Atlanta Web PR and SEO - search engine optimization articles, case studies

Google's New Mortgage Service Sign of Google's Next Strategy

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:29:00 +0000

It used to be enough for Google to make the market place by allowing buyers and sellers to find each other. With the announcement of Google's new mortgage aggregator service, they are expanding to take more direct control of certain market verticals. It would be logical for Google to expand into other vertical lead generation services on a pay per lead basis, as we may see in the coming months. This could lead to quite an expansion of Google's ad revenue.

In the trackless waste of the early internet, it was inevitable that some one would create search engines or directories to bring order out of chaos. Search engines, most basically, allow seekers to find the information or the products you want among the many confusing offerings on the web. With the power to direct huge numbers of seekers to web sites, the logical next step was to charge money for all those viewers. Now that there's too much information, in the form of spam, you can even pay to filter out the parts of the information you don't want.

Google's new mortgage aggregation service, is part of the Google Merchant Search, which was recently beta tested on the google.co.uk search market. http://www.google.co.uk/help/merchantsearchbeta/faq.html The service allows users to browse mortgage rates and then leave contact information to request a mortgage quote.

Of course, this is essentially the same business model that Lending Tree follows. A law suit has resulted as reported in Is Google Entering the Mortgage Quote Business?. So, Google is beta-testing a new lead generation business. The downside is that Google is competing with a mortgage business that may draw a good bit of revenue from the search traffic provided by Google and other search engines.

It is obvious that any business, like Lending Tree, that draws leads and revenue from online search will be at quite a disadvantage competing against Google for organic search traffic. Google's paid search and organic search resources would allow it to draw a dominant share of the search traffic and lead revenue, to the detriment of Lending Tree or any lead generation business web site.

Google's statement on the new service depicts it as a limited test: “We’re constantly looking for new ways to help people find what they are looking for on the Internet. As part of that effort, we are currently working on a small ad unit test that will run against a limited number of mortgage-related search queries in the U.S.”

This competition could force Lending Tree to buy even more Google ads to compete with Google, or to increase spending on other forms of offline advertising to drive more lead traffic. The end result is greater cost for Lending Tree.

The next step would be for Google to compete with aggregator web sites in other vertical markets. Google would move from market maker to actually competing with their own online advertisers. In a tight economy, Google sees an opportunity to increase revenue at the expense of their advertisers using the aggregator business model.

Google's entry into any of these market niches will require close scrutiny, to foresee the end result, and to create suitable counter strategies. Search engine observers have been following Google's encroachment into their advertisers' markets since May of 2008.

Using the Apartment Finder to Find Your College Apartment

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:04:00 +0000

Using the Apartment Finder to Find Your College Apartment
Here are some helpful tools to find your next college apartment with the Apartment Guide for these college cities:

Austin, TX
Austin Community College - Off Campus housing
Austin Apartment Guide - austin.apartmentguide.com

Miami, FL
Johnson and Wales University - Miami off-campus housing
Miami Apartment Guide

Tacoma, WA
University of Washington - Tacoma Apartment Guide
Tacoma Apartment Guide

Chicago, IL
Adler School of Professional Psychology - Chicago Apartment Guide
Chicago Apartment Guide

Fort Wayne, IN
Indiana - Purdue University - Fort Wayne Apartment Guide
Fort Wayne Apartment Guide

Baltimore, MD
Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University - Baltimore Apartment Guide
Baltimore Apartment Guide

Washington DC
Johns Hopkins University - School of Advanced International Studies - Washington DC Apartment Guide
Washington DC Apartment Guide

The searchable ApartmentGuide.com helps you find apartment locations, rents, availability, photos and floor plans near your college. Good Luck with your college apartment hunt.

The Barak Obama Brand: How Simple Ideas Make it Possible to Elect Politicians

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:22:00 +0000

The victory of Barack Obama using the simple slogans of CHANGE and HOPE, were effective in depicting vague yet appealing ideas that won over voters. These ideas have no real specific meaning but, they did reflect the rabid desire of the left to oust Pres. Bush & the NeoCon political philosophy.

Couple these vaguely appealing ideas with an articulate candidate who looks good and you have a winning candidate. This inoffensive liberal candidate appealed to the liberal need to feel good about giving an African-American a place in history to assuage white guilt. The candidate picked up moderate and independent voters by moving to the center, and avoiding any specific ideas in his campaign other than a tax credit hand-out designed to pander to voters scared about the economy.

How Simple Ideas Make it Possible to Elect Politicians

Take this same concept of simple ideas that capture the unique identity or promise of a product and you have the idea behind product branding. Branding is one of the most effective techniques a marketing business can use to sell it's products or services.

What crosses your mind when you think of a brand like Disney World? The idea of family fun. What concept is evoked by the name McDonalds? Advertising has conditioned us to associate the name McDonalds with quickly served food that tastes the same anywhere in the world. The Starbucks brand evokes the brand promise of tasty coffees in a relaxing atmosphere that becomes a sort of personal luxury.

This was the genius of the Obama campaign's simple mantra of CHANGE and HOPE, which could mean almost anything that the voter could want it to mean. When the Obama brand met the pent up demand for eliminating Pres. Bush via CHANGE, or improving the bad economy via HOPE, the campaign's Unique Selling Point or Brand Image became successful.

New Custom Suit Blog

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 17:31:00 +0000

Dress To Win is my new blog that covers wearing custom suits and sport coats to overcome the modern trend towards business casual and other forms of sloppy dressing.

American men actually dressed pretty well during the 30's, 40's 50's and 60's. See the AMC TV series "MAD Men" for a great example of the great business suits worn by men in the early 1960's. After the 1960's it was just one bad clothing trend after another for men; the sadly misguided hippy look, followed by the excessive polyester of the disco trend. A brief revival of suits and preppies in the 1980's could not prevent the damage of the 90's grunge look and it's odious companion "corporate casual".

Last year, I just got tired of the sloppy, half-done business casual look. Instead I've gone full bore into more a traditional business look with custom sport coats, custom shirts and ties. Since summer of 2007, I've been experimenting with this look and I've had really good results with it.

The offshoot of all my sartorial research was learning how American men were once well dressed for business in my father's day and my grandfather's time. How did it come to be that today we try to dress comfortably, with no concept and no desire to look sharp? Why am I surrounded by grown men that dress like sloppy teen age children with no style? I blame the designers and the media for the whole comfort era of dressing.

I say we are not children who need to be comfortably swaddled in baggy jeans and hoodies. No. I am a responsible adult with enough life experience and business knowledge to dress well.

Social Bookmarking Sites

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 21:12:00 +0000

Here's a list of social bookmarking sites:

AllMyFavorites.net - Create an organized page for your bookmarks that you can share with friends and family, access from any computer.

Backflip.com - Check out the most popular links each day, set “The Daily Routine” as your homepage so you can visit your must stop sites each day with ease.

BibSonomy.com - Public & private bookmarks, tag cloud, related tags, duplicate detection with the chance to merge their info.

BlinkPro.com - Dynamic folders, bookmark all links of a page plus all the usual features.

BlogMarks.net - Save your bookmarks, tag them with keywords for easy searching amongst your list, share with others.

Bluedot.us - Tabbed user page showing a network of friends, bookmarks, and related tags. Allows you to import contacts from all the major mail services such as GMail and Yahoo.

BmAccess.net - Bookmark a site, add tags, when you look up a tag, you get the names and a little thumbnail image of the site along with it.

BuddyMarks.com - Store your bookmarks online, share some or all of them, discover new sites to visit by searching the public bookmark area.

Chipmark.com - Browse random “chipmarks”, share them, sort, filter, and get personal recommendations.

Connectbeam.com - A themed social bookmarking site for enterprise-scale business.

Connectedy - Import your bookmarks, batch edit them, check in on hot topics.

Connotea.org - A themed social bookmarking site specifically for researchers, clinicians and scientists.

Diigo.com - Highlight portions of a page, write on it like you would a piece of paper, share with your group, and search all publicly saved pages.

Excites.com - Organize your bookmarks by tags, add comments and notes, share publicly, subscribe to certain tags so you can be notified when a new site is added that may interest you.

Feedmelinks.com - All the usual social bookmarking goodies, but you can also add links via email.

Hyperlinkomatic.com - Import/export, categories, notes, sharing, block users, RSS, tags.

