Social Media Blog by Michael Brito
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If you are running an SEO program and Paid Search at the same time, you better keep reading. According to Search Engine Land, the ranking of a particular website within the natural search results can be negatively affected by a paid search campaign. The report comes as a result of a patent filed by Microsoft; where the algorithm specified in the patent would filter the search results to remove any duplicate listings, such as when two domains point to the same website. Additionally, it can also remove a site completely from the natural search results when that website is also part of paid search listings on the SERPS. Well, then again, maybe there isn’t too much to worry about since Microsoft has roughly 12% market share of searches and is rapidly declining as we speak.
Technorati Tags: search marketing, search engine marketing, sem, paid search, pay-per-click, msn, live.com, seo, search engine [...]
However, this one is somewhat unique. It’s a brand new search engine designed to please every request from the perspective of someone who is at least 50 years old. This steadily growing demographic often feels overwhelmed when they use the “ad infested” Google and Yahoo because they spew out more results than older eyes care to see. Launched earlier this week, Cranky.com is trying to simplify the search results by showing just four websites in the non-advertising section of each page and making the sparser listings more relevant to its target audience. Just the other day, I told my 80 year old grandmother about it, who also uses Yahoo Messenger, and she absolutely loves it. So, if you are close to 50 and use the web allot, I would recommend checking it out.
Technorati Tags: search marketing, search engine marketing, sem, paid search, pay-per-click, search engine, cranky.com, cranky
The days of targeting consumers by keywords only are coming to an end. Now search engines, specifically MSN are giving advertisers the ability to target consumers by age, gender various demographics and website behavior. MSN’s behavioral targeting is an effective way to deliver customized/relevant messages to the most desirable and targeted consumers. Based on user search and web surfing behavior, behavioral targeting allows advertisers to reach their target consumer.
Although the concept has been around for several years now as it relates to online banner advertising, it is now becoming a fundamental practice for search marketing as well. In fact, a recent report on Clickz.com, states that behavioral targeting is up roughly sixty percent over the last year, which shows tremendous growth.
The Early Days of Search Marketing
Search engine marketing, often referred to as paid search is based on cost-per-click model (CPC); that is, advertisers only pay when a consumers clicks on [...]
Google’s quest for taking over the Internet is continuing. They have released a public beta of its Website Optimizer, a new service that allows marketers to test various versions of landing pages to determine which one has the most effective conversion rate. The Website Optimizer allows marketers to test different variables on a landing page (i.e. different headlines, product features, copy, and creative to determine which configuration has the best conversion rates based on revenue or other metrics. According to ClickZ, Google is providing the beta service “on an acceptance basis” to AdWords and Google Analytics account holders who’d like to sign up.
Technorati Tags: website optimizer, google, conversion rates
Awareness and consideration are fundamental metrics used to measure the effectiveness of paid search. One of the most common ways to measure these two metrics is to simply monitor the impressions and clicks. Impressions are usually associated with awareness and clicks are associated with consideration. But using this methodology can be deceiving. Assuming that when a particular search campaign generates 100 million impressions, that 100 million eyeballs actually see the ad is misleading. There are, however, tools that can help measure the level of engagement with consumers when they click on the ad and arrive at your website; which I believe tell a much more compelling story of your search campaigns. One tool is called SEM Director. This tool allows marketers to assign values to particular actions on the website. For example, one page view can equal 1 point; signing up for a newsletter can be 2 points, watching a [...]
Many times, I read in various blogs and forum posts that a solid SEO strategy (with good rankings) is good enough to attract visitors to a website. I completely disagree with this view. While SEO is an important component of any integrated marketing campaign, paid search must not be overlooked when implementing an online strategy. According to Clickz, the paid search market generated approximately $10 billion in revenue in 2005 and is expected to grow 41 percent in 2006. How can any organization, marketer or blogger ignore these astronomical figures? Additionally, according to a study by WebSideStory that monitored twenty B2C e-commerce websites, paid search had a median order conversion rate of 3.4 percent, while organic search results produced a conversion rate of 3.13 percent. The data set included more than 57 million search engine visits.
Technorati Tags: paid search, search engine marketing, seo, search engine optimization, organic search
Again, old topic but thought I would elaborate anyway. Search engine marketing is in a period of hyper growth in the marketplace. According to a recent quote (can’t remember from whom) I heard at the Search Engine Strategies Conference in San Jose, the growth of paid search rose 38% from 2005 to 2006; and in 2009 will become over a $10 billion industry. Keeping these statistics in mind, it is imperative for marketers to take paid search serious, include it in their marketing strategy and find ways to integrate search with other demand generation and/or direct marketing initiatives.
Some common examples include integrating search with any upcoming news releases. If your company is releasing a new product, service or initiative, it would be wise to ensure that you have a search campaign ready to go so when consumers read the news release and search for that particular term, you are ready [...]
The question often arises for many marketers whether or not to bid on branded terms, especially if they already rank number one in the natural search results. While this argument may hold some ground on the surface, bidding on brand related terms enables marketers to occupy more search engine real estate and have greater control over the brand messaging.
Trust and credibility are also factors to consider. When a consumer searches for a branded term, and other search results are returned (perhaps retailers or affiliates), a customer can loose trust in that brand; and the company image loses credibility.
In my opinion, brand related terms are the most valuable terms in any search campaign. They are the most likely to attract the highest levels of relevant traffic because consumers are already interested in the company’s value proposition. The result is higher conversion rates and a more positive customer experience.
Okay, I know this [...]
