How to make your application viral Everyone wants their application to “spread virally”. And why shouldn’t they? Viral growth resolves at least part of the expensive and complicated headache of actually marketing your application, by getting the application to grow all by itself. So, then, the question that forms on the lips of any entrepreneur is: “How can I make my application viral?” There’s a misconception built into that question: the idea that virality is something that you can just slap onto any product, like a magical pixie dust that will suddenly grant your application the gift of users. “Making an application viral” is as silly a proposition as “making a car fly”. However, what you can do is set out to build a plane in the first place. Viral basics: the viral loop There are plenty of articles talking about the viral loop, so I’ll cover it quickly in this article. The cornerstone of all discussion of the viral loop considers the cycle from acquiring a new user to having them invite others. VC = N x P1 x P2 Examples
Top 50 Posts on Conversion Rate Optimization No matter what type of website you run, conversions and conversion rate management should be a top priority for your business. If you run an ecommerce website, your obvious goal will be to make more sales, but even if you’re simply generating leads or building brand awareness for your business, you’ll want to have a mechanism in place to help improve your conversions. And since there’s already been so much great content written on this subject, we highly encourage you to check out any of the following posts, depending on where you and your business are in terms of conversion rate optimization. What is Conversion Rate Optimization? The first step to improving your website’s conversion rates is simply to understand what conversion rates are, how they’re measured and what steps can be taken to optimize them. Wikipedia – Conversion Optimization SEOMoz – The Definitive How To Guide for Conversion Rate Optimization ClickZ – Variations on a Theme: Making Measurable Website Changes
* Infographic: The True Cost of Homeownership Everyone is talking about how now is a great time to buy a home. And, on the surface, it looks like the perfect time. Home prices are low, and mortgage interest rates remain at near-record lows. There is some argument, though, that it might be better to buy a home in six months; without the home buyer tax credit to help keep home prices higher, some argue that another dip in prices is likely. However, whether you are really ready to buy a home has little to do with what is happening in the housing market; more important is what is happening in your personal finance world. When many people start thinking about purchasing a home, they usually get excited about figuring out how big a house they can get, and use online mortgage calculators to help them estimate monthly payments at a specific interest. The following infographic from CreditLoan.com offers a sobering look at how much it can cost to own a home. You can experiment with your own set of numbers at New York Times.
The Best Damn Web Marketing Checklist, Period! - Search Engine G Marketing a website isn't particularly difficult. It's usually just a matter of knowing what to do, how to do it and having the skills and time to get it done. With that said, marketing a website isn't particularly easy either. There are so many factors and variables in play that at any given time that the job can be quite overwhelming. Obviously I can't address the issue of whether or not you have the skills or time, but I can help you out with the "what to do" piece of the puzzle. I've always been a lover of checklists, especially when it comes to getting things done. Below is my master website marketing checklist covering over 400 specific items over 23 topics. For the sake of brevity, I have kept each check point to its briefest form providing very little explanation. Over the next couple of weeks I'll provide some additional explanation and insights to the lists below. Download a PDF version The Best Damn Web Marketing Checklist Browser issues (click heading for additional details)
Design To Sell: 8 Useful Tips To Help Your Website Convert Advertisement As we see more and more businesses move their services online, and even more that begin their life on the Web, a greater need arises for websites that are designed and built to sell. A great-looking website may achieve the goal of shaping and delivering a strong brand, but its good looks alone aren’t enough to sell the products or services on offer. For that, you need to introduce the element of marketing. You may want to take a look at the following related articles: 1. Research shows that objects and images you see around you can prime you for certain behaviors. LegacyLocker features a photo of a happy family on its landing page, presumably to evoke in visitors a warm feeling for its product and a desire to care for their loved ones. When choosing images for your website, think carefully about the message you’re trying to send. 2. There is a phenomenon in marketing known as “choice paralysis.” The Highrise pricing list shows a set of monthly payment plans. 3. 4. 6. 7. 8.
Adwords Management & Search Engine Marketing Agency — Leverage Marketing 10 ways to measure social media success | Blog There’s so much talk about social media that it is easy for people to become cynical, perhaps losing track of the fact that it can have a positive impact on your business. So how can you determine whether a social media strategy is proving beneficial to your business? How do you know that it is working out for you? And is now really the best time to find out? Rather than focusing on individual social media campaigns, I’d like to look at social media measurement from the perspective of a business that a) buys into social media, b) commits to it over a period of time, and as such c) has an integrated social media strategy. You people know who you are! Let it breathe The key with social media measurement, I think, is to stand back and take a widescreen approach to measurement. To do this effectively, you’ll need to give your social media strategy time. Take the Skittles campaign. Social media vs TV advertising Here I want to make a small point on accuracy, and attribution. Take a snapshot 1. 2.
5 Landing Page Conversion Killers You may not know it, but there are a few conversion killers that stalk your landing pages, hacking and slashing away at your leads and sales when you aren’t looking. They’re quite insidious… you may not even know you’re making these mistakes. Fortunately, there are a variety of studies that can help us out in this regard. Today we’re going to look at a few more research studies that can help you drastically improve the “leaks” your landing pages may have at this very moment. Here are the 5 conversion killers you need to look out for… 1. Designers are going to rejoice hearing this, but marketers need to play close attention as well. All of that typography stuff that your design guy/gal warned you about? They were right: according to this study on readability, small margins were good for one thing — making people read faster. The problem was that they also drastically cut down reading comprehension, and everybody knows that an effective landing page is one that gets it’s message across clearly.
190 Resources For Saving Money In the more than two years since we published our first article, we've found quite a few resources that can save you money and headaches. Here's the ultimate guide to 190 of the best budgeting tools, deals & coupon sites, rate comparison engines, and personal finance resources online. This list has everything you need to start saving money immediately. Tweet This Page Award Categories: Best Online Money Management Here are ten online money management tools to help you figure out where your money is going. Mint The easiest way to keep track of your finances online. SpringCoin SpringCoin is an online debt relief coach that paves a clear “get out of debt” roadmap. SmartyPig Hands-free savings account for specific goals or purchases. Springpad This awesome app is like Google Notebook on steroids. PearBudget The 1% of money management software you actually need. JustThrive Quicken Personal Finance Buxfer Buxfer makes it easy to track IOUs and shared expenses among friends. RateSurfer TurboTax GasBuddy Zilok
50 Youth Marketing Keywords You Need to Know PART ONE (Graham Br