April 2009 Archives

I want to share one idea that you can act on right this very minute to help you with your link building. It can be completely free or, if you really want to trick the idea out, it might cost you $5 a month.

This idea could radically change your business and how you think about your clients or customers.

This idea might actually be the tool you need to push through the rest of this recession.

This idea might represent how business is run for the remainder of the 21st century.

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3633502

With the economic forecast getting gloomier by the day and with no quick fix in sight, the word "recession" seems to be popping up almost as frequently as "Britney Spears" is googled. (OK, may be not that much). Although I can't muster up the courage to view my retirement portfolio, I have reflected on what a recession could mean for online video and digital advertising as a whole. While the prospect of major marketing budget cuts is depressing overall, the outlook for digital and online video is looking quite positive.

Here are three reasons online video advertising will come out ahead during an economic downturn.

See the full story at: http://www.clickz.com/3631078

Email marketing offers one of the best advertising returns for any business, according to research by the Direct Marketing Association. In 2008, e-mail marketing returned $45.06 for every dollar spent on it--but industry experts say that small businesses are slow to adopt e-mail marketing practices.

The Biggest Hurdle: Getting Started

These misconceptions can be put to rest simply by knowing how to get started. Business owners should approach email marketing as just another way to open the lines of communication with customers.

See the full story at: http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/solutions/advertising/article.php/3814946

Most Web sites are not built with SEO in mind.

Tips for Using Keywords in Key Areas

The first step should be to examine your code. Certain code detracts from the way a search engine will rank a site for relevancy. Cascading Style Sheets (CCS), for instance, don't mean anything to search engines. Where possible, move the CSS code off individual pages of your Web site and into a separate folder. Then, use a single line of HTML to reference the CSS code.

At least 80-percent of your main page should be text, with the balance being code. Your site should also be W3C-compliant to ensure that people can view your site correctly--and don't use code that works only in some browsers.

The second step for new Web shop owners is to work on their site's metadata --everything that fits in between the and tags on the page--such as the Title, Description, Subject and Classification.

See the full story at: http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/solutions/advertising/article.php/3816911

How do you get people talking about your company? Create the news.

That's right, create something newsworthy to get people talking. With a little luck and promotion, your company will end up getting exposure from the mainstream press. It might even go viral.

Last time, I went over methods to increase your company's online visibility, such as contributing articles and becoming active in online communities. Now it's time to turn things up a notch for companies that are serious about online exposure.

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3633427

From time to time we encounter a situation where we make a recommendation to a client. A short time later the client responds by saying that "legal" told them they don't need to do what we recommended or that it's OK to continue doing what they're doing.

What kind of recommendations get this response? Most recently, a recommendation to include an opt-out in an e-mail was denied because the message is technically transactional. And a recommendation to monitor the response address for a mailing was denied because "legal" says it isn't required. In one egregious case, a recommendation not to mail a list due to poor hygiene was met with insistence that they were legally allowed to do so.

This attitude is usually the result of one of two things: either a failure to consider there are multiple constituencies that should be taken into account when determining what e-mail marketing to send, or an attempt to hide behind the legal department when wanting to do something that isn't going to be popular with recipients.

See the full story at: http://www.clickz.com/3633401

Social networking site, Facebook, is used by more than 150 million people to share personal information with friends online. The site celebrated its fifth-year anniversary yesterday and is continuing to attract members with demographics that could serve e-tailers well in terms of extending market reach and increasing branding.

The Web research firm Hitwise reports that, overall, Facebook was the fifth-ranked Web site in terms of total market share of visits in January 2009. Furthermore, the time spent on Facebook has continued to increase and reached an average visit time of just over 21 minutes in January 2009.

More good news: When compared to 2008, there has been a pronounced shift in the age of the Facebook audience. According to Hitwise, visitors aged 18 to 24 represented a 42 percent share of visits for the four weeks ending Jan. 26, 2008, but have now dropped to 24 percent for the four weeks ending Jan. 24, 2009. Now visitors aged 25 to 34 make up the largest share of visits with 27 percent, with 18 to 24 and 35 to 44 closely following with respective shares of 24 percent and 23 percent.

Facebook is aware that ecommerce site owners may want to capitalize on Facebook traffic, so they allow members to create free Facebook Business pages or pay per click advertising campaigns.

See the full story at: http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/article.php/3800976

Additional research has been released that should erase one more layer of doubt about whether paid search can play a role in branding. Turns out that search lifts brand metrics, particularly when paired with other media. Better yet, post-click lift in search metrics is off the charts, perhaps finally validating my branding effectiveness index (BEI) hypothesis from 2002 that site engagement post- PPC search click would be a great success metric.

