So have you heard the news? Microsoft has completely taken their offer off the table with Yahoo and now Yahoo and Google are going to team up—eventually.

No need to go crazy now with trying to figure out what you are going to do if/when Google and Yahoo combine their paid search ads, personally I don’t see the government allowing it (but that’s just my opinion)…monopoly anyone??
Anyways, from the reports yesterday, nothing is supposed to go into effect until September so we all have time to figure things out.
If you’d like to read more on it, Yahoo news has given some insight into it, as well as Search Engine Land.

Posted by Brittany Heidtke at 09:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Does that mean you CAN bid on trademark terms?
Ethics are icky and sticky when it comes to online marketing and advertising. We still haven’t reached the true outline of what that means, or when there is a serious violation of privacy whether it be personal or business information and names. Seriously, folks, here we are in another long drawn out election year, where we, as our American duty, have to pick out who the truth teller is. I can hear some politicians state the following quote from Darby Conley:
“Ethics are so annoying. I avoid them on principle.”

Where do we, as internet marketers stand with the so called “ethics”? Sometimes, because we stand on the cutting edge of marketing and advertising, some ideas that seem good could turn out to be “unethical”. There are loose definitions, such as Google’s take on trademark terms.

And if you want to read s’more stuff about trademark bidding, here are Yahoo’s stipulations.
The AMA has a code of their own set ethics.

Continue reading "Ethics? Spelled backwards, it’s Scihte!" »

Posted by April Hartmeister at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Most affiliates don't have a lot of cash to spare when they're just starting out. (After all, that's why they become affiliates, right?) Whether paid search is their game of choice or they prefer experimenting with SEO, tips that help them enter the arena without spending an arm and a leg are always welcome.

Well, if you're a new affiliate--or even a seasoned pro looking to cut costs--here's a suggestion you might not have thought of: try using colloquialisms. That's right, if you can find and use more informal terms (or those same terms in another language) and substitute them for terms more difficult to rank on or more expensive to bid on, you might just find yourself a profitable niche!

If you're wondering what I'm talking about, or you think I'm speaking another language, check out this recent post over at the SEOmoz blog on the subject. It'll explain things in more detail--and put a new twist on the long tail!

Posted by Penny Hagerman at 02:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My first blog après James' being gone and I already know I have some big shoes to try and fill (he was tall). But his talent has been noted all over the place, including blogs and social networks.

Let's chat a little about social networks. They are SO web 2.0! But is it worth the time and effort? Is it really connecting people or just increasing more niche marketing while allowing people to have more degrees of separation? It seems like I have more desire to IM or email or something like that now instead of putting the effort into contacting my friends via phone or in person!

I have a Facebook account and a LinkedIN account, but don't dare touch MySpace because it scares me. I'm not a professional social networker, but I have used it and will continue to use it. I run into old colleagues, very old friends and acquaintances and have worked business deals after connecting on either of the two, so it has had positive benefits. However, it also is time consuming and if I spend time on social online networking, then I'm kinda burnt out on anything else.

Here's a good article kind of talking about the emergence of social networking and it's snowball effect:

Continue reading "Social Networks? Good? Bad? Money?" »

Posted by April Hartmeister at 03:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Writing for the web may not be your cup of tea. After all, who but a seasoned web writer can craft SEO-friendly text, insert a phenomenal call to action, and convince visitors they simply have to have whatever you have to offer--especially when it's as boring as insurance?

You can! Whether you enjoy writing on the side or you can barely construct an understandable sentence, knowing what NOT to do when writing landing pages is just as important as knowing what TO do. The premise? If you can avoid making mistakes up front, you'll save yourself a lot of time and frustration on the back end--no matter what your level of experience.

To find out what makes landing pages go wrong, check out this handy-dandy article I ran across. If you'll take its pointers seriously and avoid common missteps, even you can write landing pages that rock!

So flip the switch, shed some light on the subject--and start writing great landing pages now. You really can do it!

