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LED Digest 2353: Leveraging the Visual Web Print E-mail
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List Moderator:                     Published by:
Adam Audette                          LED Digest
adam, led-digest.com     http://www.led-digest.com
..............................................
February 22, 2007                     Issue no. 2353
..............................................


            .....IN THIS DIGEST.....


==== CONTINUING =================

        --== Marketing with YouTube ==--

                ~ Andrew Bourland
"...we *can* afford to ignore YouTube for marketing
purposes."

                ~ Rod Aries
"The typical process is that an athlete sends
a DVD to the school..."

                ~ Ken Evoy
"By adding [video] to our site we have increased
conversion rates by 30%..."

        --== Download Options for PDFs & Ebooks ==--

                ~ Andreas Huttenrauch
"In PHP it's quite easy by using a streamer file..."

        --== Open Source Shopping Carts ==--

                ~ Reid Neubert
"The Web host I use offers ecommerce packages
with a choice..."

                ~ Ed Clark
"...after trying many much prefer AgoraCart."

        --== A SEO Guide - is it Possible? ==--

                ~ Barry S Mills
"...I've just read what I think is the best introductory
guide to SEO I've ever seen..."

        --== Google Backlinks vs Yahoo! & MSN ==--

                ~ Phil Scimone
"Traffic will increase when we start providing
what the customer wants and needs..."

                ~ Dirk Johnson
"...you will never be invited to another SEO
cocktail party...because you'll smell like link stink."


======== CONTINUING ===============================

From: Andrew Bourland
Subject: YouTube

> I think at this point you ignore YouTube and it's
> long term implications to web design and the
> entire internet at your own peril.
        - David Spahr, LED Digest 2352
        - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1750/55/

Actually, within the next week, we CAN afford to ignore YouTube for
marketing purposes.

Stay tuned for FreeIQ, put out by the same people who brought you
StomperNet. It's a Google-like search engine / directory for
business related digital content (video, audio, pdf, ebooks, etc)
which enables you to buy and sell digital content with ease -- and
they've got a great affiliate program and built in shopping engine
that you'll just love if you sell information products or software.

I saw a preview of it this week in Orlando. Check it out pre-launch
at http://preview.freeiq.com.

It totally rocks!

Andrew Bourland
http://www.bourland.com
http://www.zbiz.tv ~ interviews with entrepreneurs

P.S. Unfortunately, I have no financial interest in this venture. I
wish I did. It's brilliant!


-------- new post - same topic --------

From: Rod Aries
Subject: YouTube

> There is an explosion of imagination going on before
> our very eyes at YouTube. I intend to make YouTube
> videos an integral part of this site eventually.
        - David Spahr

I think in many cases embedding youtube video on your site is
probably not the best, or most professional, thing to do... but
there are applications where it can be helpful.

My daughter is a 16 year old high school junior who plays
volleyball. She has been approached by several colleges about
playing volleyball for their school; and there are many colleges
that she wanted to contact as well.

The typical process is that an athlete sends a DVD to the school,
they get around to looking at it, then they follow-up if interested.
She created a site http://www.kenzilla.com that allows college
coaches to "meet" her online. In less time than it takes for a coach
to open the mail, walk over to the DVD TV and find the remote, they
can watch a video on Kenz and know if they want to recruit her or
not.

She incorporated youtube video on her site rather than just adding
video directly to her web pages. We debated just loading video onto
her site and bypassing youtube, but I wanted her to have the extra
exposure youtube offers, plus at the end of her youtube videos she
offers the link to her site. This way she may get noticed at youtube
and via her site. I also attempted to optimize the youtube video
tags in an attempt to drive more traffic.

Last week she sent out her first emails to college coaches. Within
in 72 hours she received these replies:

-------------------
"Kenzie,

"Forget the part about sending a video tape. I was able to view your
links attached to the email. I was impressed with how much you
penetrated over the net when blocking. You bring power when you hit
too! So needless to say I'm impressed with your style of play. I
think you could make an immediate impact in this program."

