Google Overhauls AdWords Editor: Version 11 Released Globally.

Editor now supports more bulk editing features and enables side-by-side window viewing.

 

Today, Google released a fully-redesigned version of AdWords Editor that supports several of the bulk editing features that have recently been added to the web interface and introduces new functionality to the desktop tool.

Announced during a livestream hosted by AdWords VP, Jerry Dischler today, AdWords Editor’s Product Manager, Geoff Menegay, said AdWords Editor 11.0 “represents the biggest update to the application since we released it in 2006″. It has a new look and is faster than older versions.
Here’s what sets the new version apart from AdWords Editor of old:

Now Open Multiple Windows Simultaneously

This is one of those changes that seems minor at face value, but is actually huge for productivity.
Instead of having to jump between campaign tabs and different accounts separately, you can now open multiple windows simultaneously. Copy and paste and drag-and-drop functionality works between windows.

Better Search & Type Lists

A new type lists panel and improved advanced search are designed to make it easier to find what you’re looking for within your accounts.

 

More filtering and multiple search criteria have been added to advanced search along with the ability to save searches.

Bulk Editing & Shared Library

The new advanced multi-select tool allows you to paste multiple ads or keywords across a combination of campaigns and ad groups at once, rather than pasting one-by-one.
Parts of Shared library are coming into Editor: bid strategies and stielinks can be implemented across campaigns and ad groups. (Hopefully more will come such as negative keyword lists, placement exclusion lists, etc.).
Other features include new undo and redo buttons and keyboard shortcuts.
Version 11 is now available for download globally. Older versions won’t be supported after April 2, 2015.

Google Maps Revamps Quality Guidelines For Local Pages.

What has changed with the new Google local page quality guidelines?

Google Maps has updated their local pages quality guidelines last night. Jade Wang from the Google team posted the news in the Google Forums saying:

We’ve updated and clarified our quality guidelines for local pages. Please read the new version here, and, as always, feel free to contact our support team with any specific questions about your account.

There are a couple local SEO experts that have dug through the old guidelines to compare it to the new guidelines. I saved a screen shot of the old guidelines, which you can see over here.
Mike Blumenthal documented the “obvious changes” including:

• Descriptors of any sort are NOT allowed
• Categories should be the more specific category and NOT the overarching, general category
• Increased name and category consistency amongst multi location chains
• Two or more brands at the same location must pick one name
• If Different departments are to have their own page they must have unique categories
• Practitioner’s pages, in multi location practices should have their name only and not the name of the practice
• Solo Practitioners only can use the format of Practice: Practitioner
• Virtual Offices are NOT allowed unless staffed.

Measuring PPC Account Efficiency Vs. Volume: A Case Study.

In making your PPC accounts efficient, are you passing up volume that could be profitable? Columnist Matt Umbro checked it out in one account. 

 

As PPC professionals, we are constantly working to optimize accounts. Whether it be improving conversion rate, increasing ROI, or lowering cost per conversion, the job is never done. We want to show our clients the best results and have them feel justified in hiring us.
Another phrase I use in conjunction with the term “optimization” is “account efficiency.”
In other words, are goals consistently being met, or does performance vary month to month? If the former, then chances are the account is efficient, meaning relevancy from search query to conversion is well aligned.
However, therein lies an issue that is constantly on my mind….

Efficiency Vs. Volume

In making accounts efficient, I tend to worry that I’m leaving conversions on the table. I struggle with the notion that I’m making my keywords too specific or that I’m limiting ad exposure in other ways.
And I’m not talking about bidding on a root term in a broader match type in order to secure a few more conversions — I’m concerned that overall account decisions are limiting additional qualified traffic.
To try and quantify this notion of efficiency vs. volume, I’ll be presenting data from an e-commerce account that my agency inherited at the beginning of July. The data will look at Google AdWords year-over-year performance for July, August and September.
The reason I am reviewing this particular account is because we essentially started from scratch. The account had been dormant for a couple of months and, along with a new strategy, needed extensive campaign builds.
I want to emphasize that this case study and my associated thoughts should not be considered universal. As with everything PPC, there are so many variables. What works for one account may not work for another. This study is an attempt to quantitatively review the data and provide my analysis. You might do the same for your accounts to measure their efficiency.

