Category Archives: Google

A beginners guide to: Personalised Search (part 2)

Posted on by admin

Last time I introduced you to the concept of personalised search, explaining what it is and why it has been introduced by the big search players, namely Google. In this follow up post I explore some of the things you need to consider and actions you need to take to ensure your digital marketing strategy remains relevant in light of personalised search.

One of the main outcomes of personalised search is that, in theory, no two people will see the same set of search results when searching using the same query. To cite an example; two members of the Leapfrogg team could be sat in the same location (our office) conducting the same search. But because they are on their own computers, with their own patterns of search behaviour recorded by Google, they could each be presented with different search results.

As it stands, Google will not disclose the degree to which results differ from user to user. Neither will they disclose the percentage of listings on the actual results page that are personalised in some way. However, Google has said that it wants to keep some results similar between users. Product manager Johanna Wright said:

“We want diversity of results…this is something we talk about a lot internally and believe in. We want there to be variety of sources and opinions in the Google results. We want them in personalised search to be skewed to the user, but we don’t want that to mean the rest of the web is unavailable to them.”

It remains the case that searchers want variety in their search results. So it’s not necessarily a case of having one or two favourite sites, or themes of sites, that simply show up over and over. This means Google’s other ranking factors will still be considered, so as far as we can tell at this early stage.

So now to the question we all need to be asking…is there anything we need to do in particular to ensure our sites perform well in light of personalised search? Well as luck would have it, below we provide a list of actions we recommend you consider:

Ditch rankings as a means to measure success

Personalised search effectively makes it impossible to report rankings with the same degree of accuracy as pre-personalised search. By its very nature personalised search means there is no longer an absolute position; a website ranking number two for one person may not even be on the first page of results for another.

So if you measure your search engine marketing efforts on ranking data alone it really is time to move on. You cannot calculate ROI or make informed decisions on how to improve the user-experience of your website using basic ranking data. Therefore, if you are not already, personalised search should be the catalyst to assess your search marketing efforts against metrics that really matter.

Remember, the end goal of your search marketing strategy is not to rank number one on Google for a specific search term. The end goal is to convert the traffic that ranking generates into sales. Once you have established sales targets (or leads, downloads, newsletter sign ups, etc) you can combine Google Analytics with other tools (telephone tracking, for example) and good old fashioned CRM to calculate the most important metric of all; ROI.

Saying all of this, it is worth running regular ranking reports especially if Analytics shows a large hike or drop in traffic. Although ranking data is less reliable it at least acts as an indicator as to whether Google is favouring your website, or otherwise. For example, if your rankings appear to be remain pretty consistent but traffic from search is on the up it may suggest personalised search is working in your favour. Therefore, analyse data from your Analytics account alongside the use of ranking tools to keep track of how your site is performing in the aftermath of personalised search.

Build your brand with a holistic strategy

Some are concerned that personalised search will reward big ‘brands’ who have already received an apparent boost from Google as a result of the Vince update last year. If Google is favouring branded sites is it not inevitable they will feature in search results more prominently and as a result receive a higher proportion of the clicks?

If this is the case, you need to learn why Google favours these brands (often regardless of how well their sites are actually optimised). They tend to be looked upon favourably because they are well-established and trusted. Google is also beginning to pay attention to factors such as how often a brand is mentioned across related websites, blogs and forums. The more ‘buzz’ that exists around a brand, the more important the website is deemed.

You too can build an online brand by implementing a holistic digital strategy that combines traditional SEO activity with paid search, social media and content. So, an action point for 2010 would be to start thinking about SEO as part of a wider set of activities; a strategy that is focused on building a sustainable and reputable online presence with reach far beyond search engines.

But remember the basics

Personalised search is all about delivering more relevant results. Google will determine how relevant a result is to a user based on their behaviour i.e. when presented with a set of results, Google will analyse the sites clicked on and even how long the user spends on the site once they get there. In simple terms, if a user clicks on a site they see as relevant and then spend a reasonable amount of time on that site Google will think, ‘hey, that’s a site the person found useful – I will therefore serve that site next time…or sites that are similar’.

This being the case you need to ensure your search engine listing is highly relevant to a users search query. How do you do this? Well, by going back to the very basics of SEO; ensure your title and description tags are well written and engaging. By doing so, you may encourage users to click on your listing over and above your competitors.

User experience

In order to ensure visitors stick around once they click through to your website you need to ensure the user-experience and content is top notch. You have a small window of opportunity to grab the users’ attention so ensure your content is relevant and calls to action clear. This is integral to establishing user trust and encouraging return visits. If users enjoy their experience on your site then they are not only more likely to convert into enquiries/sales but they are also more likely to return. Therefore a goal for 2010 should be to evaluate and improve upon your site usability and build on ways in which to engage visitors.

Another interesting method of increasing your site’s visibility in personalised search has been put forward by Marty Weintraub in his article ‘How To Exploit Personalised Search For SEO’. In this article, Weintraub suggests that “the solution to optimizing SERPs, which are customized based on an individual user’s affinities, is to influence that user’s offline behaviour”. This includes tips such as asking prospects and customers to search using specific terms (presumably that you know you are going to appear for!?) and click on your website. Definitely worth a read if you have the time.

