Tag Archive for 'Google'

SES - Identify, Analyze, Act: Search Engine Marketing by the Numbers

Published
by
Tom Dressler
on August 19, 2008
in Website Analytics
. 1 Comment

Many companies find it difficult to use web analytics for more than reporting and ad-hoc investigations. By defining requirements, roles, tasks, and benchmarks, an efficient process replaces one-off requests. This session covers practical work flows that you can quickly implement to see improved, consistent returns from your data. This sets a platform for experience-based learning that helps a company to set standards, anticipate a build-cycle or campaign refresh, and prioritize search marketing efforts.

Moderator:
Speakers:
Notes from Brian Cosgrove:
  • One SEO implementation idea is to categorize areas of your website pages to analyze by sectional intent
  • Filtering is also a great way to look through statistics
  • Requests today are almost all data-driven. How do we make sure the data is relevant? Web analysts are good at what they do…let them do it. Analyst insights are funneled throughout organizations and various roles. The key role that seems to be missing in the operations/project manager. This person is key in allowing the time and place to install process. Here is an example of a process: 4 weeks of analysis > 2 weeks in business requirements > then the project manager takes over > analyst waits for the data usually focusing on other projects.
  • Specific Reports
    • How many pages on my site are paid landing pages?
    • Make sure your SEO pages are also effective in conversion
    • Create user bench marks
  • Install platforms correctly to ensure great data
  • Identify actions you can take
  • Coordinate resources
  • Separate analytics cycles
Notes from Heather Doughertyof HitWise:
  • She indicates that she will be focusing on some of HitWise’s new tools
  • Her first point is to stay ahead of trends
  • Understanding reliance on paid vs. organic search within specific industries
  • Also understanding the same for any competitor websites
  • Determine which search engines are sending traffic to competitors
  • Measure the impact of brand awareness upon competitors organic traffic
  • Compare where people are searching to where they are clicking
  • Improve keyword list
  • Identify who is doing well in sponsored listings and learn from their copy
  • Learn from the best optimizers (or partners)
  • Determine user intent - purchase or news?
  • Integrate search findings across your organization

Notes from Michael Stebbins

  • What’s in your data - Make sure you are collecting the right data - look at the trends
    • Bounce Rate
    • Average Time
    • Page Views
    • Conversion Ratio
    • Cost of Visitor
    • Revenue per Visitor
  • What is your process - The Grim Reaper
    • Tactical Question: Which 10% are my ads not performing
    • Possible Answers: High cost, bad roi, low engagement, low conversion
    • If yes, then discontinue
      • pull data - look at ROI or ROAS
      • look at the highest cost campaign - start at the bottom
      • check sample size
      • and review the data points above
      • review and create action plan
  • Look at www.customerintent.com
  • Tools
    1. Check commercial intent tool: adCenter labs by Microsoft
    2. Google adWords keyword tool
    3. Back to Adcenter to look at demographic and seasonal data - Messaging (See Persuasion Architecture from Bryan Eisenberg)
    4. Look at Google Ad Planner tool
    5. Create 3 copies of ads to rotate evenly - 1 copy of the challenger
Notes from Brett Crosby
  • 4 years ago today Google approached Urchin at the Google Dance about acquiring them
  • Check the book “a/b Always Be Testing”
  • What is the history of Web Analytics
    • Today analytics is in the forefront of business thought leadership wanting their own report.

SES - 7 Proven Ways to get Your Website on Page 1 Organically and then Convert

Published
by
Tom Dressler
on August 19, 2008
in SEO
. 2 Comments
Shawn and the panel discuss SEO strategies with the SES audience.

Shawn and the panel discuss SEO strategies with the SES audience.

We have the opportunity to learn the seven proven ways to get your website on page one organically and how to dramatically increase your conversion once you get there. We are listening to Internet marketing guru Shawn Moore as he explains the secrets that he has discovered over his 11 years in the industry. Does your website generate comments like this: “Since we re-wrote our website in 2006, our sales have continued to grow at an alarming rate. Our lead count was up by 137% on the same period last year. Our contract signings grew by 608% and our conversion rate increased 40% on the same period last year.”

Speaker:

Fact - What is Google’s business model?

They are in the business of attracting eyeballs. The revenue model is to provide paid search advertising. Emphasis is placed on relevance. Google generates $40M a day from advertisers. Page 1 is priceless as 91% of AOL users use page 1 for example. Position 1 is key as well with 50% of all visitors clicking on position 1 before the move on.

SEO Strategies - Search Engine Strategies listed in order of importance.

