Thursday 25 Jun 2009 by admin |
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user behavior
If you’re like me, you shop both online and at physical stores. Although shopping online can be convenient, it’s hard to replace the social atmosphere of an actual brick and mortar store.
With this being said, I don’t think online shopping will ever dominate offline shopping. I do believe it will increase, however, as online shopping becomes more and more social and users become more savvy.
Two great examples of social shopping sites are Kaboodle and NetShops. Kaboodle is the ultimate social shopping site. Users can create profiles pages, recommend items, comment on products and associate themselves with their favorite brands.
Netshops is a leader in the home shopping realm. Their social features include user ratings and reviews, answers to frequently asked questions about each individual product, feedback forms, video buying guides and a Twitter page that offers updates and discounts.
Social shopping is becoming easier and more involved, but it can’t replicate the environment of a physical store. But a physical store is a very social place, which is why adding reviews and other social media to your site is critical in today’s market.
Monday 18 May 2009 by admin |
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branding
I want to briefly discuss two of my favorite fast food joints and why I like them. These are brands that have staying power in my book because of the overall experience they bring me. It’s not always about pricing or the best taste. There are other factors involved, which I’ll explain.
Jimmy Johns
I haven’t been a Jimmy John’s patron for long, but the more I go, the more I like going back. They have delicious sandwiches, but so do some competitors, like Subway and Quiznos. So why do I go out of my way to eat there? I could certainly get a better deal at Subway with a $5 Footlong. The reason I keep going back is because of their service, which stands out to me as one of the elite of the fast food industry. A majority of the time, when I enter the store, I am greeted before I make it to the counter (usually depends on how busy they are). The staff is friendly, but they’re also fast. By the time I’m finished paying for my soon-to-be devoured meal, the sandwich is already sitting in front of me and it’s always made correctly. They have created quite an image for themselves in my mind.
Chipotle
I’m a hardcore Chipotle fan. You get me in front of chicken burrito with some hot salsa and it’s on. I suppose I’d still frequent this establishment even if I weren’t so impressed with their brand, but it certainly helps. The staff is fast and attentive. Even when there are large lines separating me from the cash register, it moves along quickly. And when it’s time to pay, the transaction is over in seconds after a quick swipe of my debit card. I’m not sure why their credit card machine is so much faster than every other one on the planet, but it’s something that stands out to me as upgrading service for my convenience.
It seems that no matter which location I visit, their is a consistency. So, next time you go out for lunch, try one of them out and see what I mean. Or, compare your experience to what I’ve described. I’d love to hear some examples.
There’s a lot of information out there. Unfortunately, a lot of it is bad, too. There’s no editorial diety traveling through cyberspace to make sure content is valid. That’s why you need to find information from trusted sources and always get multiple opinions on whatever topic you’re researching.
I’ve put together a list of five terrific sources for SEO information. There are many more available, but these are key in my opinion. You can always find terrific information and new ideas from some of the top in their profession. Also, you won’t have to worry about being penalized for shady black hat techniques that some sites may promote.
Without further ado…
5. SEO Book
Great blog and useful tools for newbies. They also provide consulting services.
4. Search Engine Land
Tons of great free information on search engine marketing. For access to more content, you can buy a premium membership for about $150/year.
3. Matt Cutts blog
For those who don’t know, Matt Cutts is the head of Google’s Webspam team. Some of the information on his blog can get very technical, but you won’t find a more trustworthy site.
2. Bruce Clay
Bruce Clay offers search engine marketing services, but also has tons of great content for you to do it on your own. A well respected name in the industry.
1. SEOmoz.org
SEOmoz is my favorite place for SEO information. They always have fresh ideas and maintain a wonderful site. Some of the content is free, like the daily blog, but to access all of their articles and SEO tools, you have to pay to become a PRO member, which is around $80/month. Well worth it.
Tuesday 3 Feb 2009 by admin |
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search marketing Tags:
custom search,
google
Have you ever pondered whether or not visits to your web site through organic listings affects how well your site ranks in Google? I mean, it makes sense that if a listing is often clicked on for a search term, than it’s probably highly relevant. I’ve always wondered if this was part of the Google puzzle to position site’s naturally.
The recent implementation of custom search techniques in Google searches make it an even stronger possibility. Obviously they value the user’s choice of listings when considering where to rank a site.
With this being said, don’t think getting spammy would work, even if this was true. First off, the algorithm would only take into account clicks from different IP addresses. So, don’t think you can keep clicking on results to your site from the same computer to boost rankings. In fact, if Google detects that you’re doing this, your site could theoretically be penalized without you even knowing it.
I don’t know the answer to this question, but it makes sense that it would play some role into how relevant a listing is for a particular search term. Some food for thought to get you through the week.
Friday 23 Jan 2009 by admin |
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advertising Tags:
movies,
netflix,
reviews
Movie Reviews and Advertising
By taking a look at movie advertising, it’s no wonder we’ve shifted to an age dominated by recommendations. Take, for example, the critical reviews that you see on either a movie trailer or on a DVD case. It seems every movie is the next oscar winner or some obscure website is raving about it.
