Website Magazine Consumer Corner

AddThis Widget Claims to Reach Half of Internet Population

2009-05-28T19:41:00Z

Popular widget AddThis (at right) and Clearspring have released news of a comScore study that claims they now reach nearly 50 percent of the entire global Web population - more than 500 billion people. Of course, that doesn't mean there are that many websites using the widget, but it does indicate that users are becoming more familiar using AddThis to spread content on the Web. That's good enough reason to consider using the widget on your blog or for specific content. Part of this boom in usage is due to AddThis being acquired by Clearspring last September.

Now, Clearspring looks to ride the momentum. A new feature of AddThis is Embedded Content Sharing. Using a customizable API, content such as video, flashe widgets, images, etc., can be shared with the AddThis widget to sites that support embeddable content. So, a user wanted to share your video on their own WordPress blog, they can do that. This feature is still new, but it points to the ability to share any kind of content, anywhere. This is one-button syndication that could prove to be a powerful method to share interactive content.

Consumers Flock to Online Classifieds

2009-05-28T18:03:00Z

According to a study by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, online classified websites are soaring in popularity with consumers - doubling their usage sice 2005. As it stands, nearly half (49 percent) of all global online adults have used online classifieds at some point. What's more, every day, nine precent of online users visit a classified site.

The study goes on to report some other interesting findings:

Classifieds are most popular with those aged 25-44 years. Over half of this population (62 percent) have used the sites.
Those 18-24 and 45-54 years old use less frequently, but the figures are still well over 40 percent.
Fewer than 35 percent of users aged 55-64 years old use online classifieds.
Men are more likely to used a classified site on any given day - 12 percent, compared to 7 percent of women.
Those with household income levels of $50,000 or more are more likely to use online classified sites than those with incomes under $50,000 (25 percent vs. 15 percent).
The fastest growing online population using online classified sites are 30-49 years old, and those with incomes over $50,000 per household.

Even at the low end of the scale (55-64 years old), a 35 percent usage rate is outstanding. It is also encouraging that those with spending power are more likely to be shopping online classifieds. Therefore, it's important to get your products and services listed on these sites. Craigslist is the outright leader in the space, but also consider Kijiji.com (eBay's classifieds site) and Oodle.com, which handles classifieds for Facebook.

Behavioral, Local Mobile Ads on the Rise

2009-05-22T19:02:00Z

The Kelsey Group is predicting that local mobile advertising is going to take off - in a big way. Ad revenue reached $160 million in 2008, but Kelsey estimates it will skyrocket to more than $3.1 billion in 2013, just four years from now. And how will this be achieved? Mobile search is the main driver, clocking in with an estimated $2.3 billion. And more than half of the revenue spend on all of mobile advertising will be spent on local search.

We've all heard the "mobile era is here" argument before. But if there's any reason to take this one seriously, Yahoo! might have something to do with it. They just announced that their Smart Ads are going local - and behavioral. So, when a user is walking around New York on a cold morning, they might see an ad on their mobile device for a hot cup of Starbucks coffee, conveniently located just steps from their current location.

While Kelsey's numbers are lofty, it's interesting to note such a huge increase. Also, the expected ad spend on mobile advertising. It appears that advertisers are ready to take the leap, and assume consumers will be doing plenty of searching on their mobile devices in the very near future.

Newspapers Adapt to the Times: Will Charge for Online Content

2009-05-14T15:32:00Z

It's amazing that it took this long. But MediaNews Group, which owns the Denver Post and more than 140 other papers, plans to start charging users for online content. "We cannot continue to give all our content away for free," says CEO William Dean Singleton.

Singleton went on to say, "We continue to do an injustice to our print subscribers and create perceptions that our content has no value by putting all of our print content online for free. Not only does this erode our print circulation, it devalues the core of our business — the great local journalism we (and only we) produce on a daily basis."