In conclusion, personalised search may cause a decrease in traffic for some sites, but in theory users will be getting more useful and relevant results. Could this lead to increases in relative conversion rates? On this note, I believe a safe assumption is that the future of search is not about rankings or even traffic volumes but more about keeping better qualified visitors on your site for longer by providing great content to engage users and encourage them to return.

Hopefully, this introduction to Personalised Search has cleared up any confusion you may have had and also helps to turn your thoughts towards actions you need to take in order to ensure your site makes the most of it.

Next time, a lesson in social search. Until then…

A beginners guide to: Personalised Search (part 1)

Posted on by admin

As you may have noticed in recent times, when conducting searches across the major engines the results you are presented with are looking very different to those of a few years ago. Thanks to the innovative attempts of big players such as Google and Bing to provide the richest, most varied and in particular most relevant results to their users, we are increasingly seeing ‘blended results’ that incorporate rich media content, such as images and video, as well as real-time information, from social networks such as Twitter. Results can also vary depending on factors specific to the searcher, such as what they have looked for in the past.

So in a series of articles I am going to give you the lowdown on three significant developments shaping how search engines present their results. I’ll be covering Personalised Search, Social Search and Real-Time Search to ensure you can distinguish between them and understand their likely impact on your digital marketing strategy.

You will learn that these developments demand that you make it a priority in 2010 to combine tactics in social media and content with you search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy. SEO can no longer operate in isolation. Instead, an integrated strategy is needed to maximise your reach and therefore targeted traffic.

So with that in mind, let’s begin with a look at personalised search…

What is personalised search?

Google’s personalised search considers a user’s search history to deliver them with (what Google hopes to be) more relevant and useful results. So, in a nutshell, Google delivers results based on your previous search queries and the sites you’ve visited. By analysing what you search for and the links you click on the search engine results page (SERP), over time Google builds a picture of the types or themes of website you favour. Therefore, it is likely that these sites will appear in your search results more often for particular search queries. In essence, it means search results are being custom tailored for each individual.

Personalised search in itself is not a new concept. When it was first introduced users only received personalised results if they were logged into their Google account. However, Google has now updated their algorithm to deliver personalised results to all users worldwide, even those who aren’t logged into their Google account. The result is that more and more often we will each see different results when we conduct a search, even for the same query.

For example, let’s say you regularly conduct searches for the term ‘eagle’. Without personalised search Google is unlikely to tell whether you are a fan of the large flying bird, the rather beautiful Jaguar E-type or perhaps even the band of ‘Hotel California’ fame. However, you’re a bird lover, so with personalised search, over time, Google will begin to put two and two together as you click on listings that are bird related. As a result of this realisation, the bird related content you are interested in occupies more and more of the search results, sifting out, or moving down the page, information on Jaguars and the band that you have shown no interest in through your click patterns.

Therefore, personalised search has the potential to serve you very different search results than you would have received before its introduction.

If you would rather that your search results are not personalised in this way then you do have the ability to opt-out completely. You can do this quite easily by clicking on the “Web History” link positioned to the top right of the search results.

You will then be presented with the following page. Once on this page click on the “Disable customisations based on search activity” link and hey presto your results will no longer be affected by your past search history.

However, even if you do opt-out of personalised search, Google will still log what you search as it always has done. The only difference is that it won’t personalise your search results using that information.

Why has personalised search been introduced?

So why has Google rolled out personalised search to all users worldwide? The most obvious reason for this development is that Google is trying to serve individual users with tailored results which prove to be more relevant. Therefore users are more likely to see listings in the results which satisfy what they were looking for. This in turn increases their satisfaction with Google’s search experience, increasing the likelihood that Google will be first choice for their next search.

On an official level Google says:

“When you search using Google, you get more relevant, useful search results, recommendations, and other personalised features. By personalising your results, we hope to deliver you the most useful, relevant information on the Internet.”

So that’s personalised search and how it works. In part 2, I’ll explore what means in terms of your digital marketing efforts?

Until then…

Froggblog top posts of 2009

Posted on by Ben Potter

As we draw towards the end of 2009, we thought it would be useful to compile a list of the most useful articles from the Froggblog written by our team of experts over the course of the last 12 months. It is by no means a definitive list of the key events of 2009 (there have been just too many for us to find the time to write about all of them!). However, there has been some really useful advice shared by our team this year, so with that, here we go…

Strategy

Looking to succeed online? Be guided by these three words

Acquisition, conversion and retention should be at the centre of your digital marketing strategy. Ben Potter explains why.

Digital marketing snakes and ladders

Client Relations Manager, Christos, provides some great advice on developing and maintaining a fruitful relationship with your agency.

All good things come in threes; search, social media and content is another

Ben Potter explains the intrinsic relationship between search, social media and content-based marketing techniques and why they need to work together as part of an integrated digital marketing strategy.

