Blog Traffic Tip #3 – Link to Yourself
This Blog Traffic Tip would seem to be amazingly obvious, but so few people do it well.
When you write your blog, stop and look at the words and concepts. If you’ve been blogging consistently, you’ll see some trends in your topics. Well…link to those previous blog posts!
If you’re watching your blog stats (and you should!), then you’ll see something amazing happen. You will see new traffic going to old blog posts. In some cases, people will even revive conversations and comment threads. People who are subscribed to a thread will come back and see what’s being said, driving even more traffic to your site.
Here on W+P=W, I blog a lot about TV apps, marketing, ebooks, Kindles, iPads, and comics. Each time I create a new post, I do a quick search for topics, and rediscover old (brilliantly written) blog posts.
Help your audience discover old blog posts by linking to them from new posts. You’ll drive additional traffic and show that your blog has depth beyond the first page.
And since we’re more or less talking internal links, I’ll share a few of my favorite blog posts. And I will check my stats to see if you clicked through to check them out.
- Apple’s 10 Billion…eBooks?
- TV Apps Kickoff – 3 Things You Need to Know
- iPad – Content, Marketing & Comics
- 5 Reasons You’ll Be Using an EReader in 2 Years
- 5 Tipping Points for eReader Technology
- Kindles + Kids = 37 Billion Reasons
- 7 Tips for Better Flickr Traffic
Apple’s 10 Billion…eBooks?
Apple iTunes Store Sells 10 Billion Songs
Ten billion. That’s how many songs have been legally downloaded from Apple’s iTunes Store.
This is what that looks like: 10,000,000,000
If it look impressive, that’s because it is. And it is significant because it may represent a small victory in the war over digital piracy. Apple has made it easy and affordable to buy music (something the record industry didn’t do themselves). As a result, people have paid money for stuff that they can easily steal.
If you own an iPod, iPhone or some other Apple device, you know that the Apple iTunes Store is really, really easy to use. Plus, they sell more than just music. You can get movies and TV shows as well.
As the iPad comes out, Apple will begin to roll out ebooks, newspapers, magazines, and other new media content. It’s going to be a broad range of materials, many of which will be purchased by the download. (Currently there is no subscription model.)
From a content perspective, this is a huge opportunity. People have grown used to getting content for free on websites. Few websites have managed to get money out of their visitors. Marvel Digital and Disney Digital have online subscription models, but those are premiere brands with highly exclusive content resources and characters.
As the iPad hits the streets, Apple is going to be working hard to get you to pay for content. Amazon already gets people to pay for ebooks and blogs on the Kindle, so there is a segment of the population prepared to pay for content.
No, don’t get me wrong. I am not looking forward to paying for stuff that I am getting free today, but that’s how it goes. Only so many websites and publishers can survive on the freemium model. Eventually someone is going to have to pay.
Sure, there will always be people who figure out a way to get stuff for free. In fact, many pirates don’t rip DVDs and MP3s because they want the media. They do it because they enjoy the challenge of cracking the code or beating the system. (And DRM doesn’t seem to work.)
With ereaders like the Kindle, Nook, and iPad, publishers are going to have to figure out a way to get people to buy digital books and magazines. Free is not a sustainable business model for most publishers. As the music industry will attest, it’s not going to be easy, but it is possible to get people to pay for media.
Price them right, make them easy to get, and maybe in a few years I’ll be blogging about how there were 10 billion ebooks sold on the Apple store.
LINKS – NOT NECESSARILY ENDORSEMENTS:
- Apple iTunes Store Records 10 Billionth Download, Gives Away $10,000 Gift Card
- 10 Billion Songs Sold by Apple’s iTunes Store
- Simon & Schuster Issues Digital Piracy Policy
- Publishers Fear eBook Piracy, But Shouldn’t
- Piracy, Avid Readers and New Business Models
Buzz, Tweet, ShareThis
ShareThis Logo
With all this talk of Buzzing and Tweeting and Facebooking, it’s easy to overlook the true value of social networks, at least from the perspective of content marketing.
Content marketing can help you effectively articulate your brand story to allow customers to evangelize it. Lots of products rely on evangelists to share messages because a personal recommendation goes a long, long way.
