SiteProNews |
- The Phoney War: Google and News Corp make up?
- 5 Tips for Joining Your First Social Media Site
- 12 Ways to Make Sure Your Internet Marketing Really Works
- Do You Really Want Your Site on Page One of Google?
- Google Now Helps You Improve Your Site Performance
| The Phoney War: Google and News Corp make up? Posted: 03 Dec 2009 02:42 AM PST The Phoney War, also referred to as the Twilight War by Winston Churchill, was the description given to first few months in World War II following the German invasion of Poland, marked by a lack of military operations in Europe. The same could perhaps be said of News Corp in 2009. Only last week we heard of an “exclusive deal” to list News Corp’s content on Microsoft’s Bing, but today a happy compromise has been suggested by the plaintiff. To many, dropping the company’s content from Google’s indexes was slated as a septuagenarian not understanding the concept behind the internet, while Hooray Henry newspaper chiefs curtsied in front of the great agitator-in-chief for taking on the titan of search. Google, meanwhile, mused over the “kleptomania” furore and, according to a report in the NYT, said it, “provided news organizations’ websites with 100,000 clicks a minute, every one of which offers a business opportunity for the publishers to show ads, win loyal readers and sell subscriptions.” As I have argued before, it is not easy for online news to make much revenue and an advertising model is perhaps the best anyone can ever achieve with regard to the established modus operandi of content provision and the monetisation of it. In support of this and in a recession such as the one that has just descended on the world, vast volumes of online traffic do not necessarily translate into significant advertising revenue. Furthermore, news is a fickle business in that unless the entire industry pulls together in the same direction, people will read the news somewhere else — and that has been Mr Murdoch’s major gripe about the BBC. So, with ad revenues slashed, Mr Murdoch’s great new architectural plan was unveiled to introduce subscriptions, which also flies in the face of how people use the web. This week Google seems to have softly entered the debate, looking at ways to appease Mr Murdoch and accommodate paid content. As the NYT dismissively commented: “Critics of News Corp said last week that Google should just let Mr Murdoch walk away, and that he would be shooting himself in the foot by doing so. News is a commodity on the web, and the loss of one of many sources of it will make little difference to internet users…” A Guardian article (you see how much I need the web for quotes and information that is published for free?), quoted Josh Cohen of Google News saying: “Media companies that want to erect paywalls around their online content still need to be visible on search engines. In fact, they have an even greater need for their content to be listed.” He added that: “Google had achieved this by updating its First Click Free programme, so that publishers can limit Google News users to looking at no more than five pages of content a day without registering or subscribing.” The Financial Times is also using this service. However, as always, there is a hitch: all a user needs to do is to go back to Google each time; and it is this “loophole” that Google is seeking to address so that it will limit you to five pages per day before registration, regardless of how you get to the website. Arianna Huffington, whose site is largely known for aggregating content, said at a recent Federal Trade Commission workshop on “Journalism and the Internet Age”: “Murdoch is confusing aggregation with theft…” and added: “Aggregation is part of the web’s ‘DNA’ and that Murdoch plays both sides, noting that some of Murdoch’s own sites also aggregate or ’steal’ content.” Others think the move is a significant initial victory for publishers, as Rory Cellan-Jones of BBC News said: “By playing hardball, [Murdoch] appears to have got Google to blink.” But as Mark Cuban, an HDNet exec, put it: “Platforms allow news sources, like Newscorp, to post breaking news and gain value from their brand. Google does not. In other words, if I trust a newspaper, TV or any brand, I can follow it on Twitter and expect the news to come to me…Having to search for and find news in search engines is so 2008.” So, the phoney war may just stay that way if the compromise is broad enough to placate Mr Murdoch. All said and done, the changes put forward by Google seem fair enough given the territory that’s at stake. But some observers have commented about the long-term sustainability of the model. One said: “The internet is open source at its core, is it not? So is content. Revenue models back to the drawing board…” Maybe, but the draughtsman’s contract has been gathering dust for over a decade now, still with no firm resolution in sight. ————————– John Sylvester is the media director of V9 Design & Build and an expert in search engine optimization and web marketing strategies. Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources |
