If you are a firefox lover (Like ME) you can now learn to spread the love. I have been using the new beta version of Google Chrome, I am happy to say that it is FINALLY turning into a GOOD Browser. They had the right idea of starting over and trying to create a FASTER and more simplistic browser but… We love our tools, we want to be able to tweek it and add our own little bells and whistles.
With the new release of Beta 4.0 you can now easily install themes, import bookmarks and even install a google toolbar (sort of). There is a pretty easy way, it all has to do with bookmarks!

I found a forum that talks about how to do so. Chrome Plugins

Here is a screen shot of me using the Google tools that you would normally see in the tool bar. I have organized them into folders on my toolbar.

Here are some of the best bookmarks to put on your tool bar in chrome.

Google Cache:

javascript :void((function(){var%20a=location.href.replace(/^http%5C:%5C/%5C/(.*)$/,”$1″);location.href=”http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:”+escape(a);})())

Google Links:

javascript:void((function(){var%20a=location.href.replace(/^http%5C:%5C/%5C/(.*)$/,”$1″);location.href=”http://www.google.com/search?q=link:”+escape(a);})())
Pages Indexed in Yahoo:

javascript:void((function(){var%20a=location.href.replace(/^http%5C:%5C/%5C/(.*)$/,”$1″);location.href=”http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=”+escape(a);})())

Alexa Rank

javascript:void((function(){var%20a=location.href.replace(/^http%5C:%5C/%5C/(.*)$/,”$1″);location.href=”http://alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?q=&url=”+escape(a);})())
Get More HERE Chrome Plugins

I am truly loving Google Chrome NOW> I think I will start using it as much as FIREFOX.

Technorati Tags: google tools

If you ever want to get your blog read, then you need make sure you are note duplicating other peoples words and ideas into your blog or site. Why? Well Google defines duplicate content as “substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content or are appreciably similar.”

Ya so… why is this bad? Well think of it this way. If you are trying to become the biggest and most used Search Engine, what would be your number one goal be? Well for me would to give my users the most relevent results to what they searched for. Now if I looked up a subject and all of the results that came back were the same do you think that people would feel that they are getting the selection that they wanted?

NOPE. So they would leave and go start using some other search tool. Hopefully now you can see why google wont allow duplicate websites and blog entries. They want to become the best. To be the best they need only to show the best results.

So get out there and put your thinking caps on and dont duplicate (steal) content from other peoples sites.
Write your own, be creative.

Technorati Tags: duplicate content, writing your own content

Guided navigation means more sales.

When designing an e-commerce site, retailers must consider how to get a shopper to the product she wants quickly. Site search is an important tool to accomplish this but can actually be slower because if they don’t put in the correct phrase it can show to many products.

A faster method that allows shoppers to drill down from category to features with great speed is a guided navigation tool. It can become an important element of the site experience because it gets shoppers to the products they want quicker that trying to spell Mississippi!

One strategy for improving guided navigation is to make the feature the mandatory starting point for any onsite product search. Site design and development firm Americaneagle.com Inc. has developed such a guided navigation system for Weathertech.com, a retailer of auto parts and accessories.

After navigating to the retail site, shoppers are required to enter the make, model and year of the vehicle for which they are buying accessories, or they can enter the product type. In both cases, shoppers select the required information from a pull-down menu. Shoppers that enter the make, model and year of the vehicle are shown product categories specific to that vehicle and can drill down further from that point by clicking on a category. Shoppers selecting a product are shown that product.

The change to guided navigation from open-ended site search boosted the retailer’s conversion rate from less than 6% to 10%, Americaneagle.com reports.

“The retailer wanted to improve the way shoppers search for products specific to a vehicle, as well as specific types of products, and decided that steering shoppers into guided navigation was the best way to eliminate the risk of having site search return unsatisfactory results,” says Americaneagle.com chief operating officer Mike Svanascini. “In the current economy, guiding shoppers to the products they are looking for in as few steps as possible is going to create a more satisfying shopping experience and boost conversion rates.”

based on an article from Internetretailer.com

So have you heard the BUZZ? you can now Blog and Text message together in one tool called Twitter.

Here are the Basics of Twitter:

Technorati Tags: basics of twitter, can I make money with twitter, how to make money with twitter, how to use twitter, what to put in your twitter profile

Ezine Resultzzs

It recently investigated other methods of online advertising  for a client. Since  the Pay Per Click  like Adwords and paid search Yahoo are so hit and miss, and since the process of the optimization for the search engines can sometimes be long, we needed to find a fast solution to the pointed traffic.

