Duke of URLs?

I was just checking up on what some of my employer's competitors were up to, and clicked on this ad from the University of Liverpool:
Clicking on the link gave me this landing page:Which is not a good example of a landing page [but that's another subject] - so I checked the URL to see if there had been a mix-up, and this is the URL of that landing page:

http://www.liverpoolonlinedegrees.co.uk/2/prequal2.jsp?&CCID=8554203049143&QTR=ZZf20050707102342Za8554Zg171Zw0Zm0Zc20
3049143Zs3086ZZ&CLK=472080623020320922&ac=003&ai=96FFA7F4C34F96456D2BDD3DCDA37C44438920C9&ad=727690405&sp=&fb
=masters%20degree%20online&redirected=Index&CLK=472080623020320922&CCID=8554203049143&QTR=ZZf200507071023
42Za8554Zg171Zw0Zm0Zc203049143Zs3086ZZ&ZN=ref&ZV=ZZf20050707102342Za8554Zg171Zw0Zm0Zc203049143Zs3086ZZ&KY_T=

Yep - that's an incedible 439 characters. Seems a tad excessive to me.

Not only that, but I didn't want to fill in the form to continue [hello web designers at Liverpool Uni, ever heard of the sales funnel and/or persuasive architecture?] so I deleted everything in the URL with the exception of http://www.liverpoolonlinedegrees.co.uk and pressed 'enter' and was presented with the same page, only with a [mercifully] shorter URL of:

http://www.liverpoolonlinedegrees.co.uk/2/prequal2.jsp;jsessionid=Uy0x5NBHrl2E9EIQOuVLfQ**.app2-all2?redirected=Index&
CLK=0&CCID=&QTR=&ZN=&ZV=&KY_T=

So it would seem that the 'questionnaire' page is actually the 'home' page of Liverpool University's online degree web site. Hmmmmm, nice.

not very professional domain name practice

On the radio this morning I heard an ad for Fiat vans. At its end the voice over advised listeners to go to 'fiatprofessional.co.uk'. OK so far, special mini-site for an ad, that's good. My problem is this:

When I was at school there were certain words that the teachers used in spelling tests because they were tricky. Things like; achieved, successful and ... professional. With this word it is an issue of how many Fs and Ss there are. Naturally, being the smart chap that I am, I can spell 'professional' [thank you, grammar school education], so I typed in the domain and got this page:
However, professional is a tricky word - so I tried the obvious misspellings, and this is what turned up:
So here's the thing: Considering how much this entire ad campaign must have cost, registering these three would have been a drop in the ocean [less than 50 GB pounds]. They could all have been redirected to the 'proper' site so that anyone who did misspell the word found themselves on the right page. That is reason one for registering those domains. Reason two is to stop any nefarious folk registering them and putting other sites on those names - sites that might not be complimentary to the brand.

On the plus side, fiatprofessional.com takes you to a 'global' page where you can select 'your' country [but, oh yes, misspellings on the .com haven't been registered either].

I've got more advice on registering the right domain name on my web site.

KLM : listening?

If you've spent any time on this blog you will have seen a lot of comments aimed at airlines that don't appreciate where I live. Well maybe someone at KLM reads this blog [unlikely, they probably just employed someone who knows what they are doing] because the latest email I received was promoting flights from my local airport.

So, well done KLM, better late than never.

Footnote I : if you're from KLM and you do read this blog ... free flights as a reward for pointing out your errors?

Footnote II: if KLM used consultants to review their email marketing strategy - and one of the recommendations was to tell customers about flights from their local airport [ie relevant to them] - I wonder how much KLM were charged [I bet it would have made giving me a couple of free flights a very cheap option]

Footnote III to self : you're in the wrong business!

they are called domain NAMES for a reason ...

Well done Countax, you registered the .com domain name. Now take a walk to see whoever is responsible for your web presence. Now hit them with a wet haddock. The reason for this assault? Take a look at what appears in your browser location when you are on their web site. There is absolutely no good reason for this - it is an appalling practice.

trust is important ...

... in any affiliate partnership. So would you have faith in these folks? I was researching affiliate management, so I put the term in Google and got the following SERP ...So I clicked on the highest 'organic' listing, and got this ..

Click on the image and you get an email contact form. Hmmm, not an example of how to build online credibility.

you on the right site cobber?

I got an email message from Friends Reunited advising me of a new feature - standard stuff, good marketing. Problem was that when I clicked on the link I was taken to the Australian version of the site [.com.au] - as you see from the email's status bar, below.

Mistake or server/hosting issue? Not sure. On the positive side, the link worked and I could access my profile on the Aussie site. Another thing I liked, but I suppose there are security implications : after I clicked on the email link and arrived on the site I was logged in - which [I assume] meant the site recognized that the email was sent to particular member and it would be that member who clicked on the link, so why make them log in? Not sure I would be so impressed if it were my bank, however.Footnote: The next email in my in-box was from AIRMILES informing me of my points total - and when I clicked on the link to the web site ... I had to log in.

an airline again, I'm afraid ...

Brussels Airline this time. Note the message on the email I received below. Note that I live in Great Britain. Note that they already know that as [a] I completed a registration form, and [b] my email address is that of a UK university - .ac.uk.

not spam - but poor practice

As this email has a postal address and opt-out included, I doubt it is spam. However, it does nothing to tempt me to click on the link to 'view my invitation'. Points to note:

• there is nothing to suggest what the invitation or offer is
• there are two email addresses for prof Kothari
• the sender couldn't be bothered to capitalize his/her name

all in all, a waste of time sending it out, I wonder what the open rate was?
Footnote: out of curiosity, I did click on the link - it was for some kind of personalized search engine. It looked a bit dodgy, so I did not click on the link that looked as though it might have downloaded something.

historic review?

User generated content is perhaps the element of the Internet that has had the most significant impact on buyer behaviour, and so marketing.

One of the issues with customer reviews on sellers' web sites is the question of independence - in other words, have the reviews been 'reviewed' before they are published?

Now, as a holiday company, I have no great problem with Thomson - I've been away with them on a number of occasions ... however, while looking for a holiday for this Christmas I came across the following hotel review:
Note that it is the latest of a number of reviews - yet it is nearly two years old. Two points:

1. Things can change in 24 months, for good and bad. A new building blocking the sea view or new owners with lower standards. Ageing facilities or a recent re-fit?
   
2. No published reviews from after that date could mean that there were simply no newer entries [seems strange] - or maybe they weren't too good and so they were deleted?

Either way, it's poor review practice.

not just KLM ...

KLM crop up frequently in this blog, so just to show:

• I'm not picking on them, and
• They are not the only airline that can't get its Internet marketing act together

... this is an email from Brussels Airlines. And yep, the flights on offer are all from Brussels - hello Brussels Airlines, that's not even in the same country as I live. Harrrrumph.