Mobile Marketing

Hello, Blogger. It's been a while.



So, all this hubbub over mobile marketing has me thinking. And I think it's a flash in the pan because I believe it to be largely impractical.

Yes, having Internet access on your phone is cool and often convenient. I am guilty of busting out my Q at my local watering hole and dictionary.com-ing "sentient" because I knew others were mispronouncing it. But is it really ideal (or even appealing) to watch videos, read lengthy emails, or peruse websites on so small a screen? I think not.

I highly doubt this mobile marketing trend will have longevity because, while mobility is convenient and appealing when one is in transit, it is impractical because of size; device portability dictates device size, and it's just too hard on the eyes to absorb all the content that's out there. Why then would consumers shop online and click on ads that they would have to fight even harder just to see?

I have an ipod for music, a phone for texts and calls, and a laptop for the Internet. I'm one of many who likes to see the whole page; I tolerate scrolling up and down, but sideways? Just to finish a sentence?? Or wait 4 minutes for some myspace profile to load, and then more horizontal scrolling?

No, my friends. This will not pan out.

ads are ads

the current vw tv campaign may be the most effective series of commercials i've seen. they scare the bejesus out of me. some would argue that i’m kind of a weenie about driving, and that’s fair, but i’m sure the auto accident scenario resonates with everyone.

there’s much ado about the quality of their product (on which i am ill-prepared to voice an opinion either way) but the volkswagen marketing team has the right idea; the accident scenario is 100% believable because it's universally applicable, and so the public retains it.

not to mention that it's well directed. they make great use of the shock factor without being gratuitous, the pace is good and quick, the formula is consistent so it's familiar but they change up the content enough in each installment that the ads aren't monotonous. and it's a narrative. the series of events and the outcome are always the same, which could be construed as a criticism, but i think in this case it's executed perfectly through the first person perspective. it takes a fair amount of skill to get your audience to suspend disbelief, especially in a fleeting thirty seconds, but those commercials work on me every time. (bravo, volkswagen.)

it's the exact opposite approach of the usual car commercial; the montage comprised of action shots, extreme angles of the same car looking "wicked awesome," and some guy extolling said vehicle's awesomeness in his outside voice (there’s a good reason this is still funny regardless of the F bombs). the kicker of it is that i can only guess at which brands have employed this strategy because all that remains is my lingering distaste for car commericals. let's be honest, they really did themselves a disservice (whoever they are).

the same is true for which ever credit card company used the slogan "because some places don't take american express." it's a true assessment and a good stab at truth in marketing, but it lacked staying power for me. perhaps the difference is in the timing. it's true that i had neither want nor need for a credit card when that ad campaign was current, whereas i've been driving for the past five years and i am dutifully employed by an internet marketing company which caters to the automotive industry, but that's not really my point.

i recently went so far as to conduct a search for "because some places don't take american express" because i'm kind of nerdy that way, and all i came up with was stuff by or about american express. its competitor only succeeded in planting the seeds, or in this case, the keyword phrase of the competitor it intended to one-up. this is a perfect example of traditional marketing failing to translate successfully to the web.

conversely, during the same episode of the x-files i caught a great commercial for auto insurance provided by http://www.esurance.com. this ad differed very much from the former examples in that it clearly catered to my generation of shoppers. it's sort of a cross between an ipod commerical and an episode of the powerpuff girls in appearance, but what really struck me was the constant plug for the website at the bottom of the screen. it reminded me of the scrolling headline bars on news channels, only better because it's static and therefore easily read, written down... or quickly typed down in a notepad document for later use as a supporting paragraph in a blog.

in addition to the constant url the commercial must have said the company name four times. while the sleek, colorful look certainly helps with initial attraction, the fact that it is a keyword heavy advertisement officially makes it smart. the brand was reinforced through both visual and aural repetition in a way that almost guarantees that people will be able to type it into the address bar with little thought. in fact, 30 seconds is plenty of time to get off your ass and get online if you're motivated to do so.

esurance.com successfully paired what works in the volkswagen commercials with what worked against the credit card commercials; impact and branding, respectively. but they took it a step further by making double and triple sure that you visit their website, too. and this, my friends, is my point. traditional media and internet marketing are complementary forces, but we are only just beginning to treat them as such.

successful marketing of anything requires effective and consistent campaigning as well as branding. tv and radio spots must ensure that a company's web presence is known, or at least easily found through a search engine, and that takes more than a quick url blurb at the end of a short film. likewise, a website needs to reflect and reinforce the messages put forth through traditional media outlets. check out esurance.com's ErinCam (as seen on tv) http://www.esurance.com/home/tv.asp. it's pretty cheesey, but it underscores my point.

television isn't going anywhere for a while and the internet has only just begun, so it is up to all of us in the marketing game to cooperate, because right now you just don’t know from where you're next lead will generate. sure, you can geo-target and use call tracking technology or do the “SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY” approach. but then there are people like me who blog about tv, take pictures of moving vans to catch a phone number or url, and still listen to talk radio at least three times a week because that is somehow easier than keeping up on my RSS feeds.

so where should you advertise to get my business? everywhere. but make sure to include a url and a phone number because there are days when I only have one or the other.

english 2.0

tonight's playlist: The Pharcyde - Bizarre Ride II, Elliot Smith - Either/Or, Rocky Votolato - A Brief History, Death Cab for Cutie - We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau
"...formed by combining both sounds and meanings from two or more words."

it's like onomatopoeia, but different. in fact, i think it's better because in french portmanteau sounds and looks like what it is.

i love this word/phenomenon, probably because i say stuff like that all the time, and now i finally feel justified. it's not like when i say something is "more better" as a joke but then, like "dude," it becomes part of my working vocabulary. what begins as a clever jibe ends up coming off as redundant and/or stupid.

no, a portmanteau is an impressive looking, great sounding, applicable label for what comes out of my mouth. a perfect example is my use of "ginormous" (giant + enormous) . i've been saying that consistently since college. it's pretty damn funny. i almost always got a chuckle out of others when describing someone's ass, teeth or hair as ginormous. it wasn't until my mother, in her infinite wisdom (seriously, she's a genius), pointed out that humongous = huge + monstrous (or tremendous) that i realized i wasn't so original anymore. ah, well, such is life.

another protmanteau that i love to use, which i believe is underused and therefore original, is "newsed." when my boyfriend bought his first car way back in 2000 it was a 1996 Acura Integra. he told me that he bought it "newsed" from Carmax.

newsed = new + used car. nice.

it's perfect because, while it is not a brand new vehicle, it's new to you and that's what really matters. you feel like a new person when you make a change like that. (keep in mind we lovingly referred to his 1982 Toyota Tercel-Corolla as "the bucket"). i bought my first and current car newsed. it's a 2004 toyota matrix and i purchased it from a honda dealership in 2004. it had 9,000 miles and a few chips in the paint, but it was completely new to me.

