Archive for June, 2007



Nasdaq, SP500 Stock Market Technical Analysis Review 6/28/07

Thursday 28 June 2007 @ 7:00 am

Technical analysis video review of the stock market and individual stocks for Thursday June 28, 2007 including; Nasdaq 100 Trust Shares (NASDAQ:QQQQ), S&P 500 Index (AMEX:SPY), Semiconductor HOLDRs (AMEX:SMH), iShares Russell 2000 Index (ETF) (Public, NYSE:IWM), Trend analysis for daytraders and swingtraders of stocks and options. Trading stocks involves risk; this information should not be viewed as trading recommendations.




How To Profit from Googles Not-So-Secret Formula, Part 2

Wednesday 27 June 2007 @ 4:55 am

Here is a great write up by my SEO mentor Dan Thies

 

In the first part of this article, we learned how to use Googles Adwords secret formula to improve web site performance, by making your most important action elements more prominent.

 

By doing so, we increased the click-through rate on the links and form buttons that generated the most sales. This improves the web sites conversion rate and profits, just as Googles formula for ranking sponsored listings increases their profits.

 

This time, Im going to give you a couple techniques you can use to drive your sales even higher.

 

Just as Googles advertisers can test several ad variations to maximize their click-through rate (increasing Googles profits in the process), every web site owner can test different variations of their action elements, to optimize their sites performance.

 

There are a couple ways to do this. The first technique is split testing. The second is multivariate testing – a little more complicated, but a lot more powerful, and not that hard to master with the right tools.

 

Ill start with split testing, and a simple example. If youre selling something, you must have a link or a form button that says something like buy now, add to cart, etc.

 

What you may not realize is that the different ways you phrase this call to action can have a dramatic impact on the actions of your visitors, just as subtle variations in an ad headline on Adwords can make a big difference in the click-through rate.

 

In a split test, we simply rotate different variations of the text, and use our analytics software (such as Google Analytics) to determine which version is delivering the best results. Since Google Analytics is free, Ill explain how to do it there.

 

With Google Analytics, you can rotate the different versions and track visitor behavior simply by adding a little Javascript code on the page. The script wraps around the text or image you want to test, randomly selects one variation, and tags the visitor to a segment as described by Google:

http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?answer=27219

 

If youre split testing the text for a mortgage quote form submission, you could tag visitors with segment names like sendquotenow, sendinstantquote, clickforinstantsavings, etc. based on the text that was displayed, or use generic names like label1, label2, etc.

 

Once youve set the test up, you sit back and let it run until you have a clear winner. You can monitor the results in your Google Analytics reports under Marketing Optimization / Visitor Segment Performance / User-Defined. You can analyze the data based on conversion (for lead generation) or revenue (for e-commerce sites). Use a statistical analysis tool like Splittester.com to decide when the test is over.

 

Stompernet members can watch my Google Analytics Quick & Dirty video in the library, for detailed instructions and downloadable Javascript code. Non-members with a little knowledge of Javascript should be able to work out a solution on their own.

 

Youre probably wondering just how much of a difference split testing can make, right? One of my students recently boosted his shopping cart conversions by over 50% simply by testing different versions of the add to cart and checkout buttons.

 

Thats a huge payoff for a few hours work. These results are not at all unusual in my experience. If you arent testing on your web site right now, its probably safe to say that you are falling behind the competition.

 

Unfortunately, moving action elements around and split testing will only get you so far. Eventually, youll reach a plateau, and thats when youll want to graduate to multivariate testing, using tools like Google Website Optimizer, Kaizen Track, Offermatica, Verster, or Kefta.

 

These tools allow you to test multiple variations in different places on the page. Instead of split testing a headline, you test several headlines in conjunction with several calls to action, several price points, etc. to find the best possible combination.

 

While it is definitely more difficult to set up, the results can be outstanding. In one recent test, a student was able to identify the best combination of text sizes for all the different elements on her product pages, leading to a 9.76% gain in conversions. For a site that we had already optimized with split testing, this was a fantastic improvement.

 

These improvements in conversion arent just a one-time windfall. Every time your testing reveals another winner, it will keep delivering better results for a long time. The game is rigged in your favor – as long as you keep testing, you never really lose.

 

In the third and final article in this series, Ill give you some more thoughts on how to boost your website conversion, including a trick you can use on your site that would be cheating if you tried it on Adwords.




Science of Relevancy : Lifeblood of Search & Contextual Advertising

Wednesday 27 June 2007 @ 4:50 am

Relevancy is the key to contextual advertising, and online contextual advertising is big business. That’s a no-brainer, as all web and software heavyweights are vying to make the most of contextual advertising.

How is relevancy measured? And how is that used to shoot the most relevant of ads based on what you do online?

