Archive for the ‘RSS’ Category
Friday, December 2nd, 2005
Measuring and tracking RSS while a fairly simple concept, is
really anything but. Unlike websites, RSS have the added
caveat of potential syndication, making accurate tracking a
challenge to anyone but the extremely tech savvy.
It is not unrealistic for marketers to want to know how many
subscribers they have, which items in their feeds attract
the most interest, or how many click-throughs are generated
as a result of an RSS feed.
There are a number of 3rd party providers who focus on
tracking the consumption of RSS feeds. Some solutions are
rudimentary but likely sufficient for a small business
testing the waters with RSS. Other RSS tracking solutions
are more complex and while they can come close to being
accurate, with syndication there is no solution that tracks
with 100% accuracy.
Techniques Used to track RSS Consumption
Small businesses can view web logs to provide information on
how many times a specific file (RSS feed) is requested. The
logs and information is rudimentary but will give a basic
sense of a feeds success. Many 3rd party tracking options
have additional tracking information available.
Hosting
The most common method to track the number of feed accesses
or individuals accessing a feed is to use a 3rd party feed
host. Companies like FeedBurner essentially track feeds
based on accesses. The downside to using a 3rd party like
Feedburner, is that the url is a FeedBurner url and any
PageRank or popularity associated with the url will benefit
the feed host rather than the feed creator. Additionally, no
distinction is made between unique views or syndicate feeds.
FeedBurner provides a free no frills service to host RSS
feeds and they have been proactive in circumventing user
concerns. Recently implementing a service that eases users
concerns about migrating from FeedBurner. There is a 3 step
process for users interested in migrating from FeedBurner’s
free service, implementing a permanent redirect, and url
forwarding.
Details can be found at:
http://www.burningdoorc.om/feedburner/archives/001251.html
Some publishers, who were concerned about lock-in or wanted
to retain control of the domain and feed urls often resist a
hosting service. The new program FeedBurner Partner Pro is
not free, but allows for users to point to their own domain,
retaining complete control of their feeds without
sacrificing statistical tracking.
The downside to using a service like FeedBurner is that some
filtering applications used on corporate proxy servers block
feeds residing on FeedBurner or other free hosts.
Redirects
Companies like SyndicateIQ have more complex tracking
solutions that generate unique urls for each subscriber. The
tracking benefits to such a customized solution is obvious.
Individual user habits can be monitored and any users
abusing their access and inappropriately syndicating a feeds
content can have their feed turned off. The downside of
course is that the success of RSS is in a large part due to
the anonymity. Users don’t want their personal habits
tracked.
Considering the venture capital interest in these 3rd party
hosting services. It is important to note that their value
is in the data that they collect. As with any 3rd party
service, it goes without saying that publishers should read
the privacy policy carefully, be aware of who owns the
rights to the collected information, and how that
information might be used. It goes without saying that the
value in many of the free services currently available lies
in their aggregate data.
Uniquely Named Transparent Images
Uniquely named transparent 1×1 graphics can be added to the
description field of an RSS feed. Users can use standard web
logs to see the number of times the image is viewed and
determine the number of times the feed was accessed.
Companies Specializing in Tracking and RSS Metrics
Pheedo - Pheedo creates tools that enable individuals,
organizations and corporations to promote, analyze, and
optimize their weblogs and content.
http://www.pheedo.com
SyndicateIQ - SyndicateIQ’s position in the content
distribution chain provides clients a set of analytics.
http://www.syndicateiq.com/
FeedBurner - FeedBurner offers a full range of services to
help you build awareness, track circulation, and implement
revenue-generating programs in your feed(s).
http://www.feedburner.com
Each individual using RSS needs to make a decision of the
extent and importance of the analytics they require.
Realizing that any system they employ is not going to be
perfect.
Posted in RSS | No Comments »
Friday, December 2nd, 2005
There are many ways to promote your business online. The difference between online marketing and offline marketing though is profound.
Although advertising can be very effective offline, it isn’t nearly so effective online. The reason why is that most people surf the internet looking for information. They aren’t usually interested in advertising unless the product or service in question can solve their problems.
There are five strategies that you can implement in your business that will not only create a content strategy for you but will also create a very effective marketing strategy. This strategy will only require a few hours of your time each week.
1. Articles
For those who have read my work, you know that articles not only brand you as an expert but are also a way to create quality content for your site, and search engines love content.
If you don’t like writing, or don’t write, you can find quality articles to post on your site. The larger your site, the more likely you will be found in the search engines.
Here are a few article directories you can use:
http://www.ezinearticles.com
http://www.isnare.com
http://www.goarticles.com
http://www.articlemarketer.com
2. Blogs/RSS
Blogging is another way to create content for your website, and by using RSS, you can easily distribute your content.
Most don’t understand what RSS really is, or how it can most effectively be used to drive traffic to their sites.
Basically, RSS is a form of code that’s very search engine friendly. With RSS feeds, which you can add to your website or blog, you can create content that updates itself. Because of this self updating, the search engines will spider your site more often, raising your rankings.
Once you’ve built your blog and added several entries, you need to “ping” it to get it listed. Here are two tools you can use:
http://www.pingoat.com
http://www.pingomatic.com
3. Press Releases
Press releases are news about your business. Press releases are also an excellent way to get high rankings for your site because you can create content rich press releases and submit them to press release directories. Many of these directories are high traffic.
Here are several sites that accept press releases:
http://www.press-world.com
http://www.free-press-release.com
http://www.prbase.com
http://www.click2newsites.com/
http://www.prweb.com
4. Search Engine Optimization
Optimizing your site for the search engines means creating keyword rich content, exchanging links with other sites, submitting your site to directories, which create backlinks pointing to your site.
