With CompleteRSS you can say goodbye to invalid RSS and partial entries — your feeds show your entire article no matter what, bringing you the traffic you deserve, and no longer use the very-much abused ‘content:encoded’ tags that cause many feed readers such a headache.

I am not sure what the deal is with HTML in WordPress (or Blogger for that matter) but they constantly mess up. There have been numerous occasions where I tried to copy and paste an HTML table from a different blog into one my blogs and ended up losing the table formatting completely. My suggestion is to find some sort of FCK Editor Plugin to replace the default editor OR to use the "copy from word" option located in the default editor. It looks like this:

 Original Post: Web Analytics World

• URL vs. Title: The URL of your post doesn’t have to be the exact same as the title of your post. Creating a custom URL allows you to insert additional keywords which can benefit your post from a search engine perspective. Some blogging platforms such as WordPress allow you to define a custom URL for a post (also known as the post slug) whereas platforms such as Blogger construct the URL by taking the post’s title word for word (it also applies a character limit for the URL). For platforms that don’t allow custom naming I recommend creating a keyword rich title initially and then after posting, changing it to something enticing to draw in readers.
• Interlinking of Top Posts / Hot Topics: As a blogger you will occasionally write a post which will considerably outperform your other posts OR you will blog about a hot topic in your industry which you hope will perform well in the search engines. For both cases, a good idea is to hard code keyword rich links to these posts on your blog’s side bar or in your footer so that they receive added attention from search crawlers and readers.
• Re-Ignite Past Posts: Staying on the topic of hot posts, it is often a good idea to keep the momentum rolling on popular topics by updating their content or adding 2nd and 3rd parts to the original post. What has worked well for me in the past is to create a 3 or 4 part series on a popular topic and then combine all the posts into a PDF which readers can download.
• Yahoo/Google Finance: When writing about publicly traded companies it is a good idea to mention the company’s full name or even their stock symbol. Many times these types of posts get aggregated into a given company’s news section of their Google/Finance page which leads to more readers coming back to your blog.
• The Importance of Variety: Offering posts which vary in length, topics, format (lists vs. news vs. opinion vs. interviews), or content type (images vs. video. vs text) can prolong the life of your readers. Mixing up your posts will keep your readers coming back rather than being bored by the same old content day after day.
• Relationships with Companies/Bloggers: It is important to have relationships with companies or their PR firms because they will potentially release information to you before it goes to the public giving you an edge on your competition. Additionally, companies can offer you access to software/services during test periods before it is officially released. Relationships with other bloggers is key because they can help you spread the word on your most potent posts as well add value to your blog by guest blogging from time to time.

Well as we round out 2007, we look back to the year that it was.  In the Spring of 2007, we launched our new blog "ASK Enquiro" where we would answer questions that we received from clients, industry folk, co-workers and even the search engines themselves.  ASK Enquiro has kept us busy and 2008 looks to be even more busy as we have big plans for ASK Enquiro.  You'll have to stay tuned to see what we have planned over the next few months.

We received a number of questions on everything from search engine trends to video optimization, from Facebook to Web Analytics.  We're still sifting through the number of questions that we have received and you can expect to find commentary on them soon… but for now here's a look at a sample of some of the issues that we have discussed in 2007.

