50 ft fishing boat

Why do companies like Toblerone or Pepperidge Farm bother having websites? As if people are going to say to themselves, “Gee, I wish I knew more about Milano cookies. I know! I’ll go to their site!” Just a thought. Many people have talked over the years about the gap between the amount of time that people spend online (which is large) and the percentage of marketing budgets that is committed to digital (not so large). Digital analyst Mary Meeker has estimated that this gap is worth about $50 billion globally (and that was a couple of years ago). I think that the reason for this can probably best be encapsulated by the quote at the start of this post, which is, if you’re interested, a quote from one of the characters in Douglas Coupland’s (excellent) novel jPod. Essentially, the character is vocalising the problem that many brands, particularly the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) ones that have historically been amongst the heaviest spenders on TV, have … [Read more...] about Website Or Social Network? Remember Who The Fish Belong To

A year ago, I wrote a post about 50+ things that every link builder should know. Over the past year, link building has definitely gotten a lot tougher — it’s been renamed several times, become more vilified than ever, and generally taken a beating. However, it still holds up as a viable way to market a website online. So this year, I’m adding 50+ more things that, as a link builder, you need to know. 1. How To Get A Bad Link Removed Without Being A Jerk About It If you want to get publicly shamed, then go get rude with someone who owns a site that gave you a link, regardless of how it got there. If you want a link removed that you inserted in your comment, be a thousand times nicer than you would have anyway. Just as it takes time to put up a link, it takes time to remove one, so be respectful. Additionally, don’t forget to point the webmaster to exactly where your link is — he or she may have more than one site, and s/he doesn’t have the time to … [Read more...] about 50+ More Things Every Link Builder Should Know

Like it or not, link building has been and still is big, big business. Doing it well takes a lot of time and resources, which means that many webmasters/site owners can’t or don’t want to do it themselves. Many agencies that handle other aspects of search engine marketing want to outsource it simply because of the massive resource drain. That’s great news for people like me who specialize in link building but the intense supply and demand nature of links coupled with the ease of promoting yourself through social media have led to a frightening increase in people who build bad links and really have no idea what they’re doing. As link building is considered an offpage tactic, to actually sell yourself as a link builder, you don’t have to do very much. People are desperate for help. However, it’s better to build no links than it is to embark upon a link building campaign that is full of nothing but spam that you will pay for twice: once when you put it … [Read more...] about 50+ Things Every Link Builder Needs To Know

One of the great things about PPC advertising is its immediacy.  You can start running ads right now and see almost instantaneous results; whether good, bad or just ok.  But, the trap that we don't want to fall into when running our accounts is limiting our thinking just to what can be gained right now.  The fact is, PPC is a great way to help build all areas of your online business long-term.  And with the continuous expansion of features and avenues being offered in this channel today, the possibilities continue to grow.But for this series of posts, I want to focus on keyword advertising.  I want to take you through a theoretical progression of how solid PPC search campaigns are started, developed and used to build a foundation for the long-term growth of your brand and website. Build Your Net When first starting your keyword advertising, you probably have some sort of idea about what your main keyword themes will be.  For our fishing … [Read more...] about PPC for a Day or For a Lifetime?

As a small business owner, the web holds a lot of challenges that, if navigated successfully, may yield some treasures. But there are some waves on the horizon, and uncharted waters ahead for many who would pursue those riches. A secret for those of you who are starting out with a fresh website, and something to learn about the storms ahead. There are fundamentals about conducting business online that will be helpful for you to learn, and there are a few best practices that have been well documented in some places. But a constant on the Web is that there’s always something new, always something that even the most experienced business folks and online marketers alike all face together for the first time. Let’s take a look at some of those cresting waves approaching from the distance. Exploring the mobile web The web provides some big opportunities, but the mobile web may provide even more. For a small business owner, making your goods and services available to people over … [Read more...] about A Smooth Sea Never Made A Skilled Mariner