Miss SEO 2008
December 30, 2007
We have a new Miss SEO 2008 - Kylie Johnston. Some you may not have heard of her in the wider SEO cummunity, but she is certainly up and coming in the Southern-Eastern Ohio region!
Here is what Kylie Johnston had to say for herself:
"I want to promote conservation, especially to youth in schools," she said. "I also want to promote the performing arts. They're such an important part of the community."
And here is a translation of what she probably meant to say 
"I want to promote social media, especially to the linkarati on Digg. I also want to promote all performing PPC ads. They're such an important part of the our online community."
3 SEM tools you should have in your SEO arsenal!
December 10, 2007
Here’s 3 free SEM tools that you may have not used, but should! They are relatively new to my collection:
- Paessler Site Inspector - a downloadable programme that is great for web devlopers and SEOs in examining a web page.
- HTTrack Website Copier - allowing you to download a website onto your local machine. Great for on-page optimsation on long train journeys with no internet access.
- SPAM detector - this tool attempts to detect keyword stuffing, doorway farms and hidden text.
And here is a bonus tool that you probably have used, but if not - you should!
SEO Book Backlink Analyzer. Does what it says on the tin!
How do you view the source code?
November 7, 2007
Viewing the source of a website is always a good starting point when doing an SEO health check. Let’s look at a few ways:
- Do you use 'ctr+u' in firefox and take the old fashioned approach of checking out the code?
- Do you put on your xray specs to see key elements?
- My current favourite is the 'inspect’ option using firebug.
- Another option is to use the web developer extension and there is little doubt that its the best all rounder. Use the 'Outline block level elements' and 'Show elements names when outlining' to view HTML elements.
Do you have a another handy way?
What’s new at Web Master Central?
November 3, 2007
Quite a lot as it happens:
- You can now associate website content by the country per-domain, per-subdomain, or per-directory level "“ very useful indeed. It will be interesting to see how useful this really is.
- View and block potential Google sitelinks. I have experience of this taking two weeks, very useful if you have out-of-date sitelinks
- You may like to submit multiple sitemaps to Google's Web Master Central, now you can.
Firefox more popular than I.E. 6
November 3, 2007
Slightly misleading as Internet Explorer is still the most popular browser, but Firefox is more commonly used than Internet Explorer 6, just!
Firefox is growing at by roughly 5% of the market share per year. This implies that 2010 could be the year that the fox out muscles Microsoft for the biggest market share of Internet users "“ go fox, go!
| 2007 |
IE7 |
IE6 |
IE5 |
Fx |
Moz |
S |
O |
|
September |
20.8% |
34.9% |
1.5% |
35.4% |
1.2% |
1.6% |
1.5% |
|
August |
20.5% |
35.7% |
1.5% |
34.9% |
1.3% |
1.5% |
1.7% |
|
July |
20.1% |
36.9% |
1.5% |
34.5% |
1.4% |
1.5% |
1.9% |
|
June |
19.7% |
37.3% |
1.5% |
34.0% |
1.4% |
1.5% |
1.8% |
|
May |
19.2% |
38.1% |
1.6% |
33.7% |
1.3% |
1.5% |
1.7% |
|
April |
19.1% |
38.4% |
1.7% |
32.9% |
1.3% |
1.5% |
1.6% |
|
March |
18.0% |
38.7% |
2.0% |
31.8% |
1.3% |
1.6% |
1.6% |
|
February |
16.4% |
39.8% |
2.5% |
31.2% |
1.4% |
1.7% |
1.5% |
|
January |
13.3% |
42.3% |
3.0% |
31.0% |
1.5% |
1.7% |
1.5% |
New AdWords matching option discovered – ‘the bogus broad match type’
October 21, 2007
Most PPC enthusiasts will be aware of the four common AdWords matching types:
- Broad
- Phrase
- Exact
- Negative (can be broad, phrase or exact)
Here is a quick overview of what keyword matching is all about, for the non PPC folks:
Keyword matching allows you to control how precise a user’s search must be to trigger your ad on Google search pages. Defining how broadly or narrowly your keywords are targeted helps you reach the audience you want. Source AdWords Learning Center
However based on AdWords definition of match types, I think I have found a new one and I am naming it the 'bogus broad match'.
So what is the bogus broad match type?
Good question, it seems to be a hybrid of the broad match type and the ability to bid on partially related keywords. How and when it evolved I am uncertain, although I am pretty sure of its existence.
Let's look at the characteristics of a broad match first:
- Other words are included in the query
- Terms in the query are not written in the same sequence as your keyword
- The query is similar to your keyword. This includes plurals and synonyms.
