Yearly Archives: 2009
Featured Ian Lurie11 Feb, 2009
Dynamic Keyword Insertion For Landing Pages
I spent part of today being puked on. Not the way you’d expect this blog post to start, I know, but I had to get that off my chest. For the last 3 days, I’ve had the flu. My son had it for 2 days, too. It was a bad cold for us. My daughter… Read More
Ian Lurie9 Feb, 2009
Competitive Keyword Bidding: France Loses Its Mind
Corporate Eye has a post today about two French companies who are suing Google. The reason? Google has allowed competitors to bid on terms for which the two companies hold trademarks. I’ve ranted about this before, so I won’t belabor it now. Instead, let’s try a few hypotheticals: Let’s say you’re BMW and you want… Read More
Ian Lurie7 Feb, 2009
10 Ways To Think For Yourself: A Geek’s Guide to Problem Solving
Your boss comes to you and says “I need [insert seemingly impossible request here].” What do you do? You can deluge your already harried superiors with questions, until you all give up in frustration. Or, you can (gasp) research, analyze and solve the problem. Not many people know how to do this. Your brain is… Read More
Ian Lurie5 Feb, 2009
Webinar Tonight: Blogging For Business
I’m doing another Trump University Webinar tonight: Blogging for Business Time: 5 PM Pacific You can register here. This will be a pretty elementary look at blogging: Setting up your first blog. Listening in to the blogging world. Getting yourself to write. Handling comments. Blogging etiquette. If you’re looking to get started you’ll probably like… Read More
Random Ian Lurie4 Feb, 2009
Bridesmaid, Again: Crushed in the Semmys
Sniff. My post, 17 Internet Marketing Things I Will Not Write About, came in a distant second to a knock-off of an Alanis Morisette tune. I retreat to my secret hideout, swearing, “I’ll get you next time, Gadget. Next tiimeeee….”
Design & Development Ian Lurie4 Feb, 2009
4 Cheats For Faster Web Site Rollouts
I’m lazy. It’s a good property in a geek. So I try to avoid repetitive work. But in my line of work you end up launching lots of sites, most of which don’t have to win design awards. They just have to be super-easy to use. Here are a few tools that, whether you’re just… Read More
Tom Schmitz2 Feb, 2009
Are Long Tail Keywords Dead?
Are long tail keywords dying? I’m just asking? I started using long tail keyword strategies well before Chris Anderson’s book arrived on the scene. Back then I called them embedded keywords. And yes, for the sarcastic readers, this was long before the Iraq war too. I coined this phrase because a more popular keyword was… Read More
Featured Ian Lurie31 Jan, 2009
Google Errs: End Times Upon Us
Early this morning, if you went to do a search on Google, every listing had a link that read “This site may harm your computer.” Apparently, the entire internet was infected. Or, if you have a shred of common sense, like one of my clients who e-mailed me, you immediately realized there was a glitch… Read More
Ian Lurie30 Jan, 2009
10 Best Subject Lines Of the Week
I’ve decided to start a new segment: 10 best e-mail marketing subject lines of the week. It’s completely sarcastic, by the way. I’m sure you’re shocked. This may be a one-time segment, depending on response, so enjoy: Bring business directly to you, online! I’ve never heard that one before. What time is okay for you.… Read More
Ian Lurie27 Jan, 2009
We’re hiring: Copywriter/Social Media addict wanted
Copywriter/Social Media Strategist About Portent Interactive Like a clever viral ad, our upbeat internet marketing agency provides an atmosphere of effortless fun and seamless ingenuity. Like any good moderator, we are canny and selective about whom we target to join our close-knit community. Critical thinkers. Quirky characters. Shameless geeks. People who thrive in a choose-your-own… Read More
Featured Ian Lurie25 Jan, 2009
33 Books An Internet Marketer Must Read
This is my internet marketing reading list: Books I’ve read over the years that really helped me get going. I’ve put them in the order I’d read ’em, if I had it all to do again. They start with broad marketing concepts and then focus in, first on internet-specific and then on discipline-specific stuff. You… Read More
Tom Schmitz23 Jan, 2009
The Microsite Mistake Macro Fight
Microsite Macro Fight! Today Rand Fishkin over at SEOmoz published a video proclaiming that microsites are a bad idea. Then, Michael Martinez, from Visible Technologies, countered that microsites can be effective on his SEO-Theory blog and his Best-SEO blog. What gives? Who’s right? Actually, they’re both correct. What is a microsite? You create a microsite… Read More
Tom Schmitz23 Jan, 2009
It’s 2009! Are You Ready to Fail?
How’s that web site thing working out for you? If you market a business, knowing how people use the Web and how people might find your web site and how they want to use it is critical. Notice I wrote might find and how they want to use it. Face facts; it’s not about what… Read More
Ian Lurie22 Jan, 2009
Internet Marketing is About The Narrative
“OK, but how do we know what you did helped our business? Maybe it was a coincidence.” Just writing that caused me to hurt my head pounding it against the bulkhead of this airplane. I’m currently on an Alaska Airlines 737, en route back to Seattle after a travel week that felt like someone was… Read More
Random Ian Lurie21 Jan, 2009
Whine! And Cheese! I’m in the Semmy’s, so vote dammit
OK people, it’s time to put up or shut up. I’ve come in second in landing page competitions. I’ve gotten my butt kicked in the Shorty Awards. I got thumped repeatedly in the Webbys and was summarily flushed down the toilet in public at last year’s SearchBowl. I’m always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Or,… Read More