The Case Study

Before presenting the data, I want to share exactly how I went about making the account efficient so as to provide context around the numbers. First off, all new campaigns included these parameters:

• Ad groups consisted only of exact and modified broad match keywords
• Each campaign began with a negative keyword list of 80 terms; these negatives came from historical account performance and proactive research
• All ad groups contained at least four ads — two targeting desktops and two showing on mobile devices
• Along with Search Network text ads, Google Shopping, Remarketing, Dynamic Search Ad (DSA), and Remarketing for Dynamic Search Ad (RDSA), campaigns began running in the first week of account management
• Sitelinks were used in every campaign; additionally, we were able to participate in the callout extensions beta and started running in early August

Next, bids were aimed at showing ads within the top three positions. Average position for Search Network text ads (not including Brand) during this time period was 2.2.
Finally, there were general Display campaigns (non-remarketing) running in 2013 that aren’t present in 2014. These Display campaigns accounted for less than 10% of overall spend; however, they encompassed about 1/3 of total impressions.

Traffic Metrics

First, let’s take a look at click-through rate (CTR) and average cost-per-click (CPC) for just the Search Network (as the Display campaigns of 2013 would severely skew data).

CTR: 2013 vs. 2014

CTR remains stagnant in July year-over-year, but the big jumps come month-over-month.
From July 2014 to August 2014, CTR rises by 0.19 percentage points. During that same time period in 2013, CTR decreases by 0.01 percentage point. Even though September 2014 CTR decreased by 0.05 percentage points, it still saw a nice jump year-over-year.
CPCs also trended in the right direction, as 2014 monthly figures were lower than their 2013 counterparts. In both years, CPCs increased from month to month, representing a seasonal trend (which is accurate to the demand of this product).

Average CPC: 2013 vs. 2014

Conversion Metrics

Similar to CPC, conversions spiked from July to August during both years. However, conversions nearly doubled in 2014 — whereas in 2013, they only increased by about 17%.
Both September months saw conversion growth from the previous month, as well. September 2014 saw 152 more conversions than August, while, in 2013, August to September conversions increased by 29.

Conversions: 2013 vs. 2014

It’s interesting to note the cost difference in relation to the conversion graph. Both years see increased costs month-over-month with 2014 seeing more dramatic changes.
When we compare this graph with conversions, we see that August 2014 saw 84% the conversions of August 2013 at only 63% of the cost. Based upon all graphs so far, the month of August is when the account had its most efficient month.

Cost: 2013 vs. 2014

Furthermore, cost-per-conversion in August and September 2014 were at least $1.31 less than their 2013 counterparts. Not only was overall cost and cost-per-conversion lower in 2014, but also, conversions nearly hit 2013 figures.

Cost per Conversion: 2013 vs. 2014

Revenue Metrics

Following the conversion trend, each month’s revenue in 2014 was a greater percentage of that same month in 2013.
September 2014 revenue was just under 82% of September 2013 revenue at roughly 72% the cost of the previous year.

Revenue: 2013 vs. 2014

Finally, when reviewing return on ad spend (ROAS), each month in 2014 is above 500%.
Here is where efficiency comes most into play as the account is spending less and showing a better return. Overall, conversion and revenue volume are lower, but show solid increases month-over-month.

ROAS: 2013 vs. 2014

Going Back To The Central Concern

I hope, after presenting this case study, my concern about account efficiency vs. volume is clearer. Based upon all data, account efficiency is much improved over 2013 as ROAS is up, cost-per-conversion down, and CTR increased.
The caveat is that overall conversions are down. The question that must be asked is whether we should be OK with these results. Does better efficiency make up for volume loss?
In this case, I would say yes. Lost in this discussion is that the account has been growing month-to-month, even if volume is lower than last year.
It’s not like maximum efficiency has been hit and everything else is secondary. New campaigns are actively going live while optimizations are constantly being made. Throw in the seasonality factor, and a strong effort is being made to garner more qualified traffic.
Ultimately, the goal of many PPC accounts is to become more efficient. Gaining the most conversion and revenue volume is the main goal in some accounts, but by-and-large, showing high efficiency is necessary.
I would add that there needs to be more of a balance, but more so stacked in the favor of efficiency. In other words, gaining more high quality traffic should complement account efficiency.