Microsoft, Google and Yahoo have been at the forefront of implementing technologies for targeted ads. Here’s a count down on what drives relevancy for online-targeted ads.

  1. Keywords are compared with the content of landing pages and then measured with the coherence with the user’s query.
  2. Measure of the quality of content on the landing page vis-à-vis the user’s query.
  3. Removal of duplicated data so that search results and ads are diverse and user experience is much more satisfactory.
  4. Measuring the user’s intent as compared to the content of the page and the Ad placed. ‘Intent’ is such a small relative word, but under the hood it means lot of analysis of user session data to figure out exactly what the user was searching for. And that means factoring out on the duration of the session, the revisions made on the queries, apply word-spelling correction and these are only the real-time scenarios. While testing out the features prototyping of user’s thought process is done and the eye-movement mapping done. More on these in Bill Slawski’s write-up @ SearchEngineLand.
  5. Then there’s measuring the quality of the audience that visits a site to arrive at ad pricing models. More quality means more discounts. Thus an incentive for good user experience. Quality factors include the source of the traffic and the conversion rates (how many ads did the customer click)
  6. Statistical measurements of the success rate of queries with the keywords. Like Google’s query performance report for firms to match the queries to the clicks made over ads so that they can better map keywords to ads. In fact, another tool that Google intends to introduce will try to track down on the problems of lesser click-throughs for the queries. More on this at the article at InternetNews.com

And to top it all off, here’s a quote from what Udi Manber, currently a vice president with Google said while he was still heading the development of A9.com at Amazon, “It’s not about speed or size anymore. It’s all about quality. It’s about delivering the tools that allow relevancy. It’s good to make searching faster and faster because that part is well understood. The quality part is not understood and that’s the challenge we face today.”

That was in 2004 and I must say, it pretty much holds for the present as well.




What to do when your AdSense account is disabled?

Wednesday 27 June 2007 @ 1:01 am

Frequently, there are people posting messages at the Google AdSense Help group saying their account had been suspended. The usual reason is invalid clicks (what clicks are invalid it totally up to AdSense to judge but this is how AdSense Help define invalid clicks: “Invalid clicks are clicks generated through prohibited methods. These prohibited methods include but are not limited to: repeated manual clicks, or the use of robots, automated clicking tools, or other deceptive software.” For invalid clicks, account holders are often given no warning before their account is suspended.

Accounts can be suspended because of other reasons, such as invalid impressions by participating in autosurf programs (traffic exchange programs like BlogExplosion are in a gray area, and AdSense is rather vague about it, but I have stopped using BlogExplosion for sites that contain AdSense products), for violating the Program Policy, etc., but before suspension, account holders often get warning emails and have a chance at rectifying the problem.

If your account has been suspended, you can apply for reinstatement. It is very hard but not impossible as some people have applied for reinstatement and got their account plus earnings back. However, if you are planning to apply for reinstatement, do some homework first, prepare your appeal letter carefully and give as much information as you can to support your appeal. Your first appeal may be your best chance at getting reinstated. Subsequent appeals will be much harder.

The best thing to do is to do some research and read about the experience and get tips from people who got suspended from the AdSense program, appealed and got reinstated. Below are some links to site that you should read before you apply for reinstatement.

Here is one person who got suspended, but got his account back: “How to Bring Google AdSense Down” Or “You are Guilty but We will not Tell You Why” and “How to Resurrect Your Google AdSense Account”. It is a first hand account of someone who had his account suspended, and how he had to appeal twice to get it back.

You too can get banned from AdSense with no money down (Enquire Within) This is an account of someone who got banned, and not only got back into the program plus got back his earnings.

What to Do if Google Wrongly Bans You from AdSense, By Paul Middleton This is a personal account of how Paul Middleton got banned and how he got his account back.

Geek Talk This is Geek Talk, a forum. There is a thread with a message from a poster Larwee where he detailed what why the situation is as it is and what a publisher should try to do to get his account back.

How to ensure your AdSense account will not be cancelled
It is a list of the top 10 list of what to do (and not to do!) to ensure your AdSense account remains in good standing.

15 Common Mistakes by Google AdSense Publishers that Violates Terms of Service A good list of thing an AdSense account holder should avoid or what to do in order to stay in good standing with Google AdSense.

AdSense Bowling An account of how an enemy can get you banned from AdSense. If you are an AdSense publisher, try not to make enemies. This is how a person who have differences with you can do to try to get you into trouble with AdSense. He can go to your site, click View > Page Source in the menu bar and open up the source code file of your site. Included in the source code will be the AdSense script from which he can get your AdSense ID. With that ID, he can set up sites that violates AdSense TOS, etc with AdSense products with your AdSense ID. Sometimes, it is not even necessary to go to that length. All he has to do is to go to one of your sites and click on the ads repetitively. Moral of the story: DON’T MAKE ENEMIES.

