step of visiting your site.

The more content, the better. Posting new content to your site on a regular schedule has been an SEO recommendation for some time, but with Google Hummingbird in place, this tweak becomes even more important. The more content you have, the more questions your site answers -- and the more likely it is to appear in the contextual search results. For maximum impact, focus on adding new content that explicitly answers user questions -- including "how to" posts, FAQs, process tutorials and other similar pieces.

Beyond these few tweaks, keep following the SEO best practices that have been put in place for this post-Panda, post-Penguin era. Build great content that accumulates high quality, relevant backlinks naturally on its own. Use a responsive design that makes it easy for readers to find information from you wherever they are. And above all, stop trying to outright manipulate the search rankings. Think long term about the direction Google appears to be going and make your site as attractive as possible by playing by the rules and being a good webmaster.

Source : http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/230898#ixzz2sHAQWSsA

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Simplify Your SEO Program With These 5 Strategies

The SEO industry is in a constant state of flux depending on Google's algorithms, but that doesn't mean that you need to revamp your entire strategy every time a new update rolls out. Instead, use the following five strategies to implement a simplified SEO program that'll stand the test of time -- no matter what changes the search engines make.

Focus less on keyword research. "Old school" SEO put a heavy emphasis on keyword research, requiring that webmasters spend hours measuring anticipated search volume against the relative competitiveness of each query. Not only does this take an excessively long amount of time, it's becoming a far less viable approach as Google restricts the amount of keyword data made available to SEO workers.

Instead of wasting time chasing data that isn't readily available (or accurate, when it can be found), simplify your research process by brainstorming a list of the keywords you believe your customers are most likely to search for and building content around these phrases. Check your stats after a month or so and then either add more content for phrases that are performing well or refocus your efforts on a new set of potential search queries.

Related: SEO Basics: Keyword Research Made Easy

Use SEO tools effectively. Even if fields such as page or post meta descriptions don't have the SEO impact they used to, it's still worth including them from a usability standpoint. If you write an extra-compelling meta description that displays in your search results listing and causes a user to click through to your site (versus your competitor's), that's a win for your site in terms of both overall performance and SEO.

Instead of coding these fields by hand, look for SEO tools that'll simplify the process for you. Wordpress extensions such as Yoast SEO (free) or All-in-One SEO (free) make managing blog SEO a snap, while programs such as QuickSprout Tools (free; paid versions available) or Moz SEO ($99+ a month) help you to tackle other SEO processes from a single, centralized location.

Invest in viral content pieces. Backlinking is a continual challenge for the SEO world. While it's important to obtain backlinks from well-regarded websites, it's best to do so in a natural fashion. But even if you do pursue links as part of an SEO campaign, you'll find that the backlinks that will do the most for your site's performance are also the hardest to get!

All of these challenges go away if you redirect your efforts towards producing viral-style content pieces, rather than proactively seeking link sources. As an example, one well-produced infographic could go on to earn you hundreds of backlinks from great sources -- with no extra effort on your part beyond the initial creation of the graphic and any early seeding of your content that you decide to do. While it's true that you won't "go viral" on every content piece you create, just a few wins using this strategy can do more for your site's external SEO than weeks or months spent trolling for backlinks.

Use responsive website design. When you use responsive website design on your site, both your desktop and mobile site versions come from the same URL -- only their relative displays are altered. Contrast this with hosting two separate sites for desktop versus mobile visitors. If you have two separate websites entirely, you've got to run two separate sets of SEO campaigns. Using a single site that displays differently depending on the platform can cut your SEO time in half!