The importance of customer care ‘after the click’

Dan Richardson endured a frustrating afternoon with a customer services rep; this got him angry and he blogged about it with advice all brands should take heed of.

Website Optimisation

Pretty websites do not automatically win popularity contests

Website optimisation executive, Claire Mason, looks at why a successful website has to do a lot more than simply look good.

Quick tips to increase your online conversion rate

It’s one thing getting visitors to your website but quite another turning them into customers. Suzanne Taylor offers some quick tips aimed at increasing those all-important conversion rates.

Improving your bounce rates…Jump to it!

More advice on making your website more sticky!

The case of SEO ‘Boondoggle’ – Leapfrogg’s view

Search guru Jill Whalen wrote a thought provoking article earlier in the year debunking many of the SEO myths that agencies and individuals, in the worse cases, hoodwink their clients into believing are more important than perhaps they actually are. Claire Mason gives her view.

Logical URL structure that benefits users and search engines

The structure of your website sets the foundations for how search engines spider and index your content, and also the ease by which visitors navigate the site to reach the point of conversion. A logical site structure is therefore integral to the success of your digital marketing efforts. Suzanne Taylor explains more…

How to optimise your site for Bing

Another big story in 2009 was the release of Bing; Microsoft’s new search engine. Claire Mason investigated whether this new engine required anything different to the traditional methods of optimising a website.

25 things to remember when launching a new website

Mistakes made when launching a new website are all too common and can have some pretty dire consequences. Account Manager, Laurence West, well experienced in these matters provides an extensive checklist of things to consider when taking down your old website and launching a replacement.

Copywriting

How to sell your web copy

Some quick-tips from in-house copywriter Matt Crick on creating great web copy.

Syndicating content without losing authority

Publishing content, such as articles, online is a great way of extending your reach and gaining links. But you want to ensure that you are credited with being the originator of this content. Some tips from Suzanne on how.

How to create and formulate an effective blog schedule

Blogging in undoubtedly an important tool for the vast majority of online marketers. But all too often writers are stuck for ideas. If this is the case, you need to create a blog schedule for those moments where inspiration is not forthcoming. Matt explains how.

Social Media

Social capital, getting among the buzz, and what this all means

A good overview of social media and what it all means from in-house consultant Catherine Pryce.

Video: Social media tools you can start using today, for free!

Earlier this year I delivered a seminar on the beauty of free social media tools. Unbeknown to me the whole thing was recorded!

Twitter – A Quick Start Guide

If they handed out an award for social media tool of the year, Twitter would get it. There has been a huge amount of buzz around it and even I was converted! Some useful tips on how to get started.

Paid Search

Top tips on setting up your Google AdWords campaign for maximum ROI

Advice from Paid Search extraordinaire Amelia Dawson on setting up your Paid Search campaign to ensure maximum ROI.

Top tips on optimising your Paid Search campaign to maximise ROI

Part two of Amelia’s mission to stop you wasting money on Paid Search; this time, how to optimise your campaign on an ongoing basis.

How the Yahoo-Microsoft deal will affect SME paid search campaigns

Another major news story in 2009 was the Yahoo – Microsoft deal. Amelia went straight to work investigating what this means for those currently advertising across both networks.

Paid Search; bidding on competitors brand terms…the why’s and wherefores

Just because Google now allows you to bid on competitor brand names, it doesn’t mean you should! Amelia explains the pros and con’s.

That just leaves me to thank our team for some useful and insightful articles over the course of 2009 and to you, our readers, for tuning in. Expect the Froggblog to continue evolving next year, especially in light of a new niche offering we will be announcing during the early part of 2010.

Merry Xmas and a prosperous New Year!

Paid Search; bidding on competitors brand terms…the why’s and wherefores

Posted on by Amelia Pratt

In running Paid Search campaigns for our clients a frequent question we receive is whether a) they can bid on their competitors brand terms and b) whether they should.

Back in June 09, Google announced a major change to its trademark policy which meant that keywords (in a search query) could not be protected by a trademark.  This effectively allowed competitors to begin bidding on previously trademarked keywords without causing an investigation by Google (and subsequently being removed).

Whilst you can now bid on trademarked terms you are still not allowed to use trademarked terms in advert copy unless you have authorisation from the trademark owner.

So, yes it is not “illegal” to bid on your competitor’s terms.  Your ads will not be taken down by Google as long as your adverts are clearly marketing your own business and not impersonating the brand you are bidding on.

Now, let’s analyse the “should”…

As I always tell my clients, the choice of bidding on your competitors brand terms depends on the goals and strategy of your business.  Yes, bidding on competitors brand terms will increase your brand visibility and drive quality leads that may not have found you previously, but I would ask you to consider the possible negative effects:

1. As you would be bidding on another company’s brand term, your website would have a very low relevancy to that search query.  Google would therefore penalise you with a low quality score, meaning that your first page minimum bids would be very high.  This would not be cheap traffic, and will negatively affect the quality score of your overall campaign.

