陽光馬戲團

許多人所謂的行銷，就是將一任務達成即可，像關鍵字廣告，就只要努力的主要關鍵字、延伸關鍵字找出來，然後撰寫出引人注目的主題與描述，獲得的點擊越高，就是所謂的成功；很多人做SEO就只知道不斷的購買連結、在網站上面放置關鍵字，獲得搜尋引擎第一頁的排名，就是所謂的成功，但網路行銷並不是指單一的行銷管道，也不是通路打通後，客戶就會完全買的你單，到底電子商務網站的"效益"要從那些地方來看，就讓Mr.King來告訴你

本文開始

很多不同的網站管理者(經理)，對於行銷結果的評估，都是憑藉著自己的感覺來審視網站各方的數據，但這些管理者通常沒有一個明確的公式來評估網站的效益，很多人都是看流量、點擊率、回客率，但這些距離真正的"交易成功"還是遠遠差了一大步。

參考文獻

研究這門學問，最重要的就是所說的觀念、技術都必須要有出處，但行銷這部分，並不像技術有絕對的比較與優劣，所以很多學者透過各種方式要找出其中的準則，這是Mr.King在(MEASURING THE PERFORMANCE OF ECOMMERCE WEBSITES )這篇文獻中，找到這些知識。

研究方法

作者將網站的指標分為三大類，分別為usage(網站使用情形)、Financial benefits(經濟效益)、owner satisfaction(業主滿意)三種，並且根據之前18篇研究網站效益的文獻，將其所有使用的指標都找出來，並製作成問卷，再以問卷的方式詢問網站管理者的意見，並針對結果做統計。

研究結果

作者找出14個所有網站管理者公認最重要的指標分別為：

• usage(網站使用情形)
  • repeat visitors(回客率)
  • relevance(相關性)
  • stickiness(黏性)
  • navigation tracking(導覽追蹤)
  • user environment(使用者環境)
  • reach(到達綠)
• Financial benefits(經濟效益)
  • return on investment(投資報酬率)
  • online sales(網站銷售數)
  • profit from website(網站所帶來的營利)
  • cost reduction(成本下降)
• owner satisfaction(業主滿意)
  • competitive advantage(競爭優勢)
  • number of customers(註冊會員數)
  • search engine rankings(搜尋排名)
  • overall performance(網站整體表現)

網站使用情形的影響

usage這塊是最便於取得的資訊，因為網路上有許多的流量分析、統計工具如：Google analytics, LiveSTATS.XSP, and CMS400.NET，這些工具都會協助擷取網站的瀏覽數據，與簡單的分析，進而計算出網站的黏性(stickiness)，黏性與回客率成正比關係，這些也都是網站管理者不能忽視的問題。

SEO對於網站效益的影響?

根據以上的結果，搜尋排名(SEO)是業主滿意的一種指標，因為管理者比較想知道的是"整體"的效益，透過搜尋排名(SEO)，可以傳達給使用者的是品牌印象與品牌信任度，所以要做網路行銷SEO這個步驟是絕對不能夠少的。

只做SEO夠不夠?

當然是不夠，假如網站只做了SEO，即使業主很滿意，好好嘉獎SEO廠商或工程師的同時，經濟效益的報表卻是一片慘綠，這中間一定是出了甚麼問題，例如：因為搜尋排名而進入的訪客，卻找不到他想要的東西?有找到想要的東西，卻發現比同業貴上許多，以後不敢再來?找到我要的東西，且價格合理，但….訪客不知道如何購買? 這些都是可能的因數，而這些問題皆可以透過以上的Usage指標數據來推測出來。

我現在網站SEO排名很好也有流量，但還是乏人問津怎麼辦?

通常造成這結果的因素很多，除了需要的人本來就較少之外，還有就是選購的關鍵字力道不夠(這種往往讓SEO商賺翻了)、網站的使用性有很大的問題或者是網站所提供的訊息不足，要想解決這些問題，相信好的SEO商都會協助處裡的，所以使用SEO服務的客戶們也要把握你們的權利，所謂的行銷顧問公司，拿出點真本事吧!!

看完了這篇文章，好好的檢視一下網站的指標吧!!

Related posts:

1. [SEO教學,SEM] 硬是要SEO誠徵實驗對象! Mr.King即將發表一碩士論文，論文的理念與架構已經差不多了，現在就差一個實驗對象 因為之前經手過的SEO專案都不太符合我的需求，不然就是跟我實驗的流程不太一樣，重點是時間點上有差異(如果明年提出架構，實驗的時間隔了一整年好像也不太好)，所以Mr.King只好重新找實驗對象了，這次的實驗是免費的，但是有一些固定成本可能還是要貴公司支付(如：站外連結、PPC收費)，這些支出會依造貴公司想要提升的需求而定，這次的服務包含：  網站架構優化 包括原始碼優化(教育訓練)、使用性優化 網站內容優化 關鍵字放置(教育訓練)、主題配置(教育訓練)，文案撰寫(教育訓練) 關鍵字挑選(教育訓練) SEO操作(教育訓練) PPC操作(教育訓練) 效益分析...

 

SEO就是所謂的 Search engine optimization ，也就是搜尋引擎最佳化，經過SEO的網頁可以在搜尋引擎中自然獲得極佳的名次，被點選的機率必然大增，您的業務量及訪客也將大幅的增加。

相信您一定上過搜尋引擎，也就是Yahoo以及Google搜尋引擎，當您在搜尋引擎打上您要搜尋的關鍵字時，搜尋引擎就會在第一頁當中列出大約十個的搜尋結果，以及在上方及右邊剩餘空間內打上付費的網路行銷廣告。

所有的網站空間（虛擬主機商）都會像您推銷Yahoo或是Google搜尋引擎的關鍵字廣告，他們告訴您要讓您的商品接觸到客戶就一定要用他門的關鍵字廣告服務，他們向您推銷所謂的Google Adsense或是Yahoo關鍵字廣告，他們絕口不提什麼SEO，為什麼？

因為如果你SEO成功了，排名於您想要的關鍵字第一名，您將永遠不用付一毛錢廣告網路行銷費並且享受巨大的利益！

所有的網站設計公司（網頁設計商）都會像您推銷SEO服務並且收費昂貴，他們告訴您SEO有多好多厲害但是就是不肯告訴您SEO的秘密到底是什麼。為什麼？

因為他們知道SEO是一種不可告人的秘密，SEO是網路時代致勝的超級武器，掌握了SEO就等於掌握了巨大的利益！

SEO奧妙的地方就是，人人都有一套理論但個個沒有辦法證明誰的理論正確，為什麼？因為你只是你，你只是一個人，你沒有辦法進Google以及Yahoo當上搜尋引擎研發工程師，所以你當然沒有辦法證明誰的理論正確。那既然沒有辦法證明理論？那本文章還有需要討論下去嗎，又討論的結果又能證明什麼呢？

答案是可以！因為當您愈來愈理解SEO的原理之後，您就會了解到，他們還能玩什麼！逃不SEO達人的手掌心！

SEO - 從零開始，化身為Google工程師

SEO

搜尋引擎SEO的原點 - 知己知彼 百戰百勝

問問你自己：你到哪裡搜尋？Yahoo還是Google搜尋引擎? 再問問你自己：他們怎麼決定搜尋的排名順序？您可能要說了，我又不在那上班，怎麼會知道？說的好，那我再問你：那如果您在Google上班，你是不是就會知道了呢？您可能又要說了，應該有很多種因素吧，誰會知道？

說到這裡，其實我已經告訴您答案了。搜尋引擎要搜尋的東西就是網頁（或是網站），搜尋網站就像是選美比賽，評審訂出了比賽的規則，美貌佔幾成，知識佔幾成，靈機應變佔幾成，再把每一位佳麗的分數乘上每個變項的比重數，得到一個總分後，再排出名次來。因此我們可以說：網站就是佳麗，我們把網站所有的變項挑出來，每一個變項都做到最好（最佳化），那不管搜尋引擎每一個變項的比重有所不同，結果必定八九不離十。

列出一個網頁的所有變項，再盡可能的最佳化每一個項目，就能達到搜尋引擎最佳化的目的。

在列出所有SEO所要注意的變項之前，我們先告訴您一個觀念。

搜尋引擎(gugo)變項最佳化就是一場諜對諜的戰爭，他有著以下的大原則：

1. 大家都知道，平凡人愈能想到的變項，他佔權重較低，平凡人愈想不到的，權重愈高。

2. 操之在己的權重低，操之在人的權重高。

這麼簡單的原則，看過了就知道不稀奇，但你自己是否想得到呢？這就是為什麼網路上眾多的SEO高手們都不願意透露這個不能說的秘密了，因為唯有真正動動腦的人，才能獲得最後的成功。

SEO - 所有變項探討

拆穿搜尋引擎優化 - 所有變項一一曝光

本章節進入SEO的真正核心，也就是重點來了，我們要列出目前所有想得到的SEO變項，但我們不會將這些變項列出高低的排名，為什麼？

因為列了也沒辦法證明哪一項對SEO比較重要，但保證只要您一一的加以最佳化，必定能夠大幅提升您網站針對某個關鍵字的排名

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SEO變項 1/13

網頁內容出現關鍵字

說明： 對於初學者的SEO這個是再明顯不過的了，但也是很多人唯一能夠想到的一項。要出現在搜尋某個關鍵字的結果當中，基本上必須網頁內容有出現該關鍵字，為什麼？因為您用的是Google與Yahoo耶。網路時代最巨大的兩個巨人，要是您搜尋某個字結果出來的網頁沒有那個字，他們就不配做搜尋引擎的龍頭了也不會有那麼多的網友愛用這些搜尋引擎了。

於Google搜尋"FTP SERVER"的結果之一，看到了嗎？"FTP SERVER" 關鍵字確實出現於網頁之中

在實際執行最佳化的時候要注意，關鍵字出現的次數確實會影響排名的順序，整個網頁出現的關鍵字次數愈多者的排名有高過低者的趨勢，但要注意關鍵字出現以自然語文的頻率為佳。若過度人造關鍵字的插入，有可能被歸類為作弊。

難度：極低 一般人認知度：極高

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SEO變項 2/13

網頁標頭(HEAD)內出現關鍵字

說明： 現代人使用的DreamWeaver或是FrontPage這類所見即所得的網頁設計軟體，大大的降低了網頁設計的難度，因此很多人都會自己設計網頁了，確還不知道什麼是HEAD網頁標頭，網頁的原始碼中最前的一段就是HEAD，其中有多個項目內可以出現您想要SEO攻略的關鍵字。我們直接列出原始碼供您抄襲，是您最佳化成功最快速的好工具。

<html>
<head>
<title>SEO - 搜尋引擎SEO排名不能說的秘密</title>
<meta name="description" content="SEO">
<meta name="keywords" content="SEO">

上面的<title>是網頁的標題，這裡一定要出現您的關鍵字。
上面的<meta name="description".. 是網頁的說明，這裡一定要出現您的關鍵字。
上面的<meta name="keywords".. 是網頁的關鍵字宣告，這裡一定要出現您的關鍵字，可以用,分隔多個關鍵字。

這三個項目還有一個奧秘的可能性，凡是做字串的比對，我們要知道，在句子的一開頭就比對正確，那通常是高相關性，因此例如在<title>當中，我們建議把您要最佳化的關鍵字放在最先頭

佳：SEO - 搜尋引擎SEO排名不能說的秘密
差：搜尋引擎 SEO 排名不能說的秘密 - SEO

於IE中按下滑鼠右鍵，就可檢視網頁的原始碼

另外在比對的學問中，還有一項常被人所忽略的細節，就是所謂的100%穩合與部份穩合，我們在網頁說明項目中打上 "SEO" 以及 "SEO 最佳化"，在對於一個搜尋SEO字串的搜尋來說有什麼差別？很簡單，前者是100%穩合後者是30%穩合，您認為哪一個會排在前面呢？很顯然是百分一百穩合的具有優先性。

關於網頁的description也就是網頁說明，當您打上適當長度的文字的時候，將有可能被Google或Yahoo採用為網站搜尋結果的搜尋文字，因此這幾行字將是吸引網有點閱您的網站的非常重要的廣告文字。要好好把握，但若採用如SEO這麼短的網頁說明時，一般是不會被用於搜尋結果的說明項目，搜尋引擎將會自動由你的網頁內容文字來產生網站說明，這樣將會產生出不具語意的說明文字，網友點選率可能較低，這點要注意。

難度：極低 一般人認知度：中

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SEO網路行銷變項 3/13

網頁的語言宣告

說明： 您的網路生意的市場在哪裡？台灣還是大陸？在台灣，你就要用繁體中文的網頁，在大陸你就要用簡體中文的網頁，一個繁體中文的網頁還是一個簡體中文的網頁擺在你面前，你大概也可看得出來，但你要知道，搜尋引擎的索引程式 (Spider) 只不過是一支人寫的程式，他是看不懂你在寫什麼語言的，因此你的網頁到底是什麼語言，這是非常重要的一件事情，一定要告訴搜尋引擎知道，這是搜尋引擎SEO常被人忽略的一塊。

