12/23/2011: Changes in Google for 2012 – Good or Bad?
I read an interesting blog post on Harvard Business Review this morning about how ‘Google will change web marketing in 2012‘. To me, this seems to be quite a divisive topic among critics out there. On the one hand, these changes seem good for the average user (not having to click through irrelevant sites to find answers they require) but on the other hand could be bad since Google will now be directing users to their deals, above all else, especially where travel is concerned. This means that it could actually take more searching for consumers to find that special deal they are looking for. Is Google maybe stepping into becoming a monopoly? It’s motto was always ‘don’t be evil’ but are they now coming round to the realities of corporate culture? Further headaches to marketers trying to use Google will be that they plan to ramp up their efforts to move people into using paid services such as Adwords to attain keyword date that was previously free on Analytics. But isn’t Google just like any other business? How many times have you been hooked in by the ‘free trail’ period? Or maybe you are a user and are sick of marketing tricks that divert you away from your search goal and see this as a move in the right direction by Google? Read the full article here and let us know what you think.
Google Will Change Web Marketing in 2012
4:48 PM Thursday December 22, 2011
by Brian Whalley | Comments (62)
Google is poised to completely alter how websites market themselves over the next year. While easing users into changing search results pages, Google has also designed a new method for websites to structure data so that its crawler can better pull information. This is a tremendous strategy. Google doesn’t need to own all of the information in the world, but does own the methods of accessing that information — as well as the ability to advertise to people who use that access.
Search results will include more direct information. Early in 2012, Google will expand how it incorporates data into its search results. For search queries that are direct questions, it will no longer be necessary to click through to a website. In Google’s parlance, it’s like getting both the search results and the immediate result of the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button at once. It’s not hard to see how this is better for the average Google user. Questions will be answered faster and more simply. No parsing of information will be required. This change, however, will take value away from marketers who rely on visitors clicking through to deeper pages.
12/22/2011: 7 Reasons to Rethink Your Blog Strategy
Some interesting insights from Phil Mershon at Social Media Examiner this week regarding new research around the importance of blogging for your business.
To view the full article click here
7 Reasons to Rethink Your Blogging Strategy: New Research
By Phil MershonPublished December 22, 2011
Do you blog?
This article examines new research that shows blogging is here to stay.
Like many social media tools, blogs have seen a steady increase in numbers and influence over the last several years.
Note the growth charted by Invesp. On Dec. 2, 2011, that number was 178,637,835 (according to BlogPulse).
Number of Blogs Grows
14 million blogs were added since July 2011 (as of 12/2/2011).If people are adding nearly 3 million blogs per month, surely this is a tool worth understanding and maximizing…..to read the rest of this blog click here
12/15/2011: SEO: All just a sham? What would King Arthur say?
SEO. SEO. Ahhhh..SEO. What the heck is it? Well, most people would say that it is the practice of doing something called ‘optimizing’ your website for the best results in search engines. There are many different ways to do this but some basic principles apply – make sure your website is in a search engine friendly format such as HTML, ensure you have the best keywords in the headings and most of all – provide great, relevant content.
Anyway, that is a whole other debate in itself but what I’m going to try and tackle here is, is SEO a real and an attractive opportunity that can help enhance your business or is it something that sounds really cool but isn’t actually true. Kind of like King Arthur and Camelot. I mean, yeah, who wouldn’t want a lady to emerge from a lake and give you an awesome sword that brings you ultimate power?
Let’s start with that. Let us imagine that SEO is King Arthur and his awesome sword (and no, that’s not a euphemism). Much like how people would attest to the mythical man himself, there are thousands of people out there who will do the same for SEO and will happily take your money to use their service. You are promised riches beyond your wildest dreams and all of a sudden you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Don’t worry – King Arthur is here to fight for your business!