IKeepBookmarks.com - Folders, search folder names and more.

Lilisto.com - Ratings, notes, categories, smart categories and in-page editing.

Linkroll.com - Links open in new window, subscribe to tags, browse by archives.

Ma.gnolia.com - Discuss all the saved bookmarks in groups, see what the Featured Linker is all about, join discussions in the Hot Group.

Mister-Wong.com - Bookmark and tag, search for tags that interest you, make buddies with people who have interesting saved sites.

Netvouz.com - Save your bookmarks in folders, tag them with keywords, share them with others or password protect them.

Nextaris.com - Folders, tags, clippings; store up to 100MB for free.

Shadows.com - Share your already existing bookmarks, discuss and rate sites and see what you can find.

SocialBookmarking.org - User and global tag cloud, blogs, social networking, avatars and more.

StumbleUpon.com - It learns what you like and recommends more of the same.

Unalog.com - A basic social bookmarking site, but with the ability to look back at specific days and see what was going on.

WireFan.com - You can vote on links as well as add thumbnails for sites.

Xilinus.com - Tags, rating, search, public & private listing, drag-and-drop sorting.

Yahoo! My Web - One button click adds your bookmarks to the search engine giants system, features duplicate detection to help you keep your bookmarks tidy.

Social Bookmarking Sites With Clipping

BlinkList.com - Save sites for later reading, share your list or keep it private, even send your saved pages to your blog for wider sharing.

Clipclip.org - Like an online scrapbook, you clip out the part of the site you want, then share it with whomever you want, and discover new places to visit.

Clipmarks.com - Allows you to clip just the chosen bits of a webpage, save them to the main website, or even insert them into your own blog. Think of it as fancy block quoting.

del.icio.us - You add your bookmarks and access them from anywhere. Check out what others are saving and see where it takes you.

Furl.net - Not only can you do the standard bookmarking and sharing, you can save archived versions of a webpage and even export all your saved pages to a ZIP file.

Linktopia.com - Keep private, share, mark as friends only, edit bookmark dates.

RawSugar.com - Can cluster your tags for you based on recommendations by other users.

Simpy.com - This social bookmarker does all the usual plus detects links that have changed, and distributes your bookmarks via your blog’s RSS if you like.

Spurl.net - You can upload your existing bookmarks to get started, add more for centralized access, check out hot lists and recommendations.

SyncOne.net - All the usual features plus the ability to add your own Google Ads to the top of your profile page.

URLex.info - Inbox, group creation, directory, all of the usual features, plus being able to send your RSS feed to the site.

Blog-buzz.com - Similar to Digg, but for blog posts.

Digg.com - Synonymous with social bookmarking: you Digg a story, others Digg it, the more popular it gets the better chance it has of hitting the first page.

Netscape.com - A former contender in the browser wars, and the “mother” of Mozilla, it’s now a a social news aggregator with voting of stories similar to Digg.

Newsvine.com - Users can write articles on current news events, save links to external content; vote, comment and chat on article pages created by both users and by journalists.

Reddit.com - You vote up or down on a story making it move around on the home page.

Shoutwire.com - Similar to Digg, except instead of “Digging a story”, you “shout it”. Still a way to vote on unique Internet news stories.

Thoof.com - Add news stories you find interesting, anyone can “improve” the article by fixing the URL, editing the summary and more.

List Your Blog in Blog directories

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 14:33:00 +0000

In building your blog, it's very handy to build links and expose your blog
to more readers. A great way to do this is listing your blog in blog directories.
Naturally, you will also want to develop an RSS feed for your blog and ping
the major directories when you create a new post.

Here's another great list of 150 Marketing Blogs from Todd Andrlik at Ad Age.com.

Advertising Age Power 150

http://dir.yahoo.com/Internet/World_Wide_Web/Weblogs/
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/On_the_Web/Weblogs/
http://www.blogcatalog.com/
http://blogflux.com/
http://blogs.botw.org/
http://www.geekyspeaky.com/links/
http://www.blogpulse.com/index.html
http://www.blogdigger.com/index.html
http://www.blogarama.com/
http://www.bloghop.com/
http://www.blogrankings.com/
http://www.blogtoplist.com/
http://www.findory.com/blogs/
http://www.bloggernity.com/
http://www.bloggeries.com/
http://www.bloghub.com/
http://www.lsblogs.com/
http://www.blog-search.com/
http://www.britblog.com/
http://www.weblogalot.com/
http://www.globeofblogs.com/
http://blogstreet.com/?
http://www.bloguniverse.com/
http://www.top100bloggers.com/
http://www.getblogs.com/
http://www.delightfulblogs.com/
http://www.bloogz.com/
http://portal.eatonweb.com/
http://www.readablog.com/default.aspx
http://www.iblogbusiness.com/
http://findingblog.com/
http://www.all-blogs.net/
http://www.bloglisting.com/
http://www.blogdup.com/
http://sportsblogs.org/
http://www.blogcode.com/index.php
http://blogannounce.info/
http://www.blog-directory.org/index.php
http://www.sarthak.net/blogz/index.php
http://www.blogsweet.com/
http://www.blogdirs.com/
http://www.addurlblog.com/
http://www.5starblogs.com/
http://www.blogtagstic.com/
http://www.blogscanada.ca/directory/
http://www.industry-blogs.com/
http://www.blogbib.com/
http://www.kmax.ws/bloglinks.htm
http://www.blogs-collection.com/
http://www.diarist.net/registry/
http://www.blogbunch.com/
http://www.blog-watch.com/
http://www.photoblogdirectory.net/
http://blogsforsmallbusiness.com/directory/
http://www.bloghints.com/
http://www.search4blogs.com/bloggers/index.php
http://www.thevital.net/
http://www.highclassblogs.com/
http://emarketingblogs.com/listings/index.shtml
http://jenett.org/ageless/
http://www.bestblogs.org/
http://www.misohoni.com/bba/
http://www.blogdust.com/blog-directory/
http://blogs.tomstopsites.com/
http://www.chinabloglist.org/
http://www.blogadr.com/
http://directory.etalkinghead.com/
http://www.topblogsites.net/
http://www.biggerblogger.com/
http://www.blogroll.net/
http://www.blogscholar.com/component/
http://www.blogpoint.com/
http://browseblogs.com/
http://www.blogsrating.com/
http://www.blogdir.co.uk/
http://www.quickblogdirectory.com/
The Ageless Project - Web logs by birthdate.
AL Weblogs Directory - Thematic weblogs directory.
All-Blogs.net - Sites grouped by keyword.
Alliance Of The Anonymous
AOL People Connection
- Blogs - Directory of blogs
Best of the Web Blog Directory
- Categorized directory
Big Blog Media -
Bigger Blogger - Free listings, sorted by category.
Blog Announce - Free-for-all
links listing
Blog Catalog - Sites are listed
by category
Blog Challenge -
Blog Directory Submit - Submissions may be made in RSS Feeds or Atom XML.
Blog Dirs - Human edited weblog directory.
Blog Flux Directory - Based on tagging with related weblogs.
Blog Hot or Not - View random weblogs and rate them from 1 to 10.
Blog Point - Categorized by topics.
Blog Ratings - Ratings and
reviews of sites organized by topic.
Blog Search Engine -
Search engine and directory.
Blog Toplist - Categorized and sorted by popularity.
Blog Universe - Weblog,
podcast, and video log directory.
Blog Watch - Categorized directory
with latest post.
Blogadr - Free listings.
Blogarama - Lists weblogs by
category.
BlogBunch - Topical listings.
BlogCharts - Find weblogs by popularity or rating.
Blogchild - Human-edited directory.
BlogDir - Free blog directory.
Blogdust - Categorized listings sorted by topic.
Bloggeries - Categorized listing
of weblogs
Bloggernity - Searchable
directory.
BlogHop - Portal matching weblogs
with readers.
Blogion - Human-edited directory.
Blogoriffic - Free blog directory
Blogroll.net - Listed by popularity.
Blogs Collection - Grouped
by category
Blogs Rating - Categorized
by subject
BlogScholar - Academic weblogs
BlogStreet - Profiles, RSS ecosystem, and search.
BlogSweet.com - Human-edited directory.
Blogtagstic - Search by tags.
Blogwidow.com - Web logging
and weblogs.
Bloogz - Search for weblogs.
Blurt it! - Free directory.
Britblog.com - British bloggers
from around the world.
BrowseBlogs.com - Topical listings with hit counters.
Business Blog Directory
- Business and corporate weblogs.
Delightful Blogs - Reviewed for personality.
FindingBlog.com - Searchable
directory.
Front Blogs - Add and browse
the weblog directory.
GetBlogs.com - Human edited directory.
Guardian Unlimited - Weblog Guide - A "best of" selection of weblogs grouped by category.
High Class Blogs - Nonprofit
directory.
I Like Blogs - Picture directory.
I2blog - Categorizing bloggers by
their country & interest.
Industry Blogs - Business
blogosphere.
Kmax Blog Links - Alphabetical
list.
KookKoo - Listed by country and category.
The
Octopus Files - Iincludes excerpts from posts.
Quick Blog Directory - Organized by category.
Research
Blogs - List that can be used by researchers and academics.
Root Blog Directory - Weblog directory and RSS feed aggregator.
Royal Artist Club - Provides
a place for bands to communicate directly with fans.n.
Sports Blogs .
5 Star Blogs - Human edited
directory and search engine. .
Start4all:
Weblogs - Weblog tools, media, portals and meetings.
TheVital.Net - Free categorized
and searchable directory.
Today.com - Categorizes by topic.
Top 100 Bloggers - General top weblog rankings.
Top Blogs - Readers vote
for their favorite weblogs.
Wutzle - Allows users to rate listings in the directory.
XHTML Friends Network -
Weblogs and personal sites. XFN sites.

