I haven’t found much information about A/B and Multivariate testing specifically for Miva Merchant, yet testing is so important for improving sales/lead conversions it cannot be ignored.

If you want to do A/B testing on e-commerce template pages, this post is for you. If you’re using Miva Merchant, that’s even better. If you’re using the SEO Friendly URLs feature in Miva Merchant, then this method was written exactly for you.

Let’s get started!

The Test

Recently, I designed a Product Page template that I felt was superior to our existing Product Page template for a number of reasons. I wanted to test and see if we would see marked improvement for the following:

• Increased Number of Basket Clicks
• Increase in overall average revenue per visitor

Here is how to set up this test.

Create a Variable Product Page

To perform an A/B Test for the Miva product pages, two different pages are required.

First Page: Control (Miva’s PROD page)
http://www.domain.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=XXXXXX

Second Page: Variable(s)
To create a variable page, duplicate the PROD page entirely (ALL Code, assigned Items and applied Settings) and name it something else. I named mine VARTST:
http://www.domain.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=VARTST&Product_Code=XXXXXX

Alter the code, change styles, add scripts as you see fit on this duplicated version. This will be the “B” of your A/B test, but you can create as many variables as you would like to test at this point.

(SEO Tip: Make sure you add a meta Robots Noindex,nofollow in the HEAD tags of the Variable page so the search engines do not think you have two versions of the same page when they crawl your site!)

The Challenge – URL Rewrites

We’re off to a good start but if you are using search engine friendly URLs, we need a tool that can adapt to this and ensure users are seamlessly directed to your TEST version as applicable.

For us, our product pages look like this:

http://www.domain.com/store/CATEGORY-NAME/PRODUCT-CODE.html

or just simply:

http://www.domain.com/store/PRODUCT-CODE.html

In the past, I would use Google Website Optimizer to run Multivariate tests on my pages. Google has since gotten rid of Website Optimizer and now has an (inferior) A/B testing feature in Analytics called “Content Experiments”.

At the time of my test, Google’s new tool has no Multivariate capability. This may have changed. The point is that Miva URL Rewrites for template pages make testing impossible with Google’s tool. Just try and you’ll go bald from pulling your hair out.

(On a side note, if you DO know a method to make Content Experiments work to test any MIVA template page like CTGY or PROD where URLs are rewritten, then please share it!)

Finding The Right Tool – Optimizely

After doing research into A/B Testing Tools, I found Optimizely. It is reasonably priced, comes with a 30 day trial period, responsive support and an intuitive interface that runs almost any kind of test.

The trial is perfect because you can ensure the tool is working correctly before you ever pay for it.

Because we chose Optimizely, I’m going to walk through the steps we took to run our test while respecting our rewritten URLs.

Setting Up The Experiment

Create an Optimizely trial account.

Sign in and select “Set up a New Experiment”

When asked to insert the Experiment URL, you will want to enter the Miva dynamic URL for your PROD page:

http://www.domain.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD

You should see the PROD Page template appear in the Preview Frame.

Next, click the Variation #1 button. Click the small dropdown arrow. There is an option that says “Redirect to a New Page”. Click this option and enter your Redirection URL:
http://www.domain.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=VARTST

*Note: Your variation page should not have ‘PROD’ in its name, i.e., do not name your variation something like “PROD2″ or “PRODTEST”. The test will not work with this method!*

Redirect Fixes – Select Targeting

In the Edit Mode for the Experiment, click “Targeting” in the Options dropdown.

Tell it to apply this test to everyone who visits your rewritten site URLS. Add everything up to the dynamic content, such as Category Codes or Product Codes, for instance:

http://www.domain.com/store/

In the dropdown, select “Substring Match” and then click “APPLY”. This ensures the test goes to all visitors. (More on this later)

Redirect Fixes – A Script for Redirects

Now, Optimizely needs to do a little extra code jiujitsu to get users to the correct variation when users visit your PROD Page.

First, click the “Variation #1″ Tab at the top. You will probably see a popup that says “Redirection Notification” and your Variable page. If you DO NOT see this, you need to click the Dropdown arrow next to Variation #1 and click “Redirect to a New Page”.

In “Editing Mode”, click the button in the bottom-right that says “Edit Code” A menu appears.

