| LED Digest 2448: The False Economy of DIY |
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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. www.SEOToolSet.com/training/ : the LED's Premier Sponsor Bruce Clay's Search Engine Optimization Training & Certification ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. July 13, 2007 Issue no. 2448 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ===== NEW ====================== --== The False Economy of Amateur Work ==-- ~ Michael Linehan "There is a very widespread 'do-everything' ethos in LED..." ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Pageviews & Measuring Traffic ==-- ~ Shaun Johnston "...web metrics show inflated figures compared to my own log analysis..." ~ Nathan Holley "There are a ton of factors more important than 'time on page'..." --== Offline Action: Print Catalogs? ==-- ~ Reid Neubert "...in most cases offering a discount for purchasing online is an acceptable solution." ~ Eva Rosenberg "You see that used all the time in those paper catalogs." ~ Al Toman "...how do you know that the price you are seeing online is the same price another viewer is seeing?" ======== NEW ====================================== From: Michael Linehan Subject: False Economy FALSE ECONOMY: Expecting Professional Results From Amateur Work There is a very widespread "do-everything" ethos in LED that I think is not necessarily the best way to run your business. Don't get me wrong... I think learning in LED and elsewhere is great. Participating in developing your website is important. But is it really the best use of your time to try take care of every single little detail? I would suggest not. This "do-everything" ethos is contrary to well-founded business principles that tell us a more direct route to business success lies in doing what you are outstanding at, and handing over the rest to others (who are outstanding at what they do). Trying to do everything may be just shooting yourself in the foot. What's the use of saving $1,000 if it took $3,000 worth of your time to do so? And what is the use of saving that $1,000 if you make only a few thousand dollars worth of profit from your work - when a specialist maybe could have made you $100,000. I'm not suggesting don't be involved. But I am suggesting you think carefully about what you can do really well, and what might best be done by others. To gain the ranking you want and to develop the level of conversion you need, it may be time for something different. You want to project the very best image you can. But many websites today are the Internet equivalent of putting out posters from a dot- matrix printer. To carry on tweaking such a lower-level site can be like trying to get Lexus performance out of a Lada. Sorry, but if you are driving a Lada, it doesn't matter what keywords are hanging on it, it's still a Lada. Then it also doesn't matter much if you do succeed in attracting people to the "Lada". No-one is going to think it is the site of a quality company. So you can make a choice: to continue tweaking the "dot-matrix" level work, and somehow think that is going to bring you success --- or to raise the level of what is going into your site. I want dramatic results this year, not gradually over the next ten years. What do you want? Start now to build the business you want. Or not. But if not now, when? Michael Linehan, Marketing Alchemy www.marketing-alchemy.com Comment? ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Shaun Johnston Subject: Traffic > ... Nielsen / NetRatings says that it will no longer provide > page-view rankings for web sites, saying that with AJAX > integration, people can be looking at one page, when really > they are looking at several... It makes sense to do this, but > the reason they cite confuses me - am I being stupid? - John Smart, LED Digest 2447 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1853/190/ I don't use AJAX, but I do use php pages. Problem: they seem to generate duplicate calls. I think this is why web metrics show inflated figures compared to my own log analysis where I eliminate some duplicates. I use my own programmed database for analyzing log files. Now, after dividing my data into sessions I sort each session by page and eliminate duplicates within each session, then sort the pages within each session back into time-order to reconstruct sessions. For visits I send to my clients, that I charge for ppc, visits are halved!!!!!!!!! As I wrote before, for different categories of visits I compare visits to entry page (in my case my home page) with visits to an action-surrogate page -- could be the contact or booking page. Then I use the ratio of visits to action-surrogate page to visits to home page as a measure of "quality" of visits, by category. Is using frames or iframes a form of AJAX? I use iframes a lot. Shaun Johnston Comment? -------- new post - same topic --------- From: Nathan Holley Subject: Traffic > So, never mind Neilsen, how do you > measure traffic. - John Smart, LED Digest 2447 Uniques. And conversions. Great post John, you're dead on. There are a ton of factors more important than "time on page" Neilsen seems so hot on right now. Nathan Holley Comment? ============ Sponsor Message =========== GetWebContent.com has a few words just for you. Relevant words, search-engine optimized words. Words that will impress both your customers and visiting search engine bots. Exclusive words custom written to meet your specs. Many other writing services recycle web content, at http://GetWebContent.com/LED we create it. ============ Sponsor Message =========== -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Reid Neubert Subject: Print catalogs On the subject of different prices online vs. printed catalog orders, let me add my input as a marketing strategist. As someone else in the discussion said, if you can find a justifiable reason, then do it. As long as it is not confusing, and as long as customers don't feel cheated or unfairly treated. IMHO, in most cases offering a discount for purchasing online is an acceptable solution. In order for it to work, be clear about it. If people are shopping at your Web site, tell them ... and *show* them ... they are getting a discount for making their purchase via the Web. Show the "regular" or "catalog" price and the discounted price, or the percent discount, they get online. Also clearly state in your catalog that you offer a (stated) discount if they place their order online instead of by phone. And don't be vague about it. Make it simple (important!) and clear, such as, "Receive a 10% discount on your entire order if you place your order on our Web site." Or, "Save $20 on each widget by ordering online at ourstore.com." In a side note, many people are not aware that once upon a time (before the Web), catalog companies would regularly test different prices points for merchandise by sending out catalogs with different prices to different people or areas. Then they could find out the optimum price to charge for things, literally, what the market would bear. Were you ever asked when ordering by phone from a catalog company what the code (whatever they called it) was on your catalog? That was so the operator would know what prices you were seeing in your version of the catalog. Today, when everyone can access the same online store, they can't do that anymore. Best regards, Reid Neubert www.neubertweb.com Comment? -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Eva Rosenberg Subject: Accounting Systems Choke Hi Adam and Dirk, This comment caught my eye: > ... a lot of accounting systems really choke > on multiple retail prices per item. - Dirk Johnson, LED Digest 2447 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1853/190/ Actually, set up properly, that's never a problem. You just give the item a slightly different, but unique, product number code, and to the accounting system, it's a totally different item. You see that used all the time in those paper catalogs. The first few digits of each product number is the catalog code and has nothing to do with the inventory coding of the item. Say you have an e-book, item number 3684. The online version would be item number 3684e. Nothing's complicated when it comes to accounting. You just have to know how to talk to the system. Once upon a time, your Humble Guide, Eva Rosenberg, EA & TaxNerd www.taxmama.com www.taxquips.com Comment? -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Al Atoman Subject: Print catalogs > A company that varies its prices according to the medium > used to reach people is probably going to annoy a lot of > people... I would be really ticked off if I found out I was paying > more because I was phoning up from the print catalogue. - Michael Linehan, LED Digest 2447 Well Mr. Linehan, be prepared to be one PO'd puppy! Besides, you / we should learn not to make "that" purchase, anyway. Put the cash into a piggy bank, instead. With companies setting cookies and web pages being dynamic, how do you know that the price you are seeing online is the same price another viewer is seeing online? Dell is an excellent example when trying to configure and make a decision about a system. If you take five days to make a decision, sometimes, you're lucky to hit the same price / configuration on the 5th day you were considering on the 1st day. I understand that some successful sales web sites have a fairly sophisticated pricing structure, algorithm, strategy, whatever. Besides, years prior to the internet, you'd buy a car and 1 day later they'd have a $5,000 off sale or buy a table saw at Sears, come home, and get your "25% off this upcoming weekend" mailer from the mail box~! I have seen countless times, web sales only, web pricing only, these prices are not available at our store, etc. No. I don't sell piggy banks. Al Toman studio9 web design http://studio9.ws 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 SEOToolSet.com Bruce Clay's Search Engine Optimization Training & Certification Join the certified SEO directory: www.SEOToolSet.com/training/ The Archives: http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/126/189/ Subscribe: http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/52/187/ Unsubscribe, Change Email, or Hold / Resume Delivery: http://www.led-digest.com/content/category/4/17/201/ (c) Copyright 1995-2007 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Justice delayed is justice denied." - William Gladstone |
