Terralever Blog

April 23, 2008 | Taken from SEO Diva by Kay Frenzer

You Scratch Mine, I’ll Scratch Yours

Cleverly named, ScratchBack is an interesting concept.

I first noticed the ScratchBack widget on DazzlinDonna’s blog. For $5 you can have a (no follow) ad link on her blog. The ad is placed at the top of the list, and as other advertisers join, the link drops, until it has dropped off the list of 15 ad links. I added the Diva to it (pretty cheap advertising) and will be watching to see if it brings me any traffic.

If you’re in a very niche market this may be a clever and inexpensive way to advertise your products within the niche itself. Go check out the directory and find a blog or two that are in your niche that you can get an inexpensive link on. For the price it’s certainly worth a try. This is a fairly new program, so the directory isn’t filled with a lot of bloggers just yet, but I can see it becoming popular. The links are no-follow, which doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t get any link juice, but do it more for the traffic than any thing else.

If you want a widget for your blog, you can choose a pre-designed widget or customize your own. You can also pre-approve advertisers before they’re added to your widget, or let the system add them automatically. Once you’ve signed up for the widget, you can add your site to the ScratchBack Directory for advertisers to find you.

I added the ScratchBack widget to my blog just for the heck of it, so if you feel like spending 5 bucks you can have a text link on SEO Diva. Just think of the cachet that will bring you!

April 20, 2008 | Taken from Online Marketing Performance by Scott McAndrew

Alexa rethinks rankings

Last week Alexa announced they’ve rolled out a new ranking system.  Largely viewed as a blunt tool, Alexa was still widely used in the late 90’s and early 00’s as it was one of the few ways to gauge the relative popularity of web sites for which there was no insight into their usage data.  Alexa currently faces new challenges as companies like Compete and Quantcast are offering far more information.

Of course, the problem with Alexa, Compete and Quantcast is the quality of the data being used.  Alexa states they’ve upped the number of data sources being used to shape their rankings, changed the methodology to provide more accurate for all countries, and updated their algorithms to provide an “even better indication of website popularity.”

Read the entire announcement over at Alexa.

April 17, 2008 | Taken from refactor by Joel Neubeck

Tunnel Trouble on Silverlight.net

For those of you who might not have seen our presentation at Mix, Terralever recently completed a second Silverlight game for Miniclip.com called Tunnel Trouble. This game is entirely written against the Silverlight 2 Beta 1 plugin. I am not sure that it has been spotlighted on there web site, but Microsoft has placed it on the home page of Silverlight.net. When you get a chance give it a play we are very happy with how it came out.

March 11, 2008 | Taken from Online Marketing Performance by Scott McAndrew

5 Google Analytics setup tips

Google’s analytics tool for measuring how visitors interact with your web site (aptly named Google Analytics) provides an incredible value to the online marketer. If you’re giving Google Analytics a spin for the first time, or you’ve installed it a half-dozen times before, here’s a few tips to get the most out of what Google has to offer your marketing efforts

Use the latest tracking code

Google currently provides two tracking codes to chose from when you implement Google Analytics onto your web site. The stated reasons for migrating to a new tracking code seem to surround technical improvements. Whatever the reason for the change, Google cautions that Analytics will stop honoring the legacy code in less than a year. For that reason alone: go with the new tracking code

Google Analytics Support: New Google Analytics Tracking Code

Setup Goal Conversions

Just about ever web site has some sort of desired user task completion (or goal). Google Analytics provides valuable tracking of user completion and attrition of goals as you define them. Goals can range from the (very) common, such as the viewing of a receipt or “thank you” page, to the tracking of file downloads, gameplays, or even the amount of time spent on a given page.

Common goals usually rely on a unique web page being viewed, and may or may not have a specific starting point. These types of goals can be setup very quickly. Conversions which rely on interaction beyond a specific web page being viewed can be setup, they just require spending a bit more time with Google’s help files and forums.Get it setup, and take advantage of all the reports for which Google provides the added dimension of how the data in various reports intersects with the completion of key site activities.

Conversion Goals and Funnel setup takes place by clicking the “Edit” link in the “Settings” column for the site you’re setting up from the Analytics Settings page.

