Archive for February, 2010

Google’s New Click-to-call Feature

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

Google now offers an awesome click-to-call feature on their mobile sponsored links, allowing advertisers to embed a clickable phone number that’s displayed with the ad. This feature allows Smartphone users, including the iPhone and Android-based devices, to click on the phone number and instantly connect to that business, without having to click on the actual ad. That’s right, users can easily access a business phone number without having to surf through pages of a website. The image below displays the click-to-call feature on a mobile device.

As an added bonus, search queries that don’t include a specific location will now display ads for businesses closest to the user, via the Smartphone’s GPS. This system makes mobile searches much more user-friendly and convenient. For example, a search for “DVD rental” would pull up a Blockbuster sponsored link with phone numbers to the closest location, based on yourSmartphone’s GPS. Google reported higher click-through rates, more website traffic, and phone calls to advertisers who participated in the click-to-call trial.

With a growing number of mobile internet users, currently 62 million in the U.S., mobile internet features such as click-to-call are crucial to a successful internet marketing strategy. Along with usability and convenience, Google’s new click-to-call feature is an effective mobile internet marketing tool in terms of reach, as Google search is the number one most visited mobile website, according to media research company Nielsen. What could be better than posting your phone number on the most widely visited mobile website?

Win FREE SEO!

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

Does your website come up on the first page? If not, keep reading for a chance to win FREE SEO!! After all, what’s the point of a great website if no one can ever find it?

Addvisors, Inc. is hosting a “site clinic” from February 16,2010 till May 1, 2010 where we will be accepting commercial websites (we will not be accepting personal sites) for review. One lucky winner will receive FREE on-site Search Engine Optimization, which consists of a basic site overhaul. Submit your site in one step:

Post a link to your website on our facebook or twitter pages.

      if you submit your site through Twitter, please post your link followed by “#Addvisors”.  All site links must be posted by 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) on 05/01/2010 to be included in the final random drawing.  You are welcome to retweet or repost this contest. See below for official rules.

      Official Rules:

      1. HERE’S HOW TO ENTER: Beginning 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) on 2/16/2010, visit our social media sites by clicking on http://www.facebook.com/addvisors for Facebook or http://twitter.com/addvisorsinc for twitter. Post a link to your website on either our facebook or twitter page. If you post your site through twitter, please include “#Addvisors” after the link. All site links must be posted by 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) on 05/01/2010 to be included in the final random drawing.  You are welcome to retweet or repost this contest. Limit one entry per person. If more than one entry is received, only the first entry received will be eligible. By submitting your site, you automatically agree to terms and conditions of  Official Rules.
      2. ELIGIBILITY:  This promotion is open only to residents of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia who are age 18 or older at time of entry. Employees of Addvisors, Twitter, Facebook, Inc., their affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies and their immediate family members and/or those living in the same household of each are not eligible.  All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. Void where prohibited by law.
      3. RANDOM DRAWING:  At the end of the contest, a random drawing will be conducted from all eligible entries received to determine the Grand Prize winner. The random drawing will be conducted by judges whose decisions are final on all matters relating to this offer.  Odds of winning will depend upon the number of eligible entries received.   The Grand Prize winner will receive a Facebook/Twitter message requesting contact information for prize delivery.
      4. PRIZES & APPROXIMATE RETAIL VALUES: One Grand Prize with a total approximate retail value of $2,000 will be awarded.  The Grand Prize will consist of SEO for the site originally entered into the contest. The Grand Prize consists only of the items specifically listed as part of the prize. Limit one prize per entry.
      5. GENERAL RULES: Return of prize notification as undeliverable will result in disqualification and an alternate may be selected.  All federal, state, and local taxes are the sole responsibility of winner.   By accepting prize, winner (or parent/legal guardian if winner is a minor) agree to hold Sponsor, its directors, officers, employees and assigns, harmless against any and all claims and liability arising out of use of prize.  Winners (or parent/legal guardian if winner is a minor) assume all liability for any injury or damage caused, or claimed to be caused, by participation in this promotion or use or redemption of any prize.  Acceptance of prize constitutes permission to Addvisors, Inc. and its agencies to use prize winners’ names and photo submissions for purposes of advertising and trade (including posting on the Facebook and Twitter websites) without further compensation, unless prohibited by law.  Entrants (or parent/legal guardian if entrant is a minor) agree to release, discharge and hold harmless Addvisors, Inc., its directors, officers, employees and assigns, harmless from and against any and all liability and damages.  By participating in this promotion, entrants (or parent/legal guardian if entrant is a minor) agree to be bound by the Official Rules and the decisions of the judges which are final.  In the event there is a discrepancy or inconsistency between disclosures or other statements contained in any promotional materials and the terms and conditions of the Official Rules, the Official Rules shall prevail, govern and control.  Addvisors, Inc. is not responsible for any typographical or other error in the printing, the offering or the announcement of the prizes or in the administration of the promotion.  In no event will more than the stated number of prizes be awarded.
      6. SPONSOR: Addvisors, Inc., 8870 S. Maryland Pkwy #115, Las Vegas, NV 89123.
      7. Facebook provisions: This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. Addvisors, Inc. indemnifies and holds Facebook harmless from and against all damages, losses, and expenses of any kind (including reasonable legal fees and costs) for any claim related to the promotion including without limitation the publicity or administration thereof. Complete release for Facebook from each entrant or participant. Any questions, comments or complaints regarding this promotion will be directed to Addivsors,Inc., not Facebook.
      8. NOTICE TO ONLINE ENTRANTS: ANY ATTEMPT BY AN INDIVIDUAL TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THIS PROMOTION IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS, AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH INDIVIDUAL TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.  Not responsible for faulty, incorrect or mistranscribed phone transmissions, incorrect announcements of any kind, technical hardware or software failures of any kind including any injury or damage to any person’s computer related to or resulting from participating in or experiencing any materials in connection with the promotion, lost or unavailable network connections, or failed, incomplete, garbled or delayed computer transmission that may limit a user’s ability to participate in the promotion. Sponsor assumes no responsibility for undeliverable e-mails/Facebook and Twitter messages resulting from any form of active or passive e-mail filtering by a user’s Internet service provider and/or e-mail client or for insufficient space in user’s e-mail account to receive e-mail/Facebook and Twitter messages. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel or modify the promotion if fraud, misconduct or technical failures destroy the integrity of the program; or if a computer virus, bug, or other technical problem corrupts the administration or security of the program as determined by Sponsor, in their sole discretion.   In the event a dispute arises regarding specific individual entitled to receive prize, entry will be declared made by the person associated with the Facebook or Twitter ID from the selected entry.  In the event the Sweepstakes is terminated, a notice will be posted online and all eligible entries received prior to termination will be included in a random drawing to award all remaining prizes.  Any damage made to the Web Site will be the responsibility of the authorized e-mail account holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of entry.  Proof of submitting entries will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by Sponsor.  Any use of robotic, automatic, programmed or the like methods of participation will void all such submissions/votes by such methods.  Sponsor reserves the right to prohibit the participation of an individual if fraud or tampering is suspected or if the individual fails to comply with any requirement of participation as stated herein or with any provision in these Official Rules.

