SEO Hosting Blog

(photo from Tyrone Shum)

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term direct navigation, here’s the Wikipedia definition for you:

“Direct navigation describes the method individuals use to navigate the World Wide Web in order to arrive at specific websites. Direct navigation is a 10 year old term which is generally understood to include type-in traffic.”

If you have spent any time learning about the world of domaining, you know that short, generic .COM domains are highly valued not only because they are extremely brandable, but also because they receive direct navigation (or type-in) traffic. While there’s no denying the branding power of a short, generic .COM name, a new report shows that direct navigation may be dying.

Earlier this week, Symantec released a list of the top 100 searches conducted by children on the Internet. While the list is interesting and worth looking at for yourself, here’s what makes the list particularly interesting (as noted by RWW):

“Another somewhat unexpected insight gained by examining this data is the fact that kids are searching for easy-to-remember URLs including Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Yahoo, MSN, and even Google. Why search when simply adding a “.com” on the end will take you directly there? Some may say that this points to children not entirely grasping the way internet addresses work, but it’s more likely an example of the trend where search has replaced typing in URLs for navigating the net.”

So, why is this significant? As asked and answered in the comments of this post:

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Image Credit: examiner.com

Placing banner ads on other websites can be a cost-effective way to drive targeted traffic to your website with the goal of increasing your leads and sales. But just like all other forms of advertising, there are some guidelines you need to follow to make sure you get an excellent ROI with your banner advertising.

Here are some tips to consider when buying banner ads.

•    Place ads where your target audience dwells—Let’s say you run an online video game store. You probably wouldn’t want to buy banner advertising on a gardening blog that attracts older women. Instead, you’d want to look at video game websites/blogs, tech websites, and other online sites that attract your target audience. Displaying your ads to a highly targeted audience will get you a higher number of quality clicks.

•    Location, location, location—While it might be cheaper to buy an ad on the footer of a website, you have to ask yourself if it’s really worth it. The most effective banner ads are those placed above the fold. They immediately capture the attention of new website visitors, whereas footer ads seem like an afterthought.
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There are many tools and software available to help you study the performance of your website. But, wouldn’t it be cool to have a visual interpretation of the activity that takes place on your site?

In other words, instead of seeing the data in the form of stats and numbers, wouldn’t it be neat to see a visual representation of the clicks and the hot spots on your site? Being able to study your site in this sense could easily allow you to increase performance. Luckily for you, the technology is available, and it doesn’t cost you a dime to use it.

Checkout CrazyEgg.com. This site allows webmasters and bloggers an easy way to study analytical data in a visual form called a heat map. Simply add a few lines of javascript on your page and instantly you can start tracking data visually. CrazyEgg.com offers this free up to 6,000 visits per month. If you need to track more than 6,000 visits, you can upgrade. (more…)

Image Credit: www.theconsultants-e.com

I’m assuming most of you already know what podcasting is, but just in case one of you has been living under a rock, podcasting is essentially your own downloadable radio talk show. You can do everything from talking about the hottest industry news to interviewing experts in your field. You can promote your podcast through your blog, website, iTunes, and other places.

A number of businesses have jumped on the podcasting bandwagon, and those who do it well are reaping several benefits. Here are just a few of the biggest podcasting benefits.

1.    Increase your authority—Just like blogging or writing an e-book, podcasting is another way to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry. The best way to build your authority is to give your unique insight on relevant industry topics without sounding like a constant advertisement for your services. By providing quality discussions to your listeners, your words will start to carry more weight, and over time, people will begin to trust you.

2.    Connect with a new audience—With the ability to place your podcast on iTunes and other websites, you have an excellent opportunity to reach an entirely new audience. Some of your listeners will be people who would have never found your blog or website. And once you have them listening to your podcast, you can direct them to your website, thus increasing your traffic in the process.
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Creating a USP (unique selling point) for your business is essential to your success. Your USP is what separates you from the competition. It’s the main benefit that customers will enjoy if they do business with you. In short, it’s the thing that hooks customers in, keeping them from going to your competitors.

Unfortunately, a lot of the businesses I provide copy for don’t know what their USP is. It’s one of the first questions I ask them when outlining their copy. More times than not, the answer I get starts with “That’s a hard question to answer. It’s difficult to pinpoint one thing that makes us better than the competition. Hmmm…”  Now, I’m not saying it’s a breeze to come up with a USP, but the simple truth is you better figure one out or else you’ll never gain any ground on your competition.

So, before we talk about how to create a USP for your business, let’s first identify what is NOT a good USP.

Examples of Poor USPs

•    We provide great customer service—Every company says they care about you, the customer. It’s a hollow statement that carries no weight with the consumer.

•   We’re #1 in our industry—Again, every company says they’re the best. It doesn’t provide a tangible benefit for the customer to grab onto.
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