Yearly Archives: 2008
Ian Lurie2 Sep, 2008
Google Chrome Test Drive – First Thoughts
This is a live narration of my first test of Google Chrome: No Mac version? WTH?!!!!…. OK, I’ll try it in Parallels (Windows running on my Mac): …OK, it’s stinkin’ fast: Google Chrome started up Plurk, a javascript-heavy microblog, in just under 1 second. In Safari it took about 3 seconds. Hardly a big deal… Read More
Ian Lurie1 Sep, 2008
Google Chrome Could Change Web Browsing
Man, those guys at Google piss me off. Just when I think they might be getting a little stale, they go and announce a new web browser. And they get Scott McCloud, the brilliant author of Understanding Comics, to announce it in plain language and clear illustration in an online comic. And, just to really… Read More
Ian Lurie29 Aug, 2008
5 Social Media Things John McCain Should Be Doing RIGHT NOW
Hi Senator. Not a fan, but I am an admirer. Please don’t hate me if I don’t vote for you this November. I do have some advice for you, though. Events are catching up to you online, fast. In the last hour I’ve watched stories about your running mate sink into the blogging world, and… Read More
Ian Lurie29 Aug, 2008
5 Social Media Things Barack Obama Should Be Doing RIGHT NOW
Yo, Barack. Loved the speech. I’ve got a little advice: Since you’re worried (I’m sure you are) about conservative Democrats fleeing to McCain, why not Digg and otherwise promote any and all stories about his new running mate’s uber-conservative political views? If those stories move up on Digg, they’ll get more attention. Then they’ll move… Read More
Ian Lurie28 Aug, 2008
15 Features Your Site Doesn’t Need
The worst mistake in internet marketing? Making things too complicated. It pumps up costs, slows site launches and keeps you offline when you could be online, selling stuff. Who makes that mistake? You do. When you insist that that one feature is so important you can’t live without it, you’re killing yourself. If you can… Read More
Ian Lurie27 Aug, 2008
Local Search Optimization: Put Your Address On Your Site!!!!
If you want to rank well in local search results, put your address on your web site. Proof: Last week, I asked my team to add our mailing address in the footer of our site. We already have a pretty address graphic on internal pages, but I wanted a text address. And lo, there was… Read More
Tom Schmitz27 Aug, 2008
A Case for Customized Print Ad Landing Pages
You spent thousands of dollars on a print advertisement. You included a special URL to help you track visitors. Then you showed them your home page? * * * F A I L * * * Advertising is all about the ROI or return on investment. You know the adage, “You got to spend money… Read More
Ian Lurie26 Aug, 2008
The Democrats Lose: Comparing the Convention Web Sites
I’ve been fighting this sinking feeling that we’re headed for another four years (or eight) of a Republican President. Not that I have anything against John McCain except that I’ll never vote for him. But I’m a pretty staunch Democrat, and it’d be nice to blame my own party for the world’s problems for a… Read More
Elizabeth Marsten22 Aug, 2008
Quality Score Updates Make Me Nervous Too
Once again, it’s that time when Google AdWords announces to the world that they will be tweaking their Quality Score algorithm. Rather, as they put it “making an update.” Each time these “updates” occur, I end up on the phone with a Google rep. Each time they’ve done this though, I will give credit where… Read More
Featured Ian Lurie22 Aug, 2008
Use Google to Find Copycats
People will copy your web site. Why? I don’t know. Laziness, stupidity, whatever. You can check occasionally by doing a quick search on Google: Copy a sentence from your web site. Something that won’t show up on many other sites. Go to Google.com Paste the sentence, with quotes around it, into the search box. Click… Read More
Random Ian Lurie20 Aug, 2008
Internet Marketing for Dummies: Why I’m Not Blogging Much
Sorry I’m not blogging as much as normal. I have a little project I’m working on, and it’s taking a lot of time: The book isn’t in print yet. Actually, I’m still writing my parts of it. I’ll be back in blogging shape in no time, I promise.
Ian Lurie19 Aug, 2008
Search Engines Are the Biggest Goldfish
Folks keep asking me whether I’m an SEO professional. Not exactly – I’m an internet marketing pro. So why, they ask, do you spend so much time worrying about search rankings, pay per click and keywords? Let me put it into pictures. Imagine the internet is a goldfish bowl, and traffic is food: Search engines… Read More
Jarrod Medrano18 Aug, 2008
Does Web 2.0 still look good? Did it ever?
Web 2.0 was sighted at a local party last evening. Many who attended expressed that he was ‘Not as cool as we remembered.’ Recently I was poking around a few design blogs and noticed something interesting. It seems like the trends and styles that were so popular only a year ago are starting to… Read More
Random Ian Lurie14 Aug, 2008
9 Words That Don’t Exist
I’m taking a brief break from internet marketing pondering and prognostication to vent a bit about words. Specifically, words that aren’t actually words: Irregardless. Wait, so is that the opposite of ‘regardless’? So, regardful? With regards? Oh, wait, it’s not a word! Nuculer. Our wonderful President, as well as Jack Bauer, seem to know about… Read More
Portent Staff14 Aug, 2008
The Four Qualities You Need to Be A Good Copywriter (hint, good writing isn’t one of them)
One of the most common misconceptions about a copywriting career is that all you need is good writing skills. This is hardly the case. There are many great writers in the world who would either not enjoy copywriting, or who would not excel at it. But there are definitely certain qualities that predispose people to… Read More