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Friday 28 September 2007 - Alexa Ranking: Do you need it.

All businesses that employ online marketing, strive to improve their conversion rate. Now, there are different ways of attracting targeted traffíc. Some try to achieve a good ranking in the SERPs, while others are satisfied with heavier traffic. Either way, everybody has the goal of achieving financial success.

But, while scoring high with Google may seem to certain business people the only way to make themselves known and thus reach their goal, there are others that think that a good position in the Alexa ranking system might benefit them just as well.

What is Alexa Ranking?

This is a ranking system set by alexa.com (a subsidiary of amazon.com ) that basically audits and makes public the frequency of visits to various Web sites. The algorithm by which Alexa traffíc ranking is calculated, is simple. It is based on the amount of traffic recorded over a period of three months from users that have the Alexa toolbar installed.

This traffíc is based on such parameters as reach and page views. The reach refers to the number of Alexa users who visit a particular site in one day. Page view, as the name indicates, is the number of times a particular page (URL) is viewed by Alexa users. Alexa.com makes it clear though that, if a particular user visits the same URL multiple times on the same day, all those visits will be counted as one.

The first step of the ranking process is calculating the reach and number of page views for all the sites on the Web on a daily basis. Alexa ranking is obtained by performing the geometric mean of reach and page views, averaged over a predefined period of time (three months).

How Alexa Ranking Works

It's quite easy to get started. All you have to do is visit the alexa.com site and download (and install) the Alexa toolbar. This toolbar offers a search function, but it mainly displays the rank (at a global level) of the visited site, as well as the sites that have been visited by Web surfers that are linked in some way to the site being visited.

The Alexa toolbar not only displays information, but it also sends data to the central server. Thus, each time you visit a Web page via a Web browser (be it Internet Explorer or Firefox) that has the toolbar installed, information is sent to the server indicating your IP and the page you are visiting. Such data is gathered from all the Web users who have the Alexa toolbar.

With Alexa, the smaller the numerical ranking, the better. Most people say that if you manage to make it in the top 100,000, it is a sign that your site enjoys quite heavy traffíc.

Is Alexa Ranking Worth Anything?

Benefits

• Alexa Traffic can be used as a competitive intelligence tool, but you should take into consideration the fact that the audience sample size is fairly small. Just enter your competitor's site in the "Compare Sites" section and measure the results of your web marketing efforts in comparison with your competitors'.

• As opposed to Google's PageRank, the lower your ranking number, the better.

• It helps Webmasters and advertisers see the real marketing potential of your Web site. The better your Alexa rank, the higher they may be willing to bid to buy advertising space on your Web site.

• Personal pages or blogs are also ranked in the same way as ordinary Web sites. They will even get a distinctive mark (*)

• Because Alexa ranking helps you with information about your Web site, it is a good instrument for search engine optimization.

Disadvantages

• Not everybody has the Alexa toolbar installed, so there might be millíons of Web sites that, even if they have a lot of traffíc, will not be ranked (or not high enough) by Alexa. It is rather relative.

• Many people say that it is inaccurate and that Alexa traffíc can be greatly influenced (or "gamed", as some prefer to call it).

• Subdomains are not ranked separately, and neither are subpages within a domain. The overall traffic is calculated for the top-level domain only.

Ways to Improve Your Alexa Ranking

If you want to boost your Alexa traffíc ranking, you just have to follow some quite simple rules, such as:

• Download and install the Alexa toolbar and then surf your own site.

• Place the Alexa widget on your Web site. It will entice visitors to use it and, you know, each click counts.

• Write useful, quality content, mostly webmaster-related. Promote it on webmaster forums and on social networking sites. The idea is to get as many computer and Internet savvy people as possible to visit your site, since the probability that they will have the Alexa toolbar installed is high.

• Write blogs and articles about Alexa. You will get links to your pages that will help improve your ranking.

• Try to get your articles on such blog sites as digg.com, del.icio.us, or www.stumbleupon.com

• Optimize your site (or relevant pages of it) for Alexa related keywords.

