ThePodcastSisters

Vanity Search on the Internet

Wired has a fun application for the weekend - a vanity search developed by Chris Anderson of The Long Tail fame,  "using Google's PageRank technology, you can scan trusted sites to measure your Internet fame on a scale of 1 (unknown) to 100 (ubiquitous)."

So which Podcast Sister is the most famous? Yes, you've guessed it the Non Geek - Heather!

Krishna De - Scored 44
Anna Farmery - Scored 52
Heather Gorringe - Scored 55

(You will find the vanity validator on the left hand column)

Encyclopaedia Britannica Webshare

When you are writing a blog post or an article for your website, if you are looking for a definition of a word, then it's likely that you will hyperlink to Wikipedia.

Well another source that is now available to you is Encyclopaedia Britannica where if you are a blogger or webpublisher, you can apply for an account to cite Britannica in your articles. This means that you can bring your website visitors and blog article readers access to the robust definitions on Britannica and they do not need to have an account to access the site which costs US$70 per annum - they have access to the definiton you link to.

And our friends over at the For Immediate Release podcast, Shel and Neville have been working with Britannica to support them in this strategy - thanks Shel and Neville for encouraging Britannica to make the resouce freely available to web publishers and bloggers.

So why not apply for your account for Britannica Webshare today?

Oh I almost forgot - you can also follow Britannica on Twitter and receive a daily Tweet about an article on Britannica too.

iQ Content Online Marketing Bootcamp: Dublin 22 - 24 April 2008

As I mentioned on The Podcast Sisters show we recorded this evening, if you are in the Dublin area between the 22-24 April 2008, I highly recommend that you check out the details of the forthcoming Online Marketing Bootcamp being hosted by iQ Content. Read on to find out how to avail of a 10% discount on the registration fee.

The online marketing bootcamp includes workshops on the following areas:

• Search engine marketing 202: More advanced techniques for enhancing your website's search engine visibility
• Content strategy: Getting your content mix right to drive traffic, engage customers and increase conversions
• Writing for the web 101: Creating great content – the fundamental techniques
• Writing for the web 202: Beyond the basics – writing to convert and persuade
• Accessibility for web managers: Planning, procuring, delivering and maintaining an accessible website
• Information architecture that works: Essential techniques for structuring and organising your website
• Killer web applications: Designing usable and effective web applications
• Personas – Getting into the head of your customers: Tools and techniques for understanding your customers
• Practical user testing: Planning, conducting and reporting on user tests
• Web analytics 101: Fundamental techniques for measuring the success of your website
• Web analytics 202: More advanced techniques for measuring the effectiveness of your website
• Website healthcheck: How to evaluate the effectiveness of your website and benchmark it against your competitors
• Kick-start your web strategy: Defining and implementing an effective online strategy
• Web governance: Getting your organisation organised – people, teams and processes
• Web project management: How to deliver a successful web project
• Email marketing: Planning, creating and delivering effective email newsletters
• Online advertising: Conceiving, creating, implementing and measuring an effective online advertising campaign
• Search engine marketing 101: Driving more traffic to your website – the fundamental techniques.

You can attend for 1 day, 2 days or 3 days and as I'm speaking at the event, you can use the special code I've been given by the event organisers and can therefore avail of a 10% discount - please note this is not an affiliate link - I asked the organisers if my community of readers could benefit in some way and am delighted that they made this discount available.

All you need to do is put in the code 'speaker' when making your booking.

I'm speaking at the session on the Wednesday afternoon - the iQ FutureNow Seminar where we'll be covering emerging trends and technologies that you need to start thinking about. Do let me know if you plan to be there won't you. I'm trying to clear my calendar as much as I can as  know the content that will be covered at the online marketing bootcamp will be outstanding.

Are you on the internet or watching TV?

Over at my favourite podcasting news site - Podcasting News - they report that

"People now spend twice as much time surfing the Web as they do watching TV, according to new research from IDC.