Consider the following scenario: You’re thinking of going to the movies this weekend. So you check the movie listings, and every film is lavished with the typical hyperbole. “Brilliant!” or “Laugh out loud funny!” or “Triumphant!” (Whatever that means.)
You check out the movie reviews, but the reviewers can’t seem to agree on anything, except the names of the stars.
Suddenly your friend sends you a mobile message on Facebook that says, “dude, you have to go see this movie. Ignore the reviews. You will love it!”
Which matters to you most? Is it (a) the review in the newspaper, (b) the ad that proclaims this to be “triumphant!” or (c) the message you got on Facebook?
No big surprise, right? You’re going with the recommendation from your friend, because (theoretically) your friend has little to gain personally or financially from you going to that movie. You trust that your friend knows what you like. Sure, the message may appear in a Tweet or on Facebook or on Google Buzz or whatever, but that’s just the channel. The most important thing is the social context of the recommendation. Content is king, but context makes it relevant.
It’s this social context that makes brand evangelists (and social networks) so valuable to the health of a brand. A recent study revealed that Facebook drives 44% of social sharing.
So if you have a brand, be sure to include social sharing features on your website that allow people to easily evangelize your brand message. Remember, your brand can be something that people go out and purchase…or it can be your own personal self-branding effort (i.e., Brand You). Whatever it is, you need to make it easy for people to share.
Check out the bottom of this post. You’ll see a little widget from ShareThis that will allow you to share my blog. Go ahead and share it with family and friends
Especially if you want to proclaim it “triumphant!” (Whatever that means.)
LINKS – NOT NECESSARILY ENDORSEMENTS:
- Apple and Brand Evangelists
- Email and Social Sharing
- Sharing and ‘Socialgraphics’: Why Marketers Should Be Paying Attention
TV Apps Kickoff – 3 Things You Need to Know
The 2010 Superbowl officially kicked off the Age of TV Apps. The technology has been around for a few years and is already available to many people. But Vizio’s TV app Superbowl commercial was the kickoff heard ’round the world.
So what are TV apps? In a most basic sense, TV apps are like the applications you download for your iPhone. Small, limited-use software that allows you to personalize your hardware.
New stuff that was once only available for your computer — and then for your iPhone — is now available for your television. If you have Direct TV or Verizon FiOS, some of this is already baked into your cable box. Obviously you can get TV apps on the Vizio TV, but also on many Samsung and Sony televisions as well.
You can already use things like Twitter, Flickr, and Facebook on your TV.
Here are three things you should know about TV Apps
1. The technical field is relatively open.
Sure, there are some key players like Yahoo who have already set themselves as leaders, but that can change. Currently, Yahoo controls the application and administers the software development kit (SDK). Note: From our personal experience, Yahoo was somewhat slow in distributing the SDKs to developers. That’s unfortunate because that could irritate programmers who could create an open-source system that could render Yahoo’s TV Apps technology obsolete. If you have the desire to create apps (or even a completely new OS), the time is now. The tech is in place for you to build the next great widget, gadget, social network, or living room app.
2. TV apps will present design challenges.
Weather TV app available through DirectTV
TV apps will face several user interface challenges. The most notable is that most people don’t have a keyboard on their television remote control. Sure, you can pull one up on the screen, but as you can imagine, typing with a little remote-control button is a pretty poor user experience. If you’ve used a Wii remote to create a Mii character, you know how tedious it can be to type out a long name. Designers will clearly make the difference between apps that succeed or fail. The old design rules will need to evolve to take advantage and address the limitations of a 10-foot interface.
3. Content & marketing opportunities will need to evolve.
The iPhone and other smart phones forced content developers and marketers to rethink the way we package messages. Long-form had to give way to shorter, more relevant messages. If not for mobile communications limitations, Twitter would have never gained a foothold in society. Face it, a 140 character message fits better on a cell phone screen than, say, a PowerPoint presentation. People who mastered the Twitter format (including URL shorteners) emerged pretty quickly as masters of the medium. And the marketers quickly caught on with brand messages. That’s a long way of saying that the new language of TV apps is still in flux. If you want to create content or marketing messages for TV apps, try to figure out what works with this new interface.