如果搜尋引擎誤判你的網頁語言，將會有很嚴重的後果，例如你的網頁是繁體中文但被誤判為別的語言，當繁體中文用戶的搜尋要求被處理的時候。您的網頁將會被降低優先權，因為語言不合。

因此若要SEO我們絕對不能讓搜尋引擎來”猜”我們的網頁語言是什麼，我們一定要明確的告訴搜尋引擎這個網頁使用的語言為何，以下是宣告網頁語言的原始碼。您可直接抄襲來使用。

<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=big5">
</head>

紅字的部分為big5表示為繁體中文，gb2312為簡體中文，utf8為萬國語言。這邊又來了一個重點，許多人說認為big5是一種不良的編碼方式，因此在設計網頁的時候喜歡用utf8萬國語言，這是對搜尋引擎SEO極為不利的一種做法，因為萬一搜尋引擎判斷不出你的網頁主要語言是什麼的時候，你就別想在該種語言的搜尋結果內出現了。

難度：極低 一般人認知度：低

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SEO變項 4/13

網頁原始碼的HTML標籤 - 與搜尋引擎SEO具有關聯性

說明： 現在誰還在學HTML原始碼？大家都在用DreamWeaver了吧，但HTML原始碼當中確也隱藏了SEO的秘密。怎麼說呢，HTML原始碼有很多標籤，與SEO無關的我們就不說了，我們只挑出與SEO能夠有相關性的來說明。

看過HTML原始碼的人都知道，一大堆字，不知道是什麼東西，真正屬於你網頁內容的只有一部分！重點來了，搜尋引擎的索引程式 (Spider) 只不過是一支人寫的程式，他怎麼知道哪些文字具有語意，哪些沒有，他又看不懂你在寫什麼！

我們仔細檢視HTML原始碼其中幾個與SEO相關的。

1. HEADINGS: 這是所謂的標頭，就好像報紙頭版的標題，這裡出現關鍵字絕對與提升你的關鍵字相關度。原理就是通常人們再撰寫文章的時候會以這個段落的主題為標題，因此這個段落的文字自然語該標題呈現相關狀態。
範例：

<h1>SEO</h1>
<h2>SEO</h2>

2. PARAGRAPH: 這是所謂的段落，段落在原始HTML的設計當中就是用來包括文章段落用的。因此我們在設計網頁的時候要千萬注意別亂用<P>於沒有語意的地方，有些時候你的網頁原始碼從上面算起好幾千個字元了都還沒出現具有語意的文章，那搜尋引擎又要如何判斷哪些文字具有語意呢，就是靠<P>。

範例：

<P>SEO is good</P>

3. 粗體字及斜體字，為您的關鍵字加上一兩個粗體或斜體也能增加一點與關鍵字的關聯性，不過應該也只能增加一點點。

難度：極低 一般人認知度：低

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搜尋引擎SEO變項 5/13

網域名稱Domain Name - 搜尋引擎優化的捷徑

說明： 網域名稱對於關鍵字搜尋的排名具有相當大的優勢，原因是通常網域名稱與該網站內容呈現高度的相關性，例如www.ibm.com就是IBM公司的官方網站。網域名稱具有獨一無二的特性，一但被某人搶先使用就沒有第二個人能使用。幾乎所有的商業組織公司行號都早已把自己公司的商標搶先註冊起來，在搜尋引擎搜尋該商標名稱也通常會找到正確的該公司網站。這是一種自然而然的情形，一個公司一定會盡力把自己的公司商標的網址搶下來，這也是Goodgle與Yahoo能大膽的提高網域名稱與關鍵字比對的相關性的原因。

但大家有無想過，萬一這個關鍵字不是一個商標，而是一種產品的類型或是類別的時候呢？那麼擁有這個網址的人就獲得巨大的搜尋引擎優化排名優勢了！例如擁有books.com.tw的人就能輕鬆稱霸books關鍵字。講到這裡大家可能要難過了，全天下的頂級網址早就被搶光了哪裡還輪得到你我？

搜尋某個英文關鍵字的場合，有很大的機會排名第一的結果就是該關鍵字為主體的網址

如果你有這樣的想法那就錯了，因為books.com.tw沒了還可找books.net.tw books.tw books.idv.tw books.tv books.ws...數都數不清，只要你的網址出現了你鎖定的關鍵字，不管後面的結尾是什麼通通都有效！（但是否哪種節尾效果比較好這個無法確認，但應該是以愈難申請的愈具有代表性，例如政府單位網址 .gov 或是 .com 之類的）

因此如果你要SEO的關鍵字是英文的，那你能夠取得一個SEO的捷徑！趕緊去申請一個帶有你的關鍵字的網域名稱吧！甚至若是真的找不到，在關鍵字前後加一個字也算數，例如ibooks.com.tw，但是這就不算百分之一百吻合了。

另外，還有一個跟網域相關的變項存在，但目前尚無關查到其與SEO的關聯性，在此提供參考，就是網域的whois資訊，因為whois資訊中，是實上是有登記該網址位於哪一個國家或地區中，因此有助於搜尋引擎判斷該網頁的地理位置。有些人網站明明就放在台灣，但whois資訊確寫著美國，也許有一天這個變項納入了，也會影響到網站於該區域的排名喔。

查詢whois的網址：http://www.register.com/whois.rcmx

難度：高 一般人認知度：低

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SEO變項 6/13

網頁檔案存放目錄（資料夾）及檔案名稱

說明：有沒有搞錯？連這個也算？沒錯沒有搞錯，就是算數，理論基礎就是一般人資料夾分類的方式本來就是表示這個資料夾下的文件具有該資料夾名稱的共通性，而檔案名稱的命名方式更是直接了當的表示了這份文件的內容屬性。

因此如果你要SEO的關鍵字是英文的，那就很簡單，如果你要最佳化SEO這個字，那就把這個檔案的URL訂為：

http://www.seo.com/seo/seo.html

但是很抱歉，目前Google與Yahoo也似乎只承認英文關鍵字的部分，中文的關鍵字要用這種方法，也許也是要等到將來。

於Google搜尋IBM的結果之一，看到了嗎？IBM這個路徑被標示為粗體，表示列入搜尋結果的判斷之一

難度：低 一般人認知度：低

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SEO搜尋引擎最佳化變項 7/13

網站主機的地理位置 - 一個與內容無關卻搜尋引擎排名的重要因素

說明：稍微好奇一點的網友就會發現，當你打上www.google.com與www.google.com.tw的時候出現的是兩套東西，一套是針對全世界（美國為主）的google，而另一套是針對台灣地區用戶的google，在台灣的google與美國的google搜尋同樣的關鍵字，出來的搜尋引擎排名結果是完全不一樣的。

基本上，在美國google（全球搜尋引擎排名）搜尋的結果具有以下特性，英文的網頁被提高了優先出現的機會，網站放置在美國的虛擬主機的網頁具有更高的優先性。

在台灣的google搜尋的結果具有以下特性，中文（繁體）的網頁最優先出來，且網站主機放置在台灣的IP者提高了優先度，甚至還有一種選項”台灣的網頁”完全提升了台灣IP的優先性。

使用中文的地區之Google通常有四種選項 所有,中文,繁體(或簡體)以及該地區的網頁(指實體IP位置)

因此這邊提供一個很簡單的原則，如果你要在台灣做生意，千萬別貪便宜跑去美國租GoDaddy，如果你要做德國的外銷生意，就請到德國租一個虛擬主機。最好的方法就是自己架站！保證在你當地經營，不然用到什麼國內的虛擬主機廠商，但實際上機房在美國，那就慘了。以下提供自己架網站的最佳軟體推薦：雷電HTTPD Web Server

以上只是大原則，但也有例外！怎麼說呢，其實你只要了解到語言的特性就知道了，如果一種語言只有一個國家或地區在使用，那google就不會提供”該地區的網頁”的搜尋選項，例如日本，他只有兩種搜尋選項就是，全部的網頁，日文的網頁，並沒所謂的日本的網頁。

於日本Google搜尋竟然沒有日本地區網頁的選項

但是像是中文及西班牙文，就會多出這樣的選項了。因此如果要搶攻日本市場，倒不需要租用日本的虛擬主機，但是將網頁宣告為日文就成為非常重要的因素了。

有些人看到這裡要問了：google怎麼查你的IP來自於哪個區域？其實這不稀奇，google早已擁有這樣子的資料庫，你也可以自己透過類似以下的網站來做查詢。

MaxMind: http://www.maxmind.com/app/locate_ip

難度：高 一般人認知度：低

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SEO優化變項 8/13

真實的時光機器 - 搜尋引擎

說明：人有分男女老少，網頁也有分新舊，到底是新的網頁好還是舊的網頁好，這個實際上除了用人工，很難去判斷，但是單純以資訊的角度來說，新的常常比舊的好，試想當您在搜尋一組關鍵字的時候，您希望是找到最新的網頁資訊，還是八年前，八年沒更新過的網頁資訊呢?

因此網頁的最後修改日期，也有可能成為搜尋引擎排名的關鍵因素之一，聰明的站長們，要記得時時更新您的網頁喔，就算不更新，最少也要動個日期，隨便加幾個字更動一下內容，好讓搜尋引擎知道這個網頁又更新了。

究竟搜尋引擎是如何知道網頁的日期呢？答案很簡單，就是透過所謂的HTTP Header，Web Server回應的HTTP Header當中包括了這個網頁的最後修改日期，而這個資料通常是由Web Server在讀取該檔案的時候一併取得的。

HTTP Header當中的Last-Modified就是這個網頁的最後更新日期

如果說男人愈老愈有身價，女人愈年輕愈美麗，那麼網頁就是女人，而男人就是網域，一個申請已久的網域即代表了它對 Search Engine Optimization 的重要性，為維持一個網域每年都需要年費，如果是個不重要的網域，那麼相信一個站長也不願意付費去維持它，相對的，網域的年份也是它信譽的保證，如果一個網域是經營非法的東西，一旦它被抄台，隔一年相信這個網域也將不再存在，因為站長已經去蹲苦窯了，這個網域的年費也沒人續繳，那麼這個網域也終將消失，因此我們可以知道，長期維持一個網域的存在，對著網站排名最佳化，應該有正面性的幫助。

究竟 Yahoo 搜尋引擎是如何得知這個網域的註冊年份呢？其實這很簡單，在全球的 whois 資料庫當中都可以查詢的到。

whois 資料庫當中的 created on 就是這個網站的申請日期

難度：低 一般人認知度：低

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SEO最佳化變項 9/13

網站的PR等級：一級好站還是無名小站(Google搜尋引擎專用)

說明：所謂網站的等級，一般指的是google的PR值，也就是PageRank，PR值愈高，搜尋引擎排名愈容易名列前茅，只要安裝google免費提供的google toolbar軟體並授權它使用PR值資訊，就可以輕鬆的查詢你拜訪的每一個網站的PR值，就算內容完全相同的兩個網址，擁有不同的PR值，在搜尋結果呈現的時候，高PR值的網站具有優先性。

開啟網頁後，該網頁的PageRank就會被顯示出來

PR值最低為0，最高為10，愈高愈好，它確實影響了搜尋引擎排名的順序，提升PR值的方法眾說紛紜，但基本上有著兩個原則，一是開了愈久的網站普遍較高，二是愈多人連結及拜訪的網站PR值愈高，基本上PR值的設計不就是為了要評鑑網路上所謂重要的網站，好站嗎？因此你只要把你的網站經營好，讓他成為網路上重要的網站，那久了PR值自然就高起來了！

PR值雖然愈高愈好，但可以確定的是低PR值的網站一樣可以排在高PR值的網站前面，因此SEO的原理就是了解所有變項，針對所有變項做最佳化，必能獲得成功。

在Yahoo上並無相對應的工具可以評鑑一個網站在Yahoo中是否為重要的網站。

難度：高 一般人認知度：低

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SEO優化變項 10/13

網頁的連入連結（Linking IN）

 

以下SEO內容太過敏感，已被移除

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SEO變項 11/13

網頁的連出連結（Linking OUT）

說明：所謂的連出連結，就是你自己在你網站上加入連結到別人的網站的連結，為什麼這樣的連結也能增加你網站SEO與某個關鍵字的關聯性呢進而又能提升搜尋引擎排名？其理論基礎就在於，有許多介紹形的網站，他就是介紹某種類別的東西，而在介紹的同時，他又必需增加連出的連結，然而若是輕易的增加連出連結就能增加本網站與某關鍵字的關聯性，那不是很容易做弊嗎？

搜尋引擎可不怕這個，因為他也知道如果您的網站是在做生意的，你怎麼可能會加入連結到同類型競爭對手的連結呢，這也抑制這種評量機制被做弊的可能性，這也是我們常常看到在做同類型產品比較，或是介紹的網址，常常於搜尋結果中名列前茅的原因。

