Geek Dinner Miami

Thanks to Joseph Jaffe from Jaffe Juice we embeded his Qik video from the Miami Geek dinner featuring Personality Not Included author and superstar blogger Rohit Bhagava, geek blogger Monica Betancourt, Refresh Miami co-organizer Alex De Carvalho, Sex and the Beach blogger Maria De Los Angeles , 7th Son Podio-book Author J.C. Hutchins, Refresh Miami organizer Brian Breslin, geek stud Jonathan Gluck , Matthew Chamberlin , barrista coder Jorge L. Barroso, eBay guru Scott Pooler, Josh Hallet, Lisa Sparks ,Matt Reyes, Edward Toro, Michael Tangeman, Nathaniel McNamara, Yvette F., Conversionista Alex Harris, Mitch Joel should've been there for all the publicity he got :)

Google Automatic Match

When everyone logs into their adwords account on May 20, 2008 they will see a new option, a new checkbox (prechecked and autoenabled) for a new feature 'Automatic matching" Many of you may have heard about auto-matching and are already not looking forward to this new option. For those of you not familiar with this new "feature" auto match works like this (as per an email I received in my inbox, just a little bit ago-

I. About Automatic Matching

Automatic matching shows your ads on relevant search queries not already captured by your keywords. It works by analyzing the content of the landing pages, ads, and keywords in your ad group. It then shows your ads on search queries relevant to this information.

The system will continually monitor your performance on these queries and adjust its matches accordingly. Automatic matching aims to show your ads only on queries that yield a high clickthrough rate (CTR) and a cost-per-click (CPC) comparable to or lower than your ad group's current average CPC. This way, your ads receive additional targeted traffic at a similar cost to your current traffic.

Automatic matching won't allow your spend to exceed your budget, and it also won't affect the traffic you're currently receiving. In addition, automatic matching will have no impact if your campaigns already capture the majority of relevant traffic.

To summarize auto-matching, you were previously not bidding on a keyword phrase as you didn't think the keyword was relevant or important to your bottomline (this is after you used Adwords numerous tools to get keyword additions that Adwords thought would be relevant, and in your wisdom you did not listen to the campaign optimizer tool to add semi-relevant terms). Well that was good enough for Google, Adwords will now be displaying these keywords in ads for you when an individual conducts a search, and then you will be charged for the click, as Adwords thinks that term might be beneficial to you.
As an example, I sell widgets on my site, someone does a search for widget accessories and because i have widgets on my site, Adwords will display my ad as it is "close enough' (my quotes) to what you sell and my be relevant to the searcher. Its besides the point you don't sell widget accessories or want that visitor coming to your site, you still pay for the visitor.
I may be the only one, but I am not really that interested in Automatic match, and the fact that Adwords auto enables this function, leads me to believe that the company that benefits the most from this new "feature" is Google itself.

Leadership Speakers Speak at Renaissance Executive Forum Meeting for CEOs

Jay Berkowitz and Greta Schulz will be sharing the top ways to promote your business in tough economic times. Jay Berkowitz will start with with ideas for driving traffic to a website followed by a presentation from Proactive Training CEO Greta Schulz and Business Consultant Nicole Governile on converting your sales leads into clients.

The event will take place on May 29th at the Woodfield Country Club in Boca Raton, Florida. To register, please call Proactive Training at (561) 683-8145.

Dunkin Donuts Free Coffee Day

So yesterday was Free Iced Coffee Day at Dunkin Donuts. All of us at TGR had our share of the new iced coffee flavors and I wanted to see how much buzz there was in the blogosphere. When I did a search in Google Blog Search for “Dunkin Donuts Free Iced Coffee Day,” I got back 1,870 results! There was even a Facebook page created for this specific event. WOW, THIS WAS A VIRAL MACHINE.

Brand Advocacy Quotient: the new 2.0 metric

As online marketers continue to shift toward social media strategies and 2.0 tactics, it is imperative to have the type of success metrics expected in online marketing applied to social media. While lifetime value of the customer, and return on investment remain the bottom line metrics for overall online marketing success, the social media elements of an integrated campaign now need their own specific metrics.