"Kenzie,

"I have spent way too much time this morning playing around on your
web site.  Needless to say, I've very impressed not only with the
great web site but with you.  I think you are a great mix of a
serious competitor, hard work, talent, personality and intelligence.
 Everything I like in a player.  I look forward to recruiting over
the next year or so."
-------------------

Most of her video has been up 1-2 months at youtube.com
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kenzie+aries . Her
videos have been viewed as many as 1300 times in that short period,
obviously not all by coaches.

She is planning to upload more video to youtube and her web site
based upon these responses.

Rod Aries


-------- new post - same topic --------

From: Ken Evoy
Subject: YouTube

David Spahr wrote this about video and YouTube...

> Some people are catching on and
> I think this is just the beginning.

I couldn't agree more.  We have been adding progressively more video
to our sites, and providing video as sales aids to SiteSell
affiliates, with powerful results.

I'll skip the evolution of our increasing use of video and go
straight to the bottom line.  By adding "SBI! TV" to our Web site...
http://www.sitesell.com/#SBITV ... we have increased Conversion
Rates by 30% AND shortened our sales cycle.  That's for a site that
had been a/b split extensively -- we had pretty much maxed out our
CR. So, for a company of our size, that's one heck of a jump.  Why
does video sell so well?

The "I Love SBI!" videos ( http://ilovesbi.sitesell.com )
communicate "benefits" far better than words could ever do. And the
Video Tour ( http://videotour.sitesell.com ) communicates exactly
what SBI! is and why it works so well (features), far better /
shorter than we have EVER been able to do in words.

"Benefits" and "features."  Nothing new, it's just far more powerful
when presented through video.

We have also embedded specific videos in a variety of sites,
according to the target market.  For example....

http://webmaster.sitesell.com/

Compare that to...

http://wahm.sitesell.com/

Different folks, different video strokes.

Finally, to build traffic, we've put the video tools into the hands
of SiteSell affiliates.  This enables them to put the power of video
into THEIR hands, both increasing traffic to SiteSell sites AND help
them PREsell more effectively.

Finally, YouTube itself can be an effective vehicle (beyond the
over-publicized, hard-to-replicate, "viral videos"). For example,
some clever affiliates have already created videos that get found
for keywords such as "small business"....

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=small+business

If you scroll down, you'll see one or two videos about SBI!. Click
on them and you'll find more SBI! videos in the "Related" section of
that new page.

I feel like I'm back in the days of "Make Your Site SELL!," a whole
new horizon opening up.  Video is the future.

Those who figure it out first will indeed do well.  Those who ignore
it for too long will fall behind.  Text will, of course, remain
important for decades.  But increasingly, this is a visual world.
Video should be a strong part of any marketing mix.

All the best,

Ken Evoy, President
SiteSell.com


-------- new post - new topic --------

From: Andreas Huttenrauch
Subject: Opening ebooks

> ... how [can] you force the "Save Target As" option
> [for ebooks] rather than simply opening the file?
        - Ron Coble, LED Digest 2352

What you need to do here is force a different set of headers with
the file. In PHP it's quite easy by using a streamer file like this:


<?php

    $file = "myfile.pdf";         // <----------- name of your PDF

    header("Cache-control: private");

    header("Content-Type: application/force-download");

    header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=\"$file\"");

    header("Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary");

    readfile( $file );

    exit();

?>


That should do it.

Please DO NOT pass $file in the URL as anyone can then use this
script to download any source file from the server. If you are going
to dynamically pass filenames to this script, you'd need to do a lot
of verification to ensure hackers aren't asking for PHP files etc.

Hope that helps.

Andreas Huttenrauch

Globi Web Solutions
http://www.globi.ca
"Engineering the Web to Bring People and Business Together!"