Then you ask – ok, so how long will this take and what kind of results should I expect? All of a sudden, King Arthur turns to you and, looking like he’s about to lead you into a stirring battle speech but then disappoints and says.. errmmm…well…not quite sure..could be 6 months..could be a year and nothing is guaranteed. Wow, thanks Arthur. You have just crushed my spirit.
But anyway, all loosely fitting analogies aside, why is that? Everyone says SEO works but try and pin down the exact science and timescale and it’s like nailing jelly to the wall. Followed all the online advice and 3 months down the road, still not seeing more visitors come in from Google? And that SEO guy who you paid all that money to told you this was a sure thing! Swine.
Well, not necessarily. Yes, there are a whole bunch of people out there selling snake oil but here is a good way to determine who is the fibber and who isn’t: ask them how long it will take and if can they guarantee it. The fibbers will tell you: almost immediately and they can absolutely guarantee it, hand on heart.
That’s because SEO is a slow process and with large search engines such as Google constantly tweaking, updating and changing their algorithms, there is always a possibility it’ll change again and not to your benefit. But here is the thing – Google, Yahoo, Bing and all other search engines goal is to provide their users with the best and most relevant content for their search. So, if your website provides the best and most relevant content for someone’s search, it stands to reason that you’ll be listed higher, as opposed to lower in the page rankings. That isn’t to say, you’ll definitely appear top though. After all, isn’t there always SOMEONE in life just a bit luckier, with a bit more money and a few more doors of opportunity open to them than you? Well, it’s the same in the great wide world of SEO. If you have a million dollars to throw at it, chances are, sooner or later, there will be someone with a million and one dollars to throw at it to knock you off. Like life, that’s just the way it goes sometimes.
Now, you may be thinking why bother then? Well, it’s still a worthwhile cause. Because, while it’s not always assured and it takes a while, you can bet that if you made a website using flash and didn’t put any content into it and named it something totally absurd, it wouldn’t get very far. In fact I would totally, 100% guarantee that for you, as would anyone else that knows anything about SEO. Maybe even the always-elusive-on-these-things Google would too. So, in a way, this is proof that it does work, even if not always to the desired level.
Listen, SEO is best used as part of a wider array of marketing services and when it does come off, it can be your best friend. But just don’t expect it to happen quickly. Realistically, it does take at least 6 months to a year, but as a long term strategy, it can have tremendous pay off, just not always. Use it alongside your social media marketing and PPC and all your other online marketing techniques. Hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst. A wise man once said (well, some guy I read on a blog post the other day) that the best SEO technique is just to create the best content. Don’t drive yourself mad trying to understand the machine.
12/7/2011: Why email isn’t dead but is mostly a complete waste of your time
So, it’s been a bit of a hot topic recently, first with some guy called Mark Zuckerberg declaring ‘the email is dead’ and then with more news coverage of the technology giant, Atos, banning all internal email between employees completely by 2014.
In the latter’s case, the decision to ban internal email came after Atos did a study of its 80,000 employees and found that out of all the email they receive daily, only 15% of it they actually found useful and the rest a waste of time. The study went further and uncovered that on average, each employee received 100 internal emails a day and was spending about 15-20 hours a week dealing with the deluge.
This story resonated with me as it reminded me of a former employer whose lifelong crackberry, I mean blackberry, addiction affected everyone working for him. This particular employer demanded an instant reply whenever an email was sent, and boy, would he let you know about it if he didn’t get it. This alongside his insatiable appetite for speculative information and the tendency for erratic outbursts of frustration, led to a culture of constant nervousness amongst employees. Soon enough, you’d find yourself making sure you didn’t miss an email and covering your back by cc’ing colleagues, so that you’d have some evidence to exonerate yourself. Coupled alongside this, was also the landmines laid by others that you’d have to regularly defuse so that you couldn’t be thrown in front of the train when their time for reprimanding came. I probably spent about 25% of my time managing this side of the job rather than doing my actual job.
