The secret world of Affiliate Marketing

5 December 2011 - Digital

Many companies and a lot of internet users in the UK have no idea the world of Affiliate Marketing exists, what its purpose is or that it is a multi-million pound industry that could seriously increase you company’s turnover. It shouldn’t be ignored by any online business looking to increase its visitors, sales and profits.

The principles of Affiliate Marketing are simple – you get as many online marketeers and website owners as possible to promote your brand or company and then if they generate you some worthwhile business, you give them some commission (usually per sale). They make money and you make lots of money – everyone’s a winner, it’s a no-brainer really. Sound easy? Well here’s some additional information that you need to know:

Affiliate Networks house the Affiliate Programmes, there’s normally an up-front cost accrued for the set-up of your affiliate programme plus the Affiliate Network normally takes a percentage of each sale and often a monthly management fee too. Affiliate Networks are like a regulating body, at one end they look after all of the merchant programmes, at the other end they look after all of the affiliates signed up to their programmes and in between is their tracking and reporting interface. Both merchants (you) and affiliates need a transparent way of tracking who generated sales, where they came from, what they were for and how much commission to pay.

Affiliate Marketing has been around for well over ten years in its present form, albeit a lot less competitive and lots easier for affiliates to make money with in the past. In the early years ‘bedroom affiliates’ could become millionaires overnight, well… not exactly overnight but it only took one booming Christmas for an Affiliate promoting that year’s must-have item to become very wealthy. Especially as the term ‘bedroom affiliate’ was coined to basically mean internet-geeks sat in their bedroom on their computer with no overheads, no staff and hardly any outgoings. In the world of Affiliate Marketing, millionaires can be made without the need to speak to anyone in person or deal with any of the trials and tribulations fully blown businesses encounter on a daily basis.

Many huge retailers use Affiliate Marketing as a promotional channel to add incremental revenue to their business. Companies such as Amazon, Argos, Sky, Dell and many others understand the full value of a successful Affiliate Marketing campaign. In recent years, Affiliate Marketing has evolved massively and is now a far more technical process designed to ensure that businesses are getting value for money and both merchants and affiliates are playing by the rules. Nowadays, affiliates are often companies employing large numbers of staff with an annual turnover in the millions.

Some businesses steer clear as they don’t fully understand the world of Affiliate Marketing and are scared of getting ‘ripped-off’ and indeed, some merchants have had their fingers burnt in the past. As with any money-making venture, there is always going to be some unscrupulous individuals looking to take advantage and the Affiliate Marketing world is no different. There are many loopholes and pitfalls that could lead to a company being exploited unless they know 100% what they are doing. The terms ‘brand bidding’, ‘cookie dropping’ and many others may sound unfamiliar to you but these are practices that could end up costing you serious amounts of money and lining the pockets of a savvy but unprincipled affiliate.

Fortunately there are agencies such as us who know the potential pitfalls and dark areas of Affiliate Marketing and can be your guiding light to success. Our Online Marketing team have over 10 years of experience of the industry from both sides of the Affiliate Marketing fence. The Affiliate Marketing arena generates millions for companies who use it wisely so if you are looking to grow your online presence, generate more sales or just want some more information, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

The Pioneering Years of the World Wide Web

2 December 2011 - Digital

These days we couldn’t imagine life without the World Wide Web.  If it disappeared overnight the civilised world would come to a grinding halt, and a few of us would be out of a job. Yet, it has only been around for a relatively short time.  So us Digital bods at HROC thought it would be a good idea to give you a very brief history of the pioneering years of the World Wide Web 1989-2003.

March 1989

You can probably trace the World Wide Web’s roots back to the invention of the first electric telegraph in 1831, the fax in 1843, the first telephone call in 1914 and the Sputnik launch in 1957. But the Web really started in March 1989 when British born Tim Berners-Lee, who was employed as a computer scientist at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland wrote a paper entitled ‘Information Management: A Proposal’.  This document was to transform the world as we knew it.

The ‘Proposal’ outlined a plan to manage information by using a ‘hypertext’ method of linking related documents together over a computer network.

It read:

• Remote access across networks
• Cross-system compatibility (called “Heterogeneity” in the proposal)
• No centralisation – allowing nodes to be created where they were needed
• Access to existing data
• Bookmarks (called “Private Links”)
• And so on…

As you can see this ‘Proposal’ is extremely similar to the method that links the pages on the Web today.

October 1990

In October 1990, Berners-Lee teamed up with Belgium born Robert Cailliau and they set about working on a prototype entitled the ‘WorldWideWeb’ (the name was later changed to incorporate the spaces between the words). The pages on this system could be viewed and edited using the ‘WorldWideWeb Browser/Editor’ (this name was also later changed to Nexus). At this time the information on the Web was strictly text only, the browser was not capable of displaying images.