Contact Form for appealing for reinstatement of AdSense account

If your account was disabled for invalid clicks, here is the contact form for you to appeal for reinstatement: Appeal

Contact Form for reporting AdSense invalid clicks

This is for those whose account have not been suspended but have accidentally clicked on their own ads or have reasons to suspect that there are invalid clicks being generated. In such cases, it is always better for you to let AdSense know first rather than for them to find out about it later. Here is the contact form for reporting invalid clicks:
Reporting AdSense Invalid Clicks (close new window to get back to this page).

Good luck!




Google Adsense建议与技巧

Wednesday 27 June 2007 @ 12:43 am

1.AdSense 收入 = 广告展示次数 x 点击率 x 点击单价 x 智能定价因素(Smart Price)

2.广告展示次数基于你的网站流量,该项代表Adsense广告展示次数。(译注:废话-。-!)

3.点击率为广告被点击次数÷广告展示次数,基本范围为0.1%-30%,大多数为1%-10%(译注:中文广告偏低,大陆地区平均点击率约0.2%)。

4.点击单击为每次点击的收入,一般根据广告商付出的点击单价决定。

5.智能定价机制为Google衡量你的网站刊登广告价值的系统,如果你的网站上用户点击广告后转化为购买用户的比例较低,您只能获得较低的收入。

6.通过 blogger.com 申请Adsense项目,帐号批准速度更快。

7.不要点击自己网站上的广告,也不要让朋友去点击,包括使用代理服务器的情况下。(译注:Google会实时反查服务器代理服务并拥有大量代理服务器地址)

8.不要使用自动点击程序。

9.不要要求访客点击广告,Adsense广告周围仅允许放置“赞助商链接”或“广告”字样。(译注:推介广告可放置正面宣传文字。)

10.不要在放置Adsense的网页放置网页内容匹配广告,例如Yahoo Publisher Network,百度主题推广。可以放置与页面不自动相关的广告。

11.不要将广告放置在成人站点,违反法律的站点或有版权问题(如MP3下载)的站点等。

12.访问你自己的网站不会使帐号被封停,但不要点击任何广告。

13.不断的刷新自己的网页可能使你的帐号被封停。(译注:这将影响展示次数和点击率)

14.不要欺骗Google AdSense,Google的经验永远比你多。

15.对条款有疑问时主动联系Google,他们会很快答复你。

16.同一页面不要放置过多广告。

17.可以通过 cwire.org 寻找高价关键字,但请注意,竞争者会很多。

18.通过 Overture 的关键字分析工具寻找合适的关键字(译注:Google AdWords和Google Trends也有类似功能。)

19.考虑加入Google AdWords并小额投放广告,这将有助于你理解Adsense的运作机制。

20.将你的目标关键字放置在网页标题中。(译注:在网页文件名和目录上体现更佳)

21.在正文中重复你的关键字。(译注:不要超过5%,最好为3%)

22.学习HTML。

23.在关键字上使用粗体标签如、等。

24.域名中尽量包含目标关键字。
25.将你的站点提交到知名网页目录系统,如dmoz.org, Yahoo目录等。

26.将你的站点提交到各个搜索引擎。

27.使用Google Sitemap。

28.不要仅面向Google优化网页,还有很多搜索引擎。

29.软广告(枪稿)是最好的SEO方法,在文章作者信息中包含你的网页链接,然后投稿到知名网站。

30.不要使用恶意手段留下用户,如间谍软件,浏览器劫持等方法,这将可以能使你的帐号被封停。

31.新访客比经常浏览你网站的人更容易点击广告。

32.经常浏览你网站的人将更容易向他人推荐你的网站。

33.新访客大多数来自于搜索引擎,做好网页优化工作(SEO)。

34.不要建立镜像站点,即URL不同而内容相同的网站。

35.建立多个点击单价网站比几个高点击单价网站更容易。

36.论坛通常是展示次数多而点击率低。

37.点击率不是最重要的,如果转化率过低(点击用户转化为广告商客户),广告单价也不会高。

38.遵循好的网页设计,避免常规错误。

39.优化网站导航设计,这将有助于延长用户在网站的停留时间。

40.使用Google Analytics统计访问信息,这有助于SEO。

41.不同的论坛有不同的广告热区,通常是左侧控制面板,第一贴下边和页脚前边。

42.论坛是互通交流,注意关注热点问题。

43.尝试300×250, 336×280,160×600等高点击率广告格式。

44.使用网页主色调编辑调色板,即将广告和内容混合在一起。

45.让文章正文围绕广告单元。

46.广告周围紧挨图片有助于提高点击率。

47.使用广告渠道跟踪不同位置、不同颜色的广告单元。

48.文字广告和图片广告都选择。Adsense 包含CPM广告,Adsense将自动选择展示。(译注:通常需要广告商指定网站进行展示,CPM:每千次展示付费。)

