Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Research Before You Run
The Internet can be your best and worst enemy. In today’s age of immediate access, a quick search on Google is what people refer to as “research”. I was recently working with a business client on a start up business. When asked about market research they produced 45 pages of Google results about other web sites and business operators in their chosen sector. I applauded their initial step into the process, but asked for something even more simple. Had they determined market demand?
One of the simplest ways to determine demand for a business or an idea is to look at the search volume for the business or idea. Meaning, how many web users have searched for a particular term, key word or key word phrase in the last 30 to 60 days? Simple logic would tell you that if no-one is searching for your business type or business idea, then perhaps you are not headed in the right directions. This does not mean you should can the idea. Instead, this means you need to fine tune your idea.
For example, if you desire to open an interior design business in Naperville, IL you can very quickly determine market demand by determining how many times users have searched for “interior design Naperville, IL” or “interior designer Naperville, IL”. Of course, this is not the end of the research, but a solid beginning. You can then use this research to fine tune your idea. Perhaps you might find that a ton of people are searching for “home design consultants Naperville” and you can alter your business and marketing plans to coincide with the public demand.
The same exercise applies to any aspect of your business. If you are a magazine publisher looking to start a section in your magazine about woman’s running apparel, it is mission critical to determine if there is an interest for “woman’s running apparel” online. Are web users searching for this key word phrase? Are there companion phrases that will help better draw in users? Are my assumptions right or wrong? You can then build a successful section of your magazine around what people “truly” are looking for rather than what you assume they are looking for online. This helps you better align your new business idea with market demand.
There are any number of tools online to help you with this effort, but it often takes the careful eye of a professional SEO expert to help you find the magic mix of terms. The message of this blog entry is this… Research Before You Run.
About this blogger: Ryan Dohrn is President and founder of Brain Swell Media, an internet consulting firm that helps business owners and publishers make money online. http://www.BrainSwellMedia.com
Ryan R. Dohrn
President/Founder
Brain Swell Media LLC
http://www.BrainSwellMedia.com
803-867-3769
Follow me on Twitter.com/ryandohrn for daily tips and advice.
Brain Swell Media, LLC is an interactive media consulting firm. We focus on five key business areas; online strategy consulting, website development, search engine optimization (SEO), video production and online sales training. We provide business owners and publishing companies with the tools and resources they need to optimize their presence on the Web and boost revenue.
One of the simplest ways to determine demand for a business or an idea is to look at the search volume for the business or idea. Meaning, how many web users have searched for a particular term, key word or key word phrase in the last 30 to 60 days? Simple logic would tell you that if no-one is searching for your business type or business idea, then perhaps you are not headed in the right directions. This does not mean you should can the idea. Instead, this means you need to fine tune your idea.
For example, if you desire to open an interior design business in Naperville, IL you can very quickly determine market demand by determining how many times users have searched for “interior design Naperville, IL” or “interior designer Naperville, IL”. Of course, this is not the end of the research, but a solid beginning. You can then use this research to fine tune your idea. Perhaps you might find that a ton of people are searching for “home design consultants Naperville” and you can alter your business and marketing plans to coincide with the public demand.
The same exercise applies to any aspect of your business. If you are a magazine publisher looking to start a section in your magazine about woman’s running apparel, it is mission critical to determine if there is an interest for “woman’s running apparel” online. Are web users searching for this key word phrase? Are there companion phrases that will help better draw in users? Are my assumptions right or wrong? You can then build a successful section of your magazine around what people “truly” are looking for rather than what you assume they are looking for online. This helps you better align your new business idea with market demand.
There are any number of tools online to help you with this effort, but it often takes the careful eye of a professional SEO expert to help you find the magic mix of terms. The message of this blog entry is this… Research Before You Run.
About this blogger: Ryan Dohrn is President and founder of Brain Swell Media, an internet consulting firm that helps business owners and publishers make money online. http://www.BrainSwellMedia.com
Ryan R. Dohrn
President/Founder
Brain Swell Media LLC
http://www.BrainSwellMedia.com
803-867-3769
Follow me on Twitter.com/ryandohrn for daily tips and advice.
Brain Swell Media, LLC is an interactive media consulting firm. We focus on five key business areas; online strategy consulting, website development, search engine optimization (SEO), video production and online sales training. We provide business owners and publishing companies with the tools and resources they need to optimize their presence on the Web and boost revenue.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Will the iSlate or i
Will the iSlate or iPad device change magazines? Hmmm. We are smelling something good over here in digi-land, http://htxt.it/5yQD
NxtText demo was gre
NxtText demo was great. Thanks to all that watched. I hope it provided some inspiration. Mobile is it, you ready?