-------- new post - new topic --------

From: Reid Neubert
Subject: Shopping carts

> I would like your opinions on the easiest [and] best
> of the open source carts. I am looking into using a
> hosting company that already has it installed.
        - Bill Pavone, LED Digest 2351
        - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1749/55/

The Web host I use, aplus.net, offers ecommerce packages with a
choice of osCommerce, which their blurb says is the leading open
source ecommerce, or MIVA Merchant for $5 more per month, which it
says is the leading shopping cart on the web.

If any readers have experience with either of these setting up
shopping pages that use a site's existing look and feel, I'd love to
hear about it.

Best regards,

Reid Neubert
www.neubertweb.com


-------- new post - same topic --------

From: Ed Clark
Subject: shopping carts

In answer to Bill Pavone's request for an open source cart.

Several LEDer's have talked about oscommerce.com cart. I have used
several open source carts including oscommerce.com. But after trying
many much prefer AgoraCart.

My reason is simple... you can get all the help you need. And if you
join for a few dollars... very reasonable... even more help.

Most hosts using Cpanel have it available as part of the hosting. I
know that I do. It is included for the hosting price. But you can go
to www.agoracart.com and download it there. After a little
practice... this cart fills most needs and you can make it look
anyway you desire. It also accepts most billing platforms such as
PayPal and others.

Ed Clark


-------- new post - new topic --------

From: Barry Mills
Subject: SEO guide - it IS possible

Apologies for dredging up an old thread, but I've just read what I
think is the best introductory guide to SEO I've ever seen, by a
mile. It is aimed primarily at web site owners, but I'm so impressed
that I'm going to start using it as a training tool for staff.

It's published by a UK firm called Econsultancy - most readers in
the Uk are probably members already, but I don't know how well known
they are outside this country. Anyway, I urge anyone with an
interest to take a look at this guide. The full report runs to over
200 pages, but there is a free sample of 30-odd pages that anyone
can get, that includes 6 or 7 sections of the main report and is
very useful stuff in its own right.

If you want the full report, you can buy it for ukp 99, but it makes
far more sense to become a member of econsultancy (149 ukp, about
$280) because that gives you access to the SEO guide and a ton of
other resources for a year.

The free SEO guide sample is available here
http://www.e-consultancy.com/publications/seo-guide (towards the
bottom of a longish page).

Barry S Mills, Chairman

Netstep Corporate Communications
http://www.netstep.co.uk


-------- new post - new topic --------

From: Phil Scimone
Subject: Backlinks

> Webmasters should just be looking for ways to
> improve the visibility and traffic for their own sites.
        - Michael Martinez, LED Digest 2352

Webmasters, I believe, should be focusing on links to other sites
that complement their own offerings rather than thinking in terms of
visibility and traffic. Traffic will increase when we start
providing what the customer wants and needs, not because we think we
can increase our traffic because we add a certain link.

Regards,

Phil Scimone
www.orangetreeweb.com


-------- new post - same topic --------

From: Dirk Johnson
Subject: Backlinks

I need to clarify my post about backlinks, as Nathan and Michael
seem to want to interpret me very incorrectly. I also want to touch
on the emerging new trend in SEO advice, that I have coined
"Dreaming the Impossible SEO Link Dream".

I do not think it is a good idea to try to duplicate the exact
backlink profile of other sites. There are far too many inaccessible
links to those other sites to make that effort worthwhile. I was
only explaining how to do proper backlink analysis, and what to look
for. It is not a wasted effort to see what other sites have done to
get where they are.

But, if you use only a few well-ranking sites as your point of
reference, that can be misleading. One of the primary purposes of
backlink analysis is to expose trends. That is, if you look at the
link profiles of 100 of the top ranking local real estate agent
sites, in at least a dozen competitive metro areas (which is
something I have actually done), you will get a very good feel for
what works in real estate, consistently. The mystery is swept away,
and a real course of action emerges. One based on real world results.