2. If you begin bidding on a competitors brand term, it would be a natural reaction for them to start bidding on your brand term.  You need to think about the potential reduction in visitors and conversions this may have where you are listed in the natural listings for your brand term.

3. If competitors begin to bid on your brand term you will need to (if you have not already) start bidding on your own brand term to ensure that you are protecting your brand, and losing as little traffic as possible to your competitors advert.  This may mean that additional budget would need to be allocated to paid search.

If your business can a) stomach the high/increased costs and b) take a hit on your natural traffic, then bidding on your competitor’s terms may be highly effective for you.

Whatever your paid search strategy, I would always recommend testing each and every element of it.  Therefore if you choose to begin bidding on your competitors brand terms I would recommend that you test it for a month and then analyse performance.

Key points to remember are:

1. Don’t be disconcerted by small traffic volumes from competitors brand terms.  The traffic volumes are not going to be incredibly high (and the bounce rates most probably quite high) because people are looking for a specific brand/company and not necessarily wanting to be distracted by another company.

2. TURN OFF KEYWORD INSERTION for any ad groups that contain competitors brand terms.  If you use keyword insertion in your ad titles, the competitor’s term will come up in your advert which can get you in trouble for impersonating the brand and/or trying to falsely lead traffic to your site on the assumption you are another company.  Google sees this as both a poor user experience and an infringement on trademark laws.  This is very important – don’t overlook this otherwise you will have their lawyers on the phone!

So, as you can see there is no definitive yes or no answer to whether bidding on competitors brand terms is a good or bad thing.  However, think about the points above and if you choose to begin bidding on competitors terms TEST the results and then analyse the data.

If you have any questions, please leave me a comment below or pop me a direct message on twitter

Improving your bounce rates…Jump to it!

Posted on by admin

What are bounce rates and how do they affect me? I hear you ask…

Well, for starters, Google Analytics defines a bounce as any visit where the visitor arrives on a site and views only one page before they exit. So, in the eyes of a search engine, high bounce rates are a good indicator of a poor site experience or perhaps demonstrate the site’s lack of relevance to the search query entered by the user. Therefore, this means that bounce rates could be a significant factor affecting search engine rankings.

So, the relevance of bounce rates to you, as a site owner, is that not only will high bounce rates potentially reduce your rankings, but it also means you’re losing out on conversions.

But where can I find out how bouncy my site is? (Unfortunately not a particularly technical term but I like it)

You can take a look at bounce rates for specific pages on your site via its Google Analytics account. When investigating bounce rates on your site, keep in mind that in Internet terms, 50% is a moderate bounce rate so a page with a bounce rate below this is good news.

However, if you find that your pages have bounce rates higher than the 50% bench mark then you may wish to take some action to encourage visitors to move past the entry page and peruse the site further.

But how do I improve my bounce rates?

Hey presto! You’re in luck…below I have compiled some points you should consider in order to improve your page bounce rates and ultimately increase rankings and conversions. So sit up straight and pay attention…pens at the ready? Let’s go…

Navigation and Layout

  • Is the navigation and page layout consistent with the rest of the site?
  • Are there links to related pages (or products on an e-commerce site) to encourage navigation through the site?
  • Is the key information positioned above the fold of the page? A gripping image as an eye catcher and a short teaser paragraph are also key for encouraging visitors to stay on the site / convert for you.
  • Is there a sufficient amount of white space? Are there too many distractions putting the visitor off completing a conversion?

Copy

  • Think about the layout of your copy…Is the text broken up? Do you use bullet points? Have you bolded out important words? Think about making your copy as easy to read as possible for visitors.
  • Does the page include visible calls to action encouraging visitors to take a particular action? It is especially important that these appear above the fold of the page.
  • Are titles within your page copy bold and clear at the top of the page so the visitor can clearly see what the page is about?
  • Is there a sufficient amount of optimised content on the page to engage visitors? We usually recommend approximately 150 – 200 words per page. Remember to include relevant keywords in your copy.
  • Is the font a reasonable size making your content easier to read?

General

  • Are your contact details visible on every page in case the visitor has a question regarding your services or products? Can visitors tell how to contact you?
  • Do you provide good quality, high resolution images?
  • Does the site offer a search function in case the visitor cannot find what they are looking for on the landing page?

Points to consider for an e-commerce product page

  • Can visitors tell what to click on to place an order? Is there a “Buy now” button available above the fold of the page?
  • Can visitors find price information on the product?
  • Is there a sufficient description of the product / service on offer?

When considering your bounce rates please be aware that although the lower the bounce rate the better, this does not account for visitors who may be finding your site and contacting you straight away. These visitors may still be enquiring however as they do not navigate through your site, they will also be classed as a bouncing visitor.

All in all, anything which improves the usability of your website will have a positive knock on effect on your bounce rates and will likely increase conversions. Implementing any of the recommendations above is a quick, simple and effective way of improving bounce rates on your site, so what are you waiting for? Jump to it!

A sea of communication: will you ride the wave?

