New Features In Google or Error May be!

In previous weeks Google experimented with new adword's layout in SERP's. They now appear much closer to organic results. People have seen increase click thru rate after this development, however today Google seems to start acting strangely. Previous the bluw bar on which Google displays the competition go to the end of the page, horizontally. However now Google cutting it quite before the end of the page. Here is the screen shot of the new interface. Check the screenshot



Moreover, Previously google shoes the SEarch Prefernce option just beside the search box on home page of google, But now its showing a Search setting option on top right corner.

New Google Sorry Page

Google is showing a new page for Sorry Errors. The page now contains a button with I am Human written on it.

Previously there was no button but with a bit of advice on what to do next.

Here are the snap shots of old and new sorry pages

Previous Page:
New Page:

15 Rules To Make Your Email Marketing Work!

Fifty characters could be all that stands between you and success in your next email campaign. Why? Because fifty characters is all the space you have in a typical subject line to catch your reader’s eye and entice him to open your email and take the action you
want.

How could something so small make or break an email’s success? Because many recipients use the subject line to decide whether to open or delete an email.

This makes subject lines tricky little devils and challenging to write. A good one can get your email opened in a flash, while a bad one could spell oblivion in the trash or junk file. Because so much is riding on your subject line, we came up with 15 rules for crafting a good one. Be sure to review them before you send your next email campaign.

Rule 1: Read the newspaper
If you want to write a better subject line, pick up your local paper. The headline usually highlights a story’s most important fact in a limited space. A subject line, in turn, should clearly state what your reader can expect from your email, what’s in it for them or what you want them to do as a result of the email. However, there isn’t enough space to do all of them all the time. Look at the newspaper headline to see how it interplays with the story.

Rule 2: There is no sure-fire formula
What works in one campaign might bomb with the next. A discount offer should be worded differently from an upsell, and both are different from a breaking-news announcement. Even if you are sending out emails to promote similar campaigns, you shouldn’t recycle a subject line from a past cam-paign. You need to stand out each time, yet be familiar to the reader, too. How do you find out what works best? See Rule 3.

Rule 3: Test, test, test
Test continually to determine trends and styles that appear to work. Pretest if you can. Add a day to your campaign-creation schedule to give you enough time to try out different lines. See Rule 12 for more on testing.

Rule 4: Support the “from” line
The “from” line tells the recipient who sent the email, and the subject line sells the recipient on opening. If your “from” line lists your company name, you don’t have to repeat it in the subject line, which frees up space in the subject line. But do consider branding your subject line with the name of the newsletter, for example, so that it will stand out in the junk folder and your recipients’ overflowing inboxes.

Rule 5: List key info first
Some email clients allow more characters in a subject line than others, but most give you at least 50, including spaces. So, load your key information in that first 50. Also, make sure the cut-off doesn’t occur in a crucial word, such as a price or date. One way to really see how your subject line will work in your recipients’ inboxes is to send yourself an email with your proposed subject line!

Rule 6: Open rates don’t always measure subject-line success
Look at the subjects associated with the highest number of conversions, such as registrations, clicks to view newsletter articles, sales or downloads. If you drill down into your Web analytics, you might find some anomalies, such as an email with a relatively low open rate but a high sales-per-order rate. That could mean something in the subject line strongly appealed to a narrow segment of your list and could point the way to a more lucrative segmentation. Remember, your end goal is not necessarily high open rates, but to have subscribers take a specific action. Focus on your end goal.

Rule 7: Personalize
Personalize subject lines based on users’ product or content preferences, interests, past purchases, Web visits or links clicked. Be careful when personalizing on past purchases, however, because the purchase could have been a gift for some- one else and might not relate to your reader’s real interests. Always make it easy for readers to find and update their data and preferences.

Rule 8: Urgency drives action
Set a deadline: “Order by midnight tonight;” “Last day to ensure Xmas delivery.” Use urgency and deadlines as part of a planned series of emails as well. For example on Monday incorporate “5 Days Left...” and then on Thursday follow it with “Only 24 Hours....”.

Rule 9: Watch those spam filters
There’s a fine line between “catchy” and “spammy.” Run your copy through a content checker to identify any spam-like words, phrases or construction. The content checker will tell you which phrases to avoid. Two tricks that could trip a spam filter: subject lines in all capital letters and using more exclamation points than necessary. (Both look unprofessional, too.) In fact, we recommend against using exclamation points at all if you can avoid it.

