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February 23, 2007
Interesting 2007 Best Picture Google Result
I just saw this for [2007 Best Picture].
I would guess that David Poland has held the #1 result for quite some time, and technically still holds #1, even though it probably feels like a #11. As incredible as the AMC Best Picture Showcase sounds, I wonder how a one-time event finds itself above natural search results with no sponsored identification.
Posted by tom at 02:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Thoughts On Current Search Behavior Study
One of my favorite classes in college was Consumer Behavior so I guess that explains my fascination with search behavior. I thought I’d comment on a recent search behavior study conducted by De Vos & Jansen Market Research.
De Vos & Jansen compared the search behavior of two groups of people: Buyers and Information Seekers. From the two groups of 25, their study concludes that the viewing habits of buyers and info seekers are different.
No shock there.
However, one interesting thing about the study is their conclusion that those searchers with the intent to buy viewed more search results and focused more on familiar brand names. More interesting is that while 98% of searchers reviewed natural search results, only 31% of those in the study viewed the sponsored (paid search) listings.
That 31% is probably a generous number, but with a sample size of just 50, I wasn’t surprised that much by it. Other search behavior studies have put this number in the 10-20% range.
The search behavior takeaway here is not rocket science.
If all your Search Engine Marketing eggs (dollars) are in the Paid Search basket (Adwords/YSM), you are missing out on a large percentage of your overall target audience.
Can your business afford to do that?
Posted by doug at 12:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 22, 2007
Steve Jobs and Apple - 1997 and Today
This post has very little to do with search other than a) I found an interesting article while searching for some Apple information at Google, and b) I continue to plod along on a large post that will discuss how Apple is missing out on tremendous revenue opportunities via search.
I'm neither a particular fan nor foe of Steve Jobs, although I think he's extraordinarily smart and savvy. I was doing some research and found a great article from Business Week that's almost exactly 10 years old. In 1997, Jobs had just returned to a languishing Apple as an "advisor" to then-CEO Gil Amelio.
The article is full of tidbits that seem either silly or ironic, including quotes from Jobs like "They want me to be some kind of Superman. But I have no desire to run Apple Computer. I deny it at every turn, but nobody believes me." Later that year, of course, he became Apple's CEO.
Some parts in particular are quite prophetic:
These days, every doing at Apple is examined for the Jobs factor--a management change could be a power play, a strategy shift might be proof Jobs is remaking the company, a new product direction becomes confirmation that the good old days of ''insanely great products'' are returning.
While progress was slow at first, the stock chart since then (along with a line of products that speaks for itself) tells the tale:
Posted by erik at 11:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 19, 2007
Visitors Lost When It Comes To Searching for ABC Videos
Mark Simon has a great Old Media catch in today's Search Insider:
...Big Media hasn't yet fully grasped search's value. Consider ABC -- which offers full-length downloads of its most popular shows, surely placing it amongst the most Web-forward of the big media giants. When it comes to search, ABC.com is clearly lagging.For starters, the page on which ABC.com visitors can download full-length ABC programs has minimal HTML text -- even though HTML is the language that search engines read best. Even the names of the shows themselves are absent from the page's HTML. Title tags are also critical for organic rankings, but the page's title tag -- "ABC.com full episode player" -- doesn't mention the word "download." I could go on, but suffice it to say that it's not surprising that on the term "download lost," ABC.com is absent from Google's first organic result page.
Good golly. Begs that Old Media philosophical query: if a video is uploaded to a server yet no one ever plays it, does it exist?
Posted by john at 03:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 16, 2007
Selling SEO: How I Lost a Big Potential Client
To the potential client with whom I recently talked, who said that organic SEO will be critical to the success of his yet-to-launch web site, who needed specific tips about how to optimize for long-tail phrases in an ultra-Flash-heavy environment, I have something to say.
I am sorry.
I am sorry that I offended you when I asked what your site was going to be about. I am sorry that I asked what industry you were going to target. I am sorry that I asked about your intended audience. I am sorry for all those things, even for volunteering to sign an NDA; the login on the home page should have warned me that the contents are super-secret -- too secret to be exposed, even with a contractual obligation to keep my mouth shut.
Maybe you've been burned before. Who hasn't? But let me tell you what I won't do with any information a potential client gives me:
- I won't tell anyone outside my company.
- I won't steal your idea.
- I won't start a competing web site.
- I won't call your competitors and tell them what you're up to.
- I won't tell you you're stupid or that your idea sucks.
Now, let me tell you what I will do with the information you give me:
- I will do some preliminary keyword research on your topic, so that I can discuss -- intelligently -- what your target audience is searching for, and how they're phrasing it.
