| LED Digest 2379: The Marketing Rule of Seven |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom www.GetWebContent.com/LED : the LED's Key Sponsor The Web's Most Experienced SEO Content Providers. ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. March 30, 2007 Issue no. 2379 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Designing Logos ==-- ~ Alex Hughart "...the FedEx logo works in a variety of color combos without diminishing its...FedExiness." <Moderator Comment> --== AdSense Tracking Software ==-- ~ Phil Scimone "Google provides OK channel tracking reports..." --== Best Practices for Personalized Emails ==-- ~ Shel Horowitz "I believe the rule of 7 was never anything more than an average rather than an absolute." --== HTML Standards and Search Rankings ==-- ~ Lee Roberts "...can a Californian sue Target.com based upon California's broader law of accessibility?" ~ Michael Martinez "...I am sure that Congress will be hearing plenty of sob stories from big business." --== Google Alerts for Competitive Intelligence ==-- ~ Cayley Vos "I have found [Google Alerts] almost worthless." --== Last Modified Javascript Trick ==-- ~ Al Toman "Did April Foobar arrive a few days early!?!" ~ Tom Aman "...any 'dynamically created page' was 'Last-modified' at the time it was created..." ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Alex Hughart Subject: Logo design > The issue we have with some of our logos is > that they were designed with a white background > in mind, and the graphics and text were anti-aliased > to the white background. - Brad Waller, LED Digest 2378 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1781/55/ Hi everybody, Brad Waller pointed out an issue with logos / graphics that is oh-so-familiar! Even with a several versions made in advance, I usually end up making a custom logo for each occasion. The problem is definitely much bigger if you don't do graphics yourself or if you are working with a 100th version of somebody else's design. When I design a logo from scratch for somebody else, I try to give the owner all the components used in the final version: fonts, colors, clip-arts, etc. so that the next person working on it can re-create it if needed. Also, it helps if the original design can be done in different colors without losing it's impact. This helps in situations when color choices are limited (hot-stamping, anyone?) or your logo needs to stand out or blend in better. For example, the FedEx logo works well in a variety of color combos without diminishing its, as Steve Colbert would phrase it, FedExiness. Alex Hughart bonsavon.com <Moderator Comment> And now's my chance to thank you, Alex, for the superb logos you did for AudetteMedia. Check 'em out here, LEDers: http://www.audettemedia.com/logos.html Also a shout-out to Greg Thibodeaux for the nice improvement on my old logos - check the bottom of the above page. And check out Greg's blog - looks like he just got married: http://gregthibodeaux.com/?p=103 Congrats man! In LED love, Adam Comment? -------- new post - new topic --------- From: Phil Scimone Subject: AdSense tracking > I've seen a couple of programs out there such > as Adsense Gold or Joel Comm's Adsense > Detective. Has anyone tried any of these? - Richard Graham, LED Digest 2378 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1781/55/ I tend to shy away from third party trackers mostly because I just don't have the time to find out what works and doesn't work. To track my adsense clicks, I simply create custom channels for each ad and its location on the page, copy the code to an SSI file and name it according to the name of the custom channel. For instance, on my camping supplies site, I create an adsense ad for the top of the page using the following naming convention: CampingSuppliesLeaderTop CampingSuppliesUnitRight On my pages, I include the appropriate SSI file for the ad units. Google provides OK channel tracking reports as far as I'm concerned and I don't need to use third party tracking code in my pages. The analytics tell me which ad was clicked. There is more information about using channels on the Google site at: https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=32614... Phil Scimone http://www.orangetreeweb.com Comment? ============ Sponsor Message =========== Now you got 'em, what are you gonna do with 'em? Surfers, that is. They're at your site, but is your copy ready? Is it powerful enough to convert casual visitors into free-spending customers? At www.GetWebContent.com/LED we first write "sell" copy that makes you money and your website sticky. Then we SEO it to make sure it gets read. ============ Sponsor Message =========== -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Shel Horowitz Subject: Personalized email > ... there