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+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ********************* OPTIMIZING VISIBLE RESULTS IN SEARCH MARKETING ********************* Catch and cache past installments of SearchWrite SearchNews in the http://www.searchwrite.com/Pages/searchnews.htm ********************** GET THE "SEO TIP OF THE DAY" EVERY WEEKDAY ON TWITTER. Even in this challenging economy, paid search will continue to be one of the best-performing marketing methods available to business. Search marketing has weathered economic storms of the past. As we can recall, Google and the entire search industry was born out of necessity, during the dot-com bust. When times were tough, marketing needed to work hard to prove its value—and that’s exactly what search does. While other forms of advertising (TV, print, display) are facing cutbacks, Search is soldiering on because it is highly measurable and enables advertisers to easily tie revenue and ROI back to the user intent level. We believe the key to success in 2009 will be finding the inflection point in your online marketing efforts -- that place where your online brand authority and credibility can meld with your value proposition -- to engage your audience and deliver the highest rate of nterest (relevant leads) and conversions.
Which is worse, doing your taxes or planning effective SEO? A Microsoft adCenter study has revealed that a surprising 73 percent of small business owners would rather assess their tax liability than start a search marketing plan. The findings among 400 U.S. small-business owners indicate that a majority of the small businesses invest in developing Web sites, but fail to take even the simplest steps to enhance their online business presence. The study revealed that 59 percent of small businesses with Web sites don’t currently use paid search marketing, and of those, 90 percent have never even attempted it. Surprisingly, seven in 10 small-business owners who participated revealed that they would rather try to do their own taxes than start a paid search marketing campaign. Among participants’ chief concerns, most cited the common misconceptions of cost, time and complexity as major hurdles to conducting search marketing campaigns for their businesses. Other key insights included the following: • One quarter of respondents believe paid search marketing is too complex. • Twenty-one percent thought it would be too time-consuming. • Nearly nine in 10 (89 percent) feared keywords may become too expensive. • Thirty-five percent felt they would need an agency to help set up a search marketing campaign. These opinions run counter to widely held marketing industry views on paid search marketing, which recognize the practice as one of the most cost-effective, easy-to-use, measurable and accountable forms of marketing.
Will 2009 mark a new era for online Answers sites? We answer in the affirmative! Mahalo Answers has just become the newest entrant in this bustling category, and it offers a twist that its biggest competitors don’t: the chance to earn money by contributing to the service. Yahoo Answers is already the 800-lb. gorilla in the field, with some astonishing numbers reported earlier this year: 135 million users and 500 million answers worldwide, and growing at a rate of 11 million new answers per month just in the U.S. Answer the Mahalo call at: <http://www.mahalo.com/answers/>
Real estate search engine Zillow is also getting onboard the Answer train. Their new feature, Zillow Advice, provides a much needed local Q&A niche in an industry going through considerable crisis. Zillow Advice is a place where people can ask questions, find information on a very specific and local level, and connect with the real estate professionals in their area who can help. This, in addition to Zillow's updated home value and for-sale data on 80 million U.S. homes, creates an invaluable resource for consumers trying to navigate today's market." Users can tag questions by locality, at the state, city, or neighborhood level. Professionals and other Zillow users can then answer with information pertaining to that specific location. For example, if a user had a question about pricing their home in a specific Seattle neighborhood, a local Seattle real estate agent, or a recent seller from that neighborhood could answer with relevant information or advice. "Local Expert" Badge - Users who ask questions can notate the "best answer" to their questions. Those whose answers are frequently voted "best answers" earn points towards a "Local Expert" Badge - a way for the Zillow community to know which experts are active and frequently commended for their helpful contributions. Professionals can subscribe to specific locations or topics in their area of expertise. When a question is tagged with a city, neighborhood or topic they have subscribed to, they are notified immediately via an email or RSS feed and can quickly respond with relevant information. This feature helps consumers connect quickly and easily with the local experts who can best answer their question. Keyword Search - Users typing in a specific word or phrase, like "refinancing" are directed to all the questions that have been asked, or discussions taking place on Zillow Advice around that word or phrase. Profile Pages - All Zillow community contributions link to a user's free Zillow Profile Page, where real estate professionals can choose to include contact information, photos and a narrative about their areas of service. Profile pages show all of an individual's contributions to Zillow.com - from active listings, to questions answered or discussion participation.