If you’re already exploring TV apps, congratulations. You’re probably going to have a head start on this unique and exciting new communications channel. I look forward to seeing what you create.
LINKS, NOT NECESSARILY ENDORSEMENTS:
Vizio’s TV App Superbowl Fumble
If you were one of the 106 million people who watched Superbowl XLIV, you may have caught the Vizio TV ad. You know the one…it showcased one of the coolest new technologies called TV Apps.
Google results for the Vizio TV Apps search.
Despite a terrific commercial, Vizio may have fumbled a prime opportunity to capture and convert their audience. The content was great. The message was on target. So what went wrong?
Well, they forgot both their (a) search engine marketing (SEM) campaign and (b) search engine optimization (SEO).
Like many people watching the Superbowl, I saw the commercial and wanted to know more. I didn’t catch the URL on the screen, but I trusted that if I put in “Vizio TV apps,” Google would link to their site.
Nope.
How about “Vizio apps”? No.
Um…”TV apps”? Nope.
Okay, they must be bidding on “Vizio” right? Big nope.
I’ve included a bunch of screen shots of Vizio’s Google search results on Flickr, so you can see who and what is coming up on the search engine results page (SERP) for Google. You can see tweets from people on Twitter who are interested in the Vizio commercial, but the Vizio web page appeared to be down.
Even a day after the Superbowl, there’s no SEM campaign from Vizio trying to capture the traffic and buzz generated by their commercial. And unlike other events, the Superbowl is legendary for people sharing and replaying ads. YouTube has collections of the best ads, which means people will be watching that ad long after it was aired.
In today’s always-on Internet culture, people trust Google, Yahoo, Ask, and Bing to take them to the right site. But that comes at a cost, since sites need to be properly optimized for search engines.
A well-designed SEM campaign needs to be developed and maintained, since your website may not always come up in natural search. Sure, you will come up for your own name, but you may not come up for your category. SEM helps you get your message in front of the right people at the right time. Like, for example, a few minutes after your commercial runs on the Superbowl.
Vizio did a great job of educating the Superbowl viewers about the concept of TV apps. It’s hard to say if they will be able to cement that lead without properly leveraging search traffic on Google.
What should have been a touchdown seems more like a fumble. And you have to wonder if someone else has already intercepted Vizio’s customers.
LINKS – NOT NECESSARILY ENDORSEMENTS
- Ouch! Backlash for Vizio Super Bowl ad
- How to Cram Most of the Web Into One Super Bowl Ad–And Not Sell TVs
- Vizio Internet Apps SuperBowl Ad Showsing Beyonce And David Goes To The Dentist
- Super Bowl 2010: The Best and Worst Commercials
Blog Traffic Tip #2: Know Your Stats
Today’s tip is about knowing your site statistics. But don’t panic, you don’t need to be good with numbers to understand this blog post.
Many people blog for professional reasons. Maybe they want to be considered a thought leader in their field. This kind of self-marketing, personal branding effort is sometimes referred to as Brand You.
If you’re blogging to build a base for Brand You, then you’re going to want to drive enough traffic to make it worth your time and energy. And how can you tell this? Site stats, of course.
Most blog platforms (I use WordPress) come with some sort of free analytics package that allows you to get basic information on visitors to your blog. Click a few buttons, and software will immediately start to track what people are doing on your blog. Neat and easy.
Here are a few things you should be looking for:
- How are people getting to your blog? Is it search engine traffic? Other blogs?
- If you are posting your blog and then tweeting it on Twitter, are people clicking that link?
- What words are people typing into Google and Yahoo to get to your blog?
- What day of the week are they visiting your blog? Time of day?
All of this is accessible in your stats. And — trust me here — it’s not that hard to understand.
If you really start to get into it, you can use a free software package for even more information. I recommend Google’s free Google Analytics software. It’s a bit more challenging to install, but the amount of information you can get is amazing.
Spend a little time looking at your stats. You’d be amazed at what you can learn about your readership and the basic usability of your website and/or blog. Keyword analysis may help you figure out better ways to search engine optimize your site.
Serious websites need professional analysts to understand site statistics. At work, we study the site stats to better understand what content, tools, and resources people use on our websites. This helps us build out future content and plan other digital media initiatives.
