What is SEO – Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” (”organic” or “algorithmic”) search results for targeted keywords. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the search results or the higher it “ranks”, the more searchers will visit that site. SEO can also target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.

As a marketing strategy for increasing a site’s relevance, SEO considers how search algorithms work and what people search for. SEO efforts may involve a site’s coding, presentation, and structure, as well as fixing problems that could prevent search engine indexing programs from fully spidering a site. Other, more noticeable efforts may include adding unique content to a site, ensuring that content is easily indexed by search engine robots, and making the site more appealing to users. Another class of techniques, known as black hat SEO or spamdexing, use methods such as link farms and keyword stuffing that tend to harm search engine user experience. Search engines look for sites that employ these techniques and may remove them from their indices.

The initialism “SEO” can also refer to “search engine optimizers”, terms adopted by an industry of consultants who carry out optimization projects on behalf of clients, and by employees who perform SEO services in-house. Search engine optimizers may offer SEO as a stand-alone service or as a part of a broader marketing campaign. Because effective SEO may require changes to the HTML source code of a site, SEO tactics may be incorporated into web site development and design. The term “search engine friendly” may be used to describe web site designs, menus, content management systems, URLs, and shopping carts that are easy to optimize.

SEO as a Marketing Strategy
Eye tracking studies have shown that searchers scan a search results page from top to bottom and left to right (for left to right languages), looking for a relevant result. Placement at or near the top of the rankings therefore increases the number of searchers who will visit a site. However, more search engine referrals does not guarantee more sales. SEO is not necessarily an appropriate strategy for every website, and other Internet marketing strategies can be much more effective, depending on the site operator's goals. A successful Internet marketing campaign may drive organic traffic to web pages, but it also may involve the use of paid advertising on search engines and other pages, building high quality web pages to engage and persuade, addressing technical issues that may keep search engines from crawling and indexing those sites, setting up analytics programs to enable site owners to measure their successes, and improving a site's conversion rate.

SEO may generate a return on investment. However, search engines are not paid for organic search traffic, their algorithms change, and there are no guarantees of continued referrals. Due to this lack of guarantees and certainty, a business that relies heavily on search engine traffic can suffer major losses if the search engines stop sending visitors. It is considered wise business practice for website operators to liberate themselves from dependence on search engine traffic.

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What is PPC Marketing

Pay per click (PPC) is an online advertising model used on search engines, advertising networks, and content websites, such as blogs, where advertisers only pay when a user actually clicks on an advertisement to visit the advertisers' website. Advertisers bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market. When a user types a keyword query matching an advertiser's keyword list, or views a webpage with relevant content, the advertiser's ads may be displayed. Such ads are called a sponsored links or sponsored ads, and appear adjacent to or above the "natural" or organic results on search engine results pages, or anywhere a webmaster or blogger chooses on a content page.

Although many pay per click providers exist, Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and Microsoft adCenter are the largest network operators as of 2007. Minimum prices per click, often referred to as costs per click (CPC), vary depending on the search engine and the level of competition for a particular phrase or keyword list — with some CPCs as low as US $0.01. Very popular search terms can cost much more on popular search engines. The PPC advertising model is open to abuse through click fraud, although Google and other search engines have implemented automated systems to guard against abusive clicks by competitors or corrupt webmasters.

AdWords is Google's flagship advertising product and main source of revenue ($16.4 billion in 2007). AdWords offers pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and site-targeted advertising for both text and banner ads. The AdWords program includes local, national, and international distribution. Google's text advertisements are short, consisting of one title line and two content text lines. Image ads can be one of several different Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) standard sizes.

Yahoo! Search Marketing is a keyword-based "Pay per click" or "Sponsored search" Internet advertising service provided by Yahoo! Yahoo began offering this service after acquiring Overture Services, Inc. (formerly Goto.com). Goto.com was an Idealab spin off and was the first company to successfully provide a pay-for-placement search service following previous attempts that were not well received. Microsoft was the last of the "Big Three" search engines (Microsoft, Google and Yahoo!) to develop its own system for delivering pay per click (PPC) ads. Until the beginning of 2006, all of the ads displayed on the MSN search engine were supplied by Overture (and later Yahoo!). MSN collected a portion of the ad revenue in return for displaying Yahoo!'s ads on its search engine.

