Posts Tagged ‘SEO’
Monday, June 29th, 2009
By Robert Lockard
Microsoft’s Bing “decision engine” is still making headlines weeks after its May 25 debut. In the Business Week article, “Bing Gains In Search Share,” author Paul McDougall points out Bing’s share of the search-engine market increased from 13.7 percent in its first week to 16.7 percent in its third week.
In my earlier eHarbor Blog entry, entitled “Bing decision engine good for online marketing,” I said Bing can be good for ecommerce. It will probably force Internet marketers to get more specific in the keywords they target for search engine optimization and pay-per-click campaigns.
Plus, Bing includes a cashback feature that allows online shoppers to compare product prices and earn discounts at certain stores. If you’re looking to expand the number of potential buyers you reach online, you would be wise to take part in this service.
The Business Week article also says Bing is trying to compete with Google and even emerge as the top search engine some day. However, Google accounts for 65 percent of all searches done online right now, so it might be years before we’ll see who will be the victor.
Competition is great and it’s certainly going to inspire better services in both Bing and Google. Hopefully, these changes will continue to benefit the ecommerce industry.
The photo of Bing vs. Google is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of Tom Purves.
Tags: article, Bing, Business Week, Ecommerce, eHarbor, internet, marketing, Microsoft, news, online, Pay-Per-Click, positive, search engine, SEO
Posted in Ecommerce, Search Engines | 5 Comments »
Friday, June 19th, 2009
By Robert Lockard
Search engine optimization is a good thing for businesses to get their names and services on top of Google and other search engines, where customers will find them. However, SEO can also be used for malevolent purposes that can make our job as online marketers more difficult.
Malware creators are targeting popular 
keywords to get their damaging viruses onto an increasing number of unsuspecting users’ computers, according to a CNN article, “What are the most dangerous search terms on the Internet?” Some of the most dangerous search terms you can look up because of these malware sites include:
- Screen savers
- Free games
- Work from home
- Olympics
- Videos
- Celebrities
- Music
- News
This presents a serious challenge to the ecommerce industry. How can online consumers know which websites are legitimate and which will do them harm? Some antivirus software can automatically check websites for viruses, which can help consumers know which search results are safe to click.
We can work on gaining their trust, as well. This goes back to earning online shoppers’ trust, as I discussed in an earlier blog entry. If you want to learn six ways to develop trusting relationships with potential clients, I recommend reading that post.
eHarbor, Inc. and its affiliates offer safe SEO, paid-search and custom-design solutions for online businesses.
The photo of the Danger! Thin Ice sign is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of Sister72.
Tags: advice, article, CNN, computer virus, consumer, eHarbor, internet, marketing, news, online, search engine, search engine optimization, SEO, trust
Posted in Ecommerce, SEO, Search Engines | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, June 9th, 2009
By Robert Lockard
Microsoft’s new Bing search engine is quite an impressive tool for Web users and online marketers. I read an article in USA Today, entitled Bing it on: Microsoft overhauls search, again, which gives some excellent info about this new search engine.
Bing includes search suggestions on results pages to help people narrow their searches and find exactly what they’re looking for. This is what I talked about in my eHarbor Blog entry, “Paid search about to get complicated.” Web users want to find information, products and services faster, so they’re using an increasing number of keywords in their searches.
Including suggested search terms on a results page is nothing new. Google includes them on many of their results pages, as well.
I noticed there are no paid listings on Bing results pages. Maybe that is because the service is just getting started and has not yet had time to develop pricing and other metrics to charge for pay-per-click ads. This could present a challenge to ecommerce, but there is probably a solution, whether it is more investment in search engine optimization, social media or other marketing strategies.
Microsoft calls Bing a “decision engine” instead of a search engine. That has a nice ring to it. They call it that because it is supposed to help people make decisions, instead of just provide a whole slew of disorganized information.
I like the fact that Bing gives price comparisons and reviews of products, 30-second clips of videos on results pages, and its image results page is huge! You just scroll down to see all the images, instead of clicking on lots of pages in Google and waiting for them to show up.
What does Bing mean for ecommerce? It will probably reward companies that work hard on online marketing on SEO with high search ranking and quick access for consumers to their websites. We’ll need to continue to refine the search terms we target. It’ll be interesting to see everything that happens.
The photo of the Bing search engine is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of Kimberly Saia.
Tags: article, Bing, CNN, Ecommerce, eHarbor, google, marketing, Microsoft, msn, new, online, Paid Search, positive, PPC, search engine, SEO, Social Media
Posted in Ecommerce, SEO, Search Engines | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
By Robert Lockard
Social media is a great tool for businesses to communicate with customers. It gives marketers an opportunity to establish close contact with people in ways seemingly unthinkable until just a few years ago.
