by Dave Talbot
This really is the chicken and egg question of the internet age but depending on who you ask will determine the actual answer you receive.
A graphic designer based website development company will argue in a majority of cases that the design comes first of course. And let's face it without that aesthetically pleasing to the eye design a visitor will bounce off your site within a matter of seconds or so they would have you believe. But then that raises the big question of how did they get there in the first place?
The most common web development curve goes along the lines of website gets designed ..looks great let's go for it. Needs some content ok, copy and paste something out of our corporate /company leaflet.....time passes and no traffic!
And then more time until eventually perhaps 6-12 months later the situation is either so dire or the company are spending a fortune on Adwords that finally the SEO expert gets called in (or somebody gets intrigued by one of those SEO e-mails that seem to hound webmasters these days), and before you know it you are on a 6 month search engine marketing campaign to try and rescue some website rankings.
Is this really the best way to go? The thousands of business owners that have been through this exact cycle will certainly argue that it most definitely is not, as this hope and pray web development criteria delays any websites success by months and sometimes years, and even more frighteningly results in thousands in lost profit, turnover and ongoing prospect capture.
What is really laughable though is that if you actually read the sales pitch on any one of the myriad of web design companies own websites many of them blatantly claim to be SEO experts as if it is a badge of honour or perhaps a must have tick in the box but a quick check of their portfolio soon reveals that if they are the search engine marketing experts, then it is clearly evident that their clients are definitely not on the receiving end of this claimed expertise.
So what is the real answer, can you really optimise a website before you launch it? Absolutely, web design and SEO should go hand in hand and the thought process of optimising a website and SEO friendly website design should form the foundations of the web development brief right from the outset, as it is the site structure, and ultimately the content that will capture free organic web traffic and also mark the website as a potential authority site or an also ran.
The search engines don't care about what the site looks like but so often this initial chance to make the best impact when the site first gets indexed is wasted, if all the search engines find is a poorly optimised site with scant regard paid to any SEO requirements or keyword capture.
Extra time and money spent on pre development SEO (which should at the very least include keyword research and SEO copywriting) gives an outstanding return on investment as invariably when the site goes live and gets indexed it will achieve a far better website ranking from day one and even in some cases a page one result straight away.
If a web designer is not promoting web design SEO as part of your initial client brief then they are selling not only themselves short but also the client, if they don't have the expertise themselves then best practice would be to team up with a non competing SEO professional to give the client the best possible start and return on investment on their new website.
And to any business owners who are commissioning a new website, if your developer does not offer this service then find one who does as a little extra investment will see your website many months ahead of where it would otherwise be.
Author: Dave Talbot: Correct search engine optimisation is a vital ingredient for any websites success. For new web development projects this is just as important as it is imperative to give the search engines the right initial impression of your website when it is first indexed. To find out more about giving your website the kickstart it requires visit =>> http://www.advancedwebmarketing.co.uk
Saturday, August 22, 2009
7 Vital Factors To Consider Before Building Your Website And Online Presence
by Jeremy Gislason
If you want to boost your online success quicker than a New York minute, then keep reading and you will see just how simple and easy it is.
Make no bones about it, your email box is probably flooded with e-mails trying to sell you bulk e-mail addresses or promises to shoot your website to the top of major search engine rankings.
But let me set the record straight. Prepare yourself. The Internet is growing by leaps and bounds, and the competition is fierce. You have to be unique and stand out from the crowd.
Millions of people search the web everyday for information and to shop. However, surprisingly enough, there are several ways to promote your site and receive great results.
Now, don’t get me wrong…this will require you to invest time and energy. But if you do it correctly, the rewards will have you laughing all the way to the bank.
It’s no secret that if you create a website just for the sake of keeping up with the Joneses, you won’t make one red cent.
You want to have a definite idea of what you plan to accomplish by creating any website. Know this: Your purpose largely determines the look and feel of your site, as well as how you will promote it.
Let’s get started…
Define The Purpose Of Building Your Web Site And Online Presence.
Sounds simple right? You may be surprised at how often many people fail to discover the real reason or should I say “motivation” behind building a website and establishing their online presence.
Let’s take a look at some purposes that could be useful to you. Ask yourself…”Does this apply to my business” as you read each one.
1) To make money on the Internet. Obvious, isn’t it? Money is typically the primary motivation for many people to build a web site. Thanks to the hype in the media and the successes of virtual companies such as Amazon, eBay and Yahoo, many believe they too can strike it rich with an online business.