has been research in this area suggesting > that a prospect must hear a message as many as > 7 times before they are ready to purchase. - Phil Scimone, LED Digest 2377 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1780/55/ Marketing guru Jeffrey Lant dubbed this "the rule of 7" a few decades back -- 7 impressions within 18 months. However, that was then, this is now. First of all, the pace of everything has speeded up. 18 months is typically about two entire generations in the online universe. Second, I believe the rule of 7 was never anything more than an average rather than an absolute. In my award-winning sixth book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First, I discuss the idea that there are actually three different scales that move people toward action: a matrix of frequency, quality, and relevance of messages. If the quality of the offer and the relevance to a need are high, frequency may be immaterial; it might only take *a single impression* to create a sale. OTOH, if the relevance is low, it won't matter how many exposures. I've been a vegetarian for 33 years; a McDonald's ad will never move me to buy a burger, no matter how many times I'm exposed to it. I also believe that when the exact same message is repeated too frequently, it becomes annoying -- and a negative factor that makes a buying decision considerably *less* likely -- as Phil points out later in the same post: > ... nothing will make me click that "unsubscribe" link > more than a merchant sending me too many follow up > messages. For me, "too many" means more than 1 per > week (even 1 per week seems too many for me). Of course (and I spend a lot of time on this in the book), I'm a firm believer in creating marketing systems that drive prospects to contact you, rather than the traditional ram-it-down-your-throat approach. By the time someone contacts me, often, if I don't do something to screw it up, I have the sale. Shel Horowitz Sign the Ethics Pledge: http://www.business-ethics-pledge.org Comment? -------- new post - new topic --------- From: Lee Roberts Subject: Standards > Would not last year's ruling against Target be construed > as something that "demands closer attention to accessibility" > since it basically said that if you are a brick and mortar > company and have a website, your website must be ADA > compliant? - Jeremy Weiss, LED Digest 2378 The ruling was simply that the National Federation for the Blind (NFB) could proceed with the lawsuit against Target.com. It was not a final ruling on the merits of the case. Therefore, the ruling does not alter the Judiciary's stand that they will not establish case law for applying the ADA to the Internet. The full text of the judge's opinion can be found at http://www.dralegal.org/downloads/cases/target/062_order... The endnotes provide us with the following opinions: ---------------------- "Endnote #2: At oral argument, however, the parties conceded that the ADA does not explicitly mention websites. It is clear that the legislative history of the ADA is inconclusive on the issue of the regulation of private websites and the court declines to draw an inference from the absence of congressional action." ---------------------- My comments: Again it is obvious the courts are sidestepping the issue of "does the ADA apply to the Internet?" Further review of the opinion indicates that the Judiciary still wants Congress to make a law about Internet accessibility. Even after being on the WCAG2 working group, I have to agree with the Judiciary. Just think how many small businesses would no longer be in business if the Judiciary ruled that the ADA does apply to all businesses using the Internet. Unfortunately, when the Judiciary makes case law the law is in effect immediately. However, Congress can make a law and provide a "do or pay" date just like with the high definition television law. Consider the implications for SEO experts and web designers, alike. As the small businesses are remanded to oblivion they would turn and sue the SEO or web designer for damages. How many SEO experts and web designers would be in business after that fiasco? We might even see states requiring professional licenses for web designers and SEO experts like we see for plumbers, HVAC companies, and other industries. ---------------------- "Endnote #3 The examples listed by the ADA as examples of places of public accommodation provide support for the notion that such an entity must be a physical place." ---------------------- My comments: The merit of the case depends upon whether Target.com is an entry point into Target stores. If Target.com is used as an entry point into Target stores, the ADA could apply. This would not prove that the case would apply to Amazon.com or other Internet only