You may never want to get to that level of analysis, of course. But just having a basic grasp of your site stats will help you create a better blog experience for your readers.
Now get started. Your stats are waiting for you.
See also: Blog Traffic Tip #1 Be Controversial
iPad – What It Is, What It Isn’t
The Apple iPad has polarized technogeeks, industry professionals, and average consumers. This new electronic device has sparked debates about what it is, what it isn’t and what it should be.
Once again, let’s just break it down and give it a quick analysis.
What iPad Is:
Apple iPad is a consumer entertainment device. It will have built-in multimedia capabilities that will allow you to use it to watch movies, check email, surf the Inter-web, and read short ebooks. It’ll be a pretty nifty device that will also allow you to play certain video games and apps that have already appeared in the iTunes App Store.
That, and maybe a few other things. For about $499 – $899, this limited-use device will give you some entertainment and maybe some other ephemeral enjoyment. Simply put, the iPad is a device marketed to play certain types of content.
But the techno-knows are experiencing some level of angst that the new iPad has not — and probably will not — solve world hunger, peace, or even cancer. (In the first few weeks, however, even the geekiest of guys may find that it attracts chicks. Temporarily.)
Tech experts have been going on and on and on about what the iPad doesn’t do. And for the most part, they’re right. The iPad isn’t a panacea to all problems. (Note: Look up the word “panacea.” It’s a rather cool and satisfying word.)
So I have compiled an additional list of things that the iPad “is not.”
What iPad Isn’t:
- Chick-fil-A sandwich
- Kindle 2
- Panacea to all problems (don’t you wish you looked up that word already?)
- Pair of tube socks
- Toaster oven
- An actual apple
- Device to bend the time-space continuum
- Whipped cream
- Monkey
- 1970 Mercury Cougar
You see? The iPad is something. And it’s also not a lot of other things. Feel better now?
Cheer up. Apple is brilliantly marketing iPad as something that they will manufacture and sell to people who want that something. This may irritate people who feel like the “something” that Apple makes should have been “something else” with some “other somethings” built into the “thing.”
Or “something” like that.
iPad – Content, Marketing & Comics
Steve Jobs presents the iPad
If you’re a Macintosh fan or a Steve Jobs zombie (Jobzie?) today was like Christmas. Maybe even better. Today, as if you didn’t know already, Apple finally announced the long-awaited tablet device “iPad.”
If you follow this blog, you know that I primarily talk about content, interactive media, and marketing. Oh yeah, and occasionally comic books. So let’s talk about what the iPad means for each of my favorite topics:
- Content: Well, as I’ve said before, it all comes down to content. The best device in the world will only go so far on mediocre content. Touch screens are cool, but they need to be worth the extra cost.
Positive: As usual, Apple fully delivers on the iPad. Right out of the gate, you’ll be able to tap into the iTunes store for eBooks, videos, games, and music. Plus there’s probably a lot more content on the way. You can buy the iPad knowing that Apple will provide plenty of content in full, brilliant multimedia and color.
Negative: It’s hard not to compare the iPad to the Kindle when it comes to reading ebooks. At this point, it looks like Kindle’s e-ink has an advantage over the iPad’s screen. It’s just nicer to read books on a reflective surface, as opposed to an active matrix display. Sorry, color just isn’t that important for the enjoyment of text, particularly long-form prose.
- Interactive media: We’re now in a society where we fully expect to be able to interact with a certain amount of media. And Apple doesn’t disappoint here. The iPad is packed with nifty new tech that will allow us to touch, drag, scale, and game. We are at the tip of the creative iceberg, and it’s exciting to just dream about the amazing applications that will take advantage of the iPad platform.
Positive: What’s not to like? It’s going to revolutionize gaming and allow you to take your fun wherever you go. As a parent, I love portable movies and games. Apps are what made the iPhone special, and the same tech will work on the iPad. Nice.
Negative: It looks like I may have to re-purchase movies that I have on DVD so they play on the iPad. Something tells me I will be buying a lot of stuff to feed my iPad.
