Category Archives: SEO/SEM

Are your websites optimized for Google’s Universal Search?

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Google is changing the way we all view search.  Back in May, it introduced a “Universal Search” system that  blends listings from its news, video, images, local and book search engines among those it gathers from crawling web pages.

The move potentially should be a huge boon for searchers, while search marketers who have paid attention to the importance of specialized or vertical search will see new opportunities.

But it has now become more imperative to include video, images, news articles and other content that search engines will want to crawl. Because of this search engine marketers are going to now add this to the mix of “things to do” in order to rank well in Google’s SERPS.

Where this is all going is towards a more vertical type of search result. By being more vertical, the result is more targeted.  The end result is a blend of everything in one column, hence better and more relevance.

Because of this change in a more targeted approach to search results, it means that you as a web afficionado, better have more quality content on your site. The better your content, the more of it that which will be pushed up. By better I mean variety as well.

Google’s ultimate vision for universal search is to search across all its content sources, then comapre and rank all the information in real time, and then deliver a single integrated set of precise and personalized search results.

So when designing a page, or a site, as your goal once was to be in the top 3 on the first page, it’s now important to be on the first page. Why? Because you are now competing with images, videos, blogs, and new results in the organic listings. So the more eye catching your graphics are that appear in the results on the first page, the better your chance of being clicked on, even if your not in the top 3. So the more diverse your site is in it’s approach to content, the better your chances.

So how prepared are you?

How wired are you? Let me count the ways.

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Look around, what do you see in your house right now. Cell phone, home computer, ipod, laptop, PDA, wireless router, VOIP, Digital Cable, Digital Camera, DVR…

OK now look around aagain, who’s wired more? You? Your Friends,  Your neighbor, their kids or your kids?

We now live in a world where 5 and 6 year olds  are more computer savvy and accustomed to the computer than adults were 5 and 6 years ago! However, a sad thing is happening in the new digital universe. Actual  parks and playgrounds that adults once enjoyed as children are being replaced by the virtual places like social networking  sites like MySpace and FaceBook. Additionaly text messaging, instant messenging,  video-music swapping sites and gaming have supplanted the outside world for the inside world.

So the questions is to many parents and educators puzzled by the social habits of this young and wired generation, do you go along? or do you stand on the sideline and worry and fret about how their child is going to turn out?

According to Anastasia Goodstein, author of “Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens are Really Doing Online” and blogger for Ypulse.com, theirs is a virtual space wherein they play games, experiment with self-expression, and socialize with friends.

As an adult, you can do the same. As a parent and an adult, you shouldn’t let technology scare you into  powerlessness, or intimidate you.  There are many social networking sites that speak to your challenges and your niche, believe it or not.  As well, there are many forums and BBS groups that are niche like in nature that can help you get a feel for the online world. Understanding how these groups interact, will help you in understanding the larger networks.

 As an adult you should also try to balance the virtual world with the real world as well. being wired is not a bad thing, but remember there is no substitute for some type of physical activity or actual face to face encounters. Here’s an idea! Self Express face to face.

According to Donna Bogatin  You are too wired if:

YOU PUT A BLUETOOTH HEADSET IN YOUR MOTORCYCLE HELMET

YOUR CELLPHONE IS YOUR MOST IMPORTANT BATHROOM ACCESSORY

YOU PREFER YOUR CELLPHONE OVER TOM CRUISE

YOU BELIEVE YOUR RIGHT TO A CELLPHONE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN A RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL

YOU BELIEVE YOUR RIGHT TO YAK IN PUBLIC IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN PUBLIC SAFETY

YOU LIVE BLOG A HOSPITAL PROCEDURE

YOU SUFFER FROM A WORK-INDUCED TECH ADDICTION

YOU INTERRUPT SEX TO ANSWER YOUR CELLPHONE

So remember, balance the gadgets, or just wait a little longer and all of the gadgets will be on one device.  It sure does make you wonder how anything got done before computers and cell phones. By Balancing now you reduce the chance that you or your kids will lose any type of social people skills that you have cultivated up to this point. When you think about it, Isn’t the social network almost anti-social because it reduces the actual encounter down to your ability to type a coherent message? The coherent message resembling something like this:  C U L8R, GTG. How is that social interaction?  I can see it now, in 10 years our society will consist of text based face to face conversations where no one looks at each other. Hell they may even use their devices to speak for them as they stand next to each other at a function. Social gatherings will  certainly take on new meaning.

