Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Steve Smith

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While an 8% surge in 2010 is hearty, AMR is calling for an even better 14% expansion of digital spend 2012. New digital channels, more media outlets and experimentation with new forms of marketing are attracting more money online, but publishers still need to figure out how best to capture those moving dollars. AMR expects that b2b advertising into social media will grow at an average annual rate of 21% into 2013, while lead generation will grow 17% annually. The good news for print and events is that two-thirds of b2b marketers surveyed for this report believe that online efforts must be complemented by traditional marketing.

Even more to the point for marketers, “new channels and products are still poorly understood or inadequately measured.” AMR is critical of current b2b publisher approaches and warns that their products online are still not innovative enough and do not offer the necessary back end metrics for accountability. AMR finds that only half of b2b marketers currently analyze metrics in an sytematic way to determine ROI on their investments, but those that do measure results formally consider online marketing more effective.

AMR International’s report on b2b marketing will be released this week at the DeSilva + Phillips Dealmakers Summit. Look for more detail on its findings in next week’s issue of min’s b2b.

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Writing for Search Engine Land, Mike Dobbs of agency 360i said that website content will still be king even after the search market consolidates into two major players rather than the current three.

Both Google and Bing look at a wide range of website content, meaning that businesses should be prepared to consider web pages, documents, mash-ups, videos and images in their search engine optimisation (SEO) campaign, he explained.

"These are just a few avenues marketers can leverage to more proactively communicate with search engines to increase visibility, relevance and search display," Mr Dobbs remarked.

Other factors to look at this year when it comes to SEO include making use of Google and Bing's webmaster tools and investing in analytics to track the success of online marketing campaigns, he added.

Businesses should also consider mobile marketing in 2010, according to eMarketer, which has predicted big things for the medium over the next 12 months.

Interested in having a DirectNews news feed on your website?

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Posted by Rene LeMerle @ 1:57 am

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Whether you’re just starting out, or re-evaluating your website strategy, it’s important for you to get your plan and budget right.

The rule “Build it and they will come” rarely works in the online space. For you to be successful with your website marketing strategy – you need to have a proper plan and be realistic about the real costs of doing it properly.

Too many business owners spend $1000’s on getting a fancy website developed, only to find they have no money left to promote it.

One of our sales guys uses this analogy

“It’s like building a shopping mall in the desert. Without the budget to promote it – who’s going to find it?”

So to help you get your website design and marketing budget right – here’s a quick guide to what you need and the approximate costs to do it properly.

• 1. The website: Development/Design & Maintenance
  

The development of a website has many variables. Accordingly the costs can vary significantly depending factors such as whether its static or dynamic, whether includes a shopping cart, is the design bespoke or templated etc etc etc.

The reality is that websites can vary from $1000 – $50,000. And 90% of the time, you get what you pay for.

If it’s really cheap – it’s likely that there won’t be much functionality and it’ll use a template. The flip side of that is that if it’s too expensive – ask yourself whether you “really” need all the bells and whistles.

And most importantly – shop around. Get your requirements tight and then check with a few website designers/developers to get the best price.

Also - don’t forget to budget for hosting and maintenance. Websites often need to be tweaked in terms of content and system updates, and without hosting - you wont appear anywhere.

• 2. SEO – Search Engine Optimization

The majority of website traffic comes from search engines and directories. Many of our clients see upwards of 60% of traffic coming from search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing. While the organic search engine traffic is free (no click costs), you do need to invest in an SEO to ensure you’re maximizing this free search engine traffic.

SEO campaigns again vary significantly. To hire a industry leading SEO consultant can cost as much as $1000 per hour.

Here’s a guide on SEO pricing that Rand Fishkin from SEOmoz posted 2 years ago. As you can imagine – prices have grown since then…but it serves as a guide for the premium end of the scale:

Service	Low End	Mid Range	High End
Site Review + Consulting	$500	$2,500	$10,000
Hands-On Editing of Pages/Code	$2,000	$10,000	$50,000
Manual Link Building Campaign	$500	$5,000	$20,000
Keyword Research Package	$100	$500	$2,000
Monthly Retainer for Ongoing SEO	$2,500	$7,500	$20,000+

Proper SEO is an investment. If you’re in business for the long haul – you’d be crazy not to allocate a decent proportion of your early online budget on SEO – (or if your budget is tight, then study hard and invest the many hours needed to do it yourself).

To get started with an SEO campaign (fully managed by an experienced SEO professional) that’s going to generate serious results – you should be looking to pay at least $500 per month.

• 3. PPC – Google AdWords and Other Search Advertising

As with all things, you’re probably looking for some quick wins in terms of traffic and results from your website. This is where PPC (pay per click) Search Engine Advertising (e.g. Google AdWords) helps.

With a well setup Google AdWords campaign, you can have highly targeted visitors delivered to your website almost instantly. It’s a great way to ensure you’re still getting a return on your website investment while your SEO and other strategies take effect.