What you will need to place here is logic to strip the Product Code from your rewrites and stick it at the end of the dynamic Variable URL:

/* _optimizely_redirect=http://www.domain.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=VARTST */
var url_no_slashes = window.location.href.split(‘/’);
var url_html = url_no_slashes[url_no_slashes.length - 1];
var url_product_code = url_html.split(‘.html’)[0];
window.new_url = “http://www.domain.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=VARTST&Product_Code=” + url_product_code;
window.location = window.new_url;

Obviously the code you will use depends on how you are rewriting your URLS and the name of your Test page.

Change as needed.

Setting up Goals

Goals can track almost any kind of engagement or conversion; in our case, we want to track Basket Clicks and Revenue.

At the top of the Optimizely Edit screen for this test there is a “Set Up Goals” button.

Click this, then click “Add A Goal”.

Name it “Basket Clicks”. Under “What to Track” select “Clicks”.

In the view that displays the PROD page, click the “Add to Basket” button by clicking it.

Now, click the “Advanced” Tab. Change the Custom Event Name and ensure the Selector is correct (in our case it is the INPUT for the Basket button)

Under Goal targeting, make sure you select “Specify which customer pages on which to track this goal” and add: www.domain.com/mm5/merchant.mvc and www.domain.com/any-rewrite-categories/ For the URL Match Type, you will select “Substring Match”.

Now, save this goal! Here’s an example of these settings at work:

Next, we need a revenue goal. Click the Set up Goals button again and add “Revenue”.

The Optimizely snippet will do its work by using a Tracking Event on your Invoice (INVC) page. We will add these snippets in the next step.

Adding Optimizely Snippets

In this step, you will add the Optimizely snippet to the portion of your PROD page, the VARTST page and your INVC Page.

VERY IMPORTANT – Remember earlier in “Select Targeting” we told this test to apply to ALL pages of the website? Make sure you ONLY install the tracking script on the PROD page, its Variation page and the INVC page! DO NOT install this script sitewide! Doing so will cause your urls to redirect incorrectly to your variable page!

One More Heads Up – Since Optimizely uses a single script tag to run your tests, you have to Archive this test before you create a new one for a different page. Otherwise, the JavaScript additions we’ve added will apply to those pages and potentially break something.

I hope this tutorial has been helpful!

Huge thanks goes out to the fine staff at Optimizely for their unwavering patience and assistance to make this work. If interested in Optimizely testing for your business, please click this link as the referral helps me out as well: http://optimize.ly/Ou7FQ2

If you have more methods for A/B testing e-commerce templates, please comment below!

And for those who are curious, my Variable pages were superior in every metric. Score 1 Point for my gut intuition.

I haven’t posted any new guides and tools for awhile.  Partly because I’ve been writing a novel, but also because my work has kept me busy with many other things aside from marketing.

So instead of being original in any stretch of imagination today, I’ve compiled a list of the top Market Misfit posts.  So here you are.

E-commerce and Online Marketing
An Ecommerce plan that Won’t Overwhelm You (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)
Six Cool Ways to use Brand Marketing in Google Adwords Campaigns
Does a branded adwords campaign increase revenue?

SEO Tips, Tricks, and Aids
3 P’s of SEO and Why You’ll Fail Without Them
Doing Local SEO – How to get Local Business Reviews
Download my Fat List of Websites for Local SEO
Evaluating SEO As a Service (for your business)
How to Cherry Pick Quick SEO Traffic

Link Building
Download My List of Important Websites for Social Marketing and Promotions
Best SEO Promotional Marketing Opportunities with Social Media
Building Links through Volunteering Your Time

Content Writing
Finding the Best to Write Exceptional SEO Content

Making Money Online
How to Build and Promote a Profitable Niche Blog using Amazon and Google

Using WordPress
How to Check your WordPress Themes for Malicious and Hidden Code
Build Classy Sites and Increase Business with Premium Themes
Quicklist of my Favorite WordPress Plugins

I don’t always write guides, sometimes I write silly. Here’s a collection of some posts you may enjoy:

Tales of Deceptive Advertising
Crisco Vegetable Oil
Why you See All Those Dirty Catheter TV Commercials
You Deserve It – Entitlements in Advertising
Digiorno Pizza with WYNGZ
Hungry Man Frozen Meals

The Super-Awesome Stuff
Sears Website Really Sucks
Where is Tech Support Girl? (Stock Photography)
Trendy Corporate Logo Designs
The Facebook Cheater – PR For Your Personal Life

Show and Tell
My Data Loss Horror Story
Your Biggest Mistake is a Failure to Act (Teddy Roosevelt)
The Strange Bird I found in St. Louis City

Which comes first: The Chicken or the wyngz*?