There are many programs and services out there that offer great things when they come to this aspect of the commercialization of the Internet.  You have read my tirades and deliriums around the uselessness of these  “self-proclaimed gurús” and their  “sneaky”  mumbo jumbo  aimed  at selling you somthing. Whatever you do, do not fall into their game. It will only be a waste of your hard earned money.

One of my preferred quotes is “The unique thing that works is work so work, work and work some more ” Quote by Jer from Resultzzs. My magnificent father used to tell me that  to get me to  cut the grass with a lawnmower of archaic porportion it was of the push without a motor type.

So the question to ask then is what should I work on?

eZines, work on eZines.  People have been building opt-in lists since the dawn of the Al Gores inception of the NET. and many have created literally thousands upon thousands of subscribers.

This is where the work comes in.

The task? Locate these list owners and request an advert. This can be a tough project and a risky one. Let me tell you why. Finding an eZine publisher that will have an attentive and responsive list is like finding the proverbial “needle in a haystack”. These days almost every website has a newsletter. The issue at hand is whether or not that list has been abused. If the list owner rarely publishes, over publishes, inundates their subscribers with ads, publishes junk, or any other form of eZine malnourishment, the subscriber will opt out of the list, or worst case; junk mail it. If it is junk mailed the publisher will never know that his subscriber is not receiving his mailings, thus developing a padded list.

Now that you know the dangers and pitfalls, I will give you a solution. I have four tools and a process that will help you make an educated decision when choosing an eZine publisher to place your website’s ad in.

The first is an easy way to find publishers that are willing to place ads. The best part about this tool is you will be able to find many publishers that will allow first time ads to run for free. And for you webmasters with a list already, you will have the opportunity to run “joint ventures”. These are “swapped” ads on each others’ eZines.

To Be Continued…

Technorati Tags: ezine articles, resultzs, Resultzzs

Americans’ daily use of the internet has almost doubled over the past five years. 48% of adults in groups that have historically have used it less – now are reporting that they use the Internet more than an hour per day. This is in comparison with only 26% in ‘02 these results are from a recent Gallup Poll.

Any idea which groups use the internet more frequently?
According to this Gallup Poll; those with college degrees, those who make more than than $75K per year, and those 30 and younger. More than 60% in each group reporting they go online more than one hour per day.

So who uses the internet the least?
The least educated, least affluent, and oldest Americans. Smaller, though noteworthy, gaps also exist between men and women, and the employed vs. the non-working

Gallup Poll Frequent Internet Use December 2008

The digital divide is slowly narrowing.

Several demographic groups in the lower income, lower education and older age brackets show a rise in frequent internet use in the past year.

The five groups posting double-digit gains:

• Those making less than $30,000 per year
• Those who are not working
• The unmarried
• Those under age 30
• Those with post-graduate educations

Why is this important to you?

If you are in the market of advertising online, then you will know that the more niche markets that there for you to advertise to the more likely you will have a successful business online.

What tools do I have to find these niche groups?

This past year google has released a research tool called Google Insights. Use it abuse it. Google made enough money last year to feed several large countries. I am glad to see them give a small peek into all the information that they collect on their users.

What Makes Google Insights So Cool?

Google insights combines Google Trends, Google keyword reaserch tool and Demographic targeting. I can try to explain the tool here in this blog or just get you to go and try it out.
So get out there and do it. Try Google Insights Now

Technorati Tags: age brackets, gallup poll, google insights, google trends, niche markets, research tool

It's the Online Advertising Objective, not the method!

If you talk to one group of people, they are all about the clicks.  Talk to another and they only want to talk about leads, another…sales, others…impressions.  Talk to me and I’ll tell you that it depends…upon your online advertising objective. 

Impressions are a ridiculous stat that doesn’t mean a whole lot, but if you want to be seen and you get a really, really good rate, it might be worth advertising that way.  Clicks are a way to measure response to an ad, but some ads don’t drive clicks.  Additionally, clicks don’t take into account the exposure to a business that didn’t result in a click.  On the other hand, if someone does click do I just want traffic, or do I want someone to buy?  Leads are great, but do you have the tools to track the effectiveness of the leads, is your business suited to a lead and then a phone sale?  Sales are a fantastic way to measure the actual result of an ad, and in a business where sales are the objective, it is a great way to reduce your risk to near zero.  Sure, paying for advertising based upon sales will cost more per sale, but at least the cost is fixed. 

The truth is, all of the different options work.  There is no best way.  The education industry buys leads and they are proud of it.  They have everything down to a science they track each lead—who provided the lead (checking for quality of a lead generator), percentage of leads that can be reached by phone, the percentage of those reached that come for a tour, the percentage of those that fill out an application, then those that fill out student loan paperwork, then finally those that show up and actually pay.  They pay less to bad lead generators and more to better ones.