But, like it or not, an online business is just like any other kind of business. As you might guess, you will need to develop a business plan, secure financial support, invest in marketing, and satisfy the needs of your customers before you can turn a profit.
Think of it like this: This Internet is not a moneymaking machine; instead, it is the TOOL – the master communicator that can bring cash to your doorstep.
2) To reduce the cost of doing business. I hate to say this, but most offline businesses are not taking in the profits they want. However, setting up a website has helped them save money when providing information and technical support to their target audiences.
Speaking of which, it’s a lot cheaper to provide a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page on your website than to have a live person answer the same questions over the phone repeatedly.
In truth, this saves both you and your customer time. An added benefit is that it encourages people to come back and look at what else you have to offer without costing you further effort.
3) To network with other people. Not many know this, but a lot of what passes for a business or life opportunity is simply nothing more than making connections with other people.
Every successful person knows that it is not just what you know, it’s whom you know that really counts.
Look, you can use the web to network with hundreds and thousands of people simultaneously and within a shorter period of time. Imagine what this can do for your business or your career.
4) To take advantage of the Internet’s promotion power. The web allows you to reach out to millions of Internet users at a fraction of the costs associated with other means and media.
In short, you can dramatically improve your opportunities by taking advantage of the many benefits offered by this world’s fastest growing business communication system.
5) To speed up information delivery. Legend has it the newspaper news is no longer “news” because it falls so much behind Internet time.
Through blogging and social networking, the web allows readers to access different opinions and perspectives other than the ones that appeal to the interest of a specific mass media group.
What’s more, all the information can be made available at any specified time and is accessible by anyone who has Internet access.
Plus, changing information is just as easy and speedy. At the drop of a dime, mass communication can be achieved within the hour.
6) To stay in contact with everyone in real time. Let’s face it; in today’s world of high technology, it pays to be able to stay in constant contact with your employees or co-workers who may be traveling.
While burning the midnight oil, you can give them last minute information that could help close a sale or complete a project. In addition to that, you can post this information in complete privacy online.
All they need is an Internet connection to access the required information without long-distance phone bills and wasting valuable time of other people at work.
You see, web pages serve everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can build your website to match any language and needs that can put you one step ahead of the competition.
7) To offer online education. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times, the amount of information available online will soon surpass all the other collections put together, larger than what’s contained in the libraries and museums.
To make a long story short, you can bet that majority of the things ever written or discovered - a major part of collectible human knowledge - will soon be available online.
If you want to make money hand over fist, then building a website and promoting it the right way will help you do just that. What I am talking about is learning how to establish a rock-solid online presence. Once you are able to do this, the rest is a piece of cake.
Want to discover the most incredible and intuitive membership site software today? Then go to http://www.memberspeed.com for details on the world's leading client and content management system, considered as the professional's choice all-in-one e-commerce solution.
If you want to boost your online success quicker than a New York minute, then keep reading and you will see just how simple and easy it is.
Make no bones about it, your email box is probably flooded with e-mails trying to sell you bulk e-mail addresses or promises to shoot your website to the top of major search engine rankings.
But let me set the record straight. Prepare yourself. The Internet is growing by leaps and bounds, and the competition is fierce. You have to be unique and stand out from the crowd.
Millions of people search the web everyday for information and to shop. However, surprisingly enough, there are several ways to promote your site and receive great results.
Now, don’t get me wrong…this will require you to invest time and energy. But if you do it correctly, the rewards will have you laughing all the way to the bank.
It’s no secret that if you create a website just for the sake of keeping up with the Joneses, you won’t make one red cent.
You want to have a definite idea of what you plan to accomplish by creating any website. Know this: Your purpose largely determines the look and feel of your site, as well as how you will promote it.
Let’s get started…
Define The Purpose Of Building Your Web Site And Online Presence.
Sounds simple right? You may be surprised at how often many people fail to discover the real reason or should I say “motivation” behind building a website and establishing their online presence.
Let’s take a look at some purposes that could be useful to you. Ask yourself…”Does this apply to my business” as you read each one.
1) To make money on the Internet. Obvious, isn’t it? Money is typically the primary motivation for many people to build a web site. Thanks to the hype in the media and the successes of virtual companies such as Amazon, eBay and Yahoo, many believe they too can strike it rich with an online business.
But, like it or not, an online business is just like any other kind of business. As you might guess, you will need to develop a business plan, secure financial support, invest in marketing, and satisfy the needs of your customers before you can turn a profit.
