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 As
one of the acting administrators of WebProWorld, I’ve come across a number of
subjects asking how to improve email marketing efforts. One of the most effective
methods, according to a report issued by InternetRetailer,
is to use a branded subject line. This information comes from a study conducted
by Silverpop Systems, which says a branded subject line can increase opens
by up to 60%.
If that amount comes anywhere close to being accurate, then using this type of
subject line should be an automatic reflex. Other areas to concentrate on include
emails with special offers. The study reveals users are less likely to open an
email offering a percentage discount (save 20%) in the subject line. However,
if the subject used dollar amounts instead of percentages (save $20), openings
improved by 45%.
As you can see, two fairly simple alterations can have sweeping effects on how many people open your marketing email. With that in mind, it would be foolish to ignore the information provided by Silverpop’s study.
>>> Since branded emails can improve opening rates, do you forsee an adjustment
in strategies? Let
Us Know How You Feel.
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Thursday, October 19, 2006 |
When writing so people can find you better on search engines, keep it simple.
Use short words, not complicated ones. Precise words are even better. But most
importantly, use words people know.
That's news to me, too. I like long, artfully crafted sentences (not that I can
write them). I like well-placed 25-cent words.
I even like serif fonts. But serifs, big words and long sentences are for fuddy-duddies and books. This is the Web. Fuddy-duddies should take note.
What's the first word that comes to your mind? Use that one. How would tell a long story to an old friend who showed up next to you at the stop light? You know, before the light turns green. Tell it that way first on your webpage. Tell them more if they want to know, but give the basics first.
Usability expert Jakob Nielsen says "speak the user's language." He says the Web-writer's first duty is to write to be found.
He also said:
Old words rule because people know them intimately. Familiar words spring to mind unbidden. Thus, users are likely to employ old words when they boil down their problem to a search query, which is typically only 2-3 words long.
People really like bullets, too.
• Don't make up words.
Nobody likes corporate speak.
• Don't exaggerate.
• Don't be salesy.
• One idea per paragraph. Readers skim.
• If a writing professor would give you an 'A' on your work, shoot for a 'C' by cutting it in half.
• Link to more complete information.
• Steer clear of brand names if just starting out. People won't know to search for it anyway.
• To the average searcher, blind people are blind, not visually challenged.
• High ranking is just half the battle. Getting clicks depends on users understanding headlines and summaries. They skip past the ones they don't understand.
• Herman Miller has a great product
pages, for example.
Google Enhances Webmaster Tools
 By
Joe Lewis
Staff Writer | WebProNews Blog
Vanessa Fox unveiled new features included with Google's Webmaster Tools in an
entry this week on the Official Google Webmaster Central Blog.
The wonderful folks at Google have decided to provide webmasters with even more
functionality.
According to the Google Webmaster Central Blog, four new features can now be found in Webmaster Tools:
Googlebot activity reports
Check out these cool charts! We show you the number of pages Googlebot's crawled from your site per day, the number of kilobytes of data Googlebot's downloaded per day, and the average time it took Googlebot to download pages. Webmaster tools show each of these for the last 90 days. Stay tuned for more information about this data and how you can use it to pinpoint issues with your site.
Crawl rate control
Googlebot uses sophisticated algorithms that determine how much to crawl each
site. Our goal is to crawl as many pages from your site as we can on each visit
without overwhelming your server's bandwidth.
Continue
Reading
About
the Author:
Joe Lewis and Jason Miller are staff writers for WebProNews covering technology
and business. |
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MSN
Extends Content Advertising Invitation
 By
Chris Richardson
Staff Writer | WebProNews Blog
If you are searching for another outlet to display your ads in, MSN has answered
your call. An
announcement on the MSN adCenter blog revealed the company is allowing current
adCenter members to
register for the adCenter Content Ads pilot program, a service that displays
ads in the “high-quality MSN inventory.”
MSN’s content advertising works in a similar method to Yahoo’s
Content Match service, allowing users to expand their campaign beyond search
engine results. Once you sign-up at MSN, the company will send an invitation giving
users the ability to participate in their new advertising program. The MSN adCenter
blog entry has more information:
Participating in the pilot will not only offer you access to our high-quality MSN inventory, but it will also allow you to see a technology preview of a few new UI features. Content Ads offers the same flexibility as Search, as you can set separate keyword bids for Content, and still use advanced targeting settings.
In case you are wondering what these content ads look like, the adCenter blog
has an
image of a banner ad appearing in one of MSN’s various channels. The ad looks
like a normal PPC text ad and it includes three different companies you can click
on. If you’d like to know more about this program, the post offers links to the
FAQ
and the Content
Ads Overview. If you are interested in receiving an invitation, sign
up here.
About
the Author:
Chris Richardson is a staff writer for the WebProNews
Blog. Check out our blog and share
your comments with us. |
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How Does No Content = PageRank 5 Score?
WebProWorld admin Mike McDonald stumbled across a site yesterday and he was wondering
if you could help him figure out something. The site is trying to capitalize on
the online video craze and did so by amazingly gaining the rights to the domain
googlevideo.com. First off, I'm really surprised Google doesn't own this address
and second of all, this site has little to no content, but yet it has a 5 PR score.
Can you help us figure out why?
Subscribe
to the WebProWorld Feed 
|| Chris||
Incredible
PR5 Site - Must See!!1
I hate even bringing up anything to do with PR and all that, but sometimes I run
into stuff with such a 'what the hell?!' factor that I just can't help myself.
For example - I was trying to go to Google's video site and mistakenly typed in
googlevideo.com instead of video.google.com.
At first I was just a little surprised that somebody other than Google owned the
domain. Then I read their disclaimer about being non profit and all that and found
that somewhat amusing. But when I looked at the PR and saw a big fat 5, I literally
laughed out loud.
Here's a page with no content -there are literally 25 lines in the whole HTML
document, they have no inbound links (ok,
6), and you don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to deduce why this non-commercial,
non-profit site exists. But they have a PR 5. Anybody want to take a stab at explaining
this?
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