05.12.06
Posted in Uncategorized at 3:49 pm by altersage
And no, we’re not talking about the historical tendencies of this search giant, well we are in way, but Google Trends is a new feature that was recently launched. It enables anyone to view the trends of any key-phrase (or topic as Google refers to this) by country / language and more over a period of about one year (give or take).
This is not just for search marketers, but is a really interesting little tool that is great for anyone to use, from entrepreneurs to commerce to students and what not. Go on, give it a bash!
Sorry about the short post, I am really busy workwise so gotta dash!
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05.09.06
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:47 am by altersage
I don’t have many publication subscriptions, but recently I signed up to Revenue Magazine’s Digital Publication and my first copy arrived today. Most of you probably know this magazine inside out, but for those that like me are usually too busy with the nitty-gritty and often don’t have time to read magazine’s of any kind, this one touches on just about everything in the eMarketing space and is a pretty good read. One of the names that you’ll be sure to recognise is that of Mike Moran – IBM engineer and manager. Â
His first article for Revenue titled “The Search Tug of War†is a gripping read. It was really about Affiliates vs Merchants, conversion tracking dilemmas etc, but some of my favourite extracts include: “Search engines are complicated little beasts, but a little knowledge can give you a leg up on your competition.â€, and “Search marketing is a big business now…also one of the biggest ways that merchants drive traffic to their sites…they are keenly aware of the competition…and are starting to take action…beefing up their organic search marketing effortsâ€.
(Just to be clear, I left out some bits in between for greater impact. )
It always astounds me how many people there still are that are blissfully unawares of what a powerful medium this has become and just exactly what kind of role “online presence†will play in the future. To grab another quote from his article “Some were embarrassed to find that their affiliates ranked ahead of them, even for searches containing their own brand names.â€
This just brings me to emphasise again the importance of not only having a well optimised and marketed website that brings in qualified traffic, but a user-friendly site that converts that traffic when it gets there.
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05.03.06
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:23 pm by altersage
Cape Town techies, geeks and media fundies unite as the first BarCamp hits Cape Town next month. I will be joining the local techies and geeks 
at our very own informal conference in June organised by Conrad Strydom. The venue is still to be confirmed, but the dates are set for the 15th and 16th of June.
This event has already received much noise on the local Blogosphere and today was featured on Tectonic.
The great thing about this conference is that anyone is welcome to attend and well, it’s free! The parties thus far attending are all well known within their respective spheres. According to Tectonic about 45 people have confirmed attendance so far.
Some of the attendees may be viewed on the official BarCamp Cape Town website. Â
I could very much relate to Mark Forrester’s comment: “It’s quite daunting knowing there will be so many skilled and knowledgeable techies/geeks under one roof, but what a place to learn more about the ever-growing, ever-developing creative community!â€
Add to this the great networking potential.
This could very well grow into a winner for South Africa.
Get your shortlists ready and be sure to chat with me at the BarCamp if you’re Cape Town.
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