A new search engine launched today and I was thrilled to read that it indexes over 120 billion pages or three times more than any other search engine according to their press release. What other search engine is relevant? The one where the Cuil guys came from - the one that should feel no threat - at least not yet. Cuil may be the biggest search engine but as you will see, biggest is not necessarily the best.
I was curious to see where I ranked on my keywords compared to Google. Not because it is important to me (well ok it is) but because the keywords I chose are part of my web strategy and if they’re not helping me rank higher and bring in traffic, they are useless.
So…I Cuil-ed the keywords (somehow I don’t think that it’s going to become a verb like Googling). It was lightning fast in telling me the number of search results. Unfortunately, getting those search results to show up on my screen was slower than the new Facebook page refresh! Out of 13 results on the first page, 4 were for one particular company. Cuil claims that they “focus on the content of the page and then present a set of results that has both depth and breadth.” I don’t think so!
One key phrase, and I mean KEY phrase, yielded 14,500,000 pages on Google but only 114,518 on Cuil. Even “web strategy” was poorly represented (98,756 results). In the time it took to roll my eyes, Google showed 31,600,000 results.
I also searched for ethnicomm to see if my homepage showed up. NOPE. In fact, a client’s homepage that had the words “web strategy by ethnicomm inc.” popped up several pages in. I would have tested it out some more before commenting but I didn’t want to wait 10 minutes for the content to spit out. I’m sure things will improve over time but right now, I don’t have the time to waste on Cuil. And why does it look like cull on my computer?
On a positive note, the layout is aesthetically pleasing, I am not bothered by Adwords and the short descriptions seem a bit more informative. Maybe Google will learn from their ex-employees.
If you’re looking to switch to a better search engine, it is not Cuil!
Great slide show on the psychological basis for user interface (UI) design rules! It is always important to be customer-oriented…your message not only gets out there, but it gets received in the right manner. Following UI guidelines helps ensure you take into consideration how people perceive, think, learn and act. Note that this is not a recipe, just a list of common ingredients that work well together. You will still need to be a marketing chef to make it palatable and ideally delectable.
This was never the way I planned
Not my intention
I got so tick’d, mouse in hand
Lost my passion
It’s not what
I’m used to
Just wanna try it out
I’m curious for Plurk
To see what it’s about
I kicked the twhirl and I liked it
Using Plurk was a very good pick
I kicked the twhirl just to try it
I hope my twitterfriends don’t mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don’t mean I’m twittering tonight
I kicked the twhirl and I liked it
I liked it
No I don’t even know your name
and you don’t follow
You’re my social media game
Just blogging fodder
It’s not what
Good twits do
Not how they should behave
My head gets
So confused
Hard to obey
I kicked the twhirl and I liked it
Using Plurk was a very good pick
I kicked the twhirl just to try it
I hope my twitterfriends don’t mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don’t mean I’m twittering tonight
I kicked the twhirl and I liked it
I liked it
Us twits we are so logical
Soft font, red screen, so follow-able
Hard to resist, so message able
Plurks’ good
don’t deny it
It’s a big deal, it doesn’t craaaaaaaaash
I kicked the twhirl and I liked it
Using Plurk was a very good pick
I kicked the twhirl just to try it
I hope my twitterfriends don’t mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don’t mean I’m twittering tonight
I kicked the twhirl and I liked it
I liked it
He has his on/off lover and former wife Pamela Anderson on Google Alerts, so he can ask her about stories that break online, even before she’s aware of it!
Google Alerts are “emails automatically sent to you when there are new Google results for your search terms.” Alerts can be sent once a day, as-it-happens or once a week. You can get alerts on topics, names or search terms that show up in the news, on blogs, on websites, in videos, or in Google discussion Groups. If you chose the Comprehensive option, it will consolidate the results found in the news, blogs and websites. You can get it as an HTML email or text email and can create up to 1000 alerts. BTW, this is delivered to your in-basket for FREE!
