Conversation MarketingRuminations on the world of internet marketing, by a grown up. We won't use the word 'synergy' once, we promise...The Cluetrain Manifesto, Critiqued by John Cass- March 14, 2008 John Cass over at the PR Communications Blog posted an excellent, thoughtful piece about the Cluetrain Manifesto. His examination centers around (at least in my mind) two primary themes of the Manifesto: That companies need to 'get out of the way' and 'let the inevitable happen'. The 'inevitable' in this case is the formation of smarter, more dispersed markets via what we now call social media. And that command and control within a company is a bad thing that should go away. I...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/03/cluetrain-manifesto-critique.htm Web Analytics: The Myth of Inaccuracy- March 12, 2008 I am so, so, so tired of 'experts' telling me that things like podcasts, social media or other, harder-to-quantify online media are "hard to measure". Bull. The most difficult-to-measure online asset is far, far easier to measure than the best offline one. More Measurable Than Any Traditional Media Corporations have blown ridiculous amounts of cash on television, print advertising and radio. Traditional agencies then tell them proudly of impressions and readers. But what do they..http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/03/web-analytics-marketing-myth.htm A 'Crash Course' on SEO Ethics and Responsibility- March 11, 2008 When you go to a conference and present, you have a responsibility to give accurate advice or admit you can't. That's called professional responsibility. Especially in a relatively new field like search engine optimization. I really enjoyed SEMPDX, and recommend it to everyone. All of the presentations were great. With one exception. What Went Wrong The day started with a one-hour 'SEO Crash Course'. The audience included total beginners as well as experts. Many folks were clearly...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/03/a_crash_course_on_seo_ethics_a.htm Search Analytics: My SEMPDX Presentation- March 11, 2008 Here's the slides from my SEMPDX Presentation, 'Search Marketing Analytics', for those who needed them: View Upload your own What I Talked About It was a 10-minute presentation, with a few very basic points: Reports do not equal analytics. Analytics mean you did the work of analysis. At a minimum, you want to have the following data: Referring keywords; pageviews per visit, by keyword; time on site, by keyword; bounce rate, by keyword; if possible, conversion rate by...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/03/search_analytics_my_sempdx_pre.htm SEM Gourmet: SEMPDX Searchfest Reviewed- March 11, 2008 When I drove down to Portland to speak at SEMPDX's 'Searchfest 2008', I had low-ish expectations. Lots of great people running it and participating, of course, but it was a very small conference compared to SMX West. Next year I'll be more optimistic - it was a great, great conference. The one-day conference had great content (with one exception I'll be writing about later), top presenters and while it had some technical glitches was generally well organized. If you want a small,...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/03/sem_gourmet_sempdx_searchfest.htm Help Rand Fishkin Join the MACerati- March 8, 2008 OK Rand, it's time to join the Mac-erati. Danny Sullivan bought a Mac. Now it's your turn. Here's why: The Mac is stylish. It'll go with your keen fashion sense. It's a better computer (doh, I wasn't going to say that). You'll be able to drive Danny crazy by refusing to put stickers on your laptop. To make things easier, we're taking up a collection. If everyone in the search community donates $2 we can buy you a nice rig. Here's what we'll get you: Note that we're..http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/03/rand-fishkin-join-the-macerati.htm Local Search Optimization 101: Get Found- March 7, 2008 All 3 major search engines now have local search results, and they mix them right into the normal ranking pages. That's wreaked havoc with many businesses that previously had the top spot for something like 'seattle internet marketing' (ahem) but suddenly found themselves buried underneath a map and a list of local companies: In this example, my years of hard work getting Portent the top organic ranking for 'seattle internet marketing' just got pushed down the page by a map. Even worse,..http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/03/local_search_optimization_101.htm 9 Internet Marketing Questions I Just Can't Answer- March 7, 2008 The last six weeks have sucked. Aside from SMX West, which was a nice, positive interlude, I've been dragging my rotting remains across a rocky, jagged waste filled with people who say things like "Your daughter just threw up again" and "Can you get me a breakdown of your hours for the last 5 months". In that theme, I've written down 9 internet marketing questions that even God probably can't answer: Why are the Google rankings jumping up and down like my son on a sugar rush Over the...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/03/9_internet_marketing_questions.htm Defend Yourself: Bid On Your Brand Name in PPC- March 5, 2008 If you're spending money on pay per click marketing, you must buy your brand name! Ignore those who say otherwise. Make damned sure you're bidding on the name, mispellings, and the like. Even if you rank 1 for your own name. Do it anyway. Here's why: It's cheap. PPC engines' quality scoring algorithms mean you're likely to get the best deal on your own company and product names. That translates to lower bids. It's insurance. If you slip from the organic rankings for a day or two,.http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/03/defend_yourself_bid_on_your_br.htm Don't Drive Angry: Stepping Back from a Failed Internet Marketing Campaign- March 4, 2008 You spent $150,000 on creative, ad space and some fancy-pants internet marketing strategist. You launched the campaign and held your breath. And nothing happened. You've got two options (please choose 1): Option 1: Live and Learn To me, no measured campaign can be a total failure. If you didn't have analytics in place when you launched your campaign, sorry, I can't help you. Fire your internet marketing agency and seek therapy. Then start over. You can glean great...http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2008/03/dont_drive_angry_stepping_back.htm |