Despite these coordinated reviews, in the past we had to guess whether the movie we were considering renting would be something we liked, or an absolute bust. Now, with sites like Netflix, we can not only see reviews, but Netflix will show us recommended titles according to our taste (which is based on past rentals).
Authoritative reviews can’t compete with peer reviews or unbiased recommendations. We now have too much information at our disposal to have to rely on what the marketing company for the movie is telling us.
When researching keywords for an SEO campaign, it’s easy to get caught up in phrases that get a high amount of search volume. Make sure not to be fooled by high volume keywords. Often, they are the most irrelevant and may rarely lead to conversions or goals.
When someone is searching for a generic term, often they are looking for information, or in the research phase. Let’s take a look at the keyword phrase “jumper cables,” for example. If your site contains a page that sells jumper cables, this term may seem attractive because it receives a hefty amount of traffic. Here are some of the results I received when researching this phrase on Google’s AdWord Keyword Tool:
jumper cables – 27,100
battery jumper cables – 1,900
jumper cable – 12,100
heavy duty jumper cables – 1,000
buy jumper cables – 210
Now, if you ran a PPC campaign in for these exact phrases, I would almost guarantee that “buy jumper cables” would be your best converting keyword. When a user types this phrase into a search engine, we know exactly what they are looking for. If your page is properly optimized, you’ll have a shot at ranking well in the SERP’s.
Aside from the relevancy, generic terms are more often than not more expensive than long-tail keywords. Users searching for “jumper cables” could be looking for information on how to use them, or just browsing brands as they are in the research phase. It might be worth bidding on this term for branding purposes, if you can get it for a reasonable price, but don’t expect a high click-through-rate or conversion rate. As far as optimizing your page, make sure not to waste your time optimizing it around ambiguous keywords.
Simply put, The Long Tail is excellent and a must-read for anyone in the marketing, advertising or online industry. It was written years ago, so you should have already sifted through its pages. I seem to pick up something new every time I read it.
The Long Tail, by Chris Anderson of Wired Magazine, is about how our culture has changed its habits by demanding niche products. I’ll save the rest of it for you.
Jeff-ometer rating: 5 out of 5
Friday 5 Dec 2008 by admin |
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other stuff Tags:
domain names,
international,
seo
Have you ever noticed that not all countries have the same affinity of .com domains that we do? In many countries, their country code top level domain names (ccTLD’s) are more widely used than .com domains. You may have seen some before. China rolls with the .cn, Canada uses .ca, Francey Pants uses .fr, and so on.
Flags of the world
So what’s with the United States and their precious .com’s? This article from SitePoint explains how U.S. companies had difficulties in the past registering the .us ccTLD and therefore looked to alternatives, the most popular being .com. Now, .com domains are recognized as international domains.
If you you’re looking to reach residents in other countries, it’s best to purchase an additional domain using their ccTLD. In Japan (.jp), for example, their search engines (Google Japan, Baidu) give more love to domains that end with the .jp extension. From an SEO perspective, it pays to have this domain to put you in a better spot in the search engines. You’ll also want to make sure the domain is hosted in the country that you are trying to reach. There are other techniques used in international search marketing, but I’ve found this to be the most reliant.
Hope you enjoyed the refresher course.
Tuesday 2 Dec 2008 by admin |
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branding Tags:
facebook,
myspace,
social networking
Beware youngsters. No place is safe. Everywhere you socialize online, you are branding yourself. You might not be aware of it now, but if you’re planning a professional career in the future, prospective employers are almost assuredly going to google your name to see what they can find out about you.
When you interact with others on social sites such as MySpace and Facebook, it’s for all the world to see. Some of these sites protect your ramblings by allowing invites only, but it’s important to be aware of what others can and cannot associate with you.
So, for all of you business college students out there, keep things reasonable and try not to exploit your latest Spring Break photos with the rest of humanity. It might be deciding factor in a second interview.
Thursday 20 Nov 2008 by admin |
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advertising,
branding Tags:
fox,
hulu,
nbc,
tv,
videos,
wired
Times recently published their annual list of best inventions. The 2008 edition had Hulu.com in the four-spot. Not only did the social video site create its own brand, but it more than likely strengthened the brand image of network giants NBC and Fox.
The November issue of Wired Magazine featured an article about the conception of Hulu.com (read the article online: Free, Legal and Online: Why Hulu is the New Way to Watch TV).
I am an avid user of Hulu. In fact, I watched the entire first season of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia last week. My digital cable package only has the most recent episodes archived and I didn’t feel like trekking to the nearest Best Buy to spend money in the cold when I could instead pay by having to wait through a few commercials, which I’d have to do on TV anyway.
The site makes tens-of-millions in advertising each year (although the article claims that 70% is paid back for content), so it has a sufficient revenue stream to survive. More importantly, however, is the image that this has cast on me of Fox and NBC. They decided to not whine about how the Internet is pirating their shows and instead became a part of the online community. It gives them a hip, savvy image that I think users of Hulu appreciate. Welcome to web 2.0.