Media ratings company Nielsen Online just-launched the Digital Strategic Services (DSS) group for the purpose of monitoring social media online. This division of Nielsen will be focusing on developing strategic plans to manage brands' online reputations. A core focus will be the Nielsen Online "Brand Advocacy Quotient," or BAQ score.

The BAQ will be a function of product experience and includes both the quality of the product and the quality of customer service. With the explosion of social media, blogging, forums and other media collectively called consumer generated media (CGM), permanent online opinions are written to the positive, or negative, for brands.

According to Nielsen, “CGM is now vitally important to improving customer service, enabling quick response (including alteration of products) to customer feedback/complaints, identifying needs that present new-product opportunities, gathering competitive intelligence, and making C-level decisions on investments and even core business objectives.”

“84% of companies that are best in class at these capabilities and integrating them into decision-making and operations reported year-over-year improvement in customer retention rates.”, according to Marketing Vox.

Google Reader Adds Notes for Sharing

I’m an avid user of Google Reader because of its web interface and the fact that I can read my subscribed feeds at any computer, but I’ve never really shared the blog posts I’ve found interesting using the Shared Items feature.

If you’re the type of person who usually likes sharing good articles and links with everyone, like me, with Google adding the Notes Feature to Shared Items, you can explain why you’re sharing that particular post.

I think that this new feature will encourage more people to share posts that they read with others.

Google also added 3 new styles to add a little personality to your public shared page. Here’s what mine looks like, and I’ll definitely be adding more shared posts in the future.

Adwords Factoring in Landing Page Load Time

On the Adwords Blog yesterday, Google reiterated that starting in June landing page load time would factor into your Quality Score. Landing page load time is simply how long it takes a user to see your landing page after an ad was clicked. The load time is relative to how fast your page loads compared to other servers in your geographic region.
In anticipation of this happening, Adwords has added an additional metric into the Keyword Analysis Tool. In addition to Keyword Relevance and Landing Page, Landing Page Load Time is now displayed. A screen shot is displayed.
There are several things you can do if your landing page loads slowly.
- Reduce Graphics
- Minimize Flash and Scripts
- Compress Graphics
- Clean Up Your HTML

Using Twitter to Get Customer Service

I’ve read a couple blog posts in the blogosphere about people who’ve expressed their feelings about a specific website or product, and a while later, being contacted by a representative from that website or company trying to resolve the problem. I think the idea is pretty neat, and makes Twitter a great tool for businesses to assist their customers or potential customers.

Some companies such as Comcast and Southwest Airlines are involved in the Twitter community, monitoring and informing customers about deals and other news. These Twitter pages are usually monitored by an employee that responds to a customer concern by sending a direct response using @username or a direct message, which is similar to a private message.

How can you monitor if people are talking about your company or product? Using a site called Tweet Scan, you can type a keyword, such a company name, and a list of Twitter users mentioning that company name or keyword. I think this is a good way to interact with others, and the idea that a company responds to a Twitter user personally will make that user feel like they’re important, which is good online reputation management.

How to Start Branding Your Business Online

When is comes to branding your business online, getting your business name out there is of the utmost importance. You want to get your name out there so when people think of a product or a service, they think of your brand name associated with it. So, if the time has come for you to start branding your business online, the following are a few initial steps that can help start branding your company name on the internet.

First, buy a domain name for your company name. If you company’s name is Branding Example, you want to make sure you secure a domain name that reflects that, such as brandingexample.com. You also want to buy similar domain names in case someone tries to type in a variation. For example, you might also consider purchasing branding-example.com, brandingexample.net, and brandingexamples.com.

Second, build a website focused around what you do, how you do it, and what you stand for. On your website, be sure to have an about us page giving ample information on what you do and your background information. This page will help build trust with potential customers.

Third, build business profiles. Facebook.com, Linkedin.com, Naymz.com, and Zoominfo.com are just some of the free sites available where you can create a profile about your business. These sites are public information and can show up in the search results. These are a great way to spread your brand name.