As search marketing grew, Microsoft began developing its own system, Microsoft adCenter, for selling PPC advertisements directly to advertisers. As the system was phased in, MSN search showed Yahoo! and Microsoft adCenter advertising in its search results. As of June 2006, the contract between Yahoo! and Microsoft has expired and Microsoft is displaying only ads from adCenter.

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Website Analytic Formulas

Below are many popular website metric calculations, the list is not comprehensive because calculated metrics are user-defined. If you have a request on how to calculate a metric not mentioned below post it in the comments and I will give you the math.

Bounce Rate (Percent)
Single Access/Entries
When a given page is the entry page, how often do visitors leave the site without accessing any other pages

Weighted Bounce Rate (Percent)
(Single Access/Entries) * (Page Views/Total Page Views)
Same as Bounce Rate, but gives a higher value to pages that are viewed more often on the site, thus pushing your most popular pages with this problem to the top of the list

Page Views per Visit (Numeric)
Page Views/Visits
What is the average number of pages per visit

Page Views per Visitor (Numeric)
Page Views/Daily Unique Visitors
What is the average number of pages per unique visitor (daily uniques, weekly uniques, monthly uniques, etc.)

Exit Rate (Percent)
Exits/Visits
When a certain page is part of a visit, how often is it an exit page

Entry Rate (Percent)
Entries/Visits
When a page is part of a visit, how often is it an entry page?

Multi-Page Visit Entry Rate (Percent)
(Entries – Single Access) / Entries
When a page is the entry page, how often does it lead to at least one other page

Visits per Visitors (Numeric)
Visits/Daily Unique Visitors
What is the average number of visits per unique visitor (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.)

Page Views/No Reloads (Numeric)
Page Views – Reloads
How many page views did a page get, not counting reloads, but counting Back button or additional path views to the page

Reload Percentage (Percent)
Reloads/Page Views
What percentage of the page views were reloads of that page.

Entry to Exit Ratio (Percent)
Entries/Exits
What is the ratio per page of how often it is the entry page vs. how often it is the exit page

Average Order Value (Currency)
Revenue/Orders
Average revenue per order

Order Conversion (Percent)
Orders/Visits
What percentage of visits results in an order

Buyer Conversion (Percent)
Orders/Visitor
What percentage of visitors results in an order

Checkout Conversion Rate (Percent)
Orders/Checkouts
What percentage of checkouts results in an order

Checkout Initiation Rate (Percent)
Checkouts/Visits
What percentage of visits results in a checkout

Average Order Size (Numeric)
Units/Orders
How many items are purchased in an order, on average

Event Conversion (Percent)
Orders/Event
Used for tracking success events, what is the percentage of visits that result in that success event. (For example, registrations per visit, form completion per visit, download per visit, etc.)

Product View Conversion (Percent)
Orders/Product View
What percentage of product views resulted in an order

Abandoned (Numeric)
Cart Adds – Orders
How many cart additions did not result in an order

Abandonment Rate (Percent)
1 – (Orders/Cart Adds)
What percentage of visitors added an item to their cart and then didn’t purchase it (This can be very interesting at a product level.)

Abandoned Revenue (Currency)
(Revenue/Orders) * (Cart Adds – Orders)
What is the general amount of revenue that has been abandoned (Revenue is based on the value of the average order.)

Event Conversion Rate (Percent)
Orders/Instances
What percentages of instances (or setting the variable) resulted in an order? For example, when setting a Event upon internal search, what percentage of searches on this keyword resulted in an order?

Campaign Conversion Rate (Percent)
Orders/Click-throughs
What percentage of click-throughs resulted in an order

Revenue per “Action” (Currency)
Revenue/Instances
When an event is set when someone clicks something (like an internal promotion or specific navigation), this will show the amount of revenue that was a direct result

Average Item Value (Currency)
Revenue/Units
What is the average revenue per item purchased

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Google Adwords vs. Yahoo Search

Online advertising has, for years, been one of the strongest, simplest, and most cost-effective ways of driving targeted traffic to your website. In a general sense, everybody knows the Internet can take a small company and virtually plaster them all over the map. What they may not know is how, specifically, to do that.