Posted on by admin

I was looking to find out more about Google Wave and was searching for a nice, easy article to read quickly to get me up to speed. Sadly one didn’t exist as it seemed (at the time of searching) that the only people talking about Wave are developers and techies who are so excited by the robots, codes and gadgets, that they talk in different language (I like to call this Googlic!).

So, I took the time to watch the entire (one hour and twenty minutes long) video about Google Wave and decipher the terminology (actually Ben Parr did the translation for me in his blog here) so I can write an easy post for everyone else who just fancies knowing what all this Wave business is about.

Let me start by explaining exactly what Google Wave is: Google Wave is a real-time communication platform. But it’s not Twitter or Instant Messenger – it’s much, much more.

Above is Google Wave. Those little images will be your contacts (think Instant Messenger). However, there is a difference – Google Wave can pretty much do everything that email, twitter and Messenger can do, in one go. And it can do more. And it can do all this bigger, faster and better!

So, you want to talk to a contact. You can click and speak with one or multiple contacts simultaneously and it is in real time. That means as you type, they see it. Forget the little “jimmy is typing” message or the speech bubble icon. Forget reading your message over and over. It’s instant! So my first question was spelling. How can you spell check if it is instant?

Say hello to one of Google Waves numerous little friends. This one is called Spellee. Say hello Spellee…

Not only does Spellee spell check as you go and make helpful suggestions, but Spellee is such a confident little fella that he changes words for you as you type, taking in consideration context and tense. Clever little Spellee!

Right, what else? You can embed Waves on any website or blog if you want. Just click on Bloggee (naturally).

Any information, document or conversation can be edited by anyone else or more than one person at the same time. Think of how this could improve client communications? For example, if a client wants to amend a list of recommended search terms for their Paid Search campaign, they can go in and we can watch these changes as they happen (although Wave helpfully highlights all the changes for you and lets you know who changed what too) – they or we can make comments on the document and on their edits (of course we can hide all of this at the click of a button too).

If you join a conversation or want to see a segment again, then you can replay any part of a Google Wave.

Now, the bane of my life is attachments. At Leapfrogg we attach documents as links because that way we can keep abreast of any changes and ensure the correct version is being updated, but imagine a world without attachments? Yep, forget attaching for a moment – with Wave you just drag and drop. Drag and drop. Anything too – pictures, videos, documents, AND with linkee (another of Waves cutely named friends) you can just drag a link in. Forget all that Ctrl/C rubbish. Excellent – AND everytime the document is updated – Wave will notify you!

Another cool little mate of Waves is Mappee. You can write, for example ‘The Tin Drum in Brighton’, highlight it, click the maps icon and everyone in the Wave will receive that map. And it’s the same with search – just highlight and click on the search icon.

There are lots of smart little additions to this newfangled and frankly genius communication platform. For example, have you got any clients who don’t speak English? No, why not? Ah yes, because they don’t speak English…well, that doesn’t need to be a problem anymore. Although they didn’t name this one on the Google Wave video I think we are safe to assume it will be called Translatee. With Translatee you can type in English and Wave will translate it for you into any desired language and it does this instantly while you type. It basically gives you subtitles! Genius!

And yes – before you ask, of course you can have your Twitter and Facebook accounts, and update that on Wave too. I literally can’t think of anything it can’t do besides give you a hug when you’re sad and it probably won’t be long before it can do that too.

Essentially what this means is that I will be able to speak with people all over the world in real time, share information and work on things together. I could simultaneously edit a blog post with a client from Spain, speaking to them in Spanish directly on the blog itself. Three colleagues and I could edit the same document at the same time while talking to each other about the changes we are making as we are making them. The possibilities are endless…

Another cute little addition is that you can click on a poll and invite people to work together with you (or you can work on your own) to create a poll. Then, once you have sent it to contact, Wave will update your results directly into a chosen format.

Google Wave will work as fast as you can think. It will make communicating online easier and more effective, and if everyone does get it, could rid the world of boring, slow emails. It also means all client conversations could be available to everyone in your company, or select people working on a campaign – gone are the days you have to copy and paste email correspondence into a client’s record. In fact, Wave could create a client record and have correspondence to that contact automatically saved in that folder before dashing to the kitchen to make your tall skinny latte.

Ok – the coffee bit isn’t true, but Google Wave seems pretty darn cool to me. Just can’t wait to see it in action now! I have requested an invitation and we shall see if it really is as good as it seems. Watch this space!

Now’s the time to give the Content Network another chance!

Posted on by Amelia Pratt

Before I start, a quick refresher on what the content network actually is.  Google’s official definition is:

“The Google content network comprises hundreds of thousands of high-quality websites, news pages and blogs that partner with Google to display targeted AdWords ads.”

“The Google content network reaches over 75% of unique Internet users in more than 20 languages and over 100 countries.”

The content network has, for years, had a really bad reputation.  The fact that Google defaults the content network as “enabled” for all new campaigns has not helped!  The lack of visibility of data and low quality traffic lead to many unsuccessful campaigns that could not be optimised.  People lost confidence with the content network, turned it off and forgot about it!