In reviewing that much larger sample, you will also get a much
larger list of accessible links to pursue, as no single one of those
100 sites has all the accessible links.

Since those accessible links are now exposed, right there in front
of you, then not pursuing them seems rather odd to me, from a
business perspective. If there are 1000 accessible links that other
well-ranking agents have, and they are home and real estate related,
and you can possibly get many of them for yourself, and you now know
exactly where they are, then denying yourself those links is, to put
it mildly, a *very curious* SEO concept. What do you think?

Since most of the accessible links will likely require reciprocation
to get them, it is no surprise that the big-name gurus in the SEO
world now back away from this kind of link analysis and strategy. It
takes them down a road that they don't want to go. Anything that
requires reciprocation is to be avoided, in their dogmatic world.
Never mind that it seemed to work for 100 other well-ranking sites
in your industry. Somehow, it won't work for YOU.

Which brings us to the latest SEO advice trend that I have seen here
and on some other SEO forums lately. Gosh, I just love these SEO
fads! They are so entertaining. And often very complicated and
costly to prosecute. The harder, the better, in that world, I guess.
Anyhow, this one is a real whopper. Again, let's call it Dreaming
the Impossible SEO Link Dream.

These days, it is no longer proper to pursue the links of
competitors. To be a real SEO stud (or studette), and thus, have
other people on the SEO forums agree that you are righteous, then
you have to completely ignore the links that have worked for your
competitors or other related sites in your realm of interest.

Chasing competitor links is so "2006". It has become quite
unfashionable in SEO circles in 2007. To be a real leading edge
swinger in SEO, you have to IMAGINE that there other links that you
can get, and that your competitors somehow can't get them. They are
out there. You just have to create the right "link bait" that will
get them. Using sophisticated link bait is the only way to go,
folks. Link bait is all that anyone is talking about these days.

Where are these imaginary links, and what bait will attract them? If
you don't know, and if you ask that question, you will be told that
you are just a dumb bumpkin. Nobody will tell you specifically where
to get these links, and exactly what lures to use. It's proprietary
information among the SEO crowd. Each guru has their own sources,
and they guard them like the gold in Fort Knox. So go find your own,
you nosey hillbilly.

Not that the gurus are completely unhelpful. Here is the guidance
that you usually will get. They will tell you that these links come
from "authority" sites. That they are the "right" kind of "good
quality" links. Now, run along and go find them.

The bait you'll need to develop is referred to reverently, in hushed
tones, as "great content", the holy grail of SEO. Great content is
information that springs from the heads of very smart, creative
people. It can be found nowhere else on the planet. It is so
compelling that EVERYONE with a website in your realm of interest
will automatically find it and want to link to it, for nothing more
in return except the satisfaction that they have helped the rest of
the world by linking to your marvelous content.

Please don't try any of this at home, without qualified supervision.
As you can see, this kind of high-level work is not for the ordinary
masses.

Now, there are examples where link bait has worked. I have even
built a site that earned a lot of gratuitous links, based on the
content. But how this link bait concept works for a ordinary real
estate agent in Kansas City who wants to rank well does escape me.
So I guess I am just one of the dumb bumkins, with ten years of
experience at marketing websites.

They'll tell you that the rest of the links that you could get using
more ordinary means won't count in Google anyhow, so why bother with
those. You will find out that the links to your competitors are
defined as pure garbage (especially the reciprocated ones). If you
pursue those kinds of links, and not the approved imaginary links,
then you will never be invited to another SEO cocktail party at an
SEO conference. Because you will smell like link stink.

In the end, you will find out that there is one way to get at these
imaginary, secret links. Hire an SEO consultant who can get them for
you. And I think that just about sums up the whole concept of
Dreaming the Impossible SEO Link Dream.

Best regards,

Dirk Johnson, Partner - Operations

DomainDrivers LLC
www.domaindrivers.com


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