• What’s Hot at the Search Insider Summit? Two Words: Sep Kamvar
• Discover Your Ideal Blogging Formula
• Mobile SEO as a Part of B2B Online Marketing
• Ten Ways B2B Marketers Can Become Cutting Edge with Online Marketing
• Podcast: Marketing in the Google Era
• An Intimate View of the World through the Eyes of Google
• The New Role for Outsourced SEM
• The Three C’s of Search
• Advantages of In-house SEO
• Yahoo + Yang = Google + (Page + Brin)?
• B2B Marketing: What Do You Want as Part of Your Online Strategy?
• Come on Canada, It’s Time to Clue into Search!
• What Influences Universal Search?
• Planning for Personalization
• SEO 2.0: Will Content Still Be King?
• What is Google’s Universal Search?
• Should Google Acquire Facebook?
• Why is Online Reputation Management Important?
• Personalization doesn’t have to make search perfect, it just has to make search better
• What Should I do if my Blog’s Traffic has Plateaued?
• Google Alerts: Can You Use them for Online Reputation Management?
• What Are Some Organizational Challenges with SEO?
• How do I Leverage On-Site/Behavioral Targeting?
• How Important is the Yahoo Directory?
• What is Often Overlooked in a Web Analytics Implementation
• Website Usability: How Can You Improve It?
• Eye Tracking on Personalized Search: A Tough Nut to Crack
• Buzzing ‘Bout Ask
• How Can I Optimize My Videos?
• How Should I Compare Thee to Google?
• Is Facebook a Serious Threat to Google?
• In Search of B to B Landmarks
• Which Key Performance Indicators Will Be Important with Web 2.0?
• What Are Some Useful Video Optimization Resources?
• 4000 Ads a Day, and Counting
• What are 5 Great Mobile Marketing Resources?
• Your Facebook Group is Setup, Now What?
• How Can Yahoo Search Assist Be Leveraged as an SEO Tool
• Agencies Get Search? Don’t Hold Your Breath
• Does the Fact that Your Site is Hosted in a Different Country Affect Your Search Engine Rankings?
• Can Facebook Ads Work for You?
• Do Reciprocal Links Get More Weight Than Paid Links?
• Why Should I Set Up a Blog?
• Highlights from the Search: 2010 Webinar
• Where Can I Submit My Videos?
• What’s In Store for Search Marketing in 2008?

Rashard who is currently visiting Frankfurt asks: What should I do when I am fresh out of ideas to blog about?  Thanks for the question Rashard and before I start I'd like to mention that before writing a post it's always good to to assess the value of your post to your readers.  Will your post help them in any way?

Below I have come up with 9 ways to kick-start your blogging:

• Hot Industry Stories: Everyday you hear about acquisitions, mergers, companies releasing new technology/services or even executives getting fired. Unless you are one of the first blogs to cover these stories, it becomes somewhat useless to your readers. Rather, I recommend you add your personal perspective on the story as well as help your readers leverage the news by offering advice on how to apply it to to their own businesses.
• Relationships with PR Firms: Try making relationships with PR firms who work for companies in your industry. It's a win/win situation, you get hot news off the press and the companies get publicity in exchange. As you become more authoritative, PR firms will begin to approach you first.
• Google Hot Trends: This an excellent way to determine the buzz across the Internet, however you do have to apply your own filters per industry. Google Hot Trends also allows you to see a graphical trend on the level of interest for a given topic.
• Correlating Common Interests: You probably enjoy other interests outside of your niche such as sports or politics, so why not bring something your other passions into your professional life? I like to sometimes use Google Trends, Technorati and Social Bookmarking to reference the NBA or sports playoffs.
• Guest Bloggers: When you're completely out of new topics try leveraging guest bloggers to offer their thoughts on new topics. This gives you a little break and gives your readers some fresh perspective to digest. Guest bloggers can be people from your industry or even fellow employees. Make sure to prescreen your writers so they adhere to your high quality of content.
• Reigniting Old Topics: Dig into your stats and figure out posts which have been historically popular (consider seasonality if appropriate) and then write an update to those posts explaining how strategies have changed or Part 2.
• Credit Other Bloggers: In any given week there are dozens of posts and articles around your industry which people should definitely read. This is your opportunity to categorize these other posts and spread some link love. Both Search Engine Land and Marketing Pilgrim both do this on a regular basis.
• Create a Compilation: Have you ever written 3 or 4 posts on the same topic which you think an organization can circulate around to it's employees, then try combining those posts and offer them in a PDF version.
• Attend a Webinar: If you wanted you could probably attend 2 or 3 webinars everyday (and realistically 1 every 2 weeks) and for those who can't make it, provide a brief summary for them detailing the "nuggets" from the webinar.