Jay Berkowitz selected for Keynote Marketing Presentation at Annual Conference for Advertising Professionals

The AAF-4th District selected Jay Berkowitz, as their keynote presenter for the regional conference on May 2-4th in St. Petersburg, Florida. His presentation “Ten Reasons Why Traditional Ad Agencies Suck At Interactive Marketing…And What They Can Do About It,” features internet marketing ideas for advertising agencies and professionals.

Jay will offer these Internet Marketing Ideas That Will Help Agencies Not Suck:
* How ad agencies can build and develop websites that show up in Google searches
* What is Web 2.0? What are the opportunities for business?
* Search Engine Optimization Reviews
* What online business models are working, and not working today
* How to use new technologies for internet marketing such as podcasts and video
* What is UGC? Twitter? GUS? Oovoo?
* How ad agencies and their clients can use Social Media websites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter

Ever Wonder What Link Bait Looks Like?

We continue to discuss link bait and how you can utilize this tactic in gaining popularity with your website. Well, we have added another form of Link Bait and can show you a true picture of what we mean. Please meet our latest addition, Link Bait

Blog Design and How It Is Important

Because I’m a blogger, and I also have an eye in web design, I find it important to have a clean looking blog design just as much as having interesting, unique content. There is also the argument that with many people reading blog posts through RSS feed readers, most of us don’t see what the blog looks like, so why would it be important?

First impressions are important, and a clean, easy to navigate blog design is a deciding factor on if they will subscribe to your blog or not.

Personally, I like blogs that have blog posts on the right side, with a side navigation or side bar on the left. This is because most people read from left to right, left being the important thing on your blog, which is content, followed by your sidebar. I think of the sidebar as the area where the reader goes next after they think the blog post is interesting, exploring the rest of your site.

If possible, you should always format your blog posts in a way that the reader will have to go to your actual blog if they are reading it in an RSS reader. That way they can see your design and possibly go to more posts, being that they are already on the website.

Remember, keeping it simple usually always works.

221 Million Users

China surpassed the United States becoming the world’s largest Internet using population according to the state media with 221 million Internet users. The China Internet Network Information Centre claims last year China had 210 million users, five million less than the U.S.

With the Olympics being held in China this summer, the Internet has become one way of supporters to get their message out about the upcoming games.

Google News Making Quotes Easily Accessible

Last week Google News announced a new feature making quotations from Google News articles easy to search. Now, if you search for a persons name and Google News has a recent quote from them, it will show up above the search results. For example, if you type in George Bush on Google News, you will see a quote above the search results from the President generated 17 hours ago. There is then a link below this quote taking you to more of the President’s recent quotes.

This is a great new feature, and makes it much easier to keep track and find quotes online. For more information, check out Google News Official Blog.

Google Me

Everyone has googled themselves on multiple occasions, but why did no one every think to create a documentary about what happened when you found out that you were not the only person in the world with your name (and more importantly, how lonely would you feel if when you googled your name, you were the only result?) . Well, Jim Killeen googled himself and with a film crew went around to the other Jim Killeen's of the world and interviewed them. The movie debuts on Youtube on Friday, so stay tuned for a review.

Alexa changes website ranking system

Web traffic rankings site Alexa.com (a division of Amazon) has finally changed it's ranking system. Alexa will no longer measure data based on users of the Alexa toolbar, rather ranking sites based on aggregating data from various sources.

Alexa announced the changes this past week, noting that many websites will notice significant changes in their rankings. Although the service has been popular with smaller sites, which don't qualify for Nielsen rankings, critics have long argued that Alexa's reliance on data from toolbar users skewed the results and created biased rankings.

Alexa rankings data that dates beyond the previous nine months will no longer be available, but in the company blog Alexa reported ongoing plans to adjust historical data too. In the meantime, Alexa graphs will now only show the past 9 months.

Every Page Is Your Homepage

I was so happy today when I saw this blog post from Mitch Joel, over at the Six Pixels of Separation blog. Long have I lobbied for Internet marketers to stay focused on the every day user – not the tech-savvy advanced users our industry comprises.

Yes, this is a simple idea - ANY page of your website can be the homepage because it is the entry point for a particular visitor. But, this fact is often lost on web professionals and website owners. So much attention is placed on the homepage, and interior pages get little regard.

