The State of Online Lead Generation in 2000
Banner click-through rates keep falling and the market correction has made every ad dollar harder to justify, pushing lead generation toward measurable models.
The Archive
2000
Mastering Landing Pages: A Marketer's Playbook
An operational process for planning, building and refining landing pages in 2000, built around the constraints of dial-up speeds and a two-browser web.
Case Study: Winning With Permission Marketing
An illustrative look at how a mid-sized specialty retailer rebuilt its email program around opt-in lists and doubled repeat purchases in six months.
Web Analytics Trends Shaping 2000
The privacy fights, vendor shifts and declining click-through rates that defined web analytics for businesses in 2000.
The Rise of Online Branding
From the dot-com Super Bowl blitz in January to the market correction that followed in March, 2000 has been the year online branding got tested for real.
Affiliate Marketing in 2000: A Decision Framework
Before setting up an affiliate program, weigh what it costs, who it fits and where it quietly goes wrong. A decision framework for owners weighing it in 2000.
GoTo.com Pay-Per-Click Advertising: The 2000 Playbook
An operational playbook for running keyword-bidding campaigns on GoTo.com's syndicated network, from account setup through weekly optimization.
Why Banner Advertising Matters for Your Bottom Line
The ROI case for banner advertising now that click-through rates have fallen, and why reach still has measurable value even when clicks don't.
Common Email Marketing Mistakes: Bought Lists and Bad HTML
The email marketing mistakes that cost businesses the most in 2000, from buying lists to ignoring the growing patchwork of state anti-spam laws.
How Search Engine Optimization Changed Marketing in 2000
2000 was the year Google went from a favorite among insiders to the engine most sites had to plan around, and marketing budgets started to follow.
Mastering Google AdWords: A Marketer's Playbook
An operational playbook for running keyword-targeted search advertising, from setting up your first campaign to deciding when a term is worth bidding on at all.
Building a Keyword Research Strategy From Scratch
How to build a keyword research process in 2000 using WordTracker's query data and GoTo.com's bid listings, before dedicated SEO tools existed.
Common E-Commerce Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)
The FTC settled with major online retailers this year over holiday shipping delays. Here are the mistakes behind that mess and how to avoid repeating them.
Case Study: Winning With Online Advertising Networks
How a mid-sized online retailer moved from buying banner space site by site to running its display budget through an ad network instead.
Why Online Lead Generation Matters for Your Bottom Line
With investors now demanding proof of profitability rather than growth, online lead generation is the rare channel where a business can show its math.
10 Landing Page Strategies That Work
Ten specific, tested tactics for landing pages built in 2000, from dial-up load times to single-purpose page design.
Permission Marketing Trends Shaping 2000
From the DoubleClick privacy backlash to Yahoo's acquisition of eGroups, five developments this year are reshaping how businesses think about opt-in marketing.
Mastering Web Analytics: A Marketer's Playbook
A working process for choosing, setting up and using web analytics in 2000, before dashboards were simple and before most tools were free.
Building an Online Branding Strategy From Scratch
A step-by-step approach to building an online brand in 2000, after a Super Bowl full of dot-com ads showed exactly what happens when spend outruns strategy.
A Practical Guide to Affiliate Marketing for New Merchants
How affiliate marketing works in 2000, from tracking links and cookie windows to how commissions get paid, for anyone launching a first program.
7 Pay-Per-Click Advertising Strategies That Work
Seven concrete tactics businesses are using to get more out of keyword bidding on GoTo.com and its growing network of syndication partners.
Banner Advertising: What Every Business Needs to Know
A decision framework for whether banner advertising still deserves a place in your budget now that click-through rates have fallen under 1%.
Case Study: Winning With Email Marketing
An illustrative look at how a small mail-order retailer used a simple, permission-based email list to survive the 2000 slowdown in online advertising.
From Directories to PageRank: SEO's Early Rise
From hand-curated web directories to Google's link-based ranking: a look at how search engine optimization became its own discipline.
12 Google AdWords Strategies That Work
Twelve concrete, tested tactics for getting real results from keyword-targeted search advertising, without wasting budget on broad terms that never convert.