Yahoo Search Submit Pro Does Not Buy Search Results

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Thu, 31 May 2007 14:40:00 +0000

Yahoo Search Submit Pro

Yahoo's Search Submit Pro is a combination of natural search listings with a pay per click program that allows you to mix in chosen web page links with the natural Yahoo search results. The difference is that you can submit pages for Yahoo web search, instead of waiting for Yahoo to crawl them. You can also control up to three web quicklinks and control the wording of the listing for the submitted page.

This is worthwhile for any web site because of the control you gain. You choose how the pages on your site are listed in the search results. The Yahoo Search Submit Pro has been criticized by some SEO (Search Engine Optimization) writers as, "buying your way into the search results", but the result is quite different from that description.

Critical bloggers and posters in the SEO forums, have theorized that Yahoo is allowing Yahoo Search Submit Pro users to control where their listing appears in the Yahoo search results. The real life results of Search Submit Pro are different from what the casual viewer might expect.

Sure, Yahoo Search Submit Pro lets you place up to three links that you choose in the search result page listing, and you specify the keywords and description in the result page listing. But the real life results for this paid inclusion program, fall far short of buying a place at the top of the search engine results. If only it were that easy.

Here is an example from the last several months. I submitted a Dolce & Gabanna designer products web page from the site of a major upscale department store based in New York. This was a Yahoo Category Level Page (also called CLP) feed that used a web page with parameters in the page URL as the landing page. This URL page address was not listed in the Yahoo index and had no inbound links in the Yahoo index. The Yahoo CLP was optimized for keywords and description that listed the designer name, dresses and shoes as the keywords. After a month this landing page showed up in the Yahoo search results but it was always quite low in the Yahoo search results.

While some other product pages performed much better, the Category type Yahoo feeds would average maybe 4 clicks per day. This may be due to the fact that this landing page has very little text, or it may be that Yahoo has indexed no backlinks to the submitted landing page in the feed. The Search Submit Pro listing for this landing page was optimized several times with similar low numbers of clicks every time.

Search Submit Pro landing pages that show up in the first few search result pages, tend to have backlinks indexed by Yahoo and have good SEO characteristics. These Yahoo Paid Inclusion landing pages, that were well optimized, performed well and occasionally received hundreds of click throughs. This is evidence that well optimized landing pages would show up higher in the search engine results even without the Search Submit Pro feed.

My conclusion from this experience is that the Yahoo Search Submit Pro does not allow you to buy higher result page placement. Poorly optimized pages tend to show up very low in the Yahoo search rankings, even when included in the Paid Inclusion feed. This validates Yahoo's claim that the search listings appear based on the Yahoo search algorithm. The Paid Inclusion feed only allows control of how the listing appears in terms of the title and description. This control of the listing is similar to how Google uses the web page title and description that you created to describe your web pages in the Google search results.

The advantages of Yahoo Site Submit Pro are:

YSSP guarantees indexing of site content URLs or product landing page URLs.
The reports and graphs of click through rate allow quick assessment of how good your title and description copy is performing.
The improved web copy in your natural search engine listing can be updated as quickly as 48 hours after submission.
You can link to a specific page with copy that best matches your chosen keyword. This is a method that often leads to higher CTR and better conversion rates.

Check the Yahoo Search Submit Pro success factors for yourself:
https://sspro1.searchmarketing.yahoo.com/session/login.html

Aerial Real Estate Photography

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 16:04:00 +0000

Dave Margolis is a skilled aerial phototographer out of Connecticut.
I've always thought a job like David's would be fun. David has some great photos at his
Skyview Survey Aerial Real Estate Photography site

Check out his New York and New Jersey aerial photos. There are some great views of the baseball and football stadiums.

YAHOO! Drop Plans for Reality Shows for the Internet

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 14:33:00 +0000

In the NY Times, Saul Hansell writes that YAHOO! will drop plans to produce original reality shows and series programs for the internet. Could this be the next distribution market for Independent film makers, video bloggers or web users?

"After proclaiming grand plans to bring elaborately produced sitcoms, talk shows and other television-style programs to the Internet, the head of Yahoo's Media Group said yesterday that he was sharply scaling back those efforts. He said the group would shift its focus to content acquired from other media companies or submitted by users."

The biggest potential news for independent film makers is the trend for web sites to seek independent content:

"With advertisers moving large parts of their budgets online, the market for content, created by professionals, bloggers and individual users, is expanding rapidly — as is the competition. Major media companies are developing video-based programming for the Internet. Myspace.com, purchased last year by the News Corporation, has become a major site based on user-contributed content. Many start-ups, like youtube.com, seek to follow suit."

Will websites evolve that pay significant fees for original films or episodic series?
This is the next step in web video content as advertising. Consider the YAHOO! produced Richard Bangs Adventures, a travel adventure content portal that features both video and text about travel adventures. The most intriguing episode in this series is the 6 day search for pirate's treasure in Panama. We follow the travellers as they chop through the jungle to an 80 foot pit that may be the final resting place for pirate treasure. See the Viper's Pit video.

Have you sold a film or series to a web site for a fee? Let's hear about it.
Submit your web link to comments and you may be interviewed for Atlanta PR Blog readers.

Using Blogs to Promote Your Business

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 03:16:00 +0000

The 1991 to 1994 Mercury Capri convertible was reminiscent of the classic British open sports cars of the 1970's. This Mercury Capri roadster seated four and was assembled and built by Ford of Australia, then imported into the United States.

The sporty Capri has a following of owners and drivers who find and restore these vintage convertibles. Finding parts to restore cars like the Capri can be a struggle.

Modern Capri Parts of Pennsylvania helps Capri owners by selling the parts they need to keep their cars running. To build traffic to their online Capri parts site and increase their rank on Google and other search engines, Modern CapriParts.biz had an informative blog created.

Ed Hill PR created the business blog about the history, design and specifications of the Mercury Capri convertible in less than 2 months. Business blogs are a technique used by Nike and many companies large and small.

A business blog can be used for short term link-building benefits, a new product launch, or long term to build credibility with customers. The Modern Capri Parts blog offers useful information to Capri Owners and also helps build links to the ModernCapriParts.biz auto parts web site.

Call Ed Hill at 404-354-2583 if you want to know how a business blog can benefit your online business.

How 1 Employee Can Ruin Your Reputation

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 16:16:00 +0000

IDX employee decides to ignore customer problems.
Hero JVC employee takes responsibilty and earns customer loyalty and future sales.

Professional video makers have been quick to adopt new video cameras from JVC, Sony and Canon that offer the least expensive way to switch to the new HDTV format (high definition TV). Camera maker JVC has offered a 6 hour IDX company battery to power the new high definition camera for free. A free professional camera battery is a tremendous offer, considering that a single battery and charger can cost from $ 1200 to $ 3000. This promotion has increased the popularity of the JVC camera, and allows IDX company to make inroads to the pro TV battery market dominated by rival battery maker Anton-Bauer.

