Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with internet and marketing

What kinds of advertising options should a new internet startup offer its customers and how should they be priced?

tnoetz01 — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:46:06 -0800

What kinds of advertising options should a new internet startup offer its customers and how should they be priced? I'm starting an online service targeted at beer enthusiasts, and we're considering offering advertising to the industry.

I'm trying to build some revenue model scenarios based on advertising options and rates. Specifically, I'm looking for help deciding what advertising options to offer and how much to charge for each, likely on a CPM basis.

What advertising options are typical, and what are typical CPMs for a site targeted at a fairly niche audience like ours?

What are the repercussions of bad SEO?

jim.christian — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 06:35:40 -0800

What are the repercussions (if any) of bad Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques? One of my clients has recently been advised by a friend in her particular field of business to go with an SEO "expert". The friend has stated that since hiring the guy (who charges £2000 and guarantees first page results in 21 days - not to be confused with front page results in 21 days), he hasn't had to spend any money on Google AdWords, etc. The friend has the added benefit of having his address as part of his URL, so that's bound to help, anyway.

The client has come back to me asking for advice. She has a new rival opening up around the corner from her in a short matter of weeks and if what the SEO guy suggests works, then great. However, my spidey-sense is tingling. I know my way well around code, webmastery, servers, etc, but having read through Google's own SEO guide and comparing it with what said SEO expert has used on client's friend's site...well, it looks like he's using SEO the 'wrong' way.

And by wrong, I mean using keyword banks in title descriptors of every DIV tag, a name descriptors, etc. It looks like he's just saturating the webpages with keywords in every available invisible element. Surely such practices are frowned upon, but is what he's doing getting results? And if so, what are the repercussions of 'wrong' SEO? I'd rather have it done correctly, inline with providing sitemap files, proper meta tags, and proper use of keywords, changing relevant content for visitors, etc. But should I be playing dirty too?

I'm reluctant to provide real-life URLs, but if needed, please MeFiMail me.

Thanks

Cliff Notes for Pay-Per-Click?

diode — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 22:21:22 -0800

I'm interviewing for an online support position. A prerequisite is knowing pay-per-click. I've got lightweight knowledge and need to ramp up my skill set. The company I'm applying with needs a good support professional, which I'm qualified to do. The support arena is for users of pay-per-click services of which this company has a niche product. I've done some reading about affiliate marketing, and pay per click campaigns but never gone to the mat with this. I could use some sources for getting up to speed on this in a big picture way for the short term (meaning interview), and then I will expand my knowledge set after that for the work. I'm hoping my support experience will make up for gaps in my PPC knowledge for the interview and then I can go on to gain expertise through experience and study.

Any courses on internet marketing in San Diego?

carofowler — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 04:09:11 -0800

I am looking for some good basic classes/courses in or near San Diego, California on interactive/internet marketing (metrics, e-commerce, channels, website usability, SEO, etc.). Can anyone recommend anything that ends before August '09?

What are external links, and what value do they provide to my site ranking?

Nixie Pixel — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:07:40 -0800

What are external links, and what value do they provide to my site ranking? Are they important? What are external links, and what value do they provide to my site ranking? Are they important? I understand the basics of external linking, but I'd like to know a more in depth explanation. Thanks a lot in advance! =)

What should I sell online?

Elminster24 — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 23:02:05 -0800

Help me find something to sell online. My current site was de-indexed and while I'm working on getting that back in the rankings I'm looking for something else to sell and would like to experiment with sourcing a product myself versus going the affiliate route. I've dabbled in affiliate marketing and had a halfway successful eBay Partner Network based site that was bringing in about $400-$600/mo on average and growing. Unfortunately Google de-indexed it for reasons I'm still uncertain of. I'm working on relaunching the site with new content and hopefully that will help but this has made me realize I can't put all my eggs in one basket.

This is where you guys come in. I'm trying to think of unique product ideas to sell online. I know how to get a site designed and rather than a site that sells MANY products, I'm looking for a site that can sell just one or two specific ones. I'd love to be able to source my own products to make them unique but I really have no clue where to even begin with that. Aside from shady dropshipping scammers, can you guys recommend some good resources for determining how to source a product (preferably within the US), find suppliers, etc.?

Also, any suggestions on where I can get inspiration for a product to sell in my store would be appreciated.

I'm not looking for THE idea...just some resources to gain inspiration. Are there any matchmaking sites for people who want to sell their products online and are looking for partners (NOT affiliates)?

I have an idea for a unique information product but it is based on World of Warcraft and I don't have much hardcore knowledge of the details of that game so I don't know how to go about finding a writer for that sort of thing...

updated adwords ebook

mamessner — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:14:22 -0800

Is there a continually-updated ebook about AdWords/Paid Search marketing that's worth buying? With the rapid changes Google has made lately to AdSense/AdWords, I'm finding that my AdWords (paper) books are continually becoming obsolete. I found an SEO ebook (can't remember the name) that is continually updated with changes as they come up: buying the ebook is like buying a subscription to all future releases of the eBook.