The online world has changed dramatically since the Guardian drew up its first list of 100 useful sites in December 2006. The biggest changes have come in the fields of collaborative online services that let people work simultaneously on projects from different locations. Parallel growth has come with the mobile web. And video, of course, is now everywhere. Feast your screen on the Top 100 sites from over 200 useful categories with a uniquely British influence. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/18/internet-websites> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Peter Kim, a former Forrester analyst, recently polled 14 high-profile thinkers about social media marketing and asked them what they expected to see 2009 bring. "Now with connective technologies like Facebook Connect, Google FriendConnect, and OpenID, consumers will now be able to see reviews, experiences, and critiques from people they actually know and trust." - Jeremiah Owyang, Forrester Research "Twitter will continue to achieve legitimacy. But more than any push-channel, Twitter will give customers, advocates and critics unprecedented access to corporate personnel and vice versa." - Scott Monty, Ford Motor Company "Exclusivity trumps accessibility. Having thousands of friends becomes 'so 2008' and defriending becomes the hot new trend, driven by overwhelming rivers of newsfeeds." - Charlene Li, Altimeter Group More insights can be found in the Embed below: <http://www.scribd.com/doc/8944081/Social-Media-2009>
Apple's announcement that Steve Jobs will not deliver the keynote address of this year's MacWorld show, the first time in 12 years that Mr, Macintosh will not do the honors, has renewed rampant and unsubstantiated speculation about the health of the Apple CEO. While the triage takes place, the statistics are daunting: the five-year survival rate for a neuroendocrine tumour (for which Jobs was operated on) is quoted as 67% or a less encouraging 50%. But other stats suggest that if you hit five years, you've beaten the disease. Apple's ominous news for MacWorld show goers also foreshadows that 2009 could be the last year that Apple itself will exhibit at the trade show. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Speaking of rumors, guessing Yahoo's next marriage partner has become the latest blood sport of the corporate Web's chattering class. The latest name on the list after suitors Microsoft and Google is none other than Adobe! By merging with Adobe, Yahoo! could a gain an edge on rival Microsoft in the desktop documents business, while Adobe would benefit from Yahoo!'s online reach and consumer savvy, according to Victor Cook Jr., a professor at Tulane's Freeman School of Business. His advice to Yahoo!'s next leader: "Work out a merger of equals that will allow the combined companies to define and capture the emerging market for what soon will become online desktop advertising."
The Stanford Web Credibility Project (http://credibility.stanford.edu) found that 47% of users make buy decisions based upon the site itself. This implies that if the site is professional in appearance and supplies the essential information in a clear and complete manner, nearly half your customers will be comfortable making the buy decisions without further off-site research. Todd Follansbee of Web Marketing Resources reports that decisions about a site's professionalism are often made within 10 seconds of viewing the home or landing page. In this brief time customers gather a surprisingly broad range of impressions including: company size, product range, product offering, brand, and often price. They demonstrate emotional feelings of connection or dissatisfaction, as well as feelings of anxiety and/or comfort. They often decide if they are in the "right place." If you're in doubt about the effectiveness your present Website look and feel, user test your site on passers-by. Ask them to view your site alongside competitor sites. Ask probing, open-ended questions about their impressions and feelings. This will give you a good idea of the impression your site creates with visitors. TO GET THE "SEO TIP OF THE DAY" EVERY WEEKDAY ON TWITTER. ***************************************** Catch past installments of SearchWrite SearchNews in the |
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