但是這個連出連結要怎麼加才不會加錯？很簡單，使用google toolbar的PR功能，可以看到一個網址的相關網站，要被你連結的網站本身就一定要關連於正確的關鍵字，你在去加這個連結才有效果。

打開類似網頁一看，馬上知道在Google心目中，你的網站到底是什麼

難度：低 一般人認知度：低

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SEO變項 12/13

網頁關鍵字的同義字

說明：所謂的同義字。通常發生在縮寫上面，什麼是SEO呢？上Google一查，發現原來是Search engine optimization，但是重點來了，我們看看Google搜尋的結果，我們明明只是搜尋SEO但它卻把Search engine optimization一併標示為紅字了。

這就是谷歌厲害的地方了，原來它內建有同義字辭典，因此我們在最佳話網站的時候，不要忘了也多加上同義字的關鍵字喔。

打搜尋SEO連同Search engine optimization也被標示為紅色了。附帶一提，本站排名SEO關鍵字第三了，以一個SEO教學的網頁來說這是不是表示這篇教學非常具有教學價值呢。

難度：低 一般人認知度：低

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SEO變項 13/13

影像檔案的奧秘

說明：影像檔就是像是jpeg這樣的檔案，對搜尋引擎最佳化SEO有什麼影響呢？我們假設一個網頁中如果包含了跟目前正在搜尋的關鍵字相關的影像檔，能夠增加這個網頁與該關鍵字的關聯度好了，那麼要如何讓Google搜尋引擎知道這個網頁中的圖檔與該關鍵字相關呢？以下有幾種方法，哪一種有用，哪一種重要，這我們不曉得，但聰明的人一定是全部把它標示清楚。

方法一

圖形檔名的命名: 這個再簡單不過了，一張圖片就叫做 關鍵字.jpg 例如 seo.jpg 大辣辣的放在你網頁上，這個是一定要的。

方法二

HTML標籤的ALT屬性: 這個ALT的意思就是替代文字的意思，他的原始用途是說在那些無法顯示圖片的瀏覽器當中，可以顯示出替代的文字。但後來漸漸被運用到成為圖形檔的說明文字之上。

範例 <IMG SRC="seo.jpg" ALT="SEO">

難度：低 一般人認知度：低

搜尋引擎優化度分析，您的網站優化了嗎?

SEO關鍵字行銷評量標準 - 搜尋引擎優化度分析

SEO是否可以評量? 是否有一定的標準? 答案很簡單，一個網站的搜尋引擎優化度是可以評量的，但是比較的對象是你自己的網站，過去的自己，今天與昨天比較，明天與今天比較。

那我們要用什麼樣的方式或是工具來評量一個網站的搜尋引擎優化程度呢？ 我們首先分析網站的訪客來源種類大致可分為三種：

１。直接連線： 此類訪客通常直接輸入你的網址來拜訪，這種訪客的數量與比例愈高，表示你的網站知名度愈高
２。推薦連線： 通常由別的網頁的連入連結帶來，此類訪客數量與比例愈高，表示你的網站在網路上有一定的重要性。
３。來自搜尋引擎的連線： 此類訪客的數量愈多，表示你的網頁具有高度的搜尋引擎優化度。

好的網站當然是又有名，又重要，又經過搜尋引擎優化。您可透過各式各樣的網站LOG分析軟體來評估您各項指標的比例，以下是我們管理的其中一個網站目前的各項指標比例圖：（取自GOOGLE ANALYTICS)

www.*****.com

由以上的圖表中我們可以看出這個網站具有相當的知名度，相當的重要性，更重要的是優化度也非常之高。

www.*****.com

由以上的圖表中我們可以看出這個網站不具有知名度，也不重要，但優化度相對較高。

您是不是也學會了如何分析網站的搜尋引擎優化度了呢？

SEO - 搜尋引擎最佳化，您成功的最佳保證

SEO行銷策略的心得 - 平常心面對

SEO沒有絕對的，今天的SEO冠軍明天可能又被別人蓋過你的搜尋引擎排名，重點是你要平常心面對，不要走火入魔，基本上本篇教學中提到的東西通通檢察一遍，盡你所能的加以修改，一定可以提高您的排名，相信我們，因為我們已經運用了這些原則取得好幾個我們鎖定的關鍵字的排行第一了。

寫了這麼多，當然要來行銷一下。既然您看到這裡了想必一定也是網站的架站一族，請參考我們的架站軟體產品，一定能帶給您更棒的架站體驗。

架WWW網站-推薦雷電HTTPD web server

架FTP網站-推薦雷電

架EMAIL伺服器-推薦MAILD mail server

大型網域管理-推薦DNSD dns server

真的有看到這裡的人，才能享有SEO最後的一道秘密。也就是，常有人告訴我說：你去google搜尋”我公司的名字”我就已經第一名了阿，這是又好氣又好笑的說法，你就是剛創業的無名小網站，誰會搜尋你公司的名字，要搜尋你公司”賣的產品”類型名字排第一才有用啦。那到底網友們都用哪些字搜尋呢？用錯字，SEO將毫無效果，用對字甚至一夕之間成為熱門網站，以下就是最後一個秘密，關鍵字篩選工具，透過這個工具你就可以找到真正要最佳化的關鍵字在哪裡。

Yahoo關鍵字篩選工具：http://tw.emarketing.yahoo.com/ysm/guide/index101.html

Yahoo關鍵字工具能夠確實地知道每個關鍵字的搜尋量，比Google好用多了

Google(暱稱gugo)關鍵字篩選工具：https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Goodgle關鍵字工具不能看出每個月確實的搜尋量，無法評估市場規模，比Yahoo難用

對於本文有什麼問題？還是要提供我們您SEO的心得 聯絡我們

本文作者為村榮資訊，保留一切版權，嚴禁轉載，可連結到本網頁，使用以下連結
歡迎大家一起來幫本網頁”加持”只要使用下面的連結就可以！

<a href="http://www.raidenhttpd.com/manual/seo.html" title="SEO">SEO不能說的秘密</a>

 

撰文者：陳品先編譯發表日期：2011-10-05

Facebook上有許多將頁面經營得相當好的國際大品牌，像是Starbucks星巴克和Coca-Cola可口可樂等等，但像是IBM和GE奇異電子，在Facebook上就分別只擁有6萬8千和10萬名粉絲。從另一方面來說，有些品牌雖然不是相當大，卻能在Facebook上有出人意表的成績，以下這5個品牌就是最好的代表：

1. Oreo巧克力餅乾

Oreo在Facebook上有超過2200萬名粉絲，而且其中大部分的成長來自去年。Oreo的品牌頁面原本著重針對美國消費者的經營，但是到了去年7月，Oreo突然領悟到它的500萬粉絲中，有超過一半都來自美國境外，他們因此決定將頁面打造得更國際化，因此推出像是"本周世界粉絲"等功能，還和饒舌歌手Lil' Wayne小韋恩合作，一舉破了Guinness健力士啤酒24小時內得到最多讚數的世界紀錄。

2. Nutella能多益巧克力榛果醬

這家公司一開始完全沒有想要在Facebook上建立社群的企圖，但是在2009年初之前，就成為僅次於美國總統歐巴馬及可口可樂的熱門頁面，並且是粉絲狂熱喜愛談論的品牌，光是YouTube和Flickr上，就分別約有1萬2千及4萬單位的相關影片及圖像。

3. Converse帆布鞋

它在現實生活中也許只是個小品牌，但是在網路世界中可不是這麼一回事，不但在Facebook上擁有約2000萬名粉絲，Converse All Star系列還另外有2000萬，如果加起來便成了粉絲數最多的品牌，比Rihanna蕾哈娜還要厲害，而訣竅在於讓粉絲自行決定頁面的調性，傾聽就是他們的致勝關鍵。

4. Audi奧迪

這個品牌最厲害的地方不在於Facebook上的粉絲數(雖然3600萬也夠多了)，而是跟隨者的涉入程度。平均而言，它能從每10萬粉絲得到超過225個讚，比例超過Lady Gaga女神卡卡和Justin Bieber小賈斯汀，這樣的成果除了來自一些鼓勵按讚的活動之外，Audi也致力在頁面上保持一定的照片數，例如今年7月發佈的三張慶祝Audi 102歲生日照片，就得到了超過1萬6千個讚。

5. I Love Being Black服裝品牌

這個品牌的Facebook頁面，嚐試著讓粉絲不只是侷限在非裔美國人，並提出各式各樣的問題，這些問題鮮少是和服飾相關的，通常能得到數百筆的留言和讚，也是I Love Being Black將自己定位在不只是一個品牌的表現。

出自Mashable

 

林文傑寫於 2011年9月19日 11:55

在10年前電子商務以＂價格＂+＂便利＂，在台灣創造了千億市場，10年後的今天，我相信在價格與便利的基礎上，我們必須加上＂社群＂與＂內容＂！

這是ㄧ場由理性導向感性的過程，你知道光華商場一年的產值是多少？它為何在電子商務的魔掌下屹立不搖？以＂理性＂的角度來看，購買同樣的3c商品，網路購物網站應該有絕對的優勢，不論是商品數目、價格、便利性（信用卡分期、宅配）等等，光華商場如何與pchome競爭？

＂人性＂，消費的欲望、購物的衝動、殺價的喜悅、討論的樂趣、學習的愉悅•••這都是目前電子商務從業者無法或是沒有意願去深入探討的，在消費者力量前所未有強盛的今天，台灣電子商務對於消費者來說仍是單行道，是郵購的電子版。

現在由於行動手持裝置的興起、網路頻寬的升級、技術的進步、社群網站的興起，即將對網路業界中的傳產電子商務產生革命性的變化，自此之後的幾年內，我相信我們會看到yahoo購物中心喪失龍頭地位，消費者應用網路購物的管道將趨向多元化，利如手機、平板、戶外互動看板、PC、NB、TV等等，購物網站將有如雲端資料庫，讓消費者透過多元管道進行各式各樣的消費行為。

若我們再看LBS（在地服務）與實體零售商的E化，產生了第三通路（實體與虛擬外的實虛綜合通路），例如網路付款實體取貨、實體展示網路購買，更加拓寬了購物行為的多樣化。

未來當銷售管道進展到如此，誰能建立與消費者的互動產生社群化關係並富有故事內容，誰才能在消費者心中佔據一塊心理佔有率，例如在每個商品頁面提供對話框，消費者留言後直接傳送到供應商端，由供應商回復後於該頁面前台呈現（看看拍賣成功的案例），在資訊爆炸的時代，誠實才是上上之策，誰能創造信任、誰能創造最高的整合綜效，就是最後的贏家（至少在未來幾年•••）。

 

林文傑 遠東集團電子商務 Q4上路
2011-09-20 工商時報 【記者林淑惠／台北報導】
遠東集團跨足行動電子商務(Mobile Commerce)，最快第4季上線營運。據了解，遠東集團董事長徐旭東推動電信、百貨、量販、銀行等實體通路，及HAPPYGO點數卡、GOHAPPY電子商務，自成一個集團行動電子商務產業鏈，透過遠傳的通訊平台，提供用戶未來隨時隨地就能使用平板電腦、智慧手機等終端手持裝置，購買百貨、量販商店的櫃上商品。
http://news.chinatimes.com/tech/171706/122011092000378.html

◎ 主題學習

 

「看過就忘記了，讀書有什麼用！」「會念書也不一定比較會賺錢！」⋯⋯相信很多人都聽過、甚至自己就說過這樣的話，但是《槓桿閱讀術》作者本田直之提醒，讀書就像投資股票、不動產一樣，是有機會獲得報酬的，只要你能夠把從書中獲得的知識，活用在商場上。他估算，讀書的槓桿效果高達100倍，一本1500日圓的書，將可以產生15萬日圓的利益。

《新‧知識生產術》作者勝間和代也把讀書視為投資，她認為，在資訊洪流中，對我們有幫助的頂多只有1%，但若能匯集起來，就能成為自己的內在資產，所以「淘金技術的熟練與否，應該會對淘金的效率造成很大的差異。」

與作者對話，積極發問與思考
要嫻熟淘金的技術，也就是如何將資訊去蕪存菁，找出真正有用的1%，勝間和代建議的做法之一，就是將閱讀視為與作者的對話：在閱讀時，想像作者的背景和訴求，用積極的態度了解作者的想法並發問。

《讀書力》作者齋藤孝則描述，每次讀書時，他都覺得好像作者正面對他，透過書本向他說明自己的心血結晶。

不過，正因為是與作者「對話」，而不是在聽作者「演講」，所以閱讀者並不需要照單全收，也可以抱著唱反調的想法，一邊讀一邊標出贊成和反對的部分；或是設身處地想，如果是我自己的話，我會怎麼做，並且迅速記下想出的點子；又或者是寫下與作者對話後的心得，才能讓書發揮對自己最大的幫助。