Thursday nights are not a cooking night in the Lefever Estate. Beer and Pizza is usually on the menu, regardless of what’s going on, and I’m either enjoying a regularly scheduled hang-out with Tony, or a video game veg-out session with the company of our Loft Dogs.

So last Thursday, I stopped by Schnucks on the way home for the office in prep of traditional Thusday evening fare when lo and behold, DiGiorno has produced a new product.   Being the adventurous type, this one made my consumer sense tingle:  a double-thick box that includes not only the standard slab of doughy delicacy, but a side order of wyngz*.

I’m no stranger to novel meats, having been served everything from Missouri squirrel stew to shots of alcohol fermenting with dead snake. DiGiorno has accomplished a full re-branding of the “chicken wing” concept into something entirely different.

Wyngz*, in fact, may have moved the bar to a new threshold of what chicken can be.  The FDA-appeasing box makes it pretty clear that wyngz* are not “wings”, as we’re told that “wyngz*” contain no “wing meat”.     So, I must conclude that wyngz* must come from some other, equally tasty animal, like they chikynz.

So, my curiosity to see what a “wyng*” is compelled me to indulge.

Oven pre-heated and hungry for dinner, I opened the box.  My side of wyngz* lay atop my Supreme Frozen delicacy. A plastic-wrapped baggie of breaded, familiar shapes, about six of them and a small wad of breading that must qualify for the seventh wyngz* promised on the box.

Taking a closer look, I would call a wyng* a closer relative to the more familiar “chicken nugget” than I would a relative to the “chicken wing”.   And it’s boneless, and flapping a boneless wing is sort like flapping your… well, nevermind.

My side order of wyngs* also included a plastic pack of Honey BBQ Sauce, which I heated up and ported intravenously it into my veins:

Having “nugget” status is a downgrade from the “wing”, and it certainly makes no marketing sense to sell a premium frozen pizza with something called a “nugget”.  For lack of a better term, a premium pizza deserves a premium side, like the wyng*, which strangely has the same cooking instructions as the “nugget”.

I believe wyngz* make one thing clear to us all:  In food science, there is only one constant:  there is unlimited potential in ways to cut, dry, freeze, bread, flavor, and re-arrange pountry.

And for that, thank you, DiGiorno, for re-defining what chicken can be. And on the quest to re-invent the English language, let’s not stop with wyngz*.  My next side suggestions are: “Salid w/ Rizanch Dressyng*” and “Nah-chos*” as potential side options.

A hilarious post on Cracked.com today I had found through @AMBabka that went right in line with Tales of Deceptive Marketing, and right to the point, describes some of the crappity crap we find on our food packaging.

6 Ways Marketers Think We’re Retarded

I hope you’ll all indulge me in a fun experiment the next time you’re in the grocery store.

Buy one product – a simply food product with high advertising budget and marketing appeal (ie, an energy drink can, a bag of chips, a juice container, a box of snake cakes or desserts, or perhaps a frozen meal).

When you get home, keeping in mind that every square centimeter of space on this package has been lovingly designed by an artist and written & edited by copywriters, take a close look at its packaging and read the printed copy.

A few things will probably happen:

1) You’ll realize how dumb companies and marketing agencies believe we are. There are, in fact, only a few words and shapes they aim to draw your attention to when shopping for a salad dressing.

2) You’ll notice many of these packages are designed to draw attention away from the most unimportant things, like nutrition or ingredients.

3) You’ll quickly realize, looking at the shelf, the product being sold is not the contents, but the fine graphic art and words of its packaging.

4) Along with the above, even the brand name doesn’t really matter. Does it matter if “Doritos” were really called “Lays”, and “Lays” were called “Doritos”? It really makes as much difference as if my name from birth had been “John” instead of “Adam”.

5) Contrast this with other food products and your own perceptions of them, like produce and meats. These products have no branding attached to them, generally, unless it is Del Monte Bananas individually wrapped in plastic, or calling some apples kickass names like “Pink Lady”, “Honeycrisp” and “Fuji” so we can find their deliciousness apart from the boring apples. They simply are what they are.