Professional PPC campaigns, depending on your industry and how much traffic you need, can cost as little as $200 per month. But be aware that with cheaper campaigns, you’ll find most of your investment is going into the setup and management – rather than the media (click costs) – which makes it hard to generate decent ROI.

A serious PPC campaign for a small business should start at approx $500…and depending on your goals – go up from there.

• 4. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a is very cost effective way of generating traffic for your website. With most affiliate networks offering CPA models (cost per acquisition) – it allows you to generate traffic that for your website and only pay when that traffic converts (makes a purchase, signs up for a newsletter, submits a query).

The challenge with affiliate networks is that they take time to be effective and the best networks are often very selective as to who they promote.

Most decent networks will charge a small set up fee ($100 upwards) and then take a commission on every sales or acquisition. Some of the larger ones will also charge a monthly management fee to help you optimize your campaigns.

Most publishers will be looking for between 10% - 30% commission on sales, or a decent bonus for lead/enquiry based programs.

• 5. Social media, Email marketing & Ad Networks

There’s a range of other website promotion opportunities such as Social Media, Email marketing and Ad Networks.

With Social Media, it’s definitely an area that small businesses should be getting involved with, but remember; it’s not a fit for every business and Social media is like SEO - it’s an investment and normally takes a while to generate good results.

Email marketing is a very cost effective form of website marketing. It’s CPA rates are often as low as search engine marketing, but the biggest challenge is finding and building lists. So it often comes into its own after a business is up and running for a while, and you’ve had a chance to build a decent subscriber base.

There are also a range of ad networks to promote your website. Most work on a fixed monthly fee or CPM (cost per 1000 impressions basis). As neither of these models offers any guarantee on traffic to your website, they have fallen out of favour with the emergence of PPC models such as Google AdWords. That said – if you find the right network – they can still provide great exposure and traffic.

There are plenty of other ways to drive more traffic to your site, but in reality – the areas mentioned above will be your key traffic sources.

So with that in mind – you can now get a much clearer and more realistic picture of what it costs to get serious results online. Even if we use the lower end version of these costs as a guide, small business owners should be looking at

	Cost Guide
Website Development	$1000+
Hosting & Maintenance	$120+
SEO - 6mth program	$3000
Search Advertising (PPC) - 6mths	$1200
Affiliate Marketing	Depends on Program
Others	Depends on Tactics
TOTAL	$5320+

Now that’s only a starting guide, and as I’ve mentioned previously - the cheapest options aren’t always the best in terms of results and generating good ROI.

So if you’re starting a new website project - you can see there’s more to consider than just the website design costs. If you want your new website in 2010 to be a success - be realistic when doing your planning and budgeting!

Rene is the marketing manager of ineedhits.com - a global search engine marketing company. He also leads the marketing for Gooruze.com - a web 2.0 style community for online and digital marketers. Rene has been in the industry since 1997 with much of that time spent helping businesses embrace the best of the internet and digital world.

View Rene LeMerle's profile

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By Michael Ferree

January 06, 2010

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http://twitter.com/home/?status=MediaPost%3A%20Does%20the%20Google%20Phone%20Need%20a%20%24100%20Million%20Push%3F%20' + xmlHttp.responseText + '%20%23mediapost'; //document.getElementById("tellme").innerHTML = sharelink; sharewin(sharelink); } } function facebook() { if (xmlHttp.readyState==4 || xmlHttp.readyState=="complete") { //http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=#shortLink#&t=#facebookStatus# sharelink = 'http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=' + xmlHttp.responseText + '&t=MediaPost%3A%20Does%20the%20Google%20Phone%20Need%20a%20%24100%20Million%20Push%3F'; //document.getElementById("tellme").innerHTML = sharelink; sharewin(sharelink); } } SHARE TOOLS PRINT COMMENT SUBSCRIBE RSS RELATED ARTICLES 1. MTV And Crisp Wireless Team On Mobile Ads 2. Google Runs Multimillion-Dollar Ad For Nexus One 3. Smartphone Purchasing Behaviors Differ by Device 4. How A Billion Dollar Mobile Investment Could Support Search And Display Online Advertising 5. Open Mobile TV Tested In 1Q TAGS:  Mobile MOST READ 1. At The CES: Waiting For The Other Shoe To Drop 2. Roberts: Comcast Won't Turn NBC Into Cable Channel 3. SEO Is Killing The Internet 4. Google Runs Multimillion-Dollar Ad For Nexus One 5. How A Billion Dollar Mobile Investment Could Support Search And Display Online Advertising 6. MTV And Crisp Wireless Team On Mobile Ads 7. The Top 100 Social Media Brands -- Or, Sex Doesn't Just Sell, It Socializes 8. Based On Perception, Toyota Leads The Pack 9. Does the Google Phone Need a $100 Million Push? 10. Majority of Comcast Set-Top Boxes EBIF-Enabled, CEO Says

Among the ways Google aims to defy conventional wisdom with the Nexus One -- besides selling the unlocked device directly online--is not to promote it with a splashy cross-media ad blitz. Don't expect a $100 million campaign with a series of high-impact TV commercials like that which accompanied the roll out of the Droid.