• Tell your friends about the Alexa toolbar, have them download and install it on their computers, and then tell them to visit your site.

• Use an Alexa redirect. This means placing http://redirect.alexa.com/redirect? in front of your Web site's URL. Alexa will then take into consideration clicks on redirected links even if the visitor does not have the Alexa toolbar.

• Apparently, Asian people are huge fans of Alexa. Therefore, many people suggest posting in Asian social networking forums.
• Whenever you post on webmaster forums, include your site's URL in your signature. It is very likely that most webmasters have the toolbar installed, and there's a great probability that they'll visit your site.

Conclusion

As we have seen, there are pros and cons to Alexa ranking. The bottom line is that most people consider it valuable only for direct advertising. Given the fact that Alexa ranking for a site is calculated on the basis of how many visitors with the Alexa toolbar installed have visited that particular site, the results can be inaccurate.

Nevertheless, it may prove useful for sites with very good traffíc that attract highly targetëd leads, since Alexa focuses more on the traffic that Web sites receive rather than on links to it. As a Web site monetization strategy, we can safely say that Alexa ranking might be the right solution.

Friday 28 September 2007 - 47 Simple Tips to Build Trust in Your Website or Blog

As the old saying goes, you have only one chance to make a first impression. Building trust cannot be achieved by one single action. Trust is achieved by hundreds of little things you do throughout your website that, when taken together, give readers a sense of honesty, legitimacy and stability.

The other bit of good news is that few website owners focus on building trust in the minds of their visitors. If you do it well, it can become a real and sustainable competitive advantage.

Here are 47 simple actions you can take to get started.

  1. Trust is built by lots of small actions on every page of your website.

  2. Your website design is the first impression. Make sure it is professional and relevant to the subject matter.

  3. Navigation must be intuitive. If visitors can't find what they are looking for easily, they will question your competence in providing what they want.

  4. Make the website personal by giving it its own tone and voice. People buy people.

  5. Follow the HEART rule of creating online content. (Reminder: HEART stands for Honest, Exclusive, Accurate, Relevant and Timely.)

  6. Use language that is appropriate to the audience. It will build empathy.

  7. Regularly add new content to your site. It shows that the business is alive and kicking.

  8. Check all links. Doubts will quickly form in your visitors' minds if links don't work or, worse still, take them to error pages.

  9. Good grammar and spelling matter. Errors give the impression of sloppiness and carelessness.

  10. Never make outrageous and unbelievable claims, like "Read this blog and you'll be a millionaire by the end of the week." People are used to scams, get-rich-quick schemes and rip-offs.

  11. Publish REAL testimonials and third-party endorsements. Try to always use real names and link to websites where possible. Some sites show images of letters sent by happy customers.

  12. Publish case studies about customers you have helped, who use your product, etc.

  13. Don't put down, curse or insult competitors. It's unprofessional. It is better to offer an objective comparison of competitive services or products.

  14. Focus on building your long-term reputation, not on making quick sales.

  15. Write articles for humans, not search engines.

  16. Make your 'About Us' page personal and comprehensive. It plays an important part in making visitors feel comfortable that real people are behind the site.

  17. Publish your photo or the photos of the key people involved with the site. Again, this reinforces the fact that there are real people behind the screenshots.

  18. Clearly identify who is behind the site. Nothing creates more suspicion than a site that tries to hide the identity of its publishers.

  19. On the 'Contact Us' page, provide an email form, telephone number, fax and address of the company. In Europe, it is a legal requirement for sites taking money, but even sites driven by advertising will benefit from openness.

  20. Provide a telephone number that people can call and talk to a person.

  21. Provide Web addresses linked to the website domain, not addresses from free webmail services such as Hotmail and Gmail.

  22. Never lie to make money. The most common way is to write a glowing report about a product or service to earn affiliate revenues. It is very short-sighted to lie to visitors to sell them rubbish. They'll never come back or, worse still, they'll actively condemn your site on forums and blogs.

  23. Think carefully about reciprocal links. If your site is about organic food and you have links to Party Poker, people are going to question your integrity.

  24. Think carefully about the adverts you display on your site. Ensure that they are relevant to your subject and audience.

