LotusJump Blog

The month of June has been exciting for us here at LotusJump. One of the highlights was the Internet Retailer Conference Exhibition 2010 show, held June 8-11, in which we were able to exhibit our new SEO Designed for E-Commerce product. Our proprietary “Keyword Opportunity Engine” by LotusJump is designed to help e commerce companies maximize the value of existing, yet unknown, keywords rankings. We’re excited about this new and innovative product and the value it can provide for new clients as well as existing customers.

There are 5 powerful advantages to the Keyword Opportunity Engine:

• Intelligent, Automated Keyword Research

• Find and Focuses on the Most Profitable Keywords

• Supports Large E-Commerce Sites

• Analytics Integration

• Powerful Keyword-Level Ranking Reporting

Not only were we able to debut our latest product, we also had the opportunity to meet many partners and users of LotusJump. The show was a great opportunity to see how like minds are paving the way for better business opportunities. We felt eagerly accepted at the show and hope to attend IRCE 2011 to follow up with the latest LotusJump improvements.

Some LotusJump users have asked questions such as “Are certain task types are more important than others?” or “Should I focus my efforts on any single task?”. While such a questions are hard to answer with precision,  generally it’s best to mix things up and do a little bit of everything, that way you can monitor your incoming traffic (with Google Analytics) and see which techniques are bringing in greater amounts of traffic. [However, as a side note, this does not mean that because a certain link on a page is not bringing in traffic that it does not serve a purpose. Some links do not directly bring in traffic, but they can still help boost website visitors indirectly by helping to improve your keyword rankings in search engines]. So, with that being said, here are some reasons as to why you should balance your SEO tasks and put in time for each of the following tasks:

1) Content/Article Tasks - As the popular search marketing saying goes - “Content is king!” - so it’s extremely important that you dedicate time to creating new content that appeals to readers. The article/content generation tasks generally provide greater benefit (than other task types) to your search engine rankings, assuming that you can write a quality article that is unique and grammatically correct. Search engines love fresh content and since most article submission sites give writers the ability to choose customized anchor text (with a link back to your website), it makes this a win/win situation. Yes, articles can be painful to write and do take some time, but the value they provide for your website and search engine rankings is far too great to pass over.

2) Buzz Tasks - Buzz tasks are great tasks to work on because they direct you to blogs that are talking about your products/services in real time (almost). Aside from leaving a relevant comment with a link to your site on these blogs, you also have the opportunity to interact with the blog owner and potentially develop a relationship that could lead to bigger and better things, such as a guest post or even sidebar link. You’d be surprised as to how many bloggers out there that are willing to help people out, granted you show them some respect/praise and add value to their site.

3) Q&A Tasks - The Q&A tasks are probably one of the best tasks that can lead to conversions. People have questions about certain products & services and if you can point them in the right direction and offer them some useful advice, they are usually more inclined to make a purchase or, at the very least, investigate what your company has to offer. Since most Q&A tasks are time-sensitive, be sure to stay on top of these and answer them as soon as you can, especially if it’s to prevent other competitors from stealing potential clients.

4) Social Profile Tasks - Social media tasks are very important in these latter time since this is the new direction taken by modern day communication. More and more people are getting involved on sites like Facebook, Linked-In, etc. and there are just too many eyeballs to pass up by not creating things such as a company Facebook page. Social profile tasks may not provide the best SEO juice, but they do help promote branding and can even go viral, particularly with comical material or generous giveaways.

5) Directories - Directory tasks are nice because they hardly take any time to complete and some of the more prominent directories (such as Yahoo’s & BotW) can help boost search engine rankings. Even though there aren’t a lot of people who use directories nowadays, they are still worth spending a few minutes to knock them out and help increase your online visibility.

Shopster, a highly recognizable merchant network dealing with drop shipping, has become the latest partner of LotusJump and we are very excited to have them on board. If you are interested in partnering with LotusJump to earn some extra revenue and help increase your clients online visibility, feel free to check out the LotusJump partner page to learn more.

Because of the grinding nature of linkbuilding, there are several tools (like LotusJump) that exist to automate aspects of the linkbuilding process. However, it’s widely acknowledged that automation can only take you so far before you’re required to get involved. However, what if that’s not the case? While it may be a slight case of apples to oranges, let’s take a look at how search engines do it.

Take Google for example. A user comes to Google with a human request, such as a question. Google takes that information and runs it through an algorithm that pulls data from an index that was created by another extremely complex algorithm. It then returns what the algorithm tells it was the best response to the input.