Feed subscribers are quite possibly your most loyal readers therefore it's important to grow your subscriber community as much as possible. With Google's purchase of FeedBurner as well as their own proprietary subscriber calculating technology don't be surprised to see feed subscribers becoming a variable in Google's ranking algorithm. In today's post we'll talk about how to increase your feed subscribers with some very simple tips.

1. Prominent, Accessible and Ease of Use: Make your subscription buttons available on all pages and place them above the fold. Using technology like FeedBurner you can get a sense of your subscribers' favorite feed services and begin making subscribing to those services even easier.
2. Repeat in Footer: Something that has worked well for me is adding the subscription option to the footer of each individual post. What this does is remind visitors to subscribe after reading one of my posts.
3. Subscribe by Email: Depending on what industry you're in adding an option to subscribe by email can dramatically increase your subscribers. Many authors of travel sites have noticed that email is even more popular than feed readers.
4. Add Option in Emails: In FeedBurner you can also publicize your feed's content by placing a widget in outgoing emails. Through this widget people can also subscribe to your feed.

    

Increasing Feed Subscribers: Additional Resources

• The Blog Studio: How to Increase Subscribers by 50% in 30 Days
• Pro Blogger: 11 Ways to Find New RSS Subscribers for Your Blog
• Daily SEO Blog: Increase the number of subscribers to your blog overnight
• Copy Blogger: 10 Effective Ways to Get More Blog Subscribers
• Rob Malon: Decrease Bounce Rate - Increase Subscribers and Visit Time
• Internet Marketing Students: How To Increase Blog Subscribers
• Jimmy Thakkar: Techniques to increase subscribers for BLOG
• Ades Blog: Increase your RSS subscriber count with FeedSmith
• Garry Conn: How To Increase RSS Feedburner Subscribers
• Jonh TP: Tips To Increase Your Blog Subscribers

• The Right Configuration: Make sure you select a title, category and description that is relevant to your brand because this will entice people to join your group. I also suggest that you be as transparent as possible and offer information such as contact information, website, phone number and location. This allows group members to associate the group to an actual person rather than any old computer generated content. To offer a real community appeal, enable the ability for anyone to post discussions, wall posts, pictures and videos. Initially you should make the group public which allows anyone to join and invite people to the group; remember you do have the ability to remove members if needed.
• Leverage existing Facebook Friends: It's important to attract a strong base of members to your Facebook group, so invite existing friends that may find your group valuable and who could become evangelists for your group. This is where the viral part comes into play: your friends' friends will notice that they joined a new group which will spark interest from them to check it out as well.
• Use your email contacts: Don't forget about your friends outside of Facebook because Facebook Groups provides the ability to import and send group invitations to your contacts from Outlook, Yahoo, Gmail and Hotmail.
• Press Releases/Blog Posts are other methods which you can use to invite new members to your Facebook Group. Personally, I created a call to action and placed it above the fold which reminds my readers to join my group.
• Keep the Content Fresh: Update your group's Recent News, photos, videos, events and links regularly so that members have a reason to return. Another simple tactic is deploying a welcome message which greets new members and enforces the 'human factor' of the group.
• Create relationships with new members: If you have a group which is open to the general public then you will notice people who are not your 'friends' join your group. These are the types of people are there to get a feel for the quality of the group therefore make it a habit to personally address them.

Tracking Your Group's Success

Here are some metrics and tactics you can use to measure the success of your Facebook Group:

• The number of members you have in your group.
• New members who join per day/week/month.
• Ratio of new members to people who left the group.
• Ratio of members who are your Facebook friends vs. not.
• Engagement: Activity on Wall Posts and Discussion Boards.
• Members who also accepted invitations to join your events.
• Links posted in your group back to your blog/website should have parameters appended to them so that they can be segmented in your analytics separately.

