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Americans are generally not familiar with British spelling unless they have British friends or clients. American spellcheckers regularly complain about accepted alternate spellings - but then what can we expect from computer related spellchecking dictionaries that don't include common online terms.
I predict we can count on Google's system staying difficult to use and frequently down. The more challenging it is to check your results and work in the account the longer they can keep their profits going.
Did you see I, Cringley's Nov 2 column about Google buying and/or killing off their competitors. It is our fault if we keep letting that happen. If we would promote the little guy some of them would refuse to sell out and then Google won't end up with a monopoly.
He didn't mention that his bid is at .50 at Facebook and he is getting traffic and awesome LEAD conversions and his bids at Google are $6-7 a click with poor results. I am having many others open accounts there to find out what the traffic and conversion rates look like.
I agree that the time to do it is now while they'll be providing excellent results. Plan to move on when the operant conditioning kicks in and they Google-ize. (See http://flyingrose.stumbleupon.com/review/14083145/ for an explanation.)
Streko gets the credit for telling me Facebook Ads were working for him. NowSourcing gets the credit for sending me that particular article when I shared Streko's news with him. I just called Durk Price to let him know about this. He is the sharpest Affiliate Marketer I've ever come across. He is to affiliate programs what I am to AdWords.
Facebook just gave us the most awesome free market research tool since Google AdWords. Any small business can now find out the demographics of their buyers. The sharp affiliates Durk works with will jump on that so fast it will make all of our heads spin. They can then use that information to determine what other sites are the best fit for each advertiser.
I see affiliates as the very best way to grow a business. You only pay if they get results. The sharper they are and the more they increase their skills the more money they can make. That is such an elegant use of time and effort. Instead of being beholden to search engines and ppc programs businesses will focus on actual Buyers who come from many sources. That will create businesses that are very stable and grow predictably.
Check out the poll on Bob's post about the percentages that are unhappy with AdWords. Google doesn't have to listen but they may finally experience backlash. They may manage to damage their reputation so badly - or their incompetence may make their systems so unstable - that the users will change horses.
Interconnected bloggers have far more power to influence Internet users than they currently realize - and that may be part of what was behind the recent lowering of powerful bloggers pagerank. Bloggers can make a coordinated effort to change Internet user behavior.
The only reason that hasn't happened to Microsoft in spite of widespread disapproval is that no wise campaigners for Open Source have shown the way by explaining how to change at a level most computer users can understand and implement. Google is far more vulnerable than Microsoft; changing operating systems is a lot tougher than changing search engines.
@jeffquipp - that is a good example of assuming what you observe equates to a particular behavior where that assumption may be inaccurate. Here are three potential reasons for what you report seeing:
1. Your assumption that they Sphunn without reading
2. That they read it previously in their RSS feeds (or elsewhere they frequent like SU, Digg, etc. with many users in common) and then Sphinn them sequentially when they recognize them at Sphinn.
3. Some open multiple tabs/windows, read them all sequentially, and then Spinn those they can recommend from the main page to save time. The slowness of the system here and elsewhere encourages this behavior.
Making the assumption that anyone who Sphinns quickly did not read what they Sphunn has failed to consider possibilities 2 and 3 above.
We may also Sphinn a submission based on comments/discussions we are engaged in with others in group chats or via individual chat windows. That is how those of use who are very busy quickly communicate today. It is also how we learn and teach new skills to increase productivity.
I started to submit this 20 hours before I finally got back to it so I'm adding this comment so it will at least show up on the comments page. If you use AdWords or other ppc engines this is the best way I know to get more bang for your buck.
Gee, and it only took them SIX MONTHS - the equivalent of TWO INTERNET YEARS! Microsoft and Yahoo are both handicapped by building their ppc models on legacy systems instead of starting clean.
As of 10/30/07 1:51 p.m. CST, this story has 314 Diggs, 22 hr 14 min ago, made popular 2 hr 5 min ago but garners little interest here. If who controls the rules regarding domains changes it WILL affect everyone who has a site regardless of what is on that site.
While I absolutely concur that conversions are the most important factor in online success and most sites do a very poor job of converting their visitors into customers, it is the ability to measure conversion rates that causes this traffic quality issue to be so obvious.
All traffic is NOT created equal. If anyone can show me a site that is every going to generate strong conversion rates from ads volunteered by parked domains and searches for profiles, videos, and music on social networking sites like MySpace that I've got to see.
Only traffic quality problems can be the root cause of conversion rates swinging wildly back and forth between 1.5-2.5 and 0.3 for the same advertising to the same landing pages. This type of erratic behavior is unacceptable.
It is clear to me that only a better computer program will be able to control algo-based systems like AdWords.
@TimDineen - The issue here is not the ability of a site to convert - it is the intentional dilution of traffic quality by the ppc engines. You ask "And if 10% (or 1.5%) conversion rate isn't acceptable, what is? Adwords clicks are expected to convert 100% of the time?". Most advertisers would LOVE to have a conversion rate of 10%; however, the main issue here is consistency/predictability.