i once used newsed when talking to an internet sales manager that same year and he thought it was the bee's knees. i was surprised, but encouraged. if someone in the industry thinks this is not only a nifty word, but a viable addition to auto industry jargon and perhaps a worthwhile addition to the english lexicon, that's better than a wikipedia entry in my mind.

i'd love to see newsed gain popularity in our industry. pre-owned is an okay alternative to used, but it's such an obvious euphamism that i'm annoyed by it. plus it doesn't tell me anything more than used does, so why make the distinction? i think it's a decent ploy to take some of the punch out of the the used car salesman caricature. seriously, who wants to go to a used car dealership and deal with some greasy guy in a blazer that doesn't match his pants who is always trying to strong-arm someone into buying the worst car ever? not i. so i go to the pre-owned, or certified pre-owned, dealership and deal with a the same guy (give or take).

i think newsed could really revamp the whole idea of used car sales, especially in the internet age. there are tons of people like me, netizens if you will, that find things like "newsed" amusing and labels such as "portmanteau" interesting. we're the savvy, nerdy types who get jokes, use google as a verb, type like the dickens, and window shop for cars online. think about it.

CallProspector - New, Interesting Tool - Instantly Connect To Your Leads

Recently posted on digg.com

This is a new product that allows you to instantly respond back to your web leads.

Here's how it works:
As soon as a new lead is generated from your website or from any third party, a copy of that lead is emailed to CallProspector. Upon receiving the lead, CallProspector automatically initiates a series of calls to find an available rep at your business to connect with the new email lead (your potential customer). CallProspector uses a call hunting option which will attempt up to five different phone numbers to find an available rep. As soon as a rep is located, callprospector uses a text to speech engine to read off all of the pertinent information contained in the email lead. Then, the sales rep may press 1 to immediately connect with the customer.

Increase your closing percentages by up to 50%. Now, with CallProspector you can reduce your response time to a matter of minutes. This tool is awesome!!

read more try it now digg story

Google Shmoogle

I've known about Shmoogle for a few years now and I'm somewhat disheartened that it isn't more widely used or discussed. There is plenty of good content out there, which may or may not be popular and/or relevent, but the whole point is this: Are the visible results really the relevent results? It depends entirely on what you are looking for.

In randomizing Google search results Shmoogle provides a fun, egalitarian approach to search. I used to think that was the purpose served by the I'm Feeling Lucky button, however, the fact that the only result for the "Failure" search is still the official White House biography of President George W. Bush after several years highlights a major concern about SEO; it can be manipulated.

Pranks and politics aside, there are a great many other arguably more relevent nouns than our current President. For example, my Shmoogle "Failure" search yielded result no. 829: an article about heart failure.

So I did a few more Lucky searches on a few other subjects...

Failure = http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/gwbbio.html
Jobs = http://www.Monster.com
Books = http://www.Amazon.com/books
Fun = http://www.funbrain.com
Ali Amirrezvani = http://www.imediaconnection.com/bios/bio.aspx?id=3900

(I Googled myself as well, but the results were terribly boring. Trust me.)

These results correspond exactly to the top search result when the regular Google search is conducted. So what makes the Lucky results so lucky? It seems pretty contrived and controlled to me.

Contrast that with the Shmoogle results, which are the same as Google results (with rank and everything), but they are presented completely at random. What's most fun about Shmoogle, however, is when you click on Shmoogle It! for the same item more than once, the search results are jumbled all over again. So it really is the luck of the draw. You can do this kind of search until the cows come home... or you find what it is you want. Which ever comes first.


Since my insomnia is still in full swing I decided to try the Google Image Search for "Failure." A black and white photo of George W. Bush, dubbed "Miserable Failure," comes in at #9 on the first SERP. Again, all politics aside, that is pretty amusing.

As found in "Automotive News"...

Dealers rely more on Web to propel sales
By Grant W. Repsher Automotive News / August 7, 2006
Net work
Dealerships are using these Internet tools to boost sales.

• Upgraded Web sites
• Online lead generation
• Search engine marketing

As consumers get more comfortable shopping for vehicles online, dealerships are using more sophisticated Web strategies to attract their attention.

Auto retailers are using Internet search engines to market their dealerships. They are hiring online firms to generate leads. And they're updating their own Web sites to build traffic.

About two-thirds of consumers in the market for a new car or truck do some online research, estimates Jupiter Research, a technology analysis firm in New York.

Dealers are taking notice. The average new-vehicle dealership boosted the share of its advertising budget that it spends on the Internet from 6.7 percent in 2004 to 9.9 percent last year, the National Automobile Dealers Association reports.

Vehicle sales are still "all about relationships," says Dennis Colome, director of dealership training for Autobytel, an Internet marketing company. But more consumers are beginning the relationship online before they visit the dealership, he says.

Colome told Automotive News that Internet sales efforts have a 20 percent closing rate - that is, one of every five online leads ends in a sale. Once that milestone was achieved, he says, "it became a priority for everyone. We have seen more interest in the last six to eight months than ever before."

Net leads

Dealerships routinely partner with automotive Web sites such as MSNAutos.com, Edmunds.com and Cars.com to gain access to vehicle shoppers.

The sites turn some inquiries into sales leads. They include use of features such as dealer locators and requests for price quotes, as well as specific questions about options and financing. The sites sell those leads to local dealerships for about $20 to $25 apiece.

Increasingly, though, dealerships are focusing on upgrading their Web sites to generate their own leads.

"In the absence of our Web site generating the leads on its own, using Internet lead generators has been an excellent second option," says Jerry Winder, director of Internet operations for the Larry H. Miller Group of Cos.in Sandy, Utah. "But actually, we are trying to get away from this."

Says David Butler, general manager of the Suburban Collection in Troy, Mich.: "We've chosen a strategy where we try to drive as much traffic as possible to our corporate Web site to generate sales."

Search engine competition

Like many other dealerships and groups, the Suburban Collection is tweaking its Web site to make it rank high on search engines such as Google. The higher a site's ranking, the more prominent it is to Internet users.

Techniques include inserting relevant keywords, such as specific brands and locations, into Web site content that consumers would be likely to include in their search. Search engines scan these keywords to determine how and where to rank a site.

"We've had great success with it," Butler says.

Ali Amirrezvani, CEO of DealerOn, an Internet marketing company, says search strategies are "low-cost, measurable and profitable."

"How much good does a beautiful, functional automotive dealership site do for sales if it lays dormant and unnoticed on page 431 of the search engine results?" says Amirrezvani, who says his company works with more than 500 dealerships.

Design is key

Dealership Web sites that offer no more than basic vehicle information, stock photos and a contact address won't satisfy Internet-savvy shoppers, Amirrezvani adds.

"Gone are the days when a Web site is just an online billboard," he says. "Properly designed and optimized, it can be the most profitable center of a dealership."