Now imagine taking that approach with linkbuilding. You give the engine some human information – the URL you’re building links to, and perhaps some keyword data. The engine goes out and looks at its index of sites, paying attention to both on-page and off-page indicators in order to determine each site’s value, personality, and niche. Then it returns a list of best matches, along with an algorithmically determined link request email for each result, complete with an algorithmically determined email scraped off the site, and some site-specific language. Then, all the user needs to do is accept the result and the software automatically sends. Far-fetched? Perhaps. But then again, an examination of how search technology has advanced is instructive and encouraging.

One gripe that will doubtless be made is that this is an imperfect system. The algorithm won’t always get it right. I contend, however, that while this may be the case, it’s much like a search engine. You don’t get the result you want every time you do a search, but it works often enough to make it worth it.

How big a role do you think automation will play in the future of SEO?

Our development team has been hard at work coming up with some pretty sweet new LotusJump features. We’ll soon be integrating a hot social app that may or may not rhyme with “sitter.”

Stay tuned for update

A special thanks to BarStoolsandChairs.com for letting us get to know you a little better on this week’s Friday Spotlight.  BarStoolsandChairs.com specializes in custom upholstered commercial furniture - take a look at their site, their stuff is pretty awesome!

1. What was the inspiration behind your company?We come from a background in commercial furniture.  We believe that commercial furniture is far superior to residential furniture.  We decided to team up with manufactures of commercial furniture and sell it online to the general public.  We offer items like custom logo bar stools and floor mounted bar stools that can be hard to find for the typical residential consumer.

2. What company achievement are you most proud of?
We sold 500 logo bar stools to a manufacturer of high end acoustic guitars.  I am really into music so it was a real treat working with one of America’s greatest guitar companies.

3. Why do you think internet marketing for your business is so important?
About 80% of our order come over the Internet.  We don’t believe in waiting for people to come to our website.  We do everything we can to make sure that we are found when people are looking.  Without Intenet maketing, we would have no customers.

4. Would you like to share a creative marketing tip for other small business owners?
I have found that creating blogs and linking blog entries to the products in my retail site really helps my organic rankings.

Thanks BarStoolsandChairs.com for letting us spotlight you this week! Leave a comment if you think you’re worthy of a Friday spotlight, and tell us why!

We’re excited this week to spotlight perhaps our most delicious LotusJump user,  Brady’s Beef!  Located in a small mountain valley in the Southeastern corner of Idaho, John Brady and his wife Karen are now the fourth generation of Brady’s on the farm and pride themselves on the superior quality and distinct flavor of their naturally raised grass-fed beef.

What was the inspiration behind your company?
The Brady family has been raising livestock in southeastern Idaho for four generations. Animals raised naturally, grazing in open pastures produce healthier meat. BradysBeef.com was started to help us reach urban and suburban consumers looking to improve their diets with healthier food.

What company achievement are you most proud of?
We take pride in educating consumers about the health benefits of grass-finished beef as well as hearing our customers rave about the improved flavor.

Why do you think internet marketing for your business is so important?
Many consumers are looking for healthier options in their diet at an affordable price. Buying direct from the producer provides better prices and consumers can trust their food because they know where and how it was raised.

Would you like to share a creative marketing tip for other small business owners?
With grass-fed beef we have found that beef tasting events (similar to a wine tasting) allow us to showcase the different flavor exhibited by Brady’s Beef versus grocery store products. With product on hand customers can buy right away.

Thanks Brady’s Beef for letting us get to know you a little better and leaving us a little hungrier!   Leave a comment if you think you’re worthy of a Friday spotlight, and tell us why!

We’re excited about this week’s LotusJump spotlight because let’s be honest, who doesn’t love free things? Check out ILoveFreeThings.com for this week’s loot of free things!

We asked I Love Free Things what the inspiration was behind their company, this is what they had to say:

I Love Free Things was always a hobby to me. The real inspiration began last year when I received feedback from my subscribers saying that they like what I do and my service helps them, especially during an economic depression. It gave me a boost and some new ideas to grow my service into something bigger. ILoveFreeThings.com is still a growing baby to me.

When asked what achievement they were most proud of, I Love Free Things said:

At some point I realized that I was really helping people who wanted to save money or who were going through a financial crisis. Helping others is a great feeling and achievement for I Love Free Things.

We asked I Love Free Things why Internet marketing is so important for their company, this is what they had to say:

Internet marketing is very important not only for I Love Free Things, but for any offline or online company. The wheel will not start spinning without the first push, you’ll also need to constantly give it a small pushes to keep it spinning. Without internet marketing, less people would know about I Love Free Things.

