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posted by Dave Matson at 10:26 AM  (0) comments

  Autism Speaks Autism and related Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) is a condition that has affected several members of my family. It impacts the brain's cues for social interaction and emotional development.

What causes it remains a mystery, but it is very common, affecting 1 in 166 children, and perhaps even more according to some studies. The explosion in cases in the last decades is almost certainly the result of aggressive diagnosis. The cause is unknown, but it could be a combination of environmental and genetic factors.

Though there is no cure for autism spectrum disorder, children who are diagnosed early can be helped significantly with early intervention. I have witnessed this firsthand, and owe a tremendous amount to a number of early intervention therapists.

Autism Speaks is the leading organization fighting for autism research.

Here is a list of famous people who may have been autistic to some degree.


Thanks to purposeinc for continually promoting many important causes in the internet marketing community. 

posted by Dave Matson at 1:51 PM  (0) comments

  Domains Re-Revisted The topic of domain names for a site is always a topic of current interest . Last year I wrote about the challenges in assessing the value of a domain name.

The basics of website names are always true. Domains with solid keywords relevant to your business are always a good idea, especially if you are going to build a high quality site around it.

However, it has been difficult to find good keyword dot com domains in recent years. Almost any domain name with a few common words is owned by someone. In the past, domainers even have programs that mechanically purchase domain names with strings of common words, just for the speculation value.

But the domain collector/speculator market is changing. The value of a parked or redirected domain, in general, is less than it once was. Parked domains are not bringing in the revenue they once were, as the economy and the PPC ad market have dropped off considerably. (So my domain collector friends tell me, anyway.)

In this new tougher market, many people who would buy domains just to hold onto them and see if they appreciate are letting annual registrations expire to save the fees on unwanted domain properties. So if you are a site developer, the market for dropped domains is as good as it's been in some time.

I recently picked up kansascitycriminaldefenselawyer.com after someone decided not to renew it. It's a long domain, which means it isn't great for branding purposes - it's difficult to share with someone and get them to remember it. However, it has excellent keywords, and no dreaded dashes! It will make a good site for search engine results & traffic in that market.

Finding Expired Domains

There are many sites that do this, but I've had good luck using snapnames.com. They have a very useful feature where you can set alerts on keywords so that you are emailed when any domains with those keywords are coming available.

Again, you can put a lot of time into these efforts if you are so inclined. I generally don't devote much time to these treasure hunts, myself. But you can definitely get lucky, and pick up domains that used to be live sites, quite possibly with live links to them. I have a friend who even found a domain that still had an active PPC campaign. The former owner was still spending money buying traffic for a domain they no longer owned!

The bottom line is, in this economy, it is a good time to be looking for bargains. You can definitely domains that can be built into profitable sites in your niche, and can bring in revenue well into the future.

Labels: domains, keywords

 

posted by Dave Matson at 11:03 AM  (0) comments

  SEO Scams and Ripoffs I am a big fan of identifying SEO and internet marketing scams.

It is staggering how many bad SEO companies there are out there. I suppose it isn't surprising since the demand for SEO services is so high, given the excellent ROI opportunities that are possible when it is done right.

It is true that the techniques can be arcane, the results not instantaneous, and there are difficulties in measuring direct cause and effect. I think there is a market for honest SEO services brokers, to match the needs of clients with quality SEO companies.

In any case, here are a couple of scam alerts I've come across recently from some very smart people.

• Wil Reynolds of ThinkSeer does a nice takedown analysis of a video optimization scam.
• Eric Ward, a top old school ethical link builder, flags these guys as his "shitty service of the day".

 

posted by Dave Matson at 12:14 PM  (0) comments

  New SEO and Online Lawyer Marketing Posts Over at GetLawyerLeads.com, I wrote a post commenting on an interesting and worthwhile article on lawyer site SEO at law.com.
In a separate post, I break down a paid lawyer directory listing offer, and whether it lives up to the value it suggests.

Labels: marketing, seo

 

posted by Dave Matson at 10:14 AM  (0) comments

  Marketing Upsell Analysis: Continential Airlines Traveling from Seattle to Boston last week, I was thinking about the airline's attempt to up-sell me on an alternate, "faster" route home. It was actually impressive, and had most of the tricky pieces in place for a successful program. Almost, but not quite.

