As many of my readers know, I have been a tool junkie for a long time. Every year for the past several years I have shared my favorite free and low cost tools to improve your website and online marketing efforts. Last year I published a list of 99 tools and this year I was aiming to publish a list with over 120 tools. Well, I got carried away and decided that it would be easier for you and me…
Let’s get right to that list…. 1. Online Marketing budgets aren’t allocated to enable you do to the job right. 2. Because of #1, I am sure you could list 98+ more reasons! Too often the C-Suite has not figured out that your digital marketing (I include web, email, mobile & social here) activity is the glue that binds their brand together. They miss that online is that initial first impression before most people even decide to step into your…
Big news today in the social analytics & CRM space as Salesforce.com has acquired social media monitoring company Radian6 for approximately $276 million in cash and $50 million in stock. This will definitely blur the line between social and CRM. I wonder who will be next to be acquired. As I was reading the acquisition news, and seeing this article about how companies don’t understand why consumers use social media, it reminded me of an article I published in July of 2001. Have…
Often times, marketers approach me to tell me they think something is wrong with their page but they aren’t sure how to convince their designer or management that their are any issues. In this four-minute video, I share a simple technique and how to use attention mapping software like Feng-GUI.com to prove to your designer that they are costing you money. Attention mapping software uses software algorithms to create heat maps based on how people would engage with your Web…
1. MobiReady More and more visitors are arriving to websites using mobile devices today. Is your website ready for it? Evaluates mobile-readiness using industry best practices & standards. 2. Treepodia Other than mobile, video has been the other big demand from customers. Treepodia alows you to submit your XML product catalog feed to them and they will then turn that feed into automated video (with music or voice overs), submit those videos to sites like YouTube, FaceBook, & MetaCafe and…
Last week, I had the pleasure to present a webinar sponsored by Compete titled “How to Legally Spy on Your Competition.” Many people on that webinar requested a list of the tools that I mentioned on the call. I thought I’d share them here as well. For specific examples on how to use each of these tools, please check out the recording of the webinar. 1. How are your competitors doing now? One of the most common questions heard across boardrooms,…
Have you ever wished you knew everything your competitors where up to? Well online it isn’t that hard. 1. SpyFu – Want to know what keywords your competitors are targeting in the search engines? Use this tool to download the list of keywords and adwords they are using. Don’t forget to visit their SpyFu Universty. 2. The Search Monitor – They have several tools including another great search engine competitive intelligence tool. The Search Monitor Track market share, page rank,…
Ask any designer what makes a great design for a web page or web site and you’ll almost always here the same common themes; usability, intuitiveness, feel/mood, eye catching, etc. Yet few will respond with what makes your business revenue – how the page converts visitors to take the action you want them to take! Following are some practical and commonly overlooked elements of landing- and buying-page design to help answer some the above questions and help you think about…