Google Analytics Support: Setting up Goals

If you sell products on your site, configure e-commerce transactions

Goal conversion tracking provides a valuable perspective into the effectiveness of your web site and online marketing activities. If you have an e-commerce site, you can go one step further and associate the specific dollar value of online purchases with site usage right inside of Google Analytics.Google Analytics Support: Tracking E-commerce Transactions

Configure Site Search

A lesser-utilized feature of Google Analytics is its ability to track what visitors search on utilizing your site’s own search feature. Configuring this feature not only provides insight into what people search for on your site, it also helps you understand how they use (or discontinue the use of) your site after performing an on-site search.Google Analytics Support: Setting up Site Search

Exclude internal traffic

Anything you can do to improve the quality of the data you capture enhances what your reports can provide you in return. Excluding internal traffic from your reports altogether is a step in the right direction, and an easy step at that.

Google Analytics Support: Excluding Internal Traffic from your Reports

March 11, 2008 | Taken from Koded Kreations by Justin Copeland

Things to do with Facebook

So it’s been a while since I wrote but it’s partially because of stuff I’ve been doing with Facebook. That and I’m lazy. I’ve worked on teams that have released 3 applications and in the process of finishing 1 at work right now. Along with those, I’ve personally released 1 and have 2 that I have in the works. So lots of apps in my head right now.

The first app we did is called Finders Keepers. It is a really cool wishlist site where you can keep products on your Wishlist, send your friends items for their Wishlists or buy products. It was my first adventure into a real, fully functional, Facebook application. It was tough but it all came together thanks to a great team and I am proud to say that I worked on it. It is going through some major revisions so keep an eye out for those in the upcoming weeks.

The second app we did was for the Pontiac Game Changing Performance. We worked with ESPN for the College Football season and just last week released the new version for College Basketball just in time for March Madness. We implemented a really nice recruiting component for it that I think helps out with the social aspect that all applications strive to find.

The third application is one that hasn’t been fully released yet but I used the new Facebook JavaScript Client Library. Using this allows you to write applications that do not need to live within the Facebook site. Now any site that can use JavaScript can use it. Really nice and once more documentation shows up, it will get only better.

Personally, I released an RSS reader application last October while I was trying to learn just how the API worked. You can find it here. Simply put, the user adds the feed that they want, how many items, and there it is. Still has some issues with it I am finding but not too bad for a first time app I think. Add it and let me know what you think.

So pretty much since October, I have been working on Facebook apps. I’ve done some in ASP.NET C# and a couple in PHP. I gotta say that each has its pros but being a .NET guy, I had a bit of an easier time with those. But that’s the beauty with the Facebook apps. It doesn’t matter what your comfort level is. You can do it in any language it seems. Facebook releases theirs in PHP and Java but there are many APIs written in whatever language you want. At Terralever, we wrote our own API for the .NET framework and I find it really easy to work with.

So if you’re wanting to get into writing your own Facebook app, it’s really easy to get started. There is a lot of people out there to help now. So do what I did and build a dinky little app and go from there.

March 11, 2008 | Taken from Online Marketing Performance by Scott McAndrew

Two recommended books for the online marketer

Here’s two books which I definitely recommend:

Call to Action: Secret Formulas to Improve Online Results
Somehow Call to Action escaped my reading list for years. I learned about it from someone I recently interviewed. The book is based on Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg’s concept of Persuasion Architecture—a methodology which, at a high level, combines consumer psychology, business goals and website design with an overall goal of maximizing conversions.

Web Analytics: An Hour a Day
I’m one of those people who can’t get enough of web analytics. Written by respected blogger and Google Evangelist Avinash Kaushik, this book demystifies web analytics in an easy to read, enjoyable manner. The practice of web analytics isn’t as simple as it may appear at a glance. Avinash’s book provides new perspectives in a concise manner.

March 11, 2008 | Taken from refactor by Joel Neubeck

Silverlight how to: Deep Zoom

At Mix08 one of the components of Silverlight 2 I was most intrigued by was the multi-scale image technology called “Deep Zoom” (formerly seadragon). The demos we saw were quite compelling. Immediately I thought of areas where our clients could improve their users interactive experiences through this new technology.

Below you will find my first attempt at using the technology. It took about 10 min to create and showcases an interesting example of composition using deep zoom.