A good Web site is easy to navigate, Amirrezvani says. It includes accurate and up-to-date inventory information and a user-friendly form to contact the dealership.

Dick Malaise, NADA's chief information officer, says dealerships have several options for enhancing their Web sites.

"It can be done in one of three approaches," he says. "Self-managed, by partnering with a third party who handles everything, or by having a third party complete the initial design and letting the dealer handle things like home page updates and inventory."

ClearNova - Basic Ajax Examples

This is a cool ajax tool by Clear Nova. Please do let me know what you think

The downloadable samples include full JavaScript & Java Source, a sample database for any SQL database, and a PowerPoint presentation.

This sampler shows some basic techniques to demonstrate some of the possibilities of using AJAX & XMLHTTPRequest techniques in web applications.

Basic browser & server interaction is demonstrated along with dynamic population of visual elements such as DIVs and SELECT drop downs.

In addition, many ways of instantiating & encapsulating XMLHTTPRequest objects are shown in the Javascript.

This sample is freeware and has no copyright restrictions whatsoever. It is doesn't carry a warranty or a guarantee.

Written by Steve Benfield.
sbenfield@clearnova.com

ClearNova provides ThinkCAP™, a framework & visual workbench ideally suited for building Rich Internet Applications using AJAX techniques. For information on ThinkCAP, visit www.clearnova.com


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Search Engine Strategies - Workshop from San Jose Expo

SEO Workshop From The Expo

A search–engine friendly Web site is a user–friendly, search–friendly, and persuasive site that converts visitors into buyers.

In order for a site to be search–engine friendly, it must meet the terms and conditions set forth by the search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN Search, Ask, etc.) Additionally, the site must satisfy the needs of site visitors. Ultimately, the site must be profitable for the Web site owner. Can a single site satisfy all of these groups?

This presentation will how these skills are essential for building a user–friendly, search–friendly, and persuasive site that converts visitors into buyers.

Everyone who promotes Web sites as part of their work should attend these workshops! Web marketers should understand all parts of a search marketing campaign – optimization, shopping search, paid inclusion, and pay–per–click solutions.

For new and experienced marketers
Whether you are a new marketer or a seasoned veteran, our search engine marketing workshops will help you take your campaigns to the next level of effectiveness.

For new and experienced web designers
Minimize advertising expenses by creating search–friendly and cost–effective site designs. Learn how to avoid common pitfalls early in the design process.

Attendees come from many different industries, including:

Web site designers and developers
eCommerce
Business development
Web site usability
Direct marketing
Media buying
Affiliates
Public relations
Web analysts
Sales and marketing consultants
Non–profit agencies
Or any job that requires site development and promotion.

Many search engine marketing speakers are new to the industry or merely repeat information disseminated by more experienced professionals. Why learn search–friendly design from speakers who do not design for a living? Learn from the leading industry expert on search–friendly and user–friendly interfaces in the field of search engine marketing industry.

Build a Web site that satisfies your both site´s visitors AND the search engines
Design dos and don´ts
Successful Web site information architecture – learn what search engine marketers don´t know
Avoid costly copywriting and design mistakes
Link development research: tips and tools
Learn proven techniques and strategies for long–term results

Shari Thurow is a sought–after speaker and trainer on the topics of search engine–friendly Web site design and Web site usability. A popular speaker at Search Engine Strategies, web site design, and online marketing conferences worldwide, Shari´s sessions are very popular and four–star rated.

Shari is the Webmaster and Marketing Director at Grantastic Designs. She has been designing and promoting Web sites since 1995, and is outsourced to many firms throughout the U.S. She has a 100% success rate for getting client sites ranked at the top of search engine and Web directory queries.

She is the author of Search Engine Visibility and a regular columnist for Clickz and SearchDay. Shari is currently a graduate student at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, specializing in human/computer interfaces for the Library and Information Sciences Department.

Grantastic Designs, Inc. has designed and successfully marketed Web sites for a wide variety of industries. Clients include Microsoft, AOL, Yahoo, HSBC, National Cancer Institute, WebMD, Reader's Digest, and many other well–known brands.

Here are the class timelines:

Understanding search engines
8:00 – 8:50 a.m.

The major search engines and how they work
Anatomy of search engine results pages (SERPs)
Types of search engine marketing
Questions and answers
Break
8:50 – 9:00 a.m.

Search engine optimization (SEO) process
9:00 – 9:50 p.m.

Defining the full SEO process:
Keyword analysis
Site optimization
Submission
Monitoring – managing expectations
Web positioning vs. Web analytics software
Questions and answers
Break
9:50 – 10:00 a.m.

SEO Process – Site architecture and page design
10:00 am to 10:50 am

Site architecture vs. page design (interface)
Why architecture and design are important for search engine visibility
Components of an optimized site:
Site navigation schemes
Other types of page links
Types of Web pages and how to optimize them
Web address
Questions and answers
Break
10:50 – 11:00 a.m.

SEO Process – Link development
11:00 am to 11:50 am

What is popularity?
Why link development is important for search engine visibility
Characteristics of effective link development
Competitive link development strategies
Submission guidelines
Questions and answers



Paid Search Fundementals:

Many marketers say that nothing matches the control, measurability, and ROI they get from paid search marketing campaigns using programs such as Google AdWords and Yahoo! Search Marketing. Buying targeted clicks isn´t just the "next best thing" to attracting free "organic" search referrals to your website – many say it´s actually better!

If you count the parallel "content targeting" options available by enabling some settings in the same advertising interfaces, paid search now accounts for 50% of all online advertising spending. Developing expertise in this area is rapidly becoming a must for any serious online marketer.

In this half–day seminar, Andrew Goodman, author of Winning Results with Google AdWords and Principal of Page Zero Media, will offer specific tips illustrated by live examples. Attendees can expect a session geared towards the intermediate–level online marketer that will flexibly switch between tutorial "presentation" mode, and live examples.

Any company or organization needing to generate cost–effective leads or sales through their website, or anyone who advises companies on their web strategy or sales. Some familiarity with the user search experience, and an interest in measuring the results of marketing campaigns, is helpful. Those with existing paid search campaigns, especially those with campaigns recently launched or undergoing review, will be the most likely to benefit from this seminar. The topics denoted with asterisks (*) are considered "practicum" and will typically break from presentation format to show live examples; audience participation and questions are particularly welcome in these sections. To get into the spirit of the session, the instructor recommends consulting any of the following books ahead of time:

Winning Results with Google AdWords, Andrew Goodman
Survival is Not Enough; Purple Cow; Permission Marketing, Seth Godin
Good to Great, Jim Collins

When signing up, don´t hesitate to contact the instructor at agoodman [at] [his gmail address] with your quick take on which of the subtopics below is most important to you, as time will be short and the seminar is intended to focus on the needs of the group.



