Monday, March 8, 2010
Social gaming is the new battlefield in the battle for internet supremacy
A Facebook fans page has attracted a huge online following- and is making money for it's owners.
Today, tens of millions of people around the world will log in to Facebook playing Farmville, a cute, colourful game where players take on the role of a farmer — a game whose extraordinary success is forcing many to rethink the future of the internet and social media.
Farmville is a fairly mundane idea, but one that draws heavily on the traditional world of board games for inspiration. Given the task of caring for and expanding their land and livestock, players have a certain number of action points each day, which they can spend on tending the farm. They can even trade with “neighbours” — Facebook friends who also play the game.
The numbers behind this simple concept are huge. More than 80 million people play every month with almost 30 million logging in every day to check the status of their virtual allotment. It is free to play, but consumers can spend real money on virtual goods to use on their farms.
Combined with advertising revenue — including some controversial revenue from advertising deals, which users complain are little more than marketing scams — this makes Farmville into a business worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
For years, games have lain on the periphery of the internet. Playing games online has been popular among young men for more than a decade — but this was never seen as a commercial activity that could have a significant impact on services such as Facebook or MySpace, let alone Google or Apple.
The success of Farmville, to which more than a quarter of Facebook users have signed up, challenges that assumption. Furthermore, it is leading a new wave of online games that are rewriting our most basic ideas about what videogames are, and who plays them.
The most extraordinary statistic to emerge from the research into this fast-growing phenomenon is the profile of the “average” player of social videogames — namely, 43 years old and female. Young men barely get a look in — more than 60 per cent of people playing social games on Facebook are aged between 30 and 60.
What has attracted this surprising new audience to online games? In part, it’s the subject matter of the games themselves — which ranges from Farmville’s focus on nurturing and growing to the addictive puzzles of games such as Bejeweled.
Equally important is the social aspect of Facebook. No longer is playing games a solitary pursuit — instead, it’s something you do with friends, challenging them to beat your scores or collaborating to help each other out.
Half of those who play social games such as Farmville claim that they visit Facebook each day specifically to play. Suddenly, Facebook isn’t just a tool for staying in touch with friends — it’s also a platform for games and entertainment.
While Facebook’s owners are undoubtedly delighted at the success of Farmville, there must also be a sense of unease. After all, with a game this successful now providing so much of Facebook’s traffic, to what extent, exactly, are Farmville’s creators, Zynga, beholden to Facebook — and vice versa?
It’s a sentiment that resonates across the industry. Apple, for years an online gaming ostrich whose Mac computers provided little support for game developers, was forced to publicly embrace gaming last year as it became clear that social gaming was by far the most commercially successful products on the iPhone’s App Store. Microsoft and Sony, meanwhile, have had a foot in the door of the videogames market for years.
This is the new battleground in the war for hearts, minds and wallets being fought between the world’s technology giants. The millions of acres of virtual land being ploughed by Farmville’s players each day are breathing new life into an old adage — where there’s muck, there’s brass.
Labels: Facebook, online marketing, online marketing uk, social media websites, social web marketing
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Monday, March 08, 2010
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Thursday, February 18, 2010
Social web marketing suggestions
On Tuesday Dr Search posted- Few online shops have social networks media, but the majority of UK shoppers buy from them.
More than two thirds of all UK online shoppers use social media, with Facebook being by far the most popular but half of top online retailers have a minimal or non existent presence social media presence.
When we reported on the findings of a poll among 10,000 visitors to the UK’s top 40 e-commerce websites undertaken by ForeSee Results, an organisation that measures online customer satisfaction.
The main conclusion was get a Facebook page Now!
With follow up suggestions of:
- Make sure you have someone to monitor it and post good, timely information.
- Promote it to your most loyal customers through your regular communications venues (emails, ads,
stores, coupons, etc.).
- Use your Facebook page to post promotions and product information.
Easier said than done admittedly. There are a lot of ins and outs to social media strategy and the right formula will differ for each company. But for those retailers who have a poor to middling presence on Facebook, it’s a good place to start while you figure out how social media plays into your global brand strategy.