With all the emails and other information coming at you via SMS, IM, Twitters, Facebook updates, Plurks, and RSS feeds, I’m sure you’re wondering why someone would knowingly add yet another information source. There are many reasons to set up an alert but below are the three main ones:
1. Catholic Guilt
You Google yourself but are too embarrassed to admit it. I don’t think the Vatican knows what Googling means but trust me, you won’t go blind doing it…unless you try to do it in the dark. Seriously, many individuals and businesses need to monitor what is said about them for a variety of reasons: personal and corporate brand management, compliance, consumer feedback and chatter, identify theft, or market research for example. Financial advisers for example should be reporting every instance of their name appearing online…whether they were the providers of the content or not. Better safe than penalized!
2. Competitive Intelligence
You can track trends, competitors and industries. Let’s say you’re a fence manufacturer. A Google Alert on eco-friendly fencing would have told you that TimberWolf now has complete fence kits available at certain Lowe’s stores. An alert on Trex (a competitor) would have shown that some people feel that Trex is less suitable for vertical applications like rails and fences. An alert on Fence, Deck & Rail products (FDR) would have told you the minute a study on this industry was released. You would know that the market for FDR is “likely to continue to correct downward into 2008, but should begin to pick back up thereafter.”
This is good information that can be used as part of your marketing, sales and web strategy.Would you rather let Google do the searching for you 24/7 or do it yourself? What if…gasp…your buyer actually told you about some competitive activity that affected the buyer and your company? This is one tool that can help you with that.
3. Research
You can watch for new videos on a particular topic of interest, like “Make Google Alerts your virtual research assistant.” If you are working with a client you can use alerts to research their customers, their competitors and their competitor’s customers. If you’re a celebrity stalker, you can get the news as you make it happen!
Need to keep up with those old-school suspender wearing, cigar-chomping, name-dropping big boys in the ivory towers that say things like “Hey did you catch the game yesterday? Boy was <insert name of sports celebrity that you could care less about here> sure <insert appropriate expletive(s) here> on the <insert appropriate playing surface here> eh?“Get a leg up on the old fart by using technology!
Now that you know what Google Alerts is and three main reasons to use it (four if you consider tracking info on Pamela Anderson), can you think of a particular use for Google Alerts in your personal or corporate life? Have you had much success with it in the past? How would it fit into your own marketing, sales and web strategy?
Despite Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve saying that output was unlikely to “grow much, if at all, over the first half of 2008 and could even contract slightly”, Register.com found that there was confidence amongst the 800 small businesses that they recently polled. 70% of the respondents did not expect a decline in revenue over the next year. In fact, about 35% expected more revenue! Keep reading to see how they expect to get that added revenue.
Given the looming recession (ok the not so looming recession), the US government is investing $117 billion through tax rebates at a time when one would normally hunker down and save. Can small businesses learn from the US government? Absolutely!
For well-positioned companies, an economic recession should not prompt marketing cutbacks, but rather an aggressive increase in marketing spending to achieve superior business performance according to research authored by Gary Lilien and Arvind Rangaswamy of Penn State’s Smeal College of Business.
You have to get your name out there and do it more often. Brand awareness is key, more so during a slowdown. A good web strategy at this point would be to leverage technology to help you accomplish more with less. This is what the small businesses are planning to do. Topping the list of technologies that the small businesses said they will most likely invest in next year are website design (53%), SEO (43%), and email marketing (41%).
Website design is like remodeling your store. Aside from a fresh coat of paint, you want an uncluttered look to make people comfortable while they shop. They should know who you are and what you offer. Things should be easy to find, in logical places and customers should not have to go through hoops to make a purchase.
SEO is taking that remodeled store and locating it on a busy intersection, just off a highway and high up on a hill so that people can see it from miles away. The signage conveys the name of the store and what they sell. Having a good sign that communicates what the store offers attracts the right clientele.
Email marketing is like having special days where you invite a particular segment of the population to your store. Tuesdays may be Seniors Day where things are 15% off. Thursday may be Kids Days with small prizes and goodies for the young ones who bring parents in tow. The message is different to these two segments, as are the sales expectations and product mix.
