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Saturday, August 21, 2010



I know it sounds incredibly odd, but it seems like a number of my colleagues, friends, and acquaintances all have been complaining about Web site issues as of late.  In fact, last week I experienced the same thing.  The reason that I was unable to make a post last week was because Google decided to ban this blog.  Okay, I know that I'm not the best writer in the world but is it really that bad?

The Google Algorithm
Google is always evaluating the quality of web sites, blogs, and online assets.  And I would argue that their algorithm is one of the best around - but it's not perfect.  That's right.  I'm not afraid to admit it.  Google can ban me if they want, but the reality is that the Internet is a lot like space, continually expanding and something you can never truly get in front of.

As the Web expands so does Google's algorithm.  But they can't necessarily predict the changes or the criteria by which to evaluate quality.  Quality is an ambiguous term.  What defines quality for one person can be largely different than the next.

Marketing Sites
A friend was recently telling me that his Web site was hacked.  He went to log on through his admin control panel (WordPress) and wasn't even able to access his dashboard.  He quickly discovered that his web site was now being redirected to a pharmaceutical promoting web site (which will go unnamed).  WordPress, Blogger, and other programs are not invulnerable and you should consider that when managing your blogs.

The motto of this story is to obviously back up your work when possible.  We take so many things for granted that it's good to remind ourselves that we're dealing with imperfect hosts, web sites, blogs, and so on.  This is one of the reasons that I talk about diversification.  Are you putting all of your eggs into a single blog?  A single web site?  Are you thinking that way when it comes to your Internet marketing?

In marketing we know that individuals need to hear messages multiple times, in different ways.  Treat your online business the same.  Don't focus all of your effort on a single campaign.  Rather, use multiple properties and multiple promotions.  Auto responders, downloads, online Webinars.  These are all great methods for reaching your target audience and building your brand.

Keep Your Marketing Expanding
One thing that I've learned in my thirteen years of marketing is to stick with what works.  I've only heard of a few situations over the years where someone tried a tactic, it didn't work, and then they tried it again and had tremendous success.  What I'm saying is that stick with what you know works and experiment with new promotions or campaigns.  If you want to try something a second time that you think you could have done better - great.  But if it doesn't work in round two, you best move on.

I think that's enough rambling for now.  The take-a-ways, protect your web sites and blogs, back up your work, and make sure your using different campaigns to drive traffic, visitors, and sales!

24 comments :

Atlanta SEO Training said...

There's always constant change in Google's algorithm. I wonder what they are up to as of now. Thanks for becoming our eye-opener about this issue.

Unknown said...

Dear Michael,

Thanks for sharing all important information with all readers.

Internet Marketing is evolving everyday. Simple Websites, SEO, Local SEO, Online Advertising.. and now Social Media. The above tools, systems keep changing rules of the game everyday.

Each of the tool available for Internet Marketing has its own utility, and may work for certain types of business.

We offer Social Media Marketing Services for Musicians and Small Business, and feel the changes in market from very close distance.

Thanks once again for your interesting post.

Regards,

Rob Smith
for
HypeGenius
(www.hypegenius.com)

Anonymous said...

Hello, I'm a university student with an interest in marketing and I came across your blog and found many interesting posts. I just wanted to say that I was very impressed by your dedication to this blog and marketing in general. I hope that in the future I will also be able to have as much enthusiasm for my career!

louis said...

Thanks for this post! It was extremely informative and helpful! I just learned everything I need to know today.

Marketing Agency Leeds said...

Thanks a lot for posting this. I've been aware of the risks of someone getting into our site recently and undoing all the hard work we've done, so I've beefed up our password strengths and are taking regular backups of databases and content files - you can never be too safe ;-)

Werbeartikel said...

Thank you for this important information. We also have a coorporate blog running on Wordpress and we use a plugin with the automatical back-up feature. But after I read your story I think I better make some more backups. Thanks!

The Market Future said...

Wasn't it Einstein who said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? Sticking to what you know and what you do well is sage advice. It never hurts to experiment, as long as you never quit playing to your strengths.

Great blog. Glad I found it.

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Pablo Edwards said...

I have heard from a couple friends who went through the same thing. Very frustrating, glad it was sorted out!

Michael G. Hurston said...

Thanks for sharing this, I wonder if this coupled with the recent relaunch of a site I've been working on is what has caused our Google results to diminish (currently has dropped 20% in the last month).

The site is sanjose.org and granted I expected some drop as the site went from being a custom php/html site that had been around for the last few years to a drupal based site and I know Google interprets that as a "new site", but 20% just seems like way huge of a drop.

As far as your marketing comments, you couldn't be more spot on with "If you want to try something a second time that you think you could have done better - great. But if it doesn't work in round two, you best move on" I think more people, not just marketers, could use that tidbit.

Hybrid Media Design said...

I’ve been reading many blogs related to this topic. But I feel your blog tops them all. Thanks

feonareed said...

website promotion is not one day work. We continuously have to watch the performance. We regularly has to update things like check for broken links, bad neighborhood, wrong or negative publicity which can affect our reputation and page rank. we should keep an active eye.

Will Egan's Marketing 101! said...

Hey,

The same thing happened to me. My site was hacked through my wordpress blog which are hosted on the same ftp. Took me ages to get back into it.

Good to know its not just me.

Unknown said...

Thanks for this nice article. I found it very useful specially for my learning experience because I am a student. Once again... thanks.

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Louisa said...

Backing up your work isn't limited to old or unreliable computers! If Facebook were to disappear then all my photos over the last 4 years would disappear with it. It is good to remember that the internet isn't a Timemachine!

As for trying out online marketing techniques, I have a website I try new things out on and if it falls flat then there is no harm where it really matters. It's a great learning platform and I'd suggest everyone had a website for testing.

Joey Gray said...

Maybe this is due to the changes in Google's algorithm. Anyway, thanks for sharing your insights. I wish to share my own site too at www.InfoProductMarketingRevealed.com. Hoping you could drop by some time. Many thanks.

paul smith said...

Thanks for this post! It was extremely informative and helpful!

Robert Rodriguez said...

Hello, Thank you for the valuable information, I have an internet marketing blog of my own.Thank you and keep up the good work

Kris said...

Hi, thanks for the post.I've learned a lot.
nice information.

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tablet on sale said...

Good post. Very impressive writing. Thanks for sharing.

Logan Michaels said...

Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more information? It is extremely helpful for me.

Alex Hils said...

Pretty beneficial post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I'll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you publish again soon

Andi said...

Hey!

Thank you for sharing this information. Well, everybody has in mind that you should back up your work and that websites should be protected conscientiously. While reading your article I realized that I have to work on this topic a lot. Especially the point that you shouldn't focus on one website but use "different campaigns to drive traffic, visitors, and sales" makes me think and is quite helpful to me.

Regards,
Andi

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