Press Release SEO Workshop

Intro: Where Paid Search Fits in the Advertising Landscape
Understanding how much priority to place on paid search
We're Hedgehogs, Not Rock Stars, or why every tweak counts
Paid search ads to grow a business (not "to get rich")
Why CPC? How you pay for search & contextual ads is evolving
Meet the Group (What Are Your Challenges?)


The User Search Experience and How it Looks/Feels
Eye tracking studies: do you need to be in "premium" ad positions to attract clicks?
Where your ads show up, and why
The "scenarios" concept (Eisenbergs)


Planning, Forecasting, and Campaign Setup
What should I budget?
What CTR? Conversion Rate? ROI? Is reasonable?
Looking at key campaign settings: looking at budget settings, ad rotation, dayparting, geotargeting, and more


Writing Better Ads: Basic to Advanced
What elements of ads can be tested
How to test, how to interpret a test
Is it only about performance? (no, not 100%)
New ad formats: banners, video…


Bid Strategy
Bidding to ROI ∓ related metrics
Bidding to establish position
Competitive jockeying and bid management
Pitfalls of bid management and bid management tools
Dayparting: what it is, whether it´s for you


Keyword Resarch and the Long Tail of Search
Not all accounts warrant 20,000 keyphrases – which do?
Rationales for large keyword lists: a re–examination
Key concepts in keyword expansion
Guerrilla concepts in keyword expansion
Tools you can use


Special Topic: Trademark and Keyword Advertising

BREAK


Different Business Models, Different Tactics: Case Studies (eg. Fast Moving Retail vs. High–Consideration B2B)

Measurement Issues – Tracking ROI, Choosing Analytics Software. Remember, there can be no absolute measure of ROI. So what can the primary uses of ROI–related metrics be for campaign management and improvement? In this part, we´ll discuss how to get your campaign set up properly from the start, including settling on key performance indicators, a tracking "regimen," and setting up analytics software. Some examples will be shown of live web analytics reports and what they can do to improve ROI.


Landing Page Testing, Site Architecture, and Conversion Rates. What´s a landing page? What is the best one to send visitors to? What are some common myths and best practices in improving conversion rates from a click to a sale? Don´t fill a leaky bucket. If you choose the wrong pages or send searchers to an unpersuasive site, quite simply, they will not buy or take desired actions. To avoid burning the budget, you may need to get back to the drawing board with your site (or at least key landing pages) before you begin buying traffic.


Advanced Trend: AdWords Quality Scores. Google´s new auction format is complex and may negatively impact some businesses more than others. Case examples and a broader explanation of trends in Google´s approach to relevancy.


Advanced Strategy: Search Engine Relations and the Search Engine Marketing Ecosystem. How do the leading search engine traffic vendors deal with small clients? Large clients? Competitors? Agencies?


Yahoo SM & MSN adCenter: Key Differences & Trends. Although time may be limited, a look at interesting features from the #2 and #3 paid search vendors is a must. Discussion of different tactics that may be required to succeed with these vendors.


Contextual Advertising: What Is It, How to Buy It, What to Avoid. A brief overview of contextual ad programs, and some settings that may help you control, measure, or opt out of this kind of traffic.


2nd–Tier PPC Vendors: Miva, Kanoodle, Enhance, LookSmart; Niche PPC Vendors: Business.com, IndustryBrains, Quigo


Combatting Click Fraud: A Balanced Perspective. Examining the main sources of click fraud and the leading tactics for discovering and documenting it, and seeking refunds.


Conclusion: Commonalities between Paid Search & SEO

Each month, millions of people in the U.S. use Google News, Yahoo News and other news search engines to find the latest information about a wide range of topics that interest them. According to Hitwise, the market share of Yahoo News and Google News rivals other news and media websites such as CNN.com, MSNBC, USAToday, The New York Times, and BBC News.

When they conduct a news search, they often find recent and relevant press releases along with articles from thousands of other news sources. According to a new report from Outsell, a leading market research company, press releases have leapfrogged over trade publications to become the top news source. The report is based on surveys of 5,740 knowledge workers taken from November 2005 to February 2006.

According to Outsell, there has been an "eye–popping shift in most–used information types." Only 10% of knowledge workers in the corporate sector used press releases as news sources from September 2004 to January 2005, compared to 35% who used trade publications during the same period. That changed dramatically from November 2005 to February 2006, which found 37% of knowledge workers using press releases as news sources, compared to 26% who used trade publications.

If your company´s marketing and public relations strategy includes the Internet, your press releases should be optimized for and distributed to the major news search engines.

This workshop is for executives, managers and professionals in public relations agencies, corporate communication departments, and search engine optimization firms. Participants should bring a wireless laptop computer. The hands–on portion of the workshop will also be more valuable if each participant can submit a recent press release or a draft press release in advance.

After attending this half–day workshop, you will be able to:
Get high keyword ranking in Google News and Yahoo News;
Expand publicity in news media and blogs;
Increase traffic to your web site;
Generate more leads;
Boost online sales; and
Measure marketing ROI.


In this workshop, you will learn how to optimize press releases, distribute them to news search engines, and measure your results. Some of the best practices that will be covered in this workshop were mentioned in an article by Steve Lohr in The New York Times on Sunday, April 9, 2006, entitled, "This Boring Headline Is Written for Google."

Search engine experts told Lohr that news search engine algorithms "scan the title, headline and at least the first hundred words or so of news articles," so it "would be wise to do a little keyword research to determine the two or three most–searched words that relate to their subject – and then include them in the first few sentences."

So, during this workshop, you will learn how to:

Conduct keyword research to find at least three relevant terms that your target audiences are likely to use for a news search.
Edit your press release – particularly the headline and first two paragraphs – to improve news search engine rankings.
Add hyperlinks intended to help people find interesting, related content, when applicable.
Distribute your press release through the major news search engines and a variety of other channels to reach your target audiences.
Measure results of your campaign whether your objective is to build brand awareness, increase web site traffic, generate sales leads, or sell products online.


Who are the Workshop leaders:

Greg Jarboe and Jamie O´Donnell are the co–founders of SEO–PR, a search engine optimization and public relations firm specializing in news search, blog search and vertical search. SEO–PR has been praised by Danny Sullivan, Editor of Search Engine Watch, for "focusing on search as a public relations tool." SEO–PR and one of its clients, Southwest Airlines, won the 2005 Golden Ruler Award from the Institute for Public Relations for "using new media and new techniques to tie public relations to sales."