Do you think we are too wired for our own good? Do we improve on it? How so?

5 Social Media Marketing Tips You Cannot Ignore

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As social media marketers race to all things social these days, a lot of them go in with blinders on, assuming that they can learn it on the fly. All they see are the massive amount of numbers flocking to MySpace and Facebook and they want a piece of that. But before they jump in here are 5 things they better not ignore as they attempt to slice up the pie.

1) If you think you are going to just bum rush your social network with product before establishing yourself as a “Playa”, you better think again. You will have zero “street cred” if you go in talking about this product, or this company or how great this service is. If you do that from the get-go, you might as well be playing an instrument under water.

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2) Target a niche, not a specific social networking site. One of the most foolish things would be to just assume that you are going just “go to MySpace” and set up shop. With that mindest, you might as well bid on the top spot for the term “mortgage” in Google Adwords. You’ll burn through about $300,000 in one day,you’ll have a ton of clicks and zero conversions. Because you were not targeting the right term, the right people and the right niche. The same holds true for marketing in social networks. Find your people!

3) You better know what you are doing. This applies not only to social networks but all forums in which people have an opportunity to speak to a large group of people. You have to realize that WORDS HAVE POWER if used the wrong way. There is usually some individuals who have more power based on longevity or whatever and you really don’t want to start off on the wrong foot.  Once you have developed a comfort level with the people in the network, and them you, then you can start to pitch a little bit.

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4) Don’t underestimate the power of your profile. Contrary to what some might think, a profile will tell a lot about you, what you do, and how well you do it. When creating the profile, be honest but also be humble. There is nothing worse than reading about how great someone thinks of themselves. But there is nothing wrong with success either, You need to strike a balance. Doing it right, will have people wanting to know more about what you do. It’s another way of promoting yourself with subtle ease.

5) Blog about it. Blog often and blog alot. But make sure that instead of selling, you’re telling. There is nothing more viral than blogs, especially if they are good. An extension of your social network persona, will be your blog. If you take it serious, then your network will realize that you take what you do, serious. Be an expert, but also be someone that your social network can rely on for anything. they will find you through your blog eventually.

If you do these things, along with about a dozen more smaller things, then you can set up your business and  yourself for a happy coexistence in the burgeoning social network marketplace. If you don’t so these, you’ll join the other millions of people with empty profiles and blogs with 2 posts in 2 years. It’s your choice.

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So do you have any suggestions to anyone who might be considering marketing in social networks? Let’s hear them!

The Most Frequent Searches On The Web

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The world’s most frequent searchers for Web sites using the keyword “sex” on Google search engines, according to statistics provided by Google are Egypt, India and Turkey.  And you thought all the pervs were here? The term “Jihad”–Morocco, Indonesia, Pakistan. That’s right people in those countries just “want” to learn what the word means. Nothing more…errr. right! Taking it to the next level are the party nations of Ireland, The US and The UK who all need information on the term”Hangover”.  I wonder if the term “remedy” was inadvertently omitted.

Worried about your sexual performance? People in Italy, The United Kingdom,  and Germany were the most prolific when it came to searching for the term “Viagra”. I’m not really sure why they just didn’t check their email.

And lastly, for those who of course don’t inhale, “Marijuana” was searched on the most in Canada, The United States,  and Australia.

7 great tips you need to know when marketing to Moms.

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Did you know that there are more than 80 million mothers in the United States and 51 percent of all US Internet users are women? In addition, did you know that mothers of children under the age of 18 are “significantly more likely to go online than the rest of adult Americans?”  This, according to the Pew Internet Project.

The translation then is that ” Moms” will tend to disproportionately influence household purchase behavior. So how, as a marketer do you reach them?

1) They are savvy buyers/shoppers. More and More of them are using the internet to influence future and current buying decisions with the possible exception being electronics.

2) Working women ages of 24-54 — of whom the U.S. has some 55 million — have emerged as a potent force in the marketplace. If you’re product is not aimed at them, you are mssing the boat. These women are not only balancing work, but chances are, also a family.