- I will see how other sites in your market are building their sites to see how -- or whether -- they are integrating best-practices SEO into their sites, and how the engines are reacting to it.
- I will see who links to sites like yours to get an idea of how your future site can compete out of the gate.
- I will take a look at what you've developed so far to let you know if you've done anything that will cause grave harm to your organic efforts.
- I will tell you, honestly, whether I think we can help you.
So again, please accept my apologies. I wish you the best of luck in finding that SEO company who will give you the exact advice you need without having even the slightest notion of what you do.
Posted by erik at 04:20 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 15, 2007
PPC Management Strategy - Part 2
Part 2: The Initial Campaign Phase
Much like a wedding ceremony, a lot of preparation has gone into the Conception & Setup of a PPC campaign. The research has been done. The guest list errr keyword list has been whittled down to VIPs’s, and the budget has been set for the banquet to follow the ceremony that gets the ball rolling. Furthermore as most if not all bride’s will tell you the ceremony actually passes in a whirlwind of activity, and before they know it it all has passed and the next stage of 'and they lived happily ever after' is just beginning.
Well, as we know the happily ever after only comes with hard work, perseverance and the willingness to try things out and accept mistakes. The is also the second step in the PPC Setup phase that I like to refer to as 'Getting Traction'.
Getting Traction
Getting Traction simply means that we've stepped on the gas and gotten this campaign up and running. Now let's play around a bit and find out where our limits are. We don't want to put too much money into the pot at this point because we're not sure at what point we stop spinning the wheels and actually accelerate. We also only now are gathering real-time data on what each keyword is going to cost us let alone which one's actually get traffic. It is important to remember that this aspect can be very volatile. It is important to have set a budget up front, before the campaign is live. Other than that I find it important to set few restrictions, such as time and date targeting, on the campaign until you can definitively tell when your words are being searched on.
Establishing a Baseline
They say that ignorance is bliss and I imagine that applies to marriage as well, but I also know that money is one of the biggest issues that causes problems in marriages as well. Not knowing where or why your money going where it's going will cause stress in any situation, and with PPC's propensity to go through money like water it is definitely no exception. To lay the groundwork for monitoring and controlling your monetary investment it is vitally important to start keeping track of results. No matter what the specific goals of the campaign may be I always track the 'big five' (Impressions, Clicks, Click-Thur-rate, Cost, and Cost-per-click). These five can act as a good indicator of what is happening with your account and point you in the right direction as you search for answers to anomalies in your ongoing campaign. The only one of the big five that I've seen any kind of standard for is the Click-thru-rate. With as many potential variables as PPC entails it is hard to have a hard and fast standard, but I typically use 5% as rule of thumb. Below 5% I start to search for what is dragging the CTR down. Above it I try to find what is making it work and how can I maximize this. Standards are nice but they will be useless unless you know where you started, where you've been, where you are, and try to have an idea of where you're going. To sum it up, track, compile, and analyze your numbers - they are the indices of health or sickness with your PPC campaign.
Give it Some Time
One day doesn't make a trend. Things tend to fluctuate wildly in the first days and weeks of PPC campaign. The engines are deciding what they think of your ad's, key-phrases, and landing pages. Your competitors are now reacting to the new kid on the block, and your customers are now seeing a new player in the market. It is vitally important to start off with a budget maximum in place to help alleviate any fears of rampant unchecked spending and to see if there actually is a ceiling on demand. Campaigns that will in time appear to never budge from the norm will fluctuate wildly in the beginning. This is not something to be alarmed about, but rather to be tracked as mentioned in the prior paragraph. I generally like to allow at least 1 month to accumulate before I start making optimization observations. This is not to say the account shouldn't be monitored, just that we need time and data to before we make any subtle changes to the campaign.
Overall, If I had to sum up the initial campaign phase I would say: Set a budget before you start spending, don't worry about fluctuations too much, don't over-react on anything just yet, and if it's not vital to the survival of the campaign.....leave it alone for a little bit and see what happens. If patience describes part 1, then nerves of steel would probably best describe this part.
Stay tuned for part 3: Analysis of results - in which I'll talk about what to analyze, how to analyze it, and what changes can we make based on the analysis.