Greg and Jamie have been called "SEO experts" by Larry Chase´s Web Digest for Marketers, "PR pros" by Jack O´Dwyer´s Newsletter, and "measurement mavens" by Katie Paine´s One–Minute Benchmarking Bulletin. They have held similar Press Release SEO workshops for a variety of clients, including Southwest Airlines, Symmetricom, Verizon SuperPages.com, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Greg is a frequent speaker at Search Engine Strategies, a guest writer for Search Engine Watch, and the editor of SEO–PR´s News Blog. He has more than 25 years of experience in public relations, marketing, and search engine optimization at Lotus Development Corp., Ziff–Davis, and other companies. Greg graduated from the University of Michigan, attended the University of Edinburgh, and worked on his Masters at Lesley College. He lives in Acton, Massachusetts, is a former Chairman of the Acton Board of Selectmen, and won two New England Press Association awards as editor of The Acton Minute–Man.

Jamie has more than 20 years of public relations experience pitching mainstream media, trade press and online publications. He has spoken at Search Engine Strategies, PRSA National Conference, several chapters of The Business Marketing Association, and the American Marketing Association. Jamie has ghostwritten articles for SEO–PR clients that have appeared in DM News, B2B Online, and other online advertising publications.

Before co–founding SEO–PR, Jamie was President and co–founder of IDM Partners, an online direct marketing agency. Prior to that, he was President and co–founder of the JONA Group, a San Francisco PR firm that worked with leading VC firms to launch over 50 Internet start–up companies. Before that, Jamie was the Vice President of the Enterprise Software practice at Hi–Tech Communications, a Shandwick agency. Prior to that, he was Corporate Communications Manager at Lotus Development Corp.

Jamie graduated from Boston College, earned his first Masters degree from Boston College and his second Masters degree in communications at Boston University. He has won two Bell Ringer Awards from the Publicity of Club of Boston. Jamie has lived in San Francisco for more than 15 years.



Keyword Research

Keyword strategy is the cornerstone of all search engine marketing efforts. As long as people use words to search, finding and targeting searchers will depend on effective keyword research. In this 4–hour class, "keyword guru" Dan Thies will walk you through the process of researching and developing effective keyword lists for SEO and pay-per-click campaigns, identifying and countering competitors´ tactics, and leveraging the flow of incoming data to improve the effectiveness of your pay–per–click campaigns.

This program is intended for SEO/SEM consultants, site designers, developers, in-house search engine marketing specialists, Internet consulting professionals and entrepreneurs who want to make the most of the opportunity search engines offer. If you are serious about growing your business, we´ll help you get there with this fast–paced training, emphasizing best practices in keyword research.

After attending this workshop, you will be able to:

Perform a detailed analysis to identify and target the most popular keywords for your site and understand the difficulty of achieving top rankings for each search term.
Obtain the most accurate information available on the popularity of your keywords and realize which keywords are most likely to convert to sales.
Know which keywords you absolutely must include on your client´s site.
Choose the optimal keywords so that your PPC ads and organic optimization yield the best opportunities for quality traffic.
Know where to place your keywords for maximum effect, and how to mix in additional search term modifiers that will let you leverage your targeted search terms for greater traffic.

Keyword Strategy Concepts
Breadth
Depth
Targeting
PPC vs. SEO


Keyword Research Tools
Keyword Databases: Keyword Discovery & Wordtracker
PPC Provider´ Suggestion Tools (Google, MSN, Yahoo)
Competitive Research Tools
Other Tools


Conceptual Keyword Research
Customer research
Seed lists & lateral research
Brand, Product, Problem, Application


Competitive Research
No More Secrets: Extracting competitor´s keyword lists
Identifying broad, phrase, & exact match bids
Tracking competitors´ ads


Organizing & Managing Keyword Lists
Improving Breadth
Meaning Elements
Synonyms
Permutations
How far should you go?


Analytics & Feedback Loops
Selling Terms
Negative Matches
Creating synergy with SEO & PPC
Tying conversion to keywords
Closing the loop on conversion


Paid Search Fundamentals

Many marketers say that nothing matches the control, measurability, and ROI they get from paid search marketing campaigns using programs such as Google AdWords and Yahoo! Search Marketing. Buying targeted clicks isn´t just the "next best thing" to attracting free "organic" search referrals to your website – many say it´s actually better!

If you count the parallel "content targeting" options available by enabling some settings in the same advertising interfaces, paid search now accounts for 50% of all online advertising spending. Developing expertise in this area is rapidly becoming a must for any serious online marketer.

In this half–day seminar, Andrew Goodman, author of Winning Results with Google AdWords and Principal of Page Zero Media, will offer specific tips illustrated by live examples. Attendees can expect a session geared towards the intermediate–level online marketer that will flexibly switch between tutorial "presentation" mode, and live examples.

Any company or organization needing to generate cost–effective leads or sales through their website, or anyone who advises companies on their web strategy or sales. Some familiarity with the user search experience, and an interest in measuring the results of marketing campaigns, is helpful. Those with existing paid search campaigns, especially those with campaigns recently launched or undergoing review, will be the most likely to benefit from this seminar. The topics denoted with asterisks (*) are considered "practicum" and will typically break from presentation format to show live examples; audience participation and questions are particularly welcome in these sections. To get into the spirit of the session, the instructor recommends consulting any of the following books ahead of time:

Winning Results with Google AdWords, Andrew Goodman
Survival is Not Enough; Purple Cow; Permission Marketing, Seth Godin
Good to Great, Jim Collins

When signing up, don´t hesitate to contact the instructor at a goodman [at] [his gmail address] with your quick take on which of the subtopics below is most important to you, as time will be short and the seminar is intended to focus on the needs of the group.

What I Never Learned In Driver’s Ed.

Let me begin by admitting that I barely remember what I was taught in Driver’s Ed. I remember being perplexed and annoyed that my high school curriculum didn’t offer it even though TV and the full service, on-campus garage for all those aspiring mechanics led me to believe they should. So I had to enroll in a private two week long class that was taught at my local mall. I didn’t keep my notes but I’m sure all bases, including what to do should you encounter a problem on the road, were covered in some chapter or video.

But the fact remains that I have never learned how to change a tire. I've seen boyfriends and boy friends do the grunt work on several occasions, and based on these demonstrations I was confident that I could do it myself if need be, but the occasion never arose.

And then it did. A few weeks ago I was in a pickle, but I was fortunate enough to find able-bodied men before the clock struck 8. To make a long and somewhat tedious story short, I found two sets of guys who effectively saved my day. One pair I found at my local gas station which has a car wash and an ATM but no garage. They put my donut on in 19 minutes (the younger of the two wanted to time himself; it was super cute) and refused any compensation. The other pair at the tire store was kind enough to repair my valve stem for the low, low price of whatever I had in my pocket.

I was told that it was the best-case scenario, so why was I so fussed when I was only 30 minutes late and didn’t have to do any hard, sweaty work?

Why did I hesitate to call AAA in the first place? Because I had plans and I didn’t want to wait hours for them to alleviate a minor situation.

If it was so minor why didn’t I try to change my own tire? Because, right then and there, I realized that I couldn’t.