In this series we will take a look at some of the more common alternatives for driving traffic to your site. We will handle the basics first... and then eventually branch out into more complex topics. The two top names in online advertising are Google’s Adwords Program and Yahoo!’s Sponsored Search. Which is the better way to go?

Let's start with a basic comparison. Both programs feature a sort of “try it out” service that won't cost you anything. And both have additional resources to help ensure you get the best response for your efforts. Although admittedly they do this in very different ways.

Google Adwords has no minimum spending requirement. That's a big plus. It means that what you pay for AdWords is only the amount you can afford. The reason for this is because Google Adwords only charge you when your ad is clicked. For example, if you set a $5 daily budget, and if it were, say, $0.10 every time someone clicked on your advertisement, well that is 50 times that your ad would get acted on and not just looked at. That's an important distinction. You pay only for the person who is interested enough to actually take action; not just the casual reader.

In a similar way, Yahoo! Sponsored Search allows advertisers to decide on the maximum amount they want to pay for every click that their ad gets. These systems keep you in control of your budget and, in today's economy, that's important. In a separate article we will talk about conversion rates (the rate at which people actually buy something on your web site). The reason that's important is because if you allocate only $50 for your advertising let's say, then using the example above, that's a 10 a day ad run. Well, if you're watching your conversion rates closely you'll be able to see how well that money is actually working on a per-customer basis, especially if you are watching the traffic flow on our site.

Google AdWords accumulates advertising clicks and sends you a bill every month. This means charges can be expected a regular basis, which is quite helpful for accounting purposes. Yahoo! Sponsored Search, conversely, sets a minimum account balance and sends you a bill when that amount has been reached—which may mean multiple charges each month. Neither one is an unmanageable process, it just depends on your preferences. Score so far: Even.

Google Adwords allows its clients to choose the keywords that relate to their business, and offers cost estimates as well as keyword traffic to allow its clients to make more-informed decisions on selecting keywords to help maximize their budget. I have used these tools and I must say, they are very comprehensive (especially Insights for Search (hands down amazing)). By the same token, Yahoo! Sponsored Search also comes with an interesting, but much less powerful keyword-help feature, where various keywords (relevant to your business) will be displayed for advertisers to select from. Score one for Google.

Google Adwords uses a technology called contextual targeting that automates the matching of ads to relevant web pages in the Google content network. Google Adwords also offers its advertisers greater control by allowing them to hand-pick particular sections of websites where they wish to see their ads appear. Using Yahoo! Sponsored Search, the maximum cost-per-click and the quality of your ad determines where the ad will be displayed in the search results. Yahoo! Sponsored Search calls this principle "Content Match." Again it is similar, but done in a slightly different way. In this area, I score another one for Google, simply because you have more control.

Google Adwords advertisers can measure results using the placement performance report, through which an ad's performance can be reviewed site-by-site, to determine better-performing websites that should be targeted more aggressively, as well as lower-value placements which may need optimization or exclusion of content. Google AdWords reports statistics on a real-time basis, while Yahoo! Sponsored Search data are only updated daily. I prefer real-time, so I score Google one here... you may find that once a day is enough for you.

Why do the two heavy-weights have such different reporting tools? Well, some online advertisers theorize Yahoo's and Google’s audiences may be different, one being more consumer-inclined and the other, business-oriented. So the tools requested by each customer base would naturally differ. Others also observe that Google has the bigger share of the pie when it comes to search market, but that nevertheless, Yahoo drives considerable traffic. But this puts Yahoo in second place. To change that, they need to differentiate themselves from their competition... offering different tools is one way to accomplish this.

