| LED Digest 2354: Engagement Marketing |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom pair Networks: The LED's Web Host Hosting and Domain Registration from a Trusted Leader pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. February 23, 2007 Issue no. 2354 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== CONTINUING ================= <Moderator Comment> ~ Supplemental Results ~ Emails in the LED --== Marketing with YouTube ==-- ~ Michel Fortin "[Video] opens new doors to...pre-sell, customize and individualize the selling process." ~ John Barendrecht "If Google implements advideos, would you host the videos yourself?" ~ Michael Linehan "There have been other factors that were touted as the next big thing." --== Open Source Shopping Carts ==-- ~ Lew Vividere "...cPanel runs on Apache 1.3 and Ensim runs on Apache 2.0." ~ Rebecca Neilson "If you get [Miva] make sure you have 5.0 or the special aftermarket addon for PayPal." --== Google Backlinks vs Yahoo! & MSN ==-- ~ Michael Martinez "...the typical business Web site doesn't need an endless stream of links." ~ Will Bontrager "Theory by itself puts no money in pockets..." ~ David Spahr "I always focus on content first." ======== CONTINUING =============================== <Moderator Comment> Couple of things today. Firstly, this from Aaron Wall's excellent http://www.seobook.com : If you're interested in viewing pages from your site that are in Google's supplemental index, try this command: site:www.yoursite.com *** -sljktf (the trailing characters are a gibberish string) Aaron explains how supplemental results can be an indicator of site health and a flag for potential problems: -------------------------- "Pages that are in the supplemental index are placed there because they are trusted less. Since they are crawled less frequently and have less resources diverted toward them, it makes sense that Google does not typically rank these pages as high as pages in the regular search index. "Just how cache date can be used to view the relative health of a page or site, the percent of the site stuck in supplemental results and the types of pages stuck in supplemental results can tell you a lot about information architecture related issues and link equity related issues." Source: http://www.seobook.com/archives/002047.shtml -------------------------- To get a "supplemental index ratio" for your site, divide the number of results returned from the above command by the number of results returned by the tried-and-true site command: site:www.yoursite.com *** -sljktf - divided by - site:www.yoursite.com For most sites this is probably unnecessary, but for larger sites (and especially dynamic sites on CMS and blogging platforms) this can be an effective tool for getting a feel for Google's "opinion" of your site, or to reveal problems. Secondly, I'm excited to announce that Will Bontrager has offered to provide harvest-safe email links within the LED. I've often thought not having email addresses within the list was kind of a bummer. Now, thanks to Will, we can include emails in 'encrypted' form for every poster. What this means is that you won't have to visit an LEDer's site and dig around for a contact form or email link. All you'll have to do is click on a link in the LED! I'm sensitive to the fact that some LEDers may not want to be contacted off-list. Is this a common concern? If so, I'm not sure how it would work, other than including a note to me to refrain from including your hidden email. If it's enough of an issue, I'll refrain from including the links altogether. I'd love to hear your thoughts, please let me know if this would be something worthwhile. Have a great weekend, Adam --------------------- From: Michel Fortin Subject: YouTube > [With video] we have increased Conversion Rates > by 30% AND shortened our sales cycle. - Ken Evoy, LED Digest 2353 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1752/55/ Agreed. Over the past two years and particularly in the last six months, I've found that adding video has increased conversions even higher -- sometimes as high as 200-250%. In fact, I've even seen sales-driven web pages entirely video-based, making hundreds of thousands of dollars in a few short days. And I've also seen a decrease in refunds and returns specifically attributable to the addition of video in the sales experience. As a direct response, long-form copywriter by trade and passion, I was compelled to write a white paper on Web 2.0 and the video trend, entitled "The Death of The Salesletter," at: http://www.michelfortin.com/ (Available in the right sidebar.) It's not the death of salesletters or text by any means. But it's indeed the beginning of new form of sales experience, driven by the ability -- and demand -- for more interaction. In it, and using research as a supporting element, I submit that using video not only engages more of the senses and increases sales, but also increases attention, retention, comprehension, and credibility. Video is not just for the sales process proper, such as for samples, testimonials, proof elements, attention-grabbers, and more. They can be used at any point in the sales experience, from product launches to product consumption education. I've seen, for example, "stick letters" in video format, which have worked very well. Video engages more senses, and more of the senses. And they replace much of what was taken away by the web from the face-to-face sales presentation. In fact, the reason why they work so well is because they are not only visual. They appeal to all three modalities: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. Even if it's as simple as to click on the video and play it, online video specifically compels -- and has the ability to compel -- the visitor to interact with the website. For example, new Flash videos allow forms and feedback within the video. Take the new Techsmith.com's Camtasia 4.0, which allows quizzes with feedback. Nevertheless, this, in turn, opens new doors to savvy marketers to use the interaction process to pre-sell, customize and individualize the selling process. The reader, and most of her senses, are not only engaged, but also served according to the way the visitor prefers and wants to buy -- and not according to how the website owner thinks they prefer and can best be sold. Interactivity is key. Some people call it Web 2.0. Others have coined it as "Engagement Marketing." Regardless, video is going to be an increasingly significant business tool for many other factors beyond its mere visual benefit. Michel Fortin, CEO The Success Doctor, Inc. http://successdoctor.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: John Barendrecht Subject: YouTube I wonder how Ken Envoy and others feel about the monetizing of YouTube. Apparently Google will show 3 to 30 second ads in front of your video within the next couple of months. These would most likely be from your competitors as the ads will come from Adsense. In that case, would you still feel the exposure provided by YouTube is beneficial over the potential loss of the customer to the competition? If Google implements advideos, would you host the videos yourself? Best regards, John Barendrecht Centralhome.com Company Inc. http://www.centralhome.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Michael Linehan 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/ An interesting post, and David may well be correct. So I'm not, at all, contradicting you here David; just adding a couple more thoughts. Is YouTube a medium one cannot ignore - as in mass-produced books, post-Guttenberg, or the telephone? Or is it a useful tactic, among many other tactics, for reaching particular sectors of the market? There have been other factors that were touted as the next big thing. I remember in the early days when it was predicted that within a year or two, we'd all be running around the Internet in the form of Avatars. It didn't happen. Recently, of course, this has had a resurgence, with the popularity of Second Life. But that's still an utterly microscopic fraction of the overall economy. Another "ignore at your peril" area has been the social networking phenomenon. Yes it's useful, even important for some businesses. But for many others, it's totally irrelevant. The answer to all these kinds of considerations (and my second thought) is about being strategic. The great majority of most companies' marketing is tactical and opportunistic - either reacting to what is happening in the market this month, just making it up, or grabbing any opportunity that looks good. People do this, not because they are foolish, but because it used to work just fine in the much less competitive marketplace of the recent past, and it still works fairly well. But tactical marketing is rapidly becoming less and less effective - on or off the Web. Today, you need something more. With a strategic focus and plan, one has a "compass direction" against which to measure all these factors, and with which to laser-focus all your actions. Rather than reacting to the ebbs and flows of the market and the latest tactics, one "takes the bull by the horns", moving PROACTIVELY to craft your company's future. Strategy is probably the biggest overlooked facet of business life. The most powerful, far-reaching and fastest way to transform most businesses results is to become thoroughly strategic. Then you can make all those particular decisions - about YouTube and everything else - from the perspective of your strategic plan. Michael Linehan, Marketing Alchemy www.marketing-alchemy.com -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Lew Vividere Subject: Shopping carts > ... many hosting companies have Cpanel hosting > and have a package of pre-installed scripts, called > Fantastico, which include OS Commerce. - Donald Nelson, LED Digest 2352 Donald, You mentioned that OSCommerce is available through cPanel systems. I wanted to mention that it is also available through Power Panel which comes on severs using the Ensim interface. I am not here to toot my whistle, but I offer both cPanel and Ensim control panels and offer OSCommerce with either one. Aside from the control panel differences, cPanel runs on Apache 1.3 and Ensim runs on Apache 2.0. Other software people might wish to run might have OS dependencies. True or not, I heard cPanel doesn't support as big of sites as does Ensim but I have no personal experience either way. Lew Vividere -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Rebecca Neilson Subject: Shopping carts I currently use Miva Merchant and it does have a lot of bells and whistles that allow you to really customize it. I am currently using version 4.0 as that is all my ISP offers. They told me last year they were going to upgrade to 5.0 but I am still waiting. But I do like Miva and have been using it for about 6 years. If you get it make sure you have 5.0 or the special aftermarket addon for paypal. I was having some problems last year with paypal orders till my ISP added the specail module. It cost about $25 but well worth it, I believe 5.0 has the glitch taken care of. Rebecca Neilson -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Michael Martinez Subject: Backlinks > One of the primary purposes of backlink analysis > is to expose trends... 