All the demos in the world did not prepare me for the day I found myself alone with a rapidly deflating tire and I don’t think I’m alone here. I’d be willing to bet money that a sizeable percentage of the American population is as ignorant as I am and, like me, probably won’t realize it until it’s too late.

So how do we rectify the situation? Where would one acquire the working knowledge so as not to be at the mercy of a trained technician or a perfect stranger?

I know the internet is a great resource for information, but it is my opinion that that alone doesn’t cut it. Diagrams and instructions, chapters and videos, are no substitute for hands-on experience. You cannot learn to swim without jumping in a pool nor can you master karate outside of a dojo. These are things that take practice – not just theory – to be good at.

In lieu of a standardized, universally available, regularly taught lesson I think there is an opportunity for the automotive industry, with the help of the internet, to fill this void. I’ll explain:

Let’s say you’re in the market for a new car. Something like 80% of consumers begin their shopping experience by searching on the internet. Once they narrow it down, most of them end up on a dealership website. Being that it is such a competitive market with high saturation in many areas, a lot of dealerships are getting creative; they use all kinds of promotions and incentives to get a prospect to submit their information (a “lead”) in the hopes of winning that person’s patronage.

This is what eDealerTools has made a job of with eAutoSavings; the proverbial dangling carrot. And the beauty of eAutoSavings is that it is customizable. Hundreds of dealers have used incentives from a dollar amount off of the MSRP to a free iPod to a free tote bag – whatever works. One area that I feel has not been properly tapped, however, is Service.

And this is where my flat tire comes in. I’m sure there are caveats and a certain amount of bureaucracy that I’ve neglected in my brainstorm, but hear me out: What if a dealership, aiming to get my business and the business of my innumerable peers, were to offer something like a Free Roadside Maintenance class with the purchase of a new or used vehicle?

I think this approach is pretty smart because it avoids the dreaded compliancy issues seen with Honda and Acura dealerships as well as giving no-haggle dealerships like Saturn more leeway with their offers. What’s more is that kind of offer is beneficial to all involved; I learn how to fend for myself and the dealership gets a returning customer. One who is likely to tell all her friends and family about her fantastic sales experience, refer that dealership business, and is also likely to buy another car from them in five years. The experience transcends the transaction to become a relationship.

Deepak Chopra once said "Giving connects two people, the giver and the receiver, and this connection gives birth to a new sense of belonging."

This was proven true to me by the kind young man at the gas station who would not take my money. When pressed he said "No, please, just come back and pump lots of gas!" And I have been. The men at the tire store also made a loyal customer of me by helping me despite the fact that they were technically closed and could have been repremanded for providing a service "off the books."

My point is that money alone, in the form of sales, rebates or incentives, is not all that speaks to people. The fact is that anything can become valuable. It's just a matter of how you make it so. Chopra's sentiment is precisely what so many businesses strive to achieve, and that is what eAutoSavings helps facilitate, but the onus of maintaining customer relations is on the dealership. It’s one thing to meet expectations, but it’s another to exceed them, and if you taught me how to change a tire properly I would be impressed.

Blog Guides - Best of the Best

Blog guides bring you the latest content from the world of weblogs. Here are a few of the best of the best Blog Guides:



Technorati.com

The authority on what's happening in the world of weblogs, Technorati brings you the latest content from over 29 million blogs, sorted and tagged. Definitely worth checking out, this is one of my favorites.



Blogniscient.com

Blogniscient tracks and filters news that's all the buzz in blogs they rank the "best" of the blogosphere. Read selected blog articles in Politics, sci/tech, sports, entertainment, and business. Everyone has heard the buzz about blogs, but finding the best information is a real challenge without the right tools. Blognisicient gives you all the right tools check it out and let me know which you like best.



Bloglines.com

Bloglines is a free service that makes it easy to keep up with your favorite blogs and news feeds. With Bloglines, you can subscribe to the RSS feeds of your favorite blogs, and Bloglines will monitor updates to those sites. You can read the latest entries easily within Bloglines. See the overview for more information.
Each of the products have their own strengths and weaknesses, but for the most part they are all exceptional. Please post back and let me know which you like best. For those of you that have been using either of these products let me know what you like about them.

VisiStat

If you're into all that web analytics and geo-targeting stuff, VisiStat sounds pretty cool. Arguably creepy, but really interesting none the less.


www.visistat.com

Search Engine Marketing: Make It Work For You

Its official: more companies are turning away from traditional advertising venues and toward search engine marketing and e-mail marketing. Advertisers in the United States and Canada spent $5.75 billion on search engine marketing in 2005, a 44 percent increase over 2004, according to the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization. That is a huge gain and all indicators point to continued growth: the same organization projects that spending on search engine marketing will reach $11 billion by the year 2010.

Companies are moving money away from traditional advertising venues like direct mail marketing pieces, because they cost far more per converted sale than online advertising (Stepforth.com). As more and more people turn to the Internet to research planned purchases, gain information and buy goods, you need to follow them and place advertising where more eyes will see it.

So what constitutes search engine marketing? The term includes paid placements, paid inclusion and organic search engine optimization. Currently, the bulk of the spending is on paid placement programs, where listings are guaranteed to appear in response to particular search terms, with higher ranking typically obtained by paying more than other advertisers. While paid placement is a great way to get your company name in front of the eyes of potential buyers, a well-rounded online marketing plan should include more than just one technique. Following are quick definitions for the two other search engine marketing techniques as well as pros and cons of using them:

Paid Inclusion
Paid inclusion is an advertising program where pages are guaranteed to be included in a search engine’s index in exchange for payment, though no guarantee of ranking well is typically given. So your page or Web site will be ranked based on its relevance to the given search terms, not based on position. Since there is no guarantee that you’ll get any traffic, these programs are like playing ‘search engine lottery’. You may not hit the jackpot with a ton of visitors, but since you are buying additional listings you may have more chances of appearing in various searches. If this happens, you may get plenty of quality visitors with less expense than through paid placement advertising programs.

Organic Search Engine Optimization
This type of program lists and rates Web sites according to factors such as keyword relevancy within a Web page as compared to the specific search terms. In other words, the listings are not influenced by direct financial payments, only by effective search engine optimization. This type of program can save you money, but you will probably have to hire an individual or company to effectively optimize your site. A professional knows how to increase your site ranking with links, strategically placed keywords, meta tags and more.

It’s obvious that the marketing tide is turning towards the Internet, not only because it is less expensive to reach more people than traditional advertising, but also because search engine marketing has several significant advantages over traditional venues, including:

• Up to the minute information – whether through a targeted email or by pulling up your site in an online search, your customers can get the most recent information about your dealership, including notices of special offers and sales. You cannot deliver this kind of immediate information with a mailed marketing piece.
• Makes you easier to find – numerous surveys have shown that search engines and directories are the most popular method used to find Web sites.
• People use search engines a lot – most web users search the web everyday, how many people do you know who read a magazine or a newspaper everyday?
• You get qualified buyers – the traffic that you get from search engines and directories is highly qualified because the users are actively searching for the information. This is a huge difference from blanketing a chosen area with a mailed piece.

