Online Marketing
Beware of Domain Name Slammers…
If you get a professional looking piece of mail telling you that your domain name is about to expire, watch out! The letter is probably the predatory work of a Domain Slammer. These scammers will erroneously tell you that your domain name (DNS) is about to expire, and that you’d better send a check and [...]
3 Must-Avoid Onsite Web Marketing Practices
I visited a dozen different business sites yesterday, only to have the following happen: A “slider” ad travelled across the page, obliterating what I was reading. Annoyed, I left immediately. A “voice” started talking while I was reading. So unexpected, I about jumped out of my chair. I abandoned the site. My “popup blocker” clicked [...]
Avoid the F Word on Business Websites!
I was shocked to hear the “F” word three times this month during business meetings. Yep, that’s right: three businesses were actually considering using Flash to develop their websites. Regular readers know that a Flash-driven website can be a HUGE problem for oh, so many reasons. Do a search for “Flash” at this very blog, [...]
Beware the English Major! The Top 4 Signs of Ineffective Web Copy
You may know English. But can you write convincingly — for the web? Beware the English Major! I have worked with English majors who cannot seem to write web copy that anyone wants to read! One English major I worked with focused obsessively on using big words to ”sound smart”. Instead of bending the rules of grammar and punctuation [...]
Flogging for Search: Beware of this Dangerous Approach!
If you get a phone call from a “web traffic expert” who suggests you can ”get more traffic” through blogging because it “helps with search engine traffic” — be careful. These guys and gals are floggers. Flogging is a mashup term that means “fake blogging”. Floggers propose, for a hefty fee, to: Set up your blog Write x-number of keyword-rich [...]
Make Robots Submit your Sitemap to All Search Engines
Since April 11, it is easy to submit your sitemap using robots.txt. Simply place a one-line command your robots.txt file, so that major engine spiders like Yahoo, Live, Google, Ask and others will know where find your sitemap when they come a-crawling. Here’s how: After you’ve created your sitemap and uploaded it to your root directory, add this [...]
Don’t overbid on Adwords
Use www.spyfu.com to find out what your competition might be for your Google Adword keyword phrases. Spyfu uses scraped data, so it is often dated and incomplete — but it gives you a good idea of what a going rate might be. And before you make a bid, check out your Adwords competition. Only 8-11 [...]
This Blogger Has No Shoes!
You know the old idiom “the cobbler has no shoes?” Well, in this instance, the blogger has no shoes! Sure, I’m barefoot as I’m typing this post. But that’s not what I mean. I mean that I’ve been a bad blogger for a few weeks. I haven’t been keeping up with my posts. And I have [...]
How many blogs are out there?
Blogs are easy to start. Anyone with a computer and an internet connection can start one. (In this online video, I show you how you can start a blog for free — in under five minutes!) But keeping your blog alive with fresh, interesting content is what really, um, counts. Every quarter for the past [...]
Google buys Feedburner for $100M
Feedburner is on fire! Feedburner is unquestionably the hottest RSS management play in the world. I’ve been using and recommending it since 2005, and could not be happier with how easy it makes managing and promoting RSS content. Feedburner is one spectacular service that neatly integrates management, promotion, and statistical tracking of subscribers and visitors [...]
