All Blog Posts

Super SEO Tip #1 – Image Linking

February 3, 2010 · 1 Comment 

Because we are all so lovely, we thought we would start a new series of posts to give away bite-sized SEO tips. We have called these our ‘Super SEO’ tips (imaginative eh), and they will relate to anything about helping with your SEO. So, without further ado, here is the first clump of immense usefulness: Super SEO Tip #1 – Image Linking Google uses the first link on your website if there is more than one link to any other page. So, when you have an image link with a text link below (both linking to the same page), add a no-follow tag (rel="nofollow") to the image tag... [Read the full story]

15 Reasons Why Your Affiliate Campaign Isn’t Attracting Affiliates

January 27, 2010 · Leave a Comment 

We run the Profitistic affiliate network, and come into contact with many merchants/advertisers who are looking to start an affiliate marketing campaign, or who are looking to expand an existing one. They want to further their marketing reach, generate additional sales/leads, and make their brand as popular as possible, so one of the first questions we are often asked as a network is ‘how many affiliates will be promoting our website’? The answer of course, is that it very much depends on the merchant and the details of the campaign. So, we decided to have a little office chinwag and... [Read the full story]

SEO – Are Reciprocal Links Worth It?

January 24, 2010 · 1 Comment 

Way, way back many centuries ago, not long after the Bible began, ‘Adam’ and ‘Eve’ owned their own websites (no, neither owned Apple.com!). Legend has it that one was an e-book on how to feed a few thousand people with nothing but a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish, but they only ever had one customer (it was before split-testing). Anyway, every Thurday, they would meet up for a chilled glass of Veuve Clicquot and discuss how well their websites were ranking on the search engines. It seemed that both were struggling to make progress but they had heard that swapping... [Read the full story]

Online Marketing Company Latitude Goes Into Administration

January 12, 2010 · Leave a Comment 

I was quite sorry to hear that Latitude, the UK online marketing company were placed into administration recently. I have a couple of good friends over at Latitude including one who has ‘forced’ me to consume too much alcohol on more than one occasion and so I just hope that their jobs are safe. It seems that Vitruvian, its private equity owner have already negotiated a pre-packaged buy-back of the positive assets, so I doubt little will change in real terms, but I thought it very interesting nevertheless. I would imagine that the new sleeker (and less debt-burden) Latitude will continue... [Read the full story]

Google Pull Back On Real-Time Listings, But Easy Traffic Opportunities Remain

January 6, 2010 · 2 Comments 

Google don’t make mistakes. General Custer made a mistake, Gerald Ratner made a mistake, and Tiger Woods has made loads of mistakes, but for Google, it is rare. Google’s ‘decision’ (assuming somebody actually made a decision) to rush-launch its new real-time listings was a mistake, but it has provided rich bounty for marketers looking for easy, free traffic. Google suddenly said to us all… forget all the hard work involved with link-building, and page optimisation. Just spam Twitter all day with popular keyphrases and you will dominate our most valuable keyterm pages. We... [Read the full story]

SEO Blog

Super SEO Tip #1 – Image Linking

February 3, 2010 · 1 Comment 

Because we are all so lovely, we thought we would start a new series of posts to give away bite-sized SEO tips. We have called these our ‘Super SEO’ tips (imaginative eh), and they will relate to anything about helping with your SEO. So, without further ado, here is the first clump of immense usefulness: Super SEO Tip #1 – Image Linking Google uses the first link on your website if there is more than one link to any other page. So, when you have an image link with a text link below (both linking to the same page), add a no-follow tag (rel="nofollow") to the image tag... [Read the full story]

SEO – Are Reciprocal Links Worth It?

