Almost two full weeks into the project and just after the Thanksgiving holiday, I finally gave myself a chance to relax a little bit with a slow day that focused mostly on search engine marketing. I also had a chance to contemplate where I wanted to start reinvesting the dollars that were finally starting to add up for The Lactivist project....
The distribution power of four of the five largest search engines and the business model proposed by Brightcove can be seen as an experiment in marketing and content-distribution. The TV networks have recognized they need to work with the Internet and to do so they need to work with the Web’s core information providers, the major search engines....
Article marketing is at its strongest when you combine knowledge of the keywords people use to find your site, the pages that are most important to your site's conversions, and content that serves your prospects and your industry....
Day twelve saw the start of a sudden rush of traffic from a few solid links, gave me a true appreciation for just how generous Search Engine Guide readers can be and showed just how powerful Google rankings are. If I was learning anything from this experience it was the importance of creating a business that sparks people's interest....
On behalf of the webmasters and SEO's of the world, I do have to thank Matt. For a man who literally holds the power of online life and death for many webmasters, Matt's just a really nice guy....
The best SEOs are those that utilize what I will call common-sense algorithm chasing. They have a thorough knowledge of SEO that will make sense to the visitor as well as knowing and understanding where search engine algorithms are and where they are headed as well....
Day eleven was a happy day. Google rankings kicked in, making it clear that Jagger was still a fan of CafePress sites and that you can work around the sandbox if you make use of someone else's domain. I also finally figured out what was going on with the DNS issues that were holding up the launch of www.thelactivist.com and ran into the first real reason to be unhappy with the CafePress system....
Is the flow of your current copy destroyed by keywords? Are you scaring off both the engines and your visitors? One quick check can help you decide....
So, what exactly happened during the Jagger Update and what might it mean to your website? Quite a bit as it turns out....
Day ten was finally the day that I got to put some of my own experience to work on the site. After more than a week of trudging through things like graphics, style sheets and actually running a business, I finally had access to a keyword research tool....
After the craziness that was day eight, day nine seemed a bit tamer. I still got plenty done, from integrating Chitika Mini Malls into the Blogger site to writing new content for the soon to be live Lactivist web site. I also answered plenty of email from helpful folks who picked up on my no Wordtracker mention in day eight and spent some time adding my domain name to the majority of the products in The Lactivist store....
Google has established a fund to provide development monies to emerging companies before the VC crowd comes along with larger sums and results orientated directives....
Since consumers use the Internet as their primary access point for local information, advertisers can now combine web and phone for incoming leads. Pay-per-call is ideal for the local entrepreneur who relies on the phone for customer conversions....
Search marketing has expanded from the humble but mysterious artful science days to be a more professional, precise and predictable service. With so much change on the horizon, it is often a good idea to scope the scenery to see how it is being affected....
Day eight was all about progress. Viral marketing finally started to spread into the non-business world, two PR opportunities started to move forward, I got a complete site design put together for the new domain, selected a host, added several new products and had my first day of multiple sales. Overall, it turned out to be the best day of the project thus far....
Day seven wasn't one of my more productive days, but I did get to do a little bit of looking into my hosting options, found that traffic was starting to get a little stronger and received a very interesting email....
I think it's also true that all marketers are thieves. A few weeks back Chevy started an "Employee Discount" marketing campaign where us average Joes can get a car for the same price as Chevy employees. Guess what, it worked!...
Google will be receiving a wealth of consumer and marketing information from sites using the software, information that will be incorporated into Google's understanding of how users travel through sites found in its index. That kind of information is worth its weight in Google shares....
Almost a full week into the project, I'd made about $12 and was trying to figure out how best to reinvest it back into the business. Day six was a Sunday, which meant I didn't have but a couple of hours to put toward the site. Those few hours went toward new product development, another blog post and tons of time spent trying to get AdSense to work properly....
Day five saw me putting most of my time toward handling blog issues, another quick round of online reputation management and further experiences with the joy and frustration of AdSense....