畫線、折角、註記，把書用到殘破不堪
一本保持乾淨的書的價值，就和它買回來的時候一樣；但是，一本經過畫線、折角、註記的書，就會變成專屬於讀者、獨一無二的書。讀別人畫過線的書很吃力，但自己留下痕跡的書讀起來卻格外親切，可能就是基於這個緣故。

本田直之主張，應該盡量把書用到殘破不堪。而且正因為每個人畫線註記的地方都不同，所以書對每個人的幫助也各異，才能成為個人的資產。

1.畫線、註記：閱讀時，可以一邊畫下「贊成和反對記號」，在贊成處用自己的話解釋一次，反對處則寫下自己的論點；也可以畫下「了解和不懂記號」，在了解的地方反覆閱讀，不懂的地方再去查其他資料。

多數時候，一本書我們只會看一次，第二次看的時候，是為了找尋自己曾經畫下重點之處，若之前沒畫下重點，過了一陣子就會像沒讀過一樣。

2.折角、便利貼：兩者功能差不多，主要是標記重要段落，所以遇到整頁都很有啟發、很有趣時，就可以在書頁上折角或貼便利貼。通常，一本書的折角或便利貼愈多，就表示這本書對你愈有啟發，書也會因此變厚，一眼就可以認出哪本書對自己最有用。

不過，為了不讓畫線、註記等工作擾亂了閱讀節奏，《閱讀力》作者奧野宣之提出「兩張書籤法」，建議將「閱讀」和「畫線」的工作分開來。閱讀時覺得不錯的段落，只要先折角，等讀到一個段落要休息時，夾入A書籤，標示閱讀進度。然後，趁休息的空檔，回到之前折角的地方畫線或做筆記，等到想要中斷畫線作業時，再夾入B書籤。

如此一來，想閱讀時再從A書籤開始；而等到B書籤走到結尾，就是一本書讀完、也記錄完的時候。

做筆記、寫心得，磨練原創的思考力
本田直之指出，「光是閱讀，充其量只是被動的行為，後續的筆記才是關鍵。」

《自由書寫術》作者馬克‧李維（Mark Levy）也認為，閱讀是為了得到可行的概念，而要達成這個目的，最好的方法就是採取主動的書寫：試著將作者的觀念連結到自己的生活，就算不認同作者，也可以透過反駁，找到自己的論點。

所以，閱讀時，盡量利用書中的空白處，記下自己的看法：可以是你想要問作者的問題、你讀完特定段落後的心得；也可能是你摘錄的段落大意，甚至是你想要背誦的句子。

心得和想法的特色就是，它們不會一直留在腦海裡，不記下來就稍縱即逝。雖然如此，但最好還是等到書讀完過幾天再開始整理，讓剛讀完一本好書的興奮感稍事冷靜，才能更客觀地給予評價、去蕪存菁。

1.筆記的形式：一般而言，事情做起來愈輕鬆，才愈容易持續下去。所以，在做讀書筆記時，最好簡單到只要填上日期、書名和作者，就可以開始。

你可以把想寫的東西輸入電腦檔案，或是抄寫謄錄書的內容，就算是一句話也無妨。但最好還是著重在讓你有「恍然大悟」的部分，因為若是你贊同或了解的部分，其實不是新的見地；反之，能夠顛覆自己想法的文章，才更有摘錄的價值。

針對筆記的內容，奧野宣之自創「串燒式讀書筆記法」， 就像串燒以「蔥加肉」的排列方式，分別用記號區別「摘錄和心得」，兩者交互書寫，藉由引用書中的內容，加上自己的感想，將書中的資訊變成自己的知識。

另外，筆記也可以區分成「理解筆記」和「記憶筆記」：前者是針對某個知識體系做系統性的整理，是想要活用某方面知識的閱讀核心；後者則是想要背誦的筆記，碰到參考資料和名言錦句時，也可獨立出來，參考資料是平常業務上可能會用到的數據，佳言則要完整寫出出處和文句。

2.筆記的習慣：一旦養成了寫筆記的習慣，就會以寫筆記為前提來閱讀，在讀書的時候，思考什麼地方要記入筆記。這麼做也可以訓練自己找到重點，邊讀邊做記號、反覆閱讀直到理解內容為止。

從最基本的層次來說，光是思考要摘錄書的哪個部分，自己又有什麼新的解讀，就已經是書籍的活用。串燒式筆記法的好處是，已經區分出作者見解和讀者的感想，之後看筆記時就不會搞混。而區分他人和自己的想法，才能磨練原創的思考。

將筆記化為行動指南，連接書與現實
廣告大師詹姆斯‧韋伯‧楊（James Webb Young）曾說：「點子不過是既有元素的重新組合。」將過去留下的讀書筆記分門別類，需要的時候將相同主題的筆記拿出來瀏覽，將對激發創意有正面助益。

要達到這個成效，必須建立在一個前提上：就是將讀書筆記累積起來形成資料庫。最簡單的方法就是把筆記全部輸入電腦，上傳到部落格，利用部落格內建的搜尋引擎，就可以輕鬆找到之前的筆記內容。

而為了不讓書只是讀完就算了，而能確實從書中學到嶄新或有啟發性的概念和祕訣，建議可以進一步將閱讀筆記製作成「隨身攜帶的清單」，以便於反覆閱讀，將所學深入潛意識。這種做法就好像是在「書籍」與「現實」之間搭建起一座橋梁，藉由反覆閱讀能夠實踐的內容或感想，將之融會貫通。你甚至製作一張行動的檢核表，再定期檢查新的行動或做法，是否已經養成習慣。

2010年網路使用觀察
2010年許多科技的發展與突破不僅影響了民眾的生活習慣，也對網路使用的行為有相當的影響。透過創市際ARO系統觀察，台灣網友使用網路的習慣也隨著時代在改變。
ARO觀察2010年台灣網路
2010年台灣網友造訪各產業類別仍是以入口網站到達率最高，平均到達率為98.58%，使用人數有1251萬人，平均使用時間為371分鐘，或6.2小時。社群網站緊追在後，平均到達率是93.5%，平均使用人數為1187萬人，使用時間為470分鐘，或7.8小時。雖入口網站為網友廣泛造訪的網域類型，但網友使用社群網站的時間卻較入口網站高出1.6小時，可見入口網站需豐富其提供的服務，以提升網友使用時間。

整體而言，入口網站與社群網站在三個指標皆是最大贏家，但休閒遊戲類別雖平均到達率位居第20，平均使用時間卻是54分鐘，取得平均使用時間的第五名，表現不容忽視，也是值得關注的產業類別之一。

觀察平均到達率前五名產業類別在過去一年的趨勢，入口網站到達率保持穩定，社群網站、搜尋引擎與個人網路服務的造訪在2010後半年小幅提升，而線上影音則是在第四季出現微幅下降的狀況。

2010年個別網站使用人數的表現，Yahoo!奇摩在台灣網路市場稱冠，平均到達率高達97.68%，每個月份平均有1240萬人使用；其次是台灣本土社群網站無名小站，到達率為80.76%，每月平均1025萬人造訪；第三名則是Google，到達率有77.61%，每月平均有985萬人造訪，第四則是Facebook，到達率有77.18%，每月使用人數為980萬人。由此看出，Facebook雖無名小站到達率高，但網友瀏覽Facebook的頁數卻較多，可能因為Facebook上有較多吸引網友瀏覽的社交工具，例如聊天功能、休閒遊戲等等。

2010年平均網路廣告曝光率類別排名，線上學習網路廣告投放率最高的類別，平均每月份曝光人數有1203萬人；食品次之，有1164萬人。觀察平均曝光率排名在前的五項產業別過去一年的曝光率趨勢，線上學習幾乎每個月維持曝光率第一的位置，食品、銀行、教育類別則是競爭較激烈，但可看到食品與銀行類別的曝光率有提升趨勢，尤其銀行類別更是在近幾個月曝光率成長，可能因增加網路廣告投放量有所影響。


2010年熱門話題、網路搜尋關鍵字
台灣本土社群網站無名小站發表2010年爆紅的部落格，除了美女的部落格以外，插畫、美食與旅遊的部落格皆上榜，可見得食衣住行仍是台灣網友最愛觀看的內容。而社群網站Facebook與Twitter將2010年網友最常使用的文字統計，發布最熱門的關鍵字則發現，網友關注的話題與時事有極大關聯，例如世足賽、海地地震、墨西哥灣漏油事件、iPhone/iPad，還有Justin Bieber小賈斯汀也是社群網站的網友喜愛討論的話題人物。

Google 與Yahoo!發表的台灣與美國2010年網友搜尋的關鍵字，發現除了蘋果電腦的產品iPhone 與iPad製造熱門話題外，網友搜尋世足賽的狀況也明顯；而台灣網友較美國網友偏好在Google上搜尋人物；利用Yahoo!搜尋話題人物則是美國網友較台灣網友高。不論在哪個平台，台灣網友搜尋的關鍵字皆較偏向與台灣生活較貼近的內容；美國網友則是使用Google搜尋其他服務的狀況較多。

熱門話題：3C類別
2010年許多3C產品發表與上市，首先蘋果電腦的iPad帶動觸控型平板電腦市場，許多其他廠商如華碩、宏碁、三星也緊隨iPad的腳步，推出此類型商品。智慧型手機與軟體市場也因智慧型手機的風潮而有大幅變動。透過ARO數據發現，3C產業在網路上的廣告曝光率有近9%的成長，也因此帶動3C類別網域的到達率提升。

而3C類別網域因為許多科技市場上的變化而對到達率有所影響，可見到多數網域到達率皆因為科技事件而出現微幅波動，例如Microsoft網站在6月發佈Office2010並開放免費試用版下載，因而在此月份到達率顯著提升、蘋果電腦網站也因許多新產品上市而提升網站到達率、另外台灣網友偏好的3C討論區Mobile01的到達率整體增長了6.7%。

熱門話題：運動類別
台灣網友也相當關注運動類型活動，如6月在溫布頓為台灣爭光的盧彥勳、6月中在南非舉行的世足賽、春夏開始的美國職棒、11月底在中國廣州進行的亞洲運動會。ARO數據也發現，在此些活動進行期間，運動類型的網站到達率也顯著提升，顯示此時期內網友對造訪此類型網站的興趣較高。

熱門話題：天氣以及放假訊息
另外，民眾生活作息與天氣息息相關， 由ARO數據也看出，在颱風來襲期間中央氣象局與行政院人事行政局的到達率也出現增長狀況，顯示民眾利用網路資源瞭解天氣與是否上班上課狀況受到影響。

熱門話題：政府行政相關
報稅為每年必進行的過程，財政部稅務入口網與財政部電子申報稅務服務尤其顯著的看出5月份報稅期間網友使用此兩個網站的情況高漲。五都選舉則是台灣歷史上一個重要的改變，網路上有許多五都選舉相關網站，但觀察政府的中央選舉委員會網站即可發現，選舉官網11月的到達率大幅提升，顯示網友對此事件的重視。而在11月初開幕的台北花博為台灣在世界發光的重大事件，由於行銷模式因此在之前即已吸引許多網友到達網站關注此活動，但可看出在開幕前後網站到達率顯著提升。

由ARO觀察網友的網路行為可以發現，網路上的活動與民眾的生活環環相扣，人們在現實生活關心與重視的話題，自然也會上網搜尋資訊。

網路發展趨勢—行動上網
隨著科技發展，連線上網的方式一直在演變，由最原始的電話撥接到ADSL，到現在普遍的無線上網。而手機裝置與無線上網的普及，讓行動上網成為現在連線上網的走向。根據美國網路調查公司comScore之Mobile Metrix，偵測美國行動上網使用狀況發現行動上網在過去2年內大幅成長，2009年4月與2010年11月相較有428%的增長，顯示美國使用手機上網的人口急速增加中。

手機上網的潮流也吹到台灣，根據國家通訊傳播委員會（NCC）的資料，2010年第三季台灣每100位台灣民眾就持有118.9個手機門號，顯示有許多民眾持有一支以上的手機門號，行動裝置為台灣民眾有高需求的工具。此外，台灣民眾手機裝置可進行行動上網功能的數量在2010年第三季持續成長，較上一季成長2.5%，有此功能的用戶比例為台灣全體行動通訊的69.5%。其中利用3G上網的比例則為整體具行動上網功能裝置的83.5%，顯示3G功能行動上網的裝置已相當普遍。

根據創市際IX Survey在2010年12月執行關於手機加值服務使用的調查，有近17%的受訪者在近3個月內曾經使用行動裝置上網，其中上網時最常進行的活動以「瀏覽網頁」(35.6%)比例最高，其次是「收發E-mail」(33.7%)與「瀏覽社群網站」(30.7%)，另外有2成的受訪者會「下載遊戲/應用程式apps」。進一步詢問有下載應用程式的網友通常下載的應用程式類型，又以「遊戲類」(70.8%)比例顯著高過其他類別，「地圖/導航」(33.9%)次之，「影音類」(30.8%)與「工具類」(30.7%)並列第三，「社群」則是以29%位居第四。