13 Sure Signs Your Landing Page is a Turn-Off

Posted by Penny Hagerman at 03:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So as you’ve already read James (the traitor—just kidding we still love you James!) decided to leave last Friday and we’ve decided to keep the blog up and running.
It’s going to sound a little different than what it did when he wrote because we are going to have multiple people writing through out the week so get ready for some variety!
With that being said, you should check out our newly updated blogger profiles and read a little bit about our new bloggers.
We were also thinking that it would be great if we could get some input for you, our readers, as to what you needed help with and what type of stuff you wanted to read about. So here’s what we’re asking of you—if you have any ideas please send them our way. Would you like to know more about PPC? More about SEO stuff? Or just general affiliate goings on? (We’re also up for giving updates on the Colorado weather…but that’s probably not all that interesting)
Let us know what you want in the comments and we’ll give it to you!

Posted by Brittany Heidtke at 03:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As some of you may already know (if you follow me on Twitter), Friday is my last day here at InsureMe. I’ve had an amazing, life changing, and exciting 5 years with InsureMe and deciding to leave wasn’t an easy choice. I’ve been given a new opportunity with a start-up in Europe, and at this point in my life it feels like time to take a chance and step out of my comfort zone.

Actually, one of my favorite quotes, which I’ve mentioned on this blog before, seems to apply well in this situation:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain

One of my greatest joys over the last two and a half years has been writing this blog for all of you. It truly was a labor of love, and all of the feedback, comments, and relationships that have grown from the blog have made the process of writing almost 700 post worthwhile.

Hopefully over the years you’ve read at least one thing here that has helped you be more successful as an affiliate marketer…if that’s the case, I consider this blog a success.

The good news is that InsureMe plans to continue posting to this blog going forward. While post might not be as frequent as they currently are, InsureMe has a team of talented online marketers here that will continue to add tips, tools and news to the blog to help you succeed in your affiliate adventure. So make sure you subscribe via RSS and keep an eye out for future posts.

If you’d like to stay in touch, or follow me on my next adventure, track down my personal blog and website, which is easily found by searching for “James Omdahl” on Google. You can find my contact info there if you want it.

Thanks so much for reading and stay tuned…more InsureMe Affiliate Blog goodness is on the way…

Posted by James Omdahl at 03:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

For the first time I have spotted an instance where Yahoo! is calling out an email spammer right in their search results. Let’s look at the screen grabs.

At the top of the search results, Yahoo! shows this message:

And then in the results they show this:

And when you hover over that, Yahoo! pops up this:

You can see the whole screenshot here.

Looks like Yahoo! might be trying to differentiate themselves as the company that protects users from spammers. The real question is, if a company is so bad that they flag them, why show them in the results at all?

Posted by James Omdahl at 04:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If yesterday’s post about the SEOmoz Web Developer’s SEO Cheat Sheet got you looking for more information on SEO standards and best practices, then the subject of today’s post will knock your socks off.

Today I ran across Adam Audette’s SEO Guide to Information Architecture and was blown away by all of the great information and practical advice all wrapped up into a single document.

The guide includes the following sections:

• Domains
• Sections & Categories
• Pages
• Internal Linking
• Final Considerations

As someone who has underestimated the importance of information architecture and on-page optimization for SEO in the past, I can attest that modifications to code, design, and internal linking can truly boost your site’s SEO performance in meaningful ways. So take some time today and read Adam’s guide…you can thank me later.

Posted by James Omdahl at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If yesterday’s post about the SEOmoz Web Developer’s SEO Cheat Sheet got you looking for more information on SEO standards and best practices, then the subject of today’s post will knock your socks off.

Today I ran across Adam Audette’s SEO Guide to Information Architecture and was blown away by all of the great information and practical advice all wrapped up into a single document.

The guide includes the following sections:

• Domains
• Sections & Categories
• Pages
• Internal Linking
• Final Considerations

As someone who has underestimated the importance of information architecture and on-page optimization for SEO in the past, I can attest that modifications to code, design, and internal linking can truly boost your site’s SEO performance in meaningful ways. So take some time today and read Adam’s guide…you can thank me later.

Posted by James Omdahl at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)