Although for me Google comes out as the clear winner here, you may want to split your budget evenly and run both search engine programs for at least the first month. This test stage will give a good picture of which engine delivers better results for your needs (which will naturally be different than mine). At month’s end, all the information gathered on your average cost-per-click for each of the engines, the number of clicks, and the online conversions made, if any, will help you decide which solution is better for you.

In addition, utilizing both Google Adwords and Yahoo! Sponsored Search engines will result in better advertising exposure and increased search engine optimization as a by-product (if you're paying attention, that is). Either way, the expanded coverage area will provide you with marketing and branding benefits for your target market as well, simply because you will be in the public eye.

As we have already mentioned the cost for either service is quite low, so for about $100 you will have an answer either way. Now, expectedly, one is going to give you better results than the other, depending on your market. And maybe, once you know this, allocating more funds to the better-performing engine may be a good idea. However, if you do it properly, Google Adwords and Yahoo! Sponsored Search will both deliver you results. They will both reach your potential customers, and drive traffic to your site in different, yet specialized ways.

Who knows, if all goes well, you may not have to choose at all.

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Expandable Posts for Blogger by Hackosphere

Your blog's main page usually shows the entire content of each post. If your posts are usually more than 2 paragraphs, then your visitor will find it difficult to quickly find the topic of interest to him because he needs to scroll down a lot. This is where expandable post summaries helped in the old Blogger. This hack serves the same purpose for the new Blogger and more! That is, main page will show only post summaries and when you click "Read more", the full post appears in the main page itself (Peekaboo view)!!

I got some requests to do such a hack and I managed to get it working. Later, Hans improved it by adding a "Summary only" link with which you can collapse the post back to summary. Together, we also made the "Read more" link to show up only for the posts that have a summary. This is an amazing hack but you need to be careful while changing your template. If you are not familiar with HTML, I strongly suggest you to get help from somebody who knows HTML while applying this hack. Here are the steps to follow.

Step 0: Download and save your template so that you can go back to it if there is any problem with this hack (Important!)

Step 1: Find the tag in your template and add all the code from this page before it.

Step 2: Find the includable called 'post' and copy/paste the changes highlighted in red in this page (Be very careful and avoid mistakes. Note that the word "uncustomized-post-template" may not appear in your template but that's fine.). To find the includable, you could search for the term id='post'. If you are not able to find it, you may not have expanded the template. Select the checkbox named "Expand Widget Templates", which is right above the template code, to expand it into more code.

Step 3. Goto Settings->Formatting and at the bottom, you will find the text box provided to specify the "Post template". Copy/paste these lines into that text box and save the settings. (Please DON'T type these lines yourself because you might introduce some spaces that will break the functionality)

Type your summary here
<span id="fullpost">
Type rest of the post here
</span>

If you create a new post now, it shows you clearly where to type the summary and where to add the rest of the post. It is important to make sure that the /span tag above is at the end of the post. To ensure this, use Edit Html tab instead of Compose tab while typing the post. After typing, you can go to compose mode and change fonts/colors etc. Please note that you could also divide some (or all) of your old posts into summary and full post by editing them. The "Read more" link will appear only for the posts that have been divided like this.

This blogger trick is courtesy of Ramani at Hackosphere

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What is internet marketing?

Internet marketing, also referred to as online marketing, Internet advertising, or eMarketing, is the marketing of products or services over the Internet. When applied to the subset of website-based advertisement placements, Internet marketing is commonly referred to as Web advertising (also Webvertising) and Web marketing. The Internet has brought many unique benefits to marketing, one of which being lower costs for the distribution of information and media to a global audience.

The interactive nature of Internet marketing, both in terms of providing instant response and eliciting response, is a unique quality of the medium. E-marketing is sometimes considered to have a broader scope since it refers to digital media such as web, e-mail and wireless media, but also includes management of digital customer data and electronic customer relationship management systems (E-CRM systems).

Internet marketing ties together creative and technical aspects of the Internet, including design, development, advertising, and sales. Internet marketing does not simply entail building or promoting a website, nor does it mean placing a banner ad on another website. Effective Internet marketing requires a comprehensive strategy that synergizes a given company’s business model and sales goals with its website function and appearance, focusing on its target market through proper choice of advertising type, media, and design.

