Working from Home

Okay, so about a year ago I left corporate hell and started working for myself. Naturally I don't have an office (yet) and immediately turned my dining room into an office I now spend all day and night in... It's kinda become a joke that I went from wearing make-up and heels everyday to slummin it in my PJ's virtually 24/7... so, when I ran across this today I laughed my ass off!!!

Why working at home is both awesome and horrible

Enjoy!

Update: Jenny's SEO Slang

Soooo, I updated my page called: Jenny's SEO Slang

I think there are probably 1,000 more to add... send me an e-mail or comment here with terms that you think I should add so together we can create the largest list of "SEO Slang" anywhere :-)

Thanks!

My Top 10 Best Practices for Landing Page Conversion Optimization

What is a “Landing Page”?

Although often times a landing page is referred to as the page a user lands on after clicking on a Pay Per Click (PPC) ad, landing pages are really any page, HomePage (HP) or SubPage (SP), within a particular website that a potential client will land on after clicking on an add, an organic result in the search engines, e-mail marketing campaign or even an article or Press Release.

Best Practices for Website Landing Pages – AKA – Conversion Rate Optimization:

Below is a list of the top ten best practices for landing pages. The list encourages companies to make smart marketing choices, which will not only engage the user but be able to show higher return on investment(ROI).

1. Unify the Intent – Landing pages perform best when the content is promotion-based. With this type of landing page, the content is concise and focused on one appealing message. Even the most brand-focused company ("we're not promotional, we're all about brand") engages in some sort of promotional activity.

2. Visually Engage the User – Tell a story or sell a product using impactful imagery rather than simply explaining the purpose with lengthy copy. (Think short attention pans, we are on the internet after all).

3. Focus the User Experience – Feature clean navigation and succinct calls to action. Landing pages should be used as a teaser to easily point the customer to the desired action. (Call now!)

4. Use a Direct Headline – Making a good first impression is just as important online as it is in the real world. A clear and direct headline should be the first thing the user notices upon viewing the page. Make sure the headline is a direct and simple statement of what the page visitor is trying to accomplish.

5. Leave Plenty of Whitespace — Visitors don’t read, they scan the text to determine if the page is relevant to their goal or not. Clean use of space allows visitors to scan and understand key messages.

6. Deliver a Clear Value Proposition – Answer any potential “whys?” with value propositions. Keep them limited to three or four bullet points and don’t mince words. This is no time to get cute – if visitors can’t quickly and easily understand the benefits of your product or service, they will leave.

7. Amplify Buttons – Attracting attention is what the main action buttons are all about. Make users notice where the button is upon landing. Odd button shapes work well. Also, don’t skimp on button size. *I personally think there should always be a big “Contact” button or a quick form on each page. You don`t need people to read your site once they get there, you just want them to take an action.

8. Convey Trust and Security - Branding, trust/security icons and assurances, as well as testimonials provide credibility and give confidence to the visitor that can have a positive impact on conversion. *I suggest trust icons such as the BBB, Mcafee, etc. and always place them above the fold. You might put “Our Returns Policy,” “Member of the Better Business Bureau,” “As Seen in Architectural Record,” “Company Information” and more to remove fear and build confidence.

9. Provide a Compelling Message — Every good salesperson says something to persuade prospects who are on the fence. Think of your landing page as your online salesperson. Make sure you have one compelling message directly above the call to action. “Bandwagon messages,” such as “Join thousands of people that use…” can also improve visitor confidence and increase conversion.

10. Soften the Call to Action – Direct words like “Buy,” “Add to Cart” or “Subscribe” indicate a commitment that the visitor may not be ready to make and can lower conversion rates. A softer call to action like "Try it Now" can drive users deeper into the funnel and result in higher conversions. The best calls to action are written in plain English with no more than 7-12 words.

Advanced Geo Targeted PPC Advertising Methods

My good friend John Pfeiffer wrote this piece.... thought I'd share:

Advanced Geo Targeted PPC Advertising Methods

Geographically focusing your paid search engine advertising to specific locations within your Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and Microsoft’s adCenter (Bing) campaigns is one of the simplest and most important direct marketing tools to effectively drive qualified traffic to your small business website.  But on more than one occasion, small business owners create ads with their city mentioned in the headline and then display these ads nationally!  (i.e. I live in “Colorado” but I’ve seen ads for “Boston Chiropractors” while searching from my local office).  This is a good example of very bad geo targeted PPC advertising and complete waste of marketing dollars in geographies where your customers do not live.

Instead, I suggest that PPC advertisers take the following steps to ensure your geo targeted PPC advertising is done properly and seen by the most “relevant” number of potential customers as possible.