  25. Be explicit when you are being paid to endorse a product or service. An advertorial is fine as long as it is transparent. Paid-to-post is corrupting the Web and will experience a user backlash. I never read websites that accept payment for posting.

  26. Write and publish your privacy policy. Be clear about what you will and will not do with any personal data you collect. State that you adhere to all data protection laws. Make it easy to read and don't use legal gobbledygook.

  27. Write and publish a security policy. State what measures you take to ensure that all transactions are secure.

  28. Ensure that you have a security and privacy policy which is linked from the footer on every page. Make the link more prominent on all the order pages.

  29. Clearly publish your guarantee. I would recommend making it a 100% money-back guarantee if possible.

  30. Clearly state your refund and returns policy.

  31. Piggyback off reputable brands. If you use PayPal, put the PayPal logo on your site. If you have a merchant services account with a major bank like Citibank or HSBC, put its logo on your site.

  32. Use Google search on your site for two reasons. First, it is a great search solution which will help your visitors find what they are looking for. Second, having the Google name on your site instills trust.

  33. If there are well-known industry associations for your subject, join up and put their logos on your site.

  34. Have a forum on your site and respond quickly to questions. Have the attitude that you are happy to help others without receiving immediate reward. As the old saying goes, 'Givers always gain.'

  35. Allow people to comment on articles. Interactivity and an exchange of views build community and a sense of involvement.

  36. If people provide constructive criticism or comments in the forum, don't delete them, but respond with your point of view.

  37. Put photos on the website of the owners, publishers and/or team. Let visitors know there are real people behind the business.

  38. Put images of the credit cards you accept on every page of the order process.

  39. Use the words 'secure website' whenever you try to get any information from visitors, including newsletter sign-ups, forum input and payment.

  40. On every page, state, "We take your privacy and security very seriously." Link the statement to the security and privacy policy.

  41. Remember, reputations take years to build and seconds to destroy.

  42. If you are selling a subscription, offer a low-cost, entry-level option. This could be a one-day taster, 'a week before billing starts' or a monthly trial.

  43. Use a high level of security when processing credit cards. Make sure you make your clients aware of all the steps you are taking.

  44. Never send credit card information or personal details over the Internet unencrypted. Tell your customers that their data will be encrypted.

  45. Only ask for information from customers that you really need. For example, for an email newsletter sign-up, the only information you REALLY need is an email address, so that is all you should ask for.

  46. If you have pricing on your website, make it transparent. I recently went to buy a book which was advertised for $10. When I checked out, they added tax, post and packaging, and the final bill was $19.50. I didn't buy it as I felt they had deliberately tried to mislead me.

  47. Keep your SSL certificate up to date. Let people know you are using SSL encryption and who the provider is.

You can never do too much to build trust. Most of it comes down to common sense and good business practice. To ensure that you are continually improving your trustworthiness, every time you go to a website, ask yourself whether you trust it or not. Then ask yourself why you have formed the opinion you have. Continually try to learn what makes a site trustworthy or untrustworthy and implement the relevant changes to your site.

If people trust you, the money will follow!

Thursday 20 September 2007 - Pros and cons of mobile marketing

Pros and cons of mobile marketing

Pros:

• High penetration of devices with twice as many cell phones as PCs.
• Web searches on mobile devices will eventually exceed searches on PCs.
• Access to many international consumers who can't afford PCs
• Mobile phones can receive input anywhere-anytime, enabling location-specific and behavioral targeting for local businesses.
• A cell phone is a very personal device that people take with them wherever they go, making it easy for marketers to develop a relationship with customers through this medium.
• Carriers have customer data and location information potentially available for targeting.
• Personalization, immediacy, and interactivity of mobile ads encourage response by consumers on the go.
• Preliminary data show good response rates for mobile campaigns (5% click rates vs. 1% for conventional web ads).
• New tool for brands and advertisers to reach new customers and target specific audiences.
• Smartphones and iPhone to enhance mobile surfing, promoting mobile marketing success.
• Messages sent to a mobile phone are more likely to be read than email sent to a PC, which can get caught in the spam filter.
• Mobile marketing campaigns are highly targeted and are opt-in, making them more effective than other forms of advertising.
• Mobile marketing can help build a customer database. Once customers opt in to receive an ad, you can use the information for loyalty marketing and customer retention.
• Mobile marketing can help generate buzz about your products/services because your offers will reach consumers while they are actively shopping, socializing, and making buying decisions.