  1. Content is King - Appropriate content is important to support the keywords selected. Images can also be used as well as video.
  2. Navigation and Architecture - Use programming that Google can index. Be careful of JavaScript drop downs that can’t be followed by the search engine.
  3. Blogs - Blogs are other forms of content server in a slightly different manner. All of these items are strategies and more strategies are needed as competition is more sophisticated.
  4. Quality and Keyword Rick Inbound Links - reference Google’s guidelines. Use Yahoo SiteExplorer as a quick reference.
  5. Database installations - Be careful that the search engine can see this information
  6. Electronic Press Releases - Many sections that are submitted to Google News that have great content and links.
  7. Domain Name Strategy - Can be an area not currently used. Select a keyword rich domain name if possible. Register and host for multiple years indicates relevance. Take a look at direct domain searches to direct traffic to you and your site.

How do we leverage the strategies above related to an Internet marketing budget plan? Simple; take a percentage of budget for each. Implement as many strategies as possible using your budget. Look at your major competitors first to understand which strategies they have deployed.

What is and Ideal SEO team?
  1. Talented Creative Designer
  2. Talented Web Developer
  3. Talented Content Writer
  4. Talented Marketing Manager
  5. Wiz Technical Manager
  6. Expert SEO
  7. Expert Strategists

The more fluid the team the more significant the results!

Open Q&A
  • Keep your links to 100 or less per page
  • Focus your link building on keyword anchor text that you are looking to dominate
  • Stay away from duplicate content

SES - Orion Keynote Panel: Technical and Information Giants

Published
by
Tom Dressler
on August 19, 2008
in Online Marketing
. 0 Comments
SES - Orion Keynote Panel: Technical and Information Giants

Technical and Information Giants with Danny Sullivan, Matt Cutts and Kirsten Mangers

Looking forward to this session as the panel is awesome.

We have an opportunity to see a video featuring various clips referencing search in media today. Very funny South Park clips. As a side note, this session is available on WebmasterRadio.fm for those that want to listen.

Internet-based technologies have shaped the way we seek, collect, and share information. Before innovations can be exploited for marketing purposes, somebody has to build them. More importantly, somebody has to need them. Key innovators, movers, and shakers discuss how the past will shape our future and attempt to answer some of the biggest questions in search. What are the most important changes in the space that you should be aware of? How will the decisions made today affect our marketing and communication efforts in the future?

Moderators:
Speakers:

The first question is about the history of the web and how  we got here. Immediately, conversation has turned to what  Google killer is and how you support this idea from an infrastructure perspective. Danny Sullivan indicates that Microsoft would be the logical candidate but they have tried for the last 5 years with limited success. Danny predicts that there will be incremental Google killers that will be acquired or improved upon by Google. Matt Cutts added that when he left his studies to come to Google he could not find the office and when he did, it was a small room with a desk and a PowerPoint presentation.

Discussion has turned to the data that Google has and how they use it to develop new products as well as there brand being unmatched. Most people don’t care about search or how they search, they just want what they want when they want it…Google provides this experience.

The moderator is now reading off stats about how Google is huge in so many categories. One question is… does Google focus on internal resource development or acquiring technology. Matt Cutts says they do both. Google focuses on scale. Matt references his office mate Ben when he does studies the aggregate volume of data has differences can be huge.

Panelist are discussing the “live” web and how people can search twitter in real time vs. the way Google provides search results. Conversation around local and what that means is a hot topic. Some people are defining local as extension of reach and distribution or find. Urban Spoon is an example of this concept. Local search has a “long way to go” according to the panel due to the mass of data and the usability of that data. Some of the open formats for “local” have a huge opportunity based on where the users are going with the market. This could be an additional layer placed on top of today’s web.

“How do you make things relevant?” Matt talks about broadband and wireless and how these things have improved our life. He cites that 70% of all phones will be smartphones in the next 10 years. Everybody will have them and is this where local will go?

Tim Westergren from Pandora indicated that their business went up significantly when they launched an iPhone app. Discussions still are focused on what local search is and is not.

Kevin Ryan has interjected to change the topic back to “the motherload” as search. The panelist are discussing various examples on how search is being used today. The way people use search and re-search to get what they want quickly is real. Search is right on by providing exactly what someone is looking for vs. traditional outlets that try to push messaging to a “proposed” audience.

Matt Cutts talks about the future of search that delivers a result like this; when ever you search you get a result that creates an awareness opportunity based on where you are.

We are now fielding questions from the audience.

SES Update - Search Around the World - Part 2: The UK & Europe

Published
by
Tom Dressler
on August 18, 2008
in Search Marketing
. 0 Comments

Eastern and Western companies are rushing to get a piece of the action internationally, but does anyone really understand the marketplace? In this session, we are learning how to separate hype from actionable activity. Leading experts with “feet on the street” in the U.K. and the rest of Europe discuss the marketplace and its impact on the world.