Internet marketing also refers to the placement of media along different stages of the customer engagement cycle through search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), banner ads on specific websites, e-mail marketing and Web 2.0 strategies.

Advantages of Online Marketing

Internet marketing is relatively inexpensive when compared to the ratio of cost against the reach of the target audience. Companies can reach a wide audience for a small fraction of traditional advertising budgets. The nature of the medium allows consumers to research and purchase products and services at their own convenience. Therefore, businesses have the advantage of appealing to consumers in a medium that can bring results quickly. The strategy and overall effectiveness of marketing campaigns depend on business goals and cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis.

Internet marketers also have the advantage of measuring statistics easily and inexpensively. Nearly all aspects of an Internet marketing campaign can be traced, measured, and tested. The advertisers either pay per web banner impression, per click (PPC), per play (PPP), or per action accomplished. Therefore, marketers can determine which messages or offerings are more appealing to the audience. The results of campaigns can be measured and tracked immediately because online marketing initiatives usually require users to click on an advertisement, visit a website, and perform a targeted action. Such measurement cannot be achieved through billboard advertising, where an individual will at best be interested, then decide to obtain more information at a later time.

Internet marketing as of 2007 is growing faster than other types of media. Because exposure, response, and overall efficiency of Internet media is easier to track than traditional off-line media — through the use of web analytics for instance — Internet marketing can offer a greater sense of accountability for advertisers. Marketers and their clients are becoming aware of the need to measure the collaborative effects of marketing (i.e., how the Internet affects in-store sales) rather than siloing each advertising medium. The effects of multichannel marketing can be difficult to determine, but are an important part of ascertaining the value of media campaigns.

The First Internet Marketing Conference, San Francisco, 1994

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Building Social Applications on Facebook

Have you ever wanted to make a game, a helpful tool or an innovative way to connect with people? Maybe, you just enjoy coding and designing on all levels and want to increase your arsenal of tricks. Even for the casual web enthusiast the notion of the opportunity to use an open source platform to make dreams come true and reach out and touch those hands and minds glued to other keyboards is very entertaining. With Facebook open source applications we are given the chance to do just that.

Getting started is easy and the main page to begin from can be found here: http://developers.facebook.com

We could go into the technical details of Facebook applications but those are well layed out on the site in there documentation link. A tutorial on how to get started might be appropriate but again Facebook though hath done better then I and by following the yellow brick road that is the link above a foundation can be set to fulfill all your application newbie wishes. What I want to do is give you a real perspective of Facebook applications as you head into a fantasy world of advertising, business, the internet and human connection.

What TO do:
Sign up for an account. I remember it being relatively quick and harmless and the site seems legit in its intentions. Spend a few hours familiarizing yourself with the site and its features. Click on all the buttons that seem to lead somewhere. Look for a few groups to join. See if you can find any friends and invite them to your social circle. You know, play with the toys like an adult kid with social add at the nearest Brookstone store.

What NOT to do:
Forget your username and password. Hassle. It never ceases to amaze me how many times I do this (or how many of the darn things I have to have in my life. I mean how many did my Grandmother have in the 60’s). Do not do anything illegal or suspicious. I mean this seems obvious but hey people it’s a crazy world out there and all I am asking for is to use a little common sense. If it seems wrong don’t do it.

What TO do:
Dream up cool applications that interest you. Think them out. Start simple and grow from there. The options of creation are almost endless and you have an entire community itching to try them out. With a lot of passion and a little luck your Facebook application might infect and go as far as to impact the world. I tried to create two. Yes I do practice what I preach. The first was an application that allowed the user to type a message on Facebook which would then be texted to the friends cell phone. I thought it was an awesome idea and I did have a working version so I know it is possible. The next idea was a sports betting picker where the user signs up and gets the best bets of the sports week texted, emailed and posted on facebook for them. I had a working version of this application as well. Regardless of what you make someone will most likely find it useful or entertaining.