此外，為深入了解行動上網使用狀況與趨勢，創市際與芬蘭Zokem公司及產學夥伴世新大學在2010年第四季合作，透過在智慧型手機中安裝測量應用程式，在台灣進行智慧型手機使用行為的研究。調查結果發現，智慧型手機使用者使用智慧型手機的狀況在平常日較高，週末較少。

此外，根據智慧型手機使用者的使用狀況發現，其主要使用的功能以網頁瀏覽、簡訊與Email為主要，但社交網站是網友使用率與使用天數相當高的功能之一。

同份調查也發現，適地性服務(Location-Based Service)是目前黏性最高的服務，顯示此功能有相當吸引使用者使用的因素，是行銷者可納入規劃的方向。

手機瀏覽器業者Opera在2010年12月發表的手機上網購物報告發現，2010年12月有7.4%的美國使用者透過Opera Mini造訪Amazon.com，2010年1月僅有3.8%，而此趨勢在美國購物大季(感恩節與聖誕節期間)尤其顯著，顯示使用手機上網購物的狀況有增長趨勢。

而科技的發達提升民眾生活上的便利，民眾凡事講求迅速，手機是現代人不可或缺的產品。手機是最貼近民眾的媒體，與其他媒體相較之下，可能是使用者最常查看的媒體，因此也有較高的行銷影響力。且由於行動裝置經常不離開使用者的身旁，也最能即時且有效的達到訊息傳遞的功能。


行動裝置上網為潮流，IX小調查又發現，網友使用行動裝置上網除了瀏覽網頁外，造訪社群網站、找地圖/商家資訊也是網友經常瀏覽的內容；而應用程式的下載則是以遊戲為主，社群的功能也不容忽視。看好行動上網的趨勢，行銷者要如何抓住此商機呢? 除了設計適合在行動裝置上瀏覽的網頁外，將文字、篇幅、影片等類型的廣告或優惠資訊傳送到行動裝置、製造應用程式或地理位置服務主動在適當的時機傳送相關訊息給消費者，皆能有效的吸引網友造訪與使用。

手機上網人數持續大幅成長！根據2010年8月份最新一期的Opera手機上網報告顯示，網頁瀏覽量較上個月增加超過14%，數據資料傳輸量增加10%，並且有超過400萬的新使用者加入，成長幅度是過去半年最高的一個月。
Opera手機上網瀏覽行為報告每月發佈，提供行動上網的全球性整體趨勢，完整的報告(英文版)可上網參閱http://www.opera.com/smw/ 。本次的報告公佈Opera Mini全球前二十大使用國家，並針對台灣用戶手機上網的情形作一分析。
全球手機上網趨勢
台灣手機上網趨勢
- 8月份手機網頁瀏覽頁數年成長百分比: 265.9 %
- 8月份不重覆使用者年成長百分比: 115.0%
- 每人平均瀏覽頁數: 213
- 每人上網數據傳輸量 (MB): 13
- 每頁平均傳輸量 (KB): 12
2010年8月份台灣手機上網前十大受歡迎網站
1. google
2. 雅虎奇摩
3. facebook
4. 無名小站
5. 聯合新聞網
6. 噗浪
7. Mobile 01
8. Youtube
9. Mobileapps.opera.com
10. 蘋果日報
2010年8月份Opera Mini使用者最多常用的前十大上網手機
1. Apple iPhone
2. Sony Ericsson W800
3. Nokia 2730c
4. Nokia 5800d
5. Nokia 2720 fold
6. Nokia 6500s
7. Nokia 5610d
8. Nokia 5130
9. HTC raphael
10 Sony Ericsson u10i
已發佈的Opera手機上網瀏覽行為報告存檔(英文版)：http://www.opera.com/smw/archive/.

1 comment

As part of the initial research I conducted for this article I made stops at Wikipedia, Google and Twitter. I used the same search term on each platform and was able to find some valuable information, but this took quite a bit of time. Wikipedia and Twitter didn’t have much information at all and it wasn’t until I dug deep into Google’s results that I found what I was looking.

This is a perfect example of how the integration of multiple channels could have saved me time and perhaps given me more complete insights. In the Analytics world, this is known as “Unified Analytics”.

Unified Analytics is the ability to access visitor/user data from multiple channels (Social, Mobile and Web) in a single interface. From this aggregation comes the ability to correlate and compare data that would otherwise be found in isolation. Being able to easily intertwine multiple sources of data has many distinct benefits What follows are four insights into how Unified Analytics can help an Analyst perform their work.

1. Unified Analytics allows the Analyst to monitor traffic peaks and dips from one platform or site to another. For example, if the customer has a mobile, a web and a social destination it is possible to observe how and when traffic moves from one property to the next. This is especially helpful for content sites to know when and where to publish certain pieces of media.
2. Having access to Social, Mobile and Web Analytics gives the Analyst the ability to apply demographic data to otherwise anonymous traffic sources. For instance, having access to demographics through Facebook and Twitter allows the Analyst to apply this information to otherwise vague traffic sources.
3. Through the use of Unified Analytics the value of Path Analysis becomes increasingly valuable as traffic moves and consumes/shares content from one platform to another. This is especially true for a login system that is able to identify users over multiple channels.
4. Unified Analytics also implies new KPIs for visitor metrics such as length of stay, average page views and others.

In addition to providing new insights there are open ended questions that I think are important to consider when contemplating the value of Unified Analytics.

1. Does the term “Unified” really imply a single interface for accessing all the various Analytics channels?
2. Does the value of being able to identify the individual become more or less important as a result of Unified Analytics.
3. If  Unified Analytics does imply a single interface, then which factors would determine the importance of one Analytics channel over the other?

Unified Analytics are emerging as a powerful tool for both Analysts and customers. The ability to understand how multiple channels are interacting with each other is increasingly important to the inquiry process for developing a multiple-channel strategy.

Are multiple channels important to you? How do you measure them?

http://blogs.webtrends.com/blog/2011/07/19/what-does-unified-analytics-mean-to-you/

 

BuzzCity has grown into one of the largest global mobile ad networks by focusing on the vast Asian mobile market, before tackling the crowded US market. Few people have a better view of the largely untapped potential of the mobile Web audience in developing countries such as India, Indonesia and China. Dr Lai shares his tips and insights on the worldwide mobile Web.

In 2010, there were a whopping 52.8 billion mobile ads served on the 2,500 mobile sites on the BuzzCity network – that’s an increase of 93 percent compared to banners served in 2009. Top countries for ads served for Singapore-based BuzzCity in 2010 were India, Indonesia, USA, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Kenya, China, Turkey and Vietnam. This gives BuzzCity – and company CEO/co-founder Dr Lai Kok Fung – a more objective perspective on the global state of mobile than networks that are mostly focused on the US.

• Catch Dr KF Lai at Mobile Marketing Forum: APAC (mobiThinking readers can claim a 10 percent discount for MMF using the code: MMAF/mobiThinking10).
• Download for free the latest BuzzCity Report.
• See the mobiThinking guide to mobile ad networks, for a full profile of BuzzCity

---

Q1. What is the one thing that gets you most excited about mobile Web, mobile services and/or mobile marketing?
This is just the start of it. There’s so much more that can and will happen in mobile as more types of devices get connected to the Internet – i.e. more than just phones, tablets and e-book readers. As price wars continue in key markets, usage of these devices will create a new always-on reality – it will be a significant cultural shift.

Q2. What are your favorite (and least favorite) mobile Websites? What can the rest of us learn from these?
There are too many bad mobile sites because companies do not put enough thought into their development.
An example of a good site that has been adapted to suit the mobile audience is The New York Times mobile site. The New York Times has done its due diligence to ensure that its content is served in a way that suits the audience whatever medium they are using (Web, mobile Web, apps). This has been achieved without removing or editing down the original content – it’s more a matter of adjusting the way in which that content is presented.
The take-home point is that you need to have a proper strategy to address the requirements of your customers. The mobile Internet attracts a wide variety of user groups, who all exhibit different types user behavior.

Q3. Who is the new kid on the block – the mobile site/business to watch for the future?
Cell Bazaar has been around for a while, but doesn’t quite get the recognition it deserves. It’s a classified adverting service, a bit like Craigslist in the US, for Bangladeshi mobile users. Mobile services such as these will surely change the way smaller companies in all countries conduct business in the future.

Q4. What (vertical) sectors would you say is furthest ahead in mobile Web/mobile marketing? Please give some examples.
The financial and travel sectors in particular have responded well to the opportunities mobile has presented in reaching to underserved markets.
• Crédit Agricole launched the jeunesactifs.mobi mobile site in 2009 to promote financial services to the youth market in France. The site generated sales leads, as consumers entered their details to take part in contests and opted-in to find out more about Crédit Agricole services.
• Sri Lankan Airlines ran a mobile ad campaign in India in between December 2008 and January 2009, featuring the text banner ad: You visit SriLanka. Kids go free!. Initially, the ads attracted 700 – 800 clicks per day quickly rising to 1000 clicks per day. The campaign experienced a click-through rate of 4.3 percent – that’s more than double the typical click-through rate for an Indian mobile campaign.

Q5. What’s the most exciting/inspirational country/part of the world for mobile Internet/mobile marketing? What can the rest of us learn from there?
Indonesian consumers demonstrate an insatiable demand for content and services, but this demand isn’t being met by local companies. In the absence of local services, international sites such as Twitter and Facebook are meeting the demand of a huge blogging culture.
Mobile Internet usage is growing rapidly in Indonesia, even outside the main urban centers such as Jakarta – Indonesian companies need to wake up to the potential of one of the world’s largest mobile markets.
Similar lessons need to be learned in all under-served markets, including many countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The mobile Internet provides a way to engage a huge demographic group that previously was unreachable via mainstream media. Companies need to repackage product information to make it easily accessible via the mobile Web. One of the first sectors to address this is Financial services, for example, the insurance company Old Mutual ran a mobile campaign to promote their insurance plans in South Africa last year.

Q6. What technology or initiative is most likely to revolutionize mobile Web/marketing?
This would have to be the mythical technology that will magically bring to an end the increasing fragmentation in mobile… the fragmentation of mobile platforms that makes it harder for companies to develop an all-encompassing mobile-marketing strategy. The problem is that for now this technology remains mythical, and the reality is that fragmentation is here for the foreseeable future.

Q7. If you could wave your magic wand and change one thing, what would it be?
Before I end fragmentation, I’d be sure there’s only one charger for all cell-phone batteries!

Q8. What's the biggest mistake in mobile Web/marketing?
Mobile marketing is not just about reaching the youth market. Mature users make up a substantial and active demographic, too.

Q9. What are the most useful resources – sites, must-read books, associations etc for mobile marketers?
Textually.org has been around for a while and documents all the different ways mobiles are used. Plus, it’s easy to read.

Q10. Which mobile-marketing guru would you like to do our five-minute interview next?
Emily Turrettini, Textually.org - I don’t think she’s fashioned herself as a mobile marketing guru, but she obviously has a deep interest in how mobiles affect everyone’s lifestyle.

http://mobithinking.com/interview-transcripts/interview-dr-kf-lai-ceo-buzzcity

The Most Trusted Information Comes Not From You, but From Your Customers

By: Rob Fuggetta Bio
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Published: May 18, 2011

Marketers currently face a barrage of challenges and shifts in the way consumers engage with their brands. But earned media is gaining momentum, and for good reason. Today, it's earned media impressions that are building brands and paving the way for an open dialogue between companies and their customers.

If you've been ignoring this trend, then you're missing a critical piece of the revenue puzzle.

Here are five reasons to start thinking about it.

1. Earned media is the most trusted and credible form of content for a brand
The most trusted source of information about your company comes not from you, but from your highly satisfied customers -- otherwise known as your brand's advocates -- in the form of the content they create such as reviews, recommendations, ratings and stories about their experiences.

• Up to 92% of consumers trust word-of-mouth recommendations, but only 24% trust online ads.
• A recommendation from a trusted friend conveying a relevant message is up to 50 times more likely to trigger a purchase compared to another recommendation.
• 25% to 40% of all traffic and lead generation comes from earned media.
• Shoppers prefer retail web sites that feature online ratings and reviews over ones that don't.

But why does earned media pack such a powerful punch? Customer opinion can't be bought, which translates into a credibility that exists no other way -- and probably never will. The bottom line is that shoppers trust each other more than any other source when making a purchase, and that's something brands can't afford to ignore.

2. Social media has amplified the sheer quantity and reach of earned media
Earned media has always held value, but in the always-on social world, consumers' experiences with each other can make or break your brand almost immediately.

According to the "Introducing Peer Influence Analysis: 500 billion peer impressions per year" blog post released by Forrester Research in April 2010, we now know that people in the U.S. generate more than 500 billion online impressions on each other regarding products and services. And if around 150 people view each of these posts (a conservative estimate, based on our research), that's another 250 billion-plus impressions. In short, earned media is a powerful channel and social media has made it even stronger.