Think of it like this: This Internet is not a moneymaking machine; instead, it is the TOOL – the master communicator that can bring cash to your doorstep.
2) To reduce the cost of doing business. I hate to say this, but most offline businesses are not taking in the profits they want. However, setting up a website has helped them save money when providing information and technical support to their target audiences.
Speaking of which, it’s a lot cheaper to provide a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page on your website than to have a live person answer the same questions over the phone repeatedly.
In truth, this saves both you and your customer time. An added benefit is that it encourages people to come back and look at what else you have to offer without costing you further effort.
3) To network with other people. Not many know this, but a lot of what passes for a business or life opportunity is simply nothing more than making connections with other people.
Every successful person knows that it is not just what you know, it’s whom you know that really counts.
Look, you can use the web to network with hundreds and thousands of people simultaneously and within a shorter period of time. Imagine what this can do for your business or your career.
4) To take advantage of the Internet’s promotion power. The web allows you to reach out to millions of Internet users at a fraction of the costs associated with other means and media.
In short, you can dramatically improve your opportunities by taking advantage of the many benefits offered by this world’s fastest growing business communication system.
5) To speed up information delivery. Legend has it the newspaper news is no longer “news” because it falls so much behind Internet time.
Through blogging and social networking, the web allows readers to access different opinions and perspectives other than the ones that appeal to the interest of a specific mass media group.
What’s more, all the information can be made available at any specified time and is accessible by anyone who has Internet access.
Plus, changing information is just as easy and speedy. At the drop of a dime, mass communication can be achieved within the hour.
6) To stay in contact with everyone in real time. Let’s face it; in today’s world of high technology, it pays to be able to stay in constant contact with your employees or co-workers who may be traveling.
While burning the midnight oil, you can give them last minute information that could help close a sale or complete a project. In addition to that, you can post this information in complete privacy online.
All they need is an Internet connection to access the required information without long-distance phone bills and wasting valuable time of other people at work.
You see, web pages serve everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can build your website to match any language and needs that can put you one step ahead of the competition.
7) To offer online education. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times, the amount of information available online will soon surpass all the other collections put together, larger than what’s contained in the libraries and museums.
To make a long story short, you can bet that majority of the things ever written or discovered - a major part of collectible human knowledge - will soon be available online.
If you want to make money hand over fist, then building a website and promoting it the right way will help you do just that. What I am talking about is learning how to establish a rock-solid online presence. Once you are able to do this, the rest is a piece of cake.
Want to discover the most incredible and intuitive membership site software today? Then go to http://www.memberspeed.com for details on the world's leading client and content management system, considered as the professional's choice all-in-one e-commerce solution.
Friday, August 7, 2009
The 5 Selling Magic Secrets of Billy Mays
by Barry A. Densa
Billy Mays, who sadly passed away at age fifty, was a pot-bellied, black-bearded Atlantic City carnival barker in a blue long-sleeve shirt and a white undershirt.
He had a loud, shrill and annoyingly exuberant voice. And he seemed to lean forward, through the TV screen, and put his nose in your face, the way only pitchmen do.
Madison Avenue style brand marketers who believe asking for an order even once, unless it's in small grey type, is undignified, contemptible and just plain bad manners, absolutely loathed him.
Direct marketers idolized him.
Consumers, well, they either loved or hated him... or were totally unaware of him (presumably Tivo owners).
Bottom line: Billy sold the hell out of stuff. And he didn't have to reinvent the wheel to do it.
Billy bellied-up to bar with the TV viewer and spoke straight and to the point: you got a problem, I've got the solution, I can guarantee it or your money back, buy it now and I'll make you an even better deal.
Inelegant to the max. But he sold and made millions. Not through artifice; there was no false imagery, cheating or stealing, just great showmanship and...
Great Salesmanship
But great salesmanship, contrary to popular opinion, is not about selling ice to Eskimos.
The truth is less flamboyant, and far more reasonable.
Simply put, behind every great salesman is a great product. And Billy Mays understood that better than most.
Because if it's a great product—it was easy for Billy to sell, using salesmanship techniques he had honed over two decades of selling.
Who better than Billy Mays could grab your attention (Hi, Billy Mays here for...)... get you excited (So fast and easy...)... make you want to buy it (No more dings, dents or scratches—and it'll save you money, too...)... and get you to buy it (But wait, order now and I'll...)
So how do you know if the product you're currently selling or developing is great... and easy to sell?
According to Billy Mays...