That's partly because there's no carrier, like Verizon Wireless, to foot the bill for a high-priced traditional campaign. TV ads also just aren't part of Google's DNA-it sets a bad example when the biggest Web company is spending a ton of money on 3o-second TV spots. Instead, Google has said it plans to focus promotional efforts for the Nexus One primarily online.

"Because the Nexus One is exclusively sold online, our marketing plan will heavily focus on online marketing to educate users on the benefits of the phone and the new way of buying it," the company explained in response to a TechCrunch enquiry Tuesday. The post noted Google has already slapped a prominent link to the Nexus One official YouTube channel and is running a bunch of related keywords like "smartphone" and "Android" for the phone.

It's now also promoting it directly on the Google homepage below the search box with a small phone icon and an invitation to "Experience Nexus One" with a link to its new Web phone store.

While Google hasn't detailed its full plans for advertising the phone online, TechCrunch expects the company to put a lot of marketing muscle behind it. Even so, it points out analysts have already questioned whether average consumers will even notice the device without a big push. Does it need a $100 million boost?

A recent comScore study credited Verizon's ambitious Droid campaign with helping to increase awareness of Android phones generally. And Apple's signature TV ads for the iPhone (lampooned in the Droid ads) obviously haven't hurt sales of the device Google is going head-to-head with. But spending $100 million to plaster ads everywhere doesn't necessarily deliver results. (See: Yahoo.)

Still, most consumers may not only be unaware of the Nexus One but also that Google has set up a new online store to sell it and other Android devices and related products as its direct-to-consumer channel expands. When people think of Google, they think "search engine" not "online retailer." And unlike other products Google has quietly rolled out previously, the Nexus One at $529 without a contract, is far from free. It won't go viral.

So making a marketing push beyond its own properties in this case at least would make sense if Google wants its flagship phone to be more than a Droid, let alone, iPhone wannabe. It's not like it doesn't have the cash. 

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Communications via the Internet has dramatically changed the landscape of marketing. Industries and opportunities of acquiring customers have been developed and at the same time providing other marketing channels established ineffective.

Internet Marketing is constantly evolving with new technologies and methods to take advantage of them to earn money that are every day. It is the ability of evolving Internet and online marketing says the company is an important option.

 

For business owners who are willing to educate you on the occasion of Internet Marketing Earning money is exceptional. There are a number of people who have actually started businesses and livelihoods using the unique ability of online communications.

The Internet is very different from the established channels of advertising because of its flexibility. Unlike television ads or newspaper require a type and can handle marketing of various digital marketing methods and profits are limited only by the imagination of the person developing the marketing strategy.

For people who own their own business or looking to open a line of communication has better prospects than ever before. There are a number of different useful channels for the sale of services and systems for the production of income. Here is information on some popular systems for a lifeline. 

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Your virtual assistant can help you maximize the use of your Twitter account

Published on January 03, 2010 by Lawrence Perry (NewsPR.us and OfficialWire) LONDON, ENGLAND

Twitter is 2009’s biggest online social network.  There is so much hype surrounding the service that it has grown to become a top social media in the past year.  The service also gets so much positive press with people talking about the service, writing about it and recommending it to friends, relatives, business colleagues and other contacts.  People and media started to take notice, pushing the service even higher.  With the validation that the online messaging service has received from various sides, more people just wanted to get on Twitter so that they can see what the buzz is all about.  There are already some people that have proclaimed that Twitter is the next big thing in marketing.  The secret of course is in getting a move on early and really working hard on online marketing to gain true success in using Twitter and other social media for marketing.

If you want to really maximize the use of Twitter, you need one thing- a dedicated person to manage your social media accounts.  Large corporations realized this early on and have assigned individuals or teams to manage their online accounts so that they can actively participate in the online discussions for the company.

Small and large companies who do are uncertain about hiring a team and really committing to social media have the option to hire a virtual assistant to serve as their social media representative.  The virtual assistant provides flexibility to companies because it’s possible to hire a virtual assistant without getting into any long-term commitments. You can hire a virtual assistant to manage your social accounts for a few months just to see how the VA will fare in terms of managing your accounts.  When you see that the virtual assistant is competent in creating contents for your social media as well as in following people, starting conversations, monitoring online discussions and the other tasks related to your social media account then you can hire the virtual assistant to work full-time for you as a social media manager.  When you hire a virtual assistant to manage your Twitter account, you can really take full advantage of the service for your business.

Visit our virtual personal assistant sponsor: www.catchfriday.com

Follow us on Twitter: @catchfriday

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By Enjoli Liston

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With 2010 mere days away, most marketers are frantically putting the finishing touches on marketing plans. Before focusing too hard on video or social ad formats, however, marketers should plan a bit more in email. Email is old, you say? Email is proven, say the experts.

by Kristina Knight

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    Tuesday, 29 December 2009 11:58 Deepti Dhava

 

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Coupon Sherpa did some homework and found the top 30 trends that will help you better understand the online-shopping experience. All statistics refer to online shopping in the U.S., unless otherwise noted.

Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO East, January 20-22, 2010. Miami, FL.

Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO East, January 20-22, 2010. Miami, FL.

Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO East, January 20-22, 2010. Miami, FL.

Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO East, January 20-22, 2010. Miami, FL.

Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO East, January 20-22, 2010. Miami, FL.

Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO East, January 20-22, 2010. Miami, FL.

2. 63 percent of people who shop online are women.

3. Shoppers under age 45 are spending more online, while purchases by older consumers have declined.

4. More than half of Internet users _ totaling $875 million Americans _ make at least one online purchase per month.

5. Online shopping is forecast to reach $329 billion by 2010 _ increasing to 13 percent of all retail sales and encompassing almost half of all households.

6. Americans spent more than $115 billion online in 2008, representing roughly 10 percent of the total domestic market.

GEOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN 7. Over 85 percent of the world's online-population has used the Internet to make a purchase.

8. The world's most avid Internet shoppers are South Koreans, with 99 percent of Internet users in that country having shopped online.

9. German, UK and Japanese consumers come in a close second, with U.S. consumers trailing in eighth place.

10. China's shoppers don't appear to feel the impact of the international recession, having more than doubled online purchases in the last year.

11. In 2006, only 10 percent of the world's online population (627 million) had made a purchase over the Internet.

12. The developing markets of Kenya, Philippines and India are currently driving developments for micro-credits and micro-payments (very small loans and payments) WHAT WE ARE BUYING 13. Books are the most popular online purchase, followed by clothing/accessories/shoes, videos/DVDs/games, airline tickets and electronic equipment.

14. One in four online shoppers now purchase airline tickets via the Internet.

15. Sales of cosmetics/nutrition supplies and groceries have jumped nine and eight percentage points respectively in just one year.

16. Consumers are willing to pay between 20 to 99 percent more for a 5-star rated product than for a 4-star rated product.

WHERE WE SHOP 17. Amazon.com is rapidly becoming consumers' default option when planning an online purchase. Consumers start at Amazon because they anticipate a positive experience at a good price.

18. Amazon has swiftly nudged out eBay as the most popular shopping site, with eBay sales falling 1 percent and Amazon's sales increasing 31 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008.

19. Invitation-only sites have moved sales of luxury goods online to easier serve those with disposable incomes.

20. The security of a site influences where we shop more than rewards and discounts. Roughly 75 percent of online consumers fear fraud and/or identity theft.

21. Consumer "must haves" for a shopping Web site include ease of use, limited personal-information requirements, some free content, and secure transactions.

22. More than half of the top Web sites post videos to help sell products or services, or to enrich the user's experience.

23. The most successful sites allow users to interact with each other by offering gift registries, "send to a friend" options and product reviews. These features encourage shoppers to linger longer on a merchant's site.

HOW WE SHOP ONLINE 24. People frequently re-visit Web sites with quality products and transparency in dealings.

25. 60 percent of online shoppers mostly buy from a single site, showing a unique loyalty.

26. 60 percent of online consumers prefer to pay with credit cards, with one in four choosing PayPal.

27. One-third of online shoppers use a search engine to find what they're looking for and about one-fourth find web sites by word of mouth.

28. 58 percent of online consumers own a Web-enabled cell phone and one in 10 purchase products and/or services with the device.

29. Over 65 percent of people use the Internet to research products before buying them from a local store.

30. Customers prefer to contact sales or customer service via online chats, as opposed to phone contact.

SOURCES: 2008 Nielsen Global Online Survey; PriceGrabber.com Consumer Behavior Report; comScore.com Benchmark Study 2009; Jupiter Research Survey 2008; Cisco's Internet Business Solutions Group Survey 2008; iQuantum Pty Ltd; Research and Markets 2008-2009 studies; comScore/Kelsey, October 2008 ___ (Coupon Sherpa is the penny pinching, coupon clipping, deal digging, Himalayan haggling, he-man of bargains. Visit http://www.couponsherpa.com/ for more shopping advice, insider tips, and coupons.) ___ (c) 2009, http://www.couponsherpa.com/ Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

_____ TO SUBSCRIBE TO NEWS2USE Items in the News2Use package are not included in your MCT News Service subscription. You can subscribe to the News2Use package or purchase the items a la carte on MCT Direct at www.mctdirect.com. To subscribe, please call Rick DeChantal at Tribune Media Services at (800) 245-6536 or rdechantal@tribune.com. Outside the United States, call Tribune Media Services International at +1-312-222-4444or e-mail tmsisales@tribune.com.

_____ PHOTO (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

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Computerworld - When the Internet arrived for mass public consumption in the mid-'90s, a whole new world of advertising to and communicating with customers and potential customers cracked open its gates. Companies of all sizes began creating Web sites and putting their products online; some companies, such as Amazon.com and Overstock.com, existed only on the Web.

More recently, we saw blogs, wikis, virtual worlds and other online communities turn customer communications into a two-way street. But perhaps the most disruptive changes have come in the last couple years as social media marketing began in earnest, with companies directly communicating back and forth with their customers online through social media networks like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.