A site will normally convert at a rate that is fairly predictable averaged over any given time period. Whatever the conversion percentage is, the advertiser can set advertising spend so that they are not losing money.
When manipulation of the quality of the traffic causes your stable conversion rate to suddenly drop from 1.4% to 0.3% as shown in the graphs I posted at http://www.ppcthink.com/2007/10/27/poor-quality-traffic-equals-low-conversions/ while simultaneously increasing spending, the potential losses are a higher risk than many advertisers are going to be willing to make.
How much you can afford to bid and spend is set based on your average conversion rate. If you can stabilize neither the conversion rate nor the spending manually (as many have been doing for years and I have been doing since 2003) the only way to protect the advertiser is through implementation of a computer program sophisticated enough to immediately correct for these types of issues.
Ironically, it may be the interaction of these various programs that is causing the volatility we're seeing! Every time Google changes and all those automated tools adjust that will trigger Google to change more and so on in an endless loop.
Just as some of us are doing our best to learn to live consciously we have created computer programs that are in the same type of endless tit-for-tat react mode that is humanity's greatest weakness.
@Terry - traffic quality USED TO BE "a function of the keyword choice, negative keywords being used, and the biggest single most important thing to qualify your traffic is the ad copy." That is NO LONGER TRUE.
If Google displays your ad at the top of the page for totally unrelated searches on social networking and volunteers it for canned searches (i.e., no one typed the words into anything) parked domain sites what used to work will not control traffic quality.
I totally agree with Robert and suspect that those who are equally sure that Jill Whalen and Doug Heil are correct are viewing this from a strictly SEO link value perspective. In my humble opinion, links on a Web site are primarily for the benefit of the human visitors. Whether they are also good for SEO and PageRank or not are secondary considerations (at least for some of us).
Social media is going to convert more like content because that is what it is. It will drive more traffic than contextual advertising because of the flocking factor NowSourcing wrote about (i.e. most people are followers, sheep, lemmings).
As ppc costs continue to escalate while traffic quality declines, diversifying to as many traffic sources as possible is priority one. An ideal business model will be to rely as little on any one source as possible with 10% or less per source as an ambitious target.
Now would be an excellent time to focus on building sites for humans and linking as a way of sharing the wealth of information and buyers from one excellent site to another. Focus on what is important and the rest will take care of itself.
Great Sphinn Rob - you beat me to it. The lightbulb just went on regarding why Google Analytics is using last click instead of first which would make more sense (at least for any advertiser who is not a household name). This article has been picked up by multiple sites so duplicates here are highly likely; while I was unsuccessfully trying to locate the original source, you Sphunn the best one I found so far.
Microsoft may or may not be correct though; Google Analytics that has not been custom configured is far more likely to attribute sales to every source but the original Google Ad responsible for the eventual sale when it is used on any ecommerce site that also lists products on price comparison sites.
It is VERY clear to me that we must track EVERY visit - not just the first (as Google's conversion tracking does) or last (as Google Analytics does). I would be greatly appreciative to anyone who will share methods they use or have read about to track all visits. Thank you.
Those who don't think a new search engine developed by Danny and Rand could fly are underestimating the influence of bloggers, Web site owners, online advertisers, and the SEM industry.
Bloggers who truly understand the power of interconnected blogs are quickly going to have the power of syndicated columnists and eventually the collective power of Oprah. They will be able to raise awareness quickly and without needing the major media to do it. (How do you suppose Google and MySpace got so big? Start noticing have often they're mentioned in the mainstream media.)
SEM companies already have influence with decision-makers in Fortune 500/1000 companies. At least some of them will get tired of overpaying for advertising. The little advertisers are going to be ready to jump anywhere they can get traffic that drives PROFITABLE sales - rapidly becoming a major challenge with the major PPC engines.
Those who don't yet know what scalability is are likely to find out soon. Sites I stumble can crash under the unusual load. With the huge amounts of traffic social networking sites can send bloggers and especially ecommerce sites are at risk. Being mentioned in major media and especially on television may do the same.
You may be hit with an unexpected bill for going over bandwidth limits or conversely, find out your hosting company disables your site if you hit your limit. The time to find out is before you miss out on your day of online fame.
This is a good topic for coverage by bloggers in any niche as it pertains to all blogs and is more critical for ecommerce sites and especially those who count on the holiday selling season for their major profits. Imagine your site going down during prime holiday buying days? That can cause major losses.
StumbleUpon is not making the most effective use of the quality content provided to them for free by conscientious bloggers using SU. They could grow exponentially and be a far greater resouce by providing obvious permalinks to be used to send SU users and potential new users directly to either a specific entry in a Stumbler's blog or to all of the entries they have tagged for that subject.
Having permalinks would allow someone to share resources at SU with their friends via email, on their own sites and quickly in any blog post thereby sending massive amounts of traffic TO StumbleUpon. We need links like those that go directly to categories such as
http://www.stumbleupon.com/tag/e-commerce/ to easily target specific subjects.