      Synonyms, a sweet substitute for keywords

      Friday, February 12th, 2010

      Early this year Google engineer Steve Baker blogged about the positive results of incorporating synonyms for keywords into websites. According to Baker, 70% of Google searches are affected by the use of synonyms, and out of every 50 inquiries where synonyms were pulled as part of the results, only one unrelated synonym was part of those results. Since synonyms/acronyms have such an impact on queries, Google now displays them in bold type. Traditionally, only keywords and close variations of those keywords, such as plural forms, were displayed in bold.

      Synonyms are words that can be swapped for the same meaning, such as “Las Vegas” and “Sin City” or “internet” and “cyberspace”. Acronyms are words created from initials of a term, such as “cpu” for “central processing unit”. As users have become more comfortable with manipulating their queries to better represent the information they are searching for, it is important that businesses stay on top of keyword synonyms and acronyms that users may potentially use. Also, synonyms and acronyms are useful in creating content that is interesting, and not unbearably repetitive. In the screenshot below, we did a search for “SF hotels” and returned results on the first page with the words “San Francisco”. It’s interesting to see that none of the organic results on the first page actually include the keyword phrase “SF hotels”.

      A great tool to use for researching keyword variations is the free Google Keywords Tool. In regards to using synonyms/acronyms it is important to be aware of the context you use them in. Google decides on these variations based on the accompanying words in the phrase, so that unrelated words do not show up in bold, for example “AAA” could mean “American Automobile Association” or “American Accounting Association”.

      Track Your Website to Phone Call Conversion Rates

      Friday, February 5th, 2010

      Conversion rates from website visits to actual phone calls could be anywhere from 0% to 50%. Other than asking clients how they heard about your business, how can you narrow down these numbers and more accurately identify where you lie in the spectrum? The answer: Phone number tracking systems. That’s right, a system that takes guess work out of the equation, and lets you track which marketing effort, i.e. banner ads, pay-per-click, search engine, etc., is converting into phone calls.

      These systems work by assigning each of your internet marketing channels a specific phone number (these calls are routed to your main business number so that you won’t have multiple phone numbers to worry about), making it possible to track which specific channel is working best. Many phone number tracking systems also allow you to:

      • record calls for analysis: how the call is handled, & what your customers need
      • provide detailed call information: length of call & geographic location of caller
      • integrate data into Google Analytics

      An awesome feature is being able to assign phone numbers to keywords and referrals through links in order to track conversions from SEO! Tracking both online and phone traffic from your website will allow you to more accurately determine your ROI.

      Revive Your Website Content

      Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

      Like graphics, your website’s content is a reflection of your brand. You don’t want customers to get the wrong idea about your company because your pages are filled with poor grammar, irrelevant subjects, and downright long, monotonous articles. Since content can affect your SEO, conversion and stickiness, it should be searchable, relevant, interesting and fresh with regular updates. Here are a few tips to reviving your content:

      • Focus on your audience. Put yourself in their shoes by asking:
        • What would they like to know?
        • How will this (product, service) benefit them?
      • Use keywords, but only where they are relevant. Avoid keyword stuffing, it not only makes for an unpleasant reading experience, but search engines may penalize or ban your site.
      • Keep customers coming back by keeping your content fresh. Update regularly by:
        • Posting new products, along with new ways to use them.
        • Post seasonal promotions, this is a great way to get your customers to keep checking back.
        • Post a blog offering service/help information instead of strictly sales.
      • Make it interesting by:
        • Making the first sentence an attention grabber.
        • Keep it short and simple
        • If possible, use tone and show character so it’s not like reading a textbook, especially if it’s for a blog.
      • Format paragraphs so they are easy to read.
        • Use bullet points lists
        • Break up long paragraphs into short, concise ideas
        • Use subheadings
        • Check grammar and spelling

      Given that the average time spent on a site is 56 seconds, make the most of your content by ensuring that when a potential customer visits your site, your message is crystal clear.