You can use tools like Web CEO, http://www.webceo.com, to help you optimize your pages.
Although submitting the search engines is often unecessary, since most search engines will spider through to your site from another site, you still need at least one link pointing back to your site so that your site gets spidered.
Submit your site to Alexa, http://www.alexa.com. Not only will this make sure that your site gets spidered, you’ll be able to compare your site to other sites, as well as get statistics on traffic to your site.
5. Free Ebooks and Reports
By writing and giving away free ebooks and reports, you give visitors an incentive to visit your website.
You can also submit your ebooks and reports to ebook directories for free.
http://www.ebookdirectory.com
http://www.ebookpalace.com
http://www.ebookjungle.com/
http://www.ebooksnbytes.com/
If you make your ebook brandable, which means others can place their links inside your ebook, your ebook becomes viral. You give others an incentive to share your ebook and spread it across the internet.
Once you implement these content strategies on your site, add streams of revenue to your site like Adsense and Virtual Portals. These sites will allow you to monetize your site.
http://www.google.com/ads/
http://www.virtual-portals.com
Although adveritising, like pay per clicks, can be effective in promoting your website, it can quickly become expensive. By focusing on creating quality content for website, and then promoting that content, you can continue to drive traffic to your website for years to come.
Posted in RSS | No Comments »
Thursday, December 1st, 2005
WHAT RSS WILL DO FOR YOU AS A MARKETER?
a] Get your content delivered without fail to all of your subscribers.
E-mail delivery rates are dropping, spam is everywhere and itÂ’s getting increasingly difficult to get our marketing content read by our subscribers, prospects and customers.
RSS is the way out.
b] Increase your web traffic and your online visibility.
With more and more sites competing for business every day, you need to do everything in your power to increase your online traffic, and RSS will help you get an upper edge.
c] RSS enables you to easily get your content published on dozens and dozens of other sites.
d] It will serve as a platform for ad sales,
e] It will provide advertising opportunities to promote your own business
f] It will help you get more content for your site without you having to write a single word.
WHY YOU NEED RSS, FROM THE END-USER POINT OF VIEW?
a] People want to receive content in a controlled environment where they are in-charge, not the publisher.
b] Delivering content using e-mail is becoming increasingly difficult, due to blacklists, spam filters and over excessive amounts of e-mail in your recipients’ mailboxes.
c] RSS allows you to deliver content beyond your e-zine, giving you more content delivery opportunities.
d] RSS is a natural tool for content syndication, which means easily and instantly delivering your content to hundreds of other content sources, thus creating additional exposure.
e] When using RSS to deliver all of your web site content updates, RSS will actually increase your web site traffic, thus giving your promotional messages more exposure.
f] People are afraid of subscribing to e-mail lists, which makes getting new subscribers difficult; RSS is a whole different story.
WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?
Either as an end-user or as business person, content delivery should be one of your top informational concerns.
a] As an end-user you cannot function properly without having relevant access to the information you need. Content delivery mechanisms affect your ability to access this information.
b] As a business person you must understand that your business success, among other things, depends on information, and in large on your ability to deliver it.
Without the proper content delivery vehicles you cannot get content in-front of your target audiences, at least not in a relevant fashion.
RSS answers the needs of both.
Posted in RSS | No Comments »
Monday, November 28th, 2005
Many small and large businesses are still trying to
understand the basics of podcasting technology. There are
many articles and white papers that can educate people on
the basics of podcasting 101. If you are looking to educate
yourself more on podcasting for your business you can read
the 6 blogs that are available at http://blog.podblaze.com
So exactly how does marketing with podcasts work? Think of
podcasting as a communication tool for your business. How
do you currently use marketing tools such as: your website,
newsletter and email marketing? You probably use these
mediums to communicate messaging to your target audience.
But there are some problems with trying to market through
these communication channels.
People don’t always get your email due to overly aggressive
Spam filters. They don’t come back and visit your website,
or read your newsletter. People actually have to make an
effort to read your content. If you have a podcast, they
can actually stream the audio and let it play while they
are doing other tasks at their computer. People tend to
multitask in order to be more efficient with the use of
their time. Additionally, most users tend to prefer value
added audio content that is specific to their areas of
interest. Your quality audio podcast content also tends to
have a higher perceived value by your target market.
Providing value added content is what your business should
be focusing on. Podcasting is only a communication tool,
and your podcast is only as good as the content that you
provide to your audience. Make sure that you produce
relevant content and not just a rambling piece of audio.
Follow the best practices that I wrote about in my last
article.
Most businesses need to be made aware of the increased
online visibility that podcasting can provide. Your podcast
could be in front of 40 million iTunes listeners if you
have made an iTunes compatible RSS podcast feed; multiple
Blog directories or specialized podcast ping directories
such as http://www.freshpodcasts.com or
http://audio.weblogs.com Verify that the major podcast
ping directories receive a ping every time you add a new
show to your podcast RSS feed.
Additionally, the search engines will look at the RSS
podcasting feed and spider the show notes that are tied to
your podcast as well.
Here are 6 of the 7 reasons that your business should be
podcasting and some of the business benefits that you could
derive from a properly executed podcast…
1. Increase your marketing reach and online visibility
2. Improve your sales & conversion rates
3. Regular line of communication with subscribed listeners
4. Value added content increases loyalty
5. Industry news and trends sets you apart from the
competition
6. Interviews with leaders in your particular niche will
establish your business as a respected leader in your niche
or industry.
You can get the 7th reason and learn even more about using
podcasting as a business marketing tool by reading these 6
podcasting business blogs at http://blog.podblaze.com
So don’t wait any longer; start podcasting today and
leverage this audio technology for your business
Posted in RSS | No Comments »