| 5 Tips for Joining Your First Social Media Site Posted: 02 Dec 2009 11:42 PM PST Getting started on social media can often be deceptively simple – What’s the big deal? You sign up. – or intimidating – Why am I being asked for my date of birth? – or overwhelming – How do I find people to friend or follow? In actuality there are official and unofficial rules. It is easier if you start out knowing what’s what, and this is probably especially important if you’re more of an introvert. Let’s imagine you already use email, search for information on Google, and read blog posts. But you’ve never joined any social media sites. How do you start? 1. Decide how comfortable you are sharing information about yourself. And the corollary to this – how wide a sharing of this information are you willing to do. If you’re a book author and want people to buy your book, it’s a good idea to decide that you will share personal (although not private) information to as wide an audience as possible. If you only want to connect online with former high school friends, your target audience is much smaller. If sharing information makes you somewhat nervous, think about what it means to be personal as opposed to private. Personal is a good marketing book you just read that you can recommend to help others; private is a fight you had with your business partner over implementing the marketing steps recommended in the book. 2. Ask online savvy friends that, based on your goal, which popular site they would recommend you first join. (And do start with just one while getting your feet wet in this brave new world.)
3. Once you have chosen the site you’ll start on, do a Google search for information on effectively using that site. That’s right, before you ever sign up, read some blog posts that provide guidance on effectively using the site. Now this isn’t a research project that serves as an excuse for postponing actually joining the site. Just learn a few of the basic “rules.” And if you do this step, you’ll be way ahead of most other people who start on social media without first doing any research. And why not learn this on the site itself? Because most of these sites have inadequate information for newcomers or an abundance of information that overwhelms newcomers. Plus, to encourage you to sign up, the site’s home page says something like: To join now just do this. And it’s only after you’ve provided your name, email, password, etc. that you’re left wondering “What do I do next?” 4. If you’re starting on a site that doesn’t require your real name, choose a username carefully. You want to think about seeing this name used all across cyberspace as lots of social media sites pull information from other social media sites (with your permission, of course). You may initially think, for example, of choosing the name of your first book. But what happens when you write a second book? Or perhaps using the name of the book won’t work well for a site that is focused on a non-book arena. Keep in mind that whatever you do on the Internet can live forever. So this choice of a username should be considered carefully and for continued use in the long-run. (Once you’ve established a good online reputation with one username you don’t want to start at square one again with a new username.) 5. Immediately post a photo of yourself – a headshot in which sunglasses and a baseball cap are not blocking people from totally seeing your eyes. (This does not have to be professional-photographer quality but should not be blurry.) This photo should be one that will also work on social media sites you will join in the future because you want consistency across these sites. You want consistency to help people recognize and connect with you on more than one site. (The same for your username). Keep in mind that the photos for Twitter are quite small. And even if you’re starting on Facebook, only include a headshot of yourself. Do not include other people and preferably not animals and other props. By posting a good headshot of yourself you’re signaling that you’re interested in connecting with people – real people such as yourself – and you’ll be off to a good start on your first social media site. Now that you’ve read these five tips for starting on your first social media site, what are you waiting for? Join the cyberspace social media community today. Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is an Internet business consultant. If you liked this article, you’ll love her free report on “Power Marketing’s Top 3 Internet Marketing Tips” – grab your report now from www.TeachMeToUseTwitter.com Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources |
| 12 Ways to Make Sure Your Internet Marketing Really Works Posted: 02 Dec 2009 11:36 PM PST Everyone loves the Internet, but not everyone is ready to buy. There can be a level of scepticism you may have to overcome and one way to do that is let them see your face. Use online video and you have an advantage over your competitors when dealing with customers. Successful marketing is all about establishing a relationship; and that is so much easier when they can see and hear you. You may be very comfortable online, but some people are still sceptical about doing business with you over the Internet and you need to persuade them to trust you before they will buy from you. These are my top 12 direct marketing principles you can use to make sure your Internet marketing really works for you: 1. History. People want to know you are not going to disappear overnight so if you’ve been in business for any length of time then this will add credibility to you and your offers. 