I just stumbled across a new tool from Google - Google Website Optimiser. Released publicly on April 4, 2007, I feel like I've been living under a rock or something not to have heard about this.   I'm not yet sure on it's full features, but as I've explored it, it allows you to create split A/B and multivariate testing of your website content. The point? Testing to see which pages, and which content is going to deliver you the best conversion and ROI.

According to the Google press release:

"As part of our continued commitment to help advertisers make smart business decisions, we are happy to announce that the Google Website Optimizer™ application is now available to AdWords advertisers worldwide. Google Website Optimizer is designed to help website owners increase conversions such as sales, sign-ups or downloads. This multivariate landing page optimization tool enables marketers to test different ideas for web page content such as different headlines, promotional copy, or images. The application provides easy-to-read reports that enable advertisers to see which variation resonated best with their site visitor. It is a self-service application that enables website owners to set-up and run multivariate landing page experiments."

Press release dated 4th April 2007

If a website has any sort of website statistics installed on it, this sort of activity is nothing new, a day to day part of online marketing, conversion and optimisation. It will be interesting to see if Google has broken this down for those of a less geeky vein, and what it offers that Analytics doesn't.

Either way, for anyone serious about success on the web, when Google talks, listen!

I'll keep you posted on my experiments...

        

I've been revisiting Seth Godin's "Purple Cow" lately and its a must read for anyone in any aspect of business. In summay it says this:

• Much of traditional marketing doesn't work anymore


• It doesn't work because people are bombarded with marketing messages and its too hard to cut through


• It doesn't work because it is not targeted, and is wasted on the wrong people - the early and late majority


• Its easier to sell to people who have already bought from you


• Marketing should not be an add on - it should be built into the product concept ...<< MORE >>

In this episode I focus on the opportunities that may be lost by not getting involved in social media, or taking to long tweaking sites or applications or anything that you can think of.

Standing still and not getting involved is actually the most dangerous thing that you can do, because you'll be left behind



The four safety tips for this episode:

1. 
   
2. Do something - there's no time to wait until it's perfect.
3. 
   
4. Test, test and retest.
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6. Be honest about mistakes.
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8. Don't be too 'precious' about your projects.

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• Do something no one else is doing. This is normal choosing your niche stuff. Google went into search at a time when other companies didn't see any market. They were focused on producing portals that attempted to be everyone's gateway to everything on the net i.e. Yahoo! and MSN. This leads to the next point...
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• Be really good at something, then you can be good at everything. When they started out, the Google guys focused just on being the best at producing relevant search results to searchers. That was it. They went against the trend of producing ...

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• Don't spend more than what you have to on what doesn't matter, but spend everything you can on what does.  In several instances, the company could have spent loads of money doing things just like other companies and spending money on things they thought they needed to. Instead, they saved money on things they could do cheaply themselves, and invested as much as they could in the things that made their service unique. Without this, they couldn't have acheived the rapid and massive growth that they have.
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• Go viral with a really remarkable product. I don't ...

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For anyone who viewed my blog over the past week, my apologies. In attempting to add google analytics to my site I stuffed up the design. ...<< MORE >>

Today I launched a new initiative for our business, and we're calling it the 2008 online effectiveness survey.

So, what does that mean?

Well, we're asking business what activities they are engaging in online, and what is working for them. Its a very brief survey, more of a poll, but we're hoping to get some general trends and correlations out of the data. From this, we're going to produce a report for participants about some current "best practices".

In addition to this, we're offering a free website evaluation for anyone who wants it, with takeaway search engine optimisation tips.

Further, we're ...<< MORE >>

In this episode I chat about the the social media marketing fishbowl, connecting inside and out of it.

This is episode 2 of the podcast For Your Own Safety -  the 4 minute online marketing podcast with real life examples of WHAT NOT TO DO and 4 safety tips.

Download | Duration: 00:04:05

My 4 Safety tips for this episode were

1. Stay in the real world,
2. Don't make a meatball sundae out of it,
3. Earn your way into the conversation,
4. Know your audience and the space you're in.

My thanks to CC Chapman, Mitch Joel, Joseph Jaffeand Seth Godinfor inspiration and ideas.

        

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Cam Beck, over at Marketing Profs, recently wrote an insightful post called "The Publisher's Paradox: Why Traditional Advertising Models Are Dead"

The traditional publishing model for newspapers, magazines, etc has been to create great content, and sell advertising space on it. The author recounts how the digital scene has turned this model on its head.

Consumers now expect to get access to great content, not pay for it, and not be interrupted by advertising while consuming it. This is leading towards the decline of some traditional media giants, and the way advertising has been done.

Some marketers and advertisers have countered ...<< MORE >>

Seth Godin has to be one of the most forward thinking marketers around, what ever he writes is worth reading. He has authored books such as The Purple Cow, Permission Marketing and more lately, Meatball Sundae. You can get one of his books FREE, in ebook format. To download his manifesto on viral marketing and idea viruses click the link. This has been out there a while but I only came across it recently and enjoyed it thoroughly.