'Net Features : 92209

SEO Books For Everyone

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:00:00 GMT

The Website Magazine Editorial team has completed its November 2009 issue on E-mail marketing and that means one very important thing - the next issue (on Search Engine Optimization and Search Marketing) has entered the planning phases. That's where you come in. SEO and SEM are in constant states of change so we want to know what tools, resources and services you use most often to secure top rankings on popular search engines. Share your favorite keyword research tools, link building tactics/services, or content creation techniques and you'll forever be immortalized in the pages of Website Magazine (you'll even be found at Barnes & Nobles across the U.S). In preparation of the upcoming edition, we've assembled a list of seven key reads (SEO books) for both newbie and professional search engine optimization specialists.

What have you read that positively influenced your SEO campaign? Comment below!

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SEO Made Simple: Strategies For Dominating The World's Largest Search Engine by Mr. Michael H. Fleischner	Search Engine Optimization All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies by Bruce Clay, Susan Esparza

Online Marketing Inside Out by Brandon Eley, Shayne Tilley	The Truth About Search Engine Optimization by Rebecca Lieb

The Findability Formula: The Easy, Non-Technical Approach to Search Engine Marketing by Heather F. Lutze	SEO: Search Engine Optimization Bible by Jerri L. Ledford

Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day by Jennifer Grappone, Gradiva Couzin

Zoho Discussions Arrives... In a Very Big Way

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:25:00 GMT

Zoho might just be the most interesting software/technology company around today - and it's only getting better. In addition to its already deep suite of productivity, collaboration and business applications, Zoho just launched Zoho Discussions.

Introduced to the market today, Zoho Discussions is software for enabling businesses and organizations to create internal and external communities - you might know that as forums. We're taking a closer look at the platform today for an upcoming issue but highlights of Zoho Discussions include:

- Community Engagement. Businesses and organizations keep their users coming back through the use of familiar social networking features such as profiles, integrated chat, private messages among users, user labels and more.

- Content Discoverability. Content stored in communities created with Zoho Discussions is easy to find through the integrated advanced search, custom organization, as well as RSS/Secure RSS subscription options and SEO.

- Branding. Zoho Discussions allows businesses to remain in control of their brand and the user experience they provide to customers through custom URLs, branding options and elements, customizable look and feel, even including full rebranding (white labeling) options.

- Topic Administration. Allows community moderators to manage the lifecycle of posts and discussions. For example, depending on the topics enabled, community users will be able to vote on an idea or select the most popular solution for a problem.

The Zoho Discussions forum software (SaaS) is available in a free version, but paid plans starting at $25 per month (for an unlimited number of users) are also available.

“We want to provide our customers with the relevant applications they need to run their businesses,” said Raju Vegesna, Zoho evangelist. “Zoho Discussions is another piece of that puzzle. It’s a key application that customers can easily include in their website to create a natural spot where customers gather to exchange ideas and experiences, support each other and provide feedback to the company. For example, Zoho Discussions has been powering our own Community site, forums.zoho.com, that we use to stay in close contact with customers, partners and our own teams. So, we’ve seen how effective this form of interaction can be.”

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Mobile Subscription Payments with Zong

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:00:00 GMT

Publisher payment service Zong launched a subscription-based mobile payment service today.

Zong customers can extend a recurring bill-to-mobile option of up to $9.99 per month to their membership base, marketing an extension of its pay-as-you-go feature popular among social networking applications, virtual worlds and online games. Zong currently reaches more than 1 billion mobile users worldwide.

Users bill the membership fees to their mobile phone by entering their 10 digit mobile phone number online, receiving a four digit confirmation PIN by SMS text, then entering that PIN online to complete the purchase. The monthly membership fee then appears as a line item on the user’s monthly mobile phone bill.

“Subscription-based payments bring a greater degree of dependability to an online merchant’s revenue stream and are a natural next step in extending the Zong mobile payment platform,” said David Marcus, founder and CEO, Zong. “Photobucket’s and OMGPOP’s use of Zong’s Recurring Payment Service demonstrates the potential of mobile payment platforms to continue to gain popularity and use across a variety of consumer demographics and use cases.”

Sites like photo and video sharing site Photobucket and social gaming platform OMGPOP are currently using Zong's Recurring Payment Service.

Is this the future of mobile? Chances are likely that it most certainly is, considering last week's report from Chitika that advertising on mobile devices generates a much lower response than traditional display ads.

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Publisher Platform Enhanced at Tatto

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:40:00 GMT

At my last count there were over 300 advertising networks available These providers come in a number of varieties making selecting one that is sensible for your business a real key to your success.

When deciding which ad network or combination of ad networks is best suited to you, it's crucial to understand where your advertising messages will be seen and by whom. The affiliate/publisher side of the equation is as important (if not more so) than the features provided to advertisers on the network. If affiliate/publishers aren't sending you the right traffic, they aren't doing their part. When they are equipped with the right tools and capable of sending the best possible traffic, publisher/affiliates can be an important part to maximizing you return on advertising spend.

Tatto Media, an ad network which focuses on behavioral and performance optimization technologies, announced some important updates to its affiliate platform today including advanced tracking features and mobile targeting support. Never heard of Tatto? According to the March 2009 comScore Worldwide Key Measure Media Metric report, they are the third largest ad network in the world. That by itself warrants a closer look at enhancements made to the publisher platform.

- Conversion Tracking Report: Provides lead information such as sub ID, tracking info, transaction ID, IP address and payouts
- Updating Tracking Links: Specify a source name in the tracking URL to drill down and analyze performance in reports.
- Refer a Friend: Improved friend referral feature now rewards you for introducing friends into the network.
- Browser Targeting: Target offers to users based on their browser, redirecting them to receive offers designed for mobile devices, including iPhones, and thus increasing conversion rates.
- Creative Manager: Generates tracking codes with creatives automatically. This makes it simple to include the preferred creative with the tracking URL specific to the offer. Additionally, browsing and previewing creatives is now available.
- Suppression List: Updated suppression lists now better support email marketers.
- Tiny URLs: Shorten tracking links with a shortened URL.
- Live Support: Instantly AIM with an affiliate manager for live support.

“Given Tatto Media’s extensive growth over the past year, it was imperative to make enhancements that would support our large affiliate network and give us a competitive edge. We have truly revolutionized the way our affiliate platform works as compared to the rest of the industry,” said Lin Miao, CEO at Tatto Media. “The industry as it currently stands has not yet found an efficient way to allocate their advertising dollars, as many are still implementing untargeted CPM campaigns. Our industry-leading platform envelops certain features that most of the market has yet to conquer, leading us to provide our marketers with millions of specifically targeted leads every year.”

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