To be Great and an Easy Sell Your Product Must Have These 5 Essential Character Traits
1. It must solve a problem.
If it doesn't fix, mend or alleviate a nagging pain, problem, condition or situation—why would people want it, much less buy it? There must be a strong, recognizable and somewhat measurable or appreciable benefit to owning and using your product.
2. It must have mass appeal.
You may have invented the best mousetrap ever, but if only one in ten million homes has a mouse problem... you're not going to sell a heck of a lot of mouse traps. Sure, you can sell just a few at a ridiculously high price-point? But a mouse-trap priced at $50,000... how easy of a sale will that be?
3. It must be unique.
If it's the first or only one of its kind—that's a homerun! If it's not, then it should at least be different and beneficial in a way that isn't currently offered. A rose by any other name is still a rose—but a rose that never loses its petals, now that would be unique.
4. It must offer instant gratification.
If it'll only be of use next spring, why buy it today? People don't want to buy seeds. They want the fully grown tree, planted and providing shade now. We're an impatient nation of consumers. We don't want the fishing pole—we want the fish fresh, filleted, seasoned and served.
5. It must be demonstrable.
It's a law of nature: seeing is believing. The customer must see with their own eyes how easily, quickly and effectively your product does what it does. Though people will often say they can't trust their eyes—they always do.
"But wait, there's more..."
You Don’t Need TV Air-Time to be a Successful Marketer
A demonstration doesn't have be live or on TV to be effective. If you're selling off the page, diagrams, schematics, and before and after pictures will also do the trick.
And if you're not limited to a 30-second or 1-minute TV spot... you might have a distinct advantage!
When you're selling off the page, you can pile on the benefits—as many as you can think of. And, you can highlight features and advantages in bullet-point after bullet-point.
You can show why your product or service is superior to your competitors by creating tables.
You can provide testimonials, endorsements... and your own impressive credentials.
And as long as you know how to keep the reader reading—you can methodically, step-by-step, convince and persuade the reader to buy from you in a voice and style that's compelling, empowering, believable and completely your own.
I'm sure that's what Billy Mays would do. He'd begin every letter or ad with, "Hi, Billy Mays here for..."
Thanks, Billy. Rest in peace.
Barry A. Densa is one of America’s top freelance direct response copywriters. Visit www.WritingWithPersonality.com and see how easily and quickly Barry converts prospects into buyers using “salesmanship in print”. And while there, sign up for his highly regarded FREE ezine: Marketing Wit & Wisdom!
Billy Mays, who sadly passed away at age fifty, was a pot-bellied, black-bearded Atlantic City carnival barker in a blue long-sleeve shirt and a white undershirt.
He had a loud, shrill and annoyingly exuberant voice. And he seemed to lean forward, through the TV screen, and put his nose in your face, the way only pitchmen do.
Madison Avenue style brand marketers who believe asking for an order even once, unless it's in small grey type, is undignified, contemptible and just plain bad manners, absolutely loathed him.
Direct marketers idolized him.
Consumers, well, they either loved or hated him... or were totally unaware of him (presumably Tivo owners).
Bottom line: Billy sold the hell out of stuff. And he didn't have to reinvent the wheel to do it.
Billy bellied-up to bar with the TV viewer and spoke straight and to the point: you got a problem, I've got the solution, I can guarantee it or your money back, buy it now and I'll make you an even better deal.
Inelegant to the max. But he sold and made millions. Not through artifice; there was no false imagery, cheating or stealing, just great showmanship and...
Great Salesmanship
But great salesmanship, contrary to popular opinion, is not about selling ice to Eskimos.
The truth is less flamboyant, and far more reasonable.
Simply put, behind every great salesman is a great product. And Billy Mays understood that better than most.
Because if it's a great product—it was easy for Billy to sell, using salesmanship techniques he had honed over two decades of selling.
Who better than Billy Mays could grab your attention (Hi, Billy Mays here for...)... get you excited (So fast and easy...)... make you want to buy it (No more dings, dents or scratches—and it'll save you money, too...)... and get you to buy it (But wait, order now and I'll...)
So how do you know if the product you're currently selling or developing is great... and easy to sell?
According to Billy Mays...
To be Great and an Easy Sell Your Product Must Have These 5 Essential Character Traits
1. It must solve a problem.
If it doesn't fix, mend or alleviate a nagging pain, problem, condition or situation—why would people want it, much less buy it? There must be a strong, recognizable and somewhat measurable or appreciable benefit to owning and using your product.
