The Daily Feed Issue #47: Facebook, In-Image ads and Image SEO update

Welcome to Issue #47 of The Daily Feed. If this email was forwarded to you by a friend, you can subscribe on this page. The Daily Feed is published several times a week when we have news, information and helpful tips to share. Unsubscribe instructions are at the end of this message.

On Monday you probably read the story the Wall Street Journal broke about a Facebook privacy debacle. Many of the most popular apps, including FarmVille, have been transmitting personally identifiable data to outside companies. The data was being transmitted to ad networks to help them build user profiles in order to better target ads. In response, Google engineer Brian Kennish has created a Chrome browser plugin called Facebook Disconnect that prevents your browser from sending data to Facebook servers as you surf the web. 

At Feedjit we're considering getting rid of our Facebook integration via Facebook Connect. We've always allowed our users to control what data we store and were the first analytics company to allow website visitors to remove data we logged for their IP address. Privacy is a big concern for us and we would rather err on the side of removing features to give you more control over your data. As a website owner I've also found their servers to be a lot slower than our own and during peak load times (8am Pacific time) the FB Connect API slows our site down. Email me if you have an opinion about this issue. 

The latest trend in online advertising is In-image ads. NPR is running a story on ad companies that will put ads on your site that sell fashion items that are being worn by the people in the photos on your site. For example on the celebrity gossip site, JustJared, you can click on the "Get the Look" tab beneath a photo in a story about pop star Rihanna filming a corn chip commercial and buy a cardigan sweater like hers for $195 from Piperlime. 

Ever heard of hotlink protection? If you have a site with a lot of photos, you've probably been hotlinked without even knowing it. Hotlinking is when a website embeds an image tag in their HTML that loads an image from a second site rather than storing the image on their own servers and loading it from there. If a site hotlinks it doesn't have to pay for the disk used to store that image and the bandwidth that is consumed when web browsers load the image. If you have a very popular web page and you hotlink images from someone else's server you can cost them a lot of money. 

Many sites use a technique called hotlink protection to prevent other websites from hotlinking their images. Hotlink protection detects if another website is loading an image you host and prevents the image from loading. There are reports that if you use hotlink protection, Google may remove you from their image search results. The reports are spotty and some webmasters who have protection in place are not reporting a problem yet, so keep an eye on this issue if it applies to you.

That's it for today's edition. You'll notice that the frequency of the Daily Feed is changing to slightly less than daily. We're focusing on delivering quality issues rather than quantity. As Plato once said: "Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.". So you may find that I miss a day here and there, but hopefully you'll notice an increase in quality. 

Regards,

Mark Maunder

Feedjit Founder & CEO

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The Daily Feed Issue #46: BlogWorld and links

Welcome to Issue #46 of The Daily Feed. If this email was forwarded to you by a friend, you can subscribe on this page. You can read previous editions of The Daily Feed on our blog but note that posts to our blog are delayed 24 hours or more.

I'm back from a 1 week break and The Daily Feed will no resume it's regularly scheduled programming. My apologies for the brief interruption. 

This weekend the Blog World Expo was held in the Mandalay Bay convention center in Vegas. I didn't go. I did consider going but I had a few objections. 

The price was almost $1200 to attend and and wandering among expo booths gathering data I can get online and seeing panel bloggers repeat in person what they've already written just doesn't give me a return on that investment. If these photos are anything to go by, attendance was sparse and the atmosphere wasn't a rock concert. Here are a couple more blog entries covering the conference. 

Now that blogging is main-stream I expect to see more vertical conferences that bring together writers that cover the similar subjects, target similar audiences or have similar writing styles. I also expect to see less differentiation between journalists and bloggers. Being a "blogger" really means being a writer because every writer worth their salt blogs. 

Speaking of rants, there's a thread on Webmasterworld today discussing how links have become currency to most bloggers and webmasters which makes it very hard to get a few quality links to your site, even when you have a really great site or product. I'm not sure I completely agree with the author's complaint - we regularly link to quality websites or products and I encourage you to do the same. 

On a literary note, it looks like Twighlight has now spawned so many copycat books that Barnes and Noble have given them their own section. 

Regards,

Mark Maunder

Feedjit Founder & CEO

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The Daily Feed Issue #45: Page components and how they affect keyword ranking

Welcome to Issue #45 of The Daily Feed. If this email was forwarded to you by a friend, you can subscribe on this page. You can read previous editions of The Daily Feed on our blog but note that posts to our blog are delayed 24 hours or more.