4 Things You Can Learn From Non-Profit Social Media Success.

Many brand marketers at for-profit companies are accustomed to working with a large marketing budgets that fund their vast array of marketing activities from events, to syndicated content to paid social media advertising. But not everyone has that luxury, and I’m inspired by how non-profits, often with limited budgets, use social media to drive successful campaigns. Not only do they share their story with a considerably smaller budget than a typical corporate budget, but they also do a great job engaging their audience. What can brand marketers learn from non-profits about effectively using social media? Let’s take a look.

1) Create Customizable Content

Marketers watched this summer as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge became a social media blockbuster. We saw that social media was a perfect vehicle for non-profits to get their message out to millions of people at little to no cost. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, was on every social network, was short in length, and personal, which was a recipe for success. The Ice Bucket challenge was unique in many ways, but one of the most important lessons we learned from it was to create customizable social campaigns. The campaign adapted to each participant, allowing them to impart their experience and thoughts, and it drove virality by encouraging participants to challenge their friends. When you align people’s passion with a piece of content that is snackable, shareable, and customizable, fans share it.

2) Empower Your Fan Base

The United Nations’ World Humanitarian Day social media campaign garnered over 1 million impressions by leveraging the power of their fan base and community. They amplified their message by asking their fans to sign up to share a pre-populated post (giving permission for the auto-post), scheduled for a specific day and time. The post released for all their fans at the same time, giving their hashtag much more lift and muscle than the average post would get. Plus, this demonstrated the power of their fan base. To accomplish this, they used a tool called Thunderclap.

3) Amplify Your Reach

Who would you be more likely to believe: a company talking about its product or a trusted friend? With the evolution of social recommendation platforms such as Yelp!, we have grown even more reliant on the recommendations of others (even those we don’t know). For example, if I receive a letter asking for donations, I will probably read it but may not donate. But, if I’m browsing on Facebook and see that a friend is asking for help to raise money for a cause or participating in an activity that benefits a non-profit, I am much more invested and likely to donate. This free social validation is worth way more than the letter when it comes to reaching a new audience and triggering a donation.

4) Find Partners

At Marketo, we’re partnering with our local food bank this holiday season, delivering turkeys for each “early-bird” registration we receive for our Summit. As a team, we delivered 175 fresh turkeys to our local food bank.

Savvy marketers, both corporate and non-profit, look to leverage the network of their partners for mutual benefit. The Second Harvest Food Bank teams up with local companies, and sports teams (including the San Francisco 49ers- check out safety Antoine Bethea in the center picture) to reach its food bank goals, source it’s volunteers and amplify their message.

What lessons have you learned from non-profits and their social success? How do you partner with charities in your local community?

Twitter Is Now Keeping Track Of What Apps You Use, But Don’t Worry, You Can Opt Out.

A new change to Twitter’s mobile app will see it collect information about the other apps installed on your phone for the purposes of delivering “tailored content that you might be interested in.”
Twitter points out that they’re only collecting a list of apps you have installed, it’s not collecting any data about what you do within the apps.
The company is calling this initiative an “app graph”, and intends to use the data to create a more personalized experience. Some of the things it may do with the data collected about your apps include:

• Improving “who to follow” by suggesting other other people with similar interests.
• Including content in your timeline that Twitter believes you’ll find interesting, such as tweets, accounts, or other content.
• Showing you more relevant promoted content.