Despite social media’s strengths, it should not be considered an end unto itself. Without other marketing strategies, such as search engine optimization, advertising, etc. a company’s efforts in social media could fall flat. A Brafton article entitled “Does social media increase SEO?” caught my interest and inspired this blog entry.
This is not the first time I’ve talked about social media and its effects on ecommerce in the eHarbor Blog. In one of my blog entries, I noted companies are increasing their spending on search engine marketing, despite the recession. In another, I point out companies are also reducing their social media spending slightly this year, after greatly expanding it over the last few years.
It seems like many businesses have learned the virtues of social media, but they are also prudent in their decisions to try to maximize return on investment. By getting to the top of search engines, companies can reach a wider number of Internet users than by using social media. Both are useful tools and should not be considered superior to the other. But it appears businesses are choosing the broader tool than the more personal one to help them through this recession.
In the Brafton article I mentioned above, Warren Cohen, CEO of SEO-focused Greenlight, said social media would probably not have a noticeable effect on SEO for a company’s website. SEO is built slowly by creating a search engine-friendly website, populating it with relevant content and building connections with similar websites.
A presence on Twitter, Facebook and other social sites is great and it can add to search-engine rankings, but it probably won’t have a significant impact.
Tried-and-true principles are your best options for getting to the top of Google, MSN and Yahoo. If you would like a more in-depth explanation of SEO and how to use it to your advantage, check out my blog entry “Search engine optimization at the drugstore” or my seven-part series on SEO tactics.
The photo of Winnie the Pooh and “Tigger” is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of JoshMcConnell.
Tags: article, Brafton, Ecommerce, eHarbor, facebook, funny, google, humor, marketing, online, search engine optimization, SEO, Social Media, twitter
Posted in Ecommerce, SEO, Search Engines, eHarbor | 6 Comments »
Friday, May 8th, 2009
By Robert Lockard
Let’s face it, consumers have cut back tremendously on their spending. Profits are down for many companies, and it doesn’t look like things are improving swiftly.
Unemployment is expected to keep increasing, even after the overall economy improves. We shouldn’t expect people to make a whole lot of purchases when they’re not sure if they’ll have enough income to pay for them.
Now is a good time to change our thinking on how to market to our customers.
I read an article on ZDNet, entitled “Forrester: e-commerce ‘better suited to withstand economic downturn’,” which gives some exciting information about the growth in the ecommerce industry, thanks, in part, to the economic downturn.
Ecommerce is a less-expensive way to do business because it doesn’t involve most of the usual costs of doing business in a mall or other shopping center. Plus, it’s cheaper to advertise online than in traditional media, as newspapers have painfully learned.
Most of their online spending is on email campaigns. Social media is also becoming a popular avenue for businesses, although search engine optimization is another way to reach targeted audiences. We had a seven-part series on search engine optimization that might be helpful in successfully implementing it on your website.
This topic is building on ideas I introduced back in March when I wrote back-to-back blog entries on the ecommerce industry: one about how retailers are investing in ecommerce and Web advertising, and the other on how consumers are spending more online.
In the second blog post, I pointed out that ecommerce sales will likely dip slightly in 2009 before increasing again in 2010. However, in the ZDNet article, the author says they might grow by 11 percent to $156.1 billion. Whichever study you look at, it appears ecommerce is outperforming nearly every other retail industry.
Profit attracts competition, so be mindful of how you enter into this market. Be sure to put your best foot forward by using eHarbor, Inc.’s affiliates to guide you through your website design and other important steps.
The photo of the water drop is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of Gaetan Lee.
Tags: article, consumer, Ecommerce, economy, eHarbor, Forrester, humor, Media, news, positive, research, retail, search engine optimization, SEO
Posted in Ecommerce | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
By Robert Lockard
I read a Bloomberg article that said the New York Times is facing a large drop in revenue and is trying to cut back on its expenses to stay in business. The article is entitled, “New York Times Sees Further Ad Drop After Loss Widens.”
The New York Times is learning the hard way that ecommerce and online media are changing the way people gather information and the way marketers advertise their products to customers. They’re trying to stay afloat by cutting jobs, reducing their staff’s salaries and selling property and other assets to try to make up for lost advertising revenue.
All of this is prolonging the inevitable. Old media will have to adapt to changing conditions or go the way of the railroad.
For better or worse, Facebook, Twitter and other social-media sites are revolutionizing communication and information distribution. Marketers are shifting their advertising dollars online because it is much more cost-efficient to do so. Print faces serious challenges because of this.
One quote in the Bloomberg article stuck out to me above all the others. Thyra Zerhusen, managing director of Optimum Investment Advisors, said the New York Times has “to do a better job monetizing their online revenues.”
This seems to be a common theme for companies looking to make a profit online. Online marketers save money by hosting a website instead of renting space at a mall, but they need to understand doing business online is a big change from the old way of doing business and it requires different approaches to earning a profit.