I believe this is how the small businesses expect to grow sales. Do you have a web strategy? Is it contingent on your view of where the economy is heading?
Well, a free hand. New technology which is hitting the web these days allows site visitors to navigate using hand gestures and movements only. No fine motor skills or tedious clicking required.
Users with a webcam will be able to navigate through redesigned websites with the help of a screen on the bottom right hand corner which will register hand gestures and movements. Web pages will be divided into quadrants and read the user’s motions allowing for smooth navigation. If you’ve seen the movie Minority Report, you know what I am getting at. If you’ve used an EyeToy with your PS2 or PSP, you’re already familiar with how this works.
Adding a whole new level of interaction to web browsing, this mouse-less technology will open doors (or new browser windows) to the physically disabled, those with RSI, gamers, and guys that would rather wave their hands than type (like myself). It will also become a great marketing device.
This tool should create many new and interesting opportunities for engaging with customers online. Creating or restoring accessibility for the disabled or those with RSI will allow companies and businesses to target a whole new market segment. New games can be created that will keep customers at your website. You don’t have to ask for certain demographic info, the camera never lies! Imagine conducting a sales pitch online and the viewer looks away. Program the system to respond with a Hey buddy, pay attention or for an instant 20% off, click here. Pretty soon your webinar attendees’ eyes will be glued to the screen.
What are the advantages of this mouse-less technology?
It’s cool.
If nothing else this new technology will draw users to mouse-less sites in order to try it out. Therefore, show your creativity and give them a reason to come to your site like the digital design agency Clusta has done for Publicis & Hal Riney!
It’s captivating.
Creating interaction with your audience means a stronger brand. Nothing is more appropriate for interactive marketing than giving your audience the ability to physically control the user experience. No more splash pages to go through and lots of visual feedback.
It’s new.
Opportunities with budding technology like this is boundless. Spin it to target your audience. Be creative and use it to your advantage.
Things to consider:
Some assembly required (on both the user and presenters’ part).
A web cam is needed by the user and a complete site redesign is necessary in order for the wireless technology to be compatible. Most users don’t want to buy new equipment in order to visit a website.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Learning new technology can be frustrating and overwhelming. Make sure your target demographic will be willing to delve into the world of mouse-less navigation with ease.
You may be recorded.
Seeing a message stating that you may be recorded kinda weirded me out! After fooling around with it for a while I yanked my camera out just in case there was some vestigial recording going on.
If you do have a webcam (come on seriously, if you’re reading this you MUST), and want to check out a website that is already using the technology visit Publicis & Hal Riney . Yes, that’s right! Your mouse is still required to click on the link.
The latest rage these days for traffic and search engine rankings is to get postings on blogs. And one of the easiest ways to get those blog posts is to pay for them. In fact there are now numerous services that act as blog advertising aggregators ? advertisers can visit a site like Blogsvertise and simply pick and choose the blogs they want to get a paid review from.
There’s some problems with this approach however. The first one is that these blog posts are the victim of their own success. Paid blog links work so well in getting site’s ranking in the search engines that the search engines are actively seeking to prevent this from working. They have not managed to stop this yet, and may never do so, but it’s a risk. The second problem is that the very best grassroots websites that have both traffic and that will help your search engine rankings will not generally accept paid postings to their blog.
So what’s an online marketer to do? The solution is easy and works far better than paid blog postings. Offer to write a guest blog post! Grassroots and high traffic blogs love these offers. It makes them look better because they are big enough to have ‘guest bloggers’ they can feature and provides them with free content they can publish in between their own postings. Anyone who runs a blog knows how burdensome it is to keep fresh content all the time.
Problem: Finding the blogs.
Solution: Try Google
Three easy ways to find good blogs to offer your ‘guest posting’ services to.
Google ‘your industry’ plus the term ‘blog’. That’ll give you a great list of blogs that we already know Google likes since they’re ranking. Have a look at the first 50 or so.