49.图片广告和文字广告都可能有CPM广告。

50.页面底部可放置广告 链接单元。

51.尝试在底部放置 Adsense For Search 搜索框。

52.在提高内容质量上多下功夫,Adsense不是一夕致富的项目。

53.去掉低质量网站的链接。

54.在Google中搜索“AdSense Tips”,有许多站长会与你分享经验。

55.这里是在Blog投放Adsense的建议。
关注Inside AdSense(Google AdSense官方博客)。(译注:大陆用户可通过此Feed订阅:Http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/GjwI)

56.你可以从AdSense Help Group获取更多经验和帮助。

57.如果你希望以Adsense维生,购买AdSense Secrets。(译注:谨慎参考)

58.少放置广告单元,通过渠道寻找到页面上单价最高的广告单元,去掉其它广告单元。

59.不停的试验,不断尝试新的广告格式。

60.除非你的网站规模足够大,否则去掉“在本网站刊登广告”链接,这可以避免许多MFA网站(Made For Adsense,为Adsense制作的网站)。你可以在账户设置中禁用它。

61.广告展示基于访客地理位置,尝试Adsense 广告预览工具。

62.使用“竞争性广告过滤器”去除劣质网站广告,包括盗窃他人网站内容,提供大量无用链接等。

62.使用“竞争性广告过滤器”去除不相关广告。

63.AdsBlackList.com包括一些可以过滤掉的广告URL。

64.尝试不断的变化广告位置、颜色、样式,使访客对广告更不可预知。

65.学习简单的CSS

66.如果放置多个广告单元,将单价高的广告单元放置在HTML中靠前的位置,可以使用CSS定位。

67.对动态网页地址使用URL导向变为静态网页地址。(译注:即不包含?及参数的网址)

68.验证网页HTML和CSS。

69.多大文章拆为多个小文章。(译注:按主题分拆,一个文章分为多页不利于广告匹配。)

70.每篇文章重点关注一个主题。

71.关注统计系统,注意那些带来较多访客的文章。

72.发布更吸引访客的主题的文章。

73.熟悉电脑网络的人较少点击广告。

74.有耐心,提高流量需要时间。

75.做长期规划,分析你的访客需要什么,提高网站价值。

76.关注每日的收入,感觉数据有异常时及时通知Google,你的竞争者可能恶意点击你的广告或者你的朋友会多77.点击你的广告,并认为他是在帮你。

78.使用“区段定位”以提高广告匹配度。

79.使用“替代广告链接”以防Google无法匹配你的网页。

80.使用多个调色板,防止用户对广告形成盲区。

81.尝试Yahoo Publisher Network,百度主题推广等项目。但不要在放置Adsense广告单元的网页。

82.页面上可以放置Amazon广告联盟等销售联盟的广告,但应该是不会自动匹配网页内容的广告。

83.不遵守条款和协议将使你的账户被封停并且该个人将永远不能再申请Adsense项目。

84.如果你遵守条款和协议而帐号被封停,写信给Google,注意要客气,不要灰心,可以提供你的服务器访问日志,尽量证明你的清白。

85.多链接你的网站,如电子邮件签名、论坛签名、Blog评论等。

86.将你的文章提交到网摘网站,如digg、del.icio.us等。

87.提供“将本文E-mail给朋友”链接。

88.掌握你的Adsense报告,根据广告收入来源确定网站未来内容。

89.提供网站更新通知。(译注:如邮件列表或RSS文档)

90.你可以在Adsense帮助中找到大部分你需要的信息。




Technical Analysis Stock Market Review 6/26/07

Tuesday 26 June 2007 @ 3:00 pm

Technical analysis video review of the stock market and individual stocks for Tuesday June 26, 2007 including; Nasdaq 100 Trust Shares (NASDAQ:QQQQ), S&P 500 Index (AMEX:SPY), Semiconductor HOLDRs (AMEX:SMH), iShares Russell 2000 Index (ETF) (Public, NYSE:IWM), Trend analysis for daytraders and swingtraders of stocks and options. Trading stocks involves risk; this information should not be viewed as trading recommendations.




Stock Market Technical Review 6/25/07

Monday 25 June 2007 @ 7:00 pm

Technical analysis video review of the stock market and individual stocks for Monday June 25, 2007 including; Nasdaq 100 Trust Shares (NASDAQ:QQQQ), S&P 500 Index (AMEX:SPY), Semiconductor HOLDRs (AMEX:SMH), iShares Russell 2000 Index (ETF) (Public, NYSE:IWM), Trend analysis for daytraders and swingtraders of stocks and options. Trading stocks involves risk; this information should not be viewed as trading recommendations.




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