What NOT to do:
Hire an unreliable application coder/designer. I know little about computers. I often enjoy learning everything myself and over the years I have self taught myself what I consider to be an impressive amount of computer knowledge for such an old aged novice. If I have the time I do it myself. Well of course now I have little time and needed to outsource these two projects. Went horrible and I never could coordinate a reliable programmer. So be careful when paying money for someone to do something. As I have always maintained if you want something done right, do it yourself. In these cases I was the sucker. Do not be a sucker.

What TO do:
When you have your award winning applications in hand and ready for launch think about all the possibilities. There are many business as well as social benefits that can be obtained by building such dynamic computer resources. Check out opportunities such as www.userplane.com (check back for blogs and articles on this hot web topic coming soon) or start networking and posting on the developer forums. Making money and industry connections will not harm you.

What NOT to do:
A good business idea is not selling illegal steroids. A great social opportunity is not the hot new friend you just found that’s only picture is of her in a bathing suit that you have never met who lives a million miles away. Do not be wreckless with your facebook using. Be a professional and surf and network with good intentions. Treat all with respect and enjoy life.

This technology is popping up more in more in everyday life. I read the blogs at ww.cardrunners.com and recently there new blog software features a Facebook application insert. These are fun and new ways to use the web for both financial and social gain. Using and building open source Facebook applications can be a rewarding experience, a great resume builder and an opportunity to broaden many horizons.

Courtsey of mfw1.wordpress.com

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Google Analytics Rolls Out New Enterprise Features

Google Analytics just announced a new set of Enterprise Features that definitely brings Google Analytics to the next level. Among the features unveiled are: custom reports, segmentation on the fly, API, redesigned account and profile management, motion charts and integration of Google AdSense.

I'm still waiting for a true integration with Website Optimizer to be perfectly happy. Until then, we have a lot to experiment with and test. Below are the videos Google published about these new and exciting features.

New Advanced Segments in Google Analytics

New Motion Charts in Google Analytics


New Custom Reporting in Google Analytics


New AdSense Reporting in Google Analytics

Final Thoughts
Google has managed to meet and surpass many peoples expectations. With the rise of Yahoo Web Analytics promising many enterprise features for free and the price cuts of major web analytics vendors, it could not have arrived at a better time.

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Why Android will kick the iPhone's butt

So Android has arrived with the announcement of the T-Mobile G1. The HTC-manufactured phone certainly has a few nice touches, despite its lack of multi-touch.

But while this particular handset might not be the technology king to beat the iPhone, the potential's there. And the OS looks to be the best in the market. Here's why Android can make its presence felt and could really threaten the iPhone.

1. It's more open
Android is a fully open OS, which means that developing for it is a free-for-all. Handily, that'll mean more free apps and games than the iPhone's App Store can throw at us currently as they'll be offered by networks, content providers and Google alike.

2. It's got integration with online apps
Google is heavily involved here. We'll get better versions of handy stuff like Google Docs, Talk and Calendar plus Street View mapping on Android-based handsets. And it all comes with a single sign-on.

3. It's faster, faster, faster
One thing we've seen with Android all year is that it's incredibly fast. In the tech demo at Google's Developer Day and now we've got hands on with G1, the interface doesn't suffer from the recent glitches the iPhone 2.0 firmware has.

4. Better hardware
The iPhone is high tech hardware, but it remains that phones with features such as MMS and better digital cameras appeal to the masses. Add in Android, and the iPhone will be playing catchup.

5. There will be more variants
Apple has always been a bit one-size-fits-all. And the iPhone is no different in terms of the hardware (the capacity aside, of course). Android will be available in cheap mobiles as well as expensive ones, and that can only be a good thing.

6. It'll have Flash
So Steve Jobs reckons Flash is too intensive for mobile use? We don't think it'll be too long before somebody develops a version for Android. In the meantime, websites use Flash, Steve. Get over it.

7. It won't be restricted by Apple's nuances
Following on from number 6, many Android phones won't be locked down in the same way that the iPhone is (although how this plays out with networks remains to be seen). More flexibility could mean more fans.