2. It must have mass appeal.
You may have invented the best mousetrap ever, but if only one in ten million homes has a mouse problem... you're not going to sell a heck of a lot of mouse traps. Sure, you can sell just a few at a ridiculously high price-point? But a mouse-trap priced at $50,000... how easy of a sale will that be?
3. It must be unique.
If it's the first or only one of its kind—that's a homerun! If it's not, then it should at least be different and beneficial in a way that isn't currently offered. A rose by any other name is still a rose—but a rose that never loses its petals, now that would be unique.
4. It must offer instant gratification.
If it'll only be of use next spring, why buy it today? People don't want to buy seeds. They want the fully grown tree, planted and providing shade now. We're an impatient nation of consumers. We don't want the fishing pole—we want the fish fresh, filleted, seasoned and served.
5. It must be demonstrable.
It's a law of nature: seeing is believing. The customer must see with their own eyes how easily, quickly and effectively your product does what it does. Though people will often say they can't trust their eyes—they always do.
"But wait, there's more..."
You Don’t Need TV Air-Time to be a Successful Marketer
A demonstration doesn't have be live or on TV to be effective. If you're selling off the page, diagrams, schematics, and before and after pictures will also do the trick.
And if you're not limited to a 30-second or 1-minute TV spot... you might have a distinct advantage!
When you're selling off the page, you can pile on the benefits—as many as you can think of. And, you can highlight features and advantages in bullet-point after bullet-point.
You can show why your product or service is superior to your competitors by creating tables.
You can provide testimonials, endorsements... and your own impressive credentials.
And as long as you know how to keep the reader reading—you can methodically, step-by-step, convince and persuade the reader to buy from you in a voice and style that's compelling, empowering, believable and completely your own.
I'm sure that's what Billy Mays would do. He'd begin every letter or ad with, "Hi, Billy Mays here for..."
Thanks, Billy. Rest in peace.
Barry A. Densa is one of America’s top freelance direct response copywriters. Visit www.WritingWithPersonality.com and see how easily and quickly Barry converts prospects into buyers using “salesmanship in print”. And while there, sign up for his highly regarded FREE ezine: Marketing Wit & Wisdom!
Recent Google Algo Update: Link Building Stays Strong
by Richard Gilmore
It's been almost a month since Google made a set of changes to its ranking algorithm which became known as Vince Update. And although there's been an official statement from Google that it's not an update but rather some slight changes the name remained in use.
So what exactly is this update about and how you should alter your optimization activities to adapt to the new way Google ranks websites? When the update was first announced SEOs started testing things to figure out what changes were made to the algo and how it affected the influence of individual ranking factors on a site's position in the SERPs.
There were a couple of theories that stir the SEO community: the traffic-stats and the brand theory. The first one assumes that the traffic volume for a given keyword on in other words how often a certain phrase is searched for has an impact on the search rankings. For example if some company name gets a rise in the search stats the company gets to rank better for other terms as well. The brand theory boils down to Google giving preference to big companies and popular brands over other website and push them up in the rankings.
Should you start optimizing your site in a new fashion?
Now don't be scared, that doesn't mean that you should either develop your business into a giant corporation or forget about ranking anywhere on Google altogether. We'll now a closer look at why big brands started to rank much better right after the Vince update. But first let's hear what Google had to say about the update.
The official statement was that what is known as the Vince (or sometimes called 'brand') update is not really an update but rather some slight changes to the algo that only influence a small fraction of queries. First of all this change obviously influences the queries containing brand names in them. Personally I don't see anything wrong with a company ranking first for its own brand name. Moreover I do believe that the company's website holds more relevance for the user searching for its brand then a Wikipedia 'about' article. But generic keywords are a different cup of tea, so why do big brands get to rank better for these as well?
Let's once again go back to the basics. What are the major factors that determine the search engine rankings of a website: Reputation, relevance, authority, link popularity, PageRank and trust to name a few.
Big companies and popular brands remain popular online the way they are offline: they get a lot of publicity on the Internet just like they always get talked about offline. They attract a lot of 'natural' links with relevant anchor texts and therefore they get to rank high for their keywords. Consider yourself blogging about cars: what websites are you most likely to link out to in your blog posts? That's right BMW, Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen - that is the brands. They are the major producers of cars. Basically the make cars and make up the industry as a whole at the same time. No wonder they get to rank high for the automobile related keywords.
So, there's no conspiracy going on. The ranking algo stays pretty much the same with the same SEO techniques, link building still being the most important one. Brands get to rank better simply because they magnet links naturally. So keep up on doing what you're doing for your site's SEO (and I hope you're building quality and relevant links). Spin off your link building campaign, think outside the box, become more creative, automate the tedious link building tasks with SEO tools and SEO software and you're sure to get your deserved rankings on Google.