However, I would strongly recommend all you non-believers give it a second chance.  The advent of the placement performance report and the site exclusion tool now means that we have full data on the sites ads appear on, and the ability to exclude any that are poor performing.  You can also use different ad copy variations than the standard Text Ad.  You can use image and flash ads in a variety of formats (full details here) which will significantly increase the click through rates (CTRs) and performance of your campaign).

There are two main types of content targeted campaigns: keyword targeted and placement targeted.

Keyword targeted content campaigns are similar to regular search campaigns, in that Google will use your search terms to guide when your ads are shown.  Google will scan its partner sites for relevant content to the keywords in the campaign, and show ads on those sites that it deems is relevant.  Keyword targeted content campaigns are great for building brand awareness and advertising to prospects before they are actually searching for you.

A placement targeted campaign is very different as you can specifically choose the sites that you want your ads to appear on.

Placement (site) targeted content campaigns give us a completely new way of reaching a target audience.  Instead of waiting for relevant traffic to search for your service (search campaigns), or read relevant content (keyword targeted content campaigns), you can target your chosen demographic before they even know they need you!  For example, if your company’s main demographic were men, aged 18-31, earning over £17,000 you could use the Google Ad Planner tool (beta) to find where this audience spends their time online, and then serve them advertising.  With this form of advertising you would have lower CTRs, but would be opening up your brand to the correct target audience.

Here at Leapfrogg, our clients’ campaigns have had great success using the content network.  In many cases we find that content targeted campaigns have a lower cost per acquisition (CPA) than search.  The traffic volumes are, however, significantly lower.

So, you are excited aren’t you…yep, I thought so!  Here’s what you need to do to launch a content targeted campaign.

1. Choose what kind of campaign you want to run: Keyword or Site Targeted.

2. If Keyword targeted:

  • Choose your keywords
  • Categorise them into tightly themed ad groups
  • Write descriptive, incentivised, high impact ad copy
  • If possible create/upload images ads based on the formats and guidelines above

If Placement targeted:

  • Go to the Google Ad Planner Tool, select your chosen demographic, add any other criteria (including     country, language etc)
  • N.B Make Sure that in “Ad Items” that Site Characteristics only has a tick against “In Google Content Network”.  As you are only using it as part of an AdWords campaign.
  • You will then have a list of sites to sift through.  All those that you are happy with, add them to your media plan (an easy way to export it)
  • Write descriptive, incentivised, high impact ad copy
  • If possible create/upload images ads based on the formats and guidelines above

3. Make sure you create new campaigns and don’t add them into existing search campaigns.  The main reason for this is that in Google Analytics you cannot differentiate between search and content traffic.  Instead it is best to create separate search and content campaigns to gain maximum data to optimise the campaign.

So, there you go…give it a try! And, as always any questions or queries, please feel free to message me on Twitter.

All good things come in threes; search, social media and content is another

Posted on by Ben Potter

I explained in a recent post that just three simple words should be at the heart of your online marketing strategy; acquisition, conversion and retention. Focusing on these three key stages of the customer lifecycle ensures your attention (misplaced obsession for some) moves well beyond that number one ranking on Google to instead building a much more holistic understanding of your prospects, what it takes to turn them into customers (conversion) and vitally how to keep them (retention).

My theme of three’s continues with this follow up post. I’ll explain why, beginning with a bit of background…

Search marketing has certainly changed since I started out in the industry over six years ago. The work of a search marketer in 2003 focused mainly on optimising the website (think the basics of SEO; keywords, Meta tags, etc), a touch of link building (usually reciprocal-everybody liked to swap links in those days!) and perhaps the odd article or press release. But the demands on a search marketer these days are far greater. Why? Well, the consumption of online media has changed significantly in recent times. We spend more time online than ever before and spend that time in new ways. We create; we share; we talk; we watch; we recommend; we research; we meet new people; we look for advice and we network, amongst other things. And we don’t just do it at a computer. Mobile phones are almost unrecognisable from the bricks we used to walk around with and offer access to a whole range of Internet based services.

All of this activity means that your target audience are spread over a much wider area; they no longer simply rely on search engines to find information. So as marketers you have to do many more things to reach the same number of people. This makes a straightforward (‘2003 style’) search engine optimisation campaign virtually obsolete. In my view, it must now include two key components to accompany ‘traditional’ search activity; social media and content. Before we go into the detail, let’s look at a very simple example to highlight why search marketing, social media and content cannot operate in isolation of one another:

1. A piece of video content can be used to engage your audience when placed prominently on your website.  Examples might include interviews with employees or product demonstrations.  Video has grown in popularity exponentially as broadband has spread across the UK, smart phones allow easy access to it and the costs to create even professional video content have come down in price significantly. Many businesses now create it at virtually no cost at all with very good results.

2. To extend the reach of this video it can placed on social networking sites, such as YouTube and Vimeo. These networks are where users can create, upload and share their content with others. Placing video on sites like YouTube allows you to extend the reach of your content to an audience that may not have otherwise seen it.

