Nick Usborne 92 posts 0 comments

Currently we are working on our next teleconference clinic. Here’s the topic: The ROI on PPC vs. Affiliate Marketing: Which gives the best return on your investment - Pay per Click advertising, or building strong affiliate partnerships?…

As you may know, at 4:00PM today we are conducting our free teleconference call on the topic of "Testing the Power of Urgency on Offer pages". If you have not yet signed up for the call, please do so now:…

Text has been the backbone of the web since its inception. Moving graphics and fancy animations have done their best to distract visitors’ attention away from the words, but with little success. However, what about video? Here’s a passage…

In Wednesday’s teleconference call we’ll not only be talking about direct urgency, such as the use of deadlines on offers, but also about implied urgency. Here’s just one example of implied urgency... “Get it first” appeals to…

As many of you know our teleconference call scheduled for this week was postponed until next Wednesday. The July 4th holiday got in the way more than we had anticipated, with many of our subscribers away for long weekends. The extra time…

Some blogs are overtly commercial. Most are the editorial writings of individuals. And unless it is abundantly clear that a blog is commercial in nature and purpose, we expect that the views expressed be those of the blogger. In fact, the…

We have all seen those offer pages online which include some kind of deadline. “Save 25% if you buy before midnight today!” Or, “Only 15 remaining...buy now!” Adding urgency to a sales page works. There is no doubt about that. However,…

In a recent New York Times article new figures are in on projected spends across the major TV networks. The figures are down again, and everyone seems to be pointing the finger at new media. It’s understandable that budgets are being moved…

As online marketing becomes more and more complex and competitive, so too does the need to test. If you don’t test, how do you know how much money you are leaving on the table? How can you know the true potential of your business online if…

Over the last several months we have gone through our research data and found that offline support of web sites can make a significant impact not only on site traffic, but also on conversion rates. In one set of results we saw how press…

We are working right now on our next teleconference clinic. It’s on the topic of web site metrics. As we study the various PPC reporting tools, and a variety of web analytics services, it becomes more and more apparent that inaccuracies…

As online marketers we often pay lip service to “meeting customer needs”. In fact, we have a whole slew of jargon to describe our apparent efforts to serve our prospects and customers. Now compare your own emphasis on what customer want to…

As I mentioned a couple of posts back, we are putting the final touches to the content for tomorrow’s teleconference call, Essential Metrics for Online Marketers. Late yesterday we added some new data for the call, based on an experience…

A recent article in AdWeek shows just how slow most online marketers are to catch up with the potential of emerging media. Here, in part, is what the article says: While in-game advertising and advergaming has received much attention, 72…

According to Steve McKee in a recent Business Week article there are five words that you should never use in an ad. Here is his list: Quality, Value, Service, Caring & Integrity. He makes some reasonable points. He reminds us that…

We have spoken about the need for transparent marketing a number of times in this blog. Then yesterday a surprise mention in a different blog raised the issue of transparency and authenticity with regard to the home page of one of our own…

We have written before about the importance of identifying and communicating a unique value proposition for your business and web site. Having a strong value proposition is usually the most important factor in determining the success of…

In a previous post I talked about our research findings on choosing a strong product or domain name. In general we found that you are better off choosing a domain name or product name that is descriptive and, if possible, includes at least…

In previous post I have talked about the proliferation of trash-content sites – typically sites with skinny content designed to make money by hosting PPC ads, or by making a percentage on affiliate relationships. The web is awash with…

More and more sites now try to capture visitors’ email addresses on the first page...whether it’s the home page or a landing page. Why? So that if that visitor doesn’t complete a purchase or registration of some kind during that visit, you…