4 rules of thumb for connecting to business-enhancing links
Buying text links can be part – but only part – of a link building campaign. And it may be particularly helpful for new websites that have no PR at all. But that doesn't take away from our fundamental mantra: "Create great content, link to great content and great content will link to you." Doing this isn’t a gimmee. Besides having your own great content, you have to figure out which web sites – out of thousands – would want to link with you and how to approach them. Here are some rules of thumb: 1. Approach sites that are relevant to your specialty. (In other words, if you provide slow boat river tours in Asia, pass up on linking with rapids runners in Arizona.) 2. Choose high-traffic sites that draw motivated, pre-qualified visitors: portals (like Cultural Travels), trade association sites, e-zines, and tour operators that offer similar, but not rival, types of travel. 3. Link only with good looking, well-designed sites. That disheveled guy on the street may be a witty dinner partner, but nobody’s ever going to take the time to find out, eh? 4. If you do buy links, be ruthless: Track which ones give you the highest traffic and the most sales, and let the other ones go, no matter how pretty or prestigious they are. For more information on the subject read: How Much is A Link Worth To Your Site? We’ll discuss how to track where your web traffic comes from in the next issue of Inside CT.
Why Google’s “search relevance” tack is driving so much traffic to our site
Last month we said Google’s quest for “search relevance” was changing the nature of online research. Simply put, Google looks for links that have the most information-rich content, not just the right keywords. Companies that waste their bucks looking for magical keyword combinations are losing out to companies that deliver substantial content. Google’s approach is catching on – it’s now the dominant search engine – and we’re seeing for ourselves how search relevance confirms our own thoughts about how you advertise on the Internet: In April, fully 75% of search engine referrals coming to our site were from Google. This tells us that Google is delivering what people want: links to highly informational sites that are themselves linked to other highly informational sites. To repeat the Google/Cultural Travels mantra: provide real information, not hype; update your information constantly; affiliate with and advertise on portal sites like CT, which are catnip to voracious information seekers like Google.
Credit card scam has Orbitz in spin mode as consumer complaints mount
ConsumerAffairs.com has reported numerous complaints from consumers doing business with Orbitz that they have been unknowingly enrolled in a $9.95-per-month program that apparently delivers no services and cannot be cancelled. The company, MWI (“MemberWorks, Inc.”), supposedly provides entertainment and lifestyle services. Enrollment in MWI is a classic “negative option” scheme where consumers are signed up without their express permission and then must formally request to be dropped before the monthly bills cease. The only problem, according to complainants, is that MWI is unresponsive (as well as Orbitz) to their pleas to be dropped from membership. Adding to the problem is the cynical defense Orbitz issued on April 20 assuring the public that MWI follows best practices and that it’s almost impossible for consumers to get tricked into joining it. Do your clients a favor and tell them on your web site or in your newsletters to watch out for scams like MWI. Go here for more information:
www.consumeraffairs.com/travel/orbitz_mwi.html
www.consumeraffairs.com/scam_alerts/mwi.html
http://pressroom.orbitz.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=133218
Can-Spam Act forces legit marketers to use e-mail as a retention program
Most of the people we know, even ones with elaborate filters, still get assaulted with spam several months after passage of the much ballyhooed Can-Spam Act. Where the law will prove its mettle is when the government begins sending high-profile spammers to jail or the poor house under the law’s tough sanctions. In the meantime, Can-Spam has scared legitimate marketers into being very careful about when and to whom they send e-mails. One emerging trend is to discontinue e-mail as a recruiting device and use it instead as a retention device. Instead of trying to drum up new business with e-mail solicitations, even to carefully pre-qualified lists, marketers are opting now to send e-mails only to current customers who have given clear permission to be approached that way. Using e-mail in this manner is like the difference between yelling out “Hey, anybody wanna date me?” to passing strangers on a downtown street and dialing a phone number and saying, “Clarissa? It’s me, Sam. We met last night and you gave me your number…”
Quantas has never had a fatal accident. Humor may be why:
Australia’s
Quantas Airlines is the only major world carrier never to have
suffered a fatal flight accident in all its years of operation.
One reason may be its employees’ sense of humor. After
every flight, Quantas pilots fill out a form called a gripe
sheet, which tells mechanics problems encountered with the
aircraft during the flight that need repair or correction. The
mechanics read and correct the problem, then put in writing on
the lower half of the form what remedial action was taken, and
the pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight.
Here are some actual gripe sheets and responses (P = The
problem logged by the pilot; S = The solution and action taken
by the engineers):
P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.
P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.
P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.
P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.
P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.
P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what they're there for.
P: IFF inoperative.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.
P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.
P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.
P: Aircraft handles funny.
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be
serious.
P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.
P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.
P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a
midget
pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget.
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Hitwise reports that 30% of all visits to travel sites on the Internet are referred by other travel sites. The company also reports that the majority of Internet travel consumers are women (58.3%), more than 35 years old (69.9%). Forty-one percent of the Internet travel demographic’s members have annual household incomes of $75,000 or more.
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Adults with broadband Internet connections at home and work grew to 68 million by March 1, says the Pew Internet & American Life Project. That number is 34% of all adult Americans. Americans with broadband connections at home now number 48 million, a 60% jump since March 2003. Fifty-four percent of adults with broadband connections at work have college degrees, and 37 percent live in households with annual incomes of greater than $75,000.
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Internet ad revenue reached $7.3 billion in 2003, up 21% over 2002, according to Interactive Advertising Bureau/PricewaterhouseCoopers. The consulting firm says that the Internet’s robust search segment, which it calls “red hot,” fueled much of the growth. It also said that increasing consumer and traditional advertiser acceptance of online marketing added to the growth.