Original Post: Web Analytics World

Mark Granovetter wrote a ground breaking study in 1973 called the "The Strength of Weak Ties". It later became one of the foundations for Gladwell's "The Tipping Point". I ran across Granovetter's work and a later follow up study by Jonathon Frenzen and Kent Nakamoto (Frenzen, Nakamoto: Structure, Cooperation and the Flow of Market Information, The Journal of Consumer Research, December 1993) that further explored the fascinating world of word of mouth and how it spreads through networks. When we move this into an online paradigm, it has some thought provoking implications.

No Network is an Island

First, let's cover Granovetter's work. In an oversimplified version, it states that social networks are not uniformly dense in their make up. There are very densely linked nodes. These are families, circles of best friends, immediate co-workers and other very close relationships. These clusters, or islands, are then loosely linked by more fragile ties that span the clusters. They include formal acquaintances, lapsed or dormant friendships, more distant relationships and other "arm's length" connections. These are Granovetter's "weak ties". For a viral spreading of information, we can assume that word will spread quickly within the tightly linked clusters, the "strong ties", but for it spread widely, it has to be passed through the "weak ties". Otherwise, it will never spread outside a cluster, thus the importance of these "weak ties" in the structure of the social network.

But there is another factor, and that is the cooperation of those "weak ties". Are they motivated to pass on the information? In the words of Frenzen and Nakamoto: "Instead
of an array of islands interconnected by a network of fixed bridges, the islands are interconnected by a web of "drawbridges" that are metaphorically raised and lowered by transmitters depending on the moral hazards imposed by the information transmitted by word of mouth."

The Principles of "Passing it On"

In Frenzen and Nakamoto's study, they introduced two variables: value of information and moral hazard. In this case, they used the framework of an exclusive sale. The value of information varied with the size of discount on the prices. And the moral hazard was the scarcity of inventory available at this discounted price. So in the low value/low moral hazard version, it was a smaller discount (20%) and there was plenty of inventory available. There was no danger that close friends and family would "lose out" by sharing this information with a wider circle. In the high value/high moral hazard version, the discount was high (50-70%) and the number of items available at this price was very limited. A scarcity mentality was imposed. They also varied the structure of the network by assigning different "tie strengths" to the linkages within the group.

The results were striking. In the low moral hazard scenario, where there was maximal cooperation to pass along information, everyone in a 100 member social network, composed of 5 loosely linked clusters, received the information in a maximum of 7 time periods (the actual period used was not stated), even with a varying  link strength of the network. In fact, in the strongest structure, everyone knew by the third time period.  But in the high moral hazard situation, transfer of information was much slower and less effective. In the strongest structure, it took 8 time periods for 100% spreading of the information. And in the weakest structure, even after 15 time periods, still only 66% of the group had received the information.

WOM Moved Online

So, what does this have to do with search? Simply this. The weak ties are now moving online. If we have great news or a great product story to share, we can now share this information on line. We can blog about it, post a comment or leave a review. But we're most likely to do this when there's low moral hazard. We pass information where there's no "scarcity mentality". So we'll happily post about a great travel destination, a restaurant or a piece of software because by doing so, we're not running the risk of losing out ourselves. We're much less likely to blog about that exceptional deal on men's suits at 70% off, where they only have 6 left. That information is reserved for our closest friends. It only gets passed along through our strong ties.

There's another factor at play here that was beyond the scope of Frenzen and Nakamoto's study. We are motivated to pass on information online when it's remarkable. Product or brand experiences have to earn the right to be passed on. As online mavens, we're motivated by being "first to know" and by passing on value. Therefore, we carefully consider the trustworthiness of the information and it's authenticity before we decide to share it. After all, we're staking our reputation on it. Although these online posts become Granovetter's "weak ties" online (because we usually don't have strong personal relations with all the readers of our various online "footprints") they only happen when the nature of the information bears passing along.