We gave I Love Free Things a chance to give a “Creative Marketing Tip of the Day”, this is what they said:

If you want your business to grow online, then you must use every social networking tool to connect with your customers. For instance, Mr. Bob is always on Facebook, but he just doesn’t get the twitter thing. If your business is on twitter and not on the Facebook, then Mr. Bob will probably never know about your company and/or would not be able to share it with his friends. Talk to your visitors using tools they use.

Thanks I Love Free Things for letting us get to know you a little more! Leave a comment if you think you’re worthy of a Friday spotlight, and tell us why!

Been thinking about launching an email marketing campaign?  Check out Contactology, our LotusJump spotlight of the week, for your email marketing needs.

We asked Contactology what the inspiration was behind their company, this is what they had to say:

Contactology was founded in 2002 as a web development company.  Around this time email marketing was emerging as an effective marketing channel, and our clients requested a powerful tool to assist in driving revenue growth through email.  We responded by developing an Email Manager, which would later be branded as Contactology.

The email marketing and online survey component of our business grew quickly, and within four years, the business model shifted from service-based company to a software as a service model.

At Contactology, the core of who we are is in the service we provide.  Our application provides sophisticated functionality at a reasonable price.  Our people deliver by providing strategic and tactical advise to maximize the value of email marketing.  Contactology is more than a powerful product – we are a team dedicated to helping our clients achieve a high return on investment.

When asked what achievement they were most proud of, Contactology said:

Our organic growth is a source of pride for our entire staff.  We bootstrapped our business and have achieved 100% revenue growth in 2007 and 2008.  Our revenue growth continues to accelerate in 2009 despite the recession.  We believe this is in part to our philosophy of offering enterprise level features at reasonable prices.

In addition to our growth model, our aggressive product improvements continue to delight our customers.  Our philosophy of listening and responding to the needs of our clients is responsible for the development of our online survey module, and our EasyCast add-on which allows customers to send email marketing from Outlook or any other email client while still harnessing the powers of our mail servers and tracking. Our development efforts always are a direct response from the needs of our clients.

Continuously building new solutions within our product that meet our customers’ needs is a source of great pride and inspiration for the Contactology team.

We asked Contactology why Internet marketing is so important for their company, this is what they had to say:

As a software as a service company in the technology industry, Internet marketing  has allowed us to effectively target and acquire customers in need of email marketing services.  It has consistently provided us with the highest return on investment for customer acquisition.

We gave Contactology a chance to give a “Creative Marketing Tip of the Day”, this is what they said:

We would recommend creative use of triggered emails. This allows you to send personalized, relevant content to customers and potential customers based on events specific to them. For instance, you can have emails automatically sent on a client’s birthday. This helps cement the relationship – a cornerstone of small business best practices

Thanks Contactology for letting us get to know you a little more!  Leave a comment if you think you’re worthy of a Friday spotlight, and tell us why!

We’re excited to spotlight our LotusJumper of the week MODassic Marketing, a Texas internet marketing firm, who has been using LotusJump in-house to help with their own internet marketing efforts.

We asked MODassic Marketing what the inspiration was behind their company, this is what they had to say:

MODassic Marketing is all based on the idea of “balance”.  Our name comes from combining the words modern and classic, an approach we take in both design and the marketing strategies we utilize.  We combine proven traditional marketing theories with new technologies. Additionally we provide small businesses with a balanced approach to marketing.

When asked what achievement they were most proud of, MODassic Marketing said:

We recently produced an online video and viral marketing campaign for a client at  www.Texaplex.com The video uses viral marketing as a way to solve the current economic crisis. We all hear and talk about the “bad” news and that just makes it worse because we become hesitant and don’t spend. However this project gets the good news out there and despite what people hear and think there is a lot of good news, especially here in Texas. The response has been overwhelming.

We asked MODassic Marketing why Internet marketing is so important for their company, this is what they had to say:

The internet lets you segment and narrow in on the most specific of demographics and reach your perfect target audience. Because of this, small businesses are now able to compete on the a level that was once reserved only for large corporations who could afford massive media buys.

We gave MODassic Marketing a chance to give a “Creative Marketing Tip of the Day”, this is what they said:

“Perfection in design is achieved not when you have nothing more to add, but rather when you have nothing more to take away” - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Thanks MODassic Marketing for letting us get to know you a little more!  Leave a comment if you think you’re worthy of a Friday spotlight, and tell us why!