The best earned media is created by your brand's advocates. Every brand has them; they're your highly-satisfied customers, and they recommend your brand and products without being paid to do so. Thanks to social media, it's easier than ever to get them creating content for you by finding and engaging with this base of your customers.

3. Conversion rates are higher and ROI is undeniable
Earned media offers the highest value to both brands and consumers due in part to its trust-ability and growing reach, which we've already discussed. This, in turn, drives conversion rates and ROI. Let's take a closer look:

Conversion rates: When compared to traditional paid media, which yields conversion rates of 1% or less, companies that replace their paid media with trusted, highly effective earned media see conversion rates of 5% or higher.

Still, many companies are spending a significant chunk of their marketing budgets on paid media in order to generate leads and clicks via paid search and other traditional digital marketing tactics. When you consider that companies are paying $5 to $250 per lead, and the effective rate they're paying for clicks can be as high as $2 to $6, it just doesn't always seem worth the investment. While lead generation has improved via traditional marketing tactics, the truth is that much of this investment yields low results. Overall, only about 1% to 2% of leads are qualified, and companies continue to feed the Google money machine, even though only a tiny fraction of that investment ever turns into sales.

Return on investment: Higher ROI is possible because earned media is cost-effective in the sense that companies don't pay directly for the content like they do with paid content. Instead, the investment comes from building a relationship with your customers -- and by identifying and rallying your brand's advocates to spread word-of-mouth.

Remember, earned media yields ROI because it is authentic, so giving customers an incentive to create branded content isn't needed. Your brand's Advocates are already spreading positive word-of-mouth. Think about it. When was the last time you recommended a favorite product, hotel, or restaurant? Did someone pay you for that honest recommendation? In fact, the number one motivation for consumers to recommend products or services is that they want to help others.

4. Earned media lasts
Earned media has both reach and staying power: While offline word-of-mouth reaches just a handful of people, online word-of-mouth can reach millions -- and will continue to live on through searches and indexed content indefinitely, and your highly satisfied customers will continue to create earned media for your brand for years to come.

Earned media in a crisis: Toyota is a great example of an effective use of earned media -- in this case, to repair its image after the recall of millions of cars due to "unintended acceleration." Toyota has always had a large presence on Facebook and other social networks. After heavy media backlash, the automotive company turned to Twitter to organize conversations around their brand. Amidst the negativity, there remained a positive brand standing and a lasting trust among its Advocates that still surrounds the brand.

5. Earned media is measurable
There are dozens of tools that enable marketers to calculate quantity and quality of earned media. Now, advanced analytics enable brands to go beyond measuring buzz to measuring business and marketing results from word of mouth. These tools can track the impact of earned media on open rates, click through rates, and conversion rates, and this enables marketers to harness the proven power of word of mouth and track its impact as precisely as a pay-per-click or email marketing campaigns.

Case in point? In March 2010, Chili's tapped into the authentic enthusiasm of its highly satisfied customers to spread positive word of mouth, help drive traffic into the casual dining chain's restaurants and increase sales. And the results are clear. By making it easy for their customers create earned media for the brand, Chili's positively influenced 25.5 million diners by identifying over 750,000 advocates (and counting) -- who in turn have created over 75,000 reviews to-date.

Earned media is changing the way we view our brands and business models.

While earned media should be central in your marketing efforts, it doesn't mean that other forms of media should be ignored. Earned media should be used in tandem with paid and owned media for the best possible outcome. Many companies are already using earned media content within their paid or owned media channels by highlighting online ratings in advertising or by streaming Twitter content on their web site. And paid media can act as a catalyst for earned media by fostering awareness and engagement.

Though you can't buy earned media, that doesn't mean it's free. The rules for building a successful brand haven't changed. Your products or services must speak for themselves and that requires commitment and effort. And by shifting attention to earned media, brands can build deeper long-term relationships with their most-engaged customers, which will have lasting benefits in terms of ROI, rewards, and revenue.

By David Rogers | July 11, 2011

The most common mistake I see businesses make as they embark on a digital strategy is to start by thinking about the technology.

They decide they need to “get on Facebook” or other social networks, or launch a blog, or an online video channel, or something with mobile or apps, or maybe a wiki or a private community. Or they get caught in this week’s latest buzz about new technologies: location check-ins, QR codes, augmented reality apps, or Google+. But simply jumping on the latest trend, or copying the tactical approach of another company, is a surefire way to waste your time and marketing resources.

The first step to developing an effective digital strategy to fit your business is to know what your objectives are. Are you trying to reach new customers? Drive sales to current customers? Reduce your operating costs? Or introduce a breakthrough product or service? Today’s digital tools can be used for a wide variety of marketing objectives.

Here are 14 digital marketing objectives, with case examples, to jump start your own thinking:

1. Increase brand awareness. When Ford was preparing to launch its Fiesta in the U.S., it enlisted 100 social media savvy volunteers to drive the car for 6 months (for free) and share their unedited experiences online, generating tremendous buzz and a 38% brand awareness pre-launch among the target audience.

2. Improve brand perceptions. The American Express OPEN Forum acts both as an online magazine for small business owners (with great content on everything from marketing to franchise management), and as a powerful branding opportunity for Amex. Procter & Gamble’s Old Spice campaign on YouTube helped cement the new image for an old fashioned brand turned hip and relevant to young consumers.

3. Influence key stakeholders. Business blogs that demonstrate thought leadership in a subject area are commonly used to influence key industry leaders. G.E. Reports and Cisco’s news site “The Network” (where I also write) offer industry analysts a broader array of content than a single blog.

4. Generate new customer leads. Many Facebook campaigns are built around attracting new “fans” and virally reaching their friends, in order to find new customer leads. IBM has built an interactive videogame that has become the number one lead generator for its leading business software product.

5. Increase customer retention. The SAP Community Network bring together 2.5 million partners, employees, and customers in an online forum where the sharing of insights and expertise adds great value for SAP customers, thus increasing their incentives to continue to invest in the company’s software.

6. Drive retail purchase. Kraft built its iFood Assistant mobile app to help busy grocery shoppers plan meals on the go, and direct them to recipes that called for Kraft brand ingredients. Home Depot’s YouTube channel has given millions of viewers the instructions for simple projects around their home, and the motivation to stop by Home Depot for the materials required.

7. Drive digital purchase. Twitter has been used by Dell to advertise and sell excess inventory. Luxury brands like Bulgari are driving e-commerce sales through tantalizing product displays on Facebook. E-tailers like Net-a-Porter are using catalog apps for the iPad to entice shoppers with a new browsing experience.

8. Differentiate your products. Online customization tools allow Nike to offer customers the chance to design and wear their own unique Nike ID shoes and clothing. And of course, digital innovation is at the heart of new product competition in categories like smartphones, and gaming consoles.

9. Differentiate your services. Retail banks like Bank of America are competing on more flexible and ubiquitous service with a variety of online tools and mobile phone apps. Zipcar reinvented the car rental category by connecting its cars to an online network so they don’t have to be returned to a lot.

10. Gain customer insight. Drug maker UCB helped launch an online community for epileptics within PatientsLikeMe, in order to gather data about comparative effectiveness of different therapies, understand quality of life for patients, and measure drug safety and side effects.

11. Enhance product innovation. Companies like DuPont and Procter & Gamble work with innovation network Innocentive to tap into the brainpower of 175,000 technically skilled “solvers” around the world, in order to expand their R&D capacity and solve technical product questions their own employees couldn’t answer.

12. Enhance business model innovation. Cisco’s I-Prize generates new business ventures for the company to invest in by inviting outsiders around the world to compete to develop new business plans. Other forms of Idea markets have been used by Motorola and G.E. with their own employees.

13. Mitigate reputation risks. After complaints about Comcast’s customer service went viral online, the company launched an @ComcastCares Twitter channel that turned used rapid-fire, responsive answers to customer questions to help turn around the company’s reputation.

14. Reduce costs of customer service. After Intuit built an online community for customers of its Quick¬Books product to interact and answer each other’s product-related questions, it was able to slash customer service costs because 90 percent of users were able to get their questions answered successfully by the community rather than calling Intuit’s call center.

This list is incomplete, but should give a sense of the range of familiar, old-fashioned marketing objectives which you can consider for your own digital marketing.

Setting Objectives Helps at the Start and the End

Once you know your objectives, you can figure out the right digital strategy to fit.  And once you have a strategy in place, you can develop appropriate metrics to see if you are achieving those objectives.

Without a clear vision for how your digital strategy will affect the business’s bottom line, any efforts will become unfocused, lack impact, and be impossible to measure. But setting business objectives at the start will ensure the time you spend on digital media is delivering real value to your business.

****
David Rogers presents over 100 cases and a practical framework for planning and implementing digital strategies in his new book, “The Network Is Your Customer: Five Strategies to Thrive in a Digital Age.” He teaches Digital Marketing Strategy at Columbia Business School, where he is Executive Director of the Center on Global Brand Leadership. Rogers has advised and developed marketing and digital strategies for numerous companies such as SAP, Eli Lilly, and Visa.  Find him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/david_rogers

 

Posted on May 10, 2011 in Actionable Marketing 101, Marketing Plan, Social Media | 4 Comments

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Content, Communication, Community & Commerce

Digital marketing is any marketing delivered via an Internet, mobile or tablet device. It’s complex and has many elements that must be integrated into your overall marketing plan. Therefore, organize your plans and related strategies around the four pillars of digital marketing, content, communication, community and commerce.

Content. Online content is king. It’s the lure that attracts both readers and search robots. With social media’s evolution, your marketing message’s context has increased importance. As a result, content marketing, as a core element of a digital marketing strategy, has increased importance as well.

• Website is traditionally the home of your business’ online presence. It’s the marketing hub for product display, content distribution, e-commerce and/or sales leads and corporate information. As an alternative, use a blog, Flickr or YouTube channel.
• Search is online content’s directory. It’s one of the ways consumers navigate the Internet using services like Google and on-site search.
• Social media content can be created by a company and/or customers and/or the public. Among the dominant formats are blogs, videos (like YouTube), photographs, audio or podcasts, Q&A sites (like Yahoo Answers), wikis (like Wikipedia), product ratings and reviews (like Amazon and TripAdvisor), and slide sharing.
• Apps are used on smartphones and tablets and provide an entry to your content. Often, they’re created to leverage the special functionality of these devices. With an ever-expanding universe of apps, the challenge is getting target users to download your app and use it regularly.

Communication. On digital platforms, messages can be delivered one-to-many as it is for traditional media, one-to-one as it is for direct marketing and many-to-many as it is on social media networks.

• Email is the workhorse of online communications. While many businesses only focus on push promotions, they overlook leveraging behaviorally targeted emails. Email is still the lifeblood of corporate communications where employees are tethered via their blackberries. Email also drives social media interactions. Additionally, email is the dominant use of the mobile Internet. Therefore ensure recipients can read and respond to your communications on-the-go.
• RSS are better known as feeds. They provide another conduit for content distribution. Most consumers don’t realize that they use RSS on news sites like Google News.
• Chat is an exchange channel like email for business and personal use. Businesses use chat for customer service since it’s more cost effective. Some chat clients incorporate advertising options.
• Social media provides communications via messaging on social networks like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Also, social sharing can be considered a way of communicating useful information to friends, colleagues and followers.
• Texting is often considered the territory of teens. Develop a permission based opt-in list of prospects and customers for time sensitive communications like banking notices, media alerts and sales.

Community. While people formed groups online before the public Internet, the introduction and expansion of social media platforms facilitated the process and broadened usage.

• Social media networks, most notably Facebook, provide the platforms for individuals to engage and interact with their family, friends and social graph. These platforms provide the tools to extend engagement and sharing, particularly on a many-to-many basis. Due to the time people spend on these platforms, businesses find it useful to be where their prospects and customers are in order to engage and build relationships as well as advertise.
• Online forums. Online bulletin boards continue in a variety of formats on public forums and company websites to provide additional product help and information. Yahoo Groups and Twitter chats can be included in this category. These forums allow people to interact asynchronously.
• Offline activities. Social media tools (like Meetup ) provide online tools like forums and messaging to facilitate offline events.

Commerce. Regardless of where the purchase is made, most shopping starts with online research and purchase-related content. Therefore have a digital presence to ensure that your firm is included in the consideration set. Further, mobile content is needed since customers continue to research products and prices while they’re in your store. Since consumers don’t trust advertising, incorporate customer ratings and reviews with your product information or they’ll go elsewhere to find it!

• Website provides product information and purchase ability. Use of video among merchants is increasing because it shows customers a more realistic view of the product. A mobile website is important for online and offline retailers to ensure you’re present when and where prospects look for you.
• Social media options likes Facebook enable retailers to sell directly without requiring participants to leave the social media platform.
• Social commerce is online shopping meets social media, content and collaborative tools. Among the options are social shopping sites like Kaboodle and group coupons like Groupon. Companies like Threadless are testing other collaborative tools to engage customers.
• Mobile commerce enables consumers buy via their smartphone. This nascent market has huge potential as how we use credit cards and pay for products changes. Additionally, overlook the use of smartphones to check product and prices at retail at your peril.

