OK, it’s time to come out of my Melbourne winter hibernation with this important question… “Can you produce your website KPIs for me in 10 seconds?” “What are they?” You wouldn’t be alone if you asked that. We recently consulted with the lead generation department of very large Australian business. Interestingly they were unable to [...]
Australian businesses are still spamming Google Maps
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It’s unfortunate that we continue to see Australian businesses choosing to spam Google maps. Mike Blumenthal first reported spam local businesses listing on Google Maps on the 27th July 2007. It’s nearly one year on and Mike is still reporting on cases of spam on Google Maps that Google appear to be turning a blind [...]
eBay backs down, but was that the strategy in the first place?
Since we reported on eBay’s recent move to force PayPal on all of its online auctions in Australia, you may have heard that eBay has compromised on the second part of its plan to eliminate all competition in the payment systems market. Faced with the case that was building against the move at the Australian [...]
Google Website Optimizer is only as good as your ideas
Google Website Optimizer is an awesome tool that allows you to test different versions of your web pages to see which ones work better. Here’s what the Google Website Optimizer home page says about it: Using Website Optimizer to test and optimize site content and design, you can quickly and easily increase revenue and ROI [...]
Is there such a thing as bad advertising?
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If you’re involved in marketing, then you’ll probably have heard about the ABC’s show about advertising, The Gruen Transfer. Last week, comedian and host Will Anderson asked the panel to talk about advertising that backfired on them. According to Russel Howcroft, MD of Ad Agency George Patterson’s Y&R, All advertising works, it’s just a matter [...]
Retention Myth: People remember 50% of what they see and hear and only 10% of what they read.
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Real Testimonials – Not Blind Faith
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Do people believe that the testimonials on your website are real? We often hear people express the view that testimonials on websites are contrived or made up. Sometimes with good reason. Let me make one thing clear: Made up testimonials do not belong in professional web marketing. In this “Web 2.0″ world of fast customer [...]
Is shipping costing you sales? – How to boost your conversion rates with shipping
Is shipping a mystery on your online shopping website? Lack of clarity around shipping is one of the biggest conversion killers in eCommerce. Fortunately there are some simple conversion techniques that you can use to stem the flow of lost orders caused by shipping mystery. Let’s start with the basics: Detail your shipping policy Link [...]
Has Word 2007 Mashed Up Your Email Marketing?
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Have you noticed that your Email Marketing piece looks real funny in Outlook 2007? That’s probably because Outlook 2007 now uses Microsoft Word to digest a HTML email. Previous versions of Microsoft Outlook used Internet Explorer to display HTML emails. For email marketers that means that a number of significant HTML features are gone. In Outlook [...]
41.82% Conversion Rate for Piano Removalists
We’re happy to say that we’ve set a new conversion rate record for our lead generation websites – 41.82%. That means that for every 100 people that visit this page, at least 41 of them will complete and submit this form. Why is this page converting so well? Here’s a couple of reasons: It’s a [...]
eBay wants to force you to use PayPal
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You may have heard that eBay recently announced its intention to force buyers and sellers to use PayPal on its monopoly online auction site. eBay currently allows users to use other payment methods such as direct bank deposit. According to iTWire eBay has asked the ACCC to excuse it from the trade practices act over [...]
Can’t find your website in Google? Baby steps for Google rankings.
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard this: “I can’t find our website in Google.” The real question usually is, “what did you search for?” Waiting for your new website to show up in Google can be painful. You can avoid disappointment by setting your expectations right in the first place. Don’t [...]
Is SPAM an obsolete concept?
Bizreport published findings from a Q Interactive / Marketing Sherpa report today that show that the general public view of what spam is poles apart from the accepted technical definition of spam. Apparently email users tend to mark anything that they don’t want to receive any more as spam, however the strict technical definition of [...]
Is a picture really worth a thousand words?
We all know that a picture can be worth a thousand words, but it’s not always the case. Words are the most fundamental blocks of our communication. To prove this Jeff Sexton at Future Now asked, “What happens when you take the words away?” Jeff used the website www.netdisaster.com to suck out all of the [...]
How can Australian businesses beat a recession?
Here in Australia, some economists have been spinning the yarn that our economy is “decoupled” from the US economy. They would have you think that your business will not be affected by the US recession. However Morgan Stanley economist Gerard Minack set the record straight last week on ABC’s Lateline program. Gerard broke the bad [...]
The 7 Keys of High Conversion Lead Generation Websites – Part 1
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Why do some websites generate leads better than others? Having developed a number of lead generation websites that convert over 20% of visits into enquiries, we know that asking this question is a big step in the right direction. In several years of striving to improve lead generation website conversion rates we’ve come up with [...]