However here’s a truly revolutionary idea: DON'T listen to all of these ideas and opinions about what your customers and prospects want based on over 10,000 online shoppers of 40 of the biggest online retailers in the United Kingdom.
Instead ask your own customers what they want.
- Find out what social media sites they frequent.
- Find out whether they want sales or coupons or technical support or product information.
- Find out how satisfied they are with your current social media efforts and
- How likely they are to purchase, return, and recommend your business as a result of your interactions.
There’s a lot about social media and online marketing initiatives that is really hard to work out, but asking customers what they want from you is a truely great marketing initiative.
Labels: Dr Search, Facebook, online marketing, online marketing uk, Search Clinic
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Thursday, February 18, 2010
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Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Few online shops have social networks media, but the majority of UK shoppers buy from them
More than two thirds of all UK online shoppers use social media, with Facebook being by far the most popular but half of top online retailers have a minimal or non existent presence social media presence.
These are the findings of a poll among 10,000 visitors to the UK’s top 40 e-commerce undertaken by ForeSee Results, an organisation that measures online customer satisfaction.
The study indicated that of the 69% of online consumers who use social networking sites, about 37% opted to ‘friend’, ‘follow’ or ‘subscribe’ to retailers, with more than half of such respondents doing so in order to learn about their products.
A further 40% did so to learn about special deals, while only 6% used social media primarily to obtain customer support.
About 56% of all online shoppers used Facebook, however, with the figure jumping to a huge 80% if the focus was narrowed to regular social media users.
This would appear to imply that the site is the best place to reach shoppers in both categories, not only because they are there already, but also because it appears that many are keen to hear from chosen brands.
Despite such findings, an unofficial look at the Facebook pages of the top 100 online retailers indicated that a quarter had no official presence and a further quarter had less than 10,000 followers.
In a further note of caution, nearly three quarters of social media fans chose to ‘friend’ or ‘follow’ less than five organisations, with only 4% interacting with more than 20. This means that the majority of online shoppers give very few retailers any air time.
Kevin Entell, vice president of retail strategy at ForSee, said: "Site visitors who also interact with a company on a social media site are more satisfied, more committed to the brand, and more likely to make future purchases from that company."
But there was a chicken and egg situation taking place, he added. "It is likely that customers who are more satisfied and loyal to begin with are the ones who will friend us on Facebook or subscribe to our YouTube channels," Entell said. "However, research shows that when retailers provide rewarding social media experiences, our customers become even more satisfied and loyal."
The results were backed up by another poll from digital marketing agency dotCommerce among 100 UK retailers. It indicated that a mere 42% of UK retailers had a social media presence, with only 12% using more than one site.
Of the retailers using such sites, only 24% had a Facebook presence, while 26% preferred Twitter. They preferred to employ the latter to keep consumers aware of product updates (73%), push out marketing messages (63%) and company news (58%).
Dr Search asks if you one of the three quarters being left behind by the social web marketing growth? If so and you would like some help- please just ask here now!
Labels: Dr Search, Facebook, online marketing, online marketing uk, Search Clinic, social media websites, social web marketing, Twitter, YouTube
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Wednesday, February 17, 2010
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Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Mobile firms unite to offer mobi apps applications
Twenty four of the largest phone operators have banded together to challenge Apple's dominance of mobile apps applications.
The Wholesale Applications Community, as it is known, aims to make it easier for developers to build and sell apps "irrespective of device or technology".
The alliance, which includes Vodafone, China Mobile and Sprint, has access to more than three billion customers.
Analysts said it was an attempt by operators to "regain control of apps".
The app market is currently a lucrative business for mobile firms.
Analysts at Gartner have predicted that spending on the specialist pieces of software will hit $6.2bn (£4bn) this year with the number of downloads rising to 4.5 billion from 2.5 billion last year.
It predicts that downloads will top 21 billion by 2013, yielding almost $30bn.
Apple currently dominates the app market, with more than 3 billion downloaded from its app store in 18 months.
Blackberry, Google, Nokia, Symbian and Microsoft all offer their own app stores.
As a result, developers often have to create different versions of apps and go through separate approval processes for each individual store.