2. Statistics. Use genuine statistics to give you more credibility by listing number of customers served, money saved, profits made, and so on. 3. Testimonials I can’t overestimate the importance of these so get them from your Customers and Clients saying how you and/or your products have helped them. Get experts in your market to validate and endorse your products and services and if appropriate get celebrities who you either ‘rent’ for your marketing, feature at your events or use by association. 4. Demonstrations. With the use of online video and ‘how To’ DVDs it is very ease to show a demonstration of your product both on and offline. You can even demo an ebook by printing it out and talking through what it contains live on screen. Camtasia is free software that lets you make a screen capture video where you can demonstrate your website talking though the sales letter or giving a demo of how easy it is to download your ebook. If you are in a market that isn’t really familiar with online buying this works really well. What better proof that your product or service works than by showing an example of before and after. Many markets and products lend themselves to this treatment and it is very effective. In our own business we use video to show how to confirm emails when signing up to our email lists, when demonstrating how to use our Membership site and examples of results in a number of our ebook markets. 5. Credentials. What credentials do you have in your market? They don’t have to be academic, but can awards, accomplishments, membership to organisations that are relevant to your market. Both I and Neil Travers my business partner are CIPD qualified which is a training qualification we attained while working at the Bank. This is ‘proof’ of our ability to run workshops that are designed to aid the learning and intake and retaining of information by attendees and gives us increased credibility in their eyes. 6. Publicity. Reprints of articles about you in the press, or your articles being published in the media that lend weight to your credibility as the expert or authority in your market are highly valuable to you. Show your market that you are in demand, and have status as an expert. 7. Celebrity Spokesperson. To be used with caution. It can be effective but can also backfire when the market remembers the celebrity and the advert, but not what it was advertising. 8. Guarantee. If you can’t guarantee the product you’re selling then find something else to sell that you can guarantee. To really make your potential customers feel safe to buy from you you need to offer an ironclad guarantee. 9. Accessibility. On your website have your full contact detail if possible as this will give a big boost to your potential customer confidence in you and your company. Using just an email contact is the worst and an email, phone and address the best. Never give a PO Box as your address as it immediately makes people suspicious. 10. The Personal Touch. Being visible in the business to your customers is a confidence booster for them. Make it personal so you are a real individual, anecdotes about you and your business, pictures and videos all make your customer more comfortable as if they have already met you. 11. Make A Damaging Admission. No matter how good your product is it will have a disadvantage somewhere. Admit it up front and honestly comment on this fact. Answer Questions and objections up front and when a customer asks them via email or the phone. People can call our office throughout the week and email at any time with questions and that makes them feel safe to buy from us. 12. Excess. Use a combination of as many of the examples above in your marketing! What may seem like overkill to you may not be enough to overcome some people’s scepticism! FREE for you. The Internet Marketing Review is the UK’s longest running PRINTED Internet Marketing Newsletter. Just visit this special web page for more information: http://www.InternetMarketingReview.com/sya Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources |
| Do You Really Want Your Site on Page One of Google? Posted: 02 Dec 2009 11:33 PM PST
I asked a potential new SEO Coaching client that first question last week. From my end of the phone call, it sounded as if he almost fell out of his chair! I followed up by asking him if he could ever think of ANY reason for his website pages NOT to be found on page 1 in the Google SERPs (search engine results pages). How ’bout you? Can you think of any reasons you’d NOT want your pages to be found for your targeted keyword phrases on page 1? Keep in mind, I’m talking about your chosen keyword search phrases. I can think of at least 3 reasons. Maybe you can come up with some of your own. Is There Commercial Intent? Let’s say you have not just a page 1 Google result, but you’re actually the first result. Here is an important question for you to ask yourself. What is the commercial intent of this keyword phrase? Do the words contained in the keyword phrase give any indication of someone getting ready to spend money on a product or service like you offer? For instance, compare these keyword phrases: Keyword Research, Keyword Research Specialist and Keyword Research Consultant. The latter 2 phrases give an indication of someone who is getting ready to spend money. You can also Google the Microsoft Commercial Intent Tool and consider its’ results when evaluating your keyword search phrase choices. If you are targeting a keyword phrase that has questionable commercial intention at best, is there any reason to really be found on page 1? Wouldn’t it be better to target more appropriate phrases instead? If there’s no commercial intent, how does that help your online marketing? Can you see where I’m going? How Much Traffic Really Matters Now, I’m giving you a choice: you can have a first page result (with commercial intent) and your position number is 4. Your other choice is a different keyword search phrase with a second page result, position number 12, also with commercial intent. So, the choice is obvious? Well, I forgot to give you the rest of the details. The first page choice has monthly search queries for its’ phrase of 3,240. The second page result choice has monthly search queries for its’ phrase of 22,167. Do you still believe that the best choice in this example is the first page result? According to numbers from Aaron Wall’s site, approximately 6% of search users will click on that number 4 result in Google. That’s 194 visitors in a month. This is figuring average title and description tags of typical online marketing ability to convert to a click. “Your mileage may vary.” And for that second choice, the second page result? Over 1% should click on the search result, but let’s use just 1%. That’s 222 visitors per month. Last time I checked, 222 is more than 194, so the second page result trumps the first page result, because the second page result has much more traffic than can convert to a transaction. How Many Google AdWords Ads Show For Your Chosen Keyword? If you don’t see many AdWords ads, this should be a warning! One of 2 problems exist (or both):
Either way, is a first page result going to help you? Probably not. The Value Of A Committed Searcher Want a recipe to waste your time (or your employees’)? Get a first page result in Google for your keyword search phrase and place your toll-free phone number in big numbers on the top right of each of your Web pages. People clicking the first result in the SERPs are often less serious than those who go through the first few results or who continue searching onto the second page. There may be something to be said for avoiding people who almost randomly click the first result and who may have impulse control “issues”. Now, if you have a large staff to answer your incoming phone calls AND if your conversion rate from those calls is strong, then the potential problem I described probably isn’t a problem for your business. On the other hand, if you are a solo professional, this strategy can be hazardous! How are you going to perform your paid work when you get “Internet lookiloos” asking you questions they could get answered, if they would simply read a few words on your website? Are these the best potential clients for your services or products and the best use of your time? A second page result could bring you more serious potential customers, people who might be more likely to actually READ your website content, understand your products or services better and who might be more likely to convert to a transaction. It’s sure something to think about. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against first page rankings for your online marketing. I’m just for thinking a little further down the road than JUST first page rankings. Marketing online since 2004, Paul Marshall can help you market on a budget. He’s a Marketing Consultant offering marketing services (and d-i-y Coaching). You can learn more about Paul Marshall on his LinkedIn profile page and at Strategic Web Marketing.net. Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources |
| Google Now Helps You Improve Your Site Performance Posted: 02 Dec 2009 08:49 PM PST
Site Performance, an experimental feature added to the Webmaster Tools console courtesy of Google Labs, provides detailed information about your site’s load time and gives suggestions for speeding it up. It includes a chart of your site performance data over time, which can help determine latency triggers. As explained in Google’s official blog post about it, the Site Performance console includes examples of specific pages and their actual page load times, plus Page Speed suggestions that can help reduce latency. I was pretty shocked when I logged into Webmaster Tools today to find my blog pages take an average of 6 seconds to load. Google states that this is slower than 83% of sites! The Example Pages and Page Speed Suggestions revealed the culprit was a banner ad that was not optimized and a couple of extra DNA fetches on some pages so I was able to fix the issues pretty quickly. The load time data is apparently sourced from aggregated information by users of the Google Toolbar but it’s important to remember that it’s all averaged. A specific user may experience your site faster or slower than the average depending on their location and network conditions. As a Labs tool, Site Performance is still under development and Google are seeking feedback on it via the Webmaster Tools Forum. Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources |
Do you really want your website on page one of Google for your chosen keyword phrase(s)? What do you want your online marketing campaign to accomplish for you?
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