One Link Did It

There was a comment on the previous posting asking, "What happened?" I apologize for not following up and posting the final results. (We're overloaded with work, as usual.)

To summarize. I brought a web site online but had no links going to it. I left it that way for several months. Google did not find it.

I placed one link in a post on this blog. Google almost immediately "found" the web site and placed it in the SERPs. I used a search for the web site name "Be Big On The Web" to determine if Google had found the site. The ranking of the link to the site home page bounced around for about two months, sometimes even disappearing. But by the end of April it was consistently ranking at #2, just under an MSN Lifestyle show called "Big On The Web." I have not made any changes to the web site, nor added any links since then, and it is maintaining its number two ranking for this highly targeted phrase.

The interior pages of the site are included in Google's index.

The site took about three months to show up in Bing. That could be an indication that since Google owns Blogger they directly feed information from Blogger to their search spider. But Bing finds links from this -- very inactive -- blog based on a normal spidering cycle. My conclusion is that, if you want Google to find a page, put a link to it in a Blogger blog.

Moving Up In Google's Search Results

We're running a test to watch what Google does with a new web site once a link has been posted on Blogger (see the previous two posts).

It is now 38 hours since the first link was posted in this blog. In a search for the name of the web site (I'm not going to mention it this time), Google now has it ranked at #9. So we're seeing the site appear, disappear, and now reappear in the search results.

What I've concluded based on previous testing is that Google will quickly put a new page of site into the search results. But, it will move the link around. I believe Google is testing to see if there is any interest (clicks) in the new page or web site. For now I'm not going to click on the link. Let's just wait and see what happens.

The site has not reappeared in Bing.

Helping Google Find Your Web Site - The Results

Yesterday I posted about a new web site we're doing some testing with. This web site had been online for several months, with no links going to it. Google did not find it. Why might Google find it? One possibility arises from Google being a domain registrar. This gives them access to the domain registration database they could use to discover new domains.

Yesterday we added a single link to the web site, coming from yesterday's blog post. Here are the results of a search for the web site's name, Be Big On The Web:

Six hours after the link was added to the blog, the web site appeared at the number three position. It had the page title, but there was no description.

Twelve hours after the link was added the description appeared and the web site was in the number six position.

24 hours after the link was added the site no longer appeared in the Google search results, but a search for the domain showed that it was in Google's index.

We're now at the 30 hour point and I've included a link in this post. So we'll have two links from the same blog. Let's see what happens.

By the way, Bing has also picked up this web site. It is in the Bing index but not showing in a search.

New Web Marketing Services Web Site

Whew! We've been busy... as you can tell from the dates on the posts in this blog. But I've come back to the blog with a purpose.

Here is a question? You've got a new web site. How do you get Google to notice your web site and begin including it in the Google search results? What you need are web sites that link to your new web site. Google will notice the links on the existing web sites (assuming they are already included in the Google index), follow them and "discover" your web site.

So how do you get links to your web site. It's brand new. No one knows about it. Maybe no one is even interested in your web site. What do you do?

If you want to Be Big On The Web you've got to take things into your own hands. You've got to create the link(s) yourself, just like I did now.

Actually this is an experiment. I've had the Be Big On The Web site online for about three months, just to see what happens. There are no links going to it. And it is not in Google's index. This was a test to see if Google uses information such as the domain registration to identify new web sites.

Now I've put in a single link (above) using a Blogger hosted blog. Blogger is owned by Google. Will Google find it and begin indexing the web site? If so, how long will it take? Let's find out.

Is OOPS A Good Product Name?

This is a tough one. The acronym for Open Office Productivity Suite is OOPS. Would you want your product called OOPS?

What do you do when you need to deal with negative, unintended consequences? One approach is to embrace it and make it a part of your marketing. Here's a thought for what can be done with the Open Office Productivity Suite.

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Are you using the big name office suite? Oops!

Are you having a problem with your word processing software doing things you don't want it to do? Oops!

Are you spending a lot of money providing an office suite for your employees? Oops!

That's right! OOPS is the answer. The Open Office Productivity Suite (OOPS) is the office suite solution you are looking for. You don't need to pay the heavy cost of the big name office suite and you'll have software you control instead of software that thinks it knows more than you do. Visit www.OpenOffice.org and get your free copy of the Open Office Productivity Suite today. OOPS will finally put a smile on your face.

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A Good Product Name... OOPS

One of my favorite programs is Open Office... although I was just at their web site and I read that we are not supposed to call it that. It is now to be known as the Open Office Productivity Suite which is made by OpenOffice.org.

That's a good name. It describes what the software is and does. But finding the perfect name... the name without blemishes, is the goal of marketing. And OpenOffice.org may have missed that mark. As much as I love the Open Office Productivity Suite, and recommend it to everyone, I still have to point out that the acronym for this name is... OOPS.

When it was known as just Open Office it was just OO. But now it is OOPS. Is that an oops?

Product naming is one of the most difficult aspects of marketing. Getting the right name never is never easy, and you can get blindsided by the unexpected... such as an acronym or the meaning of the name in another language.

So, is there a way to make lemonade from this lemon?

Of course there is. Changing the name at this point may not be an option. So the first step is to embrace what appears to be a negative and turn it into a positive. I'll talk about that in my next post.

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, Oh My!

Social media has made it big in the news, and the news is that you can use social media like Facebook and Twitter to built you business and bring in sales. Several time a week I have people asking me to make a Facebook post and bring the business pouring it.

It doesn't quite work like that and I'm finding few people are willing to put in the time required to make it work.

Facebook and Twitter are not marketing silver bullets. They don't magically bring in more business. But, when used with an understanding of how they work, they can make a big difference.

To be effective you must participate. With Facebook you must build your network of friends. With Twitter it is a network of followers. These are people who are listening to what you say. Of course, if you are not saying anything, then no one is going to bother to listen. So building your network requires participating with others, and saying interesting things in your posts... and here's the most important thing: you must say something. Opening a Facebook account and then sitting back waiting for something to happen does not work.

That's what I see people doing. Make two or three posts on Facebook, or in a bog, and expect something to happen. It's not going to happen. That's right. Success takes work, even when you are building your success with the latest tools on the internet. There still is no free ride.

Using YouTube For Marketing

You've come up with a better product, lower price, or improved service... but how do you tell the world? If only people could find out about your product, they'd be pounding on your door to buy it. That's the purpose of marking. It doesn't matter how good your product is, if no one knows about it, your sales will be zero.

YouTube is one way to let potential customers know about your products. BUT, you need to do it in a creative and interesting way. Otherwise your video will be lost among the ten's of thousands of other videos. We've all heard about the "Will It Blend" videos. They are simple videos that have attracted a lot of attention. Simple ideas are best because they clearly communicate your point. However, coming up with those simple ideas can seem like an impossible task.

What is the basic principle behind making an attention grabbing video?

Here is a new video for a product that can be tough to market, vinyl industrial labeling tape. The point of the video is cutting costs... an important point to make in these tough economic times (or at any time).

The video is about the Brady GlobalMark printer. It takes the unusual approach of making the point that cutting your printer in half is not the way to cut your labeling costs. Does that catch your interest?



The way to make your video interesting is to do the unexpected. The petite young lady in this video seems like the last person you'd expect to keep a shiny double-headed ax at her desk, ready to slice an industrial printer in half.

Do the unexpected and you'll be on your way to having a YouTube video that attracts attention.