This may not sound like the worst thing in the world, but it’s understandable that you may not want Twitter to collect unnecessary data about you. You’ll know when this feature is activated because you’ll be promoted with a message notifying you: “to help tailor your experience, Twitter uses the apps on your device.”
If you have not seen this prompt it’s safe to assume the feature is turned off. If you do see the prompt, you can manually shut off the feature by following these steps:
On Android:

• Tap the overflow icon
• Tap Settings.
• Tap the account you’d like to adjust.
• Under Other, you can adjust the setting to Tailor Twitter based on my apps.

Using Twitter for iOS:

• From the Me tab, tap the gear icon
• Tap Settings.
• Tap the account you’d like to adjust.
• Under Privacy, you can adjust the setting to Tailor Twitter based on my apps.

Another way to prevent Twitter from collecting data about you, and displaying unwanted content in your feed, is to use a third party app as those features are only included on Twitter’s official app. Some of my personal favorites include Tweetbot for iOS and Talon for Android.

51 Inspiring Entrepreneur quotes Every Startup Guy Should Hear Right now.

In his latest memoir, “How about never, is never good for you?“, Bob Mankoff, the New Yorker magazine’s cartoon editor since 1997 and the co-founder of its cartoon bank shares how he reverse-engineered his side project in cartoons into a trajectory to the top. Self-education and tenacity leads to seeing rejection, not as a deterrent, but as a springboard for entrepreneurship. It is in rejection, that we find time and time again, the success stories of these entrepreneurs. Now even research undertaken by Cornell and John Hopkins university have shown that people who are able to shrug off rejection and blazing their own individual trails experience heightened levels of creativity, commercial success and problem solving.
We now take air travelling for granted but nonetheless of our complacency for human flights, they were a thing of mystery and fascination in the earlier days. The business of modern flights were also a task of electrifying human spirit from the engineers to the businessmen and the fearless test pilots and everyone else associated with them. We all love to hear the David Goliath story and it makes a case for Boeing to take on the big guys and eventually defeat the slow-moving industry behemoths. Entrepreneurs and Startup guys are nothing less than the shepherd David who has everything against him, and yet with his courage and passion, brings down the Goliath.
For every Entrepreneur and startup guy, it is nothing but a battle against the industry giants trying to slay you off in the simplest manner, it is a battle against time and oneself. Entrepreneurs need to continuously innovate and evolve to stay in the battle for the long-term. There will be times in the life of an entrepreneur when things won’t fall out according to plan, it rarely does! But great success stories are the ones that talk less about the final success, but more about the struggles and obstacles that they faced en route to their goal. To rise up and show up everyday no matter what the circumstances are what goes into the making of an entrepreneur with relentless work-ethic. But it isn’t always easy when the times are hard, and every once in a while, there is a need for a small nudge of inspiration from somewhere.
If you are an Entrepreneur or a startup guy on the look for inspiration, here are the best 51 quotes to inspire you and get things going.

1. “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

Peter Drucker, Author/Management consultant

2. “Watch, listen, and learn. You can’t know it all yourself. Anyone who thinks they do is destined for mediocrity.”

Donald Trump, Chairman of The Trump Organization

3. “Everyone should pull their finger out and start a business and to believe in themselves. There is nothing else to it. Anyone can make a £100m. But most people don’t go out and try. They just stand in the pub and complain.”

Duncan Bennatyne, Author/TV personality

4. “Your reputation is more important than your paycheck, and your integrity is worth more than your career.”

Ryan Freitas, About.me co-founder

5. “Be undeniably good. No marketing effort or social media buzzword can be a substitute for that.”

Anthony Volodkin, Founder of Hype Machine

6. “Don’t worry about people stealing your design work. Worry about the day they stop.”

Jeffrey Zeldman, A List Apart

7. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

Steve Jobs, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Apple Inc 

8. “The most dangerous poison is the feeling of achievement. The antidote is to every evening think what can be done better tomorrow.”

Ingvar Kamprad, Founder of IKEA

9. “Always look for the fool in the deal. If you don’t find one, it’s you.”

Mark Cuban, AXS TV Chairman and Serial-Entrepreneur

10. “There’s nothing wrong with staying small. You can do big things with a small team.”

Jason Fried, Founder of 37signals

11. “If you can’t feed a team with two pizzas, it’s too large.”