The Wholesale Applications Community aims to overcome this fragmentation by offering a single "open platform that delivers applications to all mobile phone users".
It aims to develop a common standard for applications in the next 12 months.
As well as the 24 network operators, the work is also supported by hardware manufacturers such as LG Electronics, Samsung and Sony Ericsson, as well as industry body the GSM association.
The consortium's approach to simplify application development and distribution is echoed by software firm Adobe.
The company has announced that it will begin to offer its AIR platform on mobile devices, starting with phones running Google's Android operating system.
AIR is currently available on desktops and allows developers to build desktop applications for services that are more commonly found in the browser.
For example, there are a number of Twitter applications that use AIR. Until now it has been unavailable on smart phones.
The technology could make it easier for developers to create and publish apps that can run on many different platforms at the same time.
Apple has traditionally spurned some Adobe software - such as Flash - on its iPhone.
However, Adobe has now built a tool that allows developers to build an app for phone running AIR and easily publish a slightly different version which should also run on the iPhone.
Dr Search notes that the implications are clear for online businesses if you don't already have a version of your website that is mobile compatible- do so in the next 12 months as your competitors are already.
Labels: Dr Search, mobile marketing, online marketing, online marketing uk, Search Clinic
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Tuesday, February 16, 2010
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Monday, February 15, 2010
Fundamental flaws found in UK's chip and pin security systems
Cambridge University scientists have discovered a fundamental design flaw in the UK's chip and pin credit card readers raising worries that the defects could be exploited to perpetrate fraud on a massive scale.
More than 90% of point-of-sale card transactions in the UK are now conducted using chip-and-pin systems, according to the UK Payments Administration, which represents the interests of payment card companies. In 2008, plastic cards were used to make 7.4 billion purchases, worth a total of £380 billion.
But Cambridge academics have now found a way to trick the system into thinking that the correct pin number has been entered by exploiting the way that remote readers communicate with the main shop terminal.
Flaws in the Europay, Mastercard and Visa (EMV) protocol, which enables chip-and-pin transactions to be validated, means that third party devices can be introduced between the readers and terminals to intercept communications.
Such breaches are known as "man-in-the-middle" attacks and would allow fraudsters to use stolen credit or debit cards by simply entering four zeros. The cards tested were issued by Barclaycard, the Co-op Bank, the Halifax, Bank of Scotland, HSBC and John Lewis.
Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering at Cambridge University told the BBC’s Newsnight programme last week: "Chip-and-pin is fundamentally broken. We think this is one of the biggest flaws that we’ve uncovered – that has ever been uncovered – against payment systems, and I’ve been in this business for 25 years."
The researchers, who have already contacted the banks about the problem, said that the programming skills required to build a ‘man-in-the-middle’ device were relatively simple.
But the UK Payments Administration rejected the conclusions found in their paper entitled 'Chip and PIN is Broken'. It said that there was no evidence that such attacks were not happening in UK stores today, although the research would help it to evaluate the direction in which criminals may move.
More than 90% of point-of-sale card transactions in the UK are now conducted using chip-and-pin systems, according to the UK Payments Administration, which represents the interests of payment card companies. In 2008, plastic cards were used to make 7.4 billion purchases, worth a total of £380 billion.
But Cambridge academics have now found a way to trick the system into thinking that the correct pin number has been entered by exploiting the way that remote readers communicate with the main shop terminal.
Flaws in the Europay, Mastercard and Visa (EMV) protocol, which enables chip-and-pin transactions to be validated, means that third party devices can be introduced between the readers and terminals to intercept communications.
Such breaches are known as "man-in-the-middle" attacks and would allow fraudsters to use stolen credit or debit cards by simply entering four zeros. The cards tested were issued by Barclaycard, the Co-op Bank, the Halifax, Bank of Scotland, HSBC and John Lewis.
Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering at Cambridge University told the BBC’s Newsnight programme last week: "Chip-and-pin is fundamentally broken. We think this is one of the biggest flaws that we’ve uncovered – that has ever been uncovered – against payment systems, and I’ve been in this business for 25 years."
The researchers, who have already contacted the banks about the problem, said that the programming skills required to build a ‘man-in-the-middle’ device were relatively simple.
