Sep
3rd

You’re So Vain, You Probably Think This Post Is About You

Posted by Christopher on September 3, 2009 at 2:33 pm

Admit it. You’ve done it. The vanity search. I mean, come on – who wouldn’t? Search engines are powerful tools, and we, as inveterate naval-gazers, when presented with tools that claim access to a huge portion of the world’s information, well, we want to know what they know about us. We want to exist, in there.

On the other hand, maybe we don’t.

I have a name that’s, well, common. A lot of people have my same name. Evidence – when I was in high school, I would repeatedly be called out of class and sent to the campus police office. When there, the campus police officer (who shall remain nameless but who, trust me, was a humungous jerk plus kind of stupid), would stare at me, waiting for me to crack. Waiting for my facade of innocence to fall like the house of cards he knew it was. (Remember, this happened multiple times. The same way.) When it didn’t, he’d shove some piece of evidence toward me and say “explain that.” On one occasion, halfway through 12th grade, it was a gym bag containing size small gym shorts (by my senior year I was no longer a size small, nor was I in gym class), a size small shirt, size 7 1/2 shoes (I’ve worn size ten since ninth grade), some eighth grade textbooks, and apparently, a big bag full of weed. My name was written (poorly, I might add) on the tag. Explain that. “Well, I’m a senior. Would you like me to try on that tiny shirt? You think those shoes fit me? Would you like to see my math book? I’ll get it, it’s on my desk in the senior-level math class you just pulled me out of. Why, Mr. Policeman, do you keep thinking this kid is me?”

“Well, that’s your name, isn’t it?”

Well, yes and no. It’s my name, but that drug kid has it too. So do like six other people at this school. Throw a rock, Einstein, and you’ll probably hit one. In fact, your last name is the same as my first name. How do I know this isn’t your gym bag? Explain that, Dick Tracy.

Anyway, he always let me go with a warning (for what I’ve never figured out – “make sure that kid with your name stops hauling around huge bags of pot and then leaving them on the bus”? I’ll get right on that, Magnum PI). I learned my lesson.

Back to the interweb – a search for my name brings up multiple doctors and lawyers (please don’t tell my mom about that, though – she’s suffered enough), a minor league baseball player, a guy who worked in the art department for “Jurassic Park,” and a children’s book author who actually changed his name to mine (!?!?!), along with some guy who killed his mother (see, mom? It could be worse…) and a couple dead guys. If I cared, I’d be a bit disturbed that I’m not represented in this landscape. That I don’t have a presence in that real estate.

That I’m not there.

It could, however, be worse. Recently, a woman from Wisconsin tried to sue Yahoo! because she didn’t like the results of her vanity search. She claimed Yahoo! (who should maybe be sued for continuing to use that ridiculous exclamation point. Who’s excited about that anymore? Who ever was?) “misused” her name (which she claimed was unique) and served up ads for Cialis and porn. The judge ruled, essentially, that her argument was at best, specious, and, at worst, dumb. He threw it out.

There’s a lesson here. Honest. Ready?

I don’t care that my name brings up a bunch of people who aren’t me. I’ve not tried to brand myself, and if I did, it wouldn’t be with my name. (I’m tossing around “World Impakt!!!” and “2 Fly 2 Die,” but I’m not married to them.) If I had, however, I’d want to be damn sure that I not only showed up in search results, but I dominated them. If there was something negative about me in there, I’d want to address it.

Using not only your own optimized web presence, but services such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, LinkedIn, local listings, etc. etc. you can do that. Search “oneupweb” as an example.

Boom. There we are. Continuing to occupy that space isn’t easy, but we’ve decided that our brand is important enough to devote that level of attention to. We’re digital marketers, and when someone hears our name, and searches it, we need to be there, in force. Representing.

And, if your brand’s important enough, we can help you with that.

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Jan
8th

Blue Cross Blue Shield: A Lack of Coverage Online

Posted by Keirsun on January 8, 2009 at 10:38 am

It’s been awhile since we blogged about website security and SSL certificates, but in light of recent events (of a personal nature), I think the time is right to talk about the importance of establishing trust with your online clientele.

B2C and e-commerce websites know how important a secure website is, particularly during the check-out process. If you’re asking for someone to enter personal information (ie. name, home address, phone #, credit card info, etc.) the slightest disruption in trust, the tiniest chink in the armor, can spread doubt in the customer’s mind. And doubt leads to lost conversions and AWOL customers.

But all webmasters, regardless of who they’re trying to sell to, should keep the secure portions of their website(s) in working order.

Case in point:

I was recently notified by our company’s health insurance provider, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, that I need to complete a Coordination of Benefits form in order to continue receiving coverage. (The form itself is Blue Cross’s method for ensuring it’s not paying for claims that may fall within another insurance provider’s jurisdiction.)