Search engine marketing is here and it’s growing. If your dealership hasn’t explored how it can increase your leads and revenue, it’s time to find out. While traditional marketing and advertising venues are here to stay and are still useful, the best way to compound their effectiveness and increase your public exposure is to dive into the online world. There are companies in the dealer space who can help you maximize your online efforts, seek them out and watch your sales grow.

Ali Amirrezvani is President and CEO of DealerOn, Inc., a leading provider of interactive websites and online marketing solutions exclusively for the automotive industry. He has held executive and top sales positions throughout his 10 year career in the industry and currently serves over 750 dealers nationwide.

The article that never was…

The Carfeinator gave me a fair amount of grief over my last post and I am somewhat crestfallen.

“SPAM? Mary, you wrote about SPAM. I mean, it was well written (I was swamped so I skimmed through it), but SPAM??”

Ok, I acknowledge that complaining about SPAM is not the most original or awe-inspiring topic, but 1) you admitted that you did not actually read my rant and 2) you definitely did not shed any light on the purpose of SPAM.

Still and all, rather than point fingers or limn the terrible irony of the existence and marketing of Cialis Soft Tabs, I feel compelled to compensate for my earlier diatribe with a more relevant and somewhat original topic. So, here it goes…

It was late on a Friday afternoon - June 2, 2006 to be precise. The phone was ringing as it so often does, and I answered as I so often do. A gentleman by the name of Grant Repsher informed me that he needed to know all about DealerOn pronto so he could complete an article which was slated to appear in the June 12 issue of Automotive News (www.autonews.com).

Talk about a fantastic development. Automotive News is arguably THE industry periodical and he contacted us. I never even read that magazine, but I have heard of it, and I recognize good PR when it shows itself. Having had a brief and unsucessful stint in sales, this phone call felt very much like a hot lead does after spending days battling your way through cold calls.

Upon completing my Happy Dance, I forwarded Grant’s request to Ali for his review and response. The article’s focus? To highlight some of the latest initiatives available to automotive dealerships with an emphasis on website design, use of SEO/SEM, and Internet lead generation/management.

Mr. Repsher’s assignment absolutely screamed “DealerOn!” I did another little jig. Clearly, the Gods were smiling on us. This is our forte' and we could do no wrong. By 5:06pm on Friday, June 2 our answers were submitted.

And then we waited.

Two months and four issues later there is still no mention of DealerOn and I am officially crushed. My hot lead turned out to be a flake; a tease. In an effort to pick up the pieces of my shattered ego I decided to blog about it today. I started this intending to post the Q&A of the article that never was. Automotive News be damned; I’ve got a blog! Someone will read it, right?

I was sitting outside, smoking, and thinking about my Cialis joke when I had an idea; why continue to sulk over this disappointment when I can get to the bottom of it? I have everything I need – a desire to know, the gumption to initiate contact, and an email address. So I switched gears; I put the self-indulgent web log on hold and composed a carefully worded, overly polite inquiry. Fortune is in the follow up, as they say. It was a good decision.

It turns out that final edits were made earlier this week, the article should be published within the next two weeks, and DealerOn is definitely included.

So it isn’t really the article that never was… it’s more like the article that isn’t (yet).

SPAM - My Arch Nemesis

Am I an idiot, or does SPAM not make any sense?

I mean, I understand tangible junk mail. Fliers advertising our local pizza joint or coupons informing us of an upcoming retail sale (valid this weekend only!) create a sense of urgency. They are meant to spur us into action; to get us to spend those hard earned dollars on what we may or may not want, and probably do not need. They are easily spotted and discarded, but sometimes gems are found within the riff raff. I can always use an extra 15% off my total one-time purchase at Bed, Bath & Beyond.

But misspelled, nonsensical, and blatantly obvious SPAM? Malicious virus peddlers aside, how can anyone think that I could be talked into purchasing Viagra or, my favorite, CyIxAoLjIkS to improve my allegedly disappointing erection? I'M A GIRL. And what makes them think I have not already given Hoodia a try, huh? Finally, what is the point of sending me a page full of squares that communicate absolutely nothing?

My patience for poor grammar is limited to begin with so things like that, and the frequency with which I am bombarded with them, absolutely infuriates me. It is as if they are doing it on purpose; like they are pushing my buttons.

"Let's see if we can get Mary to really scrape her face off this time. Sound good?”
“Dude, are you kidding? That sounds awesome!”
*roll of the dice*
“And the winner is… Ephedra! MUAAHAHAHA!!!"

In all seriousness, though, I spend at least an hour every day cleaning out various work inboxes (yes, I am important enough to have access to other people’s unwanted and unfiltered electronic mail). I spend the majority of that hour+ adding those addresses to an ever-growing Junk Mail list and fostering a mean dislike of the faceless, and I would venture a guess at spineless, entities who think I can be duped into giving out my credit card number.

Sure, it is possible that I am not being very fair. Most of them probably have spines, even if it is only skeletal in nature, and others may not be as manipulative as my imagination has painted them. But I still find SPAM both annoying and insulting, and I believe it to be a huge waste of time and resources for all involved.

So let us get this straight, Internet Fiends: No, I do not want a Faux-lex watch. Yes, I want you to get a new job that you are not embarrassed to tell people about. And, no, I do not accept Paypal.

Link your Direct Mail and Internet Response Channels

Get two powerful response channels working together.

• Improve direct mail response rates.
• Provide relevant content in response to preferences.
• Engage responders in more meaningful dialogue.
• Convert responders' preferences into revenue.

Step 1: Attract. Print Personalized Web Addresses on each Direct Mail Piece

Using your campaign's Mail File, Look Who's Clicking generates and hosts a Personalized Web Address for each recipient, as well as automates the process of inserting these unique addresses into the mail file for inclusion in each direct mail piece.

Since studies have shown that nearly 33% of direct mail recipients prefer to respond online, Personalized Web Addresses provide a convenient response option.

Step 2: Interact. Capture Visits to the VIP Landing Page

When John visits his Personalized Web Addresses, he's visiting a VIP Landing Page built specifically to support the direct mail piece he holds in his hand.

For example, the VIP Landing Page's creative matches that of the mail piece. Upon arriving at JohnSample.MyOnlineReply.com, a welcome message thanks John for visiting.

Step 3: React. Generate Leads, Print Reports, & Follow-up

Look Who's Clicking captures John's activity for additional follow-up and lead generation - all in real time. Comprehensive reports display campaign response rates, visitor patterns, and detailed lead information. Follow-up with sales leads as they come in!