If we're depending on the spread of word of mouth for our marketing, we have to start with some basic understanding of how the dynamics of the network works. All too often, we assume that everyone is like our best friend, eager to spread the word about our product or service. In the wired world, this would include leaving footprints online, through blog posts, comments and reviews. There, future customers can connect with them through search. But a successful viral campaign is largely dependent on those weak ties being motivated to pass along the information. It needs to be remarkable in some compelling way (i.e. Godin's Purple Cow), it has to eliminate a scarcity mentality, it has to feel authentic and, to appeal to the mavens, it has to have the feel of news.

Originally published in Mediapost's Search Insider, August 2, 2007

Have you looked at your blog's stats lately and noticed that your blog's traffic is starting to plateau. Blogging is not simple, it takes a lot of hard work to continuously come up with new ideas for content and blog promotion. I remember last year at this time there were some excellent blog promotion strategies, however even some of those suggestions have been over exhausted. Some of these useful but sometimes over used suggestions included:

• Creating top 5, 10, 20 lists
• Submitting your blog to blog directories and Dmoz
• Using your blog's URL in your email signature
• Linking to your blog in MySpace

Thinking outside the box these days becomes challenging because the box is SO big. If you're looking for something new, give some of the blog promotion strategies below a try. They may not lead to instantaneous traffic nor are they necessarily easy to implement, but they will help you build your brand and help grow your long term traffic:

1. When writing a blog post trying using full names of organizations, using organizations' stock symbols and linking them to their Google Finance page (if applicable). Google Finance often has a section for blog posts related to an organization. If your post makes it onto a popular company's Google Finance page you can expect some decent referrals.
2. Release a free PDF of your blog's top posts or write a 4-5 part series on a given topic and develop that series into a PDF to give away for free. Within the PDF provide links for people to subscribe as well as information regarding advertisement opportunities.
3. Blogs such as the Google Blogs and Seth Godin's Blog have trackbacks turned on, meaning if you link to one of their posts that blog post will automatically generate a link back to your original post. This strategy has to be done in the right context because I definitely don't recommend linking to these blogs' posts in irrelevant context or overusing this tactic.
4. Rather than simply linking to your blog within your Facebook profile, develop a community surrounding your blog by developing a Facebook group. This can really expand virally if you have a large network of friends.
5. Reignite past hot topics with updates. If you wrote about "How Google Makes Money" last year, consider writing a quarterly or year update to this post.

*BONUS: People absolutely love widgets and apps, so I am going to give you a suggestion for an app to build: FeedBurner offers an API which allows you to retrieve a given blog's subscribers (if it's enabled), I would love to see an app which quickly allows you to compare subscribers between bloggers or EVEN better take a page out of GoogleFight's book and develop a FeedBurner Fight application.

The most fun and most difficult part of blog promotion is to be creative, although with millions of bloggers in the blogosphere it can become awfully challenging. To be successful, a blogger has to find their 'zone' and motivation, mine often comes when I start scribbling ideas on a piece of paper rather than typing them directly into my laptop. Sounds a little old school but it works.

Original Post: Web Analytics World

I've been writing this column for almost 3 years now. In that time, one of the most rewarding and often humbling aspects is when I get to connect with the community that's formed around the SearchInsider column. I applaud MediaPost for introducing the SearchInsider blog, allowing us to turn each column into a conversation. As a writer, you get lazy and a little sloppy when you get too far disconnected from your audience. Getting feedback brings you back to earth. It reminds you that your musings are not going out in the great void. You're connecting with readers, and hopefully engaging them enough with a concept with which you elicit a response. It's one of the most powerful aspects of the internet.