Look at their blogroll. Good blogs typically have a list of other blogs that they like in the same industry. Have a look at those blogs, and the blog rolls on those blogs…and so on.
See who links to the blogs you’ve found so far. The following search done in Yahoo! will tell you who links to the blog: linkdomain:thebloggerswebsite.com ? site:thebloggerswebsite.com
Problem: Convincing the blogger
Solution: Tell them why it’s good for them, not you.
We all have our best interests at heart. Nobody’s going to let you publish a blog post on their site for your benefit. They’ll do it if it’s good for them. So why would they publish your post? Tell them why it’s good for them. Let me go back to the salesjob I did on Bhupesh (the blog owner of this site, who agreed to let me do this guest blog post) to illustrate why he would let a life insurance agent post on his marketing site.
It will provide some additional content they can use in between their current blog posts.
Their visitors will find it interesting. I’ll write an on topic blog post that’s informative and authoritative. And I won’t market products or services, this will be an informational post.
Give them some ideas as to what you might right on and let them pick one. That gives them a list of things they can look at and increases the chances there will be a subject that piques their interest.
Problem: The implementation of the article
Solution: No need to write an article until they accept.
Once the blogger has accepted and you’ve decided on an article subject, go ahead and write the article. Make sure you offer the blog owner the ability to have final approval on the article prior to publishing. That will set their mind at ease so they know they won’t be publishing a commercial solicitation.
Within the article, link out to relevant sites. And give yourself credit at the bottom of the article including a link to your website. See? That’s not spammy at all.
The benefit to you:
There are multiple benefits to doing this. First, search engines love links pointing to your website. They love even more links from strong authoritative websites that are on topic. Secondly, you will find you can get links from websites that simply wouldn’t link to you (or your competitors!) ever, ever, ever. No money is changing hands which keeps them happy. And finally the strong blogs will actually send you traffic and visitors from your guest blog post.
And finally, have fun with it. There’s something to be said for getting your articles published on other’s blogs. It’ll help your rankings, send you traffic, and help you become perceived as an expert in your field.
About the guest poster: Glenn Cooke is a Life Insurance Broker in Canada. You can read his blog about
life insurance for consumers at TheTermGuy.com.
I was recently selected to save up to 75% off VOSTRO systems from Dell. Pretty exciting eh? The glossy enviro-green and white direct mail piece was personalized and they even got the spelling of my name right! The headline had two footnotes. One said that I was selected based on factors such as historical purchases but I never bought a Dell through my company name so I wonder what other factors it could be. The second footnote said that it was a promotional offer valid between March 21, 2008 and April 3, 2008 etc…good thing my business does not have to put laptops into a capital budget first! The strong call to action was duly noted.
If you are one of Dell’s target business customers, as I apparently am, you are probably too busy to muck around a website getting educated on the various systems and configurations that Dell offers. So this offer was particularly enticing. In 3 simple steps, I could find out if my business was selected to save 25%, 50% or 75%. Here is what I had to do:
Visit their website or call their toll free number.
Enter my personal access code to find out how much I’d save.
Choose my technology and enter the access code (again) to purchase it.
Sounds simple enough so I decide to give it a try as one can always use another laptop right?
Step 1 - No problem getting to the Dell site that immediately redirects to a tracking page with “mystery coupon” in the URL. First thing I see is the header Direct Mailer Offers. Now I wonder if I got the best offer. Second thing I see is a text box header with the question “Did you receive a Coupon Code”. Umm…I don’t know…I received a personal access code. Is that the same thing? I check the fine print on the direct mail flyer and it calls the personal access code an E-Value code so maybe I don’t have a Coupon Code? Figuring that Dell would not waste their money sending this to me only to have it fail on Step 1, I decide to try using my personal access code. That’s gotta be the same thing. As a potential customer, I’m not feeling too comfortable right now. I think I’m on a legit Dell site with the blue corporate colour in the navigation buttons. But the flyer was all green so now I’m not too sure - something phishy going on? Oh wait, there are green buttons lower on the page so all is good.
