Marketing insights by one of Internet Marketing's top guru.
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Occam’s Razor by Avinash Kaushik"If you can't measure it - you can't manage it." (Drucker). Avinash tells you how to measure everything on your website.
aimClear BlogAimed at people doing their SEO and online PR 'in house' - there is a wealth of information on all aspects of promoting your site.
MashableTHE blog to read for current information and trends in Social Medai.
Copy BloggerREAD THIS if you ever get stuck writing copy
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Google has confirmed that page load speed is one of the 200+ variables that contribute to the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). While there are a number of sites that will tell you how fast your site loads to your location, it would be nice to see how long it takes your site to reach your customers. In addition, once your site gets past a few pages, tracking the load speed of each page become a REAL PAIN.
Google Analytics Site Speed metric has changed that.
I was adding some information to a client’s. The client runs a bed and breakfast in a rural setting and I was adding the locations of restaurants and pubs near their location to their Google map. An easy job, if somewhat boring.
Adding this information requires getting the latitude and longitude of each location. An application at itouchmap.com makes this a simple operation. One option is to put in the address and it will spit out the latitude and longitude.
Problem #1 – the two most popular local pubs didn’t have their address prominently displayed on their websites. In one case the address was there, but way down on the page. In the second case the address was not on the Home page – but on a inner page.
Problem #2 – In both cases the addresses was not found in Google maps. They were using a local variant of the street address ‘Island Hyway S.’. Google shows the same road as ‘Island Hyway W.’ (Which is strange since it is to the East of the ‘Inland Island Hyway’. )
To be fair to Google Maps – it will actually find the right address if you enter the closest town. However, it displays the address as ‘Island Hyway W.’.
Should you be a slave to Google Maps? (MapQuest couldn’t find the address at all.) I guess it depends on whether you want you want only local people to find you?
On Oct 27th Google announced a major change in local search results. The changes give more prominence to the Google Places results.
Like the old map search results, the Places results are placed near the top of the page. The map overlay has been enlarged and placed in the right column, previously reserved for Adwords (PPC). Surprisingly, the map overlays the PPC, so as you scroll down the page – the top PPC listings are hidden ‘behind’ the map.
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I was researching an article on using ‘long tail’ keywords and came across a suprising bit of data. There is not correlation between the search volume and the Cost Per Click (CPC) of Google Adwords.
One of the keyword phrases I was targeting was ‘internet marketing’. Plugging that into the Google Keyword Tool and you get a list of the top 150 related search terms. You also have the option of turning on the data for ‘Average Est. CPC’ as reported by Google Adwords. Turn that on and things get confusing.
The most popular search term, not surprisingly as ‘internet marketing’. The search volume for December was 1,830,000 and the CPC was $6.50 – which should put you in one of the top three positions.
However, that term was not the most expensive. That distinction goes to ‘internet marketing and advertising company’ for $14.10. Infact, according to Google, the five most expensive terms related to ‘internet marketing’ all has less than 10,000 in search volume.
The expensive and highly targeted keyword phrases such as ‘internet marketing and advertising company’ are relying on the query string to filter the potential clients to a few thousand. However, a better strategy may be to build a target ad and get a larger exposure at a lower price.
My only advice is to do your homework before you launch your Adwords campaign. Look for value opportunities. (For searches related to ‘internet marketing’ the best terms cost less than $7.00.) And, of course test and measure.
No matter what your age, getting presents over the holidays is nice. Google has given the SEO world a a picnic baskets full of gifts (I know – a mixed metaphor.)
The introduction of ‘Personalized Search’ to everyone searching on Google has made a top position on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) hard to to get – but easier to maintain. Personalized search has been available for people logged into their Google account since 2007. This video by Maile Oyhe covers some of the benefits of personalized search.
I will be conducting a workshop on "What Every Business Owner Should Know To Maximize Investment In A Website.". (And, no I didn’t pick the title.) With such a huge topic – I thought I had better write a resource list for the attendees. Then I thought – why not share it with everyone.
It is by no means complete – but it is a start. And, the blogs in particular will lead you to even more information.
I have Google’s search page as the ‘Home’ page on my web browser. Today (Oct 29, 2009) I was surprised to see Asterix in place of the regular logo. Not thinking too much of it – I just went about my regular daily routine. Later, while listening to the CBC, I heard today was the 50th anniversary of the first Asterix cartoon.
For those of you who have never had the pleasure of reading an Asterix comic you can get reprints of their adventures at the Asterix website. Originally in French, the stories tell how the tiny Gaul, Asterix, with Obelix and his other friends and with the help of the Druid Getafix, took on the might of the Roman army are available in many languages.
Even impulse buying needs a ‘pain’. A ‘pain’ is a need or desire that your customer wants to ease. It may be the need to fix a leaky faucet or it may be the desire to own a ‘cute’ object. With impulse buying, this desire may be completely physiological but this doesn’t make it less real. However, without the ‘pain’ there is no sale.
For your website to succeed you first need to attract customers that have a need for your product. Then you must tell them how your product will ease their pain.
A corollary to easing a ‘pain’ is the ‘pain’ must exist NOW. A website for a service, such as a plumber, will only make a sale when the customer has need of at plumber.
Google recently announced the release of their latest major update – code name ‘Caffeine’. Google has been working on the update for a number of months. The release is currently in a test stage. However, you can expect it to be rolled out across the Google network later this year.
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A half of a second isn’t much time. Most of us would have a hard time thinking of something we do that only takes half a second. Certainly it is not enough to worry about!
Wrong!!