Rewiring Communities

I'm tremendously intrigued by how the internet has rewired our concepts of community. I've talked about this before, and it formed the basis of my opening remarks at the Search Insider Summit in Florida in May. I love how we can participate in so many communities that are not tied by geography, but form around ideas and concepts. The online manifestations of our communities are the conversations that ensue. Each one of these columns can instantaneously create an ad hoc community that debates a topic. My column a few weeks ago was a great example. We formed a community around the concept of whether advertisers "get" search advertising in Canada, and together we created content through our conversation. I started the ball rolling, but the 18 of you that chose to leave a comment picked up the momentum and left something of value. You provided different perspectives, and the conversation grew richer for it. Some of you questioned my premise; some questioned my delivery and forced me to defend it. Many of you, while agreeing in principle, went further and added your own vision and expertise. For as long as MediaPost decides to leave that conversation accessible, anyone who chooses to see if such a community exists can pick up our threads through a search. They can connect our conversations with others that may have happened on the same topic through linking. They can build on the community by starting their own conversation. They can do a little detective work and track down some of us that commented and re-engage us with further dialogue. The community has permanence. It is real, and it is defined both by the concept we shared and by search, which connects the online outposts that make up the community.

Is Anybody Out There?

You know, for as long as I've been writing for SearchInsider (and I believe David Berkowitz and I are the two remaining original writers) I have no idea how many of you are out there, reading it. At the beginning, I asked MediaPost what the number of readers was and I never did get a reply. At first, this was important to me because I was looking at it as a promotional vehicle. But I think one of the reasons I didn't pursue it is because I've realized that writing this column is more important than just getting my name out there. As I travel from search show to search show, this column acts as a way for me to connect with many of you. The connection is more one sided than I may like, but it's gratifying when you mention that you read the column, or that the topic of one piqued your interest. They're like little "community seeds" that can in turn sprout into another conversation. And isn't that what the Internet is all about? Isn't that where the tremendous power of it lies? It's the world's largest conversation, and it's most powerful when it's a reciprocal activity.

Sorry to get all philosophical on you, but I've actually been doing research for a book and these concepts are inextricably tied into the topic of it. I've been threatening to do a book for a long time and someone (probably tired of hearing me go on and on about it with no apparent intention of actually doing it) told me that committing publicly is a great way to make it happen. So I've gone on record, and I hope each of you when you see me at a show ask me how the book is going. Or just tell me to get my butt in gear! One of the biggest challenges is for me to take the same interactive conversations that happen online and figure out how to incorporate that into the creation of a book. The internet has changed everything else. Why should writing a book be any different?

But back to the topic at hand. I often wonder about the future of anything that is centered on search, and this column is no exception. I'm an ardent believer that search is such a fundamental online activity, the glue of the internet, that soon search will disappear as a distinct function. It will go under the hood, powering the new evolution of the web, connecting us with the very best matches to our intent. I hope this column evolves along with search, and the conversations continue. In my mind, the best ones are yet to come.

I'm not making any friends with Ontario Tourism. Two weeks ago I said in this column they weren't using search. I was quickly corrected by Nick Pedota, who told me my claim was "wildly inaccurate" and that they in fact have "an extensive search program". But based on the following searches I did while in Toronto, they didn't show: Ontario vacations, Ontario resorts, Toronto vacations, Ontario getaways and Ontario holidays. According to Google Trends and their keyword research tool, these are the most common searches, by a substantial margin.

If You're Not Seen, You're Not Doing Search

Here's the reality of search marketing. Its one thing to say "you're doing search" internally and it's a totally different thing to have the searcher realize that "you're doing search". The smart thing to do here would be to give Nick and Ontario Tourism the retraction they're looking for and say I made a mistake (which I did). But this proves too good an example of the disconnect I see all the time; managing a search campaign to budgets, not objectives. I stand by my original claim: Canadian advertisers aren't clueing into the power of search.

