Ideas and Concepts from Damian Davila
Internet marketing statistics are sobering stuff. I mean really sobering.
Did you know anywhere up to 80% of your potential customers will be using the information they get from the web to decide whether or not they do business with you?
To most consumers that doesn’t extend past typing your name into a search engine and glancing over the first five to ten things that pop up – what will they see?
Go ahead and see for yourself.
Good bloggers write all of their post titles with high energy rates because they want their readers to engage with their content. If you don’t craft a title with a positive, friendly and authoritative attitude, your article will appear bland (a.k.a boring) to potential readers.
Here are some good tips to give energy to your blog post titles.
When drafting a title, develop it based on something that your readers can relate to. Even better, make the post about something that involves them directly and write it in such a way that is worth the effort of clicking and reading. While “clicking-and-reading” might appear as a simple task, remember that you’re competing with an infinity of sources of information, so you if you’re able to click with your readers, they will click on your article.
Blogging has different meanings for different people. It would only be logical that entrepreneurs who use blogs as a marketing tool should likewise utilize it specifically to market goods and services. It is crucial for local businesses to maintain a blog in order for them to be competitive. However, having a blog does not mean that a business will instantly reap the rewards. However, a business blog’s inability to produce positive results is often due to entrepreneurs not knowing how to blog the correct way.
Despite efforts from Hawaiian Amazon Associates throughout April 2009 and May 2009, Amazon decided to pull the plug on the Hawaiian Associates program.
The Motley Fool reports on a similar move of Amazon in North Carolina.
Keeping the promise that the next 5 posts will be regarding the 5 key factors that determine website appearances on search engine results, I will discuss today keyword prominence and link popularity. The last post was more of a formality that needed to be put in place right away! Please take it as the idaconcpts blog readers’ bill of rights.
When preparing a website for SEO, keyword prominence and link popularity require more work on the developer’s site because the outcome of these tasks will physically alter the layout of that website.
Keyword prominence takes a look at various factors, but the two most important are 1) the physical location of the keyword(s) and 2) the keyword(s) within page link text. Physical location simply means that keywords placed at the top of the page are more relevant than at the bottom of the page. Typically, you will find pay-per-click pages that are trying to maximize their click-rate by using hundreds of keywords at the bottom of the page (either in fine print or mixed with the color of the background). You don’t want to be one of them! In the other hand, keywords within page link text is an art by itself. Check out this free keyword density and prominence tool and use your favorite website. Keyword prominence checks that the keywords that you select for your website should be within page link text. If your site is about web analytics tools. Don’t just say, click here. Better say, for example, click here for better web analytics tools.
Link popularity was invented by Sergy Bin and Larry Page (yup, those Google guys) and it is the foundation of their Search Engine Google. In simple words, link popularity deals with the quantity and quality of the links leading towards your website. It is not just a matter of every possible website linking back to your website, but rather the ones that are relevant to your keywords.
Conclusions:
As I work my way in the web of online marketing and web analytics, I often bump into new theoretical and technical lingo that I never heard of. It is particularly challenging to keep up with both the English and Spanish literature on these fields. (Oh, if you are self-claimed web marketer and are not checking what’s going in Spain, then you are missing out!)
By far, one my best partners during my web metrics literature reviews are the Kaiser Chiefs. Named after the South African football team, they are best known for their 2004 hit “I Predict a Riot” and the jumping shenanigans of their lead vocalist, Ricky Wilson.
Here is what you can learn from them about getting started in web marketing and web analytics.
1. And oh my God, I can’t believe it, I’ve never been this far away from home.
(Oh My God from Employment, 2005)
SEO, SEM, conversion, blog marketing, the list goes. Not your everyday marketing class, not even in MBA school. Trust me, I’ve been there and there is very few going on the academic preparation of both undergraduate and graduate students in these fields. Forget the 4Ps, everything is about conversion. The first piece of advice that the Kaiser Chiefs drop to you is that you need to realize that you have a lot to learn and, that more importantly, you are to open to learn. Read, read, read. A good starting point, you ask? Here is one: Avinash Kaushik‘s blog and book, Web Analytics: An Hour a Day.
2. I predict a riot.
(I Predict A Riot from I Predict A Riot, 2004)
3. So here we go with the letter.
(The Angry Mob from Yours Truly, Angry Mob, 2007)
…is to start a blog! Most marketers agree that this is an essential exercise, but there is little agreement about its actual payoff. It really depends on your objective. Is it to spark brainstorming sessions? Is it to network with experts in the field? Is it to keep track of your evolution as a marketer? Is it to organize your ideas? No matter what your goal is, having a blog about your projects brings a lot of credibility when presenting yourself to a) colleagues, b) clients, and c) head-honcho investors.
4. It does not move me, it’s not the kind of thing that I like.
(Na Na Na Na Na Naa from Employment, 2005)
Bonus track
5. Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, Ruby
(Ruby from Yours Truly, Angry Mob, 2007)
For those with advanced coding skills, it would be a good idea to brush up your skills on Ruby on Rails (ROR). Why should you care? If you are able to code with ROR, creation of websites and social networking applications (e.g. Facebook) should be a snap! ROR developers around the USA are on very high demand nowadays with hourly rates going around $80-$150 because everybody wants their online platforms be running smoothly on ROR.
That is all for today and remember the most important lesson from the Chiefs…
Knock me down, I’ll be right back up again
I’ll come back stronger than a powered up Pac-Man!