Then there was the other former employer whose grammar skills rivaled that of an 8 year old. She was lovely, but whenever anyone would receive an email from her, it was like trying to decipher binary from the page. Over time, this led to hours upon hours being wasted just on trying to understand what was being communicated and of course, she was never available by phone or in person to explain.
My personal stance is that email isn’t dead. It’s just been abused by people that don’t really understand how to use it properly. It’s easy to start saying it’s on its way out because of the rise of social media and because fewer people are using email, but the truth is those none-users account for those yet to enter the work force.
Video didn’t kill the radio star. It made a significant impact for about 10 or so years, then MTV decided to start showing Teen Mom instead. It’ll take more than just 2 currently popular social networks to make a difference to a medium that has been in use since Ray Tomlinson invented it in 1971. We just all have to try a little harder – ask yourself, do you REALLY need to send THAT email?
12/2/2011: Why the Groupon coupon business model is set to burst
With more negative news hitting the headlines today regarding Groupon’s alleged breaking of UK advertising regulations 48 times in 11 months, the question if daily deal websites have had their day is again raised.
The investigation by UK competition regulator, The Advertising Standards Authority, has been passed onto the Office of Fair Trading and centers on allegations of exaggerated savings and unfair promotions by the Chicago based company.
One of the complaints upheld by the ASA came in May 2011 when Groupon advertised for a 70% discount on train tickets in the UK. When the link was followed, it was found that no such deal existed. There was also the controversy surrounding a ‘60% off’ dinner deal that also turned out to be unscrupulous. The company claimed it was a “drafting error” made by “new employees” but since then there has been a further eleven upheld complaints which range from incorrect descriptions to exaggerating the true value of discounts on offer.
None of this seemed to matter though when back on November 3rd, Groupon raised $700 million selling 35 million shares at $20 each – the largest IPO by a U.S. Internet company since Google first went public in 2004.
This also came after the company had twice been reprimanded by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for producing misleading figures such as understating operating losses by $120 million and inflating revenue by some $400 million.
Groupon’s business model is to split revenues raised from selling the coupons 50/50 with the business taking part in the offer. Groupon also takes that commission from any vouchers which are sold but unclaimed, unless the buyer requests a refund. The idea is that Groupon will send hundreds of new customers to the business, where the business owner can recoup the losses of running such a loss leading offer by upselling the new customers to other services and/or from customers that return and pay full price after discovering the local business through Groupon.
This has led to questions being raised over whether the customers that these deals attract are loyal to the new business they have discovered or to Groupon. Many argue that it is the latter since once the customers have redeemed their discount, they often don’t return which can leave the local business with huge losses. This was the case for Rachael Brown who runs a cupcake business in the south of England who lost thousands through a Groupon promotion.
Another drawback of the Groupon model is that when Groupon makes mistakes such as the ones it has just been remanded for by the ASA, the effects of that customer negativity is often directed towards the business. It’s hard to see how a business modal that seemingly has such high risk for the customer (the local business running the offer, not the coupon buyer) and is based around that customer losing money can really sustain itself.
Regardless, Groupon rose 8.3 percent yesterday to $18.95 in New York trading and continues to grow along with its competitors such as Living Social & KGB Deals (who we should also mention has had 16 informally resolved complaint cases between them). Google’s coupons offering also looks set to be around the corner in the form of Google Offers.
There is clearly a lot of buzz surrounding these types of sites but with none of them yet close to making a profit, it could be an easy option for investors to flip their shares and profit off them based on the buzz, rather than actual revenue being generated by these companies. Such a scenario would result in the bubble bursting, much like how it did with the dot coms.
What are your thoughts? Do you use Groupon or similar sites for your business or as a consumer? Do you think Groupon really presents a genuine opportunity for local businesses to grow their customer base?
11/26/2011: Mourning the death of a loved one? Consider corporate housing!
Ahh….the internet. It seems like there is not a day goes by where there isn’t something in the news about how Facebook is going to help facilitate shady corporate types access our personal information or how Apple is going to eat the brains of your first born child. I may have just made that last one up but I bet it’ll be a headline by the end of the year.. somewhere..maybe. Or not.