I was directed to fill out the form online. Great! Since I’m not a big fan of picking up the phone and sitting on hold, I prefer completing forms online.

I plug the URL into my Firefox web browser and get a page with the following text.

Firefox screenshot 1

I click on the Use our Secure Online COB Form link.

Firefox screenshot 2

Before I begin filling out the form, the padlock with the red exclamation point in the status bar catches my eye. Clicking on it brings up a message box with the following info:

Firefox screenshot 3

Well, that’s no good. I’m a full encryption kind of guy myself, especially when entering Social Security numbers for both myself and my spouse. (see screenshot above)

Knowing that Firefox is a more forgiving web browser when it comes to security warnings, I decide to try out the Blue Cross form in Internet Explorer, which most people would be using since it’s the most popular browser (for now).

After clicking on the very same Use our Secure Online COB Form link, I get a surprisingly blank web page with the following message box:

ie screenshot 1

Hmm. What would the average user do? I imagine the average user, like myself, would want to be secure. I click No, don’t show me these nonsecure items.

ie screenshot 2

Well, that’s not very user-friendly is it? Essentially I get a stripped down version of the online form, minus any graphics or page styling. You can still use it, and it is secure, but how many people would? If my mother had gotten this page, she would have thought she just broke the internet. Then she would have shut down her computer and backed slowly away.

If I had clicked Yes for show me nonsecure items, I would see a normal looking form – a nonsecure normal looking form, but a normal looking form nonetheless.

Now don’t get me wrong. I have been completely satisfied with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan as an insurance provider. And with the national unemployment rate approaching 7% and 46 million Americans living uninsured, I feel incredibly fortunate to even have a job that provides health insurance.

My point is this: the Blue Cross Blue Shield website failed to gain my trust. Any website that asks for a user’s personal information, especially when asking for Social Security numbers, needs to provide a secure environment.

You owe that trust to your customers. And in the long run, that trust will translate into repeat and faithful customers.

Josh Bernoff at Forrester’s Groundswell blog shares a similar experience of confusion surrounding Blue Cross’s Coordination of Benefits form.

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Oct
14th

Crawl Errors: Google Helps You Clean House

Posted by Nick on October 14, 2008 at 12:22 pm

As many webmasters already know, Google Webmaster Tools can provide a wealth of information regarding the visibility of a site in Google. With the latest update, its now even easier to find site crawl errors and, more importantly, the sources of those errors.

A site with broken links not only hinders the user experience, but can also prevent search engines from finding important site content.

The crawl error sources feature in Webmaster Tools provides the information needed to find these broken links and correct them. This new feature is found on the Web Crawl page of the Diagnostics section. In addition to a new column showing the number of errors for each designated URL, it only takes a simple click to view what pages are linking to those URLs. And for those with multiple pages of crawl errors, a full report can be downloaded to view everything in one place.

crawl error sources screenshot
Image Credit: Google Webmaster Central Blog

Using this information to correct crawl errors can help in a variety of ways.

Backlinks resulting in 404 Not Found pages mean both the site and potential visitors are missing out on the benefit of those links. Correcting these links so they point to functioning, relevant pages can help reestablish the relevancy those links were originally meant to provide.

After a site goes through a redesign and URL rewrite, it’s more than likely to have links from other websites pointing to old URLs. This new feature provides the information needed to correct this problem. Whether you prefer to contact the webmaster of the other site and provide them with the new URL, or instead redirect the old URL to the appropriate page, the new crawl error sources feature helps streamline the initial steps of this process.

From a usability standpoint, correcting a website’s broken links, both inbound and internal, will help improve the visitor experience. When visitors enter a site and are immediately presented with a 404 page, it really doesn’t provide the kind of first impression most businesses want for their site. This goes for internal navigation as well. When a visitor navigates through a site and the links they select keep leading to dead ends, it’s likely they won’t be clicking through the site much longer.

All in all, when looking to clean house and fix broken site links (both inbound and internal), the new crawl error sources feature of Google Webmaster Tools is a great resource.

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Aug
28th

Rocket Skates or Running Shoes, Just Make It Interesting

Posted by admin on August 28, 2008 at 4:09 pm

Sometimes writing website content on a subject you a) know little about or b) have limited experience with is like willing yourself to teleport to France – you can sit there and try for a few hours, but you’ll end up sweaty and frustrated and feeling like a big idiot when you stop.

I came across the late Paul McHenry Roberts’ essay “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words,” floating around Copyblogger. A professor of college English and author of a number of books on linguistics, Roberts told his students to get to the point already.

Editor’s Note: The link above to Roberts’ essay is no longer active. Here is a link to an archived version.