But we need to realize that first and foremost, we must consider the every day user. They are, after all, our potential market - our audience. Although many millions use the Internet daily, most except the very immersed use it only casually – for whatever they've found it useful – and that's as far as they take it. It's a tool – a means to an end.

So, when they do a search and find a webpage, it IS the homepage to them. Is your website architected with this in mind?

Completing the Sale

In the world of ecommerce, it’s important for online stores to remember their purpose…to sell.

Many of today’s ecommerce websites are filled with interactive flash applications and complicated site structures that are filled with content that is skimmed over. Even though the content on a site will most likely not be read in its entirety, content should not be overlooked because it is vital factor for Search Engine Optimization.

If you browse many small businesses on the internet that sell something you will come across attractive images, logos, and content, but where is the hard sell? Definitely one of the most important, and forgotten, aspect of an ecommerce site is the sell, the content that tells the consumer exactly what to do. Most consumers are busy, they don’t have the time or patience to scour a site, it is up to you, the seller, to make all the information they need to buy your product accessible and easy to use. It doesn’t take much either:

For example: “Click the link below to view available pieces and prices, order some products, and have them shipped to you quickly.”

These are tried and true methods of advertising. Attract the customer, ask for the sale, and then make the transaction easy, predictable, and accessible. Do it! The results will speak for themselves.

Moving or Redesigning Your Website for SEO

Many people don’t realize that when they want to move their website to a new domain or do a redesign, it can possibly hurt your site performance in the search engines. There are ways to do this without hurting your rankings.

301 redirects are very helpful, especially if you are moving from an old domain to a new domain. A 301 redirect is a search engine friendly way to redirect your webpages to another website or webpage. The code 301 is interpreted as “moved permanently” and tells the search engines that the old website or webpage has moved to a new domain or new webpage.

If your website is listed in directories or linked to other websites, it is ideal to contact the webmaster of each site that links to yours to update the links. If this isn’t possible, another option is make sure the 301 redirect is in place so when someone clicks on your old link it will redirect to the new one.

Make sure you create a Sitemap of your website. This is helpful in making sure the spiders crawl your entire site. Make sure that the Sitemap is submitted to Google and Yahoo, so their spiders know that it is available to be crawled.

It’s also helpful to create a custom 404 page, which lists a link back to your website’s homepage as well as any other useful links or a search bar. That way, if a user happens to land on a non existent page on your site, they can search for what they’re looking for or just go back to the homepage.

$1 million dollars in Click Fraud, Surely You Jest

They are serious and don't call me Shirley. In a lawsuit filed earlier this month in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Bigreds.com, an online collectibles ecommerce site, claims that between 2002 and 2006 it received over $936,000 in fraudulent clicks. Bigreds.com claims that Overture, which was bought by Yahoo in 2003 knew about the click fraud, who was perpetrating the click fraud, which advertisers were affected by the click fraud, Yahoo/Overture could have stopped the click fraud, reversed the charges and still did nothing about it. Why the company waited until 2008 to file the lawsuit makes no sense to me. As the person who manages our Pay Per Click Search team here at Ten Golden Rules, I am asked on almost a weekly basis about suspected click fraud for our clients, yet Bigreds waited 2 years after the click fraud ended and 6 years since it started. Apparently up until now, the online collectibles industry was booming or maybe Bigreds needed the money for a site redesign.

Web Search Classification Study

In the ever-changing world of the internet, there is no more vital information to a company than how to reach their target customers. Market research has led to new discoveries that will play a very important role in how companies market their website.

A research study at Penn State set out to classify queries made on search engines. The three categories in which all queries were divided were informational (searching for facts or topics), navigational (locating specific websites), and transactional (information related to buying a product/service). The study found quite conclusively (74% accuracy) that 80 percent of search engine queries are informational, with the remaining 20 percent divided between navigational and transactional.

The implications of this data are immense and will, no doubt, play an integral role in companies marketing strategies in the future. Classifying how search engines are used will help companies effectively and efficiently reach their target audiences.

If you are interested in learning more about this research study, the paper is available online.