Anyway, Google has probably offended at least 7 people down at the Occupy Wall Street movements (I wonder if they have 4G internet access down there?), by launching their new bubble adds and to be fair, I think those concerned by this (which are also probably more than 7) do have a legitimate case. Basically, these are ads that appear in Google Maps when you are looking for a local business or service and when clicked on, underneath the location details, are now ads that are supposed to be relevant to your search. Problem is, because Google runs these things using an algorithm, and not real people, the algorithm has the tendency to get a bit confused and throw up questionable results that it thinks could relate to your search. Take the below example, that I found earlier while browsing for a memorial park to eat my kit kat in:
You know me so well, Google
Despite my facetious style of writing in this article, it is probably quite understandable as to why advertising for corporate housing could be deemed somewhat tacky by those that labor themselves with deeming these things. The other question is, of course, even if the advertising were more accurately targeted, isn’t advertising on the back of a memorial park just a little questionable to begin with? Not sure I’d advise that approach through my marketing agency.
Anyway, the other thing to consider is now that these bubble ads are here, it’s likely that businesses that take an active interest in their place on Google Maps will have to advertise through Google themselves to beat off unwanted placements for their Google bubble. A cynical man may say it’s an attempt by Google to run up revenue in it’s AdWords department (where it makes all the moneez).
It’s already caused quite a stir so it’ll be interesting to see how this develops and if it’ll make it to the Google front pages, (since maps is often where Google likes to test things before more visible roll outs) or if it’ll be another thing that Google ends up testing and dropping all together.
11/19/2011: ”Consumers would like to use the mobile platform as the center of their information sharing”
Well, it’s Saturday night here in LA, so naturally I have been looking at techcrunch (like every other 20 something man would do, right??) and I came across this interesting video. It’s a conversation between Jim Breyer and Erick Schonfeld about the kind of thing that VCs like Jim and his company are investing in. As if it wasn’t obvious already, this adds more evidence of the increasingly growing behemoth that is the mobile market and how seriously it’s being taken by those in the higher echelons of the tech world. Check it out and let us know what you think!
11/18/2011: 6 Best Practices for Modern SEO
Some great tips for all those aspiring SEO’ers from Erin Everhart over on Mashable. Interesting that they mention places is becoming so relevant and funnily enough, one of the main services we provide! 
6 Best Practices for Modern SEO
Article by Erin Everhart. View the full article here
Google’s search results aren’t what they used to be. Need proof? Just look at its results page. No longer solely comprised of traditional, organic site matches, Google now lists local maps, images, videos and social cues as well — and it’s affecting more than just what you see.
If you rely heavily on search engines for pageviews and sales, as many businesses do, Google search results will drastically affect how your customers find you. If your business needs to be seen and clicked, take into account the following six search engine tips.
1. Local SEO Is Taking Over
There’s a good probability that a large chunk of the Google searches you perform will display Google Places listings – and consumers are taking notice. SEO software firm SEOmoz did some eye-tracking case studies on Google’s SERP (search engine results page). The results show that users heavily gravitate toward any of Places’ listings, whether they’re mixed into organic lists, concentrated in a group of seven or even listed in the middle of the results page. The heat map above shows the activity around a Google search for “pizza.”
Read the rest of this article here
11/15/2011: Share and Share Alike
Well, I’ve missed the optimum time to post this blog entry but better late then never, right? Wrong. According to the worker bees at AddThis , the peak time to share content online is exactly 9.30am on a Wednesday morning. And that’s Eastern Time, in case you were wondering. Other nuggets of information that have been uncovered by their fastidious research was that 75% of all shares happen the first day the content is shared and most users will click within 2 minutes of a share. What I found somewhat surprising was that the action of copy & paste was so much more popular than those little social buttons we’re all being told to put everywhere, accounting for up to 10 times more usage.