Recently there was an interesting discussion thread about page titles on one of my favorite SEO websites, webmasterworld.com. The thread has a few opinions on the efficacy of keywords in page titles. 

The titles of your pages on your blog or website are the most important component when it comes to click-through-rate from search results and they are the second most important with regard to keyword ranking [explanation below]. 

Here is a quick list of page components and sources that Google and other search engines consider for keyword ranking of your site in descending order of importance:

1. Keywords in links that point to your page. [You often have no control of these]
2. Your page title
3. Keywords separated by dashes in your URL
4. The page heading at the top of your page in <H1> tags. 
5. Text close to the top of the page
6. Text in other headings and bold sections on your site
7. All other text including text in image ALT and TITLE attributes on your page. 
8. Google may also consider all other text on pages that link to yours in the order of this list. [If you're a programmer, you'll notice the last statement is recursive]

Remember that this list ignores pagerank, or how many inbound links you have and what the quality of those links are. If your site were ranked purely on keywords, this is how it would be done. Notice my omission of meta keywords or meta description. Most current data shows that those tags are completely ignored. I'd like to hear your opinions of the accuracy of my list above and about your own recent experiences with SEO. Drop me a mail at mark@feedjit.com and I'll include your comments in tomorrows Daily Feed. 

Regards,

Mark Maunder

Feedjit Founder & CEO.

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The Daily Feed Issue #44: Pithy points on better writing

Welcome to Issue #44 of The Daily Feed. If this email was forwarded to you by a friend, you can subscribe on this page. You can read previous editions of The Daily Feed on our blog but note that posts to our blog are delayed 24 hours or more.

Today I'm going to share a few of my favorite blog entries on writing great blog posts. 

Here is Darren Rowse with tips for writing better blog posts. In summary:

1. Make your opinion known
2. Link like crazy
3. Write less
4. 250 Words is enough
5. Make Headlines snappy
6. Write with passion
7. Include Bullet point lists
8. Edit your post
9. Make your posts easy to scan
10. Be consistent with your style
11. Litter the post with keywords

Copyblogger has a few pithy observations on why some people almost always write great post titles. 

And finally, Lifehackery.com with 11 ways to write better blog entries. In summary:

1. Writing is a habit, not an obligation
2. Read Read Read!
3. Avoid cliches.
4. Start and end with a Bang!
5. Get feedback on your writing - and listen to it
6. The more conversational the better
7. First be consistent, then add variety
8. Correctly use conjunctions 
9. Comment on your own posts
10. Write somewhere quiet where you won't be distracted
11. Create an outline for your blog entry using keywords and key ideas in notepad or wordpad before you start writing

Have a great weekend and don't forget to write at least one blog entry before Monday.

Regards,

Mark Maunder

Feedjit Founder & CEO

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The Daily Feed Issue #43: Do this now to get more visitors.

Welcome to Issue #43 of The Daily Feed. If this email was forwarded to you by a friend, you can subscribe on this page. You can read previous editions of The Daily Feed on our blog but note that posts to our blog are delayed 24 hours or more.

The kind of advice I love is advice that's actionable and that will give me immediate results. Today I want you to do something very specific that will give you a boost in traffic. It's going to take about 30 minutes of your time. Here goes...

I want you to write a blog entry. The title should start with the text "The Top X..." and I want you to replace X with a number. It could be 5 or 10 but no more than 12. 

Here are a few example titles:

• The Top 5 things you should know before buying a home [You can replace "home" with "car", "boat", "cellphone", etc]
• The Top 10 Funniest videos on YouTube
• The Top 7 Online Scams
• The Top 5 most Beautiful People of all Time

Once you've come up with a great title, write the blog entry and include a well researched list of items. Embed photos or videos if that is the list you're making. Include links to sources if you can. Make it a list that's worth looking at.

Then I want you to post your shiny new blog entry to your favorite social bookmarking sites. Here is a list of the top social bookmarking sites with their pagerank.

Once you've done that I want you to visit your favorite online discussion forums and post your blog entry there. 

Then I want you to tweet it and post it to Facebook. 

Once you've done all that, I want you to grab your favorite beverage, kick back and see what happens. Don't forget to email me with the results if you do get a nice bump in traffic. Don't forget to install our free Live Traffic Feed so you can see your new visitors arriving in real-time. 

Regards,

Mark Maunder

Feedjit Founder & CEO. 

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The Daily Feed Issue #41: How to persuade people to buy on your website

Welcome to Issue #41 of The Daily Feed. If this email was forwarded to you by a friend, you can subscribe on this page. You can read previous editions of The Daily Feed on our blog but note that posts to our blog are delayed 24 hours or more.