Unfortunately for California video producer JL Ames the free IDX batteries have taken weeks to arrive. While waiting for the batteries, Ames had 5 HDV cameras sitting idle since he needed the batteries for a video shoot in the desert. The factory battery supplies barely 40 minutes of power. Considering that typical shooting days are 8-10 hours, these expensive TV cameras are almost useless without the high capacity batteries.

Some filmakers like Robert Kurtzman, the video effects supervisor for horror movie "HOSTEL" are making new movies using the film-like settings on the HDV camera from JVC. Kurtzman is also the Director of "The Wishmaster" and the creator of "From Dusk til Dawn". Kurtzman found the HDV camera to be good enough quality to make a new horror film, theragefilm.com. So did nature filmmaker Andrew Young, who produced a show for National Geographic cable using the same JVC camera.

Above is the JVC HD100, a professional 3-chip camera for the new HDV format that records high definition tv on standard DV tapes for less than $ 6000. Before the introduction of these cameras a video company, network or TV station would have to pay more than $ 50,000 for a high definition tv camera. The lower prices have made the new HDV format cameras very popular with TV producers, who are buying them at a rapid pace.

A call to IDX only put filmmaker Ames in contact with an IDX employee who hung up on him twice. Ames was shocked at the shabby treatment and posted the story to the DVXUSER.com internet forum.

While Ames, his local Hollywood salesman and fellow filmmakers on the DVXUSER.com forum wrestled with coming up with a solution, on Friday Ames was looking at cancelling a Saturday five camera shoot involving thousands in expenses for the cast and crew.

Ames made several posts explaining his problem on the DVXUser forum. Usually independent filmmakers, like other customers, have little influence with manufacturers when something goes wrong.

JVC and IDX had the beginnings of a promotion gone terribly wrong because of poor organization and one IDX employee who chose not to take the responsibility to solve a customer problem.

But the story has a happy ending. JVC employees became aware of the problem and took responsibilty to solve the problem. One JVC employee named Marion saw the difficulty accidentally caused by the IDX battery promotion and decided to take action.

Here's how Ames describes the solution to the battery problem:
" JVC FedExed my 31 pound, 5-unit package out yesterday afternoon and due to severe ice storms in the east coast, the planes are grounded so my guaranteed Saturday delivery will not be until Monday. Do I care? Heck yes. But the weather is not JVC's problem. They went above and beyond knowing I have a crew on stand-by that needs power and did everything possible to get it to me short of Marion flying herself and the package out to me in LA herself. And for me, leaving no stone unturned is good enough for me. Bottom line, don't tell me you're going to "exceed my expectations." Just meet them, honor your word and the rest will take care of itself.
So, in closing, I say to JVC and to everyone who supported me in this, "Thank You".

...JVC exhibited that honor, that esprit de corp and that integrity that evokes loyalty in customers. ... I know that JVC has sincere people like Marion on staff who sympathize and, for all I know, empathize, with our situation, working to help an independent producer in any way she can.

IDX would do well take a page from JVC's book. Expect another 5-camera order from us and we'll expect a program that works to put the power to the people the next time JVC has a problem. And you can rest assured that there will be a next time and dvxuser.com will be watching to see how it's handled. Hopefully good weather will have my IDX kits winging their way to sunny California tomorrow and I can re-schedule the shoot next week without Home Depot extension cords and inverter power."

This is the power of forums and blogs to give consumers a voice and solve problems.

Viral Video Campaign from AXE and MTV

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 22:49:00 +0000

AXE and MTV Overdrive have launched a new website with entertaining video from their ad campaign.
This one is called the Game Killers, people who come between you and your girl on a date. This is the dream package for a reality / game show producer. A dating reality / game show with a perfect tie-in to a men's aftershave product. The product tie-in and cable show commercials neatly dovetail to prmote one another.

The related web campaign offers up viral video with tie-ins to the commercials currently running on MTV and Comedy Central cable networks. Aimed at males in their twenties, the media buy on cable networks, desktop pictures, and downloadable ring tones are all perfect for the target audience.

I have a real weakness for these types of entertainment as advertising web sites. My favorite character? The Mother Hen(above). Let's leave it at that.

You can check out the short films:
http://gamekillers.com/films/films.html

Sprint Cell Refuses to Save Baby Until Sheriff Department Pays $25

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 21:11:00 +0000

Imagine you work for a cell phone company and one day you get a call from the Sheriff Department. It seems that your company has precise information that can save a baby from kidnappers. Would you give the information? Or would you follow company policy like a mindless robot and refuse to give out the information?

That's exactly what happened when a thoughtless Sprint Nextel customer service representative refused to give the Sheriff Department the GPS location of the kidnapped baby. All new Sprint cell phones now have GPS capability.

The massive ethical and public relations blunder is already reaping punishment for Sprint as the true story of the December 23 kidnapping spreads across the internet as a modern tale of corporate greed and policy overcoming common sense and human decency. January 11th the Riverside County Supervisors sought to ban Sprint Nextel from building any more cell phone towers in the county.

How did a huge cell phone company coldly refuse to help rescue a ten-month infant? The Sprint Nextel employee callously cited company policy, and refused to reveal the child's location to the Riverside County Sheriff's deputies.

The Cochran family of Eastvale, CA loaded their baby into their SUV in the home's driveway. The father, Jason, placed their 10-month-old baby and came back inside for their 3-year-old. When the father returned to the driveway the baby and the SUV were gone.

According to the NBC4 report..."When the parents called 911 they also realized that the father's Sprint cell phone with GPS locator technology was also in the car.
NBC4 reported that Sprint wouldn't provide a location to the parents or to the deputies...The deputies were told that Sprint had the location of the vehicle but that they could not disclose it to them because they needed to pay the $25 fee for a subpoena or fill out some forms," said the child's mother.

Two and a half hours later deputies found the boy safe in the now abandoned SUV.

In a classic case of closing the barn door after the horse is gone, Kathleen Dunleavy, Sprint's regional spokeswoman said "We're not sure what happened. We act immediately when it is an emergency." ...

The normal $25 fee to processing the paperwork and activate the program is waived for law enforcement in emergency cases.

"It's just unfortunate that something went wrong in this case," Dunleavy said. "We're trying to find out what happened so it doesn't happen again. Sprint is very concerned, and we certainly apologize to the family."

My PR advice to Dunleavy and Sprint Nextel:
1) Take responsibility for causing this problem.
2) Admit the company made a mistake and aggressively spread the word through news media and across the internet.
3) Develop a simple and clear solution to this problem so that Sprint Nextel employees will never refuse to help when a person's life is in danger.
4) Aggressively publicize the new policy in news media and across the internet.

Sprint Nextel must follow these steps to regain public trust. Sprint has aready earned a measure of public ill will in internet forums and from the Riverside County supervisors.
See the whole story in the Desert Sun newspaper article.

Ford Mustang vs. GM Camaro: Web Public Relations

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 17:57:00 +0000

Ford Mustang vs. GM Camaro: corporate blogs and web Public Relations

I'm constantly searching for corporate blogs that convey the excitement of the brand, or generate positive PR value for businesses. There are only some 20 blogs among the Fortune 500 companies. Most of the Fortune 500 companies seem out of touch with the good will that can be generated by blogs.

Two major companies that have business related blogs are Ford Motor and General Motors.
Ford's blog specifically focuses on the Mustang, GM is more of a car news site but recently (January) spotlighted their new Camaro concept car.

The Competitors:

A Ford engineer describes testing the new Mustang security system by "... banging on vehicles with mallets (yes, we cringe every time we hit the car...)". These real life insights into the engineering process, and the personal stories of Mustang ownership by some of the garage-racer/engineers, makes you see these guys as more than faceless employees. These engineers believe in this car. I have to give this blog good marks for giving a human face to a huge corporation and a very popular product.

Yet, they stopped updating the blog in Aug of 2004. What? Ford has a great PR tool and they drop it? Maybe large company's still don't understand the Public Relations value of blogs.

GM Takes the Lead:
GM seems to grasp the value of blogs for PR. Their blog is updated with many more posts than the Ford Mustang blog. The blog posts are short car news tidbits with no personal insights. On the positive side, GM FastLane even links you to a podcast of the Camaro concept car presentation and a downloadable camaro video.