3. Because today’s search engine results are a blend of images, videos, maps, news and local listings, there is a very good chance that, if properly optimised, the video will appear on the search engine results page (SERP) for relevant search queries. In Google’s case, the bringing together of content in various formats in one page of search results is called Universal Search.

It is worth bearing in mind that virtually any content created by you or your prospects/customers, in almost any format, has the potential to be picked up and found in search engine listings. If you search for ‘Leapfrogg’ on Google you will notice press releases, social networking profiles, such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Flickr, as well as directory listings all featuring in the search results. Some of this content we control, some of it we don’t. For many larger brands this lack of control has proved a major headache as bloggers and reviewers say both good and bad things about their experiences with the particular products or services sold by that brand. A few years ago such comments might be exposed to a few friends down the pub; these days they might be seen by hundreds or thousands of Internet users.

With the somewhat simple example above I find it impossible to consider how search, social media and content can operate in isolation of one another. Entering social networks, for example, is dictated by the content you choose to create and share, whether that is a short comment or a well produced piece of video. And the success of your social media efforts will be dictated by the quality of this content. Therefore, there has never been so much demand on search marketers to create content in a range of formats that is interesting, unique and highly engaging. Content that meets such criteria is how you differentiate yourself in an increasingly competitive online space. Regular articles, white papers, slideshows, podcasts and videos are just a few ways in which greater value can be added to your website enhancing the experience of the prospects and customers paying you a visit. And regular, good quality content added to your website will earn you brownie points with search engines; they like nothing more. This blog post, for example, will be picked up within a couple of hours by Google.

This is all great I hear you say but where do you start in understanding the target audience and the content you should create to engage them? A successful, integrated strategy involves research aimed at establishing where and how your target audience spend their time online. Remember they are not just on search engines so you need to go and find them; what sites do the frequent, what are they saying, what are they demanding, what issues do they have and so on. In addition to that, you need to understand who the influencers are in your space. These will include bloggers, reviewers, journalists and so on; the sort of people who influence the thoughts and opinions of the people you are looking to sell to. It is important you look to engage with these influencers but you are only likely to capture their attention if you have something pretty compelling to offer. A great bit of content might do the trick! At this point it comes full circle; if a blogger, for example writes a positive review about one of your products there is every chance they will also link to you. Search engines like links; they really like them.

In conclusion, search, social media and content are intrinsically linked; no doubt about it. Therefore, they need to form part of a well planned and implemented online strategy. This once again calls into question the validity of services offered by so called SEO professionals (snake oli salesman as they have become to be known) offering guaranteed positioning on search engines and so on. Search engine algorithms look well beyond basic optimisation efforts these days when ranking web pages. This demands a more sophisticated strategy that firstly seeks to understand your target audience and their behaviours, enabling you to be highly focused in the content you create to engage them and the sites you market that content across. And only by creating great content, which is properly optimised, will you satisfy search engines hungry for content in various digital formats.

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25 things to remember when launching a new website

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As an Account Manager I regularly oversee website optimisation projects that involve the launch of a new website. In working in partnership with a client, and their developer on a new website project, we have the opportunity to optimise the site from the ground up, which presents significant benefits when compared to optimising an existing website that may have prevalent issues that are difficult to overcome.

One major factor to consider when launching a new site relates to the URLs because more often than not they will change according to a new language, platform or content management system (CMS). Changing URLs without proper planning and implementation of redirects can have serious, negative consequences.

We have worked with numerous clients and seamlessly implemented a redirect strategy after which their traffic and conversion rates continue to rise month on month (with a little help from ongoing digital marketing activity!). However, we have also worked with clients who have completely ignored our recommendations. The worst was one who refused to implement 301 redirects, despite our pleading, and we could only watch as their site lost 90% of its traffic overnight. Nightmate stuff!

We find that with our clients, mostly SME’s, creating a new site is a huge undertaking and investment in terms of time, money and resource, not to mention a stressful and daunting project as there are so many aspects to consider. This is also without the inherent risks of working with external agencies, each of which comes with its own set of concerns.

Often, the excitement of launching a new site takes precedent over a few vitally important steps to work through in ensuring the smooth transition from old site to new. It is here where an experienced pair of hands prove useful. So if you have a new site launch in the pipeline, I have created a set of guidelines to cover the most basic points to remember, useful for clients and Account Managers alike:

Before Launch

  • Be aware that you may see fluctuations with rankings and traffic for a few days, perhaps weeks, following the change. As an Account Manager it is important to manage expectations
  • Run a ‘site:’ search on Google before the launch and note down how many URLs are indexed
  • Ensure webmaster tools and analytics codes are on the new site prior to launch
  • Get redirect information and mappings from the web develop and check through this
  • Keep a record of all key page URLs, if not all URLs
  • Carry out a full audit of the site to ensure everything is present and correct

