Group items tagged

Another Blog Search tool for information and inspiration!

Just a reminder for those searching for niche-related content and inspiration for such content - Google has very deep tools available to help. Google Alerts and Blog Search are fantastic, as are the Books searches, just as examples to get you fired up!

Window re-sizer and more. Minimize to tray, make them standing always on-top over all other windows, roll to caption, resize, align to screen borders, hide, set the opacity etc. DM2 also helps with Open/Save dialog boxes

Goes to show that online video marketing definitely works - as if you hadn't guessed it yet.

The vast majority of those surveyed (95%) for the report, who have utilized online video as a marketing tool, were satisfied with online video marketing and expect to use it in the future.

Bounce rate has these attributes: 1) It is really hard to misunderstand. It measures the number of people who landed on your site and refused to give you even one single click! 2) It is available in most web analytics tools, including our own Google Analytics. 3) It is quick and easy to use. Bounce rate will help you understand where and how to make changes on your website in under an hour.

Great tips from Google on reducing your website bounce rates

Great post from Michael Fruchter on getting started in Social Media... Everything from personal branding to blogging to Twitter

Getting started with social media, whether for personal or professional use, requires learning the basic fundamentals. Social media is more than just creating a blog or Twitter account. The tools are great and give us big advantages, but they are simply extensions of how we engage and participate in social media, they are not the answers. The social in social media is all about the human element. This post touches upon 40 key elements to aid your success.

As I mentioned last year - as well as on many posts since - analytics is a critical facet of your web strategy not only because it provides measurement, but it is one of the most valuable research tools you have at your disposal. Most people install analytics on their website and never look at the data again. There are many reasons for this. Some people don't have time and most just don't know what the data means.

1. Learn How to Adjust at Your Day Job 2. Understand How Social Media is a Risk and Opportunity 3. Use Online Networking Tools to Connect 4. Attend Real World Events 5. Always Be Looking For Opportunities

You're responsible for the direction of your online strategies for your company or organization, specifically using social media and computing tools to reach, connect, and build communities around your brand. Most folks at your company know this space is important, but don't know how to do it, they are relying on your expertise to think holistically, integrated, and strategically.

For years the Public Relations industry has ironically one of the worst reputations -esp since they are hired to look after the reputations of their own clients. Things only got worse as some brands got punk'd; the introduction of self-publishing tools that allowed anyone to connect to each other using social technologies, causing a shift in power. We've already talked to death about the risks and the changes that are happening to this industry, yet I'm hoping to elevate the viewpoint out of the gutter and focus on the larger opportunities -and risks at the industry level.

It continues to baffle me why any small business wouldn't use the internet as an essential sales, marketing and customer relations tool. Establishing and maintaining a web presence is incredibly cheap and easy these days. And web advertising is much more powerful than most traditional print or broadcast advertising in that it enables the business owner to engage customers in a two-way conversation and gain valuable feedback on their products and services.

Just CLOSE the damn pop-up that appears (very annoyingly) and then enjoy using the tool in spite of it.

Stay in touch with your readership with open-ended questions to find out what they REALLY want!

Enter your prime target keywords for your site and it suggests URL domains, showing availability. Very useful!

Cool new tool to compete with Google's Website Optimizer

This tool is a MUST USE! So quick and convenient for SIMPLE screen casting. If you're doing private stuff for a membership site...probably not the best choice. But, for simple "get the content out there" screen casts...this is a golden boy among all players. The twitter based login and integration means that sharing is an absolute snap because like you I'm sure, my twitter postings end up all over my social profiles/lifestream. Excellent!

The study found that local search - the practice of using online search tools to find local businesses, products, or services - grew 58% in 2008, reaching an annual total of 15.7 billion searches. By comparison, overall core US web searches grew at a much smaller rate of 21% year-over-year, nearing 137 billion searches by the end of 2008.