Last Wednesday’s blog post discussed the fact that the rise of blended search – which delivers images, video, blog posts, news and other results in addition to traditional web pages — has intensified competition for page one search results. A case in point (click on the headline for more…)
Harbinger of a Good Season to Come?
Attendance at last month’s Independent Garden Center show jumped a full 36% over the previous year — to 6,043 registered attendees from 49 states and 24 countries. Considering that the majority of the exhibitors were selling ornamentals, hard goods and outdoor living products – not vegetable gardening products that boomed this past year – that […]
Search Keeps Changing
It’s been more than two years since Google introduced universal search (also known as blended search), delivering results from a combination of sources – including video, images, blogs, news, maps, books and websites. (Click on the headline for more…)
A Cheap, Easy Way to Boost PPC Performance
Here’s a little trick for increasing your paid search results for all of about $10 per year. (Click on the headline for more…)
Better Paid Search Results on the Same Budget
If you’re not happy with your paid search ranking, don’t automatically raise your bid. Any of these three steps may improve your results without increasing your budget: Test New Ads. By continually split testing one ad vs. another, you’ll learn which combination of elements produces the best response. For fastest results, be sure to change […]
Sell More With Action Verbs
When writing copy about a product, it’s natural to describe it. If that’s all you do, you’re making a huge mistake. Start by painting a word picture of the end benefit, and you’ll almost certainly increase sales. Action verbs wield far more power than static descriptions. As an example, Google “greenhouses,” scroll to the bottom […]
Surprising Video Marketing Test Results
I’m always intrigued by direct marketing test results. As any veteran direct marketer can tell you, the things that make the biggest differences are not always what you’d expect.
Two such cases were cited in a recent issue of Internet Retailer. Both involved Treepodia, a developer of online video content. (Click on the headline for more…)
Should You Aim For the #1 Paid Search Position?
No one questions the fact that an ad in the #1 position in paid search gets more clicks than its competitors. But think twice before you go all out to get there. (Click on the headline for more…)
Does Your Customer Service Email Response Time Measure Up?
A few weeks ago, I reported on the many missed income opportunities uncovered by the Mailorder Gardening Association’s recent Secret Shopper Survey. Following on the heels of that, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by the dismal results from Forrester Research’s survey of response times to customer service emails. (Click on the headline for more…)
5 Tips for More Effective Copywriting
Whether you write copy or review copy that others write, these simple guidelines can help improve your response: (Click on the headline for more…)