Current and future print subscribers will have full access to online content, while those who want digital-only news will be directed to a separate paid registration page. Not only is this a good idea, but the print newspaper industry basically has no other choice.

Consumers have any number of choices from which to get their news - Google, blogs, Digg, CNN to name just a few. What these massive media sources cannot offer is the local flavor of newspapers - the columnists, the beat reporters and the in-depth coverage of special interest stories. And why not charge for this content. Not only is it an additional revenue stream, but it also supports the overall goal of the industry, to sell newspapers, sell advertisements and gain readership.

For Web professionals and publishers, there's a lesson to be learned here.

Read: Transparency is So 2008.

User Reviews Invade Google SERPs

2009-05-12T13:41:00Z

It's no secret that online user reviews can be of great significance to businesses. But a recent search of some brick-and-mortar businesses reveals just how important these reviews can be - particularly in the eyes of Google. And anything important to Google is important to the online success of your company.

I recently experienced some car trouble. So, I had the car towed to a local dealership to get estimates. This morning I needed to call and get an update so, naturally, I turned to Google and typed in the name of the dealership to get the phone number - I knew that because Google knows my location, I would have the phone number displayed quickly. Below are the top three results on the search engine results page (SERP).

Notice the third result - a handy map, the telephone number I expected ... and a partial, scathing review. Uh oh. I also see there are 24 total reviews. What's more, the URL listed is Carr's Honda - not Yelp or any other user review site. Clicking through reveals this page:

This page - still a Google page - features four more negative reviews. And now I'm considering a new place to take my car. Another point of interest is the source of these reviews. InsiderPages, JudysBook, DealerRater and Edmunds. Most are relevant to the auto industry, thereby carrying weight with consumers. In both cases, notice the limited text included in the reviews. This is very important, as most users will forgo a click-through if they learn what they need to know right away. If you're soliciting reviews, writing reviews or attempting to respond to a review, make sure to get right to the point. There's no need - and no room - for a flowery introduction.

Next, I searched for a famous Chicago pizza restaurant, Giordano's. Here are the results:

These are the first three results after a section with a Google Map, list of locations and phone numbers. Here, we find reviews in the first two spots, and a link to more reviews in the third. It's interesting to see that Yelp is listed (expected) but right below that is a link from Flickr. Click through and you get a photograph, along with the user's comments, and below that, comments from other Flickr users.

Thought prominent user reviews were limited to Yelp? Think again. This is a clear indication that your business' reputation is on the line, online, everywhere. That's a good enough reason to conduct searches for reputation management purposes regularly, and across all portals where users are actively communicating. That means Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Twitter and many other places. Also, be aware of your industry and its authority sources - such as the case with Carr's Honda and Edmunds and DealerRater.

Automate Video Feeds to Your Facebook Wall

2009-05-11T14:28:00Z

Facebook and Twitter are currently waging war in the "update" arena. But one distinct advantage Facebook has over Twitter is the ability to embed multimedia directly into status updates without requiring the user to click a link and be directed elsewhere.

Now, you can fully automate a video feed to be uploaded to your wall. Ffwd's new tool lets you choose a channel (from Brightcove or YouTube) to publish to your videos automatically, whenever that video is included in the selected channel. So, if you publish a series of how-to videos, video blog, or just about anything else, you can be sure that each video is available to your Facebook friends. Video and social media are made for each other, and this is yet another way to give users a fuller experience with your brand.

Try marking videos as "favorites" on your YouTube channel, then marking your ffwd settings to publish your "favorites." That way, videos will be included in your feed - viewable to your friends on their home pages.

Generic Domain Names Get More Clicks

2009-05-05T13:38:00Z

A study by MemorableDomains.co.uk finds that generic domain names within online ads get significantly more clicks than branded names. The company tested the theory using an AdWords PPC campaign, testing electric bicycles. They used three identical ads, with different domain names: ElectricBicycles.co.uk, YourBikes.co.uk and InAHurry.co.uk.