Posted by brent at 05:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 14, 2007
Live from MSN: Canonicalization High Comedy
A very smart lady makes smart fun of the undead at MSN Live:
MSN Live Search just isn't as bright when it comes to algorithmic adjustments. It indexes nearly 1,300 pages of "site:brewers.mlb.com" and six pages of "site:www.milwaukeebrewers.com". Its algorithms credit "link:www.milwaukeebrewers.com" with nearly 14,000 inbound links and "link:brewers.mlb.com" with over 14,000. MSN Live Search duplicates its own results by including the non-canonical URL in the results.Getting any bright ideas about MSN Live Search, subdomains, and temporary redirects? Small wonder MSN Live Search has its filters set to "high" to stop spamming itself and present any semblance of canonicalization.
Apart from the merrymaking, Pat steps through the canonicalization labyrinth in a quite deft and accessible manner for the uninitiated, perhaps 99.995% of the population. If you're outside that .005 it's well worth understanding these foundational indexation parameters for your site, especially if you are responsible for setting them but don't realize it -- a state in which we actually find most new clients to be.
Posted by john at 11:42 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 05, 2007
Google Unleashes THE Mother Lode of Link Information
Once upon an evening dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of inbound links,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some feed gently rapping, rapping at my inbox door.
"'Tis some spam," I muttered, "tapping at my inbox door -
Only this, and nothing more."
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my screen surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the links unknown -
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the Googlers keep unknown -
Nameless here for evermore.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;
Yea but the silence was broken, friends, the feed gave a token,
Though the only words there spoken were the whispered words, "Webmaster Central?"
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the words, "Webmaster Central!" -
Merely this, but something more.
The silken sad uncertain rustling of each link: operator no longer
Need fill me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating,
"'Tis the mother lode unloaded at my inbox door -
The mother lode entreating entrance at my inbox door; -
This it is, and so much more."
Posted by john at 10:32 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 04, 2007
Check Those Redirects Or It Can Bite You
Recently I ran into an interesting situation with a long term client. For close to a year they enjoyed top position at Google for a very important keyphrase related to their industry. Without warning 2 weeks ago they dropped off the face of the earth for just the one phrase. They still held strong positions for all their remaining phrases and had even increased positions overall.
After some research I was able to locate what I thought could have caused the problem:
The client was using a tracking URL on a partner site to track visitors clicking through (pretty standard practice). When the user clicked through they were customarily redirected to the appropriate page. Everything seemed in order except for the fact when you pinged the www.client.com/default.aspx Google returned a result of www.client.com/default.aspx?tracking1234 and showed a duplicated version of the home page for both url's.
The partner site was using the tracking url with a text link containing the very important keyphrase the client had suddenly plummeted in Google for.
The first thing I did was to run a Header Check and found that the tracking URL was actually returning a 302 redirect to the client's home page. I consulted with the client and had them change this to a 301 redirect. Less than a week later they had regained their top position at Google for the important phrase. The tracking url has also been completely removed from the Google index.
There are many good "Header Checkers" out there. A few might be:
Stay diligent and stay on top.
Happy trails, Amigos!
Posted by james at 10:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 01, 2007
Midomi Nails It on the First Try
Few people know that Bill Gates uses one of my inventions.
A long time ago, I told my wife that I had a killer idea spawned from a lifetime of shoveling snow in the Midwest. When pouring a driveway, you should immerse low-current heating coils into the concrete or asphalt to melt snow as it fell. Did I act on it? Of course not.
A few years later, as Bill and Melinda Gates built their estate on Lake Washington in Seattle, I read that he was employing just such a technology.
I didn't learn my lesson then, and only a couple years ago, I had another "thought invention" that I never put into practice. This one was a search engine that used your PC's microphone and allowed you to hum a song whose name you couldn't remember. Scanning patterns and frequency ratios, it would match your humming and tell you (assuming you're not tone-deaf) what song you were thinking of.
Well, a few days ago, Dr. Watlington via Search Engine Watch informed me I'd been scooped again. Midomi is the exact engine I had envisioned.
Currently on a crusade to put a name to the tune of several easy-listening hits I remember from my childhood, I decided to give it a try. All you need to do is give Midomi's Flash interface "permission" to use your computer's microphone (and camera, if you want to give them a visual record of your making a fool of yourself).
In ten seconds, I'd hummed a few bars, and ZING -- out popped "Love is Blue" -- including a link to purchase Al Martino's version, as well as links to other users' versions of this song.
Midomi's methodology is intriguing. The engine doesn't compare my humming with the actual professionally recorded songs. It compares my humming with the humming or singing of other users who actually knew what song they were humming or singing. So this way, the engine doesn't have to compete with professional background music or vocals of the studio tracks when it looks for a match.
I plan to follow up this post with some thoughts about how Apple is missing out on some significant search traffic. But for now, I'll ask Apple: Why haven't you bought this engine yet and integrated it into iTunes?
Posted by erik at 01:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack