Internet Marketing Blog

WOW, it has been a long time since we have updated the blog - and I apologize to anyone who still follows this thing! Insidedesign has been amazingly busy and clients always come first. Fear not! We are in the process of closing up two major projects and will soon have more time for items like our blog. In the meantime, you can follow us via our new Twitter feed!

Check us out on twitter now!

What is Twitter you ask?
Think of Twitter as a blog, but a blog that only allows you to post in short 140 character updates. It’s fast, it’s easy, and more people are starting to catch on! You can learn more about Twitter and get started here.

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People ask me all the time, “How can I protect myself on the Internet?” and “How much does it cost?”. Well, to answer the second question - you can protect yourself for absolutely nothing! And to answer the first question, let me share with you the top 5 programs you should be using right now!

Comodo AntiVirus FREE
Offering pay-for quality for free, Comodo AntiVirus free version offers everything you need to battle viruses, under most circumstances. Including:

• Constantly protects with real-time On Access scanning
• Daily, automatic updates of virus definitions
• Proactive Heuristic analysis intercepts unknown threats
• Schedule Scanning ability
• Low system resource consumption

Learn more and Download Comodo Free Antivirus here

Comodo Firewall FREE
To match your shiney free Comodo Antivirus, why not download the Comodo’s FREE Firewall? It is a great firewall that any computer layman can understand, while offering advanced options for those interested. Check out some of these features:

• Constantly monitors and defends your PC from internet attacks
• Stay protected against new threats via automatic online updates
• Real time traffic monitoring enables you to react instantly to threats and identify bandwidth bottlenecks.
• Constantly monitors and defends your PC from internet attacks
• Free maintenance upgrades

Learn more and Download Comodo Free Firewall here

Spybot: Search & Destroy
Considered by many to be the best Spyware scanner available, Spybot is an essential tool to protecting yourself on the Internet. It comes packed with features and spyware definitions are constantly being updated. Just check out all these FREE Spybot features:

• Removal of known adware, spyware, dialers, keyloggers, trojans, and other usage tracks
• Save removal of threats by shredding them
• Backups of every removed problem
• Integrated update process with weekly updates

Learn more and Download Spybot Search and Destroy here

Ad-Aware Free Edition
While Spybot is a great program for removing spyware and other unwanted tracking items, it is important to have a “layered” spyware removal system. What does this mean? Simply to use multiple spyware scanners to ensure you have removed as much as possible! Ad-Aware does the trick, and it is FREE! Check it out these greate Free Adaware features:

• Incremental Threat Updates
• Full-Feature Quarantine
• Code Sequence Identification (CSI) Technology: precise detection of embedded malware, including known and emerging threats.
• System Restore Point

Learn more and Download Ad Aware Free here

CCleaner
While more of a utility than a security program, CCleaner is an essential tool for keeping your system clean and clear of unnecessary files that could be slowing you down. If you don’t have this program, get it now! Run this program once a week and you will experience your computer running faster! Check out what it can do:

• Clears Temporary files, URL history, cookies, Autocomplete form history, index.dat
• Cleans Recycle Bin, Recent Documents, Temporary files and Log files
• Registry Cleaner
• Temporary files of Third-party applications

Learn more and Download CCleaner here

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Over at SEO Scoop, DazzlinDonna wrote a rather interesting post on ThomasNet - an industrial industry directory. With a Yahoo! indexation of over 4 million pages, ThomasNet has positioned itself as much more than a directory, but as an information portal.

Not limited to company listings, ThomasNet also focuses on offering supplemental content its demographic needs to conduct business. So whether a user is looking for a manufacturer of a product, or that product’s CAD drawing - the user knows exactly where to go and ThomasNet is able to retain that user.

A key point to the post is that ThomasNet puts the needs of their users first. Implementing a policy termed VSET (read at When Is A Directory So Much More Than A Directory?), ThomasNet has focused on building their directory from the shoes of their users. A huge lesson many amateur directory owners/managers should learn.

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It seems as though Marco has unearthed an easter egg in Google’s new release of Google Earth, its popular free mapping software. While the new release stunned the world with its addition of mapping the universe, it has also secretly included a flight simulator!

To check it yourself, simply download and load up the most recent version of Google Earth and press CTRL+ALT+A or for a MAC, Command+Option+A. Upon doing so the flight simulator should load right away with a dialog that grants you the options of plane and airport (as see to the right).

You have the option of piloting two planes: the F16 or the SR22. Both are very different and enjoyable rides. Check it out for yourself, but be sure to familiarize yourself with the flight controls! If using the arrow keys is not your thing, you can also use your mouse to steer the aircraft (just click the screen with your mouse to activate).

Note: After you have entered into the flight simulator using the keyboard combination, simply access it again from the Tool drop down menu.

Check out some of the in-game screen shots:

Let me know how you fare at flying! The controls are touchy…

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A recent study held by Cornell University has revealed that students have strong faith in Google’s ability to ranks search engine results based on relevancy. Published in the Journal of Computer-Medicated Communication, the study points out that the student’s “decisions were strongly biased towards links higher in position even if the abstracts themselves were less relevant.” Well, not a very ground breaking statement.

We all understand that users are strongly biased towards higher positions in the SERPs, it shows in our logs! However, and more interesting, the study goes on to conclude:

“While the participants reacted to artificially reduced retrieval quality by greater scrutiny, they failed to achieve the same success rate. This demonstrated trust in Google has implications for the search engine’s tremendous potential influence on culture, society, and user traffic on the Web.”

So, users are heavily biased towards the top listings on Google - even if the provided title and description is not relevant! They trust in Google, and truly believe what is being provided to them is the best results. But what does this mean to a search engine optimization professional? Here are some points that come to mind:

1. General, high traffic keywords bring lots of visitors - a high percentage being low quality and unqualified visitors.
2. Optimize for niche keywords to keep conversion rates high.
3. A high listing in the SERPs is an authority and trust builder with users.

Check out the study, an interesting read for any technical SEO professional.

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Awhile back I got involved with Snap.com’s advertising program. They offered ‘Pay-for-Action’ advertising (pay only when the visitor is converted), so it was a win-win. So I thought why not? I had to open my account with $50, not bad considering it would bring me an almost guaranteed return. I setup my keywords and AD copy. Keeping at it for several weeks, nothing happened. Over time, I became more distracted with many other projects and my Snap.com advertising campaign slipped into oblivion.

A few days ago I get an email from Snap.com, informing me that they are revamping their advertising program. Kindly, they also inform me that they are going to refund my initial deposit of $50 and need me to confirm my mailing address. How great is that? Here is the email they sent my way:

Dear Eric Sopp,

Snap.com is in the process of re-engineering our advertising servers and we will not be able to deliver your advertising at the current time.

Rather than ask you to wait until our systems are back online, we would like to issue you a check for a refund of your current pre-paid account balance, which our records show to be $50.00 credit.
Please reply to this email to verify your address. Your account shows:
Address1: [removed]
Address2: [removed]
City: [removed]
State: [removed]
Zip: [removed]

Please hit the REPLY button and select one of these options:

[ ] All information is correct

[ ] Please change my address. (Subject to verification).
Address1:
Address2:
City:
State:
Zip:

Thank you,

Team Snap

If you are not familiar with Snap.com, you should really check it out. A search engine started by the same people who brought you Overture (a PPC advertising program later bought by Yahoo!), Snap.com is an innovator in the Online Search Industry.

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Any directory owner that is serious about their business venture needs to create a custom design and look for their web directory. In today’s web environment where 20 directories spring up every day, a custom designed template for your web directory is key to be taken seriously. But not just any design will work, it has to match the needs, preferences and wants of your target audience. This post is aimed at providing directory owners and managers tips and ideas to better improve the design of their web directory.

The first step is to define your target audience. A complicated process that can be made simple just by creating a profile of your ideal user. For AllBuziness.com, the ideal user’s profile would look like this:

• Business professional
• Small to mid size business
• Not very web savvy, but has experience in web navigation
• Busy, needs results quickly
• Looking for either a service or product

Not a very sophisticated profile, but with just a few notes it becomes clear who’s needs we should to be thinking about and who we need to appeal to. Keep in mind, this is a very simplified example of what could be a research intensive ordeal. Also, this example only looks at the ideal user of the directory and does not profile the ideal user who would purchase advertising. In another post, I will go over these distinctions and examples on how to properly profile each.

After you have profiled your ideal user, you need to begin thinking about all the major points, or parts, of what makes a directory design. There are many parts to a design, but lets look at the most common and discuss how each can be designed to appeal to your ideal user (note: we use AllBuziness.com as an example):

• Colors: The colors chosen for your directory can have serious impact on the user of your website. You want to use colors that appeal to your target user, while detracting from colors that may negatively impact a user’s opinion about your directory. At AllBuziness.com, we have chosen to go with a blue palette because this is a common color scheme of business oriented resources and reflects important values of our directory. Want to learn more about the meaning behind colors? Read this article at About.com.
• Layout: How you position content, navigation and tools on your directory can have a positive or negative impact on your ideal user’s experience. When designing the layout of your directory, you need to reflect on your ideal user profile. If your user needs results quickly, such as the ideal user for AllBuziness.com, you may stress the search function on the homepage rather than the directory category structure. The idea here is to look at what content/service you want to provide and how much importance they will have on the screen to meet the needs of your ideal user.
• Content: What type of content does your ideal user want to see when they visit your directory? If you are a niche directory, offer supplemental content that is unique to your niche. At AllBuziness.com, we offer live news feeds throughout the entire directory to match the subject of the page they are viewing. A newly launched business blog will also be used to discuss and develop business ideas and news.
• Listing Detail: What type of details do you offer with each listing? Should you display a mailing address, phone numbers, Alexa information, video or audio downloads, or a detailed description? Think like your ideal visitor and determine what type of information they would like to have without having to hunt for it.
• Navigation: Is it easy to navigate through your directory? If a user lands on an inner-page from a search engine or off-site link, will they know where they are in your website? Does the design and layout of your navigation meet the needs of your ideal user profile? These are questions you need to think about when determining what links should be in the main and secondary navigations.
• Accessibility: Is your directory accessible for users with screen readers or other web accessible devices? If you feel that a portion of your target audience may have handicaps, are you meeting their needs for ease of use? I see a real need for accessible design for general directories, as they cater to a much broader/more general audience. Want to learn more about accessible web design? Check out this accessible web design resource list from Washington.edu.

These are just 6 areas of what makeup a directory, and there are many more you should be thinking about when designing a directory. The point of this post is to get directory owners thinking about their target audience. We have all seen way too many directories that have been poorly designed, are hard to use, and stress more about selling AD space than trying to be a useful resource. To become successful, you must meet the needs of the users using your directory - not the other way around.

Open questions to directory owners and managers:

• How have you designed your directory to meet the needs of your users?
• What can you do to better improve your directory’s appeal to your targeted user profile?
• Have you seen improved results by designing for your ideal user profile?
• Please share your thoughts and comments!

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