Up to now, online has been the Wild West. The sheriff hadn't come to town yet. Black hats could get mediocre sites to the top of the rankings because the vast majority of legit sites had no clue about search engine optimization....
While Day four ended up being my most successful one yet, it also served as yet another reminder of what it's like to be a mom, work a job, live your life and still try to setup a business....
There's a new blog out there that is focused helping improve the success of professional bloggers by offering keywords tips, advice about headline styles, and how to increase your blog traffic....
The third day of my shoe-string entrepreneur project started off fairly calm and wrapped up in a whirlwind of craziness. I also learned that for every brilliant moment you have, you're likely also going to have some that are duller than dirt....
Day two is when I really started to appreciate the amount of work that goes into starting up a business as a side project. In the "real world," I'm used to having a budget for things like web analytics, site designers, copywriters and search marketing campaigns....
Even if money is tight, sometimes you just really need an attorney because many corporate contracts are extremely one-sided. If anything goes wrong later, you could be up the contract creek without a paddle....
With so many avenues opening for search marketing, it is much easier to envision and facilitate several different multi-channel advertising campaigns for a single client, product or service....
I've decided to set up a little challenge for myself and to both blog and write articles on it over the next month. The idea is to try to setup some type of business in my free time and see if I can start to turn a profit in a 30 day period....
If you are site owner, please don't assume everything you read/hear in the industry spaces is correct. Similarly, if you've read something in a forum, be sure to double and triple check it against a few other reliable sources....
Many potential clients are scared by the search engine optimization process. They feel that to achieve top search engine rankings, they must cede control of their site to the SEO who might run roughshod over its look, feel, and messaging....
Ever since local search engine optimization has become industry-accepted, webmasters and local business owners have wanted a way to benefit from it....
The search industry continues to explore ways to use behavioral targeting because the technology can be used to meet user needs while achieving advertiser objectives. Personalization of search will have a big impact on the way ads are placed and displayed....
Last week performance marketing network and interactive agency AdValient released a new suite of contextual advertising tools dubbed Advario. The new program is designed to give publishers a new way to place advertising contextual advertising on their web sites....
The 2000 version of Dot-Com Monopoly looks like a lot of archaic fun. Instead of landing on Community Chest, one lands on Download and the phrase "E-Mail Just In" replaces the Chance space....
I decided to explain the difference between good old web site search engine / directory submission versus pinging the blog search engines / directories....
One reason why I think the internet has been so successful is that website technology has allowed anyone to make a website and publish it on the internet. There are a lot of people out there that have absolute no formal training when it comes building websites—and a lot of people who build websites for a living have trained themselves....
Most companies know that a website is an important proof of credibility and an important sales generator. But, many websites are weak representatives for their companies and do little good....
As many companies are discovering, professional SEO is an incredibly powerful and cost-effective addition to the existing marketing mix....
You must remember that search engine optimization is a means to an end for you - it's not the end in itself. The end is to increase the sales of your products and services....
A vast improvement on personal empowerment from the socio-economic order of the post WW2 corporate-economies, the Internet has provided tens of millions of people the essential tools to become entrepreneurs and add value to their lives and their communities....
Despite the name, The Search is not just another search book. It's a probing look at the crux of what makes the Internet such a powerful force for change....
Don’t try and give too much information on your home page. We know that every additional click a user has to perform causes visitor loss, however putting too much information on a single page can also confuse them....
Finding out how your visitors work their way around your site can help tell you what usability changes might be needed, what specific information your visitors are looking for, and even how they make their buying decisions....
It’s hard to understand the under-utilization of SEO compared to PPC when organic listings attract more users, and the links are more highly valued as non-commercial. While many marketers are puzzled over SEO complexity, Paul Bruemmer simplifies the SEO Mystique....
Every town has a storefront that never changes and that store never seems to be very prosperous. Websites need to be updated and maintained, they are sort of like a storefront that way....
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