Archive for February, 2007
CNN is nice. But I would rather be on Slashdot.
A prospective client called me last week. A new IT security training firm, his three-man company launched a new website in November 2006.
To mark the occasion, he wrote a press release and distributed it on PRWeb for $80.
Throughout December, his company was featured on CNN, CNBC, RedHerring, The Christian Science Monitor, as well as a […]
Use Adwords as a Research Tool for 3 Big Advantages
Often, companies look at Google Adwords as an online advertising solution.
Period.
I take a much different approach.
Initially, I often recommend that clients develop several keyword-targeted Adwords campaigns as a market research platform.
Yes, my clients get an advertising benefit — but that goal is secondary. When you begin using Adwords, think of it as an online marketing […]
3 Usability Links Every Online Business Should Click Upon
Design your site with usability in mind.
Yeah, it’s important! Following research-based web usability guidelines can dramatically increase your online sales or improve conversion rates for other business goals (like increasing lead generation or e-news readership).
Anyone who is responsible for the design or business strategy for a commercial website absolutely must understand the importance of usability.
If you are […]
How do people shop online for Valentine’s day?
Do men shop online for Valentine’s Day? Do they buy more than one gift?
Do folks buy Valentine’s Day gifts… for their pets?
Here are this year’s online Valentine shopping survey results from Harris Interactive (and sponsored by Google).
Too late for this year, but think about these results for planning your online ads, promos, and sales campaigns […]
Communists Have Seized Control of the Internet!
I know several web developers who poo-poo anything that is free.
Seriously!
They deeply suspect Open Source-anything, describing the whole phenomenon as some sort of communist plot.
One Windows programmer I know adamantly quoted an old cliche, “You get what you pay for. And if it is free, it cannot be good. And I am always willing to pay extra for […]
How customer service can impact your brand
Wow! I just enjoyed a great telephone customer service experience with tech support for a web hosting company!
I know! It sounds like a fairy tale! But it actually happened!
A client called and asked if I could pinch hit a web problem while his webmaster was out of town. The client gave me his web host’s name and toll-free tech […]
Startling Stats! Google Reports RSS Subscribers
If you take measuring internet marketing results seriously, Google has great news. The company is now reporting the number of people who subscribe to your RSS feed with Google Reader. This greatly improves the accuracy of measuring your internet marketing results.
I watched my subscriber stats increase overnight by an awesome 25%. Turns out that Google […]
The single most important element on your website…
Man, it happened again!
I went to read an article at a website, and the text size was tiny!
So I used my browser’s “Text Size” function to try to increase the size of the text so that my 40-something eyes could read it. But alas, the website was designed to force the text size to remain […]
Give me 7 Minutes - and I’ll give you a great domain name!
My last name is Bergells.
The final letter in my name does not sound like an s.
It sounds like a z.
I live in Grand Rapids. Also sounds like a z.
GrandRapids.com is not available as a domain name.
So two days ago, I registered GrandRapidz.com. If you enter this domain name into your browser, it automatically redirects […]
Another reason to blog: post important news pronto!
Consider this true story:
I received a W9 form from in the mail yesterday. The accompanying letter asked me to fill out my personal info — you know, name, address….
…and Social Security Number!
The letter asked me to fax the completed form to a fax number I did not know, or to alternately mail the completed form to a PO Box I […]