Is there something like this for AdWords? I know blogs somewhat handle this, but I'm looking for more of a reference that I can come back to and know that it's updated with the most recent changes.

Also taking suggestions for great AdWords ebooks in general - especially ones that would be current enough to include the most recent (last week's) changes to how AdWords handles Quality Scores.

Ways to market a website

blueplasticfish — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:38:12 -0800

What are some good ways to market a website? Recently I have helped launch another website onto the World Wide Web. I won't name the site here (to avoid spam accusations), but the site enables people to make Ken Burns-like slideshows with custom music and background themes.

Our target, though not limited to this, is women between the ages of 20-40 who like to share photos of their family online. The goal was to make creating a slideshow an easy, drag-and-drop experience, and to create a clean and cinematic slideshow. We felt a lot of the slideshows available on the web were either boring, hard for the non-tech savvy to create, or filled with too much distracting clutter.

We've gotten on local TV and have had a positive response thus far, but we are struggling to figure out some cost-affective (read cheap) ways to market the site on the web. We are on Facebook and AdWords, but we are looking for other creative ideas to market our site.

We realize that there are a million photo/slideshow sharing sites out there, but really think that our differentiation contains value.

I'm looking for ideas outside of SEO, ad driven, blogs, etc., and more for something that will resonate with our target audience. Perhaps something more grassroots.

You thoughts and ideas are much appreciated :)

Best/Worst Viral Ad Campaigns

Prevailing Southwest — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:49:36 -0800

I'm researching viral marketing campaigns, and I'm looking for some of the best and worst examples out there. I'm not having any trouble finding examples, and yes, I agree that the term and the medium are both getting a little played out. (There are spoofs of ads and even spoofs of spoofs at this point elbowing each other for some room in the "viral" landscape.)

To clarify, I'm NOT looking for a list of YouTube videos that "went viral" (Diet Coke & Mentos, water skiing squirrel, monkey smelling finger), and I'm NOT looking for funny TV commercials that happened to get passed around the web (Bud Light ads).

I'm looking for the best and worst examples of non-traditional, internet based marketing campaigns - advertising beyond the 30 second spot. Some of the best/biggest examples I have are:

Dove Evolution
Subservient Chicken
BMW's "The Hire" short film series

I'd also really appreciate help identifying some of the worst viral campaigns ever to crash and burn their way across your screens, as the failures tend to fade away pretty fast.

Low-cost marketing ideas for an off-beat graphic novel

Shepherd — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 02:37:33 -0800

What will give me the best bang for my buck to advertise a graphic novel that's horror-genre-based, but totally violates genre conventions? I wrote a six-issue comic book for a major-minor publisher a few years back (not Marvel/DC/Image, but a well-regarded smaller press), and they just released it in TPB format. Link's in my profile if you want more specifics.

Sales were dismal in the initial run, because it came out in the midst of a glut of similarly themed comics, books and movies; one of the hurdles the book faces is that it looks like it fits squarely in a horror sub-genre, but actually violates the basic premises of the genre and sprints off in a different direction entirely.

Were it a werewolf book (it's not), it would not be about handsome people that transform into savage Jungian wolf-people and have frenzied battles, but rather about werewolves that establish large sheep ranches in the American Midwest where they can be both themselves and productive members of society. The comic would focus on the challenges that modern sheep ranchers face, especially if those sheep ranchers are also werewolves. When PETA comes a'calling, do you get cut slack if you're also half-canine? Are sheep you consume in a lupine frenzy deductible as a legitimate attrition expense of business? How do you and your friends arrange for temporary labour the three days that you all have to be chained in the basement? That kind of stuff.

Actually, now I kinda wish that WAS the comic I wrote. Huh.

The point being: this is not a comic that your run-of-the-mill Howling fan wants to read, but most people into farming economics don't have much interest in werewolves. But folks who like really interesting new takes on tired old themes would probably enjoy it, and that's the audience I want.

I want to throw some advertising money behind it personally, because the company doesn't have a lot of ad-dollar cash and I don't want to go for the rest of my life thinking that my (pretty good, if flawed) comic never got a chance to find its audience. I've put a classified on Fark, and am trying a horror-themed campaign through Project Wonderful. I've got the first two chapters of the thing up online as a free downloadable PDF.

Complication: I'm not rich. The comic never made money to speak of, and I doubt I'll see a dividend from the TPB, either. I just don't want to let it wither on the vine a second time. The ad rates for sites like Metafilter or BoingBoing are way the heck beyond me.

Maybe I'm asking for the moon here, but I'm not that well-travelled on the Web, and I'd like some lateral thinking on low-cost advertising ideas that can reach the sort of people that would really like a political/economic/human-rights spin on a very weary horror genre.

What are the best podcasts on the internet marketing biz

JaySunSee — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 16:55:11 -0800

Hivemind, please recommend free podcasts about internet marketing. More specifically, discussions and advice on internet marketing strategies, new tools, new technologies, by experts of the discipline. Thanks in advance.

Do singlepage, long copy websites work?