The details: Flying from Seattle to Boston via a change in Cleveland on a red-eye.
Enthusiasm level of flyer: very low.
Opportunity: At the automatic check in, they scanned my itinerary, and said they had an alternate flight that would get me to Boston sooner. Was I interested? Yes.
Details: Alternate flight would route me through Newark.
Benefit: I arrive in Boston 20 minutes sooner.
Cost: $50 to change flight.
Result: Continental fails to make a compelling bid for my $50.

Again, I was sort of impressed that they had compiled this info at the right place where if the offer were good enough, I would have agreed. Imagine the same scenario with just one or two extra details:

Opportunity: Continental tells me that my flight to Cleveland is 99% full. Alternate route through Newark is 50% full. Maybe they even go the extra step and give me an opportunity to lock out that middle seat next to me, or even a whole row.
Result: They have my $50 in a heartbeat. Maybe $100.

No doubt these opportunities will arrive someday, maybe very soon. The future belongs to marketing that provides immediate benefits and customer information transparency to make those decisions.

What Would Seth Say? 

posted by Dave Matson at 4:31 PM  (0) comments

  Should I Rank? (SEO Magic, part 2) Why can't I rank #1, or on the first page for "keyword x"? An excellent question. The answer is - you probably can if you throw enough time and money at it. But that amount may be far more than you should be willing to spend.

A place to start is to objectively analyze the content of your site, compared with the top ranked sites.

• Is your site as comprehensive, helpful, and valuable to the searcher as those other sites?
• If not, why do you think you deserve to be a top ranked site?

Google and the other search engines have clearly stated their goals are to provide a quality search experience for it's users. Searches are questions - your site should provide the answers.

Of course, this system is far from perfect. We all know that there are many sites with top rankings that are not good sites. They are spammy, scammy, and content free. Some people can game the system get traffic and rankings for those sites. (Many people mistakenly believe this is what SEO is). However,

1. that person isn't you, and;
2. if you are running a real business, that shouldn't be your goal.

In most cases, getting a crappy site ranked for good phrases, and getting lots of traffic is, at best, a short term proposition. If you can pull off the slash and burn, and make money at it, then best of luck to you.

But for almost everyone reading this site, that isn't a realistic proposition, and shouldn't be your objective.

If you are running a real business, and plan to be around for a while, your goal should be to build quality, sustainable, defensible site for the long term. Your web site is your front door, and the first impression for many of your future customers.

I Do Have a Quality Site. Now What?

If you have a great site that is a great resource for searchers, with quality content and useful information, then the good news is that a) getting rankings and traffic is much easier, and b) you are hopefully in a position to take advantage of that traffic and convert it into business. Employing SEO/SEM, link building, and blogging will help you get the traffic and business you deserve. 

posted by Dave Matson at 4:44 PM  (2) comments

  How Can I Rank? (SEO Get Rich Quick Schemes) What can you do to get me to rank for "keyword x"? (and how much will it cost) is the classic question I get from people who thing they know what Search Engine Optimization is, but don't know how it works, or what it's about.

"I Have This Business Idea, I'm going to Start Doing X. Can You Get Me on Page 1?"

Quickly? Based on a half a page of content tacked on to your site? Umm, probably not.

Many people think SEO is a get rich quick scheme. If I just get this ranking, then I will instantly profit from it. And most people who think this haven't done any keyword research or comparative analysis of the potential value and competitiveness of the keywords they are fixated on.

In addition, because I've had success getting rankings and traffic for clients, some of them think I can do anything. They think I am just waiting for an offer of enough money to work the magic.

In some sense, that's probably true. If you throw enough money and effort at a site, you probably can get the rankings you want. But it many cases, that number well exceeds the business value of that traffic.

Are You Serious?

I think it is because SEO is perceived by some as a scheme, it can be easy to consider it detached from the real goals of your business - getting customers, and selling them services or goods, at a profit.

SEO/SEM needs to be just like any other marketing effort for a business. Either you are getting a return on your investment, or you aren't. And it is hard for most people to get anywhere with online marketing without putting some thought, effort, and real business goals.

Labels: seo

 

posted by Dave Matson at 8:49 AM  (0) comments