February 1993

The Web remained in this text only format until February 1993 when American born NCSA  developer, Marc L. Andreessen, programmed and released the Mosaic Web Browser for Unix’s X-Windows platform. This browser had the capability to show graphics on the World Wide Web for the very first time.

Early 1994

As interest in the Web increased, NETCOM joined the fray by releasing a programme named Netcruiser (originally known as Internet Xpress) for the Microsoft Windows 3.1 Operating System. This programme allowed users to gain access to the Web and contained a browser very similar to the Mosaic, further enhancing the Web’s graphical capabilities. In March of 1994 some NCSA employers, including Marc L. Andreesen, left the company to form Mosaic Communications Corp. (this was later changed to Netscape Communications).

Late 1994

Late in 1994 the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) was founded by Tim Berners-Lee at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Laboratory for Computer Science (MIT/LCS) with the aid of the European Commission and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which had been a pioneer in the development of the actual Internet.

The intention of W3C was to ensure compatibility and agreement among industry members in the adoption of new World Wide Web standards.

1994 to 2003

During this time versions of ‘Hyper Text Mark Up Language’ (HTML) were developed and released, and finally XML and XHTML 1.0 were unleashed on the Web.

This period also saw the war between Netscape and Microsoft to deliver the ultimate Web browser experience.  This hotly contested battle was ultimately won by Microsoft, who bundled their browser with their dominant Windows Operating System.

The Web continued to grow in popularity and more and more people gained access  to the Internet. Even today, many people do not understand that the Internet and World Wide Web are actually two different things.

December 2003

On December 31st, 2003, Tim Berners-Lee was awarded a CBE for his pioneering work in creating the World Wide Web.

The World Wide Web has had a major influence and affect on millions of people all around the globe and it all came about from a paper written in 1989 by a man born in London.

Glossary of SEO terms (Part 1)

29 November 2011 - Digital

The process of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is full of abbreviations and acronyms, which allow us SEOers to discuss more complex terms easily – a simple acronym such as ‘SERP’ is a lot easier (and quicker) to say than the mouthful that is ‘Search Engine Results Page’.

It is all well and good that the people in the know use these SEO terms, but if we start spouting these terms during meetings and in emails how on earth do you know what we are talking about?

Unless you have an understanding of SEO, all of the terms and acronyms will almost certainly go over your head, and if they do, please tell us! We will be more than happy to explain what they mean, and please don’t think we are trying to hide behind them and baffle you with words that have no substance.

To give you a quick heads up, below is a list of five SEO terms, expressions and acronyms (and their meanings) that regularly crop up when SEO is being discussed. I will be bringing you a new set of SEO terms on a regular basis so keep your eyes peeled for the next update!

What is Alt Text (Alt Tag)?

This is a shortened term that stands for ‘alternative text’ and is used to describe what appears in an image on your website, and appears when you hover your cursor over the image. It is important that the alt text used for an image accurately describes what is being depicted as software for visually impaired users of the internet also read aloud this text to describe to the user what is depicted on screen.

What are Backlinks (Inbound Links)?

You will often hear SEO specialists telling you how important these are for your website – and they’d be right. These are links from another site on the internet linking to a specific web page on your site or your entire site. Generally, the more backlinks you have, the higher you will rank (but it’s not always that simple!).

What is a Click Through Rate (CTR)?

Commonly used when discussing Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns, this is a measurement of how many times a link that has appeared on a search engine results page (SERP) has been clicked. If a link to your site has appeared on a results page 100 times (100 impressions) and has received 20 clicks then the Click through rate is 20%. The higher the click through rate the more people are seeing your website and therefore increasing the possibility of a sale (conversion).

What is a Description Tag (Meta Description Tag)?

Similar to an alt tag (above), a meta description tag describes what is featured on the web page that it is connected to. The meta description tag also appears on a search engine results page below the title link. Meta description tags are an indicator to search engines as to what information a page is offering.

What is Google Analytics?

This is a web based tool that allows an SEO specialist to view the statistics of visitors to your site. It can track, amongst other things, how many visitors your site has had, how many pages they viewed and how long they spent on the site. It can also aid us in identifying keywords that visitors are searching for when visiting your site. An essential tool when optimising and tracking visitors to your site.

If you require an SEO specialist to help get your site ranking higher and attracting more visitors, or for a further, detailed description for any of the terms above, please give us a call and we will be more than happy to help.

Keep a look out for the Glossary of SEO terms (Part 2) coming soon!