RSS Explained: Why You Should Use It

Those who are bloggers or familiar with blogging are most likely familiar with RSS feeds. But there are still many people who aren’t.

RSS is known as Really Simple Syndication and is a web feed format that is used to publish updated content, such as blog entries, podcasts or news articles. Basically explained, it is a way to read constantly changing content as it is made available.

RSS content is usually read using software called an RSS reader. The orange symbol on the left is used to identify an RSS feed, and when you see that, you know that you can subscribe to their content. You can save the RSS feed to your RSS reader, and every time a website is updated, you will see it in your RSS reader as soon as it is published. Web based RSS readers include Google Reader and Bloglines and they are useful because you can read your subscribed feeds in any browser, no matter what computer you are on.

If you’re a blogger, it is in your best interest to have an RSS feed placed a prominent area where users can easily find it. In most blog software such as Blogger and Wordpress, an RSS feed is already installed. If you want to measure how many readers subscribe to your feed, Feedburner is a recommended tool for traffic analysis, ways to promote your feed and a lot more features. It is free and easy to use.

So whenever you see that orange square, you know that you can subscribe to an RSS feed. If you haven’t already, you can subscribe to Ten Golden Rules’ Blog RSS feed and be up to date on all our blog posts. :)

TextBuyIt - a new Amazon service

TextBuyIt is a new Amazon service that enables shoppers to buy goods from this mega-Internet retailer, by sending text messages, according to a recent article published in MarketingVox.

The key selling point of the TextBuyIt service is that it presents impulse buying opportunities for consumers who don't have a readily available laptop, but carry their cell phone constantly (as many do).

On Amazon's TextBuyIt, shoppers text the name, or description, of an item to Amazon, then browse product results from the company's inventory. After selecting one product, the consumer then enters the email address associated with the Amazon account, and an incoming call is placed to the cell phone to confirm the order and complete the purchase.

TextBuyIt, and similar services, may eventually present challenges to storefront retailers, especially as consumers increasingly seek low-price alternatives to the full retail costs. With TextBuyIt, customers that would otherwise have to wait to go home and search the Internet for less expensive prices can purchase on mitigated impulses, achieving the discounts via the text shopping service.

I expect that we will see more of these type of services, as mobile marketing becomes more prevalent, much to the further demise of retail stores - already damaged by increasing Internet sales - as savvy consumers continue to cut out the middleman.

A Great Idea! Fresh eMail Every Time!

In reading Rohit Bhargava's Influential Marketing Blog, I came across what may not qualify as the best new invention of 2008, but maybe it should. MintEmail provides a "temporary" email address for internet users.

Why would I need a temporary email address - essentially "disposable email"? Think of it this way. Next time you need to fill out a form on a website - and you need to be able to access a confirmation email, but you don't want to give out your REAL email address - you can simply obtain a temporary email address from Mint Email. This email address is good for four hours - long enough for you to login and get the confirmation email. But, it protects you from the inevitable spam that follows giving out your real email address.

This is an inspiring idea - that puts the power in the user's hands. As Rohit says, "a solution so simple, you wonder why no one else has done it first".

For marketers, this will make obtaining real email addresses even more difficult. But, that just means we have to work harder at gaining trust, cultivating a relationship and delivering value.

Jay Berkowtiz Presents A "How To" On Internet Marketing For Attorney's

Jay Berkowitz will be presenting his Ten Golden Rules of Internet Marketing, for attorney's at the Legal Marketing Association on Thursday. This event will review tips on marketing for personal injury lawyers as well as search engine optimization reviews for law firms.

Topics included are:

• How to improve your website so it shows up in Google searches
• How to generate positive return-on-investment with online advertising
• How to build ongoing relationships with the potential clients who visit a website
• How to capitalize on the Ten Leading Trends in online marketing today
• How to plan media and develop creative and landing pages that sell
• Pay-Per-Click campaign development and advanced optimization strategies
• Web Optimized PR – turn your press releases into website traffic generators
• MySpace, Wikipedia, Twitter, Second Life - How Web 2.0 impacts business
• Hands-on analysis and improvements for your website