Related: How to Create a Successful Local SEO Strategy

Outsource repetitive monitoring tasks. Finally, consider outsourcing some of the repetitive monitoring tasks that are a part of any good SEO campaign. For example, a few of the tasks you could pass on to others include:

• Checking your monthly search engine results page rankings (if you don't already have a tool that does this for you)
• Conducting competitive research on the keywords and keyword phrases your competitors appear to be targeting
• Making sure all the content on your site is accessible to the search engine spiders
• Adding new page links to your website directory (if they aren't added automatically)
• Monitoring SEO news sites for algorithm changes that could require your attention or substantially change your strategy

When outsourcing tasks, you can work with either SEO agencies or individuals who are knowledgeable about these tasks. Be sure to do your research and understand the relative pros and cons of each option before bringing on a person or a team to assist with your SEO. Instead of simplifying things, failing to do the proper due diligence could actually make your SEO strategy more complicated than ever!

Have you implemented any of these strategies? Or are there other things you've done to simplify your SEO strategy? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Source : http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/230723#ixzz2sH9VIrmf

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How To Make Your Online Business Progressive

This article is all about internet marketing, using the power of internet, a business owner can gain profits and be ahead of the competitors. Internet marketing is used to increase income and promote your own product in different sites. Internet marketing involves selling your product through email messages, as long as you have your own computer with an internet connection you can start working on your business. Negotiating with different clients via email is much easier, faster and hassle free. As an internet marketer, you must know on how to convince those who visited your website and your target audience. Show the advantages of the product, encourage the viewers to try on the product and tell them why they need it.

Internet marketing helps in increasing your sales, this is considered as the best strategy in order to make your product popular. Online marketer helps in increasing your sales, instead of hiring an advertising company which charges way too high prices for ads, lame commercials and billboards why not hire an online marketer? You'll save more cash and the results are faster, expect to have increase of sales within a shorter span of time.

There are people who are expert in this field, they do know that taking your business online is not enough. The main goal of putting your business on the internet is to make it global, reach more people and make money online. You will need an online marketer who will make things easier for you. They provide virtual office, complete with the tools, training, technical support and other resources that your business needs. There are also mentors who will guide you in your business, these people are professional, backed up with vast knowledge and have a wide experience when it comes to business. Taking advises from these mentors is the key to become successful.

There are companies that help those who are in need of online marketers. A potential client must be referred, this is limited for qualified applicants only. Those who have potential are accepted. Not everyone can be accepted because the company wants to protect their integrity.

If you have an online business and you are selling a product or service, you must keep in touch with your visitors. Online marketers helps in communicating with your visitors by sending letters, emails regarding the benefits of the product and why they must acquire the product. Without follow ' up, your business might be forgotten by the visitors, which only means you lose a client. As the owner you are too busy to handle all of these. Outsourcing will make things easier, let online marketers take some weight off your shoulders. All you have to do is count your profits and watch the sky rocketing sales of your product. Now that's a way to have a successful online business!

Article Source: http://www.articlecity.com/articles/marketing/article_6722.shtml

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Know How Popup Advertising Plays an Important Role in Internet Marketing

Popup advertising can be very useful depending on how they are used. Most of the internet marketing experts and companies use this advertising strategy for obtaining the best results. The primary purpose of this method is to pull up the web traffic to a particular promotional website. Apart from this, popup ads will also help the business to draw more email addresses, which will be important for generating good contact lists and customer data base. This will in return help the company for email advertisement campaign. Usually, this is considered as a form of online advertisement. These are some of the major reason why it used in the internet marketing. When popup advertising is used in online marketing, it will help the website to maximize the distribution of the product information to many people. The usage of this online marketing strategy can become useful, useless or even harmful to your website. Therefore, if you are planning to use this technique for your website, it is very important to understand the process thoroughly and then use it for obtaining effective results.

The main aim of the popup advertising is to attract more web traffic to a promotional website. This could be done when certain website will be viewed by the visitors. When a visitor will visit a website, a pop up window will be allowed to appear. These ads will convince the visitor for visiting certain website for getting some freebies. Moreover, they will also provide useful information for the visitors. When the visitor is bound to visit the website, he has to click on the ad. However, when you are using such popup ads, for your website, it is very important to make sure that you are using the right graphics and words. In some cases, the visitor will neglect the pop up ads if it is very bright or in striking color. Therefore, it is very important to make sure that the ad is created in the right way, which suits your business. In order to enhance the ad, you can also give it a blinking effect. The pop up ads should be simple in appearance yet attractive for the visitors. The first glace only should convenience the eye of the visitor.

