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March 26, 2007

Google AdWords tests CPC Site Targeting and Pay-Per-Action

By Kai Blum

Google is taking steps to let advertisers better utilize the AdWords content network. Cost-per-click (CPC) site-targeting will finally eliminate the unpredictability that comes along with site targeted bids on a cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) basis. Google is currently beta testing this long-overdue feature, but I have no doubt that it will be available to all soon.

I’m not so sure about another feature that Google is beta testing these days: Pay-Per-Action, “a new pricing model that allows you to pay only for completed actions that you define, such as a lead, a sale, or a pageview, after a user has clicked on your ad on a publisher's site.” This is good for advertisers, because it would make it easier to track ROI. But I don’t think that many web publishers will embrace this model, because with Pay-Per-Action they wouldn’t get paid for most clicks.

Posted by Alicia Dorset at 05:10 PM
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March 07, 2007

Plum: One-Stop Social Networking Shopping

By Melanie Seasons

I wish Plum had been around from the first time I signed up for MySpace.

The industry of social media networking grows every day. We have Photobucket and Flickr for photos, Google Video and You Tube for videos, Last.fm and Mog for music and way too many sites for keeping in touch with friends and family (if you're like me, you have accounts at all of them).

The market has been completely over saturated with social networking programs and web sites. I find myself constantly asking "what else could there be?" only to be provided with an answer on what seems to be a weekly basis.

So what is "the next big thing" in social networking? More importantly, do we even need another social networking site? Maybe.

There's a lot of buzz around a new site called Plum that is designed to organize and collect photos, videos, bookmarks, blog feeds and documents from different sources — Internet or hard drive-based. The site uses tags, sets, and profiles. Once it gets a feel for what the user "likes," it will make suggestions on what to share with other users.

The site features handy shortcut applications that can be attached to your browser toolbar or desktop to make it easier for you to collect files.

What I like about Plum is that it's based on the idea that people are losing their minds having to go from site to site, account to account, to find that video or picture or file. Having everything in one place is an idea whose time has come.

Plum will definitely not be the last "next big thing," but it will certainly make it easier to catalogue the new one when it comes along.

Plum is still in beta, but you can request an account on the Plum homepage.

Posted by Alicia Dorset at 04:41 PM
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March 06, 2007

A good example of moderation

Last fall, I posted about the need for moderating comments in newspaper discussion forums. One of our local newspapers, The Detroit Free Press, doesn’t moderate the comments posted to its stories online, and more often than not the remarks are off-topic and wildly inappropriate, such as recent remarks found on the Tara Grant murder coverage, ranging from gay bashing to swearing up a storm, reflect. The Free Press even admits it doesn't review comments before they are posted, but will remove them if they are deemed "offensive" after the comments have gone live and viewed by the public.

"Public posts to these forums do not represent the views of freep.com or the Detroit Free Press. We do not review comments prior to those posts appearing on the site. If you see an abusive comment that you would like to have reviewed for possible removal, please contact us at..."

However, The Detroit News, the paper’s neighbor and direct competitor, has a much better approach to moderation when allowing readers to share their thoughts.

“The Detroit News Online does not tolerate offensive language in its forums. The News will kill offensive posts. Participants can and will be denied access for violating our acceptable use policy. Notice a problem? Tell us.”

Unlike the Free Press, the News posts a user’s name, city and state when a comment goes live. I took a look at the comment form, and was pleased to see the information (age, phone number, e-mail) I was required to supply to make sure my comment was of the highest integrity. The personal information, as the questionnaire points out, is for follow-up purposes with News staff members.

“Why we ask: We require some information for verification. We do not publish phone numbers or e-mail addresses. Your comments will be considered for the printed edition of The Detroit News only if full name and city are provided.

There was also another reminder of proper commenting etiquette:

“Do: Show courtesy toward other writers. No name-calling, please.
Do not: Copy and paste material from another Web site, other than a brief quote. Letters must be original.”

I applaud the News for having such a thorough set of guidelines for comments. By making it clear what is and isn’t accepted, readers have a clear understanding of what is allowed on the site, and more importantly, why a comment might not have made it into the forum. Too often, commenters aren’t held accountable for their thoughts; with a policy like this, it’s a step in the toward making postings of any kind, whether it’s a blog, a message on a board, or a comment on a news story, more credible.

Posted by Alicia Dorset at 03:59 PM
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March 02, 2007

Optimize blog posts for search engines in seven easy steps

By Kai Blum

It is not difficult to optimize blogs for search engines such as Google. Simply follow these steps any time you write a blog post in order to improve search engine ranking:

1. Identify the keyword phrase that you believe people will most likely use to search for content related to your blog post.
2. Put this keyword phrase into your post’s title.
3. Use the keyword phrase and other closely related keywords in the first or second sentence and then a few more times throughout your post.
4. Use your keywords to name image files, separated by hyphen.
5. Put your keywords in the image alt tags.
6. Use your keywords as link text when you link to related pages or sites.
7. Put your keywords in bold tags at the beginning of paragraphs or in heading tags by creating subheadlines for long blog posts.

These search engine optimization guidelines for blog content should become second nature when you write blog posts and if you want to increase blog traffic through great search engine rankings.

Posted by Alicia Dorset at 12:37 PM
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