Outrank any site 'brand' or not with effective SEO software and learn cutting-edge SEO techniques with this free SEO book.
It's been almost a month since Google made a set of changes to its ranking algorithm which became known as Vince Update. And although there's been an official statement from Google that it's not an update but rather some slight changes the name remained in use.
So what exactly is this update about and how you should alter your optimization activities to adapt to the new way Google ranks websites? When the update was first announced SEOs started testing things to figure out what changes were made to the algo and how it affected the influence of individual ranking factors on a site's position in the SERPs.
There were a couple of theories that stir the SEO community: the traffic-stats and the brand theory. The first one assumes that the traffic volume for a given keyword on in other words how often a certain phrase is searched for has an impact on the search rankings. For example if some company name gets a rise in the search stats the company gets to rank better for other terms as well. The brand theory boils down to Google giving preference to big companies and popular brands over other website and push them up in the rankings.
Should you start optimizing your site in a new fashion?
Now don't be scared, that doesn't mean that you should either develop your business into a giant corporation or forget about ranking anywhere on Google altogether. We'll now a closer look at why big brands started to rank much better right after the Vince update. But first let's hear what Google had to say about the update.
The official statement was that what is known as the Vince (or sometimes called 'brand') update is not really an update but rather some slight changes to the algo that only influence a small fraction of queries. First of all this change obviously influences the queries containing brand names in them. Personally I don't see anything wrong with a company ranking first for its own brand name. Moreover I do believe that the company's website holds more relevance for the user searching for its brand then a Wikipedia 'about' article. But generic keywords are a different cup of tea, so why do big brands get to rank better for these as well?
Let's once again go back to the basics. What are the major factors that determine the search engine rankings of a website: Reputation, relevance, authority, link popularity, PageRank and trust to name a few.
Big companies and popular brands remain popular online the way they are offline: they get a lot of publicity on the Internet just like they always get talked about offline. They attract a lot of 'natural' links with relevant anchor texts and therefore they get to rank high for their keywords. Consider yourself blogging about cars: what websites are you most likely to link out to in your blog posts? That's right BMW, Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen - that is the brands. They are the major producers of cars. Basically the make cars and make up the industry as a whole at the same time. No wonder they get to rank high for the automobile related keywords.
So, there's no conspiracy going on. The ranking algo stays pretty much the same with the same SEO techniques, link building still being the most important one. Brands get to rank better simply because they magnet links naturally. So keep up on doing what you're doing for your site's SEO (and I hope you're building quality and relevant links). Spin off your link building campaign, think outside the box, become more creative, automate the tedious link building tasks with SEO tools and SEO software and you're sure to get your deserved rankings on Google.
Outrank any site 'brand' or not with effective SEO software and learn cutting-edge SEO techniques with this free SEO book.
5 Rules Your SaaS Website Should Follow to Avoid Claims For False Advertising
by Chip Cooper
Many Internet entrepreneurs are lulled into sleep regarding potential liability for false advertising on their websites. They don't serve banner ads or engage in pay-per-click advertising - and because of this, they incorrectly believe they are exempt from rules regarding false advertising. Nothing could be more incorrect - and more dangerous in terms of exposure to legal liability.
What is False Advertising?
Basically, false advertising is any advertising that deceives consumers. This includes misleading or deceptive advertising that technically may to true, but may be misunderstood by consumers. In most cases false advertising leads a consumer to believe that certain benefits will be received, when they're not.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has the authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act to file lawsuits against advertisers believed to be making false advertising claims. This authority extends to traditional media - print, television, radio, and telephone.
The FTC's authority for false advertising has also been extended to cover online advertising, and the FTC has been very aggressive in its enforcement on the Web. Since 1994, the FTC has brought over 100 enforcement actions against online businesses.
However, claims for false advertising aren't limited to the FTC. The attorneys general of various states have also been just as active filing claims based on state laws that are similar in concept to the FTC Act.
Why It's Relatively Easy to Inadvertently Make False Advertising Claims
Most Internet entrepreneurs don't intend to make false or misleading claims.
What most Internet entrepreneurs don't know is that It's relatively easy to inadvertently make a false or misleading claim. The primary reasons are:
- most SaaS and ecommerce websites write their own marketing copy, and
- many websites are not updated periodically.