Case in Point: Frozen Foods – “Hungry Man”

Every now and then, a product comes along that is branded to be exactly what it says it is. And “Hungry Man” frozen food is just that. Let’s talk about frozen foods, a highly competitive market with several brands fighting for shelf space. On the outside, you have vibrant, colorful packaging with cartoons, cursive fonts, promises of weight loss and perhaps a smiling woman or two. And the foot looks effin’ delicious. Butter melted over soft noodles. Greasy steaks smothered with gravy and veggies. Pure American goodness.

But when you open it up, what do you find? A plastic/cardboard tray with a wad of frozen mass, literally crapped out of the bowels of an industrial facility, through a funnel and sheeted with plastic.

When I’m hankerin’ for a big meal, I must choose the frozen food product in the blue box with the word “Man” on it, because, well, I’m a man. And none of these “Lean Cuisines” and “Healthy Choices” can satisfy my man appetite. I can’t even chew a meal that small, in fact, I snort Lean Cuisine as a quick snack in between meals. Only a woman would consume such a thing and describe it as a “meal”.

“Hungry Man” accommodates my male appetite with a double dose of Salisbury steaks smothered in brown salt and oil is certainly not going to fit up my nostrils.

Nothing inside of this box is any different from any other Salisbury Steak frozen meal. The beauty of “Hungry Man” is its elegant packaging which provides an extra generous portion of industrial food dump and describes its intentions plainly with straightforward copy and imagery.

So let’s take “Hungry Man” at face value, as men generally do, and have a grocery store conversation with it: “Ladies, ignore this entirely. This gender-biased box of food is only for those packing a pair, so move your eyeballs to those little boxes promising tiny hips and a newfound love of yoga and holistic health. This is for men, real men, who enjoy buffet-sized portions of frozen delicacy. This will rock your spacious masculine bowels with 1 lb., yes a full 16 oz., of microwavable delight, and we even threw in a chocolate flavored brownie you can chew like cud in front of your spouse as she sneers and daintily pecks at some lame frozen pasta dish that comes in a portion fit for a starving vagrant.”

They even trademarked the phrase “It’s good to be full.” Awesome.

If you have a favorite packaged food product, please write in the comments below or send it my way!

Wow. I haven’t updated Market Misfit in about 3 weeks. My focus outside of the office has been wading in my science fiction novel, a project I’ve been developing for about two years now. I’m sticking with my New Years Resolution to produce a rough manuscript by end of the year, and tentatively I’m on track. Maybe I’m further along that I even realize.

I do promise to the “meat” of this blog post (go ahead and skip to the Apps part if you want) but since I haven’t posted in weeks, allow me to blurt a somewhat verbose explanation of what I’m up to these days.

My fiction-writing journey so far has been enriching; it has evolved from merely documenting creative things to actually writing something coherent and readable. My characters have awakened with some sort of literary consciousness, my own imaginary simulated lifeforms described on digital documents. My right brain chugs furiously, transforming calories into energy that keeps the neurons firing strong even in my sleep (even my dreams seem to get increasingly more surreal and fantastic the more I think and write fiction).

As all of these ideas mature into a story, the pieces assemble themselves as they’re falling like a busy game of Tetris. My made-up universe has become so vivid today that I am responding to most questions about it with the same certainty as if someone had just asked me what I had for lunch on Sunday. (It was BBQ’ed burgers and about 7 pints of homebrew beer, by the way.)

It’s an undertaking, no matter how dutiful, and one I am enjoying. This book will get finished and to all of the published writers out there, and a nod to all of those who have been so supportive of my writing so far: Respect. You know who you are!

Most of what I’m working now is dialogue and character development, so I spend a significant amount of time in ways I imagine your stereotypical psych patient does: pacing floors, scribbling on whiteboards and in notebooks, talking aloud to myself, acting out how I think my characters would act, and jotting notes of things I observe and read.

My idle mind wanders, and my story unfolds in my mind in the most convenient places, for instance, the line at the DMV, or the relative calm and privacy of a bathroom.

Since this happens on a regular basis, and I’m horrible at remembering the numerous details that flutter in and out of my mind at a moment’s notice, one tool that has become invaluable to me in this crazy thing called writing has been my mobile… thing. It’s not a “phone” anymore to me; that’s just one of its many uses. Its phone-like qualities have been usurped by a number of other really useful traits, so I proclaim we generalize it a bit and just vaguely call it a “device”.

So my mobile device, (I prefer the massive EVO 4G from Sprint), has been instrumental to my writing. Here are some cool ways that mobile devices can help you with the writing process and apps to keep the word juice flowing.