Very savvy for a huge company. Looks like GM wins this race. (Note that the camaro video is an MP4 file which you may be able to play with Quicktime or maybe your video iPod. )

Lexus Podcasts its Way to African American Audience

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 19:31:00 +0000

Lexus Podcasts its Way to African American Audience

Major advertiser Lexus is using a jazz-themed podcast series to promote the new Lexus IS. See the product advertising blog at LexusFusion.com. Clickz writer Pamela Parker's article features quotes from interactive shop ImagineThat SVP Derek Bonney:
"The company has made blogs a "pretty heavy part" of the overall ad campaign, according to Bonney. ...
"One of the things we've learned in this process is they appear like they're part of the blog," said Bonney. "You draw people a little bit more into a dialogue than in a standard ad."

Lexus joins other major advertisers using blogs such as the Nike Art of Speed Blog, created by Gawker Media in 2004.

How to Make Video for iPod & PSP with Video Editing Software

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 16:14:00 +0000

Video iPod Rendering Specs for Video Editing Software

Are you making your own original video content? Beyond video podcasts, your indy band may want to put your last killer music video on the iPod and PSP. Perhaps your company or ad agency craves creating the next hot viral video or marketing tool for the PSP and video iPod platforms. It's just another popular video format.

You may have access to video editing software like Final Cut pro, AVID, Sony VEGAS, Adobe Premiere or others, which makes editing using the video specs below fairly easy. Since these tools can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, we also discuss less expensive software solutions below for rendering video for iPod or PSP.

At HighlyDef Productions we've used Sony VEGAS and Cineform for editing High Definition TV documentaries, music videos and TV commercials.

Which iPods Play Video?
You can view video in iTunes and on the color iPod. Older iPods won't play the video but might play the audio part of a video. If you must have video on your iPod Nano, you can always install the iPodLinux operating system on your Nano. Install iPodzilla and it allows you to play video avi files in color.

Most videos for Sony PSP will also play on the iPod and ITunes and vice versa. The PSP has a larger resolution than the iPod at 480x272 pixels in a 16:9 widescreen, 4.3 inch TFT-LCD. The wide aspect ratio of the screen makes it great for games, widescreen movies and HDTV. The PSP has a better screen, and Wi-Fi allowing users to connect the internet or to another PSP. The iPod has a larger HD onboard, holding 20, 30 or 60 Gig of video, photos and music. The PSP is limited to the Sony Duo memoy sticks in 1 Gig, 512 Mb or lower, with no HD. The iPod also has 30% longer battery life.
Note to Sony: add a hard drive to the PSP. If you are rendering video just for the PSP, you might render a MPEG 4 video file at 480x272 video size. If creating a video for both try using the iPod resolutions below.

Formats and bit-rates for the video iPod and PSP
Hardware:
Use a windows PC with processor of 3 Gig or faster. Faster is better, as in all types of video rendering.

Low cost software for iPod rendering:
Windows - PSPVideo9 is shareware for download at: http://www.pspvideo9.com/
MAC - Handbrake : http://handbrake.m0k.org/

The Video iPod can actually play back any video stored in the H.264 or MPEG-4 format
and properly sized for the iPod's screen. (320 x 240, 30 frames per sec.) But H.264 seems to convert very slowly on some software.

H.264 Format
If you must use H.264 then:
H.264 750-Kbps video combined with 128-Kbps audio allows up to 2 hours of video on the 30 Gigabyte iPod or 3 hours of video on the 60 Gigabyte iPod.

H.264 video settings: up to 768 Kbps, 320 x 240, 30 frames per sec.,
Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC up to 160 Kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats. 320x240/768kbps stereo/128kbps setting works best.

With MyTV ToGO, you can move video onto the iPod, a PSP, or a Pocket PC handheld. Download it for $29 at https://store5.esellerate.net/store/checkout/CustomLayout.aspx?s=STR9773482746&pc=&page=EmbeddedSimpleCatalog.htm

.MOV Quicktime format
Apple's QuickTime Pro software can convert many types of digital video for playback on the new video iPod. With Quicktime Pro you can pick the 3ivx D4 4.5.1 codec, set the quality to medium, set the frame rate to 24 and set bitrate to 400 kbits/sec. Setting the framerate to 24 frames per second will save file space but can make the video movement look choppy on some programs. 30 frames per second give smoother movement.

If you're using professional or prosumer video editing software you can use these settings to guide your rendering efforts:
If your video source file is 740x480 standard video or larger(HDTV or HDV), then shrink it to 360x240. The new iPod is actually capable of handling MPEG4 video up to 480x480, but 360x240 is convenient because it's half of standard TV video resolution at 720x480. Set the sound to AAC 44.100 kHz Stereo at 160kbps.
MPEG-4 video: up to 2.5 mbps, 480 x 480, 30 frames per second. You can set the audio portion to to 160 Kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio and output the whole file as .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats

For best iTunes support, avoid the "mp4" suffix and opt instead for a "m4a" or "m4v". You can also use a .mov quicktime wrapper for playback in the iPod or on a PC browser.

How to find video for your video iPod and not be attacked by the MPAA

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 22:13:00 +0000

How to find video for your video iPod and not be attacked by the MPAA

Which iPods will Play Video?
You can view video in iTunes and on the color iPod. Older iPods won't play the video but might play the audio part of a video. Most videos for Sony PSP will also play on the iPod and ITunes and vice versa.

Here are some places to find free or inexpensive video content for your video iPod:

Rock N Roll news for your video iPod
http://bubblebabble.typepad.com/rocknrolltv/

Funny commercials
http://www.flixpo.com/

Itunes
On the iTunes music store a typical music video album sells for $ 9.99
A single music video sells for $ 1.99
http://www.apple.com/itunes/

But wait there's more...
You can also find video podcasts of varying quality at:
http://www.podcastalley.com/index.php
Some are good and some are very bad.

Find more videos at Yahoo's http://podcasts.yahoo.com/ Podcast search.
This has lots of video in Comedy, Music and Technology areas.

For example there are some sports videos.
Yes! Perhaps you like skateboard videos for your iPod.
Woot Mon! Girls skating on the ramps!
http://www.64mm.com/vlog/vlog2_H264.mov

Cyclocross Bike racing music video:
http://aguynamedlogan.typepad.com/aguynamedlogan/files/thefukinHamptons.mov

What's your favorite source of content for the video iPod?
Post it in comments for this article:

We'll share your picks in a future post.

MARTA Public Relations Problem: Atlanta Train Knife Slashing

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 05:44:00 +0000

Atlanta Train Knife Slashing: The MARTA Public Relations Problem with Crime

A brutal knife slashing incident on the Atlanta MARTA commuter train, points up the common Public Relations issue of crime for transit companies in large cities. The knife attack started with an argument about a shell game on an evening commuter train. Atlanta commuter Brian Critchfield witnessed and wrote about the attack in the Atlanta Journal Constitution of 11/22/05.

"A man in a tank top wanted to play but, apparently, wasn't welcome in the game. Then there was a screaming match ...People on the train began looking a little nervous. Suddenly, the two men were shoving each other and the man running the game pulled a knife and slashed the other's arm. There was substantial blood and it was gruesome.

I tried to speak with the conductor via the intercom. I held the red button down and communicated in a clear voice that there was a knife fight on our car and provided the car number. My fearful wife, myself and several others then made a frantic crossing to the next car through the emergency door. The conductor never acknowledged my plea for help.
It was at least three more minutes until we arrived at Lenox. No police were waiting at the station. The men got off and continued screaming at each other and chasing each other around. All the time, the conductor kept our train there with the doors open. The men, after two or three minutes of display, left the platform. The train doors closed and the train left. No MARTA or Atlanta police came to even take eye-witness statements. The conductor made no announcements.
My wife has taken the train a couple of times since then. But she cannot help but think of that day when she was witness to a violent crime and no one came to her aid.
We now haven't even the slightest confidence in the MARTA police force. "
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/1105/22edmarta.html

Compare MARTA's ongoing violent crime problem to the problem facing Johnson and Johnson's Tylenol pain-reliever in 1982 when an unknown person placed cyanide in the product. Seven people in the Chicago area died from taking the tampered products.