Anyway, here are some more facts for you to impress people with at parties and various social functions:
Top Growth for sharing over the past 5 years:
- Twitter, up 35,356%
- Facebook & like, up 5,809%
- LinkedIn, up 3,226%
- StumbleUpon, up 2,912%
- Tumblr, up 1,142%
- Facebook send, up 756%
- Tumblr, up 532%
- Google+1, up 418%
- PingFM, up 272%
- LinkedIn, up 242%
- iGoogle, down 68%
- AOL Lifestream, down 63%
- MySpace, down 53%
- Delicious, down 46%
- Digg, down 46%
11/08/2011: SEO Leading the way for lead generation but Social Media marketing investment set to rise.
Found this rather interesting article on searchengineland.com today. Turns out it isn’t all about Facebook, as some will tell you! To see the full article click here.
Article by Matt McGee
SEO is the number one source of leads for both B2C and B2B marketers, beating out both PPC and social media marketing in a recent survey of online marketers. But more of those surveyed say they plan to increase their social media marketing budgets in 2012, ahead of SEO and PPC.
The numbers come from the 2011 State of Digital Marketing Report, which was compiled by Webmarketing123, a California-based online marketing agency. The company surveyed more than 500 U.S. online marketers in August and September; about two-thirds of all respondents identified themselves as B2B marketers.
Whether B2B or B2C, both groups of marketers agree that SEO has the biggest impact on lead generation. 57 percent of B2B marketers credit SEO as their primary source of generating leads, while 41 percent of B2C marketers said the same thing
To read the full article, click here.
11/08/2011: 3 Ways to Boost Interaction with your Facebook fans
Well, in light of the above article and how 60% of the respondents are planning to increase their budget in the social media world, here are 3 tips for you courtesy of Maya Grinberg at Social Media Examiner
11/07/2011: Google+ Launches Branded Pages.
Google+’s attempt to challenge Facebook continues.. more on this story here
11/07/2011 Clever QR code marketing in Fresh & Easy
I was in Fresh & Easy this past weekend and while perusing the BBQ section, I noticed this QR code looking up at me on one of the signs. Being the inquisitive type that I am, I scanned it and got this great little video up that gave me some grilling tips. Now it may be the end of grilling season here in Southern California, but it was just another smart little way that QR codes can be used to interact with customers, other than just directing them to a website. Check it out for yourself -
And for those of you who aren’t Smart Phone enabled, here is the video the QR code directs to -
11/05/2011: 1 Fantastic example of how to market on Youtube with a shoe-string budget
Who said YouTube was just for big name brands and people’s pets doing the ‘craziest’ things? If you are a small business, YouTube can be a very effective tool and many companies have profited hugely from it. Check out Chuck’s video below and how he used his dry humor to approach what might have been considered the near impossible task of marketing a Taxidermy business. It’s now been viewed over 7 million times. Sit back and enjoy..
10/31/2011: Mobile Advertising set to grow exponentially
Some not-very-surprising-but-still-interesting news from eMarketer today regarding the huge growth being forcast for Mobile Advertising. As I say on the homepage, the time for mobile is now!
Mobile Advertising Goes Mainstream
OCTOBER 31, 2011
Mobile search, display spending surges in response to mobile web adoption
“Mobile advertising is no longer a question of ‘if’ but of ‘when,’” said Noah Elkin, principal analyst at eMarketer and author of the new report, “Mobile Advertising and Marketing: Moving to the Mainstream.” “A key factor pushing mobile advertising toward the mainstream is that mobile web access is fast becoming more the norm than the exception. This makes mobile a greater imperative than ever for marketers.”
Reflecting the continued advance of smartphones and rising tablet acquisition among US consumers, eMarketer’s latest forecast is sharply higher. Relative to the September 2010 forecast, mobile ad spending projections for 2011 through 2014 have been revised upward anywhere from 11% to 33% per year. Overseas markets are experiencing comparable momentum, driven by similar trends in device and mobile web adoption.