The Internet is the most useful distraction for writing the world has ever seen.

Vast amounts of information, collected and compiled throughout human history, have been digitized in some way. And all of this data is mostly incessant noise designed to get your attention.

As I write, I use Internet reference tools to gather correct spelling/grammar usage, synonyms, antonyms, “Word Mining” for lack of a better term, fact-check, and fact-gather.

Having access to these tools on my mobile phone makes it convenient enough to get quick answers to things without compelling me to click and read another article about what Steve Jobs had for dinner last night. And, the small touch screen isn’t nearly as engrossing as my PC monitor.

I simply turn the Internet off on my PC and regress it to a simple Word processor, and use my EVO for these references. This keeps my mind on the important stuff and focuses my attention on my writing.

Awesome App: Dropbox

Purpose: To store files in an easy, accessible cloud from both PCs and mobile devices by adding its own folder to your Windows desktop.

Benefit: You will never lose your stuff, you can access it from both PC and any Android mobile device, and you can pretty much store anything you want.

How I’m Using it: I usually write on either my Laptop and Desktop. The biggest annoyance of working on things in multiple places at once is a surefire way to overwrite something important, or in the least make your files out-of-date or confusing.

The worst nightmare of all is losing all of your content if any of those devices crash. (Yes, it has happened.)

With Dropbox my files are safe, yet I can access them on any PC or my Mobile phone. This enables me to carry my work with me wherever I go.

The Dropbox “cloud” is free to set up (or paid, if you want more than 2 gigs of storage), and is very simple: On your PC, it creates a folder you can drag and drop files into. On your mobile device, you can save data to the same folder, open any valid document types, etc.

You can also share documents with other people by making folders in your Dropbox account “Public” and inviting them to share it with you.

Sign up for Dropbox free here. (Which by the way, the referral helps me out as well!)

Awesome App 2: Catch

I recently discovered Catch Notes through a fellow storywriter. Catch is mobile note-taking on steroids. Not to mention, it is also free. And freakin’ awesome.

Purpose: Taking notes, be it text, image, or voice recording.

Benefit: Collection and organization of pretty much anything you can think of, when you think of it.

How I’m Using It: At any time, I can touch the Catch icon on my screen and write text, snap a photo, or collect voice notes. When I’m done, I can add searchable hash tags to keep track of these ideas and what I was thinking about at the time. There are so many elements to storywriting, this helps keep these thoughts organized. Depending on what my notes are, I may use search-able hash tags like #charactername #philosophy #conversation, #act3, etc. so if I search for that topic I’ll find all of my notes I’ve placed for it.

This tool is free, yet so darn useful I’d have paid $10 bucks for it. Find it here.

Awesome App 3: Dictionary.com

Purpose: Even the kids who don’t “read good” know what a Dictionary or a Thesaurus is.

Benefit: It’s on your phone, which doesn’t weigh 2.3 pounds. Oh, and you can search.

How I’m Using It: Pretty much as you would ever use a dictionary or thesaurus. As I write, sometimes I’m not sure of the spelling or usage of a word. Or, I want a word that explains a little more precisely what I’m trying to convey. As I write, I’ll do quick spot-checks on these words and phrases.

Oh, and this app is free.

Awesome App 4: Wolfram Alpha

Purpose: Instant calculations of factual data in many, many, many categories.

Benefit: Make your writing more realistic with facts, measurements, and data.

How I’m Using It: I’m writing a science fiction book, so yeah, it’s fantasy fiction, which means my characters can say whatever they please. My favorite fantasy fiction is embedded with useful trivia and facts, things that are grounded in reality and have some hidden truths within, no matter how trivial, and as long as they’re interesting and help move the story along.

The sci-fi universe I’ve constructed in my mind parallels our own in many respects. We’re not flying around in space or traveling in time, but we do have a lot of kick-ass technology. Because my story is told with a timeline of progression, I still need some sense of grounding in reality to create the atmosphere I want.

There are situations like this in my book, where I want to have realistic measurements or calculations of things. You can use it online for free, but for a buck or two, this mobile app is well worth it.

Illustrating Concepts to Be Descriptive

One method I’ve been using lately to develop the details of my story settings and technology is by making (rather crude) illustrations of them.

Drawing forces me to consider the details about the physical appearance of things. By drawing out their shapes, I am forced to consider the minute details that I may have never other considered. My book isn’t illustrated, but this activity is far from a waste of time. Visually seeing it makes it more real to me, and with that knowledge I can in turn make my writing far more realistic and descriptive.