While having content on Stumbler's blogs in Tag Cloud order works well for those who have limited interests, it makes it nearly impossible to easily find the awesome information linked in by prolific stumblers. Look at my own account there at http://flyingrose.stumbleupon.com and look at the tags and you'll quickly see how difficult it is to locate the tag for a particular topic.
Tags should either be in alphabetical order or there should be an OBVIOUS way to sort them alphabetically. The tag cloud is very useful and as a sponsor I do use it regularly; however, having all tags in that order only makes them far less likely to be used.
I agree with the others that many of the best features of StumbleUpon are practically a secret. That is why I teach how to do things at SU both there and in my own blog. SU should provide a prominent link via persistent navigation to clearer information on how to use it. A "tip of the day" could be tested and as long as it could easily be subscribed to and opted out of that might work well.
I suspect the 200 friend limit is intended to prevent the use of SU for network marketing. I hit that limit long ago and must regularly "unfriend" stumblers to make room for others. Like Tamar, I would love to be able to mark certain stumblers I contact more regularly. (If that is not provided users WILL find a way - elsewhere.)
Although finding and "meeting" others of like mind at SU is unparalleled and the reason for their huge popularity, it is StumbleUpon's ability to drive massive amounts of traffic that will keep people like me active there in the long run. Any actions taken to eliminate that ability will be seriously detrimental to the future of StumbleUpon. I hope we can all get over this idea that driving traffic or wanting to help people find specific sites, products or services is bad. Although it CAN be abused, it is a far greater benefit to many.
Just as they drive much traffic, much of their growth comes from people interested in making money online - whether they be entrepreneurs who have or wish to start a business or individuals who want to make a little extra money. As long as SU can be used to bring exposure to them, they will gladly keep using and recommending - HEAVILY recommending - StumbleUpon.
Few recognize today the power bloggers will be yielding. A regular blog or Web site is like having a column in your local paper where readership depends on current circulation. Interconnected blogs will be like syndicating that column: think the reach of Ann Landers with the added benefit of interactivity. A network of bloggers can eventually be as powerful as a recommendation from Oprah.
StumbleUpon could provide (or encourage open source development of) a lot of enhanced features that will make individual blogs there stickier and more effective. This is an advanced wish list and not anything that is likely to be available soon. Here are some examples of features we could use fast, easy ways to accomplish:
- Create buttons for fast, easy access to their most important categories.
- The ability to rearrange the order posts appear to improve usefulness and flow.
- Making individual blogs searchable by keyword.
- The ability to subscribe to content for a specific tag in a specific stumbler's blog.
- Table of Contents and indexes for specific Stumblers.
- A way to provide specific content or link to particular posts from pages a Stumbler could create in order to feature their best content for that subject.
Marty has been so extremely generous with his time and expertise that few knew the challenges he is still facing in his personal life. Marty's focus is so completely on helping others that even though he has been instrumental in making my own blog possible, I only recently became aware of this issue.
Here is our opportunity to support Marty, our Industry, and charity. If each of us shares this event wherever we have reach online - from social networking platforms to our own blogs - imagine the huge impact we can have.
And there is another less obvious benefit. Best of the Web is a very established, long-standing online directory. Every online business can request a free listing so there is your reason to share this event with everyone: they can use the link on the charity event page to reach their directory and benefit themselves too.
Story: Rose Says Delete All Google AdWords Broad Match Keywords for Higher Profitability and Lower Risk
I just added a reply to Christine Parfitt's comments and further clarification. She asked some excellent questions and I've added much more detail regarding the structure of the accounts used in the example. Even if you've already read the post you may want to revisit as I expect it to generate some excellent additional data from a variety of experienced AdWords users.
I will mention here that these are long established accounts that were using all three match types entered in the same ad group and all are totally opted out of the content network.
Thank you so much for posting this. Even though I am on their mailing list I intend to attend and consistently miss this event. I'm surprised more haven't Sphunn it as it is worth attending and starts this coming Tuesday.
Story: 49 Google Adwords tips
While this is a comprehensive list, focusing on a clear goal logically is a better strategy than pursuing tips. I also want to caution ppc advertisers from making business decisions based on what they think analytics is telling them. Many are using the default configuration of Google Analytics and it incorrectly attributes the original source of a conversion the majority of the time. It also does not track phone sales. On top of that, many advertisers are not familar with how much data is required to be statistically significant.
Acting on poorly understood analytics data is more dangerous than not using it at all.
I absolutely concur. The Internet is about to make a quantum change - much of it is already there. I believe all sites that are prospering online will soon be either interconnected WordPress mashups or store platforms or most likely both.
Those who succeed are those willing to stop clinging to whatever they hope will keep them safe. Safety is an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. Just let go and set out on the ride of your life. You may was well; you know this isn't a dress rehearsal.
Story: Google's Adwords can't tell time or spell...