8. It'll have better format support
Wider support for different formats will appeal to those frustrated by Apple's restricted model. And bring a whole load of new fans to Android.

9. You won't need to jailbreak
Hacking? It'll be expected with Android (though, once again, we don't know how this will play out with the networks). Customization will be the norm, rather than the exception. Jail breaking? What's the point?

10. Unrestricted apps
Apple has banned several apps from the App Store. You won't get so many restrictions with Android.

Android Demo Video

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World Map showing the popularity of social networks

I just came across this great map. It's a breakdown of social networking websites and their popularity across the globe. The data is pulled from Alexa on 10-16-08 so it's panel based data but still very interesting.

The map shows the highest ranking social network for each country by traffic, not by members, page views or any other method. This world map is courtesy Oxyweb

CLICK MAP TO ENLARGE

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8 Low-Cost Online Marketing Ideas

Before you shell out big bucks for your next promotional push check out these low-cost ways to get more traffic and attention to your website.

1. Blog About It
Setup a free blog on wordpress.com or blogger.com and begin writing interesting commentary that relates to your business. To drive traffic comment on other topic-related blogs and include links back to your blog. You can also contact bloggers in your field who might welcome guest bloggers. You get the benefits of reaching an interested audience without time and commitment of building your own blog.




2. Cultivate Loyalty
Loyalty programs encourage customers to return to your website frequently. When a consumer registers for your product or services they should immediatly be engage with a amazing exclusive offer. Continue to maintain loyalty through communications about members only benefits, shopping previews, sales, inside scoops on industry information and services/products exclusive to the best customers. Reward repeat purchases and return visits with discounts, gifts or other incentives. By creating an emotional attachement between your customers and business you will officially become a brand to them.

3. Distribute Content
Free and low-cost news release and content distribution sources like PRWeb.com can help you spread the word about your business online. Press releases can also help with your (SEO) search engine optimization efforts. Some other free news services include Mininova.org, TheFreeLibrary.com, and iNewswire.com.

4. Email Your Customers

Once you've gathered emails from your customer base, put it to good use. You can create targeted email campaigns that keep your brand and offerings infront of your customers. It is important to tailor your email campaigns to your audience. In order to do this you will need to collect historical data about your customers and segment them into consumer groups. Services like VerticalResponse.com and ConstantContact.com have easy to use email management systems.

6. Start Surveying

Create news hooks for publicity by conducting your own surveys. SureveyMonkey.com and Zoomerang.com are great tools for conducting online surveys. Poll your audience on issues important to them and release the results as a timely story that relates to what your company does.

7. The Power of Video
A simple digital recorder or webcam is all you need to create information-packed videos, which can be uploaded for free on sites like Youtube.com, Google Video, Metacafe.com and other video sites. Is your video funny, does it have the WOW factor, is it unbelievable, is your video worth talking about, these factors are important. Don't create videos that clearly show they are for marketing purposes. Below is a very popular viral video that a company did to promote their 'Blender'. Their videos have received millions of views online.

8. Exploit the Web
Get your company on free sites like del.icio.us.com, Digg.com, Squidoo.com and Yelp.com. More important, have the fans of your products or services touting you around the web. In addition local newspaper and websites like Craigslist.org and Metromix.com often have free online calendars where you can list upcoming seminars, events and so on. Allow your audience to become your brand emissaries, that is what Web 2.0 is all about. The internet is changing and it's no longer about companies controlling content but rather consumers becoming prosumers and taking content with them.

Aside from the amount of time it takes to coordinate these tactics, it costs from a few pennies to a couple hundred dollars. However those small investments can pay off in a big way through increased awareness and outreach to prospective customers.

Remember, have fun and iterate fast!

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The Worst Web Design Online

What not to do when developing a website. Below is a list of the worst websites I have ever seen. I'ts amazing that people and company's would actually associate themselves with these atrocious things...