So what does it all mean? If your company isn't yet participating, how do you evaluate it all and decide if you should join in? Where do you begin?

Start right here with this guide to five "must-read" books on social media marketing to help answer your queries, plan your strategy and get you on the road to better communications with your customers.

SocialCorp: Social Media Goes Corporate by Joel Postman
(New Riders, Dec. 2008, $30)

Talk about getting right to the point -- this well-laid-out book is filled with great references and "why didn't I think of that?" ideas for getting your company into the right frame of mind to begin a social media marketing project. Want to know who else is diving into the social media pool? Check out the detailed case studies with companies like U-Haul, Electronic Arts and the American Red Cross.

There are sections on social media ethics, corporate risks, government regulations and more. One key section describes techniques for reaching the right audiences, from creating relationships with popular bloggers to creating social media newsrooms to get your news out to viewers.

Friends with Benefits: A Social Media Marketing Handbook
by Darren Barefoot and Julie Szabo
(No Starch Press, Nov. 2009, $25)

An easy-to-use A-to-Z guide with some very helpful extras, including a "Damage Control In the Digital Age" chapter on how social media tools can help your company when things go wrong. Remember, at some point things will probably go wrong, and these tips will be nice to have in the back of your mind.

What's also very valuable is that the authors present detailed "how-to" basics for every popular social media platform, from Facebook and MySpace to Twitter and even video-sharing sites like YouTube, to help your corporate communications gain their best audiences. Hints on how to measure your audiences, how to respond to comments left by site visitors and how to find just the right tone for your customer-facing communications are also very useful.

The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use Social Media, Blogs, News Releases, Online Video, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly, Second Edition by David Meerman Scott
(Wiley Books, Jan. 2010, $20)

To me, a great "how-to" book is one in which I do a lot of yellow highlighting to accentuate important information. In this book, some of the pages are teeming with my yellow ink. Scott presents great can-do ideas with passion and plenty of examples and advice.

His key message: Make your social media marketing efforts shine by transforming your company into an information source for users who are hungry for resources to help them make product buying decisions. Let your readers establish your company as the expert in your market, then reap the benefits by watching them come to you when they are ready to buy.

(Note: This second edition is an extensive revision of Scott's 2008 bestseller, updated for the latest social media trends. Not yet available, it's due to ship in January 2010.)

The Social Factor: Innovate, Ignite, and Win through Mass Collaboration and Social Networking by Maria Azua
(IBM Press, Aug. 2009, $27)

This book has one simple goal -- to help companies clearly see how social media tools can bring together customers, employees, partners and others in communities that will make them stronger and more competitive.

If you're looking for a how-to guide on actually using social media tools, this book isn't it. But if you want a clear and ultra-detailed look at how social media marketing ties in with human thinking and behavior, collaborative communications, our mobile society and IT innovations from cloud computing to open source software, then The Social Factor adds some fascinating analyses to the puzzle.

The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web
by Tamar Weinberg
(O'Reilly, July 2009, $25)

Know what you want to get out of your social media marketing strategy and keep those goals in mind every step of the way. That's the key message in this detailed and authoritative book, which shares loads of examples and great case study anecdotes about companies that have seen their relationships with customers change and improve by communicating back and forth with them online.

Among the valuable tips included are how to determine your resources for the project in dollars and staff time, and how to select just the right mix of blogs, social media sites and other outlets for your company's messages.

Todd R. Weiss is an award-winning technology journalist who wrote for Computerworld.com from 2000 through 2008. He's now a freelance writer, covering technology news, cool tech gear, open source and more. Follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/TechManTalking.

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Dec 23, 2009 at 2:56pm ET by Matt Lawson

Matt Lawson is director of marketing for Marin Software, bringing a breadth of online marketing, web analytics and search experience to the company.

See more articles by Matt Lawson >

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Posted by Gus Sentementes at 8:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: *NEWS*, East Coast, Entrepreneurs & Risk Takers, Media, Online Advertising, Social Media
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Next year 2010 will be one of the most challenging times for web marketers, mainly because of new FTC Guidelines & "ALL" the recent changes within Google.	Visited: 613 5.0/5.0 (2 votes total) Rate: Select 1 - Terrible 2 - Poor 3 - Average 4 - Good 5 - Outstanding
by Titus Hoskins December 21, 2009

Next year may just prove to be one of the most challenging times for pursuing online or Internet marketing on the web. It may just be a watershed moment for many marketers struggling to keep abreast of all the different factors which have come into play in recent months.

Most of these changes will stem from two main sources for potential upheaval: the first being the New FTC (Federal Trade Commission) Guidelines regarding Testimonials and Endorsements and the second being "ALL" the recent changes within Google.

Actually, we already have the new FTC Guidelines which came into effect on Dec. 1st of 2009, but how these new rules are enforced will play out in the coming year as test-cases are brought to court.