3) Women  make more than 80% of the buying decisions in all homes. And women shop differently from the way men do: Females research more extensively and are less likely to be influenced by ads. Men buy, women shop. and Mom’s compare. They make buying “decisions”. Even in the online world, when selling a product,  it’s imperative that you have features and benefits as well as savings.

4) According to data compiled by AdAge, there are more than 30 million moms who read up to five blogs on a daily basis. Within these blogs can be the basis for buying decisions. More importantly, women talk, they are social, so if something is worthy in regards to a purchase, they will tell others. Viral marketing is an untapped resource in marketing to Moms.

5) The average household income of these moms is $70,000. They are computer savvy. They are educated.  If they cannot find their info through traditional search, they will find it in blogs, If not a blog, then chances are, a social network or a forum will provide the answers and or information they are seeking.

6) Early in 2006 a company called Lucid Marketing, which specializes in targeting moms, issued data that reflected just over 20 percent of stay-at-home moms and another 19 percent of moms who work part time visit “message boards” or “chat rooms” on a daily basis. A great place to market, but also an area where marketers need to be sensitive and not pushy sales peple.

7) Women’s decision-making authority has grown in part because more households are headed by women — 27% at last count, a fourfold increase since 1950-according to Businessweek. What does this mean? As online marketers, if you don’t realize that you need to segment your online marketing efforts into distinct niches, then you’ll be sure to see a reduction in overall conversion numbers.

So given the purchasing power of Women and or Moms. If you underestimate, ignore them,  and don’t bother to find out what they want. Then chances are they will ignore you and not bother to find out what you have to sell. It’s as simple as that.

What do you think women want online marketers to know about the way they buy and shop online? Do women use social networks for the purpose of making buying decisions?

5 Ways to Market to Baby Boomers.

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With the crush of all things social these days. I want you to look at this Facebook stat.

– 3 million age 25-34
– 380,000 age 35-44
– 310,000 age 45-63
– 100,000 users age 64+

I know, it’s tough to ignore the 24-34 demo. but more importantly are the “other” almost 800,000 Facebook users. Even more so are the Boomers who use Fcaebook. these are technologically “hip” users who have adopted quite nicely to social networking.  But that’s not the point here. The point is that because of the fracturing of all things related to advertising, marketing and how it now translates to the internet, grabbing eyeballs has become more about marketing to niche’s.

Which leads us to a very wealthy niche. The Boomers. Anyone born from 1946 to 1964. This is a very materialistic group that spends a lot of money and thus  a group that you need to market to.  So below are 5 ways to market or sell your product to them:

1)  First off they have the cash and they are going online to find out how best to spend that money. More importantly, they are looking for ways to invest that money. Using the internet as a vehicle to educate, inform and advise the growing boomer nation is a great way to market to them Niche #1: The internet. Niche suggestion: Retirement and Real Estate web sites.

2) The Second way is to don’t assume that #1 is true. Boomers are cocky, they still think they can do the things that they did in their 20’s and 30’s. Because they have the money, they will do or try things like new hobbies, new toys, new families. new gadgets. Niche #2 is to advertise products that speak to the fountain of youth. using the internet, print and television and cell phones. Don’t forget the power of mobile marketing.

3) With nothing better to do, Boomers will want to start-up a new business, invest in a new business, start a new career or go back to school to learn a new trade or craft. Niche #3 Education. Investing in New Businesses, and Starting a new company.  Higher Ed schools have not tapped this to its fullest potential.

4) Social Networks. You have 800,000 people on social networks that are boomers, what are they doing? What are they talking about? Is it where the next party is? No that would be the 18-25 demo. The folks are talking about the first 3 niches. They are talking about new ideas, new ventures, and wondering where to turn. They are at their most viral. If they find a site or source or resource that gives them a warm and fuzzy, you’ve got them all.

5) Health Care and Insurance and Travel. These are some of the most talked about topics with boomers. Pick a niche and they will finid you. But make sure you tailor and cater to the fact that your audience is not the 25-33 demo. You cannot speak to them the same way. Do some homework.

If you can wrap your arms around this group, then the sales will start flying. the key is to understand that you have to drill down to the niche. Think long tail key word…It’s a term we use in internet marketing and SEO but it really applies here in that you don’t want to market just to baby boomers. You wan to pick a niche, and then a niche of the niche.

What do you think it will take to get them to part with about a trillion in spending power?

