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Posts Tagged ‘iphone’
Tues News: 3/9 (Sweating the Small Stuff Edition)
Michael Block | March 9th, 2010
For the companies most involved with search marketing, it’s not always about the actual dollars and cents. Sometimes, companies focus on auxiliary projects to try and better your user experience, increase your dependence on their products or improve your opinion of their brand. Don’t get me wrong, the hope is that these sorts of investments will pay off in real dollars in the long run, but if a company can do some of the small things well, the return on investment can be both well-deserved and highly profitable. Today, we’ll take a look at three such efforts taken by search marketing leaders (Google and MSN) as well as the provider of the dominant medium for mobile ads (Apple via the iPhone). Let’s get going! Google is the master at sweating the small stuff in order to get the big payoff in the end. Just think about Google Maps. Sure, there are ads on the page but if you think that those ads paid for thousands of cars taking pictures of every street in America, you’re sorely mistaken. Google builds these sorts of products to increase loyalty to the Google brand and to build a positive rapport with the user. And it works! Recently, Google shared it’s search data to show their lighter side, depicting the winners and losers of Oscar night through their stats. As it turns out, the Hurt Locker didn’t just take home the most golden baldies, they also received quite the spike of searches. Thanks for sharing, Continue reading…
Tags: apple, apps, Bing, Google, iphone, Microsoft, MSN, search marketing
Posted in Tues News | No Comments
How AT&T Ruined My Vacation
Mike Mothner | September 22nd, 2009
It’s almost assumed that big companies inherently have terrible customer service, but I take offense to the notion that big companies can’t treat their customers with respect. The bottom line is that great customer service is great for business and that is especially true in a down economy. For companies big and small, mistakes happen; that’s life. It is how you react to those mistakes that defines the company as good or bad. This is a tale of my horrific experience with a company with whom I have been a loyal customer for over 7 years — AT&T Wireless. On to the story… I took two trips out of the country in August: one to Canada and another to Peru. In anticipation of these trips and aware of the dangers of international data and voice charges, I decided to be prepared before leaving the US. I logged on to my AT&T Wireless account and added on an international roaming plan for 50mb of data and headed off to my trips very proud of myself for having such foresight. With four days left in Peru, I was concerned that I might have exceeded my limit. I called AT&T service to inquire about my data usage. They let me know that I was, in fact, over my 50mb limit but that I would be fine if I changed to the 200mb plan (for $200). I took their advice, upgraded, and a few days after my return to the States, logged on again Continue reading…
Tags: AT&T wireless, bad customer service, cell phone, iphone
Posted in Daily Non-News Stories of Interest | 8 Comments
4 Things in ’08 That Changed the Face of Search
Christian Vuong | December 19th, 2008
What a year this has been! With 2008 drawing to a close, “Top 10” or “Best of 2008” lists are the way to go. ’08 bought about many changes to the online world, but without being to broad and I’d like to share 5 things I thought contributed to change in the face of Search. #4. The iPhone & Blackberry Why: Local SEO, Location-Aware Search, Geo-Targetted PPC Ads & Mobile Web Sites. 2008 was the year for the smart phone. While numerous manufacturers rolled out new models, it was Apple’s iPhone 3G and the Blackberry that took the spotlight. Apple’s iPhone claimed over 17% of the smart phone market in Q3 and Blackberry continued to roll out newer and faster models such as the Storm and Pearl Flip. What these devices highlighted was the emergence and public adoption of mobile web browsing. Mobile browsing was no longer for just for the businessperson, but for the average Joe the Plumber. Location-aware search also took center-stage with applications like UrbanSpoon, Around Me, and Google Maps (with the iPhone’s GPS). How exactly did this effect search? It further showed the importance of optimizing for local SEO terms and mobile friendly web sites. As CNet reported, Google is starting to display Sponsored Ads on the iPhone. In 2009, we’ll mostly see the rising importance of geo-targetting ads for mobile platforms. #3. Google Search Suggest & Yahoo Search Suggest Why: Long Tail Keywords Ok, this one is sort of cheating because Yahoo! Search Suggest has Continue reading…
I Have Opinions Volume 2: How To Give Thanks
Jeff Pickett | November 21st, 2008
