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ECommerce Search Marketing Tactics

posted on March 2, 2009

The session on search marketing tactics served up a strong panel of speakers. As a result a range of interesting ideas were addressed from common sense optimization tips, to leveraging shopping feeds . . . and even Twitter.

Ethan Griffin – Groove Commerce

First up Ethan’s shared some ECommerce optimization tips with the audience, which included some of the following:

  • Use the H1 tag
  • Use unique product descriptions (don’t just copy and paste supplier info into the web pages)
  • Pay attention to internal linking issues
  • Don’t bury folders/directories so that pages appear too deep in the site
  • Have the most important content at the top

In respect to SEO activities and links Ethan recommended that webmasters still submit to directories, consider creating separate blogs to drive traffic, use social media and leverage online PR.

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Email Spammers Turn to Recession-Based Search Engine Spam

posted on March 2, 2009

A new form of email spam has surfaced, but this time with a recession twist. The email message focuses on the recession, but they are now including search engine links to trick your spam filters. According to MediaPost, the links included in the email don’t redirect to the spammer’s Web site, nor do the links perform a search in search engines using particular keywords in hopes of the spammer’s domain showing. Instead, the link performs a search for the spammer’s domain name. What’s worse, many of the sites the spammers lead unsuspecting users to is full of malware. To be honest, I’m surprised this hasn’t been done before.

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PRLeap Embeds Press Release on Blogs

posted on March 2, 2009

Last year PRLeap added social features to their press releases. Last week they added a new feature called PRTube. It’s like YouTube for press releases. You can embed a viewer to display PRLeap press release on your blog, web site, etc. This is a great addition. I only wish you could resize the viewer – it’s a little big. To embed any press release, click on it and on the right hand side you can get the code.

As I wrote I like PRLeap and with that feature I’d prefer to use them over a comparable service that doesn’t offer a viewer. Several sites have added a viewer that shows a web site under the press release but none that embed the actual press release on your site. No one likes to read press releases (or at least I don’t think they do). But this means no extra clicks and you can skim it right on site.

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Twitter Has a Business Model, Just Won’t Tell Us What it is!

posted on March 2, 2009

Lots of interesting buzz surrounding Twitter today.

First, there’s public confirmation that Facebook did indeed attempt to acquire Twitter, but the deal stumbled because it would have been based on Facebook’s valuation–something that no one can seem to agree on.

And apparently Twitter wasn’t bluffing. One of the company’s investors has revealed that Twitter could go it alone, now that it has a business model lined-up.

"We think it’s kind of funny to listen to people [in the press] talk about the lack of a business model," he said. "We know how we’re going to do it, and we’re very confident about how we’re going to do it, and it’s not necessarily in our interest to tell people how we’re going to do it. There is a biz model that has yet to be implemented. Of course, I can’t guarantee it’s going to work."

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Twitterbook? How Facebook’s Attempt at a Twitter Takeover Failed

posted on March 2, 2009

In a BusinessWeek article takes us on the journey of how one monster of social twitter-logomedia tried to swallow an up and comer but didn’t quite have what it takes.

One of Facebook’s directors and largest investors, Peter Thiel, tells the magazine about the apparent misadventures in trying to get a deal done with the folks and Twitter. We know the outcome on this one was a “No deal!” but because all of this was happening last fall during Twitter’s meteoric rise makes it pretty interesting.facebook2

This is the first time there has been a public recognition of these talks. Facebook is still looking to expand but Thiel shapes up the attempted union with Twitter as follows

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Papers Fold and People Distrust Blogs. What To Do?

posted on March 2, 2009

Last week was a rough one for the newspaper industry. The 150 year old Rocky Mountain News of Denver closed shop and rocky-mountain-newsNew York’s Newsday announced it was starting an online paid model despite the fact that the average person spend just 4 minutes and 25 seconds per month on the their website. Not the best news for the hard print news industry for sure.

Never fear though. Whenever there is bad news there’s always some research done that can put the paddles on a dying industry and this is no different. MediaPost tells of a survey by the Rosen Group that shows that the vast majority of US consumers

….still deem print editions of newspapers and magazines to be “indispensable” sources of news and entertainment.