I will draw in a sketchbook or even on a napkin if that is all I have. But I most prefer drawing on the gigantic whiteboard wall in my bedroom. I will sometimes pull out a D marker and go crazy, making drawings, diagrams, charts, pictures, etc…. to try to visualize my concepts. When I run out of space, I take a series of quick snapshot with my Mobile phone, save it to Catch. Rinse and repeat.

Do you use your mobile device as a reference and/or notetaking tool? Do you have any other cool uses? Please add them to your comments below!

I’ve always likened Google “grand strategy” to the powerful Roman Empire. Rich, global, and influential. All of this crying about how Bing is copying Google’s search makes me want to vomit in my mouth. Yes, Google is hypocritical, which I’ll demonstrate, below, but more than anything else, it makes them look weak and insecure. And for any powerful raging conqueror of empires, this is the absolutely worst way to appear.

You Build it, We’ll Make it Better
The Roman Empire was not so much a creator of new technology, historically speaking, but they were incredibly conquerors and innovators of existing technology. The Romans took the very best of every civilization in the world they came across and integrate it into their own society and military.

Rome didn’t invent the aquaduct, but they built 11 of the largest aqueducts ever seen.

Rome didn’t invent the Trireme, but they did built a damn powerful one with some serious ramming power, and eventually conquered Carthage, the most powerful naval force in 300-200BC. (The Punic Wars)

Rome borrowed from Greek Gods and transformed them into Roman counterparts, waved high over the battlefields and found in art and literature. Rome took the best elements of the world’s art and architecture, gold and riches from Egypt and so forth.

If you could sum up the Roman Empire’s relationship with everyone else in one phrase, it is “You built it, now we’ll make it better.”

Read the rest of this entry »

We’re working though some integration issues with Google Checkout at the office. Last night, we sent them an internal error message we’re getting so we could understand why we received it, you know, so we can get this working and give them more of our money and all that good stuff. Google’s detailed response below:

Hello,

Thanks for notifying us of this issue, which our engineering team will address as soon as possible.

In the meantime, please feel free to contact us again if you have additional questions. We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced.

Sincerely,
The Google Checkout Team

We understand The Google is busy creating the next big Wave. But this response have the sense of passive neglect, similar to what you’d expect from The Dell or The AT&T. Maybe we should be happy we got a response at all?

Most advertising is smothered in B.S. We all know this, because every day we’re exposed to the simple-minded, irrational emotional sentiments rather than the pragmatism and usefulness of goods. These silly warm fuzzies drive advertising promotions, and ultimately the economy. The B.S. meter chimes perpetually during every commercial break on radio, TV, print and Internet.

And this B.S. spectrum is far and wide, from “Did you vote for Hillary?” ads in Yahoo e-mail, to pseudo-science presented in spectacular high-tech 3d imagery, to listing the most unpleasant side effects of drugs in a pleasant female tone that makes a sex phone operator jealous, to touting the art of crafting light beer with iconic American imagery & bursting at the loins like a patriotic beer-gasm… coming from a company with a mission statement of: “…to become the best beer company in the world measured by profitability.”

None of this B.S., no matter how silly or false, bothers me one bit. We all make decisions in the types of products we like to purchase, based on our own needs and desires, and at some point, we all have been suckered into buying stupid crap, like rotating exercise chairs or Vivitar’s old stock of cheap film cameras.

The economy keeps burning, and the world keeps turning.

But there is one sucker technique that really erks my tweaker. It’s a personal pet peeve. This is where my story and rant begins.

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Reviews are important, and will only grow in importance for both business and SEO. As a business owner who depends on this local business, you want positive reviews, but how do you get them?

We’ll discuss some ways, but first we should identify who we’re really after and why. It’s very simple…

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For at least the past 5 years, there has been endless rabble about local search. Every year up until now has been the “Year of Local”. Mostly thanks to the growing influence of Mobile in the past two years and Google’s investments in developing Google Places, we are finally seeing this happen.

In 2010, Google dedicated a lot of resources to collect information about businesses and confirming its authenticity. There is no doubt 2011 is the year where local search and SEO converge. It’s a force that can no longer be ignored; the way you conduct business online (and offline) absolutely matters to securing new business in your local community.

So hear me out, because when we’re through, you’ll have my personal list of 70 important sites to save you hours of time.

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