If Google was built with Google in mind…

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Here is a great link to show you what Google would look like, if the pages were optimized so that the Google index page could rank high in, well Google!  Let’s  optimize Google

We can learn from Porn, Or If you build it, will they come?

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Let’s look at the numbers first.  The monthly search volume for the word, “porn” last month was over 13 million. That’s the number coming from Google, Yahoo and MSN combined.  The term sex? Almost 22 million times last month. What does this tell you? Let’s put into perspective real quick. So you know that there is a major housing/mortgage crisis going on right now. It’s been in the news a lot lately. Well,  the term mortgage had been searched on a mere 7 million times as of last month. The Iraq war you ask? 189,000 times. I know, how about Britney? She has been in the news too much and the numbers don’t lie. Try 14 million times last month, now that’s more like it.

Ok so the point is this, in the porn industry, the ultra competitive  nature drives internet marketers to be on their game.  The reason why is for the simple fact that tastes and technology change quicker than the bath water. Think about it, leaving out the fact that porn marketers are shameless and unethical, with over 30 million searches combined for the terms sex and porn, there is money to be made. Lots of it. They know this. They also are accutely aware that they either can change quickly, either with the content or the technology, or be eaten alive. Good porn marketers are better than your average internet marketer because they push the technology as far as they can, and then find new ways after that. They take chances because they have to.

Because attracting eyeballs online is the name of the game internet marketers have to use every tactic and trick to get you there and keep you there. That’s why porn marketers are willing to try any and every new technology to achieve that. They are months ahead in some respects to what some traditional marketers might employ for user attraction and retention.

Starting with the user experience, porn marketers realize that content is king but too much “free” content will make them a pauper, thus the usage of creating crumb trails to the main paid content is the objective. In fact, porn price points for entry are almost nil, but, the usage of a recurring billing model and and the ability to accept any and all forms of payment in any and all currencies make it an ideal business model. Customer service doesn’t really exist in the porn game, except to the extent that they make it difficult to cancel an order, so to dwell on that aspect is a moot point.

Another reason  good porn marketers are better, is because they study the competetiton. They recreate what works best, and when that doesn’t work, they test something else, when that quits working they move on.  I can point to some normal sites that haven’t changed their GUI in 3 years and still pull a 9% conversion rate. But it always begs the question, what would a new look and feel pull? Guess they’ll never know. Good porn marketers will have days, weeks, months and years of data for you.

Another thing that traditional marketers could learn is that porn is as niche based as it has ever been. The more niche based, the better the audience retention is.  We will avoid naming for you specific niche examples, but I’m sure you can use your imagination.  The bottom line is that the recurring revenue model  in this situation is perfect as long as content is updated regularly but still retains the integrity of the niche. If you change the niche, they are gone.

At this point, you’re probably thinking, “Wow this person certainly knows the porn business well.” Actually, I will leave that comment as is. As someone who studies any and all online business models, I would be remiss if I did not look at why the porn business model is so successful. The majority of that success of course will always stem from peoples’ utter facination with sex and the search numbers that support that. But one caveat would be assuming the, “If you build it, they will come…” (no pun intended although it seems very appropo), model. That  business model would not last long in the hyper-speed nature of porn business models. At the advent of the internet, it probably worked very well. Now though, you need top programmers and savvy business people who understand the online marketplace backwards and forwards to be successful.

So if you think porn marketers operate in a vacuum and have no clue what they are doing. Rest assured, they are doing things from a technology standpoint, that the rest of the online marketing world would love to learn. Why? What do you think the PPC model might look like in the porn universe? If porn marketers relied on ppc, they would shoot their wad in one day(again excuse the pun) and be out of the business in a week. Instead they have to use not only traditional methods of internet marketing coupled with SEO best practices but they also have to test, test and test and then act at a moments notice.

Although I don’t expect you to rush out and go “study” porn sites, from an internet marketers standpoint. If you should uh.. stumble upon one, do take the time to study the structure and the messaging and the content… and then read the articles.

Search Engines Suck

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Suck.. what you ask? or How? or Why?  My first thought was, How ’bout all of your cash if your trying to attract business and you have no clue what you’re doing in PPC land? Or how about just search results in general?  Or what about search engine algorithms? Why do they all have to keep changing them? I think that sucks. When they change them, the ripple effect is felt everywhere. Or better yet, whatever happened to finding exactly what you were looking for without bumping into 10 advertisers that were ranked right in front of the result your were looking for? I’d say that would be pretty sucky and a big waste of time!  