In this time of tight ad budgets all around, it's interesting to see just how many people in the online marketing ecosystem are thinking deeply about branding. One might think that there would be renewed focus on very easily defined, easy to justify hyper-measurable direct-response metrics.

See the full story at: http://www.clickz.com/3633431

It's long been said that your Web site is like a virtual salesperson, telling potential clients about your company. In this economy, you must ensure your salespeople are at the top of their game and really understand your clients' needs. Your Web site, acting as an über-salesperson, needs to do the same.

When an author writes a book, he carefully organizes that book into chapters. Chapters have a precise order aimed at telling a narrative. The story isn't told all in the first chapter; readers are introduced to the story and brought in gradually in a way that makes to them. Similarly, when pitching to a specific industry or company, a salesperson doesn't put every detail about your company in a slideshow. First, she researches the prospective client first, then either picks the appropriate canned presentation (e.g., the one concentrating on the financial vertical or retail vertical) or creates a new presentation from scratch that contains the information about your company that will be most relevant to that prospect.

See the full story at: http://www.clickz.com/3633421

If your paid search campaigns are in a state of disarray, then the profit levels on your paid search spending are clearly not all they could be.

I got thinking about the state of most search marketers' campaigns while reviewing the latest Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) State of the Market Survey.

Google Ad Campaigns

When new clients come on board every year, I expect the campaigns my team and I will see will be more "together" than those in prior years. Interestingly, the opposite has occurred. Accounts within Google are usually the most disorganized because they've evolved over the years.

See the full story at: http://www.clickz.com/3633355

Understanding the impact of social media on our targeted email marketing campaigns opens up a new set of segments to leverage. Consider how you can split your list, not according to dollars list members individually spend, but by the collective dollars they influence others to spend (on top of their own spend). These new measurements follow the impact of a combination of reach and response. I

n the past, people who responded marginally or not at all to your list were typically the people you'd remove from your list. Today, though, those people might not individually respond but may tell others about your offer, news, or sale. They could very well become your best ambassadors.

Who are these experts, and what else did they have to say?

See the full story at: http://www.clickz.com/3633360

It's the age-old question: should a business do everything in-house or should it outsource certain activities? Obviously there are advantages to each alternative, but in this time of economic uncertainty, more and more companies are looking to outsource non-core services and functions in hopes of saving money and improving operating efficiencies.

Currently, outsourcing is a pretty common practice for many information technology services. But when it comes to marketing, some companies seem hesitant to jump on the outsourcing bandwagon. Many maintain that they have in-house marketing departments that should be able to do anything a third-party specialist can do.

But what about online marketing, and search marketing in particular? Should companies be outsourcing these activities?

See the full story at: http://www.clickz.com/3633377

7strategy just launched ElementFloor.com new website design!. Flooring is a critical 'element' to every home in every way, that's how Element Floors was born.

 Check it out here... www.ElementFloor.com

You gotta wonder where online advertising is headed after you've sat through a full day of sessions at a conference -- thrown by Ad Age, no less -- and there are no ads. Well, maybe a couple of ads.

Three, tops. But what was remarkable about the first day of Ad Age Digital was the near-complete absence of advertising and its attendant disciplines, such as media buying, selling, and planning. Union Square Ventures' Fred Wilson set the tone during his keynote on earned media, or "media you earn and you don't buy. Paid media and earned media go hand-in-hand. Marketers are buying media when they could earn it, and earn it much less expensively."

Is it just the recession, or is media buying suffering an irredeemable hit?

See the full story at: http://www.clickz.com/3633353

What is the ROI for social media? It's zero. That's because there's no such thing as "social media."

People's conversations are not media; they can't be purchased as such by advertisers. In other words, people don't talk whenever advertisers want them to and they won't say whatever advertisers tell them to -- so it isn't "media" like TV, print, and radio.

That said, most advertisers and their agencies still attempt to use old media metrics -- like reach and frequency -- to measure social actions and calculate their ROI, but to no avail. Instead, let's explore the right way to leverage the social realm in support of marketing and advertising efforts.

See the full story at: http://www.clickz.com/3633341

If you're still using a free analytics system on a high-volume site with a huge amount of products, it's nearly impossible to see where the traffic split is happening between typed-in traffic, free search traffic, and/or paid traffic.

This especially becomes important when you're competing in a very aggressive market and you need to expand the resources for your team. In most cases, you'll wind up having two competing teams -- one trying to drive paid search at the lowest cost versus the natural search team trying to drive nothing but free traffic.

A split between these segments is very important. A lack of clarity will really hurt your business and you won't be able to see if problems are occurring.

