Google’s social rival, the massively popular micro blogging site Twitter, are on the forefront of the accusing camp. After the new search algorithm was launched by Google, Twitter accused Google of trying to drive traffic to their social network by manipulating search results. A Twitter representative made the following statement: “For years, people have relied on Google to deliver the most relevant results any time they wanted to find something on the internet. As we’ve seen time and time again, news breaks first on Twitter, as a result, Twitter accounts and tweets are often the most relevant results. We’re concerned that as a result of Google’s changes, finding this information will be much harder for everyone. We think that’s bad for people, publishers, news organisations and Twitter users”.

Personally, I think Twitter has a point. Twitter has had a massive social impact over the last few years (the “Twitter Revolutions” for example) and breaking news can often be found first on Twitter. If results from Twitter (or any other site for that matter) is the most relevant, the information should be available first in Google search results. This also ties in with the aforementioned Search Engine Optimisation. If you have to compete with only slightly relevant data from Google itself, you’re in for a losing battle. One option is to embrace the change from a social marketing perspective. But is this really best for the user?

In conclusion, it seems that many are worried that relevant results get pushed down in favour of Google + content. Fundamentally, relevancy is what it all boils down to. Google might not be in the wrong here, they are certainly entitled to promote their social network, but they should not compromise the quality of their search results in the process.

Twitter/Facebook - image credit - www.cbsnews.com

Having all the Personalised content from Google Plus mentioned above weaved into search result pages might not be welcomed by everyone. And at first glance it might seem to completely change the way we approach SEO. A lot of us in the field of Search Engine Optimization have been preparing for the day that search gets social. The option to switch between Global and Personalized results however, came as a surprise. Users can choose whether or not they want to use personalised search. This essentially means that current SEO practices still play the same role as always.

One cannot, however, predict the changes Google will make in the future, and tapping into the SEO potential of Personalised Search will play an increasingly important role in a Search Marketing campaign. Google might require us to be logged in at all times to use any of its features, including search. Even if this happens, I believe traditional SEO will remain alive and well. In its core, SEO is about optimization for the user, to optimize websites in order to facilitate and improve the search experience. This will always remain relevant.

• Google Friend Connect – gave web masters the ability to add social features to their sites by embedding a few lines of code. The feature will be retired as of 1^st March 2012 for non-blogger sites. Affected sites have been encouraged to create a Google+ page, and add a Google+ badge to their site so they can keep in touch with their community of followers via their page.

• Google Gears – browser extension allowed creation of offline web applications. As part of efforts to help incorporate offline capabilities into HTML5, as of 1^st December 2011, Gears based Gmail and Calendar offline will no longer work and later in December Gears will no longer be available for download. Gmail, Calendar and Docs can instead be accessed offline in Chrome.

• Google Wave – a product that helps users communicate and collaborate on the web. Development on Google Wave was stopped over a year ago, but as of 31^st January 2012 Wave will become read-only and no new “Waves” will be created. On 30^th April 2012 Wave will be turned off completely. Individual Waves can still be exported until the feature is turned off, but there are still open-source projects such as Apache Wave and Walkaround which offer equal functionality.

• Knol – aimed to improve web content by allowing experts to collaborate on in-depth articles (similar to Wikipedia). Annotum, “an open-source scholarly authoring and publishing platform based on WordPress” [1], has been created in order to continue the work of Knol – which will no longer be available as of 1^st October 2012.

These are just a few of the products Google will be scrapping, their aim: “to build a simpler, more intuitive, truly beautiful Google user experience”[1], which, in turn, will benefit not only users but advertisers as well.

To find out how we can help your site to rank better on Google, take a look at our Search Engine Optimization page

References:

1. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/more-spring-cleaning-out-of-season.html

The Next Step: Online Marketing

Blind Designs realised in 2009 that launching an online marketing strategy could have a magnificent impact on their business. They approached SAbest and we launched their Google Adwords (Pay per Click) Campaign in February 2009. Just 7 days after launching their campaigns, they had 192 visits and 20% of the visits were from Google Adwords and 6.67% from non-paid adverts. 72% were new clients visiting their website through Google.

We initially started only with Pay per Click advertising, but after a successful year of Pay per Click campaigns and remarkable return on investment, Blind Designs launched search engine optimisation on their website in conjunction with their Adwords campaign.

We started their search engine optimisation in February 2009. Within 8 months of optimisation, we managed to get them to the top listing on the first page of organic searches when searching their most competitive keyword: Blinds.
SEO especially, builds complete brand trust and awareness, as people perceive companies that rank on the first page of searches as the market leaders and the most trusted in the industry.
This meant optimum visibility online in all searches.

The Proof Is In The Pudding:

You will notice in the block below the difference in visits from 2009 when they started with Pay per Click right through to 2011 when they also added search engine optimisation to their online marketing plan. This also shows the impact the two products combined have on each other, and on customer trust and brand association.