In the end, you have to match up the online advertising objective with an ad that will get the desired result and then pay for the advertising in the manner that works for you and the entity you are paying for advertising.  When it all is done right, everyone is happy.  Most of the time either the objective, the ad, or the method of payment is adjusted to get the desired result for an agreeable price.

Technorati Tags: advertising objective, clicks, impressions, leads, sales

Along with the reporting and tracking technologies that we enjoy with the ExchangeMyAd.com platform, we also have some additional options with the “look and feel” of the ads that are run on the network. Here is a bit of advice…take advantage of them. The ads don’t have to be just basic static ads, though you can do that. At the same time, we really dislike the annoying ones like those that simulate a Microsoft warning.

Once you get into the system, you will be able to access an ad builder that can help you with the creation of the different sized ads. With that ad builder, there is a library of images, static and flash, that you can use. It will take some messing around with to get used to. We’ll create a post or few on this later.

Down the road a bit, unless you are or know someone that is proficient with flash, you can incorporate flash animation with the ad—there are many simple and clean ways to do this in a nice classy way. Animation can draw more people to actually pay attention to your advertisement. And the animation can actually better illustrate the benefits of your product or service.

Finally, you will be able to take advantage of the video function of our platform. Video does not consume the entire ad, it is just “thumbnail” sized, but it does “pre-roll” about 10 seconds of the video over and over to help draw people’s attention to the ad and get them to watch the video. As we all know, video can be a powerful tool of persuasion that creates buyers and loyalty.

Technorati Tags: advertisement, flash animation, persuasion

I understand the thought process and the simplicity of just paying for ads. Exchanging ads is a bit archaic, a bit of a throwback to the days of bartering. People used to exchange what they had in excess for what others had in excess—milk for wheat, wheat for wool, and even cows for wives, etc. Over time there was a migration from trading to the use of currency. Currency makes transactions simpler, faster, and more efficient…as long as there is plenty of cash to go around. When cash is tight, people get a little more creative.

Tough economic times are good for everyone involved, even though it doesn’t seem like it sometimes (I don’t wish them on anyone…well, maybe I do). Difficult financial times spark a new level of creativity, once you get yourself out of depression. Financial stress forces people to get back to basics and make better use of the things they’ve been given: talents, abilities, relationships, and assets.

A business’ website is an asset, often times a much underutilized asset. Traditionally, smaller websites are used only to help market the goods and services that the business is offering. However, through the Ad Exchange Program, we are helping business owners with websites of all sizes better utilize their website and grow their business. We are helping smaller guys use their website to monetize their website and generate free advertising to drive more traffic to their site and increase revenues. The larger sites, those with more traffic, already perhaps have advertisers on their site—however they know that it is difficult to monetize their site below the “fold”. With our system they are able to take advantage of the real estate below the fold and put it to good use.

I love the fact that this ad exchange program is set up to help businesses of all sizes get more exposure without having to increase their budgets. And if they do want to buy advertising, they will do it once they know they have a campaign that will deliver the desired ROI. Through good times and bad, we’ll be able to help businesses grow.

Technorati Tags: business owners, business website, economic times, exchange ads, exchanging ads, free advertising, roi

Google Search with SEO

Before launching ExchangMyAd.com, as I discussed the concept with others, one question kept popping up. I addressed it in the FAQ section of the site, but I felt like I should discuss it a bit further and since people don’t often read the FAQ section (people usually just make assumptions rather than actually look for answers). The question is, “What effect will placing the advertising module on my site have with the search engines?” People want to know, will the additional content help with my SEO? Will it hurt them?

Normally, additional content on your site has an effect, positive or negative, with your SEO. And just a casual form of exchanging ads may cause an effect. However, exchanging ads, with the ExchangeMyAd.com platform, will not hurt or help with SEO. The crawlers that search engines use to look at a site won’t see our ads for a few reasons:

1. The exchanged ads aren’t actually a part of your site. Our servers serve up the ads in a completely separate action from your website. You simply provide us a “window” for our ads to appear in.

2. The code that we use to create the ad “window” on your site is in java script, which the web crawlers can’t read.

3. The same ads won’t appear in the same spot on your website over and over again, they will rotate. Because they aren’t “fixed” ads on your site, using the technologies explained in reasons #1 and #2, they will not be seen.

4. To verify this, we have actually pulled up the last picture that the web crawler used on several sites that our ads appear on. In the space where our ads would normally appear, there was just a blank “window”.

So for good and bad, the ads that are shown on your site, that come from ExchangeMyAd.com will not have an effect with your SEO strategy. The real benefit to having more people see your ads is an increase in traffic and/or sales. That is our intention.

Technorati Tags: exchangemyad.com, search engine rankings, search engines, search rankings, seo, web crawlers