Digital marketing’s four pillars are interrelated and support each other. Marketers must ensure each of these components works independently as well as collaboratively to achieve overarching business goals. While categorizing these elements is useful for planning your marketing efforts, realize that in real life, there’s overlap in how some of these elements behave.

Is there anything else that you’d add to these four pillars of digital marketing? Alternatively is there anything that you’d change? If so, what would it be?

Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen

台北，2011年8月5日 – 創市際市場研究顧問公司於今日公佈台灣地區Facebook應用程式使用狀況。

社群概念帶動社群遊戲的成長，遊戲業者如Zynga也都因為成功推出火紅的遊戲而快速獲利。此趨勢吸引許多網路經營者相繼投入此市場，例如Yahoo!奇摩在本周與台灣遊戲產業龍頭遊戲新幹線合作，推出社群遊戲頻道，讓使用者可以透過玩遊戲進行互動。創市際ARO觀察帶動社群遊戲風潮的Facebook使用狀況，Facebook網站使用人數在2009年下半年急速成長，在2010年成長趨勢較為穩定，目前有近9成到達率，使用狀況相當高。其中使用Facebook的應用程式頁面(apps.facebook.com)的使用人數則是自2009年底起成長率較平穩，顯示使用人數日趨穩定。

觀察2011年6月網友使用各Facebook應用程式的到達率排名發現，在台灣造成Facebook轟動的遊戲開心農場與開心水族箱目前仍是網友到達率最高的兩個應用程式，第三名則是Tetris Battle。與2010年7月數據比較，開心農場與開心水族箱的到達率呈現短縮的狀況，Tetris Battle則是相反，使用的網友大幅成長。一年前也相當得到網友喜好的Restaurant City，今年排名下滑至第十名。而其他應用程式則是去年7月尚未有其數據，可能為在Facebook上較新的遊戲。

整體Facebook應用程式使用狀況步向穩定階段，表示已有固定的使用者族群。而個別應用程式到達率微幅下降可能反映出有新遊戲的推出或更多獨立遊戲網頁可供選擇，瓜分市場狀況顯著。因此要成功打入此市場除了善用社群特性來吸引更多網友使用，進而累積使用者人數外，更需觀察市場需求與遊戲發展趨勢，提供多元化的遊戲持續吸引網友使用，才能有效地鞏固使用者。

 

Eric Rickson June 17, 2011 1,552 Views 2 Comments

Director Mobile Analytics

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Over the last two days, at the Mobile Marketing Association Forum, I have seen some really cool case studies about the innovative and creative mobile campaigns agencies have launched for some of the biggest brands in the world. What was clearly missing was the focus on the programs’ effectiveness or performance against stated marketing objectives. When members of the audience asked, “were they good?” The agencies didn’t quite know how to respond.

It was a little awkward, but set the stage perfectly for my colleague Mike Ricci as he took the stage to speak to the how analytics informs strategy by understanding consumer behavior, shows the return they are getting from their mobile investments and ultimately informs optimization activities.

Mike opened the session by laying out the problems and solution:

• 63% of mobile marketers aren’t measuring or don’t know how their programs are performing (according to eMarketer)
• As brands strive to evolve from mass communication to 1:1 dialogue with their customers and social media puts control of this conversation in the consumers hands, the need to understand how their customer interacts with their brand across many touch points is imperative
• Brands need to understand how they engage with each medium as part of my marketing mix, but mobile and other digital data continues to be isolated in silos
• What is needed is an eCRM approach that unites data from across the digital ecosystem to help crush these silos and achieve consumer centric view

Next the conversation progressed to guidance in how to approaching mobile measurement:

• How are you measuring mobile? 7 out of 10 brands are just measuring number of downloads as success metric
• We see a maturity to model that many brands are following in terms of what they are measuring and how they are using the data
• Now some marketing leaders are demanding proof of effectiveness and ROI before spending another dime in mobile. Must measure more than download to provide this evidence of a good investment
• The most sophisticated mobile marketers are using this insight to drive incremental investment.

Finally, he closed with some advice on how to approach within an organization:

• Start early- consider measurement as part of the planning phase
• Involve Key stakeholders- get the organization to define success
• Measure all mobile engagement, don’t just stop with SmartPhones
• Focus on critical measures, don’t get buried in mountains of detail

Analytics should be informing strategy. Used properly it should re-shape the way you engage with your customers.

The question of whether or not social media drives ROI still plagues many marketers and brands. The issue is not always as straightforward as it seems, as there are multiple ways to measure the benefits of social media and it isn’t as simple as looking for a direct sales return at one end, with the social media imput at the other. Smart tracking and measuring is needed to fully capture the benefit of a social media campaign and while looking for direct ROI is one way to do it, there are other values to be measure from social media marketing. I’ve put together a list of case studies that prove the ROI of social media, both through direct monetary return, customer loyalty, repeat traffic and more. Viewing social media holistically to gain a better understanding of how it can work for you is more beneficial to any brand than looking for one single return. Remember that social media marketing is not the same as online advertising ; it’s not necessarily something that can be switched on and off to directly produce revenue.

Social media outperforms banner ads

An excellent way of ascertaining the value of social media is to look at how it performs compared to more established channels or advertising methods, such as banner ads. While you can’t compare this like-for-like on a purely cost basis, you can look at how both are actually performing for you in terms of the quality of traffic they drive to your site. In this case study from Ignite Social Media, they take one of their (unnamed) clients and compare a banner ad campaign firstly to a social competition, then a social game involving a sweepstake. In both cases the banner ad and social mechanic were driving traffic to the same website. In the case of the social contest, traffic driven to the site by the social game was 6.5x more effective in terms of cost per visitor than banner ads and drove 5.67x more visitors. More detailed findings can be accessed on the site. Importantly with this case study, the quality of traffic from the social media campaigns was found to be more effective than banner ads. So while it might seem like a good solution to buy in traffic via ads, it’s not necessarily going to provide long-lasting value for your brand.

Social media saved Cisco $100,000

Providing an alternative way of viewing the ROI from social media, this case study from Cisco shows how social technologies saved them over $100,000 on a product launch. Instead of looking at their traditional method for launching a product, which would have been a costly activity, they looked to social media instead, to do things in a slightly different way. While normally their product launches would involve flying in high profile execs alongside methods such as costly newspaper ads, for their new router they ran a launch that took place entirely online. They even turned to Second Life, staging a pre-launch concert in there. And while their online launch saved them money, it also allowed them to reach a wider audience, further extending the value of the campaign. In total, the online launch cost a sixth of their traditional product launches and produced better results. A great example to show how social media can be used to change the way a business typically operates, driving ROI where you might not expect it.

Old Spice put their money where their mouth is

To really see the value of a social media campaign and how it can drive ROI, it’s worthwhile taking a look at one of the most famous and successful social media campaigns so far : Old Spice. Through their campaign, which included sending personalised video messages to social media fans and celebrities, they’ve managed to gather some pretty impressive stats that show the money where the buzz is. The reach of the Old Spice campaign is not in doubt, but did it actually impact sales? According to the marketing agency behind the campaign, it did. Since the original campaign launched with ‘Mustafa’, sales increased by 27% year on year. But in the 3 months after the height of the campaign, sales were up by 55%, reaching 107% in the final month of the social media campaign. And of course, Old Spice is now the number 1 body wash brand for men. However you choose to look at the campaign, these figures stand up to show that a social media campaign, well executed, can drive significant ROI for your business.

Restaurant chooses closed social network

To show that social media can also drive ROI for small businesses, this restaurant is showing that social technologies can be used in different ways to drive customers. Houlihan’s is a restaurant chain in the U.S. which has around 100 restaurants, compared to their main competitor Applebees, which has over 2,000. With a small marketing budget but a lot of common sense, their marketing manager managed to drive sales directly from a private social network, run via Ning. The network was called ‘HQ’ and was launched in early 2008. By combining their social media campaign with email marketing, they managed to quickly build up 10,000 members of the network, allowing them to send exclusive discounts and promotions to customers. In one campaign that they ran for a Sex and the City promotion, they tracked, the restaurant estimated that “7,000 to 13,000 people heard about our newest promotion BECAUSE of an HQ member”. This shows the strength in running your own social network and how sometimes a private network may be the way to go, to offer people exclusivity and also encourage word of mouth.

Social media keeps the creme Brulee Man travelling

If you’re looking for a good example of social media ROI, then the Creme Brulee Man is a good place to look! The Creme Brulee Man is a food truck in the U.S. that keeps people up to date about its next location via Twitter. In this case, social media is actually keeping the business going, as it allows the owner to reach a new audience and alert people as to where he’s going to roll up next. This is a pretty good example of proving the value of social media, showing that it can actually support an entire business. In just over a year the truck’s Twitter account has gathered over 12,000 followers, which is an impressive number for such a small business with a relatively small geographic target.

Social media customers are more valuable

As well as looking at the direct revenue driven from social media channels, smart companies will be looking at the longer term impact of social media activity and just how valuable these customers are after the initial sale or contact point. A case study from CareOne is useful here. They introduced a new social customer care team, to use social technologies to reach out to current and prospective consumers. What they found was that customers that had come through one of these social touchpoints, filled out the customer consultation form at a higher rate than other customers, at 179%. They also completed their first payment through the company, at a higher rate of 732%. What this shows is that using social technologies can help you to qualify leads, but also drive more engaged traffic. The outcome of a personal contact through social media is that the customer will ultimately trust you more and will also be more invested in the company by the time they come to complete the sale, leading to an increased likelihood they will convert.

ROI from Facebook ads

Proving that ROI from paid social media activity also performs well, this case study looks specifically at the value driven from Facebook Ads. Vamplets is a small business that makes baby vampire dolls and they introduced Facebook ads as a new channel for driving revenue. Despite a fairly small Facebook ad budget of $250 per month, they’re generating an additional $1,000 in revenue, directly tracked to the ads themselves. This gives them a positive ROI of 300% and shows how cost-effective Facebook ads can be, particularly when you’re going out to a more unique or targeted audience.

Subway Slim Down Challenge

In another good example comparing social media to traditional forms of marketing, the Subway Slim Down Challenge has some impressive ROI figures. The case study released by Say It Social, shows how they used social technologies to raise awareness of the Slim Down Challenge and recruit speakers. The strategy included a social competition launched via the customised Facebook Page. This was part of a full marketing strategy for the campaign, but despite being active across a range of channels, they found that 71% of site traffic that went to the registration page, came directly from Facebook. This is an impressive case study in showing how social activity can stand up and outperform even established marketing channels such as TV and Newspaper ads, and marketing via websites within the network.

Reviews drive sales

it’s been widely discussed that opening up your products to reviews and even inviting negative reviews don’t necessarily impact negatively on your brand. By displaying both the good and the bad reviews you can help qualify out people that may not be suitable for your product but you also show that yours is a brand that can be trusted, as any issues people do have are clearly displayed, demystifying the purchasing process for brand new customers. An interesting case study from Cars.com shows that pages that had ratings and reviews introduced onto them had a 16% higher rate of conversion, and a 100% higher rate of traffic through to dealer’s sites. This shows the positive impact that social technologies can have when introduced onto your own site, to improve the purchase cycle.

Reducing customer service costs

Our final case study might be viewed somewhat negatively by some, as it looks at ROI from social media being directly driven by saving on staff costs. As more brands open up through social media however, they find the communities they nurture often begin to answer each other’s queries with regards to product questions etc.. In the case of InfusionSoft, they used social technologies to better inform their customers and keep them up to date. Whereas they previously would have had one customer service agent to 72 customers, through social media they were able to reduce this to 1 agent per 172 customers. Along with this the satisfaction rating also increased by 10%, which would no doubt lead to more repeat business for the company and more customer referrals. Though this might be a slightly alternative way of viewing ROI, it shows that social technologies can make real business savings, allowing money to be invested elsewhere, or in developing these technologies themselves.