Here are a few things to remember for your next copywriting assignment to help avoid the urge to smash your keyboard to pieces.

1. Dig Up Some Facts

Do a little work. Fill your content with useful information, not what Roberts calls ‘the obvious padding.’ Instead of saying ‘driving fast is dangerous‘ in four or five different ways, show the reader why it’s dangerous; give them broken glass, emergency rooms, and sedans wrapped around telephone poles.

At times, copywriters avoid the meat and potatoes of a subject; they become lazy and opt out of creating tangible writing for writing that’s general and unspecific. Uncovering and sharing useful facts can help when you run out of things to say.

2. The Dreaded Word Count

Why let a number torture you? Why strive to constantly cram the neat, one-word holes you’ve dug with useless ten word phrases? Sure, you’re a little closer to your mark, but so what? Your ultimate goal is for the click-through. If your writing doesn’t generate conversions, that means the content you’ve created is sloppy and essentially worthless filler.

while e coyote by ebalaskas For example:

If you are absolutely in need of the most advanced and up-to-date booby traps anywhere in the entire world, then you have certainly found it here at the original Acme.com, the national leader of booby trap making and specializing in innovative booby trapping technologies to bring our customers the highest quality booby traps anywhere.

Can be simplified to:

Welcome to Acme.com, the national leader in high quality booby trap design and booby trap technologies.

Granted, a little marketing copy is sometimes needed with the advertising style of writing, but even the most susceptible coyote doesn’t want to wade through a lot of useless words to get to his Acme Jet Propelled Pogo Stick or Giant Mouse Traps.

3. Topical Paradise

Any topic can come a website copywriter’s way; running shoes, beachfront property, booby traps – an endless parade of topics ranging from the most entertaining to the least. Topics or clients can change, but the principle is the same. Roberts throws down this gauntlet:

The subject is one on which you have few convictions and little information. Can you be expected to make a dull subject interesting? As a matter of fact, this is precisely what you are expected to do.

Try a new approach, new language, new anything to engage your website visitor/reader in an interesting way, to get them impassioned about your products or services.

Image: ebalaskas

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Aug
27th

Niche & Branded Websites – Good or Bad Idea?

Posted by Steve on August 27, 2008 at 12:11 pm

Every day I talk with people about the online marketing initiatives that they are considering to help their websites and businesses, and it’s rare for a week to pass without hearing this question:

“Should we launch a new website with a more refined focus on our products and/or services?”

I hear it all the time because it’s a good question. And here’s my typical response:

“It depends.”

Before I can say whether or not it’s a good idea to employ such a strategy, I really need to get to the underlying reason for doing so.

One common reason is branding. You likely see it all the time, perhaps without really noticing. A car company may launch a “micro” or “branded” site focused on a particular vehicle model. A movie production company may purchase a specific domain to promote an upcoming release. An e-commerce merchant may launch separate websites in order to advertise trademarked brands or target a distinct type of audience.

times square billboards by romulusnr
Image: romulusnr

When the sole purpose behind the development of a new website is to promote a particular brand, in some cases, the benefits may outweigh any potential drawbacks given the inclusive marketing efforts surrounding that brand.

Beyond branding, though, the answer that I receive most frequently when inquiring about the purpose behind such an initiative is increased search engine visibility.

People explain that they want to develop multiple websites with the intent of gaining more real estate throughout the organic search engine listings.

Here’s an example:

A supplier of car parts currently owns a website promoting all of his products. He is thinking of launching 20 new websites, each focusing on a particular category, such as Engines, Tires, Interior Accessories, etc. Beyond those 20 category sites, he is also considering the development of sub-category websites. For example, one which focuses on Goodyear tires as opposed to all tire brands offered.

As is the case with the development of any SEO strategy, whether it is for one or multiple websites, there are numerous variables to consider.

One variable is time. Do you have the time and the resources that will be required to properly maintain several different websites? A strategy often used to save time is to utilize the same platform for multiple websites, and include identical product descriptions across numerous web properties. While you may gain presence for various keywords and appeal to some users based on the domain name of your niche site, this strategy is unlikely to generate the type of results that you’re looking for.

Another variable to consider is the status of your current website. Would you be better served by putting all of your eggs in one basket, including site maintenance, content development, link building, etc? Depending on the established authority of your site in the eyes of the search engines, the answer is often “yes.”

What about best practices? Is the plan to essentially create mirror websites with the sole objective being increased visibility throughout the search engines? If so, it is an ill-advised tactic that likely won’t result in any gains.

There is no one answer to the question of whether or not niche and/or branded websites are a good idea as it is completely dependent on your objectives. Given the amount of time, resources and money that could be expended on such an initiative, it is crucial to weigh all of the factors at play based on those objectives before confidently moving forward in the right direction.

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