From where I'm writing, it looks like the perfect chilly day to get your click on. Click freely! Click away!

May your weekend be free of furniture assembly,
helenjane@maplevine.com

Bush administration on to something

Just thought you'd like to know this was up for debate:

Bush administration urges Congress to permanently exempt Internet from taxes

"Preventing the taxation of Internet access will help sustain an environment for innovation, ensure that consumers continue to have affordable access to the Internet, especially high-speed Internet, and strengthen the foundations of electronic commerce as a vital and growing part of our economy."

http://tinyurl.com/yo65hc

Inspiration

Recchiuti chocolates is high-end, luxurious, artisinal chocolate at its finest. And they've made a darn fine ecommerce site.

Purchases are only one click away from the main navigation. I find it most inspiring is that they don't lose any brand elegance.

This site redesign was responsible for a company-wide, 35% sales increase compared to sales from the year before.

http://www.recchiuti.com/

Ignoring your email customers, no no.

What is your sign up form like?
What benefits do you offer your email list members?
Do they know what they're signing up for?

This article from emarketer lays out some statistics from recent email trends.

"There are rules of conversation," Mr. Weston said. "Companies that fail to respond when someone gives them an e-mail address are doing the equivalent of ignoring them face to face in a store."

http://tinyurl.com/2gz74z

Podcasting done elegantly

Working with Mastercard, Domino magazine started their first "Priceless" podcast.

It's a great example of a partnership gone pretty. The focus of this podcast is on environmentally sound items for your home.

Man, the production is tight. Clickthroughs and urls inspire next actions.

(When you click on the "Watch now" there will be sound, so be warned.)

View the invitation email
http://www.dominotogo.com/0709/podcasts.cfm

How to Improve Keyword Density on Your Site

You know it in your secret heart of hearts, more keywords on a page get you better search engine placement. Here are seven succinct tips on how to incorporate those keywords.

What? You don't know what your keywords are yet?
Your homework is to sit down and fill both sides of a sheet of paper with potential keywords for your brand. Now make sure those words are peppered throughout your web site. Good work.

Since they did such a good job on the article, I'm just going to paste the details right here:

1. Insert Keywords Into Page Titles – this pertains to the title tag that is commonly associated with the meta data of your site pages. You page titles should include keywords preferably near the beginning of the title for optimal effect. This helps communicate the subject matter of the page to the search engines and more importantly your users. The title also appears in the results pages of the search engines and is often bolded depending on the user’s search query.
   
   
2. Insert Keywords into Headings – Include keywords in the heading of the page copy itself. Ensure that the main heading of your page uses heading tags with the "h1" heading tag considered to be the most important.
   
   
3. Place Keywords in ALT Text – if you have images on your web pages, ensure that you place descriptive alt text on the image that is key word rich. Do not spam your ALT Tags.
   
   
4. Add Keyword Rich Anchor Text throughout your pages – when interlining your site pages, you should link from keywords as the destination page with receive better Inbound Linking (IBL) merit from the search engines.
   
   
5. Incorporate Keywords into Page URLs – helps convey the theme of the page and is one of the many factors that search engines will use to rank a web page.
   
   
6. Add Keywords to your Copy – make use of your important keywords in the actual copy of your site pages. If you want to be found in the search engines for "green widgets" you better make sure that your page copy features the phrase "green widgets".
   
   
7. Incorporate the Use of a Keyword Rich Footer – ensure that your footer appears on all pages. Include links to important product pages using keyword rich anchor text. For example if your site sells widgets make sure that you include important keywords in the footer

http://tinyurl.com/23tjue

Holiday Search Marketing Strategies

From the bookmarkable Yahoo Search Engine Marketing blog, some excellent tips for maximizing your holiday search.

Again, directly from the site:

Engage the bargain hunters - According to the BizRate and Shop.org Holiday Mood Study 2006, nearly half of the consumers polled named "free shipping" as a primary motivator to purchase. Other shoppers named "online only sales" and "repeat buyer discounts."

Keywords count - According to our internal data, "Christmas" was, not surprisingly, the most holiday-related search term in 2006 with more than three million average monthly searches. Other popular terms included "Christmas decoration," "Hanukkah," "holiday gift" and gift for dad." Make sure that your keyword selection includes holiday-related keywords and seasonal products and promotions.

Titillate with titles - Titles and descriptions can drive relevance and clicks, so it’s a best practice when creating specific holiday ad groups to place the holiday term prominently in both the title and the description, and include any special seasonal promotions in the copy.

Clear for landing - Make sure that your landing pages are relevant to your keywords, ad copy and any promotions. Nothing’s more frustrating for a consumer to click on an ad that says, "Get 10% off" something and then land on a page where that information is either absent or buried. Prices and promotions should be consistent with ad copy.

Combine search with display and offline advertising - Regular readers of our blog know that search is just one important part of your marketing mix. Make sure you include your keywords and consistent copy in your display and offline marketing material.

http://tinyurl.com/2fzctl