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Four Ideas To Increase Banner Ad Inventory
I have said it once and I will say it again, banner ads work on magazine/newspaper web sites. Why? Magazine and newspaper sites have a specific purpose. Users come to the site for a reason. So, if you can match ads to the users in even the most basic way, you will have a winning situation. So, if you have limited web traffic, what can you do to increase the number of ad units you can sell.
Idea #1: Turn old ad sizes into new sizes. For example, one of the oldest sizes is the 160 pixel wide X 600 pixel tall skyscraper ad. This ad is very Web 1.0 and needs to go away. Replace it with two 300x250 box ads or two 300x300 box ads. This will take one ad unit and turn it into two.
Idea #2: Add a duplicate ad to the bottom of your web site. Many publishers do not have an ad unit at the bottom of their web site as they feel no one will pay for it. Perhaps, not, but add it anyway and double your ad impressions for that unit size. Tell advertisers up front that they are not paying for it and it is just a bonus. What they do not know is that time and time again, online research has proven that users do indeed click on bottom ads.
Idea #3: Add a three block ad unit of 200x200 ads or an additional 728x90 to the middle of long pages. If you do this in a section… you will have the lead story for the section and then a set of three ads next to each other in a table. Or, insert the 728x90 half way down the page. Be careful to not junk up the page. Web users have become use to this approach and it is much less invasive than you might think.
Idea #4: Use top level peel away ads. These are ad units the peel away from the top left or top right of the web page to expose an ad unit. These are fancy ads and are well received by both advertisers and users.
Overall… you just need to be creative. The web is a new frontier and the biggest challenge to your team will be stopping. Meaning, you need to know when enough is enough. When the page starts to look like a wacky blinking Christmas tree, back up three steps and consider the obvious.
About this blogger: Ryan Dohrn is President and founder of Brain Swell Media, an internet consulting firm that helps business owners and publishers make money online. http://www.BrainSwellMedia.com
Ryan R. Dohrn
President/Founder
Brain Swell Media LLC
http://www.BrainSwellMedia.com
803-867-3769
Follow me on Twitter.com/ryandohrn for daily tips and advice.
Brain Swell Media, LLC is an interactive media consulting firm. We focus on five key business areas; online strategy consulting, website development, search engine optimization (SEO), video production and online sales training. We provide business owners and publishing companies with the tools and resources they need to optimize their presence on the Web and boost revenue.
Idea #1: Turn old ad sizes into new sizes. For example, one of the oldest sizes is the 160 pixel wide X 600 pixel tall skyscraper ad. This ad is very Web 1.0 and needs to go away. Replace it with two 300x250 box ads or two 300x300 box ads. This will take one ad unit and turn it into two.
Idea #2: Add a duplicate ad to the bottom of your web site. Many publishers do not have an ad unit at the bottom of their web site as they feel no one will pay for it. Perhaps, not, but add it anyway and double your ad impressions for that unit size. Tell advertisers up front that they are not paying for it and it is just a bonus. What they do not know is that time and time again, online research has proven that users do indeed click on bottom ads.
Idea #3: Add a three block ad unit of 200x200 ads or an additional 728x90 to the middle of long pages. If you do this in a section… you will have the lead story for the section and then a set of three ads next to each other in a table. Or, insert the 728x90 half way down the page. Be careful to not junk up the page. Web users have become use to this approach and it is much less invasive than you might think.
Idea #4: Use top level peel away ads. These are ad units the peel away from the top left or top right of the web page to expose an ad unit. These are fancy ads and are well received by both advertisers and users.
Overall… you just need to be creative. The web is a new frontier and the biggest challenge to your team will be stopping. Meaning, you need to know when enough is enough. When the page starts to look like a wacky blinking Christmas tree, back up three steps and consider the obvious.
About this blogger: Ryan Dohrn is President and founder of Brain Swell Media, an internet consulting firm that helps business owners and publishers make money online. http://www.BrainSwellMedia.com
Ryan R. Dohrn
President/Founder
Brain Swell Media LLC
http://www.BrainSwellMedia.com
803-867-3769
Follow me on Twitter.com/ryandohrn for daily tips and advice.
Brain Swell Media, LLC is an interactive media consulting firm. We focus on five key business areas; online strategy consulting, website development, search engine optimization (SEO), video production and online sales training. We provide business owners and publishing companies with the tools and resources they need to optimize their presence on the Web and boost revenue.
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