Step 2 - The personal access code is 14 alphanumeric characters long. Dell will know exactly who came to the site, when they came and how far along the sales funnel they went by simply using this tracking code. I unfortunately got stumped at this step. The personal access code…oops, I mean Coupon Code, did not work. I try again - still no luck. I realized I keyed in an I instead of a 1 and probably an O instead of a 0. I can’t tell the difference since they used ALL CAPS in the code. Woohoo….I can save a whopping 25%! Good thing I did not call the toll free number. I can’t imagine repeating a 14 letter and number combo over the phone. What if I had to key them in and ended up at a remote call centre? On to Step 3 now.
Step 3 - I look at the laptop solutions and desktop solutions, wondering why they are called solutions and not just business computers. Must be some marketing jargon. Does anyone google “laptop solutions” when looking for a computer? Google “laptop” and you get all the smart retailers that know what keywords are relevant ranking high on the search page. Hmmm…just made a mental note to contact Dell about helping them optimize their website
Ok not interested in a solution at this point and also not very impressed.
What are the lessons learned?
Be consistent.
The personal access code was referred to as the E-Value code in the fine print on the flyer. It was also referred to as the Coupon Code on the website. One of these is the appropriate and relevant term from a marketing and legal standpoint. That term should be used consistently.
The layout of the flyer was similar to what one would expect to see on a tech oriented website. However, the Dell website is blue, with an orange and black graphic but the flyer is various shades of green. Not disconcerting but it would be nice for some design elements to be consistent across various marketing media.
Make it easy for the customer.
Don’t have a title that suggests better offers might be available. I was feeling special when I received the direct marketing piece but after reading Direct Mailer Offers, I’m not too certain that I was specially “selected” for this amazing limited time offer. Why does a customer even need to see this - it’s more for the marketing folks at Dell that say “go to the Direct Mailer Offers page” when describing their latest promotional offer to internal people. I would recommend calling it VOSTRO system special offer instead. A unique landing page for each customer could be created to really personalize the experience but that involves a bit more work. Hmmm….ANOTHER mental note to contact Dell and offer my consulting services!
The 14 character personal access code was not very user-friendly. Instead of ALL CAPS, they should have made it all lower case so there would not be any opportunity for confusion with i’s, 1’s, o’s or 0’s.
If I made a purchase I would have to key in the 14 character personal access code again. I can think of a solution here - capture the personal access code from Step 2. Better yet, knowing that I had keyed it in already, don’t ask for it again. Instead, personalize Step 3 by including my company name in the window. That would make it really easy for me and I’d feel oh so special too.
Have you received any direct mail marketing pieces that made you feel special? Did you end up acting on the offer? Please share.
Ever wonder how those marketing geniuses come up with incredibly creative ideas? Well now you can too can be creative just by continually giving your brain hardware upgrades. Not a techie? No worries - below are my 7 easy steps towards becoming more creative:
1. Go against the flow.
Don’t do what everyone else is doing. In fact, try doing the opposite. Challenge assumptions. When they zig you zag so to speak. Be a contrarian. Be counter-intuitive.
Take a different route to work, instead of putting on your left sock first, put your right sock on. Hold your phone in your left hand when you’re chatting in that restaurant. Have cereal for dinner and pasta for breakfast. And don’t forget to smile while you’re talking because a happy mind is a creative mind. Force your mind to do the unordinary and it will become extraordinary.
2. Chatter incessantly.
The more you talk, the more you expose yourself to opportunities to have a conversation with someone. And if you tie this in to point #1 above, even better. Just be careful that you’re not always talking to yourself. The barista at your local Starbucks, the cab drive driving you to your innovation seminar, the math teacher at your child’s school, the annoyed and tired looking gentleman on that transatlantic flight can all help with your verbal rapid prototyping efforts. Someone might even give you an insight that later could lead you to step out of your bathtub and run naked in the streets shouting Eureka! Warning…do not try this in the winter and check with municipal by-laws before opening that door! Or maybe not.