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3632742

How many SEOs have suffered because of unrealistic expectations from clients? Sure, there are times when an aggressive commissioned salesperson can get you into situations that are difficult to overcome. But, how many of you actually spent the time before any agreement was signed and before a check was cut to have a very frank and sincere discussion with your client about what they can expect from your efforts?

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3633114

So you own a small ecommerce shop and are wondering how to expand your business? As you may or may not know by now, search can drive an incredible amount of traffic to your site. Whether you are selling products or services to your customers online, the concept is typically similar.

It is best to approach search as a key driver to your online business. If you are a typical "bricks and mortar" store, you will find that most of your successful offline tactics have little or no meaning within your online business model. For example, if your store sold electronics, you may consider the overall presentation of your products based on either price or popularity. While most online shoppers are looking for a very specific product or class or product, many of these buyers will use the credibility of the store as a key buying factor over price.

For a brick and mortar site, it's important to start working with a development group who understands SEO and SEM, and will work with you to help prioritize your top products and categories within this process. Web sites that are well developed toward all markets, including users who may be disabled or visually impaired, will substantially increase your overall chances of domination within search engines.

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3632227

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past several months, you may have noticed that the economy stinks. This isn't just the case in the United States; this is a global financial crisis.

Even those of us who work in growth industries (as I would classify the SEO/ SEM industry) are affected.

It's been said for many years that you shouldn't cut marketing budgets in a down economy, because cheaper advertising gives you an opportunity to market your services more, and actually gain market share. In all of my years in marketing, I've seen very few examples of companies doing this.

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3632988

Whenever I ask a prospect what their goals are, all too often their answer is, "We want to rank in the top three results for keywords A, B, and C."

Is that really a goal?

Now, I understand that high rankings (or, rather, organic search traffic) are important. I sincerely believe that a sound organic search strategy should be the core of every business's marketing efforts.

This goes back to the old adage of running a business (location, location, location). You must be where people are actively searching for your product or service offerings.

However, imagine that you had the perfect retail location and yet your storefront was filthy. Perhaps there isn't as much as a sign with your company's name on the front of the building. Perhaps, once you get into the location, not a single item has a price tag and the salespeople are nowhere to be found.

That traffic coming through your parking lot isn't going to help much, is it?

There are three basic rules that you need to follow to have a successful Web presence:

1. Brand matters.

2. Usability matters.

3. Search engine optimization matters.

See the full story at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3633239

It's easy enough to use Twitter, but businesses have to use social media marketing in the same way they use any form of marketing -- with a business plan and knowledge -- to be successful.

Avoid Common Business Twitter Mistakes

It is important to remember that Twitter is just a tool that can be helpful to a business, if you follow the social media rule of thumb. One in every 12 tweets can be about you. The rest of the time you should be answering questions and offer helpful information and share links.

For the most part, a business cannot realistically run a social media campaign in-house. "Most businesses simply haven't spent enough time listening, lurking and understanding the lay of the land in social media. Smart companies hire experienced consultants to help them plan their strategy and to coach their internal team on how to participate effectively."

See the full story at: http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/solutions/advertising/article.php/3810801

As you know, Facebook can be an invaluable source of marketing for your ecommerce business. However, keeping up with the ever-evolving social bookmarking service is a challenge. Facebook has rolled out changes to Business Pages that directly influence how you use them and how your fans can interact with you on Facebook.

To help you adjust, we take an in-depth look at recent changes made to Business Pages. Plus, we offer tips on how to use new features, such as status updates and Wall feeds to better connect with your Facebook fans.

The New Wall and Tabs Layout

The new Business Pages are designed to make your page look more like a personal profile page on Facebook. If you think of the new Page layout as being divided into three columns, the left-most column is where your brand logo, information, fans, links and admin tool links are located.

The center column, like the new personal profile pages, is the largest by width and importance. This center column is divided into tabs, with the Wall tab being the default. Here the Facebook mini-feed and Wall have been merged into a Twitter-style update feed that puts an emphasis on "what's new" updates on Facebook.

See the full story at: http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/solutions/advertising/article.php/3812101

When you spend thousands of hours on search engine optimization and thousands of thousands of dollars on paid search or display advertising, you better be absolutely sure that not only are you converting visitors but that you've got strategies in place to ensure you retain those customers so they buy from you, the merchant, in the future. Let's look at a one essential Web customer retention tactics in loyalty programs.

While you may already be employing many customer retention techniques and tactics like personalized emails or triggered coupons, the majority of e-commerce merchants and Internet retailers are not using loyalty programs due to perceived (and real) complexities of implementation. In the end however, the value is clear and the investment low. Engaging users with loyalty programs for the sake of retaining business has been shown to yield a positive impact on a business time and time again - but not how you may think.

See the full story at: http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/pages/loyalty-programs-as-a-customer-retention-tactic.aspx