The results show that the most generic name (ElectricBicycles.co.uk) had a click-through rate 15 percent higher than the next alternative (YourBikes) and 42 percent higher than the brand name (InAHurry). Total clicks were even higher, with the generic name getting 105 percent more clicks than the branded name.

The results of this experiment make sense. When consumers are searching for a product, they will likely be more inclined to click on the domain that most closely matches that product. Judging by the study (bearing in mind this is one experiment), businesses that do not have an instantly recognizable brand name, like Amazon.com, might consider buying domains for individual product campaigns. Start with some keyword research, then try to find the closest matching available domain name. The traffic can be redirected, or a very specific landing/checkout page can be erected.

US Weekly Breaks the Facebook Advertising Mold

2009-04-27T21:14:00Z

In a first, celebrity gossip magazine US Weekly has accepted a sponsorship to their Facebook Fan Page. State Farm can now be seen as the official sponsor to US Weekly's presence on Facebook. It's a powerful message to the rest of the industry: social network advertising is ready for prime time.

The State Farm presence is rather small, in the form of a banner on the Fan Page, hinting at a cautious entrance into the Facebook advertising arena. Furthermore, the links clicked on the Fan Page take you to the US Weekly site, where there is no State Farm advertising to be found. However, the most important part is covered - the status updates. When a user gets an update from US Weekly, the link leads to Facebook-framed page, with a banner linked to more US Weekly content, prominently branded by State Farm.

The key here is that the banner leads to more content sponsored by State Farm, not just the State Farm website. This is important to Facebook users. The content they receive (in this case, a video) is a reward for being a fan. It appears that State Farm has managed to break that elusive barrier of advertising within a social network without intruding.

Of course, the success of the campaign for State Farm will rely on the success of the Page. To that end, US Weekly has customized content - tabs for video, Twitter updates, news updates and more -- again, adding value for the user.

It's important to note that US Weekly is not receiving direct compensation for this sponsorship. They already have an advertising deal with State Farm, and the Facebook Page is an added bonus. But the willingness of a major company to advertise on another company's Facebook Page is an encouraging sign. Expect others to follow suit, while paying for the advertisements.

Facebook Pages allow businesses to connect with users on a personal level. Learn more about creating effective Pages for businesses in Facebook in Website Magazine's June issue - only available to professional-level subscribers!

Take Advantage of iGoogle's What's Popular Gadget

2009-04-27T17:40:00Z

Google has recently introduced "What's Popular," a gadget for user iGoogle startup pages. The gadget will display popular items of interest in the form of links with titles and short descriptions from Google's index on users' iGoogle pages. Users can then vote up or down results to alter the results. On the surface, it's like Digg, but there are some important differences.

No login, username or special account is needed to vote, other than already being signed into your iGoogle account. Like Digg, you can submit URLs for inclusion in the gadget. Unlike Digg, you don't need to provide any other information other than the URL. You can submit anonymously. This eliminates the worry of being penalized for submitting your own content. If you decide to submit using your Google ID, you can edit the title and description of the submission. Also unlike Digg, there presently is no area for commentary or the capacity to make friends. On the surface, it could be argued that this gadget has the potential to be a much more democratic process than a site like Digg, where results are regularly manipulated by networks of "friends." That's assuming Google is keeping tabs on multiple submissions and votes from the same sources.

While Google is, of course, mum on the details of what makes a certain submission "popular," it's safe to assume there are a number of individual factors working as a whole. Google likely takes into account the number of links pointing to the submitted page, user votes (pops) on the gadget and number of times the URL has been submitted, among other factors. So, it would make sense that the more your URL is submitted and voted on, the better chance of landing in a good position on the gadget. As you might expect, submissions look to be filtered by recency and relevancy, such as "HOW TO: Track Swine Flu Online" being at the top of the results all day, as of this writing.

There are some bookmarking-type functions in the gadget, including "My pops" (those submissions you voted for), and "My adds" (your own submissions). Expand the gadget and you can filter results by Stories, Videos and Images, and choose between Date Added and Most Popular.

