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<title>Sphinn / palmerseo / Voted News</title>
<link>http://sphinn.com</link>
<description>Sphinn</description>
<pubDate>Mon, 24 Nov 2008 07:57:45 -0800</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[The 5 Biggest Mistakes in PPC Testing]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/87285</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/87285</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 24 Nov 2008 07:57:45 -0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Google AdWords</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/87285</guid>
<description><![CDATA[common mistakes when testing ppc campaigns<br/><br/>38 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<item>
<title><![CDATA[Word of Mouth Marketing vs Search: When Top Google Rankings Are Worthless]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/85241</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/85241</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:36:49 -0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Online Marketing</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/85241</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Excellent read regarding the limits of high search engine rankings, and why they are no substitute for good WOM marketing.<br/><br/>5 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[7 Weirdest SEO Mistakes Big Companies Make]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/82721</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/82721</comments>
<pubDate>Sun, 02 Nov 2008 22:23:50 -0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Google SEO</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/82721</guid>
<description><![CDATA[List of common, and frustrating mistakes made by companies when contracting with an SEO<br/><br/>19 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Affiliate Links Can Pass Link Juice & Help With SEO]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/78615</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/78615</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:25:35 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Link Building</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/78615</guid>
<description><![CDATA[a4In no uncertain terms, that if affiliate links came from valuable, relevant, trust-worthy sources - bloggers endorsing a product, affiliates of high quality, etc. - they would be counted in link algorithms. Aaron from Google and Nathan from Microsoft both agreed that good affiliate links would be counted by their engines and that it was not necessary to mark these with a nofollow or other method of blocking link value.<br/><br/>5 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[15 Features Your Site Doesn't Need]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/69398</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/69398</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:37:42 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Online Marketing</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/69398</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A refreshing post, encouraging site owners to stay away from the distracting noise of unnecessary site features.<br/><br/>2 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<item>
<title><![CDATA[Tell Us Your Best PPC Success Story & Win Great Prizes!]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/57775</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/57775</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:05:09 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Paid Search</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/57775</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Share your PPC success story<br/><br/>1 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Long Term SEO Strategy - 6 Tips for Long-Term SEO Success]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/54070</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/54070</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:28:14 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>SEO</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/54070</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Anyone who has ever meddled with SEO has asked themselves a ubiquitous question, &quot;How quickly can I rank for [insert keyword phrase here]? More and more, I'm finding the word &quot;quickly&quot; and &quot;SEO&quot; don't belong in the same sentence.We want to believe there's a magic SEO tactic that, if used, will revolutionize our results. On the contrary, a sound, long-term strategy consisting of great content combined with long-term SEO will win out. Below are 6 tips for ensuring long-term SEO success.<br/><br/>4 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[3 Product Page Sales Boosters]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/53814</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/53814</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:15:39 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Usability</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/53814</guid>
<description><![CDATA[For this 3 Things entry, let's take examine creative sales boosting tips retailers are using on their product pages to squeak out more conversions.<br/><br/>2 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[3 Innovative Site Navigation Strategies]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/45505</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/45505</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 10 May 2008 22:02:49 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Other Online Marketing</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/45505</guid>
<description><![CDATA[3 ideas for site navigation.<br/><br/>1 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<item>
<title><![CDATA[Interview with Aaron Wall: SEO Advice for E-Commerce Sites]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/42328</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/42328</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:21:15 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Google SEO</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/42328</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Recently I had the privilege of quizzing Aaron Wall from SEO Book regarding eCommerce SEO strategies. Below is the Q and A from the interview. A special thanks to Aaron for his time. After the read, be sure to checkout his SEO Training program.<br/><br/>4 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[7 Ways To Improve International E-Commerce Usability]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/39624</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/39624</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 09 Apr 2008 09:10:36 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Usability</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/39624</guid>
<description><![CDATA[When you run an ecommerce website, you have the potential to sell products to people around the world - even from your own basement. But many online retailers expect to make international sales without doing all they should to help convert international shoppers. Here are a few ideas to help make the online shopping experience smooth for your international customers.<br/><br/>6 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[How to Own All 10 Google Results]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/36523</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/36523</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:04:33 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Google SEO</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/36523</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Ok, so it's probably not possible to own all 10 listings on the SERPs for your brand name, but you can certainly try.First off, why should you care about having more than one result for your company name? From a branding point of view, it lends great credibility. Multiple results on various web properties conveys that you're &quot;out there&quot; and actively engaged with your customers in many forms. From a public relations view, it's a great way to potentially push negative press (customer complaints) off the first page.<br/><br/>2 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<item>
