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The best Web sites get to the point. They ruthlessly eliminate waffle and happy talk. They focus on helping people complete key tasks as quickly as possible. The truth is, the Web is a selfish place. People don't have much time. They scan pages looking for something specific. Most people have absolutely no interest in links such as "What We Do" and "Who We Are." They only care about what you can do for them. As Jeffrey and Bryan Eisenberg write in their new book: "Virtually all Web sites have a persuasive purpose: to get someone to subscribe, to register, to inquire or to buy something." In other words, the crucial measure of success is the actions that have occurred.

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The competitive environment makes branding for real estate brokers and agents a critical issue. However, there are a few common misconceptions about marketing real estate services. Like these.

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Two years ago, Maytag created an innovative experiential marketing strategy, whereby prospective customers would take their new, top-of-the-line appliances for an interactive "test-drive." Successful retail spaces create a full sensory experience. Consumers want to see, feel, touch, taste and interact with your products before they buy. Here are some strategies that will help you stage a little retail theater of your own.

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Last week, the author hopefully opened your eyes to the importance of staying on top of reviews and posts about your products and services—as well as those about your competition. Here's how to use that information at various levels of your organization to create a better customer experience.

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When it comes to succeeding in today's competitive marketplace, the "fine" is just as vulgar and undesirable as the other four-letter word that begins with F. If your reputation is "fine," you're in trouble. People rarely get excited in life about things that are fine, and they rarely have emotional connections to them. Here's a five-step plan for eliminating the F-word (and others like "adequate" and "acceptable") from your vocabulary.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Writing

In a world where everything is becoming commoditized, the key to success becomes differentiation. That's becoming more difficult to achieve. Perhaps the biggest differentiation in building a business is service. That retains customers, gets them to buy again and inspires them to become apostles for you. But what kind of differentiation helps you acquire customers in the first place if your product or service appears to be a commodity?

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Organizations today understand that the Internet can play a critical role in their success when leveraged correctly, and they hire Web firms for their proven ability to solve critical business issues. That requires a well-crafted request for proposal. That approach works great if you write the right RFP. Here's how.

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Surprise, you no longer own 100% your brand online! Approximately 26% of adult users of the Internet (about 33 million people) in the US have rated a product, service or person using an online rating system. Are you one of them? Probably. More importantly, has your business/organization been discussed or reviewed online?

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Writing

This week, our regularly featured "SWOT Team" column gets a new name as it becomes the weekly "Marketing Challenge" column. In it, a reader asks: How do I create a big splash on little cash? Readers respond with four excellent approaches. Also this week, suggest your own answers to the problem: What's the most effective ways to reach teens online?

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It will come as no surprise that customers want it their way (to paraphrase Burger King). Yet many companies don't have processes for figuring out what that means. Take this quiz to assess your customer "IQ" (or "Insight Quotient") and determine the necessary next steps for shortening your sales cycle.

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We are all talking about ways to engage consumers in a conversation. We all seek strategies to stimulate people to talk about our brands, products or services. What's less obvious is what companies should be going to stimulate buzz. And confusion can lead to unfortunate decisions. So here are five common misconceptions about buzz marketing—and what you can do to address them.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Writing

Sometimes, less is more. Especially when it comes to content. Many Web sites are too big to professionally manage with the number of staff available. There might be a Web team of four people, yet they have a site that requires at least 10 to properly manage. What happens when you have more content than you have people to manage?

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Your average business Web site has come a long way since its brochure days. Savvy businesspeople have learned a lot about Web site design and usability, especially the importance of designing and testing landing pages to increase conversions. But has corporate America discovered the importance and effectiveness of organic search engine optimization?

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Usability testing may not be considered a mandatory stage in the design process, but without it you are releasing the product blindly. Contrary to popular opinion, you don't need a large budget for simple usability testing.

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Someday in the not-so-distant future, branding as we know it will be thought of as so 20th century. With societal, cultural and technological changes occurring at increasingly accelerated rates, keeping your eye on the horizon of future trends in branding gives your company the advantage. What trends are already reshaping our ideas of branding?

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The human mind has long been considered as a kind of "black box," something which was rather mysterious. We can measure the results of our marketing efforts, in terms of sales, awareness, liking and so on. We understand reasonably well the beginning and end of the process—but not the vital part in the middle. That is, what goes on inside the mind of the consumer. This is all changing with neuromarketing.

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There are many reasons for not closing a sale. In today's climate of information and work overload, an increasingly common reason is that prospects don't think of you when they are ready to buy. A critical challenge faced by any company marketing in this environment is how to elevate its message above the clutter and be top-of-mind when customer needs arise.

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Many industries are experiencing major growth, fueled by the purchasing power of the "adventure-seeking woman." This woman crosses all ages, family configurations and fitness levels. She's carving time in her schedule and finding wiggle room in her budget for new adventures that involve everything from rock climbing to Tuscan cooking to snowshoeing. In many cases, she's entering traditionally male spaces with a "do-it-herself" attitude and trying her hand at auto repair, fly fishing and home improvement.

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This week, add your two cents to the following: Which marketing efforts and methods works best when marketing dollars are scarce? Join the conversation! Also, read your answers to last week's dilemma: How do you go about promoting a product on a global scale?

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In search engine pay-per-click advertising, the unscrupulous use of a competitor's trademarked terms is a murky business and contentious topic. With a seemingly anonymous perpetrator, it's a relatively easy offense—and sets off a torrent of trademark-infringement concerns for many companies.