Early looks show that most of the submissions come from tech-focused websites, such as Mashable, Lifehacker, CNet and ReadWriteWeb, as well as major news sources like Time and The New York Times. However, there are some offbeat submissions such as one from ffffound.com in the second position (see image).

At any rate, this is a target for submitting your URL, like anything else Google. Reports from last year also show that personalization pages are gaining momentum with users, particularly iGoogle. Another interesting point to note is recent reports of iGoogle being responsible for 20 percent of Google homepage visits. You can expect this gadget to catch on with users. And, you can reasonably expect that Google will get more sophisticated with this tool as feedback starts rolling in from users. Click to add What's Popular to your iGoogle page.

The Importance of Your Twitter Image

2009-04-21T15:28:00Z

As Twitter continues to sweep the Internet, it only makes sense that users are adding more and more followers each day. And while services like TweetDeck can help manage all those incoming tweets, not everyone is using them. That presents a problem for those using Twitter to market their brands. How do you stand out amidst all the noise?

Twitter is an excellent tool for finding breaking news. As such, many users scan their Twitter accounts quickly to find something of interest. Pay attention to how you scan Twitter, and you might find yourself looking at users' images more than the actual list of tweets. That's because as you become accustomed to the value of a particular user's tweets, you look for them specifically. It's much easier to pick out an image of value rather than the entire tweet. Therefore, it's important, as a brand, to have an image that is instantly recognizable - one that stands out. That way when users are scanning a long list of tweets, the chances increase that they will stop and read yours. That all depends, of course, on the value you are providing with each and every tweet associated with your image.

RetailMeNot: Now Printable Coupons

2009-04-16T14:19:00Z

RetailMeNot.com, a popular site that offers digital coupons to consumers announced it will now offer 90,000 printable coupons to be used for brick-and-mortar shopping. Users can search by business name, location, or browse categories. Coupon search results are then populated on Google Maps. In addition, the site highlights national coupons on the printable coupon landing page.

In March 2008, Website Magazine covered the launch of RetailMeNot.com's digital database. To find digital coupons, users search URLs and receive coupon codes for the respective websites. RetailMeNot.com has grown drastically since March 2008 - from 1.7 million unique visitors to 6.3 million in one year. In a down economy it only makes sense that the demand for coupons - both digital and print - are in high demand.

Because the results are shown on Google Maps, it’s important to make sure Google indexes your business correctly. Search Google Maps to see where Google thinks you’re located and if it appears Google doesn’t have its information correct, rectify the problem quickly.

With more than 6 million visitors browsing coupons on RetailMeNot, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity if you’re not listed on the site. Merchants included in the printable program are partners of RedPlum.com, Valpak.com, and MoneyMailer.com. However, merchants can submit their online and printable coupons for free by visiting www.retailmenot.com/submit.

Fastest Rising and Falling Consumer Searches

2009-04-15T14:48:00Z

Compete.com has released a study of the Web's fastest rising and falling searches, revealing Twitter as the term Web consumers searched most in March. It marked a 130% growth from February 2009. The top 10 fastest rising terms were:

Twitter
American Idol
Dancing With the Stars
Twilight (a popular book series)
Dr. Seuss (Birthday is March 2)
Melissa Rycroft (Dancing With the Stars and Bachelor contestant)
NCAA Basketball
Adam Lambert (American Idol contestant)
Watchmen (movie and graphic novel)
Jon and Kate Plus 8 (popular home/reality show)

Looking at this list, it is clear that the biggest driver of consumer search is entertainment. Moving down the list are even more entertainment and sports-related search terms. Below are the 10 fastest dropping consumer search terms.