(Hint: Look for the plane in the right part of the sky)

Attached you will find my sample project. It is pretty big in size with the full collection of image tiles. All of the code you see in the page.xaml.cs was taken from Scott Hanselmans blog on Deep Zoom where he leveraged the Mousewheel class written by
Pete Blois

The image of the flags I took last summer and in the original there is a small speck in the sky where I believe a plane was. I found a image of an F16 on the internet and used Photoshop to remove its original background. I replaced it with a sample of the color of the flag photos sky. Using Deep Zoom Composer I placed the new F16 photo over the sky speck and exported the collection.

February 28, 2008 | Taken from refactor by Joel Neubeck

Mix08 - Silverlight as a Gaming Platform

This year Terralever has the great opportunity to present at Microsoft’s Mix 08 conference in Las Vegas, March 5-7th. Mix is an amazing conference that exposes the technology community to the latest on Silverlight, Internet Explorer, ASP.NET, Expression, Windows Live and other key technologies. The topic I will present on is “Silverlight as a Gaming Platform” and specifically our experience writing a game in Silverlight 2.
Abstract
“Come learn how Microsoft Silverlight was used to create Tunnel Trouble, an online game built using Silverlight 2. This session covers concepts of using Silverlight technologies and tools to build game boards, animations, collision logic, game loop logic, integrating media into game play as well as integrating with web services and being more efficient with managed code.”

I am very excited to represent Terralever in this opportunity. If your attending Mix, make sure to attend our break out session on Thursday March 6th at 4:15 PM in the San Polo 3501A room.

February 13, 2008 | Taken from SEO Diva by Kay Frenzer

Become Successful by Helping Others

One of the keys to being successful in the social media space is to get involved, extend yourself, and help others. ‘Social’ means relating to human society and its members. When you get join one or more social media groups, be it Stumble, Facebook, or MySpace, to name just a few of the many that are online, you’re expected to give before you get.

Estaban Panzera (a rising star to keep your eye on) has a blog article with tips from Social Media Marketers, in which Neil Patel says,

“Participate in the community before you try and leverage it. It is one thing to read about a community and how it works, but you need to actually get involved in the community.”

In order to become an active member of a social media community, you must choose which of them you relate to and enjoy the most - no one can do it all. Once you’ve chosen one or two to contribute to, move forward by connecting with others within the community. Learn what motivates them, gets them interested and excited. Before you ask for Stumbles, comments, and clicks, start doing it for other members.

A blog article from July of ‘07 titled A Fable Do Follow and Comments (Real Estate Blog Lab) clarifies how being helpful toward others will benefit you:

“I’ve noticed on the blogs I author and track that posts without comments can move quickly to supplemental results and right out of the Google index. However, posts with comments tend to stay in the active index much longer and some almost indefinitely.”

“The second thing I’ve noticed that helps keep posts in the Google index are those containing links that are contextual to the post. It means you are giving away a link to another blog. It is often called link love because these contextual links are the best kind of back-link to get from another blog or website.”

In other words, share the love. Become successful by helping others succeed.

February 09, 2008 | Taken from Online Marketing Performance by Scott McAndrew

How to promote a blog for free

When a friend or colleague sets up a blog, I am often curious to see what they do to promote it. Unfortunately, they often don’t do some basic things that can give their blogs the opportunity to take off. If you’re committed to writing good content, it often takes no money at all to get the ball rolling.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, a quick caveat: We’re beyond the “How do I blog?”, “Why would I blog?” and the dreaded “What is a blog?” phase here. If you’re at that stage, I’m sorry to disappoint you. I’m assuming you already know why you are blogging, and what it can offer you or your organization. You just might not know what you can do to give it a nudge so people can find it.

OK. So you’ve set yourself up a blog, and you want to be sure your efforts bear fruit. Here are some easy, basic, and FREE techniques to promote your blog:Tags and Categories - Cost: $0.00

• Internet and blog search engines use the keyword/keyword phrases in tags and categories to file your postings so they’re ready can be served back to Internet searchers. Use them thoughtfully and creatively!
• If you use both tags and categories, your categories should be broad; your tags should be specific.