At Launch

  • Test key URLs in search engine listings and ensure they correctly redirect to the new corresponding page
  • Use a redirect checker to ensure correct redirects have been used, normally 301 for the permanent move of page from one URL to another
  • Check again that webmaster tools, analytics, PPC conversion code and any other tracking code is present on the new site and working
  • Ensure that ecommerce tracking is working if you have this set up
  • Check webmaster tools for errors
  • Run a ‘site:’ search a day after the launch and compare the number of URLs with those recorded before the launch, exploring any discrepancies. If needed continue to do this periodically after the launch until everything has returned to normal. If there are discrepancies it is worth checking that links at all levels (category, sub category, product, news items, testimonials and other info pages etc.) have been redirected and resolved to the new URL
  • By running through the ‘site:’ search check for odd looking URLs that do not appear within the site structure and explore why these are present and what to do with them
  • Ensure duplicate versions of the site or pages do not exist:
    o Does the site resolve with and without the ‘www’.? It should only be visible one one or ther other
    o Does the homepage have multiple versions using /default, /home, /index, etc?. Again, your homepage, and all pages in fact, should have one, definitive URL and not be found on duplicates
    o Do breadcrumb trail links match the navigation links?
    o Does the homepage link in the navigation match the homepage URL?
    o Has the XML sitemap used the same URLs as the navigation?
    o Does the site resolve on both http and https, another common error we see regularly
  • Update the default homepage in analytics if necessary
  • Ensure that goals URLs within analytics have been updated and if necessary edited or expanded. If Goals have changed update them within any templates e.g. stats or other reports
  • Ensure all PPC URLs have been updated
  • Ensure the PPC campaign has been expanded to match any new developments, such as added products
  • Ensure PPC auto tagging is still working
  • Ensure the XML sitemap has been updated
  • If you have not checked this at the start of the project ensure that all necessary IP addresses or ranges have been blocked
  • Check to see if URLs need to be updated within a local listing and that the local listing resolves correctly

Post Launch

  • Check webmaster tools for errors
  • Carefully watch overall traffic and particularly natural search engine traffic for the next couple of weeks
  • Take a record of the new URLs beside the ones

This is a basic list of some of the checks that should be made when launching a site, however each project will present individual challenges and should be dealt with on an individual basis.

I hope this has been useful. Remember ’301 redirects are your friend’ and a vital component in migrating an old site to a new one. But checking the redirects have worked correctly is hugely important, as well as the various other checks outlined above. Do not ruin the excitement of launching a new site with a mammoth drop in traffic because the redirects failed.

Google Squared – is it any good?

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Since its launch last week, Google’s new search tool Google Squared has received mixed reviews. If you’ve still not got round to trying it out, Google’s new plaything takes a user’s search query and presents results in tabular form, very similar to a spreadsheet. This allows for the collaboration and comparison of varying aspects of your search results. Goodness, sounds confusing doesn’t it?! Why not take a look at the screenshots below to help iron things out…

I decided to do a search for “hotel brighton uk” and Google Squared presented me with the following results:

So, as you can see, a search for “hotel brighton uk” returns a range of columns including a list of hotels in Brighton by name, an image, a description, address, ambiance as well as a column for amenities. I guess Google thought these were the most relevant aspects in which to break the results down into. I’m surprised by Google’s choice of column characteristics; there’s a column for “ambiance” but no column for price or contact telephone numbers (but I guess this is why the tool is still in beta!).

However, there is the option for the user to create additional columns to house extra information about each listing. So, for this example I decided to add a column to provide me with contact phone numbers for each listing:

One interesting thing I noticed when the phone numbers appeared was that for the Royal Albion Hotel the phone number is a third party number from an external website selling room availability in the hotel. So it seems Google decided to display this number rather than the number supplied in the hotel’s local business listing on Google. Does this mean Local Business Listings are not treated with great importance by Google itself?! It’s certainly food for thought…and maybe a completely separate discussion for another blog post!

I also noticed that if Google cannot locate an image for the hotel another image is displayed. For example, an image could not be found for Grand Hotel so an image of Brighton beach has been displayed…close enough? Not quite. But I guess this is why Google Squared is still in Beta…there are a lot of creases to iron out! Another being that if I add a further column for price or room tariff the results are in no way accurate! Apparently a room in Drakes hotel will only set me back $9.99…bargain, I’ll take it! It seems there’s work that needs to be done on Google’s ability to understand and compile required information when a user adds their own column to the grid.

Ultimately, sites can help Google with its difficulties in compiling relevant, useful information by making the content on their sites easily accessible to Google spiders so it can be deemed useful and relevant for this tool. Sites can also ensure their images are properly optimised so Google can easily identify those images most appropriate to search queries and results.

I reckon Google Squared has great potential to become a really useful tool with which to compare a range of features with regards to a particular search query. Let’s just hope the folks at Google continue to fine tune it so users can be confident the results they view are accurate!

I’d be interested to hear of other people’s experiences with Google Squared; are there any particular searches which have provided accurate results? Do you think you would use it as a comparison tool once it has been polished up by Google? Answers on a postcard please…or save on stamps and post your comments below ;)