1. First, look at your customer database, web logs and/or billing addresses to determine where most of your customers live.  This will give you the first sphere of geographical focus for which to display your advertising
2. If you are seeking to expand your geographical reach in search of new potential customers, consider “like” areas throughout the state, region, country or world for your next target focus.  For example, if you are selling “golf clubs”, look for cities, states or areas where golf courses exist (i.e. Alaska may not be a best place to start, but Florida is probably a good bet).
3. Advertise in areas of the smallest increments.  For example, if you are currently set your geo targeted PPC advertising for the entire U.S., consider lowering the target areas to all states or even metro areas.  This trick will give you another line of copy on your Google advertisements and can separate your ad from the competition.
4. When targeting small areas within a state or region, I recommend to use both the custom geo-targeting map AND the city/state selections.  By including both the names of the cites/states along with a circle radius or polygon around your business location, you will be able to show your ads more frequently to more potential customers while still gaining the advantage of the 5^th line of copy underneath your ads (i.e. your business name, address and phone).
5. Select negative geo targeted PPC advertising locations where appropriate to avoid unwanted clicks from strange countries, states or areas where you are prohibited to advertise or not licensed to do business in that particular area (e.g. lawyers, real estate agents, and mortgage brokers).  This may be especially true if you live near a state, county or country line.
6. Remember that some internet service provides (ISPs) reside in areas that may not be located in your target market region.  Since the search engines usually segment the geo-targeting by the physical location of the ISP address, you may need to add these regions to capture your entire target market audience.

By using some of these advanced geo targeted PPC advertising techniques for your next pay-per-click campaign, you should be able to raise your click-through rates (CTRs), increase your Quality Scores (which lends itself to lower bids for less expensive clicks), and ultimately, acquire more customers within your desired market area.

About the Author: John Pfeiffer helps small business owners succeed online against big budget advertisers with affordable pay per click advertising management services.  He is also the author of numerous articles and white papers on affordable PPC advertising and search engine marketing.  John can be reached at http://www.PPCforSmallBiz.com © 2010

Follow Up Post: Dear Spammers

So, chances are the majority of the Chinese spam comments I'm getting are from some automated script OR maybe even just mindless blog spammers who can't even read English. Either way, no one has stepped up yet and submitted a legitimate blog post, even after I agreed to FREELY link out if they did so (See my original blog: Dear Spammers). *sigh*

Don't worry, I'm aware that probably no one is reading this in the first place, so I'm not completely oblivious to the fact that the real reason no one has submitted a legitimate post is more likely because NO ONE is reading my blog....  but still.... I had an idea.

Today I created a new blog called: Comment Love

So, dear Spammers, if you are reading this, please feel free to Blog Spam away.... Just click here:
Bring on the Comment Spam!

As for the rest of you, you might find this little experiment interesting. Why not help me out by leaving a totally mindless comment (on my Comment Love blog) with a link back to yourself.... you might even get a good link out of it! :-)

SEO Definition of the Day: URL Canonicalization

Question: What is URL canonicalization or a canonical URL?

Answer: Canonicalization is the strange word Google uses to describe the process of picking the best URL when they see more than one choice (example below). According to Matt Cutts it usually refers to the URL choices of the home page. For example, although a lot of people would consider these the same URL`s:

• www.example.com
  
• example.com/
  
• www.example.com/index.html
  
• example.com/home.asp
  

…they are all technically different URL`s (intended to all point to the HP). Because they are unique, a web server can return different content, images, etc for all the URL`s above. When Google "canonicalizes" a URL, they go through the process of picking one URL, generally the one that makes the most sense for the site.

To help Google pick the one you want, decide on the best suited URL for internal linking and use that format consistently throughout the site. Beyond consistency in the internal linking structure, you should also do a permanent 301 redirect from any other formats to the desired URL. Doing this helps Google better understand which URL you prefer to be canonical.

Dear Spammers

I understand you are spamming my blog for the link juice... I would LOVE to publish your comments, but they are spammy as all hell and I just can`t bring myself to do it. So, I have an idea:

If any of you have something REAL to say on the subjects of:

Online Marketing
SEO (Search  Engine Optimization)
SEM (Search Engine Marketing)
Social Media
Link Building
Blogging
PPC (Pay Per Click)
LPO (Landing Page Optimization)
Web Design
Google

or anything else you think would be useful to readers of this blog.... send it to: dayofjen@hotmail.com

Let me know that you would like me to publish your comments as a guest blogger and what KW`s you`d like me to link out to and where. If what you send is worth publishing, I`d be happy to link to you!

P.S. This goes for anyone reading this - not just the spammers :-)

Come on writers, show me what ya got ;-)