Outlandish: Landing Pages for Real Estate Agents

What is it?
Outlandish helps you easily deploy targeted landing pages resulting in a better return on your advertising spend. Managed and tracked under one central location, Outlandish is the missing link between your current website and your next advertising campaign.

How does it work?
People begin their search for homes somewhere other than your site. Most sites ignore that fact and ask visitors to search all over again, or register on a complex form. Outlandish was built on the idea that you need to deploy multiple landing pages relevant to each marketing campaign in order to reach the highest response rate

Create it
When you can make landing pages quickly and easily, you have the flexibity to deploy a highly relevant experience for the consumer. This results in more leads and a better experience for everyone.

Customize it
We have a simple yet powerful content management system tailored specifically to landing pages, as well as a flexible templating engine. This way, you can ensure continuity between your landing page and the rest of your marketing campaign.

Launch it
You're in control of putting a targeted experience anywhere you want on the internet (just about). If you don't have your own domain to bring to the party, we'll let you borrow one of ours.

Market it
Landing pages attract higher campaign response rates, increased usability for your consumers, enhanced profitability, and advertising campaigns with greater longevity.

Once your landing page is out there for the world to see, you just need to tell people about it. If you need help getting large amounts of drive-by traffic, just ask us. We're pretty good at that too.

Track it
Its important that you have measurable goals for the metrics of your campaign. We can help you make sure you're on track with those goals.

What's in a link?

A few years ago my boss signed me up for a few SEO newsletters in the hopes that I would rise to the occasion and become some sort of learned internet superstar; a lean, mean Search Engine Marketing machine. Much to his chagrin, however, I have remained relatively uninspired.

I rarely make time to read these daily newsletters as I am hampered by ringing phones, pressing emails, riveting discussions of the dictionary.com word of the day, and my treasured escapist smoke breaks.

Now, that is not to say that I have completely shirked this responsibility. That would make me a bad employee. I skim over the titles in my inbox and, when witty enough, I peruse the occasional article and one in particular has stuck with me.

In the March 9, 2006 issue of SEO-news Gary McHugh wrote a great article entitled "Stinking Linking Thinking". It's not the most refined piece of writing I've come across, but he makes an excellent point: the internet and its content should cater to people, not search engines, and the current obsession with page rank and site indexing is flawed.

Why? Because people, not algorithms, determine whether or not a site is good, and by good we mean successful. Algorithms are about as reliable as the weather but people, if given what they want, become loyal members and paying customers and that is the goal, is it not? Popularity is a means to an end, that end being profit, and while the two are closely linked they are not one and the same.

Gary also notes that "The advice from Google to link to "relevant" sites has always puzzled me. How useful would Google be if it followed its own advice and only linked to other search engines and those search engines only linked to other search engines? Does their advice make sense? Hell no!"

This statement amuses me more than I care to admit, but for the purpose of this post, I will elaborate. I have found myself confused by the concept of relevant links as well and I found my intellectual vanity challenged. I figured that if someone is in the market for a new car or a new website, could they not also be interested in travel, life insurance, or a new boat?

Alas, Google and my boss seem to think otherwise.

Perhaps my logic is flawed. It happens. Perhaps we should have seen this coming as I am the kind of girl who will type your name in Google Search and click I'm Feeling Lucky rather than research something useful. Perhaps I should read fewer "Harry Potter" novels and more SEM articles.

Landing Page and Web Site Optimization Services

Landing Page and Web Site Optimization Services

Landing Page and Web Site Optimization for your online business. Increase your conversion rates through multiple variable testing and sales funnel optimization.

ClickTracks Web Analytics for PPC, SEO and ROI stats. Log Analysis and ASP

ClickTracks Web Analytics for PPC, SEO and ROI stats. Log Analysis and ASP

ClickTracks Analyzer reveals website visitor behavior patterns. It reveals search engine queries and PPC ROI. Clicktracks: award winning web analytics that's fast and easy

Conversion Rate Optimization from Future Now: Redesign Your Website and Marketing to Convert More Traffic

Conversion Rate Optimization from Future Now: Redesign Your Website and Marketing to Convert More Traffic: "Conversion Rate Marketing - Future Now persuades your prospects to take action" Interactivity and the proliferation of media leave websites as the glue that binds all today's marketing efforts. Websites are the hub of the persuasive system that includes advertising, sales and all customer touch-points online and offline. Persuasive systems are more complex, interwoven and expensive than ever before.

Disconnects in and between marketing communications is what causes customers to ignore marketing. Talent alone is no longer sufficient to ensure that customers won't ignore marketing; a process for designing these systems is needed.

Persuasion ArchitectureTM is a rigorous process that helps customers buy how they want to buy. That is why conversion rate boosts of 30%, 100% or even 5500% aren’t unheard for our clients. Results like these are not accidental. They are part of a collaborative process that calls for deep thinking, advanced planning and hard work.

Most auto dealer websites convert an anemic 1- 4%; customers ignore website content when it doesn't immediately deliver the level of relevance they demand. Those results can be improved dramatically. Unfortunately, many executives’ expectations remain unreasonably low. Websites converting less than 10% are cause for concern.

Read more...

I highly Recommend taking a closer look at these guys
Ali

Web 2.0 - Wow, The Possibilities Here Are Endless!

Each day we see the Internet evolve as innovative companies emerge and new fortunes are created. I am amazed by this new chapter in the Internet's lifecycle and it is here where I plan to further explore it. I have created this blog to serve as a place to store my ideas and hopefully those of the people who read it.

As a business owner, one must learn to stay focused and not act on every idea that presents itself. At my company, there is no shortage of ideas. In fact, we have so many ideas that many of them never come to fruition. As you can imagine, this can be very frusting for those who envision them. So, this is a place for all of us to share them, and hopefully, see them put to good use.

Recent DealerOn, Inc. Newsletter - July 2006

I am currently looing for a few guest writers to submit monthly or quarterly articles to be published in my company’s monthly newsletter. So, if you have some valuable information to share and you work in either the online marketing or automotive industry, please feel free to throw me a line.

Here is a sample of the most recent issue: “eDealer Inteactive: DealerOn’s Newsletter” Our current reader base is slightly over 26,000 members, which are primarily automotive industry professionals.

Best regards,

Ali Amirrezvani
President & CEO
DealerOn, Inc. & eDealerTools, Inc.

Phone: 877-ED-TOOLS ext 5017 (877-338-6657)
Fax: 877-840-9311
http://www.DealerOn.com
http://www.CallProspector.com
http://www.eDealerTools.com

ConversionRuler Features

ConversionRuler Features: "ConversionRuler is a subscription based 'performance tracking' reporting service that provides detailed information on the effectiveness of your site marketing efforts."

Over the course of the next few weeks, I will be examining a series of different software applications relating to the testing and optimization of dynamically generated landing pages. I'll be posting my findings here, so please feel free to post comments about any of the applications or resources I list.