Another great advantage of using popup advertising for web advertising is that, it will help the company to generate email addresses, which are very useful for list building. When you are using pop up ads, you will be able to use it either non-permissive or in opt-in way. In opt in process, the pop up window will appear when the user is about to go away the promotional website. In some times, it will also appear when the visitor is halfway by visiting it. These pop up ads will ask the user whether he or she needs to receive newsletters about the products or services they are promoting. Here the visitor has the power to either enter his email address or even to neglect it. However, this depends on the choice of the user. When you are surfing on the web, you will be able to find pop up windows that will even provide you information on wellness, health as well as the latest trends. These ads are more informational than promotional.

Non permissive is another option of generating the email addresses with the help of pop up ads. In this list building process, the pop up window will come out by offering downloadable useful applications and unbelievable freebies, as an online advertising process. This process is also some times known as banner ads.

Article Source: http://www.articlecity.com/articles/marketing/article_6728.shtml

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Can Internet Marketing Be a Long Term Business?

Here is the basic honest truth: most of the people get into Internet Marketing because they are convinced it is an easy way to earn quick money. Their approach is to make a fast website, put up some advertising and a few affiliate links and then sit back and watch while they earn real cash. There are a large amount of individuals who do this and also earn lots of money on the internet. But what if you want more than some extra or even quick cash (quick cash, naturally being a misnomer)? Can Internet Marketing really be leveraged to produce a worthwhile and long term career?

The quick and dirty answer is that yes, you are able to make Internet Marketing your long term and sustainable career. You only need to take on the project properly. The procedures and programs you use to build something to earn fast money are not all that different than the methods and systems you will use to build long term profits. So what would you do if you need to develop a sustainable career on the internet?

It is very important that the first thing you do, in order to earn long term money online, is accept the fact that you are going to have to do real work. You will have to do actual and real work on a daily basis and you will have days when you feel fantastic about what you do and days when you wish you could find something else to take on. This causes it to be just about like every other occupation that is out there. If you want to produce lasting cash flow by working lots right now and not at all later on then you are going to be in for a rude awakening in a little while. So be ready to roll up your sleeves and get to work.

There are a few ventures that lend themselves much better to a long term career than others will. Affiliate marketing, to use one example, is a great task for someone who wants to earn money on a part time basis or to supplement your already existent income. Is it truly possible to earn a full time income in this manner? You could if you pick out only the right products and then work like crazy to promote them. A far better approach, nevertheless, is to create your own products or websites and then promote those. This gives you full control over the projects you take on and how you accomplish them. And you will end up more likely to stick with it in the long run. If you want to give a service on the web this works much the same way. Writers, for example, need to create websites for themselves and create portfolios that they can point to as examples of their work.

Finally, perhaps the most significant thing that you need to recognize is that, when you want to build a long term and reliable income on the internet, you need to truly dedicate yourself to your task. You might have fun and feel rewarded by your efforts but first you should tell yourself "yes, I really want to do this." Making a half hearted effort is not about to get you anywhere.

 

Article source : http://www.articlecity.com/articles/marketing/article_6729.shtml

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Forex Trading Tips - 20 things you need to know to be a successful trader

Forex has caused large losses to many inexperienced and undisciplined traders over the years. You need not be one of the losers. Here are twenty forex trading tips that you can use to avoid disasters and maximize your potential in the currency exchange market.

1. Know yourself. Define your risk tolerance carefully. Understand your needs.

To profit in trading, you must make recognize the markets. To recognize the markets, you must first know and recognize yourself. The first step of gaining self-awareness is ensuring that your risk tolerance and capital allocation to forex and trading are not excessive or lacking. This means that you must carefully study and analyze your own financial goals in engaging forex trading.