stores. ---------------------- "Endnote #4 A broader application of the ADA to the website may be appropriate if upon further discovery it is disclosed that the store and website are part of an integrated effort. Parties may file briefing on this issue later if the court deems it appropriate." ---------------------- My comments: This point definitely indicates the case has not been decided, but only that the case may proceed. The hype promoted on the Internet about the case was certainly shortsighted and failed to realize the case has not gone to trial yet. Will it go to trial? I don't know. Perhaps Target.com fixed their problems -- I didn't look -- and if they did the National Federation of the Blind would not spend their money chasing a case that no longer applies. Therefore, until Congress rules that a website must be accessible under the ADA the disabled still do not have merit in their cases under federal laws. However, the question remains can a Californian sue Target.com based upon California's broader law of accessibility? I'm not a lawyer so I don't know. Regards, Lee Roberts Apple Pie Shopping Cart http://www.applepiecart.com/ Comment? -------- new post - same topic --------- From: Michael Martinez Subject: Standards So far, all that has been determined is that the lawsuit may proceed. (Source: http://www.itcinstitute.com/display.aspx?id=2676 ) If Target loses the suit, only businesses with physical locations AND Web sites (that is, Internet-only business sites are not included) will be affected. And if Target loses, you can believe that they'll be lobbying Congress (along with many other large corporations) to change the ADA. That is exactly how the Communications Decency Act of 1996 came about. While the obscenity portion of the law was quickly struck down by the courts, the other part of the law -- which declares that Internet Service Providers are to be given the same protections as telecommunications providers (phone companies) -- remains in effect. The sad irony about the CDA's rationalization is that Internet Service Providers have been shown to act with knowledge of their users' activities ( http://internet.seekingalpha.com/article/29449 ) that telecommunications companies don't display. That is, the CDA has been shown to be based on false premises. But the law remains in effect nonetheless. If Target loses the accessibility lawsuit, I am sure that Congress will be hearing plenty of sob stories from big business. But none of that has any relevance to the issue of whether W3C compliance is beneficial in search engine rankings. Michael Martinez http://www.michael-martinez.com/ Comment? -------- new post - new topic --------- From: Cayley Vos Subject: Google Alerts > ... information on how to use Google [Alerts] to > perform free competitive intelligence... - Rod Aries, LED Digest 2375 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1778/55/ I have used Google Alerts in the past to monitor my clients' competitors and unfortunately have found it almost worthless. One specific search I tried was "[specialization] Attorney" and the results returned were 95% blogspot splogs. I was thoroughly dissappointed, but also intrigued by the magnitude of blogspot spam. If this is an indication of blogspot quality, there must be tens of thousands of new splogs created daily on Google's network. Cayley Vos, Principal SEO website development http://www.netpaths.net Comment? -------- new post - new topic --------- From: Al Toman Subject: Javascript trick > Check out this cool javascript trick > I read recently - anekostudios.com - Adam Audette, LED Digest 2378 Javascript Trickery I don't know about all y'all but on 2 of my systems, on either sea monkey, firefox, IE6, and Netscape browser, the alert box simply shows the CURRENT date and time. On Opera, it shows January 1, 2007, GMT regardless what web site appears in the browser. Did APRIL FOOBAR arrive a few days early!?! Trick ur Treat, Al Toman Comment? -------- new post - same topic --------- From: Tom Aman Subject: Javascript trick > This works best with static pages rather > than dynamically generated ones... As far as the server is concerned, any 'dynamically created page' was 'Last-modified' at the time it was created, meaning at the time the server created the page (i.e. right now). A 'dynamically created page' is any page created or containing dynamic content. This includes '.asp' pages, '.php' pages, pages created via CGI, pages using server side includes (SSI), etc. Tom Aman http://www.cyberspyder.com Comment? ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by GetWebContent.com The Web's Most Experienced SEO Content Providers. Free no-obligation proposal: http://GetWebContent.com/LED 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end." - Ursula K. LeGuin |
