Craigslist's growing PR problem
Craigslist is an internet icon, and it's a unique one. Despite the rapid evolution of the internet over the past decade, Craigslist in 2010 still looks like Craigslist in 2000. The fact that Craigslist has managed to thrive largely its original form is a testament to the value it offers.
But Craigslist is under assault. And it's not competitors who are attacking. It's politicians and the media. The reason: adult service ads which many say are frequently used in the illegal trafficking of women and children. And which many argue Craigslist continues to allow because they're a lucrative source of revenue.
VeryFashion: iPad app review
Shop Direct brand Very, formerly Littlewoods Direct, has recently launched shopping apps for both iPhone and iPad which allows users to shop from its fashion range.
I've been impressed by some of the early e-commerce apps on the iPad, especially that from Net-a-Porter, so I decided to test VeryFashion on iPad to see how it compares...
Why PRs can be better link builders than SEOs
I talked in my last post here at Econsultancy about whether the PR industry had missed the boat on SEO. Although there were some differing opinions in the comments, I think the consensus was that the public relations firms could have done more to get into search engine optimisation.
Despite this reticence to get going I think there’s a scary truth that the search firms need to wake up to: If and when the PR industry gets its act together a lot of the link development tactics search companies are delivering could be delivered by someone with a public relations background.
Is 'mafia sourcing' really a bad thing?
Social media and Web 2.0 (a term that, incidentally, we don't hear much of anymore) were supposed to make the internet a more democratic place. On today's internet, just about everybody has a printing press, and the little guy has equal opportunity to distribute a message. The best, we're often told, will rise to the top.
Of course, anyone who is involved with user-generated content and the popular web services through which user-generated content is shared and promoted, eventually learns that the internet isn't as democratic as it's supposed to be.
Ten ways to really annoy your customers (and how to avoid them)
Social media is all about building long-term relationships with
individual customers so they become regular, active users of your site, service or
product.
Building a relationship to the point where a customer trusts and values your opinion is hard. After all, deep down they know you want to sell them something. Destroying that bond on the other hand is child’s play.
Let’s look at the most common ways companies break the bonds of trust and turn customers off, and see if we can work out how to fix the mistakes....
Twitter's link logging will be a boon for businesses
Twitter is getting into analytics. Finally. This week, the microblogging service announced that it will be updating its URL shortener t.co to help alleviate malware problems and track link sharing on its service.
By the end of the year, t.co links will be more secure, and provide more information to the people that share them. This is good news for marketers.
Google expands sponsored map icons experiment
Google may generate billions of dollars every year from AdWords, but that doesn't mean that it's idly sitting by and ignoring the monetization potential it has elsewhere in its network. One property with a lot of potential: Google Maps.
Given that potential, it's no surprise that Google is bringing its 'sponsored map icon' experimental ad format for Google Maps to the U.S. market.
Eight tips for understanding Baidu SEO
Baidu is far and away the most popular search engine in China, but how does it differ from Google?
Here are eight simple tips to get you started with Baidu SEO...
Zara launches in the UK, forgets about Chrome
Today saw the launch of Zara's first (and long awaited) e-commerce site in the UK and, for users of Google's Chrome browser, it isn't looking good, with error messages all over the site:
Chrome may not be the most popular browser, but it is still used by up to 10% of web users, and has been growing market share rapidly, so this seems to be a major oversight.
The importance of knowing how to use web analytics tools
Web analytics is still a missing art in many businesses, not just retail. Analytics is the last station on the investment train ride and is often compromised to pump more money into direct revenue generating digital marketing like PPC.
But why would any sane person put more money into something they don't fully understand and for which KPIs may not be optimised? It seems a strange decision.
My gut feeling is that there are too few optimisation specialists Client-side who really get web analytics 2.0. Dashboards are created and reports circulated to tick the analysis box yet limited insight is provided.
If conversion for referral traffic has dropped off the cliff, is that good or bad? I don't know. Even your data doesn't know but hidden within are nuggets of insight, you just need the focus and perseverance to find them.
This blog looks at a few examples of how data can be turned into insight to drive commercial decisions.
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Graham Charlton
Strategy & Planning