社群媒體的具體投資報酬率雖然難以直接衡量，以下由知名科技部落格The Next Web所收集的10個例子，卻能充分說明社群媒體的好處：

1. 社群媒體超越橫幅廣告
Ignite Social Media研究機構所進行了一份調查，將一位客戶的橫幅廣告和社群競賽活動作比較(兩者連結到同一個網站)，結果發現以每位訪客所耗費成本的觀點來看，由社群活動所導引的流量比橫幅廣告有效6.5倍，而且帶來了5.76倍更多的訪客。

2. 社群媒體替Cisco省下了$10萬美金
傳統來說，Cisco在推出新產品時會動用到像是報紙廣告等昂貴的方式，不過在一款新型路由器上市時，他們改用完全線上宣傳，甚至還在知名線上遊戲Second Life第二人生上，舉辦了一場上市前演唱會，結果成本不但是傳統行銷的六分之一，接觸到的群眾也更廣。

3. Old Spice帆船紅色警戒香水沐浴乳把錢花在口碑上
這個社群案例至今仍是史上最熱的病毒行銷之一，借助針對粉絲及名人打造的個人化影片訊息，3天內就超過了2000萬的YouTube點閱率，最後銷售也增加了107%，Old Spice更變成了男性身體沐浴乳的領導品牌。

4. 餐廳選擇封閉式社群網絡
美式連鎖餐廳Houlihan’s運用Ning平台的服務，在2008年初打造了一個私人社群網絡HQ，並借助社群和email行銷，讓會員人數快速累積到了1萬人，以提供獨家的折扣和促銷給客戶。Houlihan’s也曾進行一個慾望城市宣傳活動，結果估計有7000到13000名用戶，都是因為HQ會員而得知這個消息。

5. 社群媒體讓焦糖布丁攤販老闆生意源源不絕
如果你是沿街叫賣的食物小販，該如何讓客人知道你今天會在哪？美國的一家焦糖布丁攤販老闆，就聰明地利用Twitter宣布他每天的工作地點，一年間創造了超過1萬2千名跟隨者，此外他還在Twitter上告訴人，他會在哪一天賣什麼口味的焦糖布丁，並詢問客人意見，因此成功地和他的跟隨者們建立了良好的個人關係。

6. 社群媒體客戶更珍貴
看護公司CareOne導入了一個全新的社群客戶照護團隊，運用社群技術來接觸現有及潛在的客戶，結果發現經由任何一個社群接觸點而獲得的客戶，填寫顧客諮詢單的比例，是傳統客戶的179%，完成第一筆付款的比例更是732%，顯示社群媒體所提供的個人接觸，能增加客戶的信賴度，它們因此可能願意投資更多。

7. Facebook廣告的投資報酬率
Vamplets是一家製造吸血鬼娃娃的小型企業，他們引進了Facebook廣告這個引導營收的新管道，雖然每月的預算只有$250美金，卻帶來了額外的$1000美金收益，也就是300%的投資報酬率。

8. Subway的減肥比賽
Subway在Facebook的客製化頁面上推出了一個減肥比賽，並經由電視及報紙廣告等各式各樣的管道宣傳活動，但是卻發現有71%的註冊頁面流量，都是直接來自Facebook。

9. 評測帶來銷售
線上售車網站Cars.com發現擁有評比和評測的頁面，有16%更高的比例能將來訪數轉換成銷售，連結到經銷商網站的流量比例也高出100%，顯示評測對品牌的整體影響是正面的，負面評論出現反而能過濾掉不適合的顧客，開誠布公的態度也將能贏得信任。

10. 降低客服成本
行銷自動化及客戶關係管理軟體InfusionSoft，運用社群技術來更有效地通知客戶並讓他們隨時獲得最新資訊，也因此，過去每位客服人員平均只能對口72位客戶，藉由社群媒體的幫助，數字卻能提高到172位，達到節省企業成本的效果，而顧客滿意度也增加了10%。

Smart phones are the future of in-car “infotainment”

says Remy Pothet, Global Sector Head at TNS Automotive.

With more than 5 billion users on earth, mobile phone popularity exceeds that of cars (900 million). Almost every motorist is a mobile phone user and almost every new car buyer owns a smart phone! Consumer demand for compatibility is increasingly impacting the automotive industry.

Improving the customer’s driving experience

Mobile phones offer a great opportunity for car manufacturers to improve their competitive advantage. Firstly, they can help improve the customer’s driving experience. OEM’s should work closely with mobile phone manufacturers, telecom & IT providers and specialised digital agencies to develop interfaces to allow drivers to use new features in vehicles. Ford’s partnership with Microsoft to create Sync is a great example of this.

Smart phones are fast replacing expensive navigation systems as the same features are often available free. And numerous apps have been developed for drivers: locate your parked car, traffic conditions, tracking fuel costs, breakdown assistance, read emails aloud while you drive… or BMW Evolve which compares users’ driving habits to how BMW’s future electric vehicles would perform, which could help address consumer concerns about EV’s.  

Engage customers in on-going conversations

Secondly, smart phones open up an innovative channel for brand and dealer marketers to reach and engage customers in on-going conversations. Now is the time for switched-on marketers to use mobile to alert them of recalls, expiring warranties, send service reminders and advise them on future new car purchases. And of course new car buyers use their smart phone to research car purchases, especially in rapid growth markets where smart phones are the primary (if not the only) way of accessing the web.

Valuable customer feedback

Finally, mobile represents an exciting new way for manufacturers to collect feedback. Researchers analyse and interpret mobile feedback alongside existing customer data to present valuable insights which can be incorporated into the design of new vehicles.

It’s clear that mobile is influencing the automotive industry on many levels, and this is just the beginning.

Check out the world’s largest study into today’s global mobile consumer: www.discovermobilelife.com

作者 : 那福忠
更新時間 : 2011/07/11 19:24:25

（2011-07-11）【數位媒體風向球】當民眾生活早已被智慧型手機、個人電腦、筆記型電腦等塞滿生活時，若再加上平板電腦，會有什麼影響？他們接觸媒體的習慣有什麼改變？

圖取自蘋果App Store

（Brain.com 2011-07-11）自2010年3月到現在，蘋果的iPad已上市一年多，平板電腦的熱度直線上升，漸漸影響到我們日常的活動。
根據Forrester研究機構對 iPad 持有人的研究報告，有三分之一的人減少報紙的閱讀，另有8%的人增加報紙的閱讀，大多數人讀報未有增減。在紙本書籍上，28%的人減少閱讀，另有11%的人增加閱讀，其餘未變。在印刷版雜誌上，23%的人減少閱讀，另有9%的人增加閱讀，其餘未變。紙本書報雜誌的閱讀雖各有增減，減少的顯然多過增加的，可以解釋為iPad所替代。
線上出版人協會（OPA）的最新報告說，美國有12%網友擁有或使用平板電腦，明年預估增加到23%，在閱讀上平板電腦均優於其餘媒體，有66%的人說優於個人電腦閱讀，65%的人說優於手機閱讀，58%說優於印刷版報紙，57%說優於紙本雜誌，54%說優於電子紙閱讀器。

平板電腦正在轉變我們的生活形態
Harrison集團與Zinio聯合做的研究報告，說現在有28%的消費者閱讀數位書籍與雜誌，2008年僅有10%。而有平板電腦的人比沒有的人多用75%的時間閱讀報紙，多用25%的時間閱讀書本。擁有電子紙閱讀器的人，也同樣的比沒有的人多用50%的時間閱讀報紙，多用45%的時間閱讀書本，凸顯電子書閱讀器對書本的適用性。
這些平板電腦與電子閱讀器持有人多用的時間，是從哪裡來的？報告說來自上網遊逛與看電視的減少，估算這些人看電視的時間，約減少四分之一。觀察家認為這是娛樂媒體的根基變化，也是給電視主管的一個警訊。
除了閱讀，對電腦的使用也受影響。有三成的人說有了 iPad 之後就減少桌上電腦的使用，另有一成多的人說反而增加桌上電腦的使用；至於筆記型電腦，有26%的iPad持有人說使用少了，有一成的人說增多了。至於遊戲機、手機、MP3、電視，減少的人比增加的人略為增多，或是相等。最有趣的是，電子紙閱讀器如 Kindle 的使用，非但不因為有了 iPad 減少 (11%)，反而加倍 (22%)，可見電子紙顯示閱讀還有市場。
以上來自各方的資料，未必一致，也未必精確，但不難看出平板電腦確有閱讀上的優勢，出版業者宜視為警訊。
另一問題是出版內容如何在平板電腦展現，才能帶給讀者最好的閱讀經驗，現在大家都在摸索，但為了搶先，把印刷版或既有的電子版複製到平板電腦應付，也不在少數，但其中也不乏精緻製作。這裡特別介紹有 226 年歷史的 Augusta Chronicle。
這家美國南方最老的報紙，今年五月 iPad 版上線，初看之下雖然似印刷報紙的 PDF 版，但瀏覽之下卻發現有相當的特色，不失為有水準的製作。
這份報紙可以選擇日期下載，除了今天的報紙，還可以下載最近一個月的報紙。下載之後每一全版佔一頁畫面，用兩隻手指觸控畫面的放大縮小、四面移動，遠比 PC 畫面用滑鼠移動便捷得多。所以 PDF 仍有用在平板電腦上效益。
放大以後的字體，立即從模糊轉為十分清晰，不像有的雜誌從 PDF 版轉成 iPad 版，字體放大就不夠清晰。除了放大字體在原頁閱讀，還可以觸摸一篇文稿，這篇立即轉到新頁，以 2.5 吋行長的可讀字體，分三欄（橫式畫面）、或兩欄（橫式畫面）編排，讓閱讀更為輕鬆。
圖片處理最特別，觸摸一張圖片，立即在原頁中間另開一圖片視窗，顯示這張圖片。但顯示的不止這一張，凡與文稿內容相關所有的圖片，都「藏」在圖片視窗，都可用手指左右撥動觀看，看完圖片手指一點，圖片視窗消失，回到原頁。這份報紙或許沒按著一般的 iPad App 另行設計，卻能讓讀者舒適閱讀。
平板電腦不過是一種工具，哪一種工具能讓出版業運用得法，帶給讀者便捷舒適的閱讀經驗，就是贏家。現在叫平板電腦，幾年以後還不知道會叫什麼。

Ben Bajarin is the Director of Consumer Technology Analysis and Research at Creative Strategies, Inc, a technology industry analysis and market intelligence firm located in Silicon Valley.

The desire to compete with Apple is widespread among many companies in the tech sector. The problem is that very few, if any at all, are well equipped as businesses to compete head on with Apple as very few have the same kind entrepreneurial culture as Apple.

Around 2005, our firm, Creative Strategies, began receiving more in-depth questions about why Apple is so successful. We were asked to do more specific analysis on Apple's strategy to shed light upon what some refer to as the “secret sauce” that drives the company. Much of this was because the success of the iPod was bringing Apple new customers in droves. And when the iPhone was launched, interest in Apple skyrocketed even higher.

Vertical Integration

But competing with Apple is difficult because Apple, Inc. is actually four diverse and thriving companies all wrapped up into one. It's a hardware company, a software company, a services company, and a retail company. Most technology companies in the world can manage one or two of these disciplines, but only Apple has all four entities working in harmony.

Apple, as we say, is vertically integrated. It controls all the major critical parts of the chain used to make and sell products. Apple builds great hardware, owns the core software experience, optimizes its software for that hardware, equips it with web services (iTunes and iCloud), and finally controls the selling experience through its own retail stores.

(MORE: How to Sell a Tablet: Apps and Price First, Tech Specs Second)

In contrast, most other PC, smartphone and tablet vendors make the hardware (Dell, Toshiba, Motorola, Samsung, etc), put someone else's software on it (Windows and Android), add third party services (Google, carrier services, etc.) and then sell it through someone else's store (carrier retail stores, Best Buy, etc.)

Competing with a company as vertically integrated as Apple means that PC and consumer electronics companies can, at best, compete with Apple in only one or two disciplines. While they might be able to create similar hardware, their lack of control of the operating systems as well as the services that are tied to these operating systems gives them little control over their markets. And no vendor has shown so far that it can compete with Apple in retail.

The only company that has even come close to being in a position to compete with more than two of Apple's core business strengths is HP. Its acquisition of WebOS is the primary reason, because now it can make hardware and the operating system software, and ultimately have more control of the user experience.

(MORE: HP Is Committed to Its 'WebOS' Platform (and It Should Be))

Even then competing Apple is difficult, because the company has proven to be a viable force to be reckoned with across all the areas within which it competes. In fact, if we take a hard look at the consumer and personal electronics landscape, we would be hard pressed to find a better hardware, software, services, and retail combination in the marketplace.

Technology as Art

Beyond that, Apple also has a culture that is completely unique, which is another part of the reason for its success. Steve Jobs in his many keynotes has pointed out that Apple's approach to products is that they are at the union of liberal arts and technology. And nobody in the industry so far has been able to match Apple's eye for design.

What this means is that there is an added dimension of design and technology as art that influences the thinking of those who work at Apple. This group is like a passionate team of artists who happen to turn their art into technology.

This is the major reason that Apple emphasizes simplicity. Steve Jobs has in many keynotes and demos said that Apple's various products "just work." What we must not forget, though, is that creating technology products that are simple is no trivial task. Simple solutions require sophisticated technologies. Apple knows this better than anyone and it has oriented itself to succeed at just that.

The advice we give to our clients is to pick their battles. They simply aren't oriented to compete on every single playing field as Apple.

MORE: Tablets: 'Why Should Somebody Buy This Instead of an iPad?'

Read more: http://techland.time.com/2011/07/01/why-competing-with-apple-is-so-difficult/#ixzz1RslckpLN