2. Plan your goals. Stick to your plan.

Once you know what you want from trading, you must systematically define a timeframe and a working plan for your trading career. What constitutes failure, what would be defined as success? What is the timeframe for the trial and error process that will inevitably be an important part of your learning? How much time can you devote to trading? Do you aim at financial independence, or merely aim to generate extra income? These and similar questions must be answered before you can gain the clear vision necessary for a persistent and patient approach to trading. Also, having clear goals will make it easier to abandon the endeavor entirely in case that the risks/return analysis precludes a profitable outcome.

3. Choose your broker carefully.

While this point is often neglected by beginners, it is impossible to overemphasize the importance of the choice of broker. That a fake or unreliable broker invalidates all the gains acquired through hard work and study is obvious. But it is equally important that your expertise level, and trading goals match the details of the offer made by the broker. What kind of client profile does the forex broker aim at reaching? Does the trading software suit your expectations? How efficient is customer service? All these must be carefully scrutinized before even beginning to consider the intricacies of trading itself.Please refer to our forex broker reviews to find a reliable broker that suites your trading style.

4. Pick your account type, and leverage ratio in accordance with your needs and expectations.

In continuation of the above item, it is necessary that we choose the account package that is most suited to our expectations and knowledge level. The various types of accounts offered by brokers can be confusing at first, but the general rule is that lower leverage is better. If you have a good understanding of leverage and trading in general, you can be satisfied with a standard account. If you’re a complete beginner, it is a must that you undergo a period of study and practice by the use of a mini account. In general, the lower your risk, the higher your chances, so make your choices in the most conservative way possible, especially at the beginning of your career.

5. Begin with small sums, increase the size of your account through organic gains, not by greater deposits.

One of the best tips for trading forex is to begin with small sums, and low leverage, while adding up to your account as it generates profits. There is no justification to the idea that a larger account will allow greater profits. If you can increase the size of your account through your trading choices, perfect. If not, there’s no point in keeping pumping money to an account that is burning cash like an furnace burns paper.

6. Focus on a single currency pair, expand as you better your skills.

The world of currency trading is deep and complicated, due to the chaotic nature of the markets, and the diverse characters and purposes of market participants. It is hard to master all the different kinds of financial activity that goes on in this world, so it is a great idea to restrict our trading activity to a currency pair which we understand, and with which we are familiar. Beginning with the trading of the currency of your nation can be a great idea. If that’s not your choice, sticking to the most liquid, and widely traded pairs can also be an excellent practice for both the beginner and the advanced traders.

7. Do what you understand.

Simple as it is, failure to abide by this principle has been the doom of countless traders. In general, if you’re unsure that you know what you’re doing, and that you can defend your opinion with strength and vigor against critics that you value and trust, do not trade. Do not trade on the basis of hearsay or rumors. And do not act unless you’re confident that you understand both the positive consequences, and the adverse results that may result from opening a position.

8. Do not add to a losing position.

While this is just common sense, ignorance of the principle, or carelessness in its employment has caused disasters to many traders in the course of history. Nobody knows where a currency pair will be heading during the next few hours, days, or even weeks. There are lots of educated guesses, but no knowledge of where the price will be a short while later. Thus, the only certain value about trading is now. Nothing much can be said about the future. Consequently, there can be no point in adding to a losing position, unless you love gambling. A position in the red can be allowed to survive on its own in accordance with the initial plan, but adding to it can never be an advisable practice.

9. Restrain your emotions.

Greed, excitement, euphoria, panic or fear should have no place in traders’ calculations. Yet traders are human beings, so it is obvious that we have to find a way of living with these emotions, while at the same time controlling them and minimizing their effect on our lives. That is why traders are always advised to begin with small amounts. By reducing our risk, we can be calm enough to realize our long term goals, reducing the impact of emotions on our trading choices. A logical approach, and less emotional intensity are the best forex trading tips necessary to a successful career.