I recommend going to Magellan Commerce’s redesigned website to find resources that can help you succeed online. These include search engine optimization, website design, and more.
You can also go to other eHarbor, Inc. affiliates: Submit Solution and Real Estate Promoter.
The photo of the tiger staying afloat is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of fPat.
Tags: advice, affiliate, article, Bloomberg, company, consumer, Ecommerce, eHarbor, facebook, flickr, future, internet, magellan commerce, marketing, Media, new york times, news, online, Real Estate Promoter, search engine optimization, SEO, Social Media, Submit Solution, twitter, web, website
Posted in Ecommerce, Media, eHarbor | 5 Comments »
Monday, April 20th, 2009
By Robert Lockard
This photo of a Google postcard just tickled my funny bone, so I have to share it.
After my seven-part series on search engine optimization tactics to get to the top of Google searches, I think my readers have become fairly knowledgeable about the complexities of search engines.
This fun photo gives us a chance to stand back and smile at how Google might have started out if it had existed in the 1980s or earlier.
The photo is the copyright of dullhunk on Flickr.
Tags: flickr, funny, google, humor, image, origin, past, photo, search engine optimization, SEO
Posted in Fun, Search Engines | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009
By Robert Lockard
Can’t touch this. No, not the M.C. Hammer song – actually, I’m referring to a flaw in the format of ecommerce. I recently read a Time Magazine article, entitled “Want to Save Some Money? Shop Without Touching.” In that article, they talk about a remarkable study from UCLA and the University of Wisconsin that shows that consumers who touch a product are much more likely to purchase the product and even want to pay more for it than if they don’t touch it.
“When you touch something, you instantly feel more of a connection to it,” said Suzanne Shu, who teaches at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and co-wrote the study. “That connection stirs up an emotional reaction – ‘yeah, I like the feel of it, this can be mine.’ And that emotion can cause you to buy something you never would have bought if you hadn’t touched it.” This quote is from the Time article.
How interesting. The Time article focuses on consumers, saying that they can potentially save money by keeping their hands to themselves at stores. While that is a good idea, and I intend to follow that advice, I think the results can send a completely different message to ecommerce marketers.
To me, this article brings up the problem that ecommerce is, by definition, online shopping. And the Internet is different than a mall. Therefore, online consumers, who are unable to touch products they see on websites, might be less able to connect with products and won’t necessarily be as interested in buying them. It’s much easier to shop around for the best deal online, also. It’s a competitive market online.
It is essential to get your name out there as much as possible while the recession continues and since you face this slight disadvantage. Even though potential customers can’t touch the products on your website, they can be impressed by your professional presentation, high placement on Google and other search engines, and the great content on your site that attracted them in the first place.
Ecommerce sales continue to grow, despite the recession, even while sales slow in traditional retail stores. Clearly, consumers are interested in shopping online, and the ability to touch products isn’t the most important part of the buying process.
If you would like to have a quality website, and utilize search engine optimization in your efforts to gain customers online, be sure to check out eHarbor, Inc.’s services.
You might also want to check out Magellan Commerce, which recently launched a redesign of its website. Other eHarbor affiliates include Real Estate Promoter and Submit Solution.
The photo of the Don’t Touch Me sign is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of F.S.M.
Tags: company, consumer, Ecommerce, google, internet, magellan commerce, marketing, Media, news, online, Real Estate Promoter, search engine optimization, SEO, study, Submit Solution, Time magazine, UCLA, web, website
Posted in Ecommerce, eHarbor | 6 Comments »
Monday, April 6th, 2009
By Robert Lockard
I get to fulfill my promise in my last blog post by writing about some of the great things happening at eHarbor, Inc. I’m excited!
Magellan Commerce, an eHarbor affiliate that was formed in May 2008, launched a completely redesigned and improved version of its website on Friday, April 3, 2009. It is quite an improvement, as you can see from the before-and-after screenshots below.
Original version of the Magellan Commerce website
New version of the Magellan Commerce website
Magellan Commerce designs websites, corporate logos, business cards, letterheads and postcards and more for businesses and individuals. They also help companies top search engines with search engine optimization.
Remember the SEO series we finished a little while ago? The tactics we discussed in that series, such as simplifying URLs, optimizing images and improving anchor text, are among those Magellan Commerce uses for its clients.
I recommend checking out the redesigned Magellan Commerce website for yourself today! Feel free to also visit other eHarbor affiliates, like Real Estate Promoter, Submit Solution and Direct Home Find.
I look forward to sharing more positive ecommerce news like this soon.
Tags: affiliate, company, Direct Home Find, Ecommerce, eHarbor, growth, internet, magellan commerce, new, news, online, positive, Real Estate Promoter, redesign, search engine optimization, SEO, Submit Solution, update, website
Posted in Ecommerce, SEO, eHarbor | 7 Comments »