Cons:

• Current WAP technology inadequate, discouraging web searching and surfing.
• General intolerance of advertising messages on a personal device.
• Current carrier-imposed "walled garden" approach prevents unfettered mobile web access.
• Adaptation of content and messages to the mobile web results in poor user experience.
• Scarcity of mobile web sites (only 8% of 1,000 top U.S. brands offer a mobile site).
• Current low usage of WAP-based mobile search doesn't support investment in creating mobile sites because traffic volumes are low except on search portals and other high-volume sites.
• Trial and error period required for mobile marketers to learn how to succeed in mobile marketing, which differs from the traditional web marketing.
• Advertisers are wary of consumer privacy issues.
• FCC yet to rule on limiting use and release of customer data, including location information.
• In April, FCC released order requiring mobile marketers to obtain express consent from customers before carriers can release data and to make it easy for customers to opt out.
• Mobile marketing is fragmented and complex because of many different handsets and carriers, different types of functionality, and different preloaded apps (i.e. Google Maps on iPhone).
• Currently, reach is low because consumption of mobile content is small (10% of subscribers), and penetration of 3G devices is still low in most countries.
• Establishment of reliable measurement and metrics for advertisers to measure mobile ad effectiveness is needed.

Wednesday 5 September 2007 - Yahoo Acquires Ad Network BlueLithim

Most of what BlueLithium does is behavioral or demographic targeting, which has recently seen a big push by Yahoo via its new SmartAds platform. This acquisition can be seen as partly defensive and partly offensive in an effort to retain brand advertisers that have more choices today and to build out a broad and efficient online ad network that offers huge reach (incl. beyond Yahoo), as well as targeting and search.

Not long ago AOL acquired BT ad network Tacoda.

Friday 31 August 2007 - How To Make Internet Advertising Effective ?

Businesses that want to succeed on the Web must learn how to turn their commercial message into content as a seamless entertaining presentation.

After years of website visitors first ignoring, then getting increasingly irritated with banner ads that blink, burp, and blast across their screens, there finally is a better way; advertising in the form of Web-videos that not only deliver a marketing message but are worth the time invested in watching.

There is a lot of hype surrounding so-called viral videos. Many companies have tried to create this kind of marketing vehicle but the sheer lack of commercial purpose fails to attract viable prospects and instead generates a lot of attention from the maturity-challenged segments of society. As a business you want your video to be passed on to as many additional viewers as possible, but if it doesn't attract new leads or at least deliver your message, what good is it?

There is an absolute qualitative difference between a video that is engaging, entertaining, humorous and clever that delivers a strong marketing message and a video that is just plain stupid or at best pointless.

Bold is Beautiful and Effective

We know from experience that clients are attracted when we create entertaining offbeat video campaigns that send a clear message. But as soon as we start to create the equivalent type of campaign for them, they start to get nervous.

The Web demands a bold, frontal attack that delivers an uncompromising creative presentation of what you offer; not a defensive, compromised, don't-make-a-mistake approach that tries to cover everything and anything you might do.

The average business is incredibly timid when it comes to advertising. Boring, monotonous presentations that drone on are as helpful in attracting new business as viral video food-fights or female mud-wrestling clips. There is as much difference between bizarre and bold, as there is between salacious curiosity and entertainingly effective.

The challenge for business is to take this new form of advertising and use it so that it rises above the lowly realm of boring corporate PowerPoint presentations and silly homemade video antics to the lofty, and ultimately profitable dominion of content.

Why Web-Videos Aren't Like Television Commercials

Web-commercials are not television commercials. I know big advertisers are double-dipping their ad placements by flooding the Web with their TV spots, but who really cares? If you can see it on NBC or CBS twelve times every night why would you go out of your way to watch it on the Web?