- Marketing: At the core, Apple is an electronics manufacturer, but somehow they have managed to position themselves miles above the rest of the industry. Their brand is huge. No other manufacturer can launch a product quite like Apple. Plus Steve Jobs knows how to give a presentation. If you’re a marketer, take a close look at your lame PowerPoint decks and ask yourself if you can somehow do better. (You can.) Apple’s marketing is a brilliant mix of art, science, and magic. This is what they should study in universities.
Positive: Apple breaks many marketing rules, but somehow they make it work. We can all learn from them when it comes to branding and event marketing. Apple makes it look easy, even though they are probably working like mad in the days leading up to the event.
Negative: What they do as marketers isn’t really taught in school. And try as they may, very few marketers can match their magic formula for generating excitement around product launches. But is this really a negative? Nah, it gives us marketers an achievement goal.
- Comics: It’s hard to say how this will affect the comic book business. Comics are already being pirated and distributed through torrents. Up until now, people had to buy printed comics to get a decent experience. Sure, you could read a pirated comic on your computer monitor, but the mechanics were wrong. Monitors are horizontal, while comics are vertical. Marvel’s Digital Comics actually give a pretty good experience, but it still required you to be sitting in front of your computer. I work in front of a computer all day, so sitting at my desk to read is a bit unappealing. Printed comics are still my favorite way to read full-color comic books. But for how long?
Positive: The iPad could make reading comics really exciting. I would love to read my monthly titles on a nice, clear tablet. I could store them on the device (as opposed to reading them in the cloud), that would free up a lot of space in my house. Set the right price, and I will pay for a digital subscription to my favorite comics. I’m ready, let’s go.
Negative: The pirates are already killing comics the way they nearly killed music and movies. If piracy doesn’t stop, it won’t make economic sense to create comics. Easy file sharing and torrents could kill mainstream comics as we know them today. The iPad just gives the pirates a better platform for sharing files.
So that’s it. The ‘Net and the pundits are already buzzing about the iPad. I’m going to immerse myself in the excitement and optimism.
Merry Christmas, Apple fans.
Good Content in New Channels
Win the blue ribbon for creating good content.
As the tech world breathlessly awaits the new technological wonder by Apple, it’s worth taking a step back and recognizing what this is all about. Y’know, deep down.
It’s about Content. Content with a capital C. The kind of content that will make the Apple iPad tablet device worth buying.
Superior hardware is great. But without content, it’s going to get dull fast. And with faster processors and cheap RAM, dull happens at mind-boggling speed.
There is a tablet PC and ebook ereader war brimming on the horizon. Cheap laptop versus Netbook
But the excitement isn’t really about the hardware. It’s about the content experience the technology will bring. And here’s the really important point: We all know that this type of content already exists. We can close our eyes and imagine how cool it will actually be when we can buy it. It’s a Jetsons fantasy.
Every week Hollywood releases a new action-packed thriller dripping with special effects. Of course, these movies find a core audience, but they usually come and go fairly quickly. Many people avoid these movies because the plots simply string together the special effects. And yet, audiences came out in droves to watch Avatar. It had enough story to make the special effects relevant and necessary.
IMax, 3D, and special effects existed long before Avatar. It’s just that people heard that the story was good (it was) and the special effects were awesome (they were). So people not ordinarily inclined to run out to the theater and wear 3D glasses went to see Avatar.
So what’s this mean to you?
Well, if you’re a content creator, it could mean a lot. If you create good content, some of it may find life on another device. People with a tablet will be looking for content, so you and your target audience have another opportunity to discover each other. Think of it as Content Meets Opportunity.
If you’re a marketer, then you gain a new channel for sharing your brand benefits. People want to discover new products and services that make their lives better, easier, or more fulfilling. If you have a brand that does that, your audience will want to know more about it. They may even want to try it before they buy it. New channels mean new ways to connect with your target audience.
The iPod changed the way we interacted with music. And the iPhone changed the way we thought of applications. These devices became personal lifestyle extensions. So, yes, there’s good reason to be excited about Apple’s “big announcement.”
However. If you create lazy, uninspired content or you hype mediocre brands, please don’t bring it to this new device. Let’s not clutter brand new screens with irrelevant content or messaging. Nobody wants it or needs it.
And now, let the tablet wars begin!