<title><![CDATA[PliggSites.com : Directory of Pligg Powered Sites]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/35878</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/35878</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:51:02 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Link Building</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/35878</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The effect of Digg style sites on link building, SEO, and driving traffic has helped fuel the social media marketing movement. But did you know there is much more to social media marketing than just listings on Digg, Netscape and StumbleUpon?<br/><br/>4 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[10 Steps for SEO-ing Product Pages]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/35794</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/35794</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:40:13 -0700</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Other Search Marketing</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/35794</guid>
<description><![CDATA[&quot;How can I SEO my product pages?&quot; - It's a good question that I hear frequently. After all, who has the time and resources to build links to hundreds, even thousands of individual products on an eCommerce site? Who has the time to write compelling, keyword rich copy for all these pages as well? Obviously, product page SEO must take a different approach. First, let's start with the problem...<br/><br/>6 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[25 Local Search Optimization Tips]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/30905</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/30905</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:45:41 -0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Local &amp; Maps</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/30905</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Local search presents unique challenges and opportunities. With the potential for your listing to show in 3 different areas on the results page, (organic listing, local listings, and paid listings), local search presents an exciting potential to dominate your space.<br/><br/>6 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<item>
<title><![CDATA[6 Ways to Avoid Dead Ends on Your Website]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/28439</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/28439</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 13 Feb 2008 21:10:32 -0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Usability</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/28439</guid>
<description><![CDATA[When was the last time took a look at your top exit pages? Odds are, there's a few pages that suffer from higher than average abandonment rates.Off course, at some point, visitors will leave your site. But why not keep them there as long as possible? Below I've listed what I think are the most common exit pages on an eCommerce website. I'll also cover some tactics for keeping the visitor engaged after they reach this page.<br/><br/>5 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Dona4t Even Start Link Building Until Youa4]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/27600</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/27600</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:49:14 -0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Link Building</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/27600</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Far too often, SEOs spin their wheels obsessing about link building. (I myself included) It's easy to forget that classic on page and site-wide SEO still works.<br/><br/>3 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<item>
<title><![CDATA[Internet Customer Service Needs a Revolution]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/26417</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/26417</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 01 Feb 2008 12:49:45 -0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Online Marketing</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/26417</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Imagine walking into a brick-and-mortar store, asking an employee a question, and being outright ignored.How about asking a specific, well-thought out question to a store clerk, then watching the employee thumb through a procedure manual, and read you a canned answer that completely misses your question.<br/><br/>5 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[5  SEO & SEM Tools Everyone Should Use]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/25317</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/25317</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 26 Jan 2008 17:30:33 -0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Search Marketing</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/25317</guid>
<description><![CDATA[As an SEO &amp; SEM consultant, I'm constantly looking for ways to improve my productivity and effectiveness. In this quick post, I'd thought I'd share 5 tools that are making my life a heck of a lot easier.<br/><br/>8 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[3 Steps for Getting an Indented SERP Result]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/25166</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/25166</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 25 Jan 2008 10:50:59 -0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Google SEO</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/25166</guid>
<description><![CDATA[So you've got your listing in the top 5. Now what? How about doubling your real estate with an indented SERP result?<br/><br/>3 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<item>
<title><![CDATA[7 Ways to Make Search Results More Clickable]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/25165</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/25165</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 25 Jan 2008 10:49:31 -0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>SEO</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/25165</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Getting into the top 10 is only half the battle. How does your search result fare against the other SERP real estate? Here's some simple tips I've gathered to help make your listing stand out.<br/><br/>2 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[3 Ways Retailers Handle Out-of-Stock Items]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/24576</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/24576</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 22 Jan 2008 20:07:30 -0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Online Marketing</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/24576</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The ultimate disappointment for a customer is viewing the product page of an item they really want, and finding it's not available. Recently, I came across several sites that take a unique approach with handling out-of-stock or discontinued items.<br/><br/>3 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Measuring SEO Success.... 7 Key Performance Indiciators]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/22944</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/22944</comments>
<pubDate>Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:25:29 -0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Search Marketing</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/22944</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Now that Google seems to be artificially adjusting the PageRank of certain sites, we have one more reason to ignore it as a useful SEO key performance indicator. So what should we use to measure the success of our SEO projects? Below, I've listed the 7 SEO KPI's that I track for my sites.<br/><br/>9 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[11 Ways to Optimize your Internal Site Search]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/22920</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/22920</comments>