Basically, these new rules call for absolute disclosure and full transparency regarding Testimonials and Endorsements when a product or service is being offered for sale. Any business (monetary) relationship between the endorser and the company must be made known to the potential buyer. Obviously for those in online or affiliate marketing this could have a great impact if these new rules are strictly enforced.

Just imagine all the website owners and bloggers who slap a few banners or affiliate links on their sites to cover hosting or operating costs... will they now have to disclose all these business arrangements? For professional affiliate marketers and the companies/products they're promoting, these new guidelines could cause potential headaches and/or legal ramifications since a general blanket disclaimer on their sites will no longer be suffice. To help solve this problem, many of the major companies are now placing an "affiliate" tag on all their banners and making it obvious a business relationship exists with its affiliates.

In addition, many online marketers are placing additional disclaimers, affiliate seals and in other ways making it known certain links are indeed affiliate links and a relationship does exist with the product and/or services being promoted. With these new guidelines, another big issue is email marketing, one of the major marketing techniques of most online marketers. Will a full disclosure be necessary for every email sales pitch?

Savvy web marketers know the key to increased sales is in the "follow-up" and the "cookie-ing" of potential buyers; how will the new Guidelines affect this very effective marketing practice? How all these new rules or guidelines play out will make next year a very interesting one for marketing on the web.

Despite this, perhaps the greatest cause for upheaval in the coming year will be Google. There are countless reasons why Google will be a major game changer in 2010 for online marketing. Ever since Bing and more recently the potential Bing/Yahoo competition, Google has gone into complete overdrive, implementing new changes and debuting new programs like there was no tomorrow.

First, we have Google Caffeine which Google is introducing (full force) early in the new year. Google Caffeine, which is a major overhaul of its search engine, will no doubt cause many a marketer some sleepless nights as the total fall-out becomes evident. Other Google updates in the past (Florida Update comes readily to mind) have wrecked havoc on many top ranking sites, but this time Google is doing things a little different and have even given webmasters a beta version of the new search engine. Still, rightly or wrongly, many online marketers are bracing themselves for the full impact of Caffeine, will it mean smooth sailing or a stomach sickening roller-coaster ride for marketers and webmasters?

Second, we have the introduction of "Real Time" search which will be featured in Google's SERPs. This will make the social media sites like Twitter, FaceBook, MySpace... much more important. Again, the implications for online marketers could be enormous since many can now reach the first page through a different route. Will it also mean more "Real Time" spam? But more importantly, will it mean a greater marketing opportunity for the online marketer who exploits it?

Third, we are seeing Google moving more and more towards "Visual Search" with the introduction of Google Goggles for mobile phones. Just take a picture and you get the Google results instantly - no typing, just point and click. Just envision countless clueless teenagers or more importantly helpless shoppers suddenly being empowered with knowledge and wisdom. Could do more for education since the invention of the printed word and the info-commercial combined. Talk about scary! But will the implications for web marketing be just as revolutionary and enlightening?

Fourth, Google has made it known through its spokesperson Matt Cutts, that site-loading times will be a ranking factor in the new improved Google. Also, proper and correct page coding will also be more important if you want your site to be at full advantage. Broken links will be a big "No-No", while linking out to important related sites a big plus. All this is only logical, Google's main product is and has always been its search results, anything which improves those results and provides a more pleasing experience for the Google user should be front and center. Obviously, one way for Google to stay on top, is to provide the best search results to its users.

Fifth, in order to please the end-user, Google is also moving more towards "Personalized Search" which will make SEO and ranking in the top spot for your chosen keywords a total nightmare for many professional SEOs and online marketers. If everyone can choose their own top results, isn't SEO more or less, a lame duck? Again, the ramifications of personalized search will further play out in 2010, but will professional marketers like what they see?

Finally, while no one would argue Google is King of the Hill when it comes to online search, will all these new changes strengthen or weaken Google's grip? Will the combined Bing/Yahoo be able to give this giant some much needed competition? Or will Google's main competition come from an unlikely source, such as big name multi-national corporations who are moving their operations online. Can these big-name keyworded domains start directly pulling in the majority of the web's traffic, making all search engines secondary?

As people become more web savvy, will they go directly to what they're looking for on the web, bypassing the search engines altogether - including the mighty Google? Such a scenario could have greater consequences for the affiliate marketer since a direct line to a company's site or product will obviously mean less sales for the online marketer, who really works in coordination with the search engines, either through organic search or PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising in these same search engines.

Overall, the new FTC Guidelines and recent changes to Google, will make next year one of the most interesting times to be pitching anything online. Throw into this the full effect what a combined Bing/Yahoo might bring to the table, and you have the recipe for a tumultuous white knuckle ride, until the dust finally settles and marketers make adjustments like they always do. So hold on, because things will probably get a little hectic for many web marketers before we see the light at the end of the tunnel.

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It appears that the white pages – the section of the telephone book that lists residential numbers – may be going the way of the phone booth and rotary dial phone. A growing cadre of consumers and elected officials see the automatic delivery of white pages as unnecessary and wasteful given the availability of free online directories.

White Pages Inc.