Visits
Campaigns

PPC:Feb 2009 – Feb 2010: +20%
SEO:Feb 2009 – Feb 2010: +6.67%

PPC: Feb 2010 – Feb 2011: +20.58%
SEO: Feb 2010 – Feb 2011: +21.88%

PPC: Feb 2011 – Aug 2011: 24.37%
SEO: Feb 2011 – Aug 2011: 24.73%

This clearly states the value of doing Pay per Click and Search engine optimisation together. The performance of various keywords, and their conversion rates are closely monitored and adjusted according to the results achieved.
Focused landing pages were created for the Pay per Click campaigns, ensuring higher conversion rates as the captive audience got the information they were looking for immediately, with substantial call to action areas. Their average conversion rates from Feb 2011 – Aug 2011 was 12.07%. Other advertising campaigns expect an average of 1% conversion – and the trackability is minimal.

The Future Of Blind Designs:

Due to their online visibility, Blind Designs maintained a steady growth of 5% annually, even through the recession period.
The brand has become trusted as word of mouth is backed up by online presence – and will always be viewed as one of the market leaders for blinds in South Africa.
One last word from Paul O’ Brien is that Google Adwords should form part of every company’s strategy to some agree.

Two prevalent methods have given you the tools to do just that – get yourself known.

The first of these is similar to an online banner marketing campaign, except you can splash your adverts across many websites at the same time.  This we call Google Display Networks (GDN), and the adverts run across all the sites that have opened themselves up to this kind of marketing.  The beauty of GDN is that it creates awareness before people necessarily know about you and actively go looking for you or your products.

Furthermore, Google almost ‘tracks’ the user’s general application of the web, so if they are on certain websites often, and your advert is relevant to them, it will show to them when they go to other sites.  Kind of eerie, but from a marketing point of view phenomenal!

Having had said that, Display Network allows for a lot of awareness and positioning, but not necessarily a conversion to a sale or direct response.  People often see something, and then go in search of it later, which is why the second method is absolutely vital, we believe.

This second method is Search Engine Marketing.  This is also the most effective way of advertising online, as you have a captive audience that are ready to engage and interact with you.  The quickest way to get your product, brand or service ‘out there’ on Search Engine Marketing is by making use of Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising as it is immediate and guaranteed when managed correctly.  Besides this, Pay Per Click is flexible and can be changed and optimized real-time.

That said, however, to have a complete online visibility and presence, and to ‘dominate’ search engines cost effectively in the long run, is by optimizing your website and website content in such a way that your brand will be on the top of all major search engine listings.  This is called Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).  Search Engine Optimisation is done over a period of time, and thus does not necessarily yield immediate success, but in the long run is the most cost effective way to market yourself online.

Our advice, then, would be to start with GDN en PPC, get results and increase the proverbial bottom line, and then proceed to SEO – and eventual online success!

Gone are the days of waiting patiently for a letter in the post, of standing in line to see if you got some form of communication from a far away friend or relative, and then cherishing every second and every word the letter contained.  In fact, gone are the days of even reading every word in every letter.

What does this mean to us corporates wanting to impart valuable educational information to our clients?  How does this affect our marketing strategies and capture the attention of our potential clients?

We need to innovatively adapt. We need to look at avenues where customers choose to interact with us, rather than the other way round.  We need to impart product knowledge, educate and sell, rather, to the customer while they are either in need of it, or actively looking at acquiring it – where they are most amenable to receiving the information and acting on it.

Where is this, you ask?

The internet.
It has become the single, biggest source of information, education and product listings and guidelines – not only for this next emerging generation, but for everyone.  Lugging the Britannica encyclopedia series or sets of catalogues of all your favourite (and new) products along with you, now means carrying a laptop with 3G access, and most probably utilizing search engines.  In fact, with the emerging market of smartphones, accessing the internet has become even less than all of that already.
Looking at this trend, it would be of utmost importance then, to ensure that you have a website – and more importantly, to have it visible.

While everyone is uncluttering and wading through oceans of information, take the lead by streamlining and honing in your advertising and marketing.  It will probably be the best time spent on business strategy ever!

The New York Fashion Week kicks off this month and all the designers and the press are going online to reach viral audiences and they are planning to reach a larger amount of people than those present at the show. Most of the brands will make use of their Facebook pages to unveil their Spring/Summer 2012 collections and videos will also be uploaded onto Youtube. They plan to take snapshots live from the show and post that on their social platforms. Not missing out on the biggest Brand’s Spring/Summer 2012 collection ever, is becoming easier by the minute, and the strategy behind it is of great value to everyone planning their own events strategies.

So let’s have a look at some tips and hints on planning an online event. It is important to focus on your audience. Firstly, you need to capture and keep their attention. Your audience has the power to log-off, get side-tracked, lose interest, or evens get up and walk away. There must be a strong reason for them to stay connected. For this reason, a virtual event will be much shorter than a live event.

