B2Blog
Business-to-business (b2b) and industrial marketing blog.
Google has a common sense guide to hiring a "search engine optimizer" and not getting scammed or screwed. Best hint: check to see if the SEO "has had domains removed from Google's index or is not itself listed in Google".
Could you please be so kind as to click on the Renew button to renew your listing in the TopSites-us directory listing by Thursday, November 28, if you do not mind? You can also renew your listing on our website by clicking renew. If you cannot access the Internet, let me know and I will renew your listing for you. Your listing only cost US $5 (other currencies) per month per category.
This email goes on, telling how you will get a million impressions a year at www.topsites-us.com. I think this website is usually run as a pop-under ad. At the bottom of a directory page there, I found a small ad linking to Open Directory, which must be where they get their content. Who is going to pay for this service, its junk!
While the Google Monitor is a great toy for keeping track of how you are ranking on Google, a more comprehensive program is WebPosition Gold. I use it once a month for a comprehensive look at how my site ranks on the engines using my keywords. They have a free trial you can download, if you've never tried it. The coolest thing it does is actually evaluate your webpages and let you know what you can do to improve their rankings for your given keywords. This takes time and energy, but necessary if your site is ranking near the bottom of the search results. I usually wait a few months before I panic, as rankings tend to flucuate quite a bit.
And it isn't easy either. First, when I uploaded our company's new website to a UNIX server at our ISP, I found that their 'log' files don't record "referrers", so I had no idea how people were getting to our site. That sucks! I can't believe they haven't fixed that since I was last using that server in 97. Doesn't anyone complain?
This week we moved to a new host, primarily to streamline our email. This host has referrers and live stats, so you can always check in to see how the site is performing (instead of batch process once a day). But this host doesn't support form tools that send mail. They offer up a couple weak solutions that don't really tell you everything you need. For example they list an ASP script, but is actually just a call script to another ASP script that you apparently have to buy. Or maybe its already installed on the server--I couldn't tell.
I could have avoided all this if I was using FrontPage, which the host supports, but I've moved on to Dreamweaver. And if I use FrontPage to create just the form pages, it doesn't work. FrontPage wants to take over the whole site.
Solution? Letting our technology consultant write an ASP script for me. It's not often I get this stumped by technology.
Hanson Publications is busted! A restraining order on Hanson and two other companies for shipping out "directories" and coercing $300 out of the unlucky recipient. I've taken their calls either to get listed in the directory or receive it for years without getting trapped.
For people like me who get a lot of computer questions, be aware of this one. A supposed e-greeting which is actually a spam program with an end-user license agreement allowing the company to spam you and your address book. This one takes advantage of all that's wrong with the web.
We reviewed our initial marketing budget for next year. Some of our initial decisions:
Post-card deck advertising is out. If people are going to take direct action, which is the primary benefit of such cards, they are going to hit the web. People's search cost has dropped significantly. These decks will continue to serve those who have something that people aren't looking for.
Trade advertising will be low, too, for similar reasons. We still need to consider ads for image/positioning.
Growing traffic to our website should be a priority. This means considering boosting paid web promotions like Google and Overture. We will consider adding Industrial Quick Search, Looksmart, and SEO (search engine optimization) services. I need to check out LookSmart again, then will report back here. GlobalSpec was just too much money for questionable gains, so that is out already.
We really want/need a new SFA/CRM database for sales. If we can get the bucks to do this, this blog will probably lean heavily that way next year as we search and implement it.
I was discussing the way rankings in this program work yesterday with a reader. The fact is that the ranking of your ad is based on CPC (cost-per-click) that you bid/pay and CTR (click-thru-rate). I mistakenly thought it was also influenced by PageRank.
Google AdWords: FAQ And this is why my ads sometimes show up on top: We occasionally show Google AdWords Select ads in the top spots if they qualify for Premium placement. This is determined by a combination of cost-per-click and clickthrough rate.
Here's a classic. It took me a while to come up with this searching the web, believe it or not.
Here is an easier way to not-integrate your marketing message with your exisiting website. We are looking to do this with a business partner next year.
Got some response regarding our re-booking with Thomas Register's from the people who want to fill their vacuum . In a feeble attempt a self-defense, I think it is "pretty pictures and prayers" that a lot of marketing is based on. And marketing people, like everyone else, want to make "safe" decisions. So the final result only makes us normal.
As an example I think the trade-show business would die if were all there just based on ROI. A hundred leads is hard to justify for five or ten thousand dollars a show costs to attend. But there are many non-measurable benefits to still attending. The paradigm is shifting, so we need to seriously consider the new opportunities, regardless of our attachment to the old ways. Time to go write my budget ideas for next year.
Get the inside scoop on exactly how Google's PageRank works with this in-depth 55 page report called "PageRank Uncovered".
You'll learn:
- How PageRank is determined, and how important it is
- Whether or not Google's Toolbar is accurate
- Influencing Results and Controlling PageRank
- Speeding up PageRank and How PageRank could be more than it seems
The report is definitely a worthwhile read if you're trying to learn as much as possible about search engine optimization. I'm only surprised they're not selling it as an ebook.
Program Name: PageRank Uncovered
URL: http://www.supportforums.org/PageRank.pdf
I am a marketing manager for a manufacturing company. I started B2Blog to have a place to talk about the dramatic changes in industrial marketing. Because I am writing a personal blog about my professional life, I prefer to keep my exact identity and employer on the QT.
