Archive for February, 2008
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008
Via Jon Waraas, an image that originally appeared on SEO Researcher, with the click rate for different positions occupied in the search engines. While it can’t be an exact science and the click rate can be influenced by the way a title is written, whether it’s with capital letters or not, and so on, it can still give you a good idea of what you can expect.
I remember something similar appearing some time ago, based on the leaked AOL data, but I can’t find it right now. If they’re different, it would be interesting to compare. This one seems to be old as well, as SEO Researcher hasn’t been updated in a long time.
As you can see in the pic, aiming for the 1st place in the search engines is always worth it. Don’t settle for number 2. First place can mean that over 50% of those that search for a keyword click on your link, while only 13% might click if you’re on the second place.
If you’re wondering why number 10 gets more clicks then 9, it’s because it’s closer to the next page link, where people go directly if they can’t find what they’re looking for in the beginning of the results page.
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Tuesday, February 12th, 2008
A good landing page when it comes to affiliate offers, can make the difference between a disaster and that new dual monitor setup on your wish list. And it’s not all about the copy, it’s about the look of the page as well.
This is where CSS Landing Pages comes in. It’s a relatively new site, offering to anyone in need a template for sales pages or mini site templates. Now, it doesn’t give you the sales copy. That, you need to find somewhere else. But it does offer you the graphics you need to create a page that makes the customer get out his credit card.
For a relatively small sum, you get a number of templates with a wide variety of headers suitable for different topics, WordPress themes done on those templates and graphics. So you can use them as sales pages or you can build some mini sites if you want to use single column themes.
They have a single package for sale, that contains the following:
- 7 landing page templates with different headers, each for a different topic, with a total of 136 variants, and the PSD files for them.
- 196 images that you can use to give your sales page a boost. That includes check boxes, arrows, bullets and buttons.
- 3 WordPress themes based on 3 of the layouts offered in the package
As a bonus, you also receive an ebook that teaches you how to create landing pages, "Landing Page Success Guide".
I can’t really testify on the quality of the ebook that comes with the graphics package, but I’m feeling that the landing pages and the WordPress themes alone should be worth the current price.
A pleasant surprise was the Privacy Policy. I think it’s actually the first one that I can read without falling a sleep.
If you want to give affiliate marketing a try, make sure you check out what CSS Landing Pages has to offer. Those graphics, in combination with the free ebook on landing pages might be just what you need to get you started with your basics.
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Monday, February 11th, 2008
For a while now, I’ve been wishing to have my own forum, so I gave forum promotion quite a bit of thought in the past. The Imperial Ages Forum will probably fill that wish for me once the game is launched and the forum will be a bit more busy.
Let’s take a look at a number of blog promotion methods and how they can be used for forums. Keep in mind that this is theory on my part as I lack the experience in forum promotion. Feel free to contribute in the comments if you have something to add or correct.
1. Social Media
While the way the content is presented is very different from a blog, a forum can still use social media. Funny threads, breaking news, tips and tricks, I’ve seen all kinds of forums hit the frontpage of Digg. Granted, not very often, but I find it hard to believe that the content is less important than the place where it’s located. If the content is good enough for the frontpage there is no reason why it shouldn’t get there.
Actually, it just might have it a bit easier, as submissions from blogs have more suspicious eyes on them.
2. Themes And Plugins
Again, while themes and plugins are usually released on blogs and sites, they can be just as easily released on forums, with links in the footer to the launch thread and the front page of the forum.
Either for forum software or for WordPress, these probably work best when launched on webmaster forums, as they would get relevant links in return, especially with plugins when it comes to WordPress. That’s because plugins are announced mostly by blogs that talk about blogging or making money online, while for themes you get links from blogs on all kinds of topics.
3. Contests
Contests should actually work better on forums than on blogs (or not). Starting their own threads, having to register, having a wider variety of talks to get involved in, these would all contribute to a better chance of people staying onboard when the contest is over.
On a blog, people force themselves to comment on everything a blogger writes, if comments are the criteria to win.
4. Great Content
Quite a difference here, both in the way the content is presented and in the quantity of information. A 10 page article seems much easier to read on a blog. Still, good information should be present on any forum, in a succinct manner. Would you register and be a regular member on a webmaster forum that doesn’t give you any new information?
Many things that you do on a blog can be tried on a forum. A case study in a thread that can be updated regularly with the progress is one example.
In the end, you have to invest time and a lot of work in both cases. All the things above need work and a long term commitment on your part.
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Saturday, February 2nd, 2008
If you’re interested in showing ads only to search engine visitors and still use the Shylock Adsense plugin to insert the ads, check out this hack from Stephen Cronin that lets you do that. It’s a great idea and it will also be an option in the next version of the Shylock Adsense plugin. Until then, you can read the instructions from the link above to make it work.
It should prove especially useful if you suffer from smart pricing or if you want to avoid it.
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Friday, February 1st, 2008
Latest news say that Microsoft just offered $44.6 billion for Yahoo!, at $31 per share, 62% more then the stock price. Very interesting to see if this goes through (a price that is hard to refuse) and what kind of giant will emerge as rival to Google from this.
Microsoft Proposes Acquisition of Yahoo! for $31 per Share
Transaction valued at approximately $44.6 billion in cash and stock;
Provides 62 percent premium to current trading price for Yahoo! shareholders;
Combined entity to create a more competitive company while providing superior value to shareholders and better choice and innovation for customers and partners.
Much more on this at Search Engine Land
Update: the offer is half cash, half stock and you can find the press release here.
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