Jeff Bezos, Chairman and CEO of Amazon

12. “If there’s something you want to build, but the tech isn’t there yet, just find the closest possible way to make it happen.”

Dennis Crowley, co-founder of Foursquare

13. “It’s hard to do a really good job on anything you don’t think about in the shower.”

Paul Graham, Co-founder of YCombinator

14. “The only thing worse than starting something and failing… is not starting something.”

Seth Godin, Entrepreneur, author and blogger

15. “You can’t make anything viral, but you can make something good.”

Peter Shankman, Founder of HARO

16. “You don’t need to have a 100-person company to develop that idea.”

Larry Page, Co-founder of Google

17. “If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”

Reid Hoffman, Co-founder of LinkedIn

18. “I don’t look to jump over 7-foot bars — I look for 1-foot bars that I can step over.”

Warren Buffet, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

19. “Don’t be cocky. Don’t be flashy. There’s always someone better than you.”

Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos

20. “Embrace what you don’t know, especially in the beginning, because what you don’t know can become your greatest asset. It ensures that you will absolutely be doing things different from everybody else.”

Sara Blakely, Founder of SPANX

21. “What do you need to start a business? Three simple things: know your product better than anyone. Know your customer, and have a burning desire to succeed.”

Dave Thomas, Founder, Wendy’s

22. “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t – you’re right.”

Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Motor Company

23. “As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big.”

Donald Trump, Chairman of The Trump Organization

24. “Risk more than others think is safe. Dream more than others think is practical.”

Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO

25. “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”

Michael Jordan, NBA Legendary MVP

26. “Don’t worry about failure; you only have to be right once.”

Drew Houston, Co-founder and CEO of DropBox

27. “Remember to celebrate milestones as you prepare for the road ahead.”

Nelson Mandela, South African leader

28. “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing and falling over.”

Richard Branson, Virgin Group founder

29. “Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.”

Stephen R Cowey, Author

30. “If you just work on stuff that you like and you’re passionate about, you don’t have to have a master plan with how things will play out.”

Mark Zuckerberg, Co-founder and CEO of Facebook

31. “One can get anything if he is willing to help enough others get what they want.”

Zig Ziglar, Motivational speaker and Author

32. “A person who is quietly confident makes the best leader.”

Fred Wilson, Union Square Ventures co-founder

33. “Always deliver more than expected.”

Larry Page, Google co-founder

34. “I never took a day off in my twenties. Not one.”

Bill Gates,  Microsoft co-founder

35. “Even if you don’t have the perfect idea to begin with, you can likely adapt.”

Victoria Ransom, Co-founder of Wildfire Interactive

36. “Get a mentor in the applicable field if you’re at all unsure of what you’re looking for.”

Kyle Bragger, Forrst founder

37. “Wonder what your customer really wants? Ask. Don’t tell.”

Lisa Stone, Co-founder and CEO of BlogHer

38. “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”

Steve Jobs,  Apple Inc. co-founder, chairman and CEO

39. “If you define yourself by how you differ from the competition, you’re probably in trouble.”

Omar Hamoui, AdMob co-founder

40. “Theory is splendid but until put into practice, it is valueless.”

James Cash Penney, Founder of J.C. Penney

41. “If you’re not a risk taker, you should get the hell out of business.”

Ray Kroc, Founder of McDonald’s

42. “There’s lots of bad reasons to start a company. But there’s only one good, legitimate reason, and I think you know what it is: it’s to change the world.”

Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote

43. “So often people are working hard at the wrong thing. Working on the right thing is probably more important than working hard.”

Caterina Fake, Co-founder of Flickr

44. “I made a resolve then that I was going to amount to something if I could. And no hours, nor amount of labor, nor amount of money would deter me from giving the best that there was in me. And I have done that ever since, and I win by it. I know.”

Harland Sanders, Founder of KFC

45. “Don’t be afraid to assert yourself, have confidence in your abilities and don’t let the bastards get you down.”

Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg L.P. founder

46. “You jump off a cliff and you assemble an airplane on the way down.”