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... you > will get a very good feel for what works in real estate, > consistently.... - Dirk Johnson, LED Digest 2353 Yes, you'll find the cheap, easy links -- the links least likely to be passing value. The Web sites suffering the most from Google's recent updates are the ones relying on cheap, easy links. > These days, it is no longer proper > to pursue the links of competitors.... That was always a self-defeating concept, with respect to search engine optimization. In search engine optimization the typical business Web site doesn't need an endless stream of links. It needs a few good links, good on-page optimization, and some regular guidance and maintenance. In Web site marketing, any visibility is good visibility as long as it produces a return. If creating visibility through links costs you greater visibility in search engines, then you don't want the visibility through links. Of course, many people still reciprocate. While reciprocation in itself is okay, solely getting links through reciprocation is a bad idea for several reasons: 1) It makes your link profile look like a cookie cutter profile 2) It makes your site look less valuable because you don't have any natural 1-way links 3) It's the least effective of the "rank by linking" strategies that people employ in search engine optimization (and ranking through links is already the least efficient approach in general) 4) Google has done warned people that "excessive reciprocation" is -- in their view -- a bad thing People can get good links by giving good links. No need for reciprocation. Just be a great resource. And make sure your internal linkage is maximized so that your visitors can easily find helpful content without having to hit the BACK button. Unless your business is search engine optimization, or running a link exchange, you should not be investing very much time in search engine optimization, link analysis, or link exchanging, or all that other stuff. And if you don't know which links pass value anyway, in any form, doing your own backlink analysis is just a waste of time for you. Michael Martinez - "Cuando Maria canta, ella canta para mi" http://www.michael-martinez.com/ http://michael-martinez.blogspot.com/ -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Will Bontrager Subject: Backlinks > ... [to find backlinks] Just search for ".yourdomain.com", > using the leading period before your domain. - Dirk Johnson, LED Digest 2351 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1749/55/ I want to thank you for that, Mr. Johnson. I have often searched for a domain name as the search term itself, usually searching for both "example.com" and "www.example.com", to see what people are saying about us. But I hadn't thought to put a period in front to match both versions. Let me take this opportunity to say that I find your results oriented approach to be rather refreshing. Theory by itself puts no money in pockets unless, of course, one has a buyer or sponsor for the theory. Results, on the other hand, is essential for success. When folks ask me for a reference having to do with the linking aspect of SEO, I send them to http://domaindrivers.com/ Will Bontrager http://bontragerconnection.com/ -------- new post - same topic -------- From: David Spahr Subject: Backlinks and more > People are not learning nearly as much from backlink > research as they have been led to believe they should. - Michael Martinez, LED Digest 2352 Even if cannot tell which backlinks Google values and which they do not, framing it this way only addresses how this will count within Google where sales or ROI are the carrot at the end of the stick. I always focus on content first. You can "take the lead" over your competitors by having more, higher quality, better organized links than they do. You may discover excellent, interesting links ("Dang! why didn't I see that before?") that would be value added to your site content-wise. I never worry too much about reciprocation or how Google views a link. If a link / site is truly excellent, they should value it, whether they do or not. My goal is to make the best resource / links page for early stereographica and photographica on planet earth. I believe I have succeeded. All of my links are personally selected, reviewed, organized and described - 10 years in the making. It is not a haphazard list of "mystery meat" links like you see so often in giant aggregated links pages (especially the adsense hustlers). Let the chips fall as they may. People will be back. People will often give me a backlink. If Google needs to know what the really good links are they can always pay a visit. My list is far superior to anything they can produce from a search. More is the best they can do. I used Dirk's suggestion about finding backlinks using his .yourdomain.com Google search strategy. Thanks Dirk! I tried my own stereoviews.com and found 7610 backlinks. That was way above my expectations. I learned a lot by viewing them. Most all backlinks I viewed were "on topic". I found a couple of reviews. I found that a lot of Chinese know about my site. It wouldn't hurt if they would start buying but I figure eventually that will change. Researching your own or a competitors backlinks can help you add useful and valuable content and in most cases expand your personal knowledge as well. Google should reward that. David Spahr stereoviews.com ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks: pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains The Archives: http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/126/120/ Subscribe: http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/52/77/ Unsubscribe, Change Email, or Hold / Resume Delivery: http://www.led-digest.com/content/category/4/17/86/ (c) Copyright 1995-2007 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Poetry is an orphan of silence. 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