2010.02.05 14:48:01

Rob Willox

US trade bodies adopt badge scheme

It's almost an everyday occurence now for consumers visiting web sites to have ads displayed that are selected based on their previous online habits, including data from websites and services they have visited.

Behavioural targeting of advertising works on the principle that when you click on any displayed ad you are expressing an interest in the target content. That interest is recorded either locally by a cookie entry or by the adserver so that similar content can be pushed to you when next visiting ad supported sites.

Behavioural Targeting | Promotion | Internet Marketing | Advertising

2010.01.25 19:03:45

Rob Willox

Eye tracking now available for all web sites

Testing web site useability has always been a valuable exercise to undertake but in the past has always been prohibitively expensive.

As such eye tracking analysis was only really available to the larger online business owner as it involved sophisticated tracking devices and the availability of test subjects similar to those being targeted as potential customers to get a actionable set of data to implement.

Analytics | Web Optimisation | Conversion | Google Analytics | Ecommerce

2010.01.05 15:24:38

Rob Willox

More on Twitter for business

There has been a number of posts on the above over the past months and the jury still seems to be out.

Although this year may see it and some of its siblings come of age!

Twitter | Internet Marketing

2009.12.17 17:04:32

Rob Willox

Amazon are successful! Why not just copy them?

If you're in the web design/optimisation business, how often are you asked if you can build a site just like Amazon's?

Maybe not every day but enough to have investigated how and why Amazon are as successful as they are and if there are any lessons to be learned.

To copy is the sincerest form of flattery!

Whereas that might be true to a point, it is where the point is and where it stops. And, there may not be any point at all!

Read more...

Web Optimisation | Google Website Optimizer | Ecommerce

2009.11.02 00:52:30

Rob Willox

Is Google Pagerank dead?

Now that the dust has settled on the debate, the concensus appears to be that dead or alive it doesn't make a lot of difference and as a metric didn't provide the average site owner a great deal of relevant information as to the performance of their site.

It certainly would be nice to see a big solid green block in the Google Toolbar, indicating a high pagerank (PR), but what does it actually mean. Unfortunately, Google, as it does with almost all its search algoriths, doesn't make it explicit, leaving it up to the imagination.

Analytics | Conversion | Search Engine Optimisation | Google Analytics

2009.08.23 10:50:24

Rob Willox

Can tweeting be good for your SEO?

The jury may still be out for many potential tweeters on its use or benefit for business development and promotion but there may be other benefits not yet realised. Many companies both large and small are experiencing benefits when using Twitter in terms of brand and customer relationship building.

However, I've noticed another which could prove beneficial from an SEO (search engine optimisation) perspective.

Conversion | Twitter | Search Engine Optimisation | SEO

2009.08.21 10:25:08

Rob Willox

OFT is to investigate ecommerce and behavioural targeting

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT), the UK consumer protection watchdog, has indicated that it will investigate internet advertising techniques and online pricing tactics that mislead consumers.

As part of its brief it will also include price comparison sites and the increasing application of behavioural targeting in relation to online advertising.

An outcome of the investigation could result in an industry code of practice on advertising and pricing if the OFT finds significant evidence of misleading, unfair or unethical behaviour being employed by online retailers.

Advertising | Internet Marketing | Ecommerce | Copywriting

2009.07.23 16:47:23

Rob Willox

Internet advertising on the increase but needs to be different than traditional model

A recent new LinkedIn Research Network/Harris Poll has found that the majority (92%) of advertisers are using Internet advertising in their media campaigns as reported on WebProNews.

It's not surprising that there is a trend towards all the forms of internet advertising given the size of the mall and 'footfall' but...

Copywriting | Google Adwords | Advertising | Internet Marketing

2009.07.23 12:21:27

Rob Willox

Is the jury still out on Twitter?

Twitter is only one of a number of 'social' sites and the main reason for creating a Twitter account was to test whether it could be useful or just hype.

I posted a blog entry titled "Website optimisation - what good can it do?" and posted a tweet "To SEO or WSO, that is the question?" pointing to the blog post.

Twitter | Advertising | Promotion | SEO

2009.07.21 08:55:34

Rob Willox

If you can't measure it, don't do it!

... as Peter Drucker, regarded as the father of modern business management practice is noted for saying, "if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it".

And if you can't manage it you can't control its effects or impact on what you are trying to achieve.

I would go one step further and say that "if you can't measure it, don't do it!". Unless, of course, you are prepared to make, at least, some small effort in the attempt.

And, I would add, that it should apply to every form of marketing activity regardless of the medium.

Analytics | Conversion | Google Analytics | Advertising | Internet Marketing