I'm going to give you a simple tip today that has worked for me and will help you sell more on your blog or website. Here's a rule of thumb: Long copy sells better than short copy. In other words a page of 600 words talking about your product will sell better than a paragraph of text. This rule applies to low and high cost items, but the effect is stronger for higher cost items. That is why when you respond to a late night infomercial enquiring about the Sleep Number bed they send you a big info packet with about 20 pages of information that includes a DVD. It's a long copy sales pitch.

There's an assumption on the Web that you have exactly 2 seconds to sell someone before they click through to the next website. People who only have 2 seconds to spend on your site aren't going to buy anyway, so forget about them and focus on visitors who do have time. 

I'm going to give you a real-world example that caused me to buy something today. Go and take a look at the following website. I don't have a relationship with this company and I don't get anything from you visiting them - it's just a great example of long copy direct marketing. 

http://www.bearextender.com/

The entire website is selling a single product. The reason I fell for this sales pitch today is because it has a ton of text. If you click through the tabs at the top you'll see:

• A home page with about 300 words of intro
• How it works with around 1000 words of copy, a video and lots of photos
• A ton of reviews. This is an important component called Social Proof.
• The Buy Now page has yet more copy with more reviews and photos.
• And there is of course the accessories and support page.

All of this for a single product. There's a reason this site reminds you of a 30 minute infomercial: Because this format works and has worked for over 50 years. The medium may be changing to the Web and the graphics and art may be updated, but the strategy is the same. 

You've probably run across those sites on CNN selling a diet formula, weight loss trick or exercise system. When you click the ad you land on a site that looks like a news site or blog entry. What you're really doing is reading a long copy direct marketing pitch. I can't stand those sites either, but take the time to click a few of the ads and examine what the pitch looks like and how it guides you into making a buying decision. You'll learn a lot. 

As I said yesterday, when you're selling on the web you need to do everything a real-world sales person would do in a real-world sales pitch. That is why longer copy sells more if you're marketing without physically being there. 

Regards,

Mark Maunder

Feedjit Founder & CEO

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The Daily Feed Issue #40: Selling using copy on the Web

Welcome to Issue #40 of The Daily Feed. If this email was forwarded to you by a friend, you can subscribe on this page. You can read previous editions of The Daily Feed on our blog but note that posts to our blog are delayed 24 hours or more.

Last week we chatted about Direct Marketing. On Friday I gave you a history lesson courtesy of legends like Ogilvy and Ben Franklin. Today I'm going to focus on one aspect of Direct Marketing: Selling using Copy. 

If you are selling something on a web site, no matter what you're selling and no matter whether the site has a blog format or a catalog format, you are engaged in Direct Marketing (DM). To be even more specific, you are engaging in either one step or two step direct marketing. 

One step DM is used primarily for products with a low to moderate cost. A visitor arrives at your website, you show them your sales pitch and try to get them to buy then and there. 

Two step DM is also called Lead Generation. A visitor to your site reads an interesting article or sales pitch and fills in a form to request more info. At that point a sales person may call them or you may start the sales process via email. Higher value items are usually sold this way. 

In both styles of DM you are selling someone without being there. This is a very important point. Usually when you buy a car, house, even a magazine subscription a sales person is present. They'll shake your hand, you'll see they dress well and have a polished manner about them. You decide you enjoy their company and will give them some of your time. You'll laugh about the fact that you met your wives in the same city, and so on. 

When you're selling online you can't be there in person. You have to do everything a sales person would normally do when they're selling someone in person. The best online direct marketing companies know this and make sure that their website does an excellent job of filling in for a real-world sales person.

It constantly amazes me how few people know this basic principle. The web is filled with sites that show a product, a brief description and a price and expect customers to click the "Buy" button in droves. You need to SELL them. 

I've said this before and I'll remind you now: All money is made by someone selling something to someone else. Remember that and realize that your website needs to be the sales guy and you will do well. 

Tomorrow I'm going to give you a few ideas on how your website can be a great substitute for a real-world sales team. 

Regards,

Mark Maunder

Feedjit Founder & CEO.

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The Daily Feed Issue #39: Longer edition - Learning from old school direct marketing legends

Welcome to Issue #39 of The Daily Feed. If this email was forwarded to you by a friend, you can subscribe on this page. You can read previous editions of The Daily Feed on our blog but note that posts to our blog are delayed 24 hours or more. 

