Seo,Marketing Techniques and Results

Beyond key words, beyond placement tactics, there is one unchangeable Golden Rule of SEO for content, according to Ray "Catfish" Comstock: Once you create online content, don't move it.

"I used to think that this was obvious," Comstock says. "… But I found that there are many clients that still do not know [this] single most important SEO strategy for content." Don't, that is, change the URL where your content lives.

Comstock say some internal content management systems and production systems cause URLs to move (change) after a certain amount of time. He recalls a client with such a system who "couldn't understand why their search listings kept fluctuating so much." Once they realized their own system was doing it, they "developed a migration strategy for their content."

Comstock says that a good migration strategy requires "setting up a 301 redirect" from the old URL to the new one.

"[C]hanging your URLs disconnects your link connectivity unless you implement 301 redirects," he explains. "Search engine rankings, especially those of Google, are hugely dependent on links, especially relevant external links. But moving the content means that any links that you might have had are no longer seen unless you implement [the] redirect." So if you must move it, link it!

The Po!nt: Think of page URLs as business locations. If you move one, you want to file a forwarding address. A 301 redirect is your change-of-address link online.

As video continues its great migration from the television set to the Web and smartphones, advertisers face a new challenge: how to reach customers in three places at once. The so-called "three screens" (TV, PC, and wireless devices) require different ad strategies to engage audiences. The 'lean back' TV viewer's focus is watching programs, while the 'lean forward' PC or wireless user is multi-tasking: emailing, searching, phoning, and Web surfing.

So, is the third screen proving to be a vital new marketing channel?

The market for online video ads is certainly big. It will generate $768M this year in the US alone (Jupiter Research), and reach over $8B worldwide by 2012 (eMarketer).

And broadcasters are taking these developments very seriously. "We want new ad innovations we can introduce," says Albert Cheng, Disney-ABC Television Group Digital Media EVP, "so ad agencies are valuing what we're doing."

A case study for this trend is the recently introduced iPhone 3G that has attracted brands like Ford, Universal Pictures, Electronic Arts, and Land Rover. These companies' ad campaigns use AdMob, which calls itself the world's largest mobile advertising marketplace. AdMob has served nearly 250 million ads over the iPhone to users in the last year, with 51 million iPhone ads served in June alone.

The Po!nt: Yes, the third screen is a new, hot ad horizon. There's no time like the present to boost your mobile ad efforts in every format.

The attributes and benefits of your brand can vary in how tangible they are to consumers. And that can affect buying decisions.

A product's intangible attributes are abstract—like quality, prestige, sentiment—and can't be experienced directly. For example, a new wine's ads can speak of romance; its label can evoke a feeling of exotic adventure.

Its tangible attributes are concrete—those that can be seen, tasted, touched, and smelled. The wine's taste and color fall into this category—and so does its price.

Research shows that each attribute plays a different role in customers' evaluations (what they like) and decisions (what they choose). Specifically:

* Customers tend to place more weight on a product's intangible attributes when deciding what they like.
* But they place more weight on its tangible attributes when they're choosing what to buy.

So, what's a marketer to do? Well, it seems the right formula might come down to this: Woo them, then win them over. Set the mood with the product's intangible attributes; then, when it comes down to making that sale, clearly state its tangible benefits.

The Po!nt: Consumers want to be woo'ed and won. Their preferences may not always predict their choices. To make sure you close that sale, stress the product's concrete, tangible attributes.

Source: "Stating Preference for the Ethereal but Choosing the Concrete: How the Tangibility of Attributes Affects Attribute Weighting in Value Elicitation and Choice." by Horsky, Dan; Nelson, Paul; Posavac, Steven S

Released on----- 23 September, 2008