10. Take notes. Study your success and failure.

An analytical approach to trading does not begin at the fundamental and technical analysis of price trends, or the formulation of trading strategies. It begins at the first step taken into the career, with the first dollar placed in an open position, and the first mistakes in calculation and trading methods. The successful trader will keep a diary, a journal of his trading activity where he carefully scrutinizes his mistakes and successes to find out what works and what does not. This is one of the most importance forex trading tips that you will get from a good mentor.

11. Automate your trading as much as possible.

We already noted the importance of emotional control in ensuring a successful and profitable career. In order to minimize the role of emotions, one of the best of courses of action would be the automatization of trading choices and trader behavior. This is not about using forex robots, or buying expensive technical strategies. All that you need to do is to make sure that your responses to similar situations and trading scenarios are themselves similar in nature. In other words, don’t improvise. Let your reactions to market events follow a studied and tested pattern.

12. Do not rely on forex robots, wonder methods, and other snake oil products.

Surprisingly, these unproven and untested products are extremely popular these days, generating great profits for their sellers, but little in the way of gains for their excited and hopeful buyers. The logical defense against such magical items is in fact easy. If the genius creators of these tools are so smart, let them become millionaires with the benefit of their inventions. If they have no interest in doing as much, you should have no interest in their creations either.

13. Keep it simple. Both your trade plans and analysis should be easily understood and explained.

Forex trading is not rocket science. There is no expectation that you be a mathematical genius, or an economics professor to acquire wealth in currency trading. Instead, clarity of vision, and well-defined, carefully observed goals and practices offer the surest path to a respectable career in forex. To achieve this, you must resist the temptation to overexplain, overanalyze, and most importantly, to rationalize your failures. A failure is a failure regardless of the conditions that led to it.

14. Don’t go against the markets, unless you have enough patience and financial resilience to stick to a long term plan.

In general, a beginner is never advised to trade against trends, or to pick tops and bottoms by betting against the main forces of market momentum. Join the trends so that your mind can relax. Fight the trends, and constant stress and fear will wreck your career.

15. Understand that forex is about probabilities.

Forex is all about risk analysis and probability. There is no single method or style that will generate profits all the time. The key to success is positioning ourselves in such a way that the losses are harmless, while the profits are multiplied. Such a positioning is only possible by managing our risk allocations in accordance with an understanding of probability and risk management.

16. Be humble and patient. Do not fight the markets.

Recognize your failures, and try to accommodate them if they can’t be eliminated completely. Above all, resist the illusion that you somehow possess the alchemist’s stone of trading. Such an attitude will surely be ruinous on your career eventually.

17. Share your experiences. Follow your own judgment.

While it is a great idea to discuss your opinion on the markets with others, you should be the one making the decisions. Consider the opinions of others, but make your own choices. It is your money after all.

18. Study money management.

Once we make profits, it is time to protect them. Money management is about the minimization of losses, and maximization of profits. To ensure that you don’t gamble away your hard-earned profits, to “cut your losses short, and let profits ride”, you should keep the bible of money management as the centerpiece of your trading library at all times.

19. Study the markets, fundamentals, and technical factors leading the price action.

That we have placed this so low in the list should not surprise the experienced trader. Faulty analysis is rarely the cause of a wiped-out account. A career that fails to begin is never killed by the consequences of erronerous application or understanding of fundamental or technical studies. Other issues that are related to money management, and emotional control are far more important than analysis for the beginner, but as those issues are overcome, and steady gains are realized, the edge gained by successful analysis of the markets will be invaluable. Analysis is important, but only after a proper attitude to trading and risk taking is attained.

20. Don’t give up.

Finally, provided that you risk only what you can afford to lose, persistence, and a determination to succeed are great advantages. It is highly unlikely that you will become a trading genius overnight, so it is only sensible to await the ripening of your skills, and the development of your talents before giving up. As long as the learning process is painless, as long as the amounts that you risk do not derail your plans about the future and your life in general, the pains of the learning process will be harmless. 

Article source : http://www.forexfraud.com/forex-articles/forex-trading-tips.html

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