"I don't think they can ever sell another product under that name," advertising guru Jerry Della Femina told the New York Times in the days following the poisonings. "There may be an advertising person who thinks he can solve this and if they find him, I want to hire him, because then I want him to turn our water cooler into a wine cooler."

Johnson & Johnson's PR Response
Atlanta's MARTA leaders could learn much from the way that Johnson and Johnson handled the Tylenol tampering crisis. The most crucial public relations decision made to cope with the Tylenol crisis, was taking responsibility to stop the problem. This allowed the Tylenol products to recover and become one of the leading selling over the counter medications.

Johnson & Johnson's public relations campaign immediately followed the discovery that the deaths in Chicago were caused by Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules. Johnson & Johnson's management immediately alerted consumers across the nation, through news media, not to consume any Tylenol products until the extent of the tampering was determined. Johnson & Johnson, along with stopping the production and advertising of Tylenol, recalled over 31 million bottles of Tylenol, with a value of more than 100 million dollars. By taking responsibility, solving the problem, and warning the public, Johnson & Johnson regained public confidence quickly.

MARTA's PR Response to the Crime Problem
Compare this to the Atlanta MARTA (Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority), which takes little responsibilty and shows little response to customer safety issues. In the knife slashing incident related above, the train operator and the MARTA police did not respond or even acknowledge the violent attack on the train.

The Marta Police Crime Stats for 2005 show 65 robberies, 46 aggravated assaults and 1 rape. The highest number of crimes are related to larceny(332) and auto theft(119).

The MARTA police and MARTA employees are rarely seen on the trains or in the stations along the north-south routes. Instead MARTA places helpful posters on all trains encouraging passengers to "move away from the source of trouble" and call MARTA police, who are practically invisible in the trains or stations.

I have witnessed vagrants soliciting money from MARTA passengers and even stealing hundreds of tokens from subway turnstiles. Reporting these crimes resulted in a casual and indifferent response from the MARTA police. MARTA's indifference to the safety of transit commuters may lead to an increasing boldness among violent criminals. The MARTA crime statistics show a high incidence of assault in 2005 and even 1 murder in the 2004 crime rates.

The MARTA approach to passenger safety has left the riding public feeling fear on MARTA trains. This is a striking example of how not to handle public relations related to a safety issue. MARTA has taken little responsibility for transit crime and the predictable result has been that MARTA now has a huge reputation for violent crime among residents, business travelers and tourists who visit Atlanta.

Have you witnessed or experienced crime on public transit? Post your story in comments.

Viral Video commercials on the web.

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 17:17:00 +0000

Here's a great blog with TV commercials on the web.

Video is entertaining for web advertising, and if it has viral tendencies it can reach more people as it's sent from e-mail to e-mail. I received several e-mails from friends, before Christmas, with the synchronized Christmas lights video.

Here's a commercial with a fun case of mistaken identity set in Hong Kong.

It's Nice To Have a Hot Young Woman In Your Video: SEO Brings Thousands to Website

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 16:21:00 +0000

Building Web Traffic with Video Content or It's Nice To Have a Hot Young Singer In Your Video: SEO, Blogs and Public Relations Bring Thousands to Website Music Video

Method: Online Press Releases using Keywords, links from Blogs and online communities related to music, plus traditional PR methods such as pitching the story to TV producers and newspaper editors.

Brandy Rich, an attractive and talented songwriter at only 18, has received air-play from College and Alternative music stations in the US. Brandy does live performances and she is currently working on getting a record contract. Brandy Rich hired HighlyDef Productions, LLC to create a Video Press Kit, to promote her alternative-pop music career. A video press kit is a 10 minute mini-documentary about the singer and their music, which features interviews and performances. These videos are used by performers to promote themselves with club managers and record labels.

Building Web Traffic
When the high-definition video Electronic Press Kit (EPK) and 2 music videos were finished, I issued news releases to promote the music video and the singer. I also posted links to the online video files on blogs, online press release services and music web sites. Proper use of keywords in the online news releases, increased the visibility of the singer's video clips in the search engines.

I also contacted the TV producers at "Atlanta Tonight" about interviewing singer Brandy Rich. "Atlanta Tonight" airs nightly on WUPA, the Atlanta UPN affiliate station. The show focuses on entertainment, so a singer-songwriter like Brandy Rich was a good fit for the show. The producers agreed to shoot the TV interview with Brandy while she was in Atlanta's Treesound Studios in Norcross. The interview aired the following week in the Atlanta TV market. Brandy's press release was also picked up by some online music news sites and the Albany Herald. The entire public relations and Search Engine Marketing package was far less expensive than equivalent advertising time.

The result was that thousands of online music fans from the US, Australia, Europe and Japan flocked to the web site to see her videos.

Using blogs, traditional Public Relations and Search Engine Optimization can do good things for your web traffic. Adding video content can also pump up the web traffic, especially if your original video is catchy enough to attract blog posts and links. See the Brandy Rich Music Video.

Entire business blogs and websites have been built around entertaining video content. The traffic for these entertainment sites like BMW's The Driver series and the Nike Art of Speed Blog by Gawker Media have proven the consumer good will and traffic that can be built with video content. I discuss BMW's "The Driver" and other entertainment blogs / websites in this post about content as advertising.

SEO Tool Review: Submitnet Tools

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 18:29:00 +0000

Test and Review of Submitnet.net Tools

The Submit.net Tools consistes of a web-based set of useful tools for managing keywords and search engine status of a website.

The Claims:
The Submitnet website offers varied packages of these 15 online tools for monthly fees ranging from the Custom package of $12 for 3 months plus $ 8 per tool selected up to the Professional package of $ 59 for 3 months.

The website offers 15 website tools including:

Submission Options - This allows automated submitting to search engines. (The monthly option seems like overkill).
Position Check - The Submitnet Position Check tool will search for the keywords you specify on the world's most frequently used search engines and directories.
Positrak - This tool checks on a monthly basis for your websites’ placement based on your selected keywords on the top Search Engines. Based on your URL’s ranking, it calculates a score out of 100 to show how prominent your site ranks compared to your competitors.
Keyword Analysis - Reports keywords and keyword ratios that each search engine uses to index your web site.
Meta Tag Analysis - A simple check for recommended character length and number of key words.
Meta Tag Generator - Generate Title, Description and Keyword Meta-tags of the proper length.
Engine Guidelines - This tool will visit your site and check for possible violations of common search engine guidelines.
Competitor Analysis - This tool shows what title, keywords and other elements, your competitor's website is listed under and whether you're performing better or worse.
LinkTrak Tool - LinkTrak lets you stay on top of how many and what sites are linking to yours.
Keyword Spider Tool - Submitnet’s keyword spider tool will show you in a report what are the best keywords and pages of your website that you should submit to the search engines.
Server Uptime Check Tool - Submitnet servers regularly scan your web server to make sure it is responding. If your Web site servers are inaccessible, you will be contacted via email.
HTML Analysis Tool - checks against many different levels of HTML specifications, and will inform you if your site needs to be altered in order to comply.
Load Time Analysis Tool - load time analysis will test your web site's load time with the most common modem speeds ranging from 56k to T3.
Browser Compatibility Tool - Lets you know if your website is loading correctly for most browsers
Link Check Tool - reviews all the links on your site and reports if the links are working or not.

The Test:
I tested this tool by using 9 keyword phrases associated with a website. I ran all the no-fee tests in the Submitnet.net Tools, against a business website and compared the results to a manual search for the same keywords in YAHOO! and Google. The results for keyword search ranking appear to be accurate.

The user interface and navigation are logical and easy to use. The SEO tools,
and submitter tool are simple enough to launch that they are usable by a business owner with little SEO knowledge. The test results are complete enough to be useful yet do not overload the user with unneeded detail.

The only weakness is the keyword analysis tool which seems a little vague in
it’s results for someone doing detailed SEO work. For small and medium business users, some of the terms in the Search Engine Guidelines and HTML Check could benefit from having definitions for some of the HTML terms.

The Search Engine Position Check is good for letting you see where your pages rank for specific keywords. This tool, however, will tend to slow down terribly if more than 8 keyword phrases are searched.

The Load Time Analysis is a very handy tool for keeping the size of web page files manageable.

