Pay Per Click Marketing Centricity

New Search Engine for B2B Vertical?

I came across a new search engine called, VerticalSearch, - "the search engine for the b2b community." While Google, Yahoo and MSN currently garner over 90% of the search market, I think we'll start to see more and more vertical and local-specific search engines popping up.

VerticalSearch focuses specifically on the B2B community. From their About Us page:

To begin with, we have indexed over 4,000 of the B2B trade press sites, including many online -only publishers of B2B information. These sites offer a wealth of content and editorial expertise in the whole range of B2B verticals, from Agriculture to Mining, Construction to Transportation. Soon we will be adding tens of thousands of B2B company sites to augment the B2B trade press sites.

You can submit your business site to the VerticalSearch search engine in less than two minutes with an easy online form.

A primary objective of VerticalSearch is to resolve a common frustration B2B information providers encounter-a lack of top rankings in the large, generalized consumer search engine results. My question, though, is will this search engine be successful - even if they address this frustration for B2B information providers?

As small business owners, aren't most of us frustrated with how difficult it is to appear in the national top page rankings for the more popular keywords? Sure. But it's not the content publishers (us) who drive the revenue for the search engines. The business or end consumers who use the search engines to find our products, services or ideas drive the revenue - advertising revenue. And for these folks, it's all about search results relevancy.

For vertical search engines, like VerticalSearch, to be successful, they will have to build a better mousetrap - a search engine that will provide more relevant top 30 results than Google, Yahoo and MSN. That is a tall order.

Today, a quick search for "marketing consultant" on both Google and VerticalSearch shows the search engines are in different leagues right now. Google, for me, is much more relevant.

But it is still early for VerticalSearch. Perhaps they'll significantly improve their algorithms enough that searching through a much smaller web universe will allow them to compete with the big search engines - we'll see.

Local Search: Images Bring Your Yellow Pages Search to Life

According to a few recent surveys, over 30% of all commercial searches are categorized as local searches. That is, the searcher is limiting the search based on a geographic parameter such as city, zip code or neighborhood. The local search engine market should continue to grow rapidly in importance as MSN, Yahoo and Google all now provide local search capability.

A9 is taking an interesting step in local search by taking images of brick and mortar storefronts. If you search for "pizza" in Denver, CO, the results come back with a list of pizza restaurants and images of their store and surrounding area.

A9 has taken over 26 million images in 15 major cities. Someone actually drives a truck by each of the businesses with a camera mounted on top. Proprietary software and GPS automatically takes and catalogs the images.

This is pretty interesting stuff. What happens, though, if your business is located in a shopping mall or high-rise? They don't say. Perhaps you'll soon notice people walking around these locations with small cameras affixed to their heads. Maybe this will be a good business opportunity for someone to recruit the "mall walkers" who get their exercise by walking laps in the mall...

Website Design: What Do Prospects Really See on Your Website?

How does your web site look to prospects? Do they see what you want them to see? Is it effective at getting them to take the action you want them to take?

While surfing the other day, I ran across a really interesting company that helps you truly identify what your prospects see when they visit your site. The company is called Eyetools. They have taken a technology originally developed at Stanford University and adapted the system to literally track what your eyes see when viewing a web page.

Should I Use a One-Sided or Two-Sided Argument When Presenting My Product or Service?

When presenting to an individual or group, is it better to present only "your side" of why a customer should purchase your product or service or is it better to also present some of the drawbacks or concerns some people may have about your offering - items your competition might present?

According to research, it depends on the specific sales opportunity. In most sales situations, though, it is more credible to present a two-sided message. These messages, in general, are more credible because they acknowledge your product or service does have shortcomings. If it was "perfect," then competition would most likely not exist.

In fact, research suggests that it is worthwhile to disclaim at least one minor feature because it will increase the buyer's confidence that the seller is "telling the truth." The belief that the seller is telling the truth, then, creates credibility in the mind of the buyer and strengthens the positive aspects of the product or service even more. Two-sided messages are perceived as opposing the sales goal, therefore resulting in the belief that the sponsor is honest.

It may also be a good idea to refute the weakness or counterargument once it has been presented. For example, "I can tell you that there is a high likelihood that our product will cost more than others you may consider. The reason is we use the highest quality parts available to reduce the number of breakdowns and ensure a longer useful life for the product."

In general, two-sided messages are more effective when the audience is critical, skeptical or unfriendly (e.g. already use a competitor's products or services); is well educated; or is likely to hear opposing arguments from your competition. In addition, by offering some of your shortcomings, you also lower the customers' expectations for the product or service and lessen the likelihood of dissatisfaction.

One-sided messages are more effective when your audience is friendly (e.g. already use and like your product or service); already favor and/or agree with your message; or they are unlikely to hear counterarguments from others or your competition. If you face competition, then one-sided messages will usually lose credibility with your audience in the long-term.

The bottom line is that you should be honest about the shortcomings of your product or service. Buyers will perceive you as more trustworthy which is often more important than the positive or negative aspects of your solution.

by Rob Reed  web: www.terrakon.com   blog: www.marketingcentricity.com