- All the terms must be present
The bogus broad match takes all the above characteristics except for the last one "“ not all the terms have to be present.
By this I have had an experience of bidding on a two worded keyphrase and the ad showing for only a one worded search term.
An example of this would be to bid on the keyword phrase 'bank holiday' on broad match and for your ad to be shown for the search term 'holiday'. This would result in unqualified paid traffic landing on your site, eeek!
You may wander how I discovered what the actual search term was "“ this was not through a third-party analytics package, it was though AdWords very own Search Query Report.
This is difficult to prove without providing login details, and I am curious to see if anyone else has experienced a sighting of the bogus broad match type.
How to overcome the bogus broad match type?
If you believe in that the bb match type existing there is a way to overcome it and it involves the lesser known negative embedded match type. This did the trick for me, but seems a little unnecessary:
e.g.
Bank holiday
"“[holiday]
You may have to include embedded negative plurals and synonyms "“ although I have not had a problem with this.
It is always good practice to run search query report every now and then as part of campaign optimisation and if you do, you may encounter the bogus broad match - be warned! Of course, it could be a blip in the search query reporting or perhaps even a blip in my reporting - although I would like to say the latter is unlikely to be true as I have experienced it several times in the last couple of months. Anyone else seen the same?
AdWords Campaign Optimizer – Optimization or Google Monetization?
October 9, 2007
I'LL LET YOU BE THE JUDGE!
Last week I spent sometime checking out the AdWords Campaign Optimizer and was left a little ruffled as to whether it was a useful optimisation tool or another way for Google to monetize on advertisers spend. It's been around for a couple of months, so let's have a quick look at what it does:
Google blurb:
- "It’s an on-demand AdWords tool that provides personalized campaign ideas in just minutes"
- "Since Campaign Optimizer is an automated tool, we suggest that it be the first step — not the last – in optimizing your account."
And here's what Google says it can be used for:
- Change daily budget. Budget adjustments can affect your ad visibility and bring you more traffic.
- Add new keywords. Campaign Optimizer proposes targeted keywords that relate to your landing page.
- Change keyword matching options. The right matching option can help you reach customers more effectively.
- Adjust keyword maximum cost-per-click bid. Your maximum CPC bid (in addition to your ad quality) affects your ad position.
- Change ad text. Your ad text affects your click-through rate.
Google covers itself several times by stating that it's an automated tool and should only be used as the first steps of optimisation.
There are hints of useful optimisation tips for the novice AdWords user, although Google seems to have a very clear and loud optimized call to action of its own - "spend more money" and perhaps Campaign Monetizer would be a more fitting name? Not sure why I think this? Re-read the above bulleting points!
Unfortunately the monetization is geared towards Google's ever expanding pockets, rather than the average and often lonely AdWords advertiser. Those that have an understanding for AdWords are unlikely to find the basic suggestions of any use and those that don't are encouraged to spend more money with a lack of any real PPC optimization.
To justify the tools name it would have been nice to see it better integrated with the existing AdWords' conversion tracking. Albeit Google does state that the Campain Monitizer Campaign Optimizer should be the first and not last step in optimization, and although it does indeed make sense, I am still left questioning who will find the tool useful or benefit from it? The AdWords newbie, the intermediate PPC chappy, the seasoned veteran or perhaps Google itself? Me thinks the latter!
Am I being a too cynical? Are Google finally feeling the pinch and responding with subtle money spinners for a quick win? I will let you be the judge of this, although you may want to checkout the AdWords Top Ad Placement formulae post over at PPC Blog if you are still insure :)!
Search Marketing Standard Fall Magazine
September 11, 2007
As Jim Morison once drunkenly sang 'Summer's almost gone' and to confirm just that came the arrival of the Search Marketing Standard's Fall Magazine onto my doorstep. Nevertheless it is was packed full semy goodness and here's a quick overview as to what stood out for me:
Article 1) Search Engine Market Share "“ Google Still Stands Tall in the UK
Tall as in super-size tall, with a whooping 79.38% of the market share and leaving Yahoo in its shadows in second place at 7.72%. That makes Google nearly 10 times more popular than Yahoo and MSN trails in third at 5.28%, with Ask and all its offline marketing (UK) just behind in fourth with 4.87%
This is not really surprising, although I think it really does depend on the industry that you are in and the type of product or services that you offer. It is not unusual for Yahoo to be closer to 30 - 40% for certain queries or fewer than 1% for more technical ones, so it’s good to be aware!
Article 2) What do SEM Professionals keep in their Toolkits?