The most significant difference between television and Web-commercials is cost. According to MediaPost's Gregory Wilson in his VideoInsider newsletter, the average 30-second TV commercial costs $12,000 per second to produce. That's per second, far beyond the budgets of most businesses. You can get an entire Web-video campaign for the cost of one second of TV-level production. Of course, you're not going to have a cast and crew of hundreds working on your spot, but then the quality of script, simplicity of concept, and creativity of presentation count for more than wasted exotic sets and setups.

There are lots of things people just hate about television commercials and the best of the Web-commercials avoid these irritants.

Television commercials distract viewers from the content. Nobody likes interruptions. There is not much difference on the irritation scale between a telemarketing phone call selling aluminum siding at dinner time and a commercial that interrupts the latest adventures of 24's Jack Bauer.

About the only good thing you can say about these program-interruptions is that they provide you a bathroom and beverage break, which of course doesn't help the advertiser who just spent $12,000 per second to get to you.

Web-commercials are different. They are sought-out by people as long as they provide something more than a mundane sales pitch. If you are clever, bold, and interesting, people will not only watch, they'll remember.

Think back to when you were in school and the teacher told you to look up the answer yourself and not just rely on her to give it to you? That's because the effort of searching out the answer created a more memorable experience. Commercials are no different. Sure fewer people are going to come in contact with your Web-commercial than they would a television commercial, but then the Web-commercial is more targeted, more memorable, and far more cost effective.

Even worse than the continuous interruptions is the repetitiveness of television commercials. Sometimes you have to sit through the same obnoxious commercial multiple times in the same commercial break. Give Apple computer and Geico Insurance credit for their commitment to developing creative, entertaining campaigns that are continually evolving with new segments that build a following for the characters, product and message. These commercials actually do rise above the level of sale's pitch and achieve the status of content. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for ninety-nine percent of all the other television ads.

Because people choose to watch a Web-commercial, they don't become upset with the advertiser for inflicting repetitive psychological torture. In fact Web-commercials that are entertaining and informative will be watched over and over, and passed on to friends and colleagues.

The Bottom Line

1 Web-users choose to watch Web-videos and therefore are more receptive to the message.

2 Web-videos need to be entertaining so they are more likely to be watched repeatedly and passed on to friends.

3 Web-videos are less costly to produce so advertisers can create campaigns consisting of multiple videos on the same theme so that viewers don't get bored or irritated.

How To Turn A Pitch Into Content

If you are going to bore people to death, then Web-advertising is not for you. If all you have to say is buy my stuff, nobody is going to listen. If you are afraid to be different, you are just going to blend into the woodwork. If you think search engine optimization is going to solve all your marketing problems, well think again.

If you want to turn your advertising into content then create your next campaign on the following principles:

• Be Clear.
• Be Bold.
• Be Uncompromising.
• Be Entertaining.
• Be Engaging.
• Be Clever.
• Be Humorous.
• Create Character(s).
• And Tell a Story.

Friday 31 August 2007 - 10 Tips For Optimizing RSS

Here are 10 tips to optimize your RSS feeds

1.    20 or more items, not 10.

2.    Use full feeds, not partial feeds – "It's the links, stupid," says Klau. "The mass reader base strongly prefers full text feeds. If you don't have full text feeds, you are missing out on a potentially huge amount of traffic."

3.    Use multiple feeds, organized by category, including latest comments by post.

4.    Include compelling site description.

5.    Don't put tracking codes in URLs.

6.    Free is good. Feedburner's Pro features are free and they are good.

7.    RSS feeds that contain enclosures (like podcasts) can get into additional RSS directories and engines.

8.    Google Sitemaps supports feeds. If you can't make an XML sitemap, you can use an RSS feed as one.

9.    Add show notes to your podcast feeds.

10.    Facebook allows you to import and promote your feed through the "import notes" feature.   

Friday 31 August 2007 - 10 quick tips to optimize your blog

Thursday 30 August 2007 - The Big Mobile Marketing Funda