January 19,
2005
In
This Issue:
1. Following the Leaders
2. In the News - Is Google slipping?
3. More News Headlines
4. This Week's Q&A - Banner exchange networks
5. Wrapping It Up
_________________
Following the Leaders
I've always been a big believer in watching successful people
or businesses and learning what works and what doesn't from them.
So that was the angle I used recently when I read through Internet
Retailer magazine's annual "Best of the Web" list of
the top retail web sites. Mind you, most of the sites listed and
discussed in the article have enormous budgets that our typical
client could never compete with. And it's not unusual for clients
or prospects to tell us they want their site to include a tool
or feature found on a major retail site; but our clients and prospects
don't often have the 5- to 6-figure budgets required to duplicate
such a tool.
That said, even if the budgets and ability to execute are different,
there's still a lot to be learned from getting a look inside
what the "big boys" of the web are doing, and how they're
doing it. In the end, serving customers is everyone's goal, no
matter how much money you have to invest in doing it. With that
in mind, I've just posted an article on OWTweb.com called "Following
the Retail Leaders." It details a few of the things that stood
out for me as I read what the "Best of the Web" was doing
in 2004, along with some thoughts worth considering.
The article was originally going to sit in this space, but it
ended up much longer than I expected, so if you're interested
in reading
it, I'll ask you to visit our web site.
Follow the Retail Leaders
_________________
In The News
Is Google Slipping?
According to a recent survey of 2,000 consumers, Google remains
the No. 1 search engine, but Yahoo, MSN, and even Ask Jeeves are
catching up. The survey actually mirrors what I've heard personally:
More of our clients, as well as some of my personal friends and
contacts, have expressed frustration with Google recently than
ever before. Sure, some of it is based on business owners not ranking
as highly as they think they should, but it's more than that --
there's a growing sense that Google's SERPs just aren't as good
as they were a year or two ago. I've read comments on webmaster
mailing lists and message boards from many in this industry who
feel that Google has become more concerned with stopping the rare
cases of search engine abuse than they are with returning relevant
SERPs.
With Yahoo winning the Local Search battle (at least for now)
and with MSN about to roll out its own search engine, it seems
that
Google could be ripe for a fall, and the survey appears to back
that up.
Article: Yahoo and MSN closing the Google gap
_________________
More News Headlines
Here are a few news headlines worth your time to read.
These are just some of the headlines we've posted
to OWTweb.com in recent
days.
Measuring the brand blog
January 18, 2005 - ClickZ.com
So you're launching a corporate blog. Have you thought about
how you're going to measure it?
Ten sites that rate a 10 in customer service
January 18, 2005 - Internet Retailer
MSN's web search picks up steam
January 14, 2005 - News.com
More headlines: http://www.owtweb.com/news/
_________________
This Week's Q&A
Matt,
I'm getting a lot of emails lately from web sites asking if I "need
web site traffic " and promoting banner exchange networks
as a way to "reach 100,000 people every month." I know
the emails are spam, but is there any truth to what they're selling?
One of the web sites mentioned in the emails is <snip>.
Sam
Hi Sam --
It is spam, and I'm getting those very same emails as you! I'm
removing the URL you provided because these folks don't need
any more free advertising, especially since what they're
selling isn't
worth even the low price they advertise.
Banner exchange networks have been around a while, but the
claims these folks make are ridiculous. There are known studies
that
show people largely ignore banner ads because the ad itself
is so rarely
relevant to the content on the page. Think about it: if you're
on a web site explaining how to install a home theater system,
would you even notice -- and would you click on -- a banner
ad for beauty supply products? It's been proven that relevant
text-based
ads are much more effective tool for online advertising,
which explains the success of Google's Adwords program, for
example.
You do a search on Google for "home theater installation" and
you'll get relevant ads that you might actually want to click
on.
So ignore the spam, and skip the banner exchange networks.
You'd be wasting your time.
(Have a question? Email questions@owtweb.com)
_________________
Wrapping it Up
This is kinda funny. Bill
Gates posed for Teen Beat magazine back in 1983.
Thanks for reading,
Matt McGee
The OWT Newsletter is a weekly service offered free to anyone
interested in learning more about web development, search engine
optimization/marketing, and just about anything else related to
running a business web site. You don't need to be an OWT client
to subscribe to our newsletter!
Subscribing and unsubscribing can be done online at OWTweb.com.
You may share this newsletter with others as long as the newsletter
is shared in its entirety.
Private replies to emails will be written if we have time, but
we don't provide web site critiques or consulting services
for free. You can learn more about our web development and search
engine marketing services online at www.owtweb.com.
|
