January 2010 All About ROI
7 SEO Secrets Your Webmaster Wont Tell You
How do you separate fact from fiction when implementing an SEO program to raise your rankings on Google and other search engines? Here are 11 truths, strategies and rules of thumb that are proven to optimize sites and generate a flood of organic search traffic:
Case Study - In Perfect Symphony
Problem: Virtual Sheet Music, an online retailer of traditional and classical sheet music, needed a security seal on its website to ensure consumers that it was a legitimate and reputable business. Solution: Contracted an internet infrastructure and security services provider to place a security seal on its site.
E-Commerce Gets Real With Virtual Fitting Room
It's not "The Matrix," but augmented reality is a way to create greater connections between what's on the web and what's in front of users' eyes, helping bridge that gap between a visit and a sale.
I'm Here to Serve
Hello loyal All About ROI readers. As your new editor-in-chief, I'm excited and humbled to serve you.
One Step at a Time
Admittedly a latecomer to the party, general merchandise retailer Meijer (pronounced Meyer) has begun embracing e-commerce. While Meijer.com was up and running for consumers as an informational website since the late '90s, merchandise wasn't available for purchase until September 2007. Better late than never for the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based seller of everything from groceries to pharmaceuticals to electronics and apparel.
Prognosis: Baby Steps
In late November, we surveyed the All About ROI editorial board members and other marketing insiders to gauge their views on the year ahead. At press time on the eve of the 2009 holiday homestretch, with their hopes for a better sales outcome than 2008 looking modest at best, few saw an especially bright light shining by December. Instead, many settled in to make the appropriate adjustments for reduced demand.
Prospecting - Guitar Center, eBags, Walgreens
Wish Lists Spur Customer Acquisition for Guitar Center; Holiday Promotions Bring Prospects?to eBags; Walgreens/L.A. Times Help Santa Help Them
Searchs Lost Metric
Most retailers use the wrong metrics to measure the success of search programs. They focus on tactical measures, such as return on advertising spend or keywords moving up and down in rankings. These measures are like sports statistics — they explain the final score but don't decide success or failure. The final score does that. In business, profits are the final score and sales tell you how good or bad the blowout can be.
Shop Talk - 4 Ways to Make Outside Contractors Deliver
Q: I hired a company to recast my existing website into an e-commerce site. I've spent the last six months begging, pleading and nagging them to finish. Now they won't even return my calls. Any suggestions about avoid it next time?
Sure Things
PATIENT: Doc, I hope to keep my catalog healthy during this economic epidemic. I've slimmed down by cutting overhead. Now I need to focus on marketing. But it's got to be low or no risk. Any sure things that I can count on to deliver results? CATALOG DOCTOR: There are no "sure things." But like fruits and vegetables can help keep your body in shape, here are two prescriptions to help your catalog health.