Nick wasn't really in a mood to share many details of their campaign, but he did share that they're were bidding on thousands of "targeted keyphrases" and were using heavy geo-targeting to focus on their prime markets (Ontario and the border states). He said that's simply "smart marketing". I can't disagree. It makes sense to target in on your best clicks first, especially if budgets are limited.

Where's the Money Going?

But in this case, are budgets really limited? Let me share some things I was able to dig up on the site. First of all, Ontario Tourism is doing print (lots of print) and TV (lots of TV). The goal?  To drive people to their website. Full page 4 color ads are running multiple times in over 70 dailies and weekly newspapers and 9 magazines. One 4 color full page ad in the Toronto Star would run about $54,000 (there's a certain amount of guessing here, as print rate cards are really a mathematical exercise in confusion and frustration). Circulation of the Toronto Star is 350,000 (on an average day). An excellent conversion rate for a newspaper ad would be 0.5% That means, ideally, 1750 people would actually visit the Ontario Tourism website. Now, I have never in my life seen a newspaper ad convert this well, but even if it did, that would be a cost per visitor of $30.85. If the ad doesn't work that well, the average cost climbs dramatically. And you pay whether or not the ad works.

What People Actually Use

Now, courtesy Yahoo Canada and a recent survey, let's look at what actual travelers cite as the most important influencers in making travel plans. Search and websites are tied for number one and two, used by 51% of respondents in a recent survey. Newspapers and print? Only used by 7%. But yet, only 2.1% of Canadian ad budgets get spent on search, and 42% gets spent on Newspapers and Magazines. I couldn't get any specific percentages for Ontario Tourism, but one only has to look at their campaign page to see that search is very likely getting only a fraction of what's going to newspapers and magazines. And don't even get me started on the TV buys.

The Search Story

So, where is Ontario Tourism in the search results? As Nick shared, they're only geo-targeting the prime markets, and then only for a 3 month period (April through June). Only 1 of the 7 highest traffic key phrases I found (using an Ontario IP) returned an ad or an organic listing for Ontario Travel (the site also hasn't been organically optimized). More specific phrases, like Ontario Summer Vacations or Ontario Wine Getaways, did return more ads. But by bidding on specific phrases (even thousand of "long tail" ones) and not on the more popular ones, Ontario Tourism is catching less than 10% of all the people using search to plan a vacation in Ontario. And unless you're in the top sponsored ad locations (which few of the ads I saw were) you're actually only being seen by a small percentage of those searchers (usually 10 to 30% of them) on the results pages you do appear on. So, according to 97 out of 100 people who are using search to find the official site for Ontario Tourism, they're not "doing search". By the way, you could maintain top spot in Google and Yahoo for all the top traffic phrases for less than $2 per visitor. Remember, that ad in the Toronto Star cost, at a minimum, 15 times that!

Again, let's recap. What's the purpose of the campaign? To drive people to the website. And not just any website. THE official website of Ontario Tourism, the site most people are looking for on these key phrases.

And You're Spending Your Money Where?

Is it really "smarter" to ignore 97% of the people who are actively searching online to find you so you can spend more money running ads in newspapers for the 99.5% of people who have no interest in your site at all? And the real irony here is that if people don't click on a search ad, you don't pay! Take a fraction of that budget from the Toronto Star and blow out the geo-targeting and time parameters and go for the high traffic phrases. After all, there might be people in Saskatchewan or Nova Scotia that are planning a trip to Ontario. Or, perhaps they're planning their trip in September, or February.  If not, it's not costing you anything. Try getting the Toronto Star to offer the same pricing model!

Is this really smarter marketing? You decide. The readership of this column includes some of the smartest marketers on the planet. Blog about this and give me your opinion. Maybe I'm missing something, but I've decided I shouldn't apologize for trying to get advertisers to spend money more effectively. After all, in this case, it's really our money they're spending. At least, it would be if I was an Ontario tax payer. Something tells me after this column, it might be a good thing I live 2000 miles away. Like I said, I'm not making any friends in Ontario.