Reid Hoffman, Co-founder of LinkedIn

47. “Don’t take too much advice. Most people who have a lot of advice to give — with a few exceptions — generalize whatever they did. Don’t over-analyze everything.  I myself have been guilty of over-thinking problems. Just build things and find out if they work.”

Ben Silbermann, Founder of Pinterest

48. “High expectations are the key to everything.”

Sam Walton, Founder of Walmart

49. “Every time we launch a feature, people yell at us.”

Angelo Sotira, Co-founder of deviantART

50. “We’re not really good at knowing what we want, and we are quick to say ‘This sucks!’. That’s where the opportunity lies.”

Gary Vaynerchuk, Founder of Wine Library TV

51. “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”

Walt Disney, Founder of Disney

So, here we come to the end of this series of inspirational quotes for every Entrepreneur and startup guys. Always remember, “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.” Use everything against you to steer you closer to your dreams and goals.

Did we miss out on any of your favorite quotes on Entrepreneurship and Startups? Feel free to shout out your thoughts and comments below.

Save That Shopping Cart! Tips To Prevent Cart Abandonment.

How many times have you gone to a website, put something in your cart only to leave it there? Now imagine condensing the amount of people that abandon their carts over the course of a month into one single day. We call it Cyber Monday and it is right on the horizon. Make sure you are ready for all the Cyber Monday activity by setting up systems to take advantage of abandoned shopping carts.
By this point, you’ve probably already created your marketing campaigns to promote Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but here are some ways you can take your campaigns to the next level.

Timing is Important

The effectiveness of abandoned cart emails is reliant on the timing of the reminder you send to your buyer about what they left in their shopping carts. If you send your email a month later, most likely that person will have forgotten that they even wanted that item, or they may have already purchased it from a competitor.
Create trigger based campaigns that listen for people who added an item to their carts but did not convert by purchasing that item. Then create a wait step, which could be a couple of hours to a day, that sends an email reminder about the items in their cart and that they still have time to make their purchase. Do not send an abandoned cart email if the items are limited–unless you include in the email campaign logic to wait a couple hours, but to not execute the campaign if the items have all been sold and you no longer have inventory.

Incentivize Further

If you really want to move your inventory, then add an additional discount, or points, for people who end up making the purchase after they receive your abandoned cart email. Also, you can use this touch point as an opportunity to include other purchases that are recommended for them–or you can highlight positive reviews from other people who bought that item.  Try to think about why the cart didn’t convert to a purchase from a customer’s point of view –it could have been because of price, because they found something else they liked better, or purely because they were shopping for so many things that they forgot. Pay attention to these conversion pain points and find ways to help people get over them.

Take a look at this Nordstroms email. It is effective because it creates incentives in two ways–the email highlights free shipping and returns, which is an added incentive that a buyer may not have known about, and the email creates a sense of urgency by letting the buyer know that popular items may sell out soon.

Beyond the Holidays

A lot of marketers think about Black Friday and Cyber Monday. They put together full-blown plans, but often forget about continuing the conversations past these two discount days. To take your campaigns to the next level, make sure to track all of the behaviors that are occurring. Who is purchasing, who is sharing, and who is not purchasing? Then takes your learnings and create behavior based campaigns that address your consumer behaviors, such as triggered campaigns that send messages for people to share on social media, or an invite for people who completed a purchase to enter a loyalty or reward program as a thank you for purchasing.
How have you addressed abandoned carts in the past? What are you doing differently this time around? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

29 Warning Signs of Twitter Addiction.

Twitter is addicting and probably you are addicted to Twitter? With rising popularity, Twitter addictions in become increasingly common and there are high chances you are also a Twitter addict. Twitter is the popular micro blogging platform which allows you to send messages (tweets) to your friends, relatives and followers.You can send tweets to your followers with text upto 140 characters. As Twitter has got really popular, there are people spending all day over twitter with signs of twitter addiction.