How to write a corporate blog post

25 November 2011 - Public Relations

Blogging, short for web logging, has taken the internet by storm. Most websites you look at nowadays will incorporate some sort of blog, even if it’s just a link to a company’s Twitter page – Twitter after all is a micro blogging website. Blogs have come to be so important to what a web reader reads online, that Google has included a blog search facility so that searchers can easily search the Internet for blog posts they want to read. Similarly blog directories, such as Technorati, have been created to meet the demands of the contemporary internet user.

Unfortunately, what a lot of businesses don’t know is that there is a right way and a wrong way to blog.

There are many reasons as to why a business should have a blog , but the key benefits blogging brings to a business, are improved SEO, demonstration of thought leadership and to illustrate that the company is in the know about contemporary issues. With these in mind, below are 4 tips that will ensure you’re blogging correctly.

1. Using keywords

Thorough keyword research can mean the difference between being found and not being found by search engines on the Internet. A keyword or a key phrase is what a searcher will type into a search engine, such as Google, to find out more about it. For a business this will be the product or service that they sell. There are many tools you can use to conduct your keyword strategy, of the free ones Google keyword tool is one of the best.

Keywords should be used in the following ways in a blog post:

In the URL

As the blog title

As post headings and subheadings (H1 and H2 tags)

As image ALT text

As linking text

In bold

2. News worthy story

Just as with a press release, you must make sure your blog post has a story to tell. Your readers will only read your blog posts if they find your content is interesting and relevant to them. To do this well you need to learn to listen. ‘Listening’, or reading the conversations your audience, or the readers you want to attract to your blog, are having online – in forums and other social channels – gives you an indication of the type of content that appeals to them. You should use your blog post to discuss important contemporary issues in your industry and to illustrate your thought leadership in important topics to your readers. This not only shows your subscribers that you are aware of latest trends and innovations, but also that you’re aware of current news stories. Above all, it is important to produce content that is interesting, helpful and engaging for the reader.

3. Share-ability

If you have a story that could go viral, make sure it has the ability to. In other words, make sure you’ve allowed it be shared on other social channels by including share buttons. Add calls to actions to the end of your post to encourage your readers to take action and share or interact with you through your post. Sharing not only promotes your content, further spreading your company’s online message, but also encourages other readers and bloggers to link to your content. Inbound links are one of the most important aspects of SEO, so you want to try and promote receiving them as much as possible

4. Little and often

Also important to search engine rankings, is fresh content. This makes blogging regularly a vital activity. Search engines think that fresh content is more likely to be more relevant and so more useful to a searcher; therefore they prefer newer blog posts. Ultimately, the number and quality of inbound links will still determine to a large extent your ranking position, but publishing fresh content certainly helps.

These are the issues we regard highly when it comes to corporate blogging, what are the tips that you would suggest? Tweet them to us as @hroc_pr, we’d love to know what you think!

The 5 Golden Rules for a successful media tour

18 November 2011 - Public Relations

The media tour is a vital tool in the arsenal of any PR practitioner; helping to develop relationships with journalists and putting a face to the email signature. Whilst a good media tour can secure coverage a bad one can be professionally fatal for you and your client.

With this in mind HROC PR has come up with a list of 5 Golden Rules for surviving a media tour unscathed:

1. Don’t pre-book appointments longer than a week in advance. It’s difficult tying an editor down and booking a meeting more than a week in advance leaves you open to schedule changes and cancellations. By booking it within a week the editors schedule is more defined and it also keeps it fresh in an editor’s mind.

2. Always check when an editor is on deadline and never try to book a meeting around this. If they get the slightest hint that the magazine may be delayed hitting the press, then your meeting will be the first thing to go out the window. By checking little details like this you’re showing an appreciation for their timetable, which will curry favour with the editor.

3. Ensure you take a note pad and pen. It sounds simple but often the little details are overlooked. Failure to have such basic tools will reflect badly on you and your abilities.

4. Put all relevant material on a USB stick for the editor. The average editor’s desk is often awash with pieces of paper and by taking printed releases you will only add to the pile. Not only can you include all press releases but you can also add all relevant high res images, which can often be crucial to the success of a release. Make sure you use a client or own company branded stick, as each time they use it they will think of you.

5. Bribe editors with coffee and/or pastries. Shameless as it may seem this is possibly the most important rule of media tour club and will immediately soften an editor to your cause. Make sure you find out what they like in advance though – give a latte to a cappuccino drinker and you’re on the back foot from the off.

Ultimately, the media tour is a great way to meet an editor face to face and let them get to know you and, more importantly, know your client. Good relationships built on the back of these meetings could mean it’s plain sailing for the coming year but bad ones could leave you up a certain PR creek without a paddle.