5 Reasons You’ll Be Using an EReader in 2 Years
Sony Reader PRS-505
Do you look at ereaders and ebooks and wonder “what’s the big deal?” Then you’re probably like a lot of people who understand the technology, but figure that printed books, laptops, and iPhones are good enough.
Yeah, hate to break it to you, but in about two years, you’ll be using an ereader. It won’t look like today’s Kindle or Nook, but it won’t be that different either. Ereaders are an inevitable next-step technology.
The W+P=W Top 5 Reasons You Will Be Using an EReader in Two Years
1. Prices will drop.
Paying $200 for a device like a Sony eReader when you can read a book for free? Crazy, right? Well, not so fast. Is the book you’re reading actually free or did someone pay for it already? That’s right, someone paid for the media, even if it’s in a public library. As for the device, let’s not judge future prices by today’s prices. If that were the case, nobody could afford a plasma or LCD television in their home. Early home entertainment systems are always expensive, until manufacturers can figure out a way to drive down costs.
Today’s ereaders are relatively cheap for new technology. Expect cheaper prices, starting this year. In two years, they’ll be selling them at garage sales. Tech always starts high and comes down.
2. eBook exclusives.
Why read a digitial book when a perfectly good print version is there on the shelf? Well, just wait until the book you really, really want to read is only available in ebook format. Or the book that you have to read for work or school. Yeah, it’s going to happen, and sooner than you want it to. As you may know, I have published comics in the past. Nothing big, but I did enough to realize that more than 50% of my costs were going to printing and shipping. It’s the same for mainstream publishers as well.
Soon, publishers will release certain books only in digital formats. It’s probably going to start with textbooks, since there are 37 million kids in US schools alone. And they don’t get to choose what they read, right?
3. Free channels will fade.
When was the last time you went to a music store to buy new music? Yeah, same here. If you have an iPod, you’ve probably used Apple’s iTunes store. I love the Amazon store for new music. Every other strip mall in America used to have a record shop. Not anymore.
Now, with bookstores fading into the sunset, you’re going to be forced to do some shopping online. But print books, still need to be shipped. If you buy from Amazon, that price is fixed at $3.99 (before free shipping incentives). And the costs of shipping keep going up, up, up. One day, the cost of shipping a book will be prohibitively high. So high, that it will not make sense to buy a print book over the Net. Meanwhile, the delivery cost of an ebook will tend to remain fairly constant at $0.
Oh, and one more thing about “channels.” You know, when I was a young one, nobody could imagine paying for television. People scoffed at the idea of paying for cable TV, especially when you could just pull up the antenna and get reception. And yet, now paying for cable television is just another bill. In the future an ebook reader will be another device that you keep around the house for your basic reading needs.
4. Picture better pictures.
Right now, the graphics on Kindle are perfect for text. Pictures? Nah-so-good. The images are barely passable and sometimes downright unreadable. Lame.
In fact, the ebook reader of tomorrow probably looks a lot like your laptop of today. Except the ereader of the future will almost certainly have a touch display. Better pictures, movie watching, and web browsing will all eventually be included in high-end ereaders. Asus today announced the DR-570, a color ereader. Brilliant color pictures and 122 hours of battery life, at least that’s what they are claiming.
5. Content creators will want ereaders.
You may not pay for content, including pictures, words, and videos. Radio is free. Television is free (even though you pay for the wire into your house). But someone, somewhere is paying for it. Writers and editors and production people all need to get paid.
So the people who actually create content, like publishers, and the people who pay them (the advertisers) are already lining up behind new technology. Content creators will push hard for ereaders, especially since it will give them a new way to aggregate their content. Yes, piracy will run rampant, but enough people are willing to pay for good content that it will drive down the cost of the devices.
More importantly, content creators will gain access to incredibly detailed statistical reports. Old media is saddled with old-style reporting. New media advertisers want details about user behavior. eReaders will bridge that gap and make the medium instantly useful and credible in the eyes of advertisers. They will bring their dollars to this new medium, making it possible for content publishers to pay the people who create the content.
So, yeah, those are my Top 5 reasons why you’ll be reading from an ebook reader in under two years. There are probably more, but I’ve got a hot date with my Kindle and my favorite blogs. (Yes, I read blogs on my Kindle.)
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