With the power of mobile marketing set to reach a peak over 2014, there has never been a better time to get your business a piece of the SMS action. It’s one of the most cost effective ways of communicating with millions of mobile users throughout the UK, getting your message across and engaging with each potential customer on a personal level. However, as well as the obvious efficiencies involved, there are a number of other clear benefits of opting for SMS marketing. [Read more…]
Paul Walker Accident Very Similar to Corey Rudl Crash: 2005 Porsche Carrera GT
On Saturday, November 30, 2013, Paul Walker, along with his friend Roger Rodas were tragically killed in a car crash in which they riding in a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT. This is very eerily similar to the 2005 car accident in which Corey Rudl, an internet marketing pioneer, was tragically killed. In both accidents, they were driving a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT., similar to the model shown below: [Read more…]
Yahoo to Start Encrypting Searches, All Traffic
Yahoo will start encrypting all traffic that goes from users to the Yahoo servers starting in early 2014. This will inevitably include search data and keywords, and users will be able to opt out of the encryption. [Read more…]
AuthorLinks Rebrands as AuthPost, Continues Selling Posts Based on Google Authorship, Klout Score
AuthorLinks, the first-ever marketplace to buy and sell Google Authorship, has rebranded as AuthPost. As you might recall, I wrote about AuthorLinks and how the site was the first to buy and sell Google Authorship. [Read more…]
Super Secret Marketing Tip for My Facebook Followers
Today, I decided that I would share a really super duper online marketing tip on my Facebook page. This tip has to do with domain names, but not just any domain names. You have to have a good domain name along with good traffic to that domain name in order to market your business online. [Read more…]
PayPal Policy Encourages Deceit, Fraud, and Theft by Buyers
Here’s an interesting case of fraud, deceit, and outright theft by a PayPal buyer against the seller. By siding with the buyer in this particular case, PayPal is encouraging fraud and deceit, allowing buyers to steal merchandise from honest sellers. I am usually a fan of using PayPal, but this case makes me not want to sell any merchandise: ever, using PayPal. [Read more…]
Do Google +1s and Shares Help Search Engine Rankings?
My friend Eric Enge from Stone Temple Consulting took the time recently to put together a great study that focused on the Google+ social network. The whole idea of this study was to figure out whether or not Google +1s actually help search engine rankings. Without even knowing the results of this test, I can honestly say that I predicted the results of that test. Let me explain. [Read more…]
MyOpenID to Shut Down February 1, 2014
MyOpenID, the site whose goal was to allow us to securely have one ID on the web to use for logins, has decided to shut its doors starting on February 1, 2014. According to its founder, Larry Drebes from Janrain, Janrain made the decision to end of life the myOpenID service. [Read more…]
Bing for Schools: No Ads for Students
Microsoft has launched Bing for Schools, a national pilot program that allows schools to choose to avoid the commercialization of their students’ internet searches. Bing for Schools means that students using the service will see no ads in their search results. [Read more…]
Yahoo! Alerts Gone Awry?
Because I like to monitor my name, Bill Hartzer, to make sure I’m kept up to date on all of my new “mentions” on the web, several years ago I set up Google Alerts and Yahoo! Alerts for my name. If there is a new mention of my name, then I’m supposed to get an alert via email. It’s a pretty cool service: when it works. [Read more…]
On Making Your Own Cost Efficient Business WordPress Websites
Sure, many businesses believe that getting a website will usually involves a large investment and involve too much time just to keep it updated. Years ago, that statement may have been true…but in recent years technology has advanced to the point that you can now setup your website with very little start-up costs and in about 30 minutes time. [Read more…]
Before Writing Code or Launching Your Website, Do This
I found a series of articles that I wrote more than 10 years ago. But, amazingly enough, all of this information is still valid and true. It’s a great primer on what you should, and should not do before launching any website, especially an e-commerce website. [Read more…]
Easter Bunny Kicked Out of PRWeb Press Release Web Site
The Easter Bunny has officially been kicked out of PRWeb, the popular press release web site. According to Standing Dog’s latest blog post, the Easter Bunny could not be included in a recent press release due to the fact that the Easter Bunny is “parodic”. [Read more…]
Why Boosting Audience Retention With Video Will Do Wonders For Your Business
Why Audience Retention?
Retaining an audience is perhaps the most crucial act any website can do to achieve their goals and conversions. If audiences are bouncing from your site there is very little chance they’ll come back again. This is where video comes in, not just to make websites “stickier”, but to retain those visitors in both the short and long term. [Read more…]
Pheed App: Better Social than Twitter or Facebook?
If you have spent any amount of time online, you have probably spent at least a few minutes browsing a social network. Almost every brick and mortar business has some form of social media presence that it uses to help customers better connect with their products and / or brand. [Read more…]
YouTube Does the Harlem Shake
If you haven’t seen the Harlem Shake yet, well, you probably could be considered to be officially “out of it” and not hip to what’s going on on the web now. And most of us have already been in a Harlem Shake video already. Others, like, me, just refuse to be in one of those videos. [Read more…]
Tablets and Smartphones Account for One-Fourth of All Paid Clicks
The Search Agency has released its quarterly State of Paid Search Report, which, among other findings, reports that smartphones and tablets drove 23 percent of total clicks in the fourth quarter of 2012, an 89 percent increase year over year. The quarterly report analyzes aggregated client data from various industries on paid search marketing trends across search engines and devices on a year-over-year (YoY—Q4 2011 to Q4 2012) and quarter-over-quarter (QoQ—Q3 2012 to Q4 2012) basis. [Read more…]
Improving Marketing ROI – 3 Top Tips
An online marketing strategy should never stop evolving and improving if it is to remain cost effective and successful. To get you started, here are 3 tips for you to consider when looking to improve your online marketing activity. [Read more…]
Top 10 Search Keywords for Portland Oregon 2012
What did residents of Portland, Oregon search for during 2012? Well, Google has released the top 10 keywords (search terms) that people searched for–while they were in Portland, Oregon. Why would we possibly want to know what people in Portland Oregon searched for? Why do we care? Well, I honestly can say that I have no idea. Why, Google, would you pick Portland Oregon of all the cities in America–or even in the world, for that matter? Who knows? [Read more…]
Suspected Criminal Drops Smartphone: Law Enforcement Responds Appropriately
In an interesting turn of events during a shoplifting attempt at a local Walmart Store, a local law enforcement officer in Canton, Texas, recovered the suspected criminal’s smartphone. And the officer used the smartphone owner’s own Facebook account to send him a message: [Read more…]