We've recently developed some guidelines concerning low profit margin items on Overture and Google Adwords Select. They include:
1. Obscure terms are usually not worth the time to enter with the hopes of grabbing an occasional sale.
2. Create product keywords from brand names that are well-known.
3. We feel that the majority of traffic entering a site through Google or Overture would not be affected by slightly higher prices. With higher prices, margins would be up and the site could afford to use some of the less obscure keywords.
4. To address the problem analyzing the annual customer value, we feel a cookie designed to track return shoppers and another to track actual customers may supply a much clearer view on return traffic and residual sales.
We are currently evaluating several follow-up autoresponder services as a lead-conversion tool. So far, we have looked at GetResponse and AWeber, two of the leaders in the field.
GetResponse costs $17.95 per month and AWeber costs $19.95 per month, although both services offer progressive discounts for paying quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. GetResponse also offers a free version, although the drawback here is the placement of a large third-party ad at the top of all of your messages.
The features of each company are broken down as follows:
Number of Leads - Both companies allow for an unlimited number of leads. How each company handles extremely large mailings has not yet been determined.
Removals - Both services provide automated removal functions that allow leads to opt-out from future mailings.
Message Length/Format - Both companies allow the creation of both text and HTML email messages. Neither company puts a limit on how large individual messages can be.
Follow-Up Messages - GetResponse allows for an unlimited number of follow-ups, while AWeber limits the number of follow-up messages to six (after the initial autoresponse).
Personalization - Both services provide personalization features. This allows you to include a user's first and last name, email address, etc., within the body of outgoing emails.
Tracking - Both services provide tracking features that allow you to measure the performance of your lead-conversion efforts.
Importing Leads - Both services allow you to manually import leads, but AWeber limits the number of imported addresses to 2,000 per day.
Customer Support - Both companies provide toll-free phone and email support.
There is coverage of some of our efforts in a recent Washington Post article about search engines, Google, DealTime, etc. The article is available online at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9254-2002Dec18.html
New features added in the newest (beta) version of ClickTracks include:
1. Search Terms - They've added a new report that shows keywords by engine, and those performing above and below average.
2. Zip Import - They've added the ability to import those and analyze zipped log files.
3. PDF Export - Results export to PDF for easy sharing with team members. An Excel export feature is also in the works.
4. Non-Roman Text - Russian, Japanese and other non-roman character sets are supported, even for search keywords.
The Beta Version of ClickTracks 3.1 is available at: ftp://ftp.clicktracks.com/beta/
We are currently evaluating ClickTracks to determine its usefulness as a traffic analysis tool. Thus far, it looks very promising.
A number of animated demonstrations are available on the ClickTracks website. You will need the Flash plug-in to view these demos.
2. How ClickTracks helps in the process of site design and optimization
3. How ClickTracks helps identify usability problems
4. How ClickTracks can help you improve your ROI using paid search engines
ClickTracks retails for $495, which includes support and free upgrades for all minor releases. The software is licensed on client PCs, so there is no limit on the number of sites you can analyze with a single copy. For example, a webmaster could analyze the sites for all of his or her clients.
You can sign up for a free evaluation copy of ClickTracks at: http://www.clicktracks.com/download.php
Keep an eye on the research log for more info on ClickTracks coming soon.
We are currently evaluating solutions to shorten URLs in the email newsletters that we publish. One of the best solutions I have found for this purpose is ProLinkz, a CGI script that has multiple uses:
1. It shortens URLs that may be too long to fit in an email newsletter. Many email programs truncate URLs that are over 70 characters in length, which forces the user to cut and paste multiple lines rather than simply "point and click." ProLinkz solves this problem by providing a short URL that will redirect the user to the final destination.
2. ProLinkz tracks click-throughs. As a publisher, this is useful to keep track of how many subscribers are clicking certain links in your ezine. It is also useful for tracking virtually every type of online marketing in which click-throughs are generated (Overture, Google AdWords, and comparison search engines come immediately to mind).
3. Because ProLinkz redirects the user, it effectively hides the destination until after the user has clicked. This can be useful to disguise affiliate program links and the like.
ProLinkz runs on UNIX servers and requires that Perl 5 be installed. Once the script is installed, all of the administration functions (creating new redirects, viewing click reports, etc.) are done through a handy web-based interface. ProLinkz is $45 for a lifetime license.