January 24, 2010 · 1 Comment 

Way, way back many centuries ago, not long after the Bible began, ‘Adam’ and ‘Eve’ owned their own websites (no, neither owned Apple.com!). Legend has it that one was an e-book on how to feed a few thousand people with nothing but a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish, but they only ever had one customer (it was before split-testing). Anyway, every Thurday, they would meet up for a chilled glass of Veuve Clicquot and discuss how well their websites were ranking on the search engines. It seemed that both were struggling to make progress but they had heard that swapping... [Read the full story]

Online Marketing Company Latitude Goes Into Administration

January 12, 2010 · Leave a Comment 

I was quite sorry to hear that Latitude, the UK online marketing company were placed into administration recently. I have a couple of good friends over at Latitude including one who has ‘forced’ me to consume too much alcohol on more than one occasion and so I just hope that their jobs are safe. It seems that Vitruvian, its private equity owner have already negotiated a pre-packaged buy-back of the positive assets, so I doubt little will change in real terms, but I thought it very interesting nevertheless. I would imagine that the new sleeker (and less debt-burden) Latitude will continue... [Read the full story]

Google Pull Back On Real-Time Listings, But Easy Traffic Opportunities Remain

January 6, 2010 · 2 Comments 

Google don’t make mistakes. General Custer made a mistake, Gerald Ratner made a mistake, and Tiger Woods has made loads of mistakes, but for Google, it is rare. Google’s ‘decision’ (assuming somebody actually made a decision) to rush-launch its new real-time listings was a mistake, but it has provided rich bounty for marketers looking for easy, free traffic. Google suddenly said to us all… forget all the hard work involved with link-building, and page optimisation. Just spam Twitter all day with popular keyphrases and you will dominate our most valuable keyterm pages. We... [Read the full story]

Harness The Power Of ‘NoFollow’ Links!

January 3, 2010 · Leave a Comment 

I recently wrote a blog post over at our new Link Builder blog regarding the value of incorporating NoFollow links into your link building campaigns. You can read the entire article HERE.  Read More →

Pay Per Click Blog

Back To Basics – Faster Landing Pages Increase Your Quality Score

November 17, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

In the old days when people still used to point at aeroplanes, proficient web developers were constantly optimising and measuring the loading speed of their landing pages. This was critical because, with dial-up internet connections, you could begin to load a webpage, then go for a quick cuppa, walk the hound, build a shed, and listen to Dark Side Of The Moon in its entirety before the page would finish loading. In short, the internet was all about optimising landing page speed, and if your website loaded quicker than your competitors website, it was you who would spend the day having grapes gently... [Read the full story]

How To Spy On Your Adwords Management Company. You May Get A Shock!

November 6, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

Big Brother is alive and well and living (nowehere near Elvis) in Adwords land, but many advertisers who employ Adwords managers don’t seem to know it. Now, I am going to disclose how simple it is for advertisers to check that ‘Arnold the Adwords manager’ is actually worth those 20 hours a month he has been charging for. Now, don’t get me wrong. There are some very reputable and professional Adwords and Pay Per Click management companies out there, endlessly toiling away for the good of their happy clients who are experiencing the promised land of super-conversions whilst... [Read the full story]

Remember The Simple Mathematics Of Pay Per Click

October 31, 2009 · 1 Comment 

So, I speak to a lot of affiliates. Some have the PPC experience of a geriatric turtle whilst many are only just starting out with testing PPC campaigns, landing pages, ad-copy, and fine-tuning all of these factors as a means of maximising profit. With this in mind, one thing that never fails to amaze me is the frequency of which I speak to affiliates who have not thought through the raw figures of the campaign they are spending their hard-earned wonga on. Let me give you an example. I recently spoke to an affiliate who was using PPC to promote a videogame store on a sales campaign. The store paid... [Read the full story]

‘Buying Profits’ With PPC. An Example.

October 17, 2009 · 1 Comment 

Now, I don’t mean this to be mindless self-promotion (although it all helps of course!), but more of an attempt to get some SME’s to think a little more logically about the management of their Adwords campaigns with a short example. A small trader with a new e-commerce store came to me in February for a quote on managing his Adwords campaign. His store is a (very nicely designed) niche online gift store and he had been managing his own campaign with little success in terms of sales and he had got to that point (that I see very often) where his CTR was almost non-existent, his quality... [Read the full story]