Today's edition of The Daily Feed is slightly longer than normal, so save it for later reading if you're in a hurry. 

Most of this week I've been chatting about AB testing and how it can help you sell more or get more signups on your blog or website. When I started learning about AB testing I read a lot of recently written blog entries and articles on ways to test, how to write effective copy, ideas for great headlines and so on. I was picking up bits and pieces of information and some of them worked, others didn't.

What I failed to realize is that the field that I was entering has been around for centuries. Since 1744 in fact when Benjamin Franklin invented it (read on to learn more). Not only that, but there are centuries worth of accumulated wisdom that are collected in one place and ripe for the picking if you know where to look. 

The field is called Direct Marketing or Direct Response Marketing. Many non-marketing people think of late night infomercials and old school snail mail marketing campaigns when they think of Direct Marketing. Some Madison Avenue ad executives thumb their noses at Direct Marketing. The irony of this is that one of the greatest proponents of Direct Marketing is also the greatest Madison Avenue ad man who ever lived: The late David Ogilvy.

Ogilvy has been an inspiration for me and his ideas have had a direct and very positive impact on the revenue of my company. I'd like you to watch this video of Ogilvy. It's a very old video, recorded 30 to 40 years ago and Ogilvy is discussing the differences between "general advertising" (Madison Avenue agencies) and Direct Marketers and their approach. Watch the video here. 

You should know that the video you just watched inspired me to create The Daily Feed. Many of you will have seen a scratchy old video with an elderly English guy talking about the before times. But a few of you will have recognized the weight and wisdom of this great man's words: Ogilvy predicted the power of marketing on the Web 20 years before the Web was invented and that measurement would become critical to the success of any ad agency or campaign. 

In the video Ogilvy emphasizes measurement and that it is the main reason Direct Marketers are more successful than general advertising agencies. AB testing is one of the forms of measurement that Ogilvy is describing. Measuring which headline, photo or text sold better is what turned Ogilvy and Mather into the most succesful ad agency on Earth.

If you are trying to get visitors to take an action on your website, whether it is to buy something or simply subscribe to your RSS feed, you are engaging in Direct Marketing. 

As I mentioned before the field has been around for some time now. Benjamin Franklin was possibly the first direct marketer. He sold scientific and academic books via a mail order campaign. He even included a money back guarantee that read: "Those persons who live remote, by sending their orders and money to B. Franklin may depend on the same justice as if present."

Now that you know what the field is called - and has been called for some time now, you can start digging into that accumulated wisdom I was telling you about. One of my favorite books is now out of print. It's called "The Complete Idiots Guide to Direct Marketing". The book contains some great established Direct Marketing wisdoms. Most current books on direct marketing focus on technology and software. This book was written in the early days of the web and it's focus is on what gets people to buy (or take action). 

Here are a few things I learned from this book and other old school resources on Direct Marketing:

• Offers are important. The right offer can increase response rates up to 1000%
• Long form sales copy (up to 400 words) will often increase response rates, especially for complex products that need to be explained.
• When direct marketing on a website or in any other media, you need to do everything a sales person would normally do. Another reason why longer copy often increases response rates.
• Putting a time limit on an offer almost always increases response rates
• Premiums or discounts are extremely effective at closing the sale
• Not offering a money back guarantee is a mistake and will depress your response rate.
• In direct marketing, test results are the only opinion that matters.
• The best direct response prospects are those that have previously responded to direct response offers
• Successful direct marketing campaigns ask for the order and give people a reason to respond now.
• It's a good idea to do limited marketing tests to see which campaign is the most effective before rolling it out to a larger audience. 
• The first step in writing successful copy is to get the reader's attention. 
• The quickest way to engage the reader in your message is to appeal to self-interest, promise of a big benefit or a revelation of important information. 
• Back up your claims with proof. Consumers are skeptical and you have to work to get them to believe you. 
• Write in friendly, conversational language. 

Gary Halbert is another late Direct Marketing legend who passed away in 2007. He has written some of the most effective sales copy the world has ever seen. This is one of his most famous ads for a weight loss campaign. You can find the archives of Halbert's newsletters on this site. Halbert claimed that he once earned $5.2 million from two newsletters.

Now that you know what the field you're engaged in is called, start poking around used bookstores and the darker dustier corners of the Web and you'll be surprised what you'll find. Remember that many of the things that caused people to buy 200 years ago are just as effective today. Technology might change, but people largely remain the same. 

Regards,

Mark Maunder

Feedjit Founder & CEO.

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