I've been a daily reader of InternetRetailer.com for quite a few years now.  They tend to update their news page at least 4 days per week, and they often have insightful and up-to-date information on trends and metrics.  Last week I came across a post so interesting that I actually emailed the link to myself so I wouldn't forget to make a blog post about it.

The article I'm referring to at InternetRetailer.com is titled "Online shoppers will return to socialize, survey finds," and was published on 4/15/2008.  Apparently, a web consulting firm called Guidance and a market research company called Synovate did a joint study to see what pattens emerged when shoppers had "social features" at their fingertips in an online retail environment.  Let's dig into a few of the statistics posted and see where this study indicates Ecommerce success can be enhanced further with user-driven interactivity.

Does this situation sound familiar?  You build (or maintain) a glorious web site and are looking to drive targeted traffic to your destination. You realize that you are no expert in the complicated field of Search Engine Optimization, and begin to search through SEO firms that can best assist your business and meet your goals.  Here's a few tips to get you started . . .

It was a whirlwind weekend in Frisco, Texas. Dallas WordCamp 2008 was held on Saturday and Sunday at Frisco Town Hall, an impressive building in the heart of downtown Frisco. I was there for all but the very last session, and had a blast. The speakers were all excellent and the collection of talented and passionate bloggers present added to the excitement and depth of subject matter engagement.

For business owners and decision makers around the world, the question of whether or not to blog must be asked, carefully considered, and answered. I took copious amounts of notes in order to summarize for you the basics on perhaps the most important blogging question:

Why does a company need to own and operate a blog?

That was a question asked by John Pozadzides to the WordCamp panel. Panel members included Matt Mullenweg, Liz Strauss, Aaron Brazell, and Mark Ghosh.

Reason #1: Transparency
The global landscape of ecommerce and Web driven business demands all companies to maintain a greater degree of transparency. Internet users have grown accustomed to in depth interaction with brands online. They know their voice can count via blogs, forums, and social networking/news services. They expect and require interaction from the companies they do business with, and rightfully so. Once the pioneers of web-based business made the leap into hyper-connectivity with their target audiences, the standard was set.

Reason #2 Blogs are Better than Press Releases
We took a poll of all 200 or so WordCamp attendees, and 99% read multiple blogs on a regular basis. When asked how many read press releases, approximately 5 hands rose in the air. But wasn't this a blogger's conference? Yes, it's true. But they're also all business professionals. Whether it's format, personality, comment-ability, or RSS feed-ability, more people read blogs than press releases. And if your goal is to reach a target audience, doesn't it make sense to use the medium of choice?

Reason #3 Blogs Build Trust
As Liz Strauss said, the blog/comment relationship between company and customer builds rapport and trust. Once you have a customer's trust, you have a quicker turnaround time for conversion. Prior to gaining the customer's trust, there is research time where the customer has to verify your claims through external resources. But once you've earned that trust (and assuming you don't lose it), you can promote new products, services, partnerships, etc. through your corporate blog, your readers will buy faster and with a greater sense of satisfaction from the beginning.

Reason #4 Getting in Before You Become the Tail
At some point, your competitors WILL have a company blog, where they connect with their customers and clients. If your company is late to the party, your image will suffer from being the proverbial "tail of the conga line." The last one to adopt new technology wins no awards. And usually loses a percentage of their customer base as well. .

Reason #5 Controlling the Conversation
As Aaron Brazell of Technosailor.com said, "Your customers ARE GOING to have the conversation about your brand, product, or service. The question is: Do you want to participate in the conversation? Do you want to host the conversation? Or would you rather it go on without your involvement?"

We'll cover the top excuses for not operating a company blog soon and why most if not all excuses don't stand up to the test.

Daniel Dessinger, MarketNet - SEO

The challenge for every agency and marketing manager is to avoid tunnel vision in regards to linking. We all know that links (call them "inbound links", "external links", or "backlinks") make up the backbone of the Google ranking algorithm. But let's not react too strongly to the abuse of link swapping in the past. There's a temptation to hone in on what we would consider an "ideal link" for search ranking value and discard all pursuit of the rest.

A conversation with a long standing client/friend a month ago reaffirmed this idea in my mind. He is pretty well informed when it comes to PPC and SEO. He wanted to do some additional work, but made sure to point out that he was VERY satisfied with the traffic he received from a well-placed banner ad.

He'd gone out on his own and paid for a banner ad to be placed on a site that would appear to have no similarities. But the key is that the target customer is the same. Readers of that online magazine were exactly the people he wanted visiting his site. We could have approached the webmaster and attempted to negotiate some sort of deal where an optimized text link was placed somewhere prominently on the home page. But instead, he had his well-designed creative placed right smack dab in the top center. And that add sent hundreds of qualified visitors to his website every month.