New To Adwords? Some Broad Match Advice

October 11, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

I just thought I would do a quick post to hopefully save some of the more inexperienced Adwordsers (good word eh!) a world of pain and probably a wallet/purse full of cash. Today, I took over a new clients Adwords campaign which has been running for over 2 years. He owns a website related to the UK travel industry and has been dishing out a fairly significant monthly lump to drum up business. Upon inspection, he had added ALL of his keyphrases as ‘broad match’ and had not used ANY negative keyterms. This made me shudder. Why? Well, I spent some time delving into the reports of what... [Read the full story]

Affiliate Marketing Blog

15 Reasons Why Your Affiliate Campaign Isn’t Attracting Affiliates

January 27, 2010 · Leave a Comment 

We run the Profitistic affiliate network, and come into contact with many merchants/advertisers who are looking to start an affiliate marketing campaign, or who are looking to expand an existing one. They want to further their marketing reach, generate additional sales/leads, and make their brand as popular as possible, so one of the first questions we are often asked as a network is ‘how many affiliates will be promoting our website’? The answer of course, is that it very much depends on the merchant and the details of the campaign. So, we decided to have a little office chinwag and... [Read the full story]

Google Pull Back On Real-Time Listings, But Easy Traffic Opportunities Remain

January 6, 2010 · 2 Comments 

Google don’t make mistakes. General Custer made a mistake, Gerald Ratner made a mistake, and Tiger Woods has made loads of mistakes, but for Google, it is rare. Google’s ‘decision’ (assuming somebody actually made a decision) to rush-launch its new real-time listings was a mistake, but it has provided rich bounty for marketers looking for easy, free traffic. Google suddenly said to us all… forget all the hard work involved with link-building, and page optimisation. Just spam Twitter all day with popular keyphrases and you will dominate our most valuable keyterm pages. We... [Read the full story]

‘Tis (Nearly) The Season To Be Jolly, So Sort Your Creative Out!

November 5, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

Ho. Ho. Ho. Christmas is coming and the goose is becoming decidedly plump (and more than a tad worried). This is the time of year that Uncle John Lewis and Auntie Dorothy Perkins compete to see who’s stores can most closely resemble National Lampoon’s with decorations fit for a king (or Simon Cowell). They do this with good reason. Christmas is a time for consumer financial abandon (yes, just like our banks), where the pressures of spending mount and the credit cards reach melting point. The ‘Christmas Feel’ adds to this pressure (don’t think it’s about adding... [Read the full story]

Remember The Simple Mathematics Of Pay Per Click

October 31, 2009 · 1 Comment 

So, I speak to a lot of affiliates. Some have the PPC experience of a geriatric turtle whilst many are only just starting out with testing PPC campaigns, landing pages, ad-copy, and fine-tuning all of these factors as a means of maximising profit. With this in mind, one thing that never fails to amaze me is the frequency of which I speak to affiliates who have not thought through the raw figures of the campaign they are spending their hard-earned wonga on. Let me give you an example. I recently spoke to an affiliate who was using PPC to promote a videogame store on a sales campaign. The store paid... [Read the full story]

Affiliate Marketing: The Importance Of Merchant Communication

October 2, 2009 · 2 Comments 

As some of you know, Profitistic are a no-fees affiliate network, which means that merchants can sign up (if they meet our standards criteria) without paying set-up fees. This is great in that it enables merchants access to affiliate marketing without the usual barriers to entry, i.e huge fees. However, one downside to this is that due to the lack of fees, there can be less pressure on merchants to actively manage their campaigns which can lead to ongoing neglect and declining performance for all involved. Some merchants seem to believe that if they have a campaign sitting on a network it will... [Read the full story]

Social Media Blog

Google Pull Back On Real-Time Listings, But Easy Traffic Opportunities Remain

January 6, 2010 · 2 Comments 

Google don’t make mistakes. General Custer made a mistake, Gerald Ratner made a mistake, and Tiger Woods has made loads of mistakes, but for Google, it is rare. Google’s ‘decision’ (assuming somebody actually made a decision) to rush-launch its new real-time listings was a mistake, but it has provided rich bounty for marketers looking for easy, free traffic. Google suddenly said to us all… forget all the hard work involved with link-building, and page optimisation. Just spam Twitter all day with popular keyphrases and you will dominate our most valuable keyterm pages. We... [Read the full story]