The country’s largest independent online directory provider, White Pages Inc., has been a leading advocate for limiting these deliveries. The company has gathered more than 20,000 signatures for its “Ban the Phone Book”
campaign, which seeks the creation of “opt-in” programs for white pages phone books so they are delivered only to people who request them. The concept has attracted 5,000 fans on Facebook.

The Web site for the campaign declares that “up to 5 million trees are cut down each year to create the white pages phone book” and adds that “taxpayers are spending $17 million each year to have these books recycled.”

Phone book companies counter that White Pages is merely talking up its own business interests. They emphasize that no trees are harvested to make directories, which they say they are made from a combination of recycled paper and byproducts left over from the lumber milling process, like sawdust.

“We don’t kill trees for our product,” said Michele Meisch, marketing manager for the Valley Yellow Pages, which distributes 7.7 million directories in California. “We’re not this evil entity.”

Liz Powell, a spokesperson for White Pages, concedes the company could stand to gain if people no longer get white pages delivered to their homes – and search for numbers online instead. But she said it’s the environment, rather than the company’s bottom line, that serves as a motivation: “That’s our concern, first and foremost.”

Legislation aimed at limiting the distribution of white pages directories only to people who request them –- or at least providing customers with a way to opt-out –- has already been introduced in several states, including Alaska and New York.

Leland Yee, a California state senator representing San Francisco, has
promised to introduce a bill to the Legislature in January that would prohibit telephone companies from delivering white pages unless customers specifically ask to receive them.

Under California law, all telephone companies are required to deliver free white pages to customers. The regulation -– which is similar to those in other states -– was put into place by the California Public Utilities Commission 14 years ago to minimize calls to directory assistance and promote distribution of yellow page advertising.

Adam Keigwin, Mr. Yee’s chief of staff, says the initiative fits in well with the senator’s overall agenda to limit waste. For the vast majority of people who don’t use printed directories, “it just seems wasteful,” Mr. Keigwin said.

AT&T seems to agree with this sentiment. The company is testing its own white pages opt-in scheme, the Residential White Pages Consumer Choice Program, in about 10 United States cities including Austin, Tex., Cleveland, Oklahoma City and Milwaukee. The cities were chosen based on internal research and surveys that showed customers in those markets were receptive to the idea, said Fletcher Cook, a spokesman at AT&T.

“It’s all about choice,” Mr. Cook said. “We want to act with an environmental conscience but also respect our customers’ preferences.”

Also to the point of customer choice, trade groups representing most phone book publishers in the United States recently created a Web site where users can type in their ZIP code, get a list of local publishers and notify them if they want delivery stopped.

But despite the advent of the digital age, it would seem many customers still prefer to thumb through a phone book the old-fashioned way. In July, when AT&T began its opt-in program in Ohio, the company’s call center was overwhelmed with calls from customers who wanted to place an order for a printed copy.

And some worry that in the rush to leave the old ways behind, certain people may be left out.

“Many Californians still rely on landline phone service to connect with family, friends and community, as well as local businesses, which are less likely to advertise online,” said Mindy Spatt, a spokeswoman for the Utility Reform Network, a ratepayer advocacy group in San Francisco. “So online directories are a poor substitute and not everyone has access to the Internet. We don’t want to see those folks be even more cut off.”

As for the Yellow Pages, their fate is more secure because they are still seen as important for generating business.

“People reference the yellow pages 3.3 billion times a year,” Mr. Cook said. “There’s still a high volume of usage.”

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The Internet search leader wants a bigger slice of local online advertising, a market Google has failed to crack. But Yelp has much more than ads

By Douglas MacMillan

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Google's low-cost online ads have singlehandedly revolutionized the way big brands spread marketing messages across the Web. But the company has had a harder time luring ad dollars from local businesses and mom-and-pop shops.

The search giant is in talks to pay more than $500 million to buy Yelp, an online community for local business reviews, a person familiar with the matter said on Dec. 18. Google's (GOOG) interest in the five-year-old startup underscores the value of local advertising online, a multibillion-dollar business it has so far struggled to enter. Analysts say acquiring Yelp could step up growth in Google's core search advertising business, which has slowed in recent years, as well as in such other areas as mobile services. Representatives of Google and Yelp declined to comment on the talks.

While they were slow to move ad spending online, local advertisers have stormed the Web in recent years. As a whole, the market for local online advertising is expected to surge to $14.2 billion this year, from $2.1 billion in 2004, according to research firm Borrell Associates. Increasingly, local shops are shifting spending from big phone books such as the Yellow Pages and other print media to the Web sites of local newspapers and such directory sites as Yelp and InterActiveCorp (IACI)-owned CitySearch, says local media analyst Gordon Borrell. With consumers so attuned to the convenience of the Internet, "Why do you need the phone book any more?" he asks.

