Are you on top of todayโs hottest ideas in free and paid search? Here are 14 easy-to-implement ways to get your site to the top of everyoneโs results. Each could support a full article in its own right, so Iโve also provided additional links to help you dig in further. Free Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 1. Social media sites drive links; links drive rankings. Get familiar with Digg (digg.com), StumbleUpon (www.stumbleupon.com), Netscape (netscape.com) and Reddit (reddit.com), because these social-media sites can drive huge traffic. More importantly, that traffic leads to numerous inbound links, which are the rocket fuel powering your organic rankings.
E-Commerce
A true story: This past Sunday I decided to order a Christmas gift for our friends Doris and David and another for my cousin Suzy โ ideally the same gift for both, something foodie and festive. I went to the following Web sites: Swiss Colony, The Wisconsin Cheeseman, Hickory Farms, Red Cooper, Fortnum & Mason, Amazon.com, Seeโs Candies, Ghirardelli Chocolate Co., Jelly Belly, Mrs. Fieldโs Gifts, Figiโs, Dean & DeLuca, Cross Creek Groves, Godiva Chocolatier, and Harry & David. All were happy to take my order for two of the same item. I could not for the life of me figure out how to
I must admit Iโve frequently scrutinized those Landsโ End โghettosโ in Sears stores ever since Sears acquired the pride of Dodgeville, Wis., five and a half years ago. For a few years, Sears tried to sprinkle Landsโ End products amidst its mostly forgettable array of private label and largely undesirable polyester clothing. But Iโm happy to report Sears is getting closer to getting the Landsโ End integration thing right. And when I received a 12-page mini-booklet โ not quite a catalog, per se โ I was truly blown away. The 63โ4-inch x 51โ8 inch outer cover wraps around eight 63โ4 inch x 4 3โ4
The recently conducted MyBuys Holiday Shopping study by Harris Interactive shows that providing a personalized online shopping experience is inspiring sales this holiday season. The surveyโs results show that marketers can attract more customers and increase sales by personalizing their sales pitches. This survey of 2,201 shoppers age 18 and up reveals that 80 percent of respondents have purchased a product when theyโve received a prior product recommendation from a retailer. Yet just 62 percent said those product recommendations were personalized to their tastes. Here are some more highlights from the survey. * 76 percent of those polled received a product recommendation; 84 percent
As the focus of many multichannel catalogers shifts to online sales, it appears many of their Web sites arenโt prepared to handle increased quantities of orders. In a recent survey conducted by Decision Direct Research, the marketing research arm of list firm the Millard Group, consumers said product selection from specific brands meeting their expectations is decreasing. Of the nearly 50,000 online shoppers who completed the survey, 65 percent indicated that product selection doesnโt match what theyโve come to expect from specific brands, a 10 percent drop from last year. Other highlights from the survey follow. * โExcellentโ scores for the โunique product not
While technology makes many things easier, it also can complicate your job. And as the Internet โ and all that goes with it โ has evolved over the past dozen years or so, catalogersโ jobs have become a lot more complex. Beyond merely becoming e-commerce and multichannel marketing experts, catalogers must pay closer attention to analytics and constantly reconsider how they allocate their marketing budgets. Ask any multichannel merchant and youโll hear the same thing: The rubber stamp has no role in making marketing plans these days. The ongoing changes in e-commerce force catalogers to constantly reinvent the wheel. Add the killer postage increase
Your phone buzzes just after lunch. Your boss is shouting, โSome new Web site appeared today out of nowhere and itโs advertising heavily against us! Who is it? Find out everything you can about it and report back by dayโs end!โ Todayโs Web provides easy tools for competitive research. This monthโs column provides a road map for sleuthing a competitor in a few of hours, at no cost, using just a Web browser. This is a link-heavy article. Once you finish reading this, you can go to the CatalogSuccess.com Web site and find a sidebar containing all the links mentioned. First, ready your browser.
Did anybody else get an inferiority complex over the Thanksgiving weekend? Iโm referring to the hoopla that surrounded Black Friday on Nov. 23. Like just about anything else in America, Black Friday gets bigger every year, and this year really went over the top. It got me thinking about the future: Does this โholidayโ have to be a retail-only one? I certainly read enough about it. I saw plenty of TV news clips of those crazy, sleep-deprived shoppers lining up outside the stores in the wee hours of that Friday morning. I sifted through enough Circuit City, Kohlโs, Macyโs and Wal-Mart circulars about their
Reading retail sales, housing sales and consumer confidence reports the past couple of weeks while watching the stock market sink, Iโve become quite worried about the outlook for the holiday season for catalog/multichannel marketers. Retailers collectively reported their worst October in 12 years, and a Conference Board report last week said consumer confidence dropped in early November to its lowest level since Hurricane Katrina triggered soaring oil prices two years ago. Meanwhile, recent reports from the National Association of Realtors showed sales of existing homes had plunged to their lowest level in nearly a decade. None of this bodes well for catalogers. So
When we make really good offers to customers or prospects and they buy, thatโs the moment to ask for a referral. After all, they want their friends and business associates to get the same great offer they just got, right? Below is an example from www.photostamps.com, which has a great idea and offer. Please scroll down, click on the postage-stamp-size image and note how the marketer makes it so easy for me to give it a referral e-mail address or two. The only thing thatโs missing is the ability for responders to upload their personal distribution list.
The better you make your