IRS
TurboTax
Acai Berry
www.IRS.gov
HGTV
Watch Movies
Jessica Simpson
TaxAct
Slumdog Millionaire
Abraham Lincoln

Clearly, declining search terms have plenty to do with seasonality, but entertainment terms make an impact on this list as well. One interesting note is that HGTV and Watch Movies appear pretty high on this list. Looking at Compete's traffic data, HGTV also suffered a 46% drop in traffic for March. For movies, you wonder if channels like Hulu and YouTube have branded so well that consumers are searching less and navigating directly to these sites. Terms like "free movies" and "free online movies" appear farther down the list. Or possibly the piracy industry is taking a hit. Of course, that's pure speculation.

Compete's search data includes the five largest search engines in Google, Yahoo!, MSN Live Search, Ask and AOL. This is only one analysis, but these are always good things to watch. It may affect your keyword bidding strategies, content development ideas or tagging practices.

New Yelp Feedback Options for Businesses

2009-04-14T13:48:00Z

Yelp, ever an advocate for the consumer, is now letting businesses post responses to user comments and reviews. So, if your business receives a negative review on Yelp, you can now respond for everyone to see, and that's a good thing. With more than 5 million consumer generated reviews, chances are there are some negative ones out there that are just plain unfounded. Whether the reviewer is confusing your business with another, or someone out there is simply trying to spread negative feelings, responding to these complaints could go a long way toward making sure future customers are not deterred.

This new feature is actually more important than it sounds. Because with Yelp, even if you have never registered your business, it might have a listing. Yelp is generated by consumers, and they don't need your permission to list your business or comment on it. Below is language from Yelp's FAQ regarding the availability of business listings:

Even when a business owner has registered his or her business name as a trademark, the law protects the right of a website like Yelp to list the name, just as it protects the right of consumers to talk about what they like (and don't like) about a meal they ate, a plumber that they hired, or a car wash that they visited.

If you have not officially joined Yelp, you might want to make it a priority. Reputation management is important in the digital age, and Yelp is handing over an excellent tool just for that. Signing up for a Business Owner's Account is free.

Yelp also allows business owners to privately message reviewers, a nice way to reach out to a positive reviewer to say thanks (thereby generating even more word-of-mouth marketing) or to respond to criticism. It's possible that after some personal interatction, the individual in question removes or amends his or her comments about your business. But be careful. As Yelp notes in the FAQ page, people can be emotional and fire off an emotional review. So even when messaging privately, choose your words carefully.

Consumer Confidence Rising

2009-04-13T13:39:00Z

RBC Financial Group reports that consumer confidence is on its way back up, after seven months of a downward spiral. The CASH (Consumer Attitudes and Spending by Household) Index jumped 30.1 points to reach 38.3 - the first improvement since September 2008.

Another encouraging sign is that according to the RBC survey, 39 percent of people believe their local economy will be stronger next month, a 9 percent jump from March. However, confidence in the job market remains low - 37 percent say it's likely they or someone they know will lose their job in the next six months, compared with 39 percent of respondents last month.

New and Improved Digg Search

2009-04-10T19:22:00Z

One of Digg.com's biggest shortcomings has always been the search feature. It returned results that were not always relevant or timely. So, by popular demand, Digg has completely revamped their search results.

Enter a term and you will find more relevant results than ever before, along with a few nice perks. You can sort results by most votes, newest or best match. The left sidebar has some interesting features worth exploring as well. There, you can filter by timeline (last day, last 7 days or last 30 days), by topic, total number of diggs or media type. There is also an option to filter results by source and you can subscribe to search results via RSS. Other advanced search functions include:

    * Add +b to include buried stories
    * Add +p show only promoted stories
    * Add +np show only not promoted stories
    * Add +u show only upcoming stories
    * Put terms in "quotes" for an exact search
    * Add -term to exclude a term from your query (e.g. apple -iphone)

If nothing else, Digg has always been a good barometer of popular news, particularly among bloggers and the social networking sect. Now, with a far better search function, it serves as a good place to keep tabs on what's buzzing on the Web, as well as find some good viral content ideas.

Below is a sample of the new search interface.