Google has flirted with local advertisers before. The company works with online directories such as the AT&T (T)-owned YellowPages.com, whose sales people pitch businesses on buying sponsored links in search results. In September, Google invited merchants to add details about their businesses to Google Maps, a tool used by millions each day.

at Yelp, 8 million local reviews

But the Mountain View, Calif., Web pioneer has lacked a direct line of contact with smaller sellers sprinkled throughout the country. "Reaching those small advertisers is very difficult and expensive," says Matt Booth, senior vice-president at the Kelsey Group. "Local could be a big part of their business, but it's not a huge part of their overall business today."

Yelp, on the other hand, is all about local. Started in 2004 with a $1 million investment from PayPal (EBAY) co-founder Max Levchin, the site says that each month it attracts more than 26 million people who collectively have contributed more than 8 million one- to five-star reviews on attractions in their neighborhoods. San Francisco-based Yelp has a sales force of 200 people who sign up local merchants for sponsored listings throughout the site. Ad revenue totaled about $45 million this year, according to analysts' estimates, and Yelp has been expecting to become profitable in 2010.

Google has increased its pace of acquisitions in recent months to beef up its advertising business and to snap up assets devalued amid the recession. Yelp would help Google get smarter about local advertising, says Sandeep Aggarwal, analyst at Collins Stewart. "Yelp has more intelligent information," he says. Instead of just addresses, phone numbers, and other basic data on small businesses, Yelp also boasts extensive knowledge of people's tastes and price preferences. "Often when someone is looking for something, they also want this kind of information," Aggarwal says.

"Yelpers:" local, tight-knit groups

That data would likely prove valuable to Google's mobile efforts, too. This year, a free app preinstalled in the Motorola (MOT) Droid and other phones using Google's Android software let users receive turn-by-turn navigation to their destination. With Yelp's data, the app could suggest restaurants and other services along the way.

Yelp also gives Google entrée to a loyal social community—something it has had difficulty building on its own in the past. Users of Yelp, often calling themselves "Yelpers," have been known to form tight-knit groups that meet at favorite bars and hang-outs. "This is distinct from what Google is about," says Greg Sterling, principle of Sterling Market Intelligence. Yelp's is a fandom that lures a lot of interested advertisers.

Sterling says a Yelp deal might be about more than just ads. "[Google] has ambitions that are broader than simply selling advertising. There's a whole range of stuff they can offer" small businesses, he says. By cozying up to more mom and pops, the company may hope to get the word out about its Google Docs and other online apps. The vast majority of small businesses buy competing software from Microsoft.

Google's negotiations with Yelp are unlikely to conclude before yearend, says the person familiar with the matter. Technology blog TechCrunch first reported on the talks.

Clinching a deal might give Google a leg up on rivals Microsoft (MSFT) and Yahoo! (YHOO), which analysts say were also potential buyers. The talks are most likely to rankle AT&T and other companies that partner with Google to "resell" search ads to local businesses signing up for the Yellow pages. (AT&T did not immediately respond to a request for comment.) Says Borrell: "Those relationships have gotten tenuous because they believe Google is competing with them by providing all this great stuff."

Douglas MacMillan is a staff writer for BusinessWeek in New York. 

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Leading New York search engine optimization and Internet marketing firm says that Google’s new “real-time” search can boost traffic for those that take advantage of social media marketing.

Online PR News – 18-December-2009 – Leading New York search engine optimization and Internet marketing firm says that Google’s new "real-time" search can boost traffic for those that take advantage of social media marketing.

According to Peter Crisafi, Vice President of dzine it, Inc., a reputable Manhattan search engine optimization (SEO) and online marketing firm with an array of clients worldwide, Google’s new "real-time" search bridges the gap between social networking and search marketing.

"Google’s new real time search is about as direct as it gets when it comes to social networking and search marketing," says Crisafi. "With this new search parameter, Google offers users real-time search results from Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and other social networking sites."

With the advent of Google’s real-time search engine features, Crisafi says that now is the time for website owners to take advantage of social networking sites to drive traffic, if they have not done so already. He adds that while "real-time" searches are suddenly all the rage among search engine optimization experts, the concept has been in the works for quite some time.

"Google has been working toward the roll-out of real-time search for years," says Crisafi. "Following a poor search engine performance from its own service, Google Finance, experts set out to create what it called a QDF algorithm, which determines which queries will be augmented with the most recent content available, in addition to the content with the highest page rank."

In other words, Crisafi says, businesses that take advantage of Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites have the opportunity to really drive traffic these days.

Of course, Google’s new real-time search also has the potential for abuse, Crisafi notes, among spammers and black hat search engine marketers.

"In order for a company to ensure that they are using Google’s real-time search properly and above board," says Crisafi, "businesses should only hire a search engine optimization firm that not only has experience in social network marketing, but also adheres to organic, white hat search engine optimization practices."

Established in 2003, dzine it, inc. is a leader in Custom web development, programming and design solutions for small and large business, agencies. The company offers a wide range of business-centered visual communication solutions, including web-based content management, web design, graphic design, custom web software applications, ethical white hat search engine optimization (Organic SEO), Video Encoding, and print media solutions. For more information, call 718.336.2660 or visit www.dzineit.net.

Copyright 2009 dzine it, inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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