<pubDate>Sun, 13 Jan 2008 14:13:41 -0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Usability</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/22920</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Google has raised the bar. If you misspell a word, it tells you. If you perform a search returning millions of results, they prioritize the results by showing you the most relevant page (usually).Compare that to most internal site search features on eCommerce sites. Not only can they not handle misspellings, they usually to a poor job of ranking results. Combine a poor site search feature with a confusing navigation, and you've got a usability nightmare. Below I've gathered up 11 ideas for improving your internal site search feature.<br/><br/>5 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[3 Effective Link Building Tactics for 2008]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/20840</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/20840</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 31 Dec 2007 12:52:24 -0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Link Building</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/20840</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Obtaining good quality backlinks without paying for them is becoming increasingly difficult. In this short post, I thought I'd share 3 link building tactics that have been working for me lately.<br/><br/>3 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[It's a Small Web After All... 8 Global SEO Tips]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/19903</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/19903</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 21 Dec 2007 14:24:00 -0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>SEO</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/19903</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Recently, I received a few links to my blog from a website located in France. About the same time, I started receiving traffic from the French version of Google. (google.fr) This got me wondering how to capture more international search traffic.Despite the many SEO blogs I subscribe to, I see very little information posted on global SEO strategies. Out of curiosity, I started researching international SEO tactics. Below are some suggestions that I found.<br/><br/>3 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[FAQ Pages are Deada4 Answer Questions in the Right Place]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/19030</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/19030</comments>
<pubDate>Sun, 16 Dec 2007 20:37:35 -0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Usability</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/19030</guid>
<description><![CDATA[When was the last time you actually took the time to find an answer on a FAQ page? What about searching through a customer service knowledge base?For me, if information I need is not immediately accessible, I will leave a website immediately. Likewise, most web customers are impatient and demand information at their finger-tips. In the post, I thought I would share some common questions I have throughout the buying process on a website. If questions such as these are answered on the spot, rather than through a hard to find FAQ page or knowledge base, I am much more likely to buy.<br/><br/>3 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[12 Killer Email Subject Line Ideas]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/18694</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/18694</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 13 Dec 2007 19:17:46 -0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Online Marketing</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/18694</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Subject lines are the first, and sometimes only, impression an email makes on a customer. Mastering this magical one-liner is not easy. The key here is to diversify your email subject line. Any one of the ideas below, if used too frequently, will lose its efficacy.<br/><br/>2 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[25 Ways to Speed Up your Website]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/17217</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/17217</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 04 Dec 2007 21:03:52 -0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Usability</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/17217</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Speed kills. In the case of website usability, the lack of speed kills. Many have erroneously assumed the advent of high speed internet connections would make website performance optimization irrelevant. On the contrary, it seems as internet connection speeds increase, users simply become more impatient and demand faster browsing. Below, I've gathered some simple (and advanced) ways to speed up your site.<br/><br/>2 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Why Traditional Web Analytics Suck]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/16715</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/16715</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 01 Dec 2007 15:25:34 -0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Online Marketing</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/16715</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Just the other night, my wife wanted to buy a purse on an eC0mmerce site that I have done extensive work for. Just out of curiosity, I decided to stand behind her and watch her interact with the website. As I jotted down notes as she went about shopping, I began to notice things I had never considered before. She tried clicking on things that weren't intended to be clicked on. Certain areas of the pages caught her attention that I didn't consider noteworthy.<br/><br/>12 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[17 Email Deliverability Tips]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/16013</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/16013</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 27 Nov 2007 18:13:26 -0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Other Online Marketing</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/16013</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Email deliverability is a headache. We used to worry about the content of an email blast, and avoid spammy words like free or using ALL CAPS. But with the shift in the last few years towards repuation based SPAM filtering, email deliverability tactics have changed drastically. Now, instead of one isolated email getting stuck in the bulk folder, you risk damaging your long term sender reputation if you're not using best practices. Below, I've gathered some tips for ensuring your email makes it successfully to the inbox.<br/><br/>2 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[From Customers to Fans - Creating Enduring Brand Loyalty]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/15187</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/15187</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 21 Nov 2007 19:46:21 -0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>Other Online Marketing</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/15187</guid>
<description><![CDATA[In my opinion, there's two ways to build a well-known, enduring brand:Spend tons of money on advertising and PR campaigns Let your customers do the marketing for you With the rising cost of most traditional forms of marketing, who wouldn't prefer the second option? Unfortunately, very few customers ever become true fans. After all, many businesses focus entirely too much on customer acquisition and neglect customer retention. But in order for customers to become fans, not even traditional retention strategies will suffice. Companies must go out of their way and transform their customers into friends, advisors, and partners. Below I've listed some ideas I've either used or seen used to accomplish this purpose.<br/><br/>3 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[25 eCommerce SEO Tips]]></title>
<link>http://sphinn.com/story/13615</link>
<comments>http://sphinn.com/story/13615</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:40:53 -0800</pubDate>
<dc:creator></dc:creator>
<category>SEO</category>
<guid>http://sphinn.com/story/13615</guid>
<description><![CDATA[In some ways, it seems search engines have a grudge against eCommerce sites. Often times, I don't blame them. Many online stores offer little useful content, including dry manufacturer product descriptions, poor internal linking, and no unique, user generated content. Without a doubt eCommerce sites have unique challenges when it comes to SEO. Below I've gathered 25 tips that I've successfully used while optimizing eCommerce sites in the past.<br/><br/>7 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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