Hates_ — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 07:02:50 -0800

Does anyone have any knowledge/experience as to whether the single-page + massively long copy trend for a lot of websites actually work? (Examples Included) Recently we've been discussing our new company homepage redesign at work and there's been a lot of suggestion as to whether following the increasing trend for a single page with massive copy is the way forward.

These are a couple of examples of what I'm talking about:

www.marketingrebel.com
www.themagichundred.com
www.precisionnutrition.com

Coming from a design background I am massively against it as it goes against everything I "think" to be right about web-design and good user interaction. I don't believe people's attention span to be long enough to actually read these types of sites.

One argument put forward in it's defense is always "If it doesn't work, why are more and more sites doing it?" and my only argument against is that there are a load more sites not doing it then doing it and that to me it just does not portray the image I would want out company to.

Any first hand experience/knowledge would be greatly appreciated. I'm worried that if the consensus is we follow this path that we'll end up hurting ourselves as a company in the long run.

Can you recommend a forum for Search Engine Optimization?

jacobean — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 01:38:17 -0800

Can you recommend a forum on Search Engine Optimization? I am looking for a quality discussion forum (message board) on Search Engine Optimization. Does anyone have any suggestions?

How to began a career in internet marketing?

herbiehancock00 — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 23:01:47 -0800

Need help breaking into the Internet marketing industry. I am a recent college graduate with a major in Marketing. I had decided during my last quarter that I want to pursue a career in Internet marketing. I reckon that my decision came a bit late and I do not have any direct experience in the field. However, I am very knowledgable and has a solid understanding of the industry, from search engine marketing, to internet advertising, to new media. I also have a good foundational understanding of majority of the Internet technologies. Few weeks ago, I was invited for a second round of interviews at a well known Internet marketing company (name will not be mentioned) and was the runner-up candidate, edged out by someone with more experience. I am passionate and will continue to pursue this path. But I've looked around and it's very difficult to find an entry level position in the industry. Any pointers will be greatly appreciated.

How can I use the Internet to promote an interactive film and arts site?

Elle Vator — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 09:15:54 -0800

There are a lot of buzzwords being bandied about regarding the 'viral' 'grassroots' ways that 'Internet 2.0' can be used to 'create a groundswell' through 'guerilla marketing'. What? What do these buzzwords actually mean? After getting vague advice like 'use MySpace' by people with marketing degrees who don't use the internet to market anything, I am interested in cutting through the crap by hearing from real people with actual experience in these matters. How can the Internet be used to promote a site with interactive stuff, games and short film... and little-to-no budget for marketing?

How can I best market my podcast?

YoungAmerican — Tue, 30 May 2006 13:47:52 -0800

How can I best market my podcast? I podcast my public radio show. I've had success doing it (about 5K subscribers right now), but I'm trying to expand upon that success.

So given that I don't have a powerful brand like NPR or HBO or something, how can I best spend my time/money to promote the show? What precious little I've been able to find about podcast marketing has sort of been "get your show listed in the directories" stuff.

Are there books I should check out? Strategies I should pursue? I'm a lot better at creating the content than promoting it.

I need new ideas and different angles to website promotion.

rinkjustice — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 06:44:29 -0800

I need new ideas and different angles to website promotion, and since I don't have two nickles to rub together, it's gotta be free. Help me Obi-Wan-Kenobi, you're my only hope! Maybe I'm still in the dark ages. Maybe I'm still stuck inside Web 1.0 when Web 2.0 is just outside my (browser) window, but I think my methods of website promotion are pretty old world. Done the search engine/directory/meta tag thing, done the reciprocal link thing, done the lame alt.website.announce thing and I have sizable and relevant content. Is there any free, effective and ethical ways of promoting a website online? Or maybe good discussion forums to discuss innovative marketing and promtion techniques?

What resources will help a non-tech person understand web development?

theinsectsarewaiting — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 07:36:38 -0800

Just recently I started collaborating on projects with the web developers at the ad agency I work for - and quickly realized that I am out of my depth. I need to learn their language, and develop an independent understanding of web site development and marketing (I don't want to rely on my own guys' opinions). What are the best resources (books, sites, mags, whatever) to help a non-tech person understand these subjects?

How are flash sites like Virtual Bartender and Subservient Chicken implemented?

tommasz — Fri, 12 Nov 2004 12:33:30 -0800

I am curious, blue. Or rather, I'm curious about something on the Blue, Virtual Bartender. How are toys like that and Subservient Chicken implemented?

successful or noteworthy online marketing campaigns?

ChasFile — Wed, 07 Jul 2004 12:47:04 -0800

Remember any successful or noteworthy online marketing campaigns? [mo' 'nside] What are some particularly impressive or noteworthy or effective or memorable online marketing efforts you've seen? Many people can recall their favorite radio or TV or print ads years later, but what about particularly worthy online equivalents? Any favorite contests, promotions, games, mini-sites, enticements, what have you? My employer would like for me to come up with some examples for a presentation we're putting together for a prospective client. For NDA reasons I can't say much more than that, unfortunately. Anyway, I have couple examples - Pepsi's free music offer, for instance - in mind, but I wager y'all could come up with some better ones. Work sucks. I wish it was fall, already.