The 'What do busy SEM Professionals keep in their Toolkits' article is a pretty handy one, with lots cool SEM tools and the two that I found both new and useful "“ courtesy of Andy Beal are:
Article 3) Integrating SMM into SEM
Yes Cameron Olthuis has produced another great piece which is all about integrating your every day search engine marketing efforts into social media marketing.
For those new to SMM, you may want to checkout the social media marketing post I knocked up late last year. Essentially Cameron breaks down SMM into two distinct entities, linkbaiting and reputation management.
The Search Marketing Standard Magazine is a worthy read for any search marketer and if you are interested in subscribing, shoot over to their blog.
AdWords Quality Score - are your keyword soldiers solo or team players?
September 2, 2007
It's been quite a debate for a while now - should you consider keywords as separate entities with regards to quality score?
Do keywords with a low quality score create a bad neighbourhood for all others?
Should you ditch lower performing keywords? And are your keywords solo or team soldiers?
Well it appears that keywords are team players, they do influence each others quality score and you should consider dumping keywords with a low quality score as they can have a negative effect within the ‘hood!
How do I know? "“ well a combination of first hand experience, talking to Google and through fellow SEM pros.
Ask Google
During a recent visit to Google London, I asked these very questions and the answer I received was pretty straightforward and went something like this:
AdWords quality score is housed at an account level, with keyword quality scores having an accumulative affect on the overall account quality score. And the account quality score also has an impact on a keyword’s quality score.
What can we learn from this? Well it is safe to say that keywords with a lower quality score can have a negative influence on neighbouring keywords and that they aren’t solo soldiers "“ they are team players and if one gets hit by a low quality score then they all feel the pain to a certain extent.
First hand experience
Over the last year I have seen patterns to suggest that an account with a good account quality score, receives favourable quality scores for newly added keywords.
An example of this would be an advertiser that has a heavy part of their budget allocated to brand terms and has a particularly good account quality score.
As new non-brand terms are added, their associated quality scores are often very good initially and then slump after a while - kind of like a honeymoon period.
My take on this is that Google uses the account's overall history until the keyword has had time to build up its very own history and then allocates more weighting to the keyword’s quality score rather than the overall account quality score.
Has anyone else had similar experiences?
Three Sure-Fire Steps every Search Marketer should take in Landing Page Optimisation - Step 3 Test, Measure, Refine & Improve
August 20, 2007
Ok you now have lots of tasty ingredients to make that killer landing page and you’re finally ready to go!
Its float or sink time, so sail that page into the unknown land of your customers’ persona, sit back and enjoy the ride.
The ride maybe fruitful and fun or insanely gloomy ““ it’s often a case of living’ ‘n’ learning, although destiny is firmly in your hands ““ you just have to reach out and grab it. The magic landing page formula comes to those who test, measure, refine and improve.
How to measure?
A great place to start is with the actual conversion rate for the page in reaching the desired action.
Lets’ look at the maths:
Conversion rate = (number of visitors who reach a desired action/total number of visitors) * 100
It surprises me that many companies do not know their own conversion rate for key pages that make up their conversion funnel or that there is such a lack of clarity as to whether an increase in sales has resulted from an increase in visitors or landing page enhancements.
A / B Testing
A/B testing is a simple an effective testing procedure that can be used in landing page optimisation in deducing which elements play a pivotal role in maximising conversion rates. You can test single variables such as a headlines, testimonials or images against each other in order to see the best performer.
A / B testing can be very effective over time, although it requires a variety of single variables to be tested in single file and can be quite time consuming.
You may like to checkout the Marketing Experiments explanation of A/B Testing for a more in depth look.
Multivariable Testing
Multivariable testing on the other hand allows for multiple variables to be tested in one go and a great example of this is through AdWords Website Optimizer. Again Marketing Experiments provide a detailed overview of this, which I highly recommend.
What about non-action pages?
Well not every page has an action that is as easy to measure such as a sale, registration or a specified next step. This is where a good analytics package comes in handy and Avinash describes four key metrics that are readily available in Google Analytics ““ Loyalty, Recency, Length of Visit & Depth of Visit. These metrics can give some real insight into how engaging a visitor finds your site and provide a useful tool in measuring landing page effectiveness.
In summary, as with many things related to online marketing you should assume nothing and test everything - the proof really is in the pudding! Decide what you want to measure and strive to improve.
Remember it’s your visitors’ actions and wants that really count and not necessarily what you think they want or worse still what your creative teams believes is in this season!
Step 1 Understand Your Visitors’ Persona
Step 2 Gain Permission and take the Visitor to the Next Desired Action
