• The Internet influenced $500 billion in offline purchases in 2007 (eMarketer).
• 89% Of consumers making in-store purchases first conducted research online (BIGResearch).
• 82% Of people using local search sites, followed up with an offline action (TMP Directional Marketing).

This proves that search marketing has the ability to drive conversions through local search, as most consumers seek product information online before making a purchase.   

Visit Search Engine Land for more details.

1.  Make sure that your newsletter is scannable by making use of short paragraphs, using bullet points and highlighting topics with uppercase or bold text.

2.  Insert line breaks.

3.  Include your newsletter title in the subject field.

4.  Advertise the most enticing story of each issue in the subject field. Continue reading this post…

Conversion is an ongoing effort to persuade a prospect to take action that fulfils his or her need and your business goal.   Here are 7 tips by Jack Abbott, Interactivate’s CEO, to help you improve your conversion rates through a good call-to-action campaign.

1.  Ensure that you understand the anatomy of a call-to-action.
2.  Be clear, concise and single minded with your call-to-action hyperlinks.
3.  Drive action with words. Define the benefit or the expectation up front.
4.  Design for visibility.  Bigger and brighter is better, high contrast between text and graphic is better.
5.  Put it in the spotlight. 
6.  Provide options by including text links in the body of your message.
7.  Test and refine your call-to-action.

Go to iMedia Connections for more details on these tips.

Mobile marketing is a marketing channel that redefines direct marketing by delivering advertising campaigns directly to the consumers.  Here are 10 tips to help you create a successful mobile strategy. 

1.  Understand the need.

2.  Enable direct, interactive communication and get the right message to the right consumer segments at the right time.

3.  Mobile marketing works best when used as part of a comprehensive programme such as television, radio, Internet and print. Continue reading this post…

Companies oftentimes redesign their websites.  Sometimes its driven by change in messaging, new strategies or a product release.  These few tips should help you ensure that your new site is an improvement on your old site.

1.  Understand your current site:  Make sure that you understand what works and what doesn’t. Continue reading this post…

Many email marketers face email deliverability issues on a daily basis, and every undelivered email relates into lost revenue.  These few tips should  help you earn the trust of Internet Service Providers as they are the key to successful email delivery.

1.  Mind your lists:  Only add recipients who have opted in, remove bounced accounts and unsubscribe requests immediately. Continue reading this post…

Edward Cespedes, President and CEO of Tralliance, explained the latest “it” term, Web 2.0, from an educational standpoint at the recent EyeForTravel’s Travel Distribution Summit, Latin America.

Continue reading this post…

Here are some practical tips from Website Helpers.com on the right and wrong way to use links.

• Don’t underline words if they not links
• Make links blue or underline or both
• Explain what you linking to
• Don’t open internal links in a new window
• Use descriptive link tips

Optimising images for search engines from SEOSMARTY

1.  Keywords should be in alt text, text around the image, image should have a name and page title.
2.  Images should be jpg.
3.  You should have separate SE accessible image folder.
4.  Re-upload your images to keep it fresh. Continue reading this post…

Podcasts are relatively inexpensive to make, therefore quality in podcasting is extremely diverse.  Here are some tips from iGotAfrica to help you make your podcast stand out.

Sound quality matters:  A descent quality microphone is crucial to ensure that the audio quality is of good.

Into and Extro (Outro):  Using music to introduce and end your podcast adds polish to your overall show.

Theme music:  Theme music can add a level of professionalism to your podcast, but remember that it is illegal to use copyrighted music. Continue reading this post…