ProLinkz is available at http://www.prolinkz.com/.
Below is our final list of DealTime articles and resources. The full report will be released very soon.
At DealTime, They're Dealing (12/2/2002)
http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/1550171
DealTime Teams with Altura to Provide Shoppers With Greater Gift-Giving Variety This Holiday Season (12/2/2002)
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/021202/20270_1.html
It's DealTime for EarthLink (12/2/2002)
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/021202/20268_1.html
Finding What You Want, Not What You Don't (11/25/2002)
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1942&dept_id=388646&newsid=6178518&PAG=461&rfi=9
Search Marketing Finds Its Way (11/25/2002)
http://www.dmnews.com/cgi-bin/artprevbot.cgi?article_id=22245
Inside DealTime's Shopping Search Engine (11/20/2002)
http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/02/sd1120-shopping3.html
Online Holiday Marketing: 3 Ways To Stand Out (12/10/2001)
http://www.bcentral.com/articles/krotz/160.asp
Terra Lycos Taps Dealtime (10/3/2001):
http://boston.internet.com/news/article.php/2001_896361
The Bottom Line on Online Shopping Bots (7/13/2001):
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/11999.html
It's DealTime for iWon.com (7/11/2001):
http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article.php/8471_799591
The Rise of E-Brokers (4/13/2001):
http://www.clickz.com/aff_mkt/aff_mkt/article.php/840351
The Missing Link in Comparison Shopping (10/5/2000):
http://www.clickz.com/mkt/onl_mkt_comm/article.php/830181
Sprint PCS Adds DealTime Comparison Shopping (7/10/2000):
http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/411181
Bertelsmann Sells Evenbetter.com to DealTime (5/22/2000):
http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/376701
DealTime Upgrades Its DealAgent Technology (5/2/2000):
http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/352401
DealTime.com Adds New Shopping Categories, Buying Groups (10/19/1999)
http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/220921
DealTime Secures $20 Million in Financing (9/17/1999):
http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/202961
DealTime Raises $20 Million, Moves to NY (9/17/1999):
http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article.php/249521
Reviving the Promise of Bots: DealTime Adds a New Dimension (3/5/1999)
http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article.php/247771
1. DealTime has a broader range of categories than any other comparison search engine with significant traffic.
2. DealTime captures highly qualified leads.
DealTime provides users with the information they need (including product images and specs, product popularity, user reviews, product availability and pricing) BEFORE they click through to your site. Shoppers sort and compare BEFORE merchants pay for the click-through.
In contrast, Overture and Google AdWords links do not provide the data that shoppers require before they are willing to complete a purchase.
3. DealTime attracts more shoppers than most (if not all) of the other comparison search engines.
DealTime's base of unique shoppers has tripled over the past year. Dealtime ranks number three in unique visits among shopping destinations, after Yahoo! Shopping and MSN EShop.
In summary, comparison search engines may attract more qualified leads than the regular pay-per-click engines. And of the comparison search engines, Dealtime offers the hopeful merchant more traffic and a broader range of categories.
MarketingExperiments.Com
ATTENTION: Lab Pass Holders
This is a difficult for me to write, but I believe that you should know.
Early this morning, Austin Taylor, one of our key Search Engine Analysts, died of complications related to his recent car accident. Funeral services will be held this Sunday at 3:00 PM.
We recruited Austin from Florida Tech, where at the age of 23, he was already the Professor of Computer Science. He was a prodigy.
We will all miss him.
I ask for your understanding, as we will be closing our offices until Monday (the DealTime report will be released next week).
Thank you for understanding.
Flint McGlaughlin
How has DealTime's advertising program changed?
1. DealTime has simplified and automated merchant sign-ups.
2. DealTime has instituted a custom pricing system that empowers a merchant to choose what they want to pay for a lead (subject to category-specific minimums).
3. DealTime has made it easier to monitor the merchant's cost and traffic performance on a hourly, daily, and weekly basis.
4. DealTime has enabled merchants to include phone numbers on search listings, since some buyers prefer to call the merchant rather than buy from the merchant online.
5. DealTime has added more product-specific searches and results ranked by popularity. Example here.
6. DealTime has added tax and shipping data. Example here.
7. DealTime has instituted a "StoreFinder" interface to help consumers looking for products in obscure categories. Example here.
8. DealTime has implemented merchant reviews, which improve conversion for reliable merchants. Example here.