Or how about  how easy it is to find images that are not suitable for children? Why do we need an image search? Why does that need to be a part of a search engines capabilities. I think it sucks that I have to explain that to a child.  I’m a big champion of what a child should and should not see or find online, but filters, notwithstanding, The search engines are obligated to do a better job. 

I also think it sucks that  internet marketers are so tethered to the results of search engines. So much so, that it can make or break a deal, a company, a product and an industry. 

You know what else sucks about search engines? I need them. But they need me. They need us. We are the engine, not them. What would happen if we boycotted the search engines? We could have a national boycott the SE’s day. Would work cease? Would time stop? Would we have to revert back to fax machines and yellow legal pads? No, No, No and NO.

Think about it. What we would all do is type in the URL of whatever it was we were looking for and thus the importance of keywords in the title of the domain would skyrocket and supurfulous named sites would either be ingrained forever in our minds and thus we would continue to visit them; and others, alas would disappear. So cars.com, shoes.com, planes.com, these would all have more signifigance. In fact now that I think of it, these all could be Niche-y search engines about that specific item!!! 

Wait a minute, I just said Seach Engines suck. Ok, forget about it. I’ve changed my mind. Is niche-y a word?  Lastly,  speaking of Niche-y. I heard this the other day, “Nietzsche is Peachy but Sartre is Smarter”!

So tell me, what do you think of search engines are they the big brother of the 21st century?

It’s not about Google, It’s Yahoo… Sorry MySpace..

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Raise your hand if you use or access all three of the aformentioned.  Ok, I know we all use Google for something, and we all probably have a Yahoo mail account for some reason, and well MySpace… It’s something all together different, But I bet you have vistied a couple of MySpace pages. Hell, you might even have a MySpace page! If so…My bad..

 You see the first 2 sites have a specific purpose whereas MySpace is more “me-time” oriented.  The simple fact that we talk about MySpace in the same breath as a Yahoo mail or Google, is in and of itself an amazing phenomenon. Given it’s realtively short history.

As a social network app., MySpace doesn’t appeal to me that much. The technology that surrounds it does, but thats because I’m sorta “tech-y-geeky”. But we need to look at the demographic for MySpace to fully understand the impact of it. It’s geared towards 18-24 year olds, but it extends in either direction as well. i.e. 50 year olds use it and so do 15 year olds. But what it tells you, is that people are starved for self expression. Starved to meet someone or with the hopes that someone wants to meet them. They should call MySpace a Viral network thats connected by social norms. MyViralSpace.

I heard a comment last night on 60 minutes, that the internet is a  direct reflection of society. I always knew it, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it is so true.  We want to meet other people, we want to be with those people and we want to be rich and we are motivated by things that will pleasure us and we dont want to work for our money, we want to slack off and and we want to have fun. All of the motivators of our off line world transposed online. As if our lives our now 2-D. the online life and the offline. See–>Second Life.

So Yahoo seems to cover it best. Just compare the Google interface with Yahoo. Yahoo is a portal, Google is not. Google is search, Yahoo is more like the place you stop to get your coffee, grab the paper, talk to someone real quick, read your mail, pay a bill, check a score and find out who is sleeping with who before you head to work or start work. Google is for checking for George Clooney’s house pics in Italy, seeing if your old college roomate is in jail, and researching for jobs in a bigger city than the one your currently in. Google is a tool. Yahoo is a resource and MySpace is a nightclub. MySpace is where people go to cruise for others and share their sense of wannabe coolness.

Can all three exist? You betcha, but where they all will stumble is when they think they can  do something that the other is doing, and do it better. Google as a portal? Maybe. Google as a social network, no chance in hell. Yahoo as search, holding their own, Yahoo Mash? The jury is still out. MySpace as a search tool, uhhhhh no. MySpace as a portal, well it sorta is, but not in the literal sense.

Ultimately, as they say content is king and thus Yahoo has prevailed up to this point because the content changes daily, hourly etc. MySpace may have some value in it’s ability to mine the data, but as a destination location, not gonna happen. And Google, well Google is as Google was. The bottom line, they all serve an audience that wont’ be going away anytime soon. At least for the next 12 months