Rule 10: “Free” is not evil
Yes, you can use “free” in a subject line. Just don’t make “free” the first word, use it in conjunction with an exclamation point or spell it in all caps (could get your email filtered). People still respond to “free”; so, the increase in orders or other actions will almost always outweigh the messages lost from filtering.

Rule 11. Lead, but don’t mislead
Don’t stretch the truth in the subject line or promise more than the email can deliver or make grand claims that readers will find hard to comply with in order to get a special offer or benefit. Readers will distrust you (and reach for the report-spam button) if your subject line doesn’t reflect the email content.

Rule 12. Write and test early and often
Writing the subject line is often the last and most hurried step in email campaign development. It should be the other way around. As you plan the email campaign, start thinking about what will go into the subject line. That will help you sharpen your campaign’s focus and may even change or tweak the offer or article focus. Ideally, you should test subject lines on a segment of your list, but if you’re pressed for time, run them past an informal focus group including your marketing team, others in your department and even folks from outside the department to get a wider view.

Rule 13. Review subject-line performance over your last several campaigns or newsletters
See which subject lines delivered the action you wanted – the most conversions, the highest average sale per order, the highest click-through rate, etc. Review your Web analytics reports to see which newsletter article topics draw the most clicks or forwards, which whitepapers get downloaded most often, which brands or departments get the most traffic. This analysis should drive content and product selection strategies, but it can also show you what information is most relevant or useful. We reviewed two years of subject lines and discovered that action-oriented statements that included numbers and “tips” and similar phrases pulled the best. Things such as: “22 Imperatives for Email Marketing Success,” “11 Email Marketing Trends for 2008,” “15 Tips for Improved Subject Lines.”

Rule 14. Continue the conversation
Sending email more frequently than monthly or quarterly helps you create a conversation with your readers. Your tracking reports should show you what their crucial or hot-button issues are, what kinds of topics get them opening and clicking more vigorously. Feature those keywords or issues prominently in the subject line where appropriate -- first or second position -- to capture readers’ attention. Additionally, if your email frequency permits it, continue a dialog and content direction you’ve started in previous emails. For example, “Google Agrees to China Censorship” followed by “Google to Testify Before Congress.”

Rule 15. Can you pass the must-open/must-read test?
The days when people opened absolutely everything that landed in their inboxes are long gone. Now, you have to intrigue them. Appeal to their need for information, to be an insider who is “in the know.” Go back to Rule 14. If you have created a conversation with your readers, a reference to it in your subject will intrigue them into opening your email to see the next installment. Run a simple test on yourself and others on your team – does the subject line pass these two tests?
• The must-read test. If a subscriber doesn’t open the email they will feel like they are out of the loop and may
have missed an offer that they will regret not taking advantage of.
• The unbulk / bulk-folder test. If for some reason, your email goes into the bulk folder, does the combination
of from and subject line wording inspire trust and intrigue to get the recipient to move it into their inboxes?

Conclusion: Much to Learn, Much at Stake
Yes, this seems like a lot of fuss over 50 little characters. But those 50 characters may have a significant impact on your email’s success. Therefore, it pays to get them right.

Google SERPs' New Feature - PDF and Books!

While researching few days ago, I probably spotted some; actually two new features in Google SERP's.

One is Google showing some additional info for PDF files including Author Name, Year of Document Published, Citation And the Other Version of the document. This feature is something new for me as its not a usual case for PDF files results in Google SERP's. Here is a screen shot of one example. The good thing is that the same thing is appearing for indirectly related results like the page that contain partial information regarding the pdf version.

(Click For Enlarge)

One more feature I spotted recently is regarding Google Book Results in Google SERP's. Although I suspected that this is not new but then I haven't seen anything like that before so for me, its new at least.

This feature include the Author Name, Date Of Publication, Category of the book and the number of Pages. Here is a screen shot of that feature of Google SERP's.

(Click For Enlarge)

Google Images New Feature - Try Also!

Now it seems that Google has introduced a new feature in its Image Search. Now its showing the TRY ALSO option below the images that is related searches for that specific image. Although one more thing to notice is that Google is showing MORE FROM option that appears to grab th images from the place where its hosted rather than the website it appears. So is this the end of hot linking???