Imagine that. A link that sends traffic. Remember those? Back in the day, banner ads were the very definition of internet advertising. They offer no ranking value in the search engines. But there they are, bigger than life, and if you can combine compelling creative with just the right placement/location, you're going to get traffic. They won't reach you through Google or Yahoo!, but targeted traffic is targeted traffic.

When you talk to your interactive marketing agency, be sure that they see the big picture. Qualified traffic is the goal, regardless of the source. If some method of advertising/marketing can deliver results, it needs to be a part of the conversation.

Budget will always be a natural selector. Consider the cost and potential return on banner/paid advertising and consider it as a viable option. A banner ad functions similarly to paid search ads. The stigma surrounding them stems mostly from SEO specialists who simply don't encourage anything that doesn't generate more business for them. You want to partner with professionals who will approach your business needs without biases that could cost you valuable opportunities. Food for thought. 

Daniel Dessinger, MarketNet SEO

Do you know where you stand in the eyes of your target audience? Some business owners do. Some don't. Even the ones that are aware don't always put any PR initiatives into action.

Here's the rub. Even if your company doesn't focus on Web-related marketing, you can still lose business from what's being said about you online. Hence, it pays to monitor your online reputation regardless of your level of Web involvement.

But you're here, reading this post, which means you understand the need for some level of online marketing (almost no one stumbles onto a blog accidentally). If you're savvy enough to pursue online marketing, you have probably already used or have considered using a PR firm at one time or another. You're trying to get mentions in newspapers, magazines, radio, and television. Excellent. But that's not enough.

The Internet is the one place where what is published is permanent. One slip up, and mentions/complaints are available for all to see FOREVER. Traditional PR initiatives are great and extremely useful for broadcasting positive messages to the masses. But they don't solve the more permanent issue of web forum, blog, IM, and article complaints online.

Imagine an ex-employee or ex-customer who slipped through the cracks and holds a grudge. They write a blog post or forum topic blasting a product or service, or they outright accuse your company of dealing unethically. They click "Submit" and it's published. There for all to see.

Imagine dozens, maybe hundreds, of potential customers who read that accusation online. Do they dare risk their time, energy, and money on you, a company of ill-repute? Not likely. Chalk up another lost opportunity. Traditional PR campaigns simply can't reach that person at the point of negative impact.

Enter online reputation management. The terminology hasn't yet become as mainstream as traditional PR related terms, but there are dozens of reputation management companies, specialists, and services working every day to monitor and manage corporate reputations online.

What does a reputation manager do?

A reputation manager typically provides a combination of SEO (search engine optimization) and SMO (social media optimization) focused on your brand names, product names, corporate names, executives' names, etc. Any word or phrase that is associated with your company that could be searched for is included. Essentially, a reputation manager or reputation management service helps you monitor the Web for negative comments and affords you the opportunity to quickly respond and avoid a widespread crisis.

Most corporate reputation crises occur because the company took too long to respond or didn't respond at all. The rule of thumb is to never assume that a crisis will just blow over or "go away". You've likely spent a sizable amount on branding your company and/or product. Reputation Management is too fundamental to any company's success to ignore or save for a rainy day. A potential crisis can break across the Web quickly, and when it rains, it pours.

Viral communication is one of the Internet’s most powerful features. What I mean by viral communication is a web site that encourages its visitors to invite other people to visit it. Through visits and referrals the site gains momentum and publicizes itself . . .

This morning I came across a fascinating article from a French web site at lemonade.fr that had a wonderful illustration of global social network usage trends. While I can’t read French at all, the map speaks for itself . . .

Quote from Pulitzer Prize-winning Author, Thomas L. Friedman on Globalization:

"It is the inexorable integration of markets, nation-states and technologies to a degree never witnessed before-in a way that is enabling individuals, corporations and nation-states to reach around the world farther, faster, deeper, cheaper than ever before, and in a way that is enabling the world to reach in the world to reach into individuals, corporations, and nation-states farther, faster, deeper,  cheaper than ever before"

Last week I made a blog entry titled “5 Things Shoppers Want from Online Retailers.”  This week I’d like to take a look at a handful of bothersome shopping techniques implemented by online marketers that don’t just get on my nerves, but many other online shoppers that I speak with on a daily basis.  Below is a list of 5 things that I feel hinders my online shopping experiences, and make me think twice before making an online purchase:

I do not have emotional reactions to the software applications I use on a daily basis.  They are necessary tools which I use to accomplish my job and produce documentation that is of benefit to my team members and to the client. I neither love nor hate them; they are merely a fact of my life.

Until Microsoft Office 2007.