Overall I rate this as a good tool for small and medium Businsess owners, providing helpful tools without unneeded complexity. I would recommend this tool to business website owners if you want to closely track the web ranking of your web site.

I am very interested in readers who have used the paid versions of these tools to see if their is any difference. I tested these tools using a test log-in. Please comment if you have experienced any serious flaws or great benefits associated with the Submitnet tools.

Please note that I am not associated with Submitnet in any way, and I am constantly testing new tools associated with SEO and Pay Per Click.

7 Basic Steps in Pay Per Click Advertising and Face-to-Face Sales

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 14:40:00 +0000

7 Basic Steps in Pay Per Click Advertising and Face-to-Face Sales

Some of the same basics of face-to-face sales also work in Pay Per Click advertising. I have worked most of my career in writing, producing and buying ads for TV, newspapers, direct mail, and online advertising. I have also sold cars, computers, TV advertising and my own consulting services in Public Relations and Advertising. The more I think about sales compared to online advertising, the more similarities I uncover. If you are a small or medium business owner you may control your online business advertising and also sell to customers. You can use the things you learn in selling your products to create better online advertising for the same customers.

There are several basic elements that are true in both sales and Pay Per Click Advertising:

1) Build rapport by finding common interests. Never lie to your client. People will forgive you for telling them bad news or exposing a problem, especially if you can solve the problem. But they will not forgive you or trust you if you deceive them. This is the key to the first step in successful sales or online advertising, establish rapport and credibility.

2) Ask questions and listen carefully. In sales, ask the right questions when face to face with the customer and your customer will usually tell you what to sell them and how to sell it to them. It's hard to listen in online advertising, but it can be done. In Pay Per Click advertising, you must listen to the potential customer to find out who buys the product and why they buy the product. Customer feedback often comes from product research, copy briefs, and previous campaigns that worked or failed. If customers respond with questions or problems via e-mail or phone, you'd better listen. What customers tell you about your current products and response to your Pay Per Click ads can lead to more sales. Especially in Pay Per Click ads your click through rates and other report factors can guide you in learning which keywords and which Landing Pages are the most effective.

3) Ask more questions and listen attentively. Listening helps you to refine your questions to find the customer's Hot-Button. In both online advertising and sales if you determine the customer's topmost desire or problem, you are halfway to a sale. The Hot-Button issue is the most important need or problem that triggers a sale in both advertisiing or sales. People usually don't like to spend money. But if your online ad kindles a burning desire for the hottest new tech product or if your sales presentation promises to solve the most pressing problem burdening your customer, people cannot hand over the cash quickly enough. Just make sure your product delivers what the ad or the sales presentation promised.

4) Understanding your customer's basic needs is crucial to selling face to face or in Pay Per Click advertising. Once you know the hot-button issue, tell the customer why and how buying the product will solve the problem or meet the need. I find the most effective online copywriting depicts the product in action and depicts the product solving a very specific client need. Describe the product, from the client's viewpoint, using action words and you will help the potential buyer to picture this happy outcome in their mind.

5) Make an offer: Nothing happens until you offer the client a service or product at a specific price. Don't be shy. This is a crucial step in helping the customer to consider if the product offered is equal to the price. In sales this step may lead to a negotiation. As a salesperson or in your Landing Page copy your task is to depict the great value of the product to meet the needs of the buyer.

6) Many books have been written about the subtle art of closing the sale. Basically, you make the offer and ask them to accept. You MUST attempt to close the sale and risk hearing "No". No is an essential step to getting to the eventual yes. The Yes of a closed sale may come with a different offer or a different customer. But you will only find out by asking for the sale and risking refusal.

In online advertising, your Landing Page MUST make a call to action whether it is a CALL NOW statement, a customer sign-up form or a shopping cart. In both sales and advertising you can not be everything to every customer. You must make a specific offer to a specific type of customer. Take a risk.

7) The customer responds to your product and price by buying the product, or not. In sales, when the customer says "no", you don't give up. Instead, you ask more questions and find out why the customer did not buy. In sales you may answer the client objection and still get the sale. It's a continuous learning process.

The same applies in Pay Per Click advertising. If the customers respond in small numbers to your Landing Page, then it's time to apply the learning process. Are your Pay Per Click keywords too vague or too narrow? Are you vividly depicting the wrong benefits to the customer on your Landing Page? Are you trying to meet a Hot-Button need that only appeals to a tiny fraction of your customers? Don't give up. Ask more questions and re-build your ad. It's a continuous learning process of refining your keywords and your Landing Page.

Your customer's are telling you what they want and what they don't want. Are you listening?

12 Ways to Build a Better Pay Per Click Landing Page and Increase Conversion

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 19:41:00 +0000

12 Ways to Build a Better Pay Per Click Landing Page and Increase Conversion

A Landing Page is a special web page that is the first page that a customer sees when they click on your Pay Per Click ad. The Landing Page is designed to convert an interested visitor into an active customer. The Conversion of a visitor happens when the visitor orders a product through your website, gives you their e-mail address, or calls your business to request information, requests a quote or buys the product. The conversion is the final step in turning clicks into what your business needs most; paying customers or good sales leads.

How do I know this works? Everday I work with at least 2 businesses that are using Pay Per Click ads. When I use the 12 techniques below to re-write their web landing pages, I usually see an increase in phone calls and other conversions. Two weeks ago I rewrote the copy on a Landing Page that sold freight containers. The next morning the owner called me to say that he had received four phone calls the previous afternoon and that three calls had turned into sales. Most of my Landing Pages don't convert quite that well. This is an unusually good example, but it proves the value of a good Landing page.

How can we increase the rate of conversion?
Typically, we can expect that a Pay Per Click campaign with an average landing page will perform like a direct mail campaign. This usually means conversion of 1-3% of all click visitors or 1-3 phone calls for every 100 clicks on the Pay Per Click ad. Many click ad campaigns use the website home page as the Landing Page. Research and real world experience show that using a specially created Landing Page can increase visitor conversion into customers by 20 to 40 percent.

When customers come to your website landing page from a Pay Per Click ad, they are looking for specific information. The customer probably clicked your ad because the keyword phrase was a good match for the search they put in the search engine. The landing page should be about your product or service only. When people arrive at your landing page, they are already searching for specific information about your product or service.

1. Help the customer find the item they want: Tune your Landing Page copy to use the same search terms as the click campaign that brought them to your website. Having a Landing Page matching the keywords produces twice the conversion rate compared to sending the visitor to the home page as the landing page.
2. Use a different landing page for each group of key phrases. Create a new landing page for each product and send the clients directly to the page that matches the customer’s needs and the customer’s key words. When the customer wants to buy right now, don’t make him search to find the “buy now” button.
3. Good Landing Page copy helps the customer decide that they want the product: Benefits are the ways that the product helps the customer, solves a problem or meets the customer’s needs. When your visitor lands on your page, he or she is likely to have the thought “What’s in it for me?” You must be able to immediately show the customer how your product meets his needs.
4. Add a headline that helps the customer see how the product helps them. Add 2 or 3 benefits, below the headline, that also show the customer the value of the product.
5. Make it easy for the customer to buy the product: Add a Call to Action. A Call to Action urges the customer to call a number, add the product to the online shopping cart, or submit their e-mail to receive more information.
6. List the offer and the price right under the Call to Action.
7. Give users 3 clickable links on the Landing Page and also a phone number as an alternate method to buy.
8. Users buy more often by calling a phone number or filling out a form. An e-mail link will usually get less response. On a response form, reduce the number of questions a user must fill out to buy the product. To make buying simple, make every question relevant or eliminate the question.
9. Add testimonials or case studies from real customers. Good Landing Page copy helps the customer to decide they can trust your company.
10. Highlight your money back guarantee.
11. Add a phone number and your e-mail address. Place a short Privacy policy right next to the box where the user should enter their e-mail address. It can say simply, “We value your privacy and do not rent names”.
12. Placing your address on the landing page builds credibility. To many customers, a real company has a real physical address. This builds trust and increases conversion.

YAHOO! Strategy to Fundamentally Alter Searching

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 15:05:00 +0000

Why YAHOO! is Changing the Nature of Search. How YAHOO! Will Use Google's Own Weakness Against Them.

With a sexy IPO, high stock prices and the media's Google-mania, Google has stolen the spotlight from YAHOO! over most of 2005. Even though the two major search engines provide roughly equal volumes of search results to users. Now YAHOO! is launching a counter-strategy that has great potential to regain the attention of web-searchers.