It’s like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Those “deficiency needs” are not to be taken for granted, but everyone is thankful for friends, family, food, and shelter. So i’m gonna dive right into the deep end and talk about what I’m really thankful for. I mean, if you won an Oscar, would you “Thank The Academy” or make a real statement with some one-armed pushups? With the holidays at heart and Maslow in mind, here’s a smattering of random people, places, and things I’m thankful for: Judd Apatow. I’d say that this gentleman is responsible for roughly 73% of my laughter over the last year and a half. Freaks and Geeks was the victim of network hi-jinx; perhaps the same can be said of Undeclared. The success of 2005′s The 40 Year Old Virgin finally earned him some studio support, and he’s been turning out riotous comedies ever since. Since June 2007, Apatow has been involved in: Knocked Up, Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Step Brothers (underrated), and Pineapple Express, amongst others! He also already has 4 movies lined up for 2009/2010: The Year One, Funny People, Get Him to the Greek, and, wait for it… GHOSTBUSTERS 3. The secret to Apatow’s success is hidden in plain view in the Freaks and Geeks series, where fans of the aforementioned films will recognize nearly every cast member; but you might have to look twice, they were so young! Coffee. What a Devilish delight those dark little beans brew up! I can hardly function Continue reading…
Tags: 3G, Abraham Maslow, Acadamy Awards, Adam Brody, Aero Theater, American Cinematheque, apple, Atlas Sound, Benjamin McKenzie, Bill Hader, Blair Waldorf, Blaire Waldorf, Blake Lively, Bradford Cox, Chace Crawford, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chuck, Chuck Bass, Dan Humphrey, Danny McBride, Deerhunter, Ed Westwick, Egyptian Theater, espresso, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Freaks and Geeks, french press, Ghostbusters 3, Gossip Girl, Intelligentsia, iphone, James Franco, Jason Segel, Jenny Humphrey, Jessica Szohr, John C. Reilly, John Francis Daley, Jonah Hill, Josh Schwartz, Judd Apatow, Katherine Heigl, Kelly Rowan, Kelly Rutherford, Kings Road, Kirsten Cohen, Knocked Up, Kristen Bell, LA landmarks, Leighton Meester, Leslie Mann, Lily van der Woodsen, Linda Cardellini, Los Angeles, mac, Marissa Cooper, Martin Starr, Matthew Settle, Michael Cera, Microcastle, Mila Kunis, Mischa Barton, Nate Archibald, New Beverly Cinema, Nicole Fiscella, Oscars, Paul Rudd, Penn Badgley, Peter Gallagher, Pineapple Express, Pumpkin, Quentin Tarantino, Rachel Bilson, Rufus Humphrey, Russell Brand, Ryan Atwood, Samm Levine, Sandy Cohen, Serena Van Der Woodsen, Seth Cohen, Seth Rogen, Step Brothers, Steve Carell, Summer Roberts, Superbad, Taylor Momsen, The 40 Year Old Virgin, the CW, The El Rey, The OC, Undeclared, Vanessa Abrams, Will Ferrell
Posted in Editorial, Internet News | 4 Comments
Optimizing Your Web Site for Mobile: 3 Easy Tips
Christian Vuong | August 14th, 2008
So, you’re finally ready to optimize your web site for mobile. Here are three easy steps you can take that will lead your web site on the road to becoming more mobile friendly. 1. Install The WordPress Mobile Plugin If your web site or blog is WordPress powered, then you want the WordPress Mobile Plugin. It’s Free. What does this plugin do? It makes your site more user friendly for mobile devices. 2. Use The Phone Attribute It seems a lot of businesses are overlooking this very simple attribute. What the attribute does is allow visitors to directly dial your phone number. While this attribute might not be very useful for businesses like bicycle shops or McDonalds, it has some value to local businesses like restaurants & dry cleaners. <a href=”#” tel=”3104214844”>(310) 421-4844</a> Let’s try it live. If you are viewing our blog from a mobile device, you should be able to directly dial from clicking on (310) 421-4844. *note this does not work with all phones. 3. Create A Mobile XML Sitemap Mobile XML Sitemaps are very similar to standard XML sitemaps. For formatting tips, see Google’s article on Mobile Sitemaps. After you create your sitemap, you will want to submit it to Google. More resources: Mobile Sitemaps – Google.com Mobile Internet Growth – Business-Standard.com Photo credit: KB35 Save this Post!
Tags: address, growth, iphone, mobile internet, mobile sitemap, optimize, optimizing, SEO, wordpress mobile plugin
Posted in Google | 2 Comments
5 Reasons Small Business Web Sites Should Not Use Flash
Christian Vuong | July 18th, 2008
(photo: kevindooley) There’s been a lot of coverage in the blogosphere as of recent about the new friendship between Google & Adobe Flash. As reported in the Official Google Blog, the search giant has taken significant steps to improve the indexing of Flash files. Before, Google was only interested in indexing static text, but now will also index dynamic text. The specifics of exactly what Google will crawl and what it will give more value to have been discussed, yet much still remains vague. As a safe practice, small businesses wishing to be indexed high for important key phrases therefore should avoid developing Flash heavy web sites. (By Flash heavy I am referring to web sites that utilize a flash navigation, are fully built out in flash, or display the bulk of their content in Flash. This is not referring to flash banners or the auto-scrolling multihero) Here are five reasons why small business should stay clear of developing Flash heavy web sites. 1) Analytics Small businesses can benefit significantly from services like Google Analytics. With Analytics, business owners have the ability to monitor visitor web site usage, track traffic, and view what web pages are receiving the most clicks. While Analytics is capable of Flash Event Tracking, set-up is often more difficult than set-up on standard HTML pages. 2) Conversion Tracking Similar to Analytics, conversion tracking is often more difficult to install and monitor on Flash web sites than HTML web sites. For a small business with a limited Continue reading…
