Yearly Archives: 2008
Featured Ian Lurie9 Jul, 2008
3-Hour Internet Marketing Tune-Up
You can improve your web site as a business asset if you’ve got 3 hours a month for some basic internet marketing. “But Iaaannnnnnnnnn I just don’t have any tiiimmmmmeeeee….” It’s true. You’re busy. You’ve got stuff to do like answering e-mails, answering phone calls, checking out that YouTube video someone just sent you or… Read More
Analytics Ian Lurie8 Jul, 2008
Analytics Apples And Oranges: Switching Web Analytics Tools Without Getting Fired
I did WebTrends a disservice here by failing to point out that my client’s creaky WebTrends installation was a very old, purely log-file-based one. Newer versions of WebTrends are every bit as versatile and accurate their competitors. If you switch from one web analytics package to another, be ready to make some adjustments in your… Read More
Internet Marketing Ian Lurie7 Jul, 2008
Yahoo! Is! In! Trouble!
Yahoo! is in big, big trouble. I know Danny Sullivan wrote a great piece about how Yahoo! is not dead yet. But he also points out, in the same article, that it’s sort of up to Yahoo! to make sure everyone knows they’re not internet roadkill just yet. Most important (to me, anyway) is that… Read More
Random Ian Lurie3 Jul, 2008
How to: Dofollow Comments in Movable Type 4
I’ve been battling Movable Type. An epic struggle, really, over nofollow comments. But, I finally got it working. From now on, all author links on my blog will be ‘dofollowed’. Andy Beard’s posts on the subject persuaded me. It was one hell of a struggle though, and I think it’s worth posting the procedure. Deactivating… Read More
Ian Lurie3 Jul, 2008
“Dofollow” in Movable Type: A Cry For Help
I’m trying to set my blog’s comments to ‘dofollow’. I’ve followed Andy Beard’s advice, turned off nofollow.pl, etc. etc.. Yet links back to authors within comments still show as ‘nofollow’. I’ve flushed the cache, rebuilt templates and I’m using Movable Type 4. Their documentation is slightly worse than useless. So I’m throwing myself upon the… Read More
Portent Staff2 Jul, 2008
The Holy Grail of Internet Marketing: The Truest Best
When someone orders iced tea, don’t serve them maple syrup It’s no secret that pouring it on too thick will make consumers suspicious and distrusting of your advertising. It’s no secret that advertisers continue to do it anyway. But there is a quiet uprising occurring, an anti-movement springing up in the form of sites like… Read More
SEO Ian Lurie1 Jul, 2008
In Search Engine Optimization, There Are No Guarantees
“Do you guarantee a top ranking?” I hear this a lot. The answer is “If I did, I’d be lying to you.” Google today published revised guidelines for hiring a search engine optimization firm. I think the single most valuable quote is: “No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google. Beware of SEOs that… Read More
Internet Marketing Ian Lurie1 Jul, 2008
How NOT to Design a Signup Form: Toyota
Toyota has a social network for people nuts about their cars. Since I’ve already built my own Prius web site I figured I’d sign up. Here’s the form they threw at me: I don’t think so! If you want folks to sign up for a social network, where they will do the work, they will… Read More
Ian Lurie1 Jul, 2008
Google Indexing Flash – Don’t Party Just Yet
Search Engine Land reports that Google will now index Flash. Woo hoo! Party! We can now design every web site on the internet in 100% Flash! Not so fast. While Google’s announcement sounds exciting, there are still significant search engine optimization and more general internet marketing issues that they haven’t addressed: Link Value Yes, Google… Read More
Elizabeth Marsten1 Jul, 2008
Get Started with the Google Content Network
When I first started in pay per click marketing the content network was considered a dark, black hole where clicks went to die and impressions soared. Nowadays there is a lot more success, a lot more transparency and a lot more of control that an advertisers can exert over their campaigns. So, when starting a… Read More
Featured Ian Lurie30 Jun, 2008
5 Worst Ads of 2008 (so far, give or take)
Many bloggers try to take the high road, avoiding mocking the work of others. I have no such reservations. My creative lead pointed out that 2008 has, so far, been a truly great year for godawful advertising. So I’m stepping away from internet marketing for a moment to bring you the worst 5 ads of… Read More
Featured Ian Lurie27 Jun, 2008
8 Old Internet Marketing Tools That Still Work
I went and saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull last night. It was bad. Awful. Root-for-the-army-ants-because-they-might-end-the-movie-sooner awful. Seeing a great old franchise turned to so much stinking manure me to thinking about some old things that do still work for us internet marketers: Blogging Carnivals. I always seem to forget about… Read More
Internet Marketing Ian Lurie26 Jun, 2008
Just How Fast IS Google?
Blink. Apparently that fast. I just did a little test, took a random blog and bookmarked it using the ma.gnolia.com bookmarking service. I searched Google for the address of the bookmarked site 10 minutes later and there it was in the results: I’ve talked before about Google’s incredibly fast blog search updates. This is a… Read More
Featured Ian Lurie25 Jun, 2008
How To: Find Great Keywords and Track ‘Em – Wordze and Trackur
I’ve been playing around with two new internet marketing tools of late. They’re impressive enough that they deserve some special mention. I’ve gone as far as signing myself up as an affiliate, too (full disclosure) which is something I rarely, rarely do. Wordze is another keyword-mining system similar to WordTracker and Keyword Discovery, with some… Read More
Ian Lurie24 Jun, 2008
Mobile Search. Yawn.
Hey, internet marketing world: I don’t give a flying poo about mobile search in North America. Yet. Why? Because: I have yet to see mobile search earn a real return on investment. A warm feeling that I’m doing Really New Stuff, yes. Dollars and cents, no. Using mobile search marketing tools is about as easy… Read More