What's marketing copy? You can boil down it down to this - it's the clever stuff you write to sell your site and it's product and/or services. And it doesn't have to be presented in the format of a typical "advertisement". It may simply be in the form of your pricing and descriptions of your products and services - and even in the text of your website legal compliance documents such as your Terms of Use (as we'll see below).
Danger signs include incorrect product or service descriptions, incorrect pricing, or photos or online demos that don't portray your products or services accurately or completely. Maybe your descriptions, pricing, photos, and demos - and even your website legal documents -- were not misleading when they were first added to your website, but you've failed to update them over time -- with the result that now they're now out-of-date and misleading to consumers.
The 5 Rules
In interpreting the FTC Act, the FTC has determined that a representation, omission, or practice is false or misleading if it is likely to:
- mislead consumers, and
- affect consumers' behavior or decisions about a product or service.
In addition, an act or practice is false and misleading if the injury caused (or likely to be caused) is:
- substantial,
- not outweighed by other benefits, and
- not reasonably avoidable.
These rules are also reflected in various state statutes that also prohibit false advertising.
Recent Illustrative Cases
The best way to get a feel of how these rules are interpreted is to take a look at some of the cases construing them. Here's a short list of illustrative cases.
1. Earlier this month, Lifestyle Lift, a cosmetic surgery company, has reached a settlement with the State of New York over its attempts to fake positive consumer reviews on the Web. The company will pay $300,000 in penalties and costs to the state. The company had ordered employees to pretend they were satisfied customers and write glowing reviews of its face-lift procedure on websites, according to New York's attorney general. Lifestyle Lift also created its own websites of face-lift reviews to appear as independent sources.
2. In May, 2009, a trial court in Washington state ordered Expedia to pay class action plaintiffs $184,000 based on its ruling that Expedia's website Terms of Use amounted to a breach of contract. Expedia's Terms of Use stated: "service fee goes to covering costs". Plaintiffs alleged that more than costs were included in the service fees and relied on an internal Expedia email that estimated service fees would generate $2-$3,000,000 in net profit for the company in one quarter. The court stated that "plaintiffs correctly conclude that profits, not costs, are the subject matter of these 'service fees.'" Therefore, according to the court, Expedia's contractual definition of service fees that was found in its Terms of Use constituted a breach of contract because Expedia "collected profits along with covering costs."
3. In 2007, the FTC filed an action against Payneless Credit Repair, LLC and its owner for making the following claims on the company's website: "Fast, Legal, Effective, Credit Report Repair ... We will fight to remove negative items from your credit reports, so you can improve your credit score . . . " The FTC alleged that the defendants violated the FTC Act by falsely representing that they can improve consumers' credit reports by permanently removing negative information, even when the information is accurate and not obsolete.
4. In 2005, the FTC filed an action against MP3DownloadCity.com for the following ad: "And best of all people are not getting sued for using our software. yes! it is 100% legal". The FTC alleged that MP3DownloadCity.com violated the FTC Act by falsely claiming that membership in its service made P2P file sharing legal.
Conclusion
Writing your own website advertising copy - as well as your website legal documents - can get you in trouble if you're not careful.
Sometimes you can be a little too clever. Other times, you may have simply failed to keep your product descriptions, pricing, or website documents up-to-date.
For these reasons, it's a good idea to be familiar with the FTC's false advertising 5 rules and to review your website periodically to ensure that all statements are true, accurate, complete - and not misleading.
Leading Internet, IP and software lawyer Chip Cooper has automated the process of drafting website documents for small websites with his MyLegalFirewall website documents drafting service. Discover how quick, easy, and cost-effective it is to determine which legal compliance documents you need and to draft them online, and claim your FREE Special Report, Determine Which Legal Documents Your Website Really Needs, at ==> http://digicontracts.com/
Copyright © 2009 Chip Cooper
Many Internet entrepreneurs are lulled into sleep regarding potential liability for false advertising on their websites. They don't serve banner ads or engage in pay-per-click advertising - and because of this, they incorrectly believe they are exempt from rules regarding false advertising. Nothing could be more incorrect - and more dangerous in terms of exposure to legal liability.
What is False Advertising?
Basically, false advertising is any advertising that deceives consumers. This includes misleading or deceptive advertising that technically may to true, but may be misunderstood by consumers. In most cases false advertising leads a consumer to believe that certain benefits will be received, when they're not.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has the authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act to file lawsuits against advertisers believed to be making false advertising claims. This authority extends to traditional media - print, television, radio, and telephone.