Secondly,, you need to look at a technical supplier. They need to help you with hosting and your presentation. They would also need to ensure that your website is running fast and that your presentation is seamless when you present it online. Lastly, make use of your social portals to communicate with your audience in advance. Tell them about your online event, do a build up to the day, link all your social portals, keep them interested, excited and informed; and then, make a video of the event and post it on Youtube when your event is over – giving them the opportunity to experience the event with you.

Virtual events are growing fast, try to make it part of your strategy.

Isn’t that a scary thought?

Today, statistics show that only 20% of marketing and advertising still works in its traditional format.
The market is becoming saturated with similar products, services and solutions.  Our challenge today is no longer just being the most innovative producer, but the most innovative marketer in getting our products to the fingertips of the consumer seeking it, and almost more so, making the person who is yet unaware of it, feel that they need it.  You have to be able to get into your customers’ heads before you can get into their pockets.

How, you ask?
Well, the first few things to be cognizant of, is that people are drowning in the sheer volume of messaging out there, as well as the amount of media formats and choices of media formats in which they receive the messaging. Even products previously perceived as luxuries, today, have become commodities.  Most marketing messages will not stick out above others…
So how do you establish your product as trusted and known, a brand that stands out from the rest , a brand people want to associate with?

We say “It’s simple”:  You can achieve these goals by speaking to your captive audience, in their language, and at their time…  Your message will now not only be well received, but also processed well, and you are able to create the initiation of a trusted relationship between your customer and your brand.

You say “Problem”  With all the different ways to communicate at this time, how do I do that?
We have looked at, and found, one large common denominator in when this perfect time is to interact – and that is online, and specifically while people are searching for products or services like yours.

In South Africa alone, online sales broke the R2bn mark in 2010, with a predicted increase of 40% in 2011.  And this does not include the amount of sales done physically or telephonically relating to or following an online interaction.

And what is more, is that it is all tracked and measured – from the moment someone clicks on your advert, right through to them becoming your customer.  The flexibility of online also means that you can fine-tune your campaigns real-time, ensuring optimum results.

The key, thus, is to get people to know about you before learning about your competitors, and this can be successfully obtained by changing your marketing and advertising strategy to include Online Marketing and Search Engine Marketing – and getting more traffic to and interaction on your website.

Make more than 50% of your advertising work…

As soon as you talk to a client about on line marketing the first thing they want to know is whether it will work for them and how successful will it be. Then the next question is which product will work for them. With online marketing you can see exactly from where your clients came from, you can determine the conversion rate and you can also see the amount of visits for a specific day. You can get traffic to your website from your social media pages and vice versa. If you have a contact us form on your website, you will be able to get all the information of your client, which help you with your client database and to increase your sales. And the best part is you will be visible online. If your website was normally on page 10 or 20, it will be visible as soon as a client searches for your product / service.

Below is a pie craft of how many people make use of search engines. You will notice that 70.95% make use of Google, 14% of Yahoo and 9.70% of Bing (formerly Live Search, Windows Live Search, and MSN Search)

Search Engine Graph

More and more businesses are dedicating more of their budget to Internet marketing campaign than traditional off-line advertising because online marketing is working for them. PPC ads allow companies to pinpoint exactly who they want to advertise to and where their ad is going to appear on the results page. With a Facebook ad you have the potential to reach over 400 million active Facebook users, depending on your industry and the key phrases used. Now you can just image how many potential clients you had missed because you are not visible online.
This week we are going to discus some case studies of companies who decided to get out of their comfort zone and who are using PPC, SEO or SMM. We will see how successful they are and how they has grown from day one using online marketing.

When it comes to Pay Per Click advertising it is imperative to devise a well thought out marketing strategy and carry out extensive product research before actually implementing your campaign. It is important to choose keywords that are directly related to your product or service or else you will generate high traffic volumes with low relevancy. Many PPC agencies out there today will promise you success but I advise you to be wary. When searching for a PPC agency to handle your online marketing it is important that they are a Google Accredited company, meaning that the people who will be marketing your product are qualified to do so. A good PPC agency will discuss your business goals and explain how they plan on helping you reach those goals by devising a relevant marketing strategy.

Now it is all fine and dandy if you have a good PPC agency but what if you find that the results your PPC Adwords Campaigns receive are still unsatisfactory? Well in truth PPC is not a glove that fits all. Before you decide to try Pay per click advertising you should ask yourself these questions:

• Is the product or service something that people will search for online?
• Would I be able to get a good return on my investment?
• I have tried PPC for a while and my costs far outweigh my profit, Is it time to try another avenue such as SEO?

Now if you have selected a good PPC agency, they will be able to advise you on what options are available to you after trying all they can on your PPC campaigns. Remember Pay Per Click Advertising is extremely competitive and if your product or service is still not performing well despite your PPC agency’s best efforts, it will probably be a good idea to try SEO instead. SEO is a longer process and may take anywhere from 3 to 6 months to feature well on Google’s Search Results Page but once you are there it will be beneficial to you as you don’t pay for clicks on the organic listings.

I hope you will take the above into consideration when searching for a PPC agency or when evaluating the results of your current campaigns in relation to the type of service or product you offer.

Happy Marketing!