Warning: Affiliate plug ahead. I wasn’t paid to do this post, but MarketingSherpa will give me lovely dollars and cents if you buy a book by clicking on the links in this review. However, I do really like the book. And if you’ve read my blog before you know I don’t hesitate to point out… Read More

I’ve had an epiphany: Most people want to hire really crappy SEO ‘professionals’. It’s the only possible reason for some of the asinine hiring decisions made by otherwise intelligent people. So, in the tradition of bloggers giving audiences what they want, here’s my ten steps to hire an SEO firm that will bury you in… Read More

Internet Marketing

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

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

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

Random

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

Internet Marketing

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

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

Internet Marketing

Google will buy Microsoft in the next 7 years. Don’t believe me? Read why I think it’ll happen by 2015: Anti-trust Won’t Be An Issue By then, no one will worry about a Googleopoly. Google will face major competition in the growing mobile search space. The Powers That Be will have already forced Google to… Read More

SEO

If you’ve ever heard these quotes, you need to read this post: “The designers said we couldn’t use this font and have it be text.” “The designers said they couldn’t format the page without tables.” “It’ll take us hours to change that now.” “No, you can’t edit the title tags on each page.” “This is… Read More

I hate seeing these: It’s a waste. You put all that work into creating a great site. Someone makes a mistake like mis-typing a page name, or they click a bad link on someone else’s site, and you drive them away with the internet equivalent of a wagging finger. By the way, this is a… Read More

Internet Marketing

Internet marketing is better at keeping the ball rolling, business-wise, than any other medium. I swear, this diagram will make perfect sense by the time you’re done reading: Step 1: All Marketing Starts With Discovery You start marketing your product or service when someone discovers it and assigns a value to it. I’m not talking… Read More

I spent the morning trying not to pop every blood vessel in my head. My blood pressure increased as I had to dump first one, then a second hosting company in a period of 8 hours. I won’ go into the details. It’s still too painful. What little stomach lining is left needs some time… Read More

Internet Marketing

It’s Friday. I’m burnt out on Web x.0, Moo! and all the other drama du jour. So I’m heading back to internet marketing basics. If you’re a beginner at all this, or need a refresher, read on. What are the big vehicles in internet marketing these days? Where can you get traffic? What should you… Read More

Internet Marketing

I’ve never heard anyone say “Gosh, I sure am looking forward to hiring an internet marketing agency!” Mostly they mutter something and shuffle past, sure they’re doomed. It doesn’t have to be that way. I’ve talked a bit about this before, but I just recorded this talk/video/slideshow that goes into it in some depth: You… Read More