IDC surveyed nearly one thousand Internet users for the survey. They found that:

• The Internet is the medium on which online users spend the most time (32.7 hours/week). This is equivalent to almost half of the total time spent each week using all media (70.6 hours).
• People spend twice as much time on the Internet as they spend watching television (16.4 hours).
• People spend eight times as much time on the Internet as they spent reading newspapers and magazines (3.9 hours)."

That makes sense in my life as I find that the internet provides my audio, my video, my news..Why? Well, I have total control over what I listen to and that I can personalise my content. I do still watch TV but it is always in a recorded format so that I can skip titles, adverts or padding in the program...I find I can watch an hour long program in about 30 mins!! Now that time saving means that I can spend more time with my family or working on my business. Maybe, I am not a typical person....but this report shows that it is a growing trend.

For small business it is important to recognise this trend - because if that is where your consumers are, then you need to make sure that your story, your products, your services are there for people to find.

The Art of a Google Search

The internet is a wonderful world if you know how to find what you are looking for! One of the questions that I get asked most often is how do I search properly, I never seem to find what I am looking for!

Well here is a great resource for improving your search results - the Google Guide Quick Reference. You will learn some simple techniques that will save you time and a huge amount of frustration.

Young Adults and Newspapers

I like to bring you research into the latest trends. The internet is not necessarily about changing habits - getting news - it is about how we get it, it is the communication tool. This does not mean news is not required just a communication vehicle that is suitable for today's generation. I have just seen this consumer research by Andrew Lipsman at ComScore

                              

"I guess the real question for me was: “Are young people not reading the news at all?”... I get my news primarily online. The Internet allows me to choose multiple sources, get varying points of view, and consume large quantities of news in short periods of time. So I decided to test the premise that young people weren’t getting their news at all by analyzing some comScore data. I compared young people’s Internet news consumption habits with other age groups, and this is what I found:

   

As you can see, nearly the same percentage of 18-34 year olds (59%) are reading news online each month as 35-54 year olds (61%). Not only that, but they are also going online to get their news nearly as many times each month (12 visits) as 35-54 year olds (13 visits).

So it’s not that young adults aren’t reading the news, they’re just doing it online instead of in newspapers. Maybe they prefer the Internet because it provides a quicker, easier and more comprehensive news experience. Or maybe, like me, they just don’t like to get ink on their fingers."

For small business the implication is understanding who your consumer is, and in which spaces do they hang out. Then go and reach out to them, not by selling your product but by understanding their problem.   

                              

"I guess the real question for me was: “Are young people not reading the news at all?”... I get my news primarily online. The Internet allows me to choose multiple sources, get varying points of view, and consume large quantities of news in short periods of time. So I decided to test the premise that young people weren’t getting their news at all by analyzing some comScore data. I compared young people’s Internet news consumption habits with other age groups, and this is what I found:

   

As you can see, nearly the same percentage of 18-34 year olds (59%) are reading news online each month as 35-54 year olds (61%). Not only that, but they are also going online to get their news nearly as many times each month (12 visits) as 35-54 year olds (13 visits).

So it’s not that young adults aren’t reading the news, they’re just doing it online instead of in newspapers. Maybe they prefer the Internet because it provides a quicker, easier and more comprehensive news experience. Or maybe, like me, they just don’t like to get ink on their fingers."

For small business the implication is understanding who your consumer is, and in which spaces do they hang out. Then go and reach out to them, not by selling your product but by understanding their problem.   

Who uses the Internet?

ComScore have just issued the figures for April 2007. They show that
“The higher use of the Internet among those aged 15 to 24 reflects the fact that this age group has grown up online, demonstrating how integral the Internet is to their lives,” said Bob Ivins, EVP and managing director of comScore Europe.
If you look at the age groups
15-24 are 16% of the population and 20% of the ONLINE populations
25-34 are 15% of the population and 19% of the ONLINE populations
35-44 are 19% of the population and 23% of the ONLINE populations
45-54 are 16% of the population and 19% of the ONLINE populations
55+    are  34% of the population and 19% of the ONLINE populations

The key fact for me is how close all the age groups are - age is no barrier to internet usage!
The report also highlights the social networking sites popular with 15-24 - the top 3 are Bebo.com, Facebook.com and ARTISTdirect Network.