Moderator:
Speakers:
Notes:
  • Google is the only player in Germany dominating the market with 96% of all search traffic
  • In polling the audience, most marketers indicated that it was relatively straight forward to optimize search for the International market
  • Cross reference the primary search language by country
  • Google, MSN Live number 2 followed by Yahoo across all of Europe
  • There are a few local search engines that are specific to each country. very low % of traffic
  • It is critical to do accurate translations!
  • Use an international hosting provider with a top level domain

SES Update - Pay Per Conversation

Published
by
Tom Dressler
on August 18, 2008
in Website Analytics and Website Effectiveness
. 0 Comments

We are learning about how marketers are becoming successful in their SEM efforts. PPC can no longer stand for “Pay Per Click” — it must stand for “Pay Per Conversation.” Many marketers agree that the current state of the economy is having an impact on their marketing plans. That’s why every dollar and click matters. Every click is a potential customer trying to engage you; will you continue the dialog or have them bounce off your landing page just moments after they arrive? What you want to do is engage and persuade your visitors to keep taking the next click, all the way through the purchase funnel. To achieve that, you must demonstrate the value of your products and services in all your marketing, especially when sales are decreasing. You do that by planning content to improve relevance and test continuously until you have the best conversation. This session is showing us how to identify missed conversations and what you can do to improve them and your PPC ROI.

Introduction by:
Speakers:
Bryan is opening the discussion about conversation marketing versus click or visitor marketing. Most marketers are not budgeting for the tactics that can make the difference such as multi-variant testing.
Why are conversations failing?
1. Lack of Trust. 2. Establishing Relevance. Google uses this concept in presenting their search results. On average, when visitors come to a site 10% bounce off the site right away, 55% bounce in 2 clicks  and an additional 15% drop off by the third click. This is way too high and needs to be addressed. Users will click endlessly if they are finding what they are looking for; either content or links. Bryan is relating this concept to the analogy of a “broken scent”. When a dog is tracking something down it sniffs for the next clue. Two thirds of all visitors are bouncing off your site…so how do we rethink  this path of conversion?
What do we do?
Optimization needs to be thought of from a goal conversion perspective. Now Brett is going to talk about Google Analytics and the founder of Urchin is going to show us the “lost” opportunities analysis in Google Analytics. Both speakers agree that we should always be testing.  
Focus on high traffic areas of your website with the biggest potential for revenue; look at the landing pages, leaky funnels, site overlay, and internal site search pages. How do I know if it’s the site vs. the ad that needs adjustment? Brett is relating website traffic to auto traffic patterns and flow.
Looking at reports in the analytics products can seem intimidating at first…recommendation is just go to the area that makes the most sense first. The first thing we are looking at is traffic ad bounce rate. Bounce rate is defined as those who leave fairly quickly. The first area he is focusing on is the landing page section. How can we increase page views and minimize bounce rate? Once inside Google Analytics, looking at the views tab on the far right, review bounce rate graph and focus on the red indicators. Next is the funnel report. Traffic going down the center achieve the goal. Looking at the exits will focus you on the “leaky funnel”. Look at this with the site overlay feature and some actionable info is very apparent. Internal site search is another way to see what users are looking for. This really shows us ways to test content. Where do they start and where do they end?  Do we need to add pages to help or make the path smoother?
How do we know if it’s the ad or the page?
Look at the landing page optimization panel to study a particular page. look at the non paid bounce rate vs. paid bounce rate. Check the “scent”.. is this page delivering? If paid traffic converts more than the site average, chances are the ads are working well. One way to get started in testing is to start small, for example, working towards ‘contact us’ paths.
Now the panel will take questions and answers. Bryan will be giving away his book “a/b testing - Always Be Testing“. Also chheck out www.ConversionUniversity.com for more information.
How Testing Works?
Basic plan is to take the traffic coming into your site and split it down different testing paths. Minor code adjustments are needed to use the Google Optimizer tool. Most marketers need think of what the intent is of the keyword used by the visitor. Someone can use the same keyword but have two different intentions. The keyword might be good and the experience once on the site could be bad. Bryan is showing us how personality types look at web sites very differently.
There are four major categories, methodical, competitive, spontaneous and humanistic. Looking at Overstock.com, 98% of the traffic bounced.  For Spontaneous people it worked; Humanistic did not have any content (reviews); Methodicals did not relate and Competitives wanted to use search. They found adding an  image that talked to the other personas increased revenue by 70,000 a day. Wow…it would be nice to have a site that has that big of an opportunity.
What can we do to build trust?
Showing service levels agreements around contact forms. Have policies displayed as well. Keeping checkout processes to a minimum (2-4 steps). Bryan is showing us many examples and he is a very fast talker.
Q&A
  • Definition of absolute unique visitor - assigned as a cookie created
  • Definition of unique visitor - cookie already assigned and identified
  • Google Analytics good for eCommerce analysis but Google Optimizer slows down the site - Check your tags
  • Recommendations from Brett include testing extreme vs. similar scenarios
  • What percentage of your budget should be used for Multi-Variant testing (MVT) - 5-10%
  • Do certain personalities use paid vs natural search - Yes but not really