Piano Removalist Blasts Off With Huge Conversion Rates
Piano Removalists – Network Piano Carriers – entered the online removals world late last year with their first website. To their great credit, this highly professional piano removals company systematically measures the outcome of everything – especially their marketing activity. Google rankings can be hard to achieve if you’ve never had a website before. Many [...]
Google Maps Spam Update – Spammer Removed
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We recently wrote about a Melbourne mobile mechanic who was spamming Google Maps with several hundred Local Business Listings. After our post, several blogs reported on our post and added their influence and ideas to the discussion. We’re happy to say that once the word was out, swift action was taken by the Google Maps team [...]
Google Maps is a Haven for Spammers
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Mike Blumenthal first reported Local Business Listing SPAM on Google Maps last July. Seven months later it seems that Google has no answer for the spammers filling up the Google Maps Local Business Center with dodgy business listings. We recently found a Melbourne based mobile mechanic who spammed his business into 500 locations on the Melbourne [...]
How to measure your eCommerce Website
With all of the information that is available from measuring websites with tools like Google Analytics, it’s easy to get distracted. A typical eCommerce website has it’s own unique set of KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) and conversion rates. These conversion rates will tell you where you can gain quick and profitable improvements from your eCommerce website. So start [...]
Truck signage is a traffic oppportunity
Sure, truck signage is an great opportunity to engage your audience on the road, but what about creating traffic to your website? A recent study* on radio advertising showed that 80% of listeners who heard a relevant radio ad with a web address mentioned in it went on to visit the website. We postulate that [...]
Google Maps – New Format For Local Business Results in Google
Have you noticed that the format has changed for Google Local Business Results? The above example was from a Google web search on Storage Melbourne. We’re now seeing about 10 listings in the same space that we used to only see three or four. I think it’s more efficient, don’t you?
Google Maps – Local Business Listings – Is your business on the Google Map?
Last year, Google Maps quickly became the number one online map directory service in Australia, surpassing whereis.com.au. Did you know that you can put your business on the Google Map? If you haven’t yet done so, head over to Google’s Local Business Center to list your business. The Local Business Center allows you to add your [...]
Is Google really the end of the Yellow Pages® Directory?
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Newt Barret explained an important shift in his blog post today, “Real World Experiment Explains Impending Demise of Yellow Pages” Talking about the Yellow Pages® he says, “Their old slogan, ‘Let your fingers do the walking,’ was all about how easy it was to use the print directory compared to wandering around downtown looking for [...]
Microsoft’s Live Search Has a Huge Size Problem
A number of our clients have noticed that their websites have completely dropped out of Microsoft’s Live Search Engine recently. It was first brought to my attention by Gavin Hodges from Flexitank in early October 2007. Whilst the Flexitank websites receive a lot of traffic from Google searches like “4wd tanks“, “pillow tanks” and “marker buoys,” [...]
Don’t Get Lost in Translation
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We’ve been working with the translators at Meaningful Exchange, helping with their email marketing for a little over a year now. We recently launched a new website targeting companies that are needing translation of their company documents and marketing material. What we’ve learned is that translation is not as simple as it seems. Whilst Moore’s [...]
Real Example: How can I generate more leads for “Development Loans”
I was meeting with William MacLean from McLean Finance today and we found that his website is on page one in Google for the term “Development Loans.” He’s been getting a number of leads through his site for Development Loans and it’s an area that he specialises in. So the question is, “How can we [...]
WHOIS: Is Your Domain Name Really Yours?
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What every company needs to know about their domain name… Imagine that you are moving into a new office today. Your furniture is moved in, the phones are being connected, offices setup. You’re all set, but for one detail. The landlord has decided that he’s going to keep the only set of keys. Does that sound crazy? Well, [...]
Lessons in Customer Service from an Acoustic Guitar Shop
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One of my personal goals for 2008 is to get a new acoustic guitar. I’ve been playing guitar for about 3 years now and I love it. Now that I can hear the difference, I’ve decided that it’s time to get a new, more refined acoustic guitar. I’ve had many different experiences in Music shops. [...]
The Google Maps van is in town – And I snapped it!
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I wrote a post about the new Google Maps “Street View” feature after seeing this funny image recently. The Street View feature was introduced on Google Maps last year in the US, but the peering eye of Google was spotted here in Melbourne Australia today. Google has a car driving around the main city streets with [...]
Web Design – Don’t Sweat The Home Page
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You’re working on a new web design and you’re fussing over the home page. You’ve got very limited space. Just 1024 x 768 pixels to play (minus toolbars and scroll-bars). Every pixel matters. Doesn’t it? In our experience, the majority of time in web design projects is spent sweating over every pixel of the home page. Often [...]
Is Your Web Design a Platform for Performance or a Serious Liability?
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The pinnacle of web design is where form and function work together. A good web design is a platform for performance. On the other hand, a bad web design is a serious liability. Note that it’s actually not a battle of form vs function. It’s the two working together. In order to reach the pinnacle with a web design, you must [...]