Christmas is fast approaching. It’s time to start making those wish lists. Sure, family and friends will have their usual go at giving and receiving, but small business owners, Internet marketers, technology professionals, and entrepreneurs are entitled to have their own holiday fun, too. So, in lieu of technology and Internet marketing coming together in the most wonderful time of the year, Lakeshore Branding presents its Holiday Gift Guide 2010 – Small Business edition. An Android mobile device: If you’re tired of hearing how awesome the iPhone is, but still want to experience what it’s like to be part of the ongoing smartphone revolution, then an Android-powered mobile device is an equally viable alternative. The Android app marketplace has over 100,000 apps, so you’re not really going to miss out on a lot should you decide to shun Apple. Android phones, moreover, are available on most major U.S. carriers. Check out our top picks: HTC Droid Incredible: Launched last spring, – Read the full article
According to eMarketer, shoppers are expected to spend 14.2% more shopping online in 2010 than in 2009. Are you part of the trend? Should you care if you aren’t? Shopping online has much more to offer than an expanded selection. You may not have thought about how much gas you spend driving to multiple stores or the impulse buys that creep into your cart. Before you dive in head first, consider these hidden benefits to shopping online versus shopping at bricks and mortar stores. Wish Lists Eliminate Guesswork: Many of us have had it with giving (and, if we’re honest, getting) bad gifts. We’re pretty confident that Uncle Alfred doesn’t want another necktie, but we inevitably buy one for him anyway. Most sites know that we’re frustrated with guessing how to buy for someone and put wish lists directly on their sites. Feel weird about telling people what you want? List Ideas, Kaboodle, and Boxed Up make it a cinch to make your own lists – Read the full article
The holiday season is right around the corner – and with it, shopping galore. Are you ready for Christmas? Is your E-commerce site optimized for maximum sales? People will certainly be looking up holiday items and ideas on the Internet, and – to help you gain greater visibility and maximize search traffic – we’ve come up with a list of 7 SEO tips for your retail website. 1. Refresh your content. Don’t just copy and paste from your manufacturer’s website. Be creative. Yes, it takes a lot of effort, but it is worth it to have unique product descriptions, catalog and category descriptions, case studies, industry news, and shopping tips that not only make your E-commerce site a lot more interesting for visitors, but also improve your sales through better search engine visibility. 2. Create a blog. Why not? The fact that holiday season is forthcoming should give you enough things to write about. A blog not only enhances the – Read the full article
Social media is the phenomenon of this century, and along with huge advances in mobile technology, the Internet has changed our lives beyond compare in an amazingly short time. The tipping point is approaching where more business will be done online (than offline), and companies will have to quickly adapt to these new markets or suffer the consequences. However, along with these vast new markets come some downsides. The free and almost instant communication social media brings means that good ideas can spread quickly – but conversely bad reviews can just as quickly spread and ruin a business. The anonymity it affords means that people are no longer afraid of saying what they think, or going over the top. In the leisure industry, prime examples are review sites, the biggest of which is undoubtedly TripAdvisor. There are few other sites that rely so heavily on good reviews for their continued business, so here are some interesting ideas adopted by some – Read the full article
It seems that competition for valuable branded keywords is reaching an all time high, with a recent report by eMarketer, “Brands Go Head-to-Head in Competition for Search Terms,” estimating that US marketers will spend a massive $14.4 billion USD this year on search advertising. Why should you care? Because it’s your brand’s keywords that they’re bidding on. The Battle of Branded Keywords We all know that search engine optimization is based on attempting to reach a top ranking position on a search engine for a given keyword or keyword phrase. We also know that the introduction of Google’s Adwords and Bing’s adCenter offered companies a major opportunity to feature on page one results for a search term without bothering with all this; they could bid on a term and grab traffic without engaging in the arduous process of link building and on and off site optimization. Recently, however, things have developed one step further and brand managers have started to – Read the full article
In my experience with Internet Marketing and SEO, I have come across a multitude of Internet marketing and SEO terms. A lot of these terms usually have very vague or technical definitions that leave you confused and frustrated. I know how you feel, trust me, I have been there. Fear not, I have compiled a list of internet marketing and SEO keywords in layman’s terms for you people that are new to SEO and internet marketing. 1. Anchor text , anchor link – When you are reading content, and a word is clickable and contains a link. 2. Backlink, back-link – a link from an outside website (outside source) that points back to a website. (i.e. all the links that connect back to your blog) 3. Broken link – a link that fails to connect to it’s intended destination 4. Cloaking – When a website presents one version of itself to the user and another version to the search engine. – Read the full article
It has been a happy holiday season indeed – especially for online shoppers, retailers, and the rest of the e-Commerce industry. According to surveys by both MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse and marketing research firm comScore, online sales in the United States jumped by as much as 15 percent this 2010, with the figures reaching as high as $36.4 billion in the three-month period of October 31 to December 22. This marks a significant increase from last year’s $31.5 billion. Daily online sales, moreover, reached $1 billion on six days this 2010, compared to only three days last year. SpendingPulse describes the surge as being spurred by aggressive online marketing by Web-based retailers. Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore, added: “After the past few years’ struggles, it is gratifying to see e-Commerce return to a state that can only be described as a very merry holiday shopping season.” The 2010 online holiday sales were also helped by a late surge in spending, with – Read the full article
We recommend watching this on full screen for the full effect! Happy Holiday from the team at Lakeshore Branding.