3. Consume text like Kwame Kilpatrick.
Read often and as much as possible. It can be Twitter posts, blogs like this one, articles, novels, textbooks, StumbleUpon, tradeshow displays, your competitor’s web content, press releases, news related to a totally unrelated industry or the nutrition label on your favourite cereal box. The point is, the more you read, the more you are able to make connections between seemingly unrelated concepts. I think that’s what brought the mayor of Detroit and Christine Beatty closer together.
4. Carry a pen and notebook.
My friend Gabriella Pacione of Concept Genesis, a creative consultancy based in Canada, recommends that we all carry a pen and notebook to capture flashes of brilliance that often get lost as we do the more mundane things in our lives like breathing regularly. She says you can’t discount the visual aspect of creativity. If you scoff at this idea because you’re a digital maven, I humbly suggest that you do what I do. Use your Blackberry as a voice recorder or key-in your thoughts and email them to yourself. Best email you will get all day and no spam - guaranteed!
5. Draw
As mentioned above, the visual aspect of creativity cannot be ignored. Drawing, doodling or sketching out ideas will not only entertain your spouse or Wacom-enabled kids it will give you another way of looking at things. Making unique connections is what it is all about.
6. Wake up and smell the coffee.
Better yet, try some Green Tea to get the antioxidant benefits as well. Stimulating your senses is important to open up your mind to possibilities. This includes the sense of smell. You may remember or hopefully still play the smell game. This is where you blindfold someone and place a series of items under their nose. They have to identify what it was based on the smell. Or, to be more PC I guess I should say scent. It’s very hard to identify what the item is without seeing it as we require both sides of our brain to identify and then articulate what that smell is. Struggle and you build up those connections over time.
7. Look around and be inspired.
There are numerous stories about people getting inspiration from merely observing. Richard Feynman, joint recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on quantum electrodynamics is said to have been in the cafeteria at Cornell when he saw something that helped him solve an equation that ultimately led to his Nobel Prize. A student was spinning a plate and as it wobbled, Feynman noticed that the red medallion of Cornell spun around at a different rate than the wobble. For “fun”, he calculated the relationship between the wobble and the spin of the plate (2:1). However it also led him to look at the problem about the spin of electrons differently. Solving that led to the prize!
CBS (CBS) is broadcasting the upcoming NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament known as March Madness starting March 18th. Advertisers will spend about $500 million during tournament games to get their message out. They expect over 150 million people to watch this college basketball tournament and another 1.5 million to watch it online. This year, CBSSports.com is allowing all tournament games to be watched on-demand without requiring viewers to register - and opened it up to over 200 websites like ESPN.com, Yahoo Sports, SI.com, YouTube and Facebook to link directly to the CBSSports.com live streaming video. Lots of young and middle-aged men (and women) will be glued to the screens.
If you’re an advertiser without the big bucks, how do you take advantage of this event? Well, one creative idea comes from The Oregon Urology Institute. You might be wondering how a urology institute fits in to March Madness. Well, their pitch is “…lower your seed for the tournament…when March Madness approaches, you need an excuse … to stay at home in front of the big screen…Get your vasectomy at Oregon Urology Institute the day before the tournament starts…It’s snip city.” Is this relevant? Is it a good spend of their marketing dollars?
Understanding consumer behaviour is the key. Men are literally parked in front of the screen during March Madness - in fact, Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc, a global outplacement consultancy, estimated that the lost productivity due to watching online alone would be $1.7 billion! Apparently men need a legitimate excuse to stay at home during the weeks leading up to the April 7th final. It takes 2-4 days to recover after a vasectomy, so why not do it during the games?
The radio station got in on the action as well, leverage the investment with their own ‘package’. Each patient will get a “recovery kit” that includes sports magazines, free pizza delivery and a bag of frozen peas. I wonder if it will be a Green Giant.
July 28, 2008 
Posted in Marketing 
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