YAHOO! is positioned as more of a content portal with a loyal base of Yahoo mail users and services like their RSS reader. But searching through all this content is a fundamental problem. YAHOO's recent purchase of Del.icio.us, makes it clear that YAHOO! is seeking to further redefine search. If YAHOO! succeeds, the search playing field will be fundamentally changed, to YAHOO!'s benefit. The first clue to YAHOO!'s strategy was their MINDSET SEARCH demo launched in May of 2005. The MINDSET demo was a system to rank and sort search results for your query into commercial or non-commercial (informational) results, based on whether you're shopping or seeking information. A slider at the top of the search results allows a user to select search results more attuned to shopping or more attuned to gathering information.

According to the YAHOO Mindset FAQ:

Commercial implies that the primary purpose of a given page is to sell you something. Informational implies that the primary purpose of the page is to provide information related to your search.

If you're involved with SEO or Pay Per Click, you probably see the internet as a chaotic universe of legitimate merchants and bewildered shoppers who have to sort through too much information to buy what they want.

Search and search marketing are the Market Place Makers. Search Engines and Pay Per Click Marketing solve the problem of bringing customers together with the Merchants who have what they want. Search Engines are vital to the Internet marketplace and WEB 2.0.

The major weakness of Google and many other search engines is that search results fail to separate spammy totally sales-oriented websites from useful and authoritative product information websites. The two are not exclusive. Many websites provide a mix of product information and hard-core sales. The worst example might be a web site selling some unneeded product with a slick sales pitch and almost no product information.

Google has a fundamental weakness. Google's search indexing tries to rank authoritative websites higher but many spammy-sales-oriented websites end up in the results with a low level of information. This is the weakness that YAHOO! is positioning itself to exploit.

YAHOO! Knows That the Crucial Question is This: WHY Does The web customer buy?
The best commercial websites help the customer to achieve comfort with the merchant and the product by giving the customer enough information to answer some very basic questions:

1.Does your web site have what the customer is looking for?
2.How will this product meet the customer’s needs or help them?
3.Is it easy and quick for the customer to buy the product or request more information?
4.Can the customer trust your company to deliver what you promise?

Answer these questions with solid, authoritative product information and you become the next Amazon or other trusted merchant. Merchant websites like Amazon have become trusted, profitable merchants by providing product reviews and good service.

Years ago FEDEX met the unexpected need for overnight delivery and became a market leader. If YAHOO! can redefine the type of Search results delivered by search engines they will gain a unique advantage over Google.

YAHOO! will meet the unmet need of search engine shoppers who are disappointed when their search engine click takes them to some sales cess-pool with more sales pitch and less product information. The YAHOO! MINDSET Search and the purchase of Del.icio.us will allow search users to choose quality sales sites and quality information sites.

Why did YAHOO buy Del.icio.us? Del.icio.us is a social networking site, like Digg or SLASHDOT. Basically editors or trusted web users select and rank news stories or web sites based on their authoritative value as information sites. While Google has always used numbers of quality links to determine the relative value of information or web sites, sites like Digg, Del.icio.us or SLASHDOT put people back into the equation to rank quality of information or web sites.

Essentially these sites fulfill the same function as a human indexed web directory like DMOZ. The advantage of social networking sites is that they overcome the slowness of a directory like DMOZ, with thousands of volunteers in their user community. This is a perfect fit for YAHOO!. YAHOO! has always created user communities with their products like YAHOO Groups, GEO Cities and loyal MY YAHOO! users.

This could mean that YAHOO will take the prize away from Google in the newly defined search arena. YAHOO!'s newly re-defined search arena will be all about search results with quality information and quality information-rich web sites.

Essentially, YAHOO and YAHOO social networks will be able to define the NEW trusted merchants and control which new merchants get the big market share.

Risks of SEM Outsourcing for Search Engine Marketing

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 19:05:00 +0000

MediaPost Publications - Fear of the O-Word, Part 1

SEARCH INSIDER of December 13, 2005 features an interview with the liaison for an off-shore based SEM company that does outsourcing for US SEM companies. He claims that his overseas copywriters are getting superb results.

As an SEO and SEM copywriter with experience on both the ad agency and corporate sides, I have to disagree. PPC technicians, who are not native English speakers, have caused problems with keywords in some of my recent consulting projects. I'll tell you the results, after we hear the offshore side of the story.

QUOTE
Rohit: Many agencies are today outsourcing a lot of their processes to companies abroad. They may not accept that, but I can tell you many companies do outsource. Secondly, I do not see why it should be of any concern. I know the whole question of outsourcing has become a big political debate, but we both know that's how the business will operate in future. It's smart outsourcing that will win the day for any serious business entity.

He says further:

QUOTE
If you talk about our agency itself, we have a team of copywriters. ... I am not trying to exaggerate things, but these are some facts, and the sites are doing wonderfully well on the search engines.
ENDQUOTE

Really? What are these 'best brands' websites that he claims are doing so '“wonderfully well on the search engines'”? I would very much like to read the copy that is produced.

Granted, I have worked with some skilled and intelligent offshore programmers and consultants but how can even a fairly intelligent offshore person be an effective copywriter for an American audience if he grows up in a foreign culture? Even assuming a period of 4 years in the US or Britain for their college education, I would approach relying on offshore-based copywriters with caution.

My recent and ongoing experience proves that technicians who speak American English as a second language have some difficulty with this type of PPC keyword work. A certain US-located Pay Per Click vendor uses some technicians that are not native speakers of English. I have found on several occasions that these technicians have done a poor job of creating effective Pay Per Click keywords.

For a Pay Per Click customer that sold ad banner software, the errant technician had chosen keywords that implied that they developed software for hire as well. The Ad Banner business owner called me shortly afterword to relate that, "your keywords suck". I reaped the client's anger for that keyword challenged technicians twisted grasp of the english language. I'm sure he would have done better in his native language. I corrected the keywords and peace was restored.

A separate accounting software website was given inaccurate keyword phrases that attracted customers for web development. Again this was the work of a non-native English speaker. The accounting software company owner was outraged when he read the keywords. Even subtle differences in PPC keywords can mean trouble if they attract the wrong customers. Once again I worked quickly to correct the errors of an English speaker who learned English as a second language.

It was painfully obvious to both myself and both business website owners that the keywords chosen by the non-native speakers were inappropriate to the target websites. Sure the keywords roughly matched some of the web copy, but in some cases the keywords were so broad that they failed to address why customers buy the products.

Aside from keyword selection, which is vital to both SEO and PPC campaigns, copywriting is even more sensitive to proper application of language skills. I recently rewrote the landing page copy for a freight container seller using a Pay Per Click campaign. The freight container seller complained that his PPC campaign was useless because none of the clicks converted to sales or even phone calls. I rewrote the landing page copy to add product benefits specific to the buyer's needs and a call to action. I published the new copy to the web at 4pm.

The next morning, the freight container seller called me in a good mood. He said the phone started ringing after 4:30 pm, "Right after that we got 4 phone calls from visitors to our web site. Three of those phone calls turned into sales that same day"”. This real life example tells me that good web copywriting is crucial to conversions and sales with Pay Per Click marketing.

An overseas copywriter is handicapped by several problems:

1) He is probably not a native American English speaker. Thus he lacks real fluency in common usage, American slang and American media, history and cultural references. Such a copywriter may write lifeless and wooden ad copy. Imagine highly skilled technical writers with little imagination. The customers would stay away in droves.

2) How can a copywriter not living in the US cultural madhouse, thus not familiar with many of the US consumer's motivations, really understand all the hot-buttons that motivate a US buyer to purchase the product?

3) Can an offshore copywriter really imagine and write about all the possible uses and benefits of a product if he lives in a different culture? Maybe this is possible if the US-based marketing department prepares a complete Copy Brief and written guidelines. It's possible.

Give the offshore copywriter a few more years of living in the US, and several years of writing for the US market, then I'm sure he can do a fine job. But then that writer is no longer an offshore writer.

Based on my own experience with business owners who became irritated PPC customers, I would approach using offshore copywriters for American consumers with caution. It would be wise to have the offshore writers selected based on several writing samples which show a good grasp of the US market and superb writing skills.