Here is an image of that new feature in Google image Search

(click to enlarge)

And don't ask me that why on the earth I was searching for cat eyes :P

New Feature By Google For link: Query!

As we all know that recently Google completely shut down its link: query. But today while doing some research I come across with this new feature or may be bug by Google.

When you use info:domain.com command in Google, it verifies a website authenticity. At the same time it also shows you some further options i.e.

Google can show you the following information for this URL:

• Show Google's cache of domain.com
• Find web pages that are similar to domain.com
• Find web pages that link to domain.com
• Find web pages from the site domain.com
• Find web pages that contain the term "domain.com"

In past, on clicking "link to" command, google shows you the links pointing to that domain by using link: query. but if you click it now, its also showing a strange code with link: query
The whole query looks like this now..

link:CODE:domain.com

One thing I noticed is the code is dedicated for each individual site. If you change the domain.com section with some code dedicated to some other site...it will shows the same results. Note that its still not showing the backlinks. Here are the screen shots of the new feature by Google

Search info:domain query first, it will give you the following result(click for enlarge)




Now Click the "link to" command(click for enlarge)

Why Link Popularity Is Important!

Before we altercate this concern, let me acquaint you what is hotlink popularity? Basically, seek engines characterize your website superior depending aloft the absolute superior links, which absolute to your website. This is technically termed as hotlink popularity! Internet bigger seek engine Google considers hotlink acceptance as the above advancing agency to rank the websites. AltaVista, HotBot, Inktomi, MSN, and several added seek engines will aswell account wesite hotlink popularity, while analytical the superior of the website. Are you carefully absorbed to apperceive the accent of hotlink popularity? Just accord a abutting attending on the flow-up to apperceive better!

Brief Introduction:

As known-well, seek engines chase several important factors and algorithms to counterbalance the superior of the website. Hotlink acceptance is one of the a lot of capital attempt that every seek engine performs in adjustment to appraise the website quality. In simple future, all the above engines will carefully attending advanced for hotlink popularity, and so it is absolutely capital to advance your hotlink acceptance in adjustment to abalienate the best success with account to business turnout. A website owner, who is dearly absorbed to get accomplished seek after-effects in all above seek engines including Google, Yahoo, MSN, and AltaVista, accept to apply on hotlink architecture account in adjustment to advance the hotlink acceptance of their website.

Link Architecture brings success to your website:

A acceptable hotlink acceptance assay should be made, as you will get a acceptable targeted cartage ratio. Your accustomed hotlink architecture efforts and workouts will accompany you new business acquaintances and thereby makes your business wide-cut. Advance your hotlink acceptance by giving abutting absorption to several hotlink architecture ideas, so that you can aftertaste the bake-apple of success. It is hardly difficult to accomplish top rankings and seek after-effects decidedly in Google, with no convenance of accomplishing hotlink acceptance analysis. Depending aloft the absolute arrangement of admission links administering appear a website forth with several added factors, Google will amount the website from the calibration of 1-10. The abundant hotlink acceptance you gain, the bigger seek after-effects you get! So, accord abutting accent to advance your hotlink acceptance to alleviate your business targets.

Impelling allowances of link Popularity:

Link Acceptance will dearly assists in giving bigger seek engine rankings and aswell improves the superior of the website. There are absolutely several allowances of Hotlink building. They are:

* Being the buyer of a website, you accept to accept to advance your hotlink acceptance in adjustment to accomplish targeted cartage and aerate the arrangement of your website visitors.

* With acceptable hotlink acceptance you can accomplish acceptable arrangement of barter and thereby drive a acceptable sales.

* Brings you new business proposals and contacts, which thereby abets you to codify an affecting arrangement of people.

* Acceptable access in hotlink acceptance will accomplish your website to accomplish bigger seek engine rankings and keyword seek results.

* Advance your hotlink popularity, as this will accompany you absolutely several business contacts, which could drive acceptable amount of customers.

We accept absolutely dealt about the accent of hotlink acceptance and the acumen for its requirement! As advised to be the capital constant of optimization, you accept to advance abundant hotlink architecture account and affairs to accomplish top seek results.