Submit Your Blog to Search Engines - Cost: $0.00

• Submit your blog to credible, qualified directories (Google, Yahoo, Live, ASK, DMOZ.org)
• For some sites (such as the Yahoo directory) you do have to pay. However, you can submit your site to Yahoo without submitting to their paid directory

Leverage FeedBurner - Cost: $0.00

• FeedBurner allows reporting on the number of subscribers to your blog as well as some high-level web site traffic reporting. It is also useful to promote your blog.
• After doing the basic FeedBurner setup, enable the ‘PRO’ settings. The ‘PRO’ features previously cost money; they are now complimentary (thanks for buying FeedBurner Google!),
• Finally, go through each tab in FeedBurner and read the options that are available. Scores of additional options exist from pinging other aggregation/syndication sources when you post an entry to placing ads in your feed to monetize your syndication.

Claim your Blog on Technorati - Cost: $0.00

• Technorati is the Google of blogs and a great source of traffic.
• There’s no excuse to not sign-up with the basic information Technorati needs.
• Don’t stop at the bare minimum. Go ‘Favorite’ blogs you enjoy. Don’t forget to ‘Favorite’ your friends’ blogs; maybe they’ll stop by and ‘Favorite’ you too. Add a ‘Favorite on Technorati’ badge or link on your blog.
• Add a post to the Where’s the Fire (WTF) every now and again. Make sure they’re good posts. Even if you don’t get a lot of votes, you do get people coming by to see what your blog has to offer.

Enlist a Well Rounded Analytics Package - Cost: $0.00

• Google Analytics allows you to get more detailed web site usage reporting than FeedBurner can supply. Free or not it’s a great tool.
• Figure out which reports help you the most. You can gauge affinity for your content based on how often articles are viewed, how long visitors stay on your site when they arrive at a specific individual article (etc.). Sky’s the limit. Get to know Google Analytics.
• Learn and adapt. Viewing reports on usage of your blog isn’t blog promotion. How you interpret and apply what you learn will provide a strong foundation for your future blogging and blog promotion efforts.

Link to your Blog - Cost: $0.00

• If you send out any regular communication (online or off) provide a link to your blog.
• If your email program allows it, place a link to your blog in your signature.
• When you comment on other people’s blogs, be sure to provide your blog’s URL if you are prompted.
• If you keep a LinkedIn or Facebook profile, be sure to add a link to your blog. Facebook also lets you import your blog’s RSS feed as “Notes” so they display on your Profile page.

Ping when you Post - Cost: $0.00

• If your blog doesn’t automatically do it for you, ping Technorati and other services when your blog is updated
• If you’re not sure if your blog platform pings aggregators and syndicators when you post, check your documentation (most good blog platforms do this automatically, such as WordPress and Blogger).
• FeedBurner also has a ping service. Be sure it is activated, and take advantage of their offer to let you specify more sources to ping.

Participate in the Greater Blog Community - Cost: $0.00

• You want people to interact with your blog, be sure to do the same yourself!
• When you provide meaningful commentary on others’ blogs, you will benefit from visitors and/or the author stopping by your blog to learn more about you.

Make it Easy to Engage Your Content - Cost: $0.00

• What you don’t want to do is have visitors read one post and then leave.  When setting up your blog, think about the best place in its layout to place related, popular, and recent posts. Either pick a template that meets your needs, or modify it on your own.
• Entice visitors to come back.  The best way for them to know about new content you write is for them to subscribe to your RSS feed.  To encourage them to, place your RSS feed link in a prominent, visible position on your blog.

Write Good Content - Cost: $0.00

• This is the big one. Without good content, you’re toast.
• Write provoking titles that speak to your audience. If the title is good, you have a much better chance of drawing viewers to your content.
• Be sure to post regularly! Post as regularly as you can. Search engines (and your readers!) like to see stability and frequency in the amount of content that comes from your site.

Syndicate your Content - Cost: $0.00

• If there are any niche RSS syndication services for your content, see if there are fees associated with adding your feed to their service.
• Often, aggregation and syndication services don’t charge a thing.  Zimbio is a great, user-friendly place to start.
• Educate your self on how to republish your content so you aren’t penalized by search engines.
• If you leverage Feedburner (and you should) visit the Optimize > FeedFlare section.  It offers several ways to encourage your visitors to promote your content elsewhere on the web.

I hope these tips help. They are all free, and they will promote your blog. If you write compelling content and use the methods above, you will get traffic. How much blogging and promotion of your blog you commit to will determine how popular your blog becomes.