Warning signs of Twitter Addiction

You are warned that you are addicted to Twitter when You…

1. Get excited when some one follows you on Twitter.
2. Feel the end of the world when twitter gets an outage.
3. Send @ and RT in messages to your friends in emails.
4. Beg your blog readers to follow you on twitter, then beg your Twitter followers to Retweet the tweet.
5. Post more tweets than blog posts, and turn from full time blogger to full time tweeter.
6. Spend all day on twitter giving yourself the excuse that you are doing great service to your followers, and bunk going to office.
7. Tweet on Twitter more than doingoffice work.
8. Feel over the Moon and on top of the world when some one retweets your tweet
9. Keep searching for your twitter nameand your tweets in real time twitter search.
10. Keep refreshing the twitter page every second for new tweets.
11. Include your twitter profile in your Gmail signature instead of your blog
12. Print your twitter id on business cards.
13. Set Twitter as your browser home page.
14. Add notice in front of office door – “I am on Twitter, Dont disturb”.
15. Use more than 5 twitter clients.
16. Add your twitter name to Google alerts to know what others are speaking about you.
17. Blog more about twitter applications.
18. Add your status message as “Follow me on twitter” to Gtalk and yahoo messenger
19. Use Twoogle to search in Google and Twitter.
20. Keep urging your family members to get a twitter account.
21. Follow lot of people on #FollowFriday
22. Introduce yourself to new persons more as a tweeter than as a businessman.
23. Go crazy about twitter and advertise on news papers, TV and distribute pamphlets to follow you on twitter.
24. Ask your bosses wife to follow you on twitter!
25. Add your twitter id to the nameplate of your house.
26. Keep sending SMS to all your friends to follow you on twitter.
27. Ask questions about Twitter rather than job related queries during interviews.
28. Threaten your wife to get a twitter account and follow you, or warn her of divorce
29. Only wear dresses with twitter logos.

How to Force 404 Errors in WordPress.

Sometimes you have to force 404 errors in WordPress, either because the 404 pages are not properly configured, or sometimes WordPress itself or caching plugins may make 404 errors impossible. I tried to create 404 pages to fix Google penalties, but even after unpublishing posts, the  site HTTP response headers still displayed a 200 OK working page.

I found that there are several ways to forcing 404 errors in WordPress…

Check 404 file exists

It is possible that WordPress is not configured properly to show a 404 page when it is required to do so. First ensure your active WordPress theme has a 404.php file in the active themes folder. If not, you can simply save a 404.php file with following text.

<?php get_header(); ?>
    <h1>Page Not Found</h1>
<?php get_sidebar(); ?>
<?php get_footer(); ?>

Check 404 file works

Then ensure that your server can identify the location of your 404.php file. First test the exact location of the file in your browser to see it loads. Then you can add the following code on top of your WordPress folder .htaccess file to let it find the file.

ErrorDocument 404 /index.php?error=404

If your WordPress installation is in a subdirectory called ‘abcd’, you might use this code.

ErrorDocument 404 /abcd/index.php?error=404

Disable Quickcache 404 Caching

We had this another issue with 404 files that at first instance it showed a 404 error, then QuickCache cached the file to create a html file for that error page. Then if you check the site headers the page gave a 200 OK status meaning the page existed well  (this was similar to the feed caching issue). So we added this code to our 404.php template page in the first line even before the header coding was called for.  Add the following code

<?php
if (is_404()) {
    define('QUICK_CACHE_ALLOWED', false);
}
?> 

Disable WordPress Smart Redirect

WordPress is a smart blogging tool and redirects 404 errors to best possible matching urls which it seems fit based on the visited url keywords. Many of my 404 urls were being redirected to similar working urls, which might or might not be relevant but had similar keywords. So we need to add the following code to theme functions.php to prevent this WordPress redirection ability to get pure 404 errors.

remove_filter('template_redirect', 'redirect_canonical');

Test Site Response Headers

So mostly this should take care of your 404 errors and you can test them with popular site HTTP headers checking tools like Web Sniffer or HTTP Response Headers to find out if your 404 errors are actually working.

If you get this ‘404 Not Found’ error after repeatedly refreshing the result you are done.