The FTC's authority for false advertising has also been extended to cover online advertising, and the FTC has been very aggressive in its enforcement on the Web. Since 1994, the FTC has brought over 100 enforcement actions against online businesses.
However, claims for false advertising aren't limited to the FTC. The attorneys general of various states have also been just as active filing claims based on state laws that are similar in concept to the FTC Act.
Why It's Relatively Easy to Inadvertently Make False Advertising Claims
Most Internet entrepreneurs don't intend to make false or misleading claims.
What most Internet entrepreneurs don't know is that It's relatively easy to inadvertently make a false or misleading claim. The primary reasons are:
- most SaaS and ecommerce websites write their own marketing copy, and
- many websites are not updated periodically.
What's marketing copy? You can boil down it down to this - it's the clever stuff you write to sell your site and it's product and/or services. And it doesn't have to be presented in the format of a typical "advertisement". It may simply be in the form of your pricing and descriptions of your products and services - and even in the text of your website legal compliance documents such as your Terms of Use (as we'll see below).
Danger signs include incorrect product or service descriptions, incorrect pricing, or photos or online demos that don't portray your products or services accurately or completely. Maybe your descriptions, pricing, photos, and demos - and even your website legal documents -- were not misleading when they were first added to your website, but you've failed to update them over time -- with the result that now they're now out-of-date and misleading to consumers.
The 5 Rules
In interpreting the FTC Act, the FTC has determined that a representation, omission, or practice is false or misleading if it is likely to:
- mislead consumers, and
- affect consumers' behavior or decisions about a product or service.
In addition, an act or practice is false and misleading if the injury caused (or likely to be caused) is:
- substantial,
- not outweighed by other benefits, and
- not reasonably avoidable.
These rules are also reflected in various state statutes that also prohibit false advertising.
Recent Illustrative Cases
The best way to get a feel of how these rules are interpreted is to take a look at some of the cases construing them. Here's a short list of illustrative cases.
1. Earlier this month, Lifestyle Lift, a cosmetic surgery company, has reached a settlement with the State of New York over its attempts to fake positive consumer reviews on the Web. The company will pay $300,000 in penalties and costs to the state. The company had ordered employees to pretend they were satisfied customers and write glowing reviews of its face-lift procedure on websites, according to New York's attorney general. Lifestyle Lift also created its own websites of face-lift reviews to appear as independent sources.
2. In May, 2009, a trial court in Washington state ordered Expedia to pay class action plaintiffs $184,000 based on its ruling that Expedia's website Terms of Use amounted to a breach of contract. Expedia's Terms of Use stated: "service fee goes to covering costs". Plaintiffs alleged that more than costs were included in the service fees and relied on an internal Expedia email that estimated service fees would generate $2-$3,000,000 in net profit for the company in one quarter. The court stated that "plaintiffs correctly conclude that profits, not costs, are the subject matter of these 'service fees.'" Therefore, according to the court, Expedia's contractual definition of service fees that was found in its Terms of Use constituted a breach of contract because Expedia "collected profits along with covering costs."
3. In 2007, the FTC filed an action against Payneless Credit Repair, LLC and its owner for making the following claims on the company's website: "Fast, Legal, Effective, Credit Report Repair ... We will fight to remove negative items from your credit reports, so you can improve your credit score . . . " The FTC alleged that the defendants violated the FTC Act by falsely representing that they can improve consumers' credit reports by permanently removing negative information, even when the information is accurate and not obsolete.
4. In 2005, the FTC filed an action against MP3DownloadCity.com for the following ad: "And best of all people are not getting sued for using our software. yes! it is 100% legal". The FTC alleged that MP3DownloadCity.com violated the FTC Act by falsely claiming that membership in its service made P2P file sharing legal.
Conclusion
Writing your own website advertising copy - as well as your website legal documents - can get you in trouble if you're not careful.
Sometimes you can be a little too clever. Other times, you may have simply failed to keep your product descriptions, pricing, or website documents up-to-date.
For these reasons, it's a good idea to be familiar with the FTC's false advertising 5 rules and to review your website periodically to ensure that all statements are true, accurate, complete - and not misleading.
Leading Internet, IP and software lawyer Chip Cooper has automated the process of drafting website documents for small websites with his MyLegalFirewall website documents drafting service. Discover how quick, easy, and cost-effective it is to determine which legal compliance documents you need and to draft them online, and claim your FREE Special Report, Determine Which Legal Documents Your Website Really Needs, at ==> http://digicontracts.com/
Copyright © 2009 Chip Cooper
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