1. If You Like Psychedelics this sites for you: Click Here To View
   
   
2. This website is from planet zeon: Click Here To View
   
   
3. If you figure out this navigation you will win the lottery: Click Here To View
   
   
4. Look mom text, more text and more text = SPAM: Click Here To View
   
   
5. Is this website supposed to be a game called find the nav: Click Here To View
   
   
6. Are we stuck in 1996: Click Here To View
   
   
7. 1 Million dollar website that's impossible to figure out: Click Here To View
   
   
8. If you're prone to seizures, don't view this site: Click Here To View
   
   
9. Thinking outside the box is good but keep it on planet earth: Click Here To View
   
   
10. The Worst Website Of All Time is: Click Here To View

The message to be learned here is say no to drugs, stay in school and remember be intuitive.

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The Evolution of the Web

Let’s start at the beginning. Mosaic was released in November of 1993 and it was the first graphical browser to become popular on the Web. At that time HTML 2.0 had not been released, so Mosaic was initially limited in its functionality. Netscape Navigator 1.0 arrived on the scene in December 1994, with support for basic HTML 2.0 elements only. By the time Internet Explorer 2.0 was released in November 1995, browser technology had begun to support more advanced features such as tables and forms. It was now possible to evolve beyond the single linear page of text that passed for Web design during 1994-95.

At this point the Web was still mostly the domain of spotty scientists, who were more interested in publishing the Periodic Table of the Elements than arranging the visual layout of HTML elements. That all changed in about 1996, when Graphic Designers discovered the new medium. In the eighties and early nineties, Desktop publishing (DTP) on Apple Macintoshes was all the rage with graphic designers. The Web was their next challenge.

MSN 1996

YAHOO 1996

Around 1996 Marketing departments started to get interested in the commercial potential of the Web. The Pepsi and Coca-cola Web sites were two interesting examples. Pepsi’s Web site in 1996 was a tour de force of Web technology: Java-animated spinning logo, Shockwave, 3-D VRML, streaming audio, QuickTime. The premier version of the Web site, called “Psychotropic Sundae”, required numerous plug-ins to be downloaded in order for it to work.

Pepsi was one of the first corporate Web sites to fully exploit the Web’s interactivity. It tried to create a virtual world—populated with the “hottest” music, movie previews, digital art, game previews and so on. It even went so far as to nickname its users as “squatters”—people who visited and inhabited Pepsi’s new world.

AOL 1997

In 1997 the Web was still a new phenomenon to most of the population; one of the easiest ways to make the Web seem more familiar, and less alien, was to make the Web look and feel as much like the real world as possible.

1997 was the year the second edition of David Siegel’s book Creating Killer Web Sites came out. It was one of the first Web design books I read. It’s interesting now to look back at this book seven years later. Siegel was famous for encouraging and widely promoting HTML “workarounds” (a nicer term for hacks), in order to obtain the most visually-appealing Web page layouts. The reason he had to do this was because HTML is based on structural rather than presentational principles. So in order to optimize HTML for presentation Siegel had to find ingenious ways to manipulate HTML markup.

STICKY has evolved! Another Web design trend that became popular around 1997 was the notion that Web sites ought to be “sticky”. Web sites should entice people in, like a Venus Flytrap, and keep them entertained long enough to sell them something.

GOOGLE 1999

Over the past decade Web design has gone through many iterations, driven by the ever-changing environment. Web browser vendors have contributed a lot of new features and functionality. The HTML specification has grown from a rigid structurally-based markup language, to an extensible HTML-XML hybrid. And CSS is now widely used to keep structure separate from presentation.

The changing landscape has led corporate Web sites to evolve from textual to multimedia, brochureware to interactive, static to transactional, chaotic to standardized, rigid to extensible, broadcasting to read-write. Web sites are no longer virtual places, they’re more like virtual agents. Today, corporate Web sites exist to serve their users and so their design must be personalized and loosely-coupled.

Web sites will continue to evolve and be products of their environment. Browser and operating system innovation (or lack of) will affect what the Web looks like in another 10 years. XML Web technologies that so far haven’t impinged much on corporate Web sites, like RSS and RDF, will force new ways of designing onto us.

We don’t know what corporate Web sites will look like in 2013, but we do know that Web design will continue to re-invent itself constantly like it did from 1994-2003.

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