But the UK Payments Administration rejected the conclusions found in their paper entitled 'Chip and PIN is Broken'. It said that there was no evidence that such attacks were not happening in UK stores today, although the research would help it to evaluate the direction in which criminals may move.
Dr Search has long known of flaws, not only in the chip and pin process, but more fundementally in the UK banking system.
UK banks have repeatedly failed to state in a UK court of law that their offline systems are 100% secure. So how can an online system be 100% secure? Until such time as the UK banks finally make their systems secure or they admit to errors we suggest that you don't trust your bank.
Labels: Dr Search, online marketing, online marketing uk, Search Clinic
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Monday, February 15, 2010
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Thursday, February 4, 2010
UK online shoppers spend most in Europe
UK shoppers spent more online than anywhere else in Europe last year- totalling almost a third of all European sales.
UK consumers spent £38bn online in 2009, or an average of £1,102 per shopper, according to the Centre for Retail Research (CRR).
Online sales now account for almost 10% of total retail sales in the UK, the centre calculates.
It added that internet shopping would continue to grow sharply this year. The centre foresees total online sales hitting £42.7bn in 2010.
UK online shoppers are growing in confidence, with the proportion of them prepared to spend more than £1,000 or more on a single transaction rising from 12% in 2008 to 25% in 2009.
The recession, from which the UK has only recently emerged, helped to explain the increase in online shopping, he argued.
Germans were the next most prolific spenders online last year with a total spend of £29.7bn, while the French spent £22bn, the research indicates.
UK consumers spent £38bn online in 2009, or an average of £1,102 per shopper, according to the Centre for Retail Research (CRR).
Online sales now account for almost 10% of total retail sales in the UK, the centre calculates.
It added that internet shopping would continue to grow sharply this year. The centre foresees total online sales hitting £42.7bn in 2010.
UK online shoppers are growing in confidence, with the proportion of them prepared to spend more than £1,000 or more on a single transaction rising from 12% in 2008 to 25% in 2009.
The recession, from which the UK has only recently emerged, helped to explain the increase in online shopping, he argued.
Germans were the next most prolific spenders online last year with a total spend of £29.7bn, while the French spent £22bn, the research indicates.
Labels: online marketing, online marketing uk
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Thursday, February 04, 2010
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Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Google Analytics and the customer experience- do you have thr right tools?
Website analysis can generate improved performance, but your focus should be on measuring and analysing perception against expectation in three key linked areas.
The argument as to whether marketing is an art or a science has raged for years. It is interesting that long-term brand appeal is built primarily on emotion not rationality. The great TV ads are primarily emotional in nature; think of Guinness and its sea horses; does it matter how long the wait for the wave actually was, the point is that waiting pays off. Interestingly the same is true of oratory; Winston Churchill did not say how many owed how much to how many less; it was the idea that counted. People buy and recall ideas. Numbers were put to the sword in '1066 and all that'.
It is clear that people make emotional decisions in the main. They may think that they are making rational ones, or even post rationalise them. I would argue that an emotional decision is the sum of a number of rational trade offs. One example is whether we choose the highest interest rate for our savings or the lowest premium for our insurance.
Customer experience measures
It seems to me that a similar approach is likely to be most helpful in developing analysis of customer experience. Customer experience is also very much about perception. In essence it is a measure of external perceptions against external expectations, not internal measured results against internal standards.
It is not terribly helpful to know that we answered the phone in 8 seconds against a standard of 10. The customer might have expected 10, but perceived to be waiting for 12. Why? Largely because of prior, perhaps negative, experience of the brand, but more likely because the call was unsatisfactory when the connection was made – i.e. the customer did not get what he or she wanted.
The key question then in using analytics to help improve customer experience is to ensure that we analyse the things that matter to customers. Customers will be much influenced by the recency and frequency of their interaction with the brand and these are key members for us. But the focus is on the emotional response to those interactions.
Hence, we argue that the key numbers for analysis are three:
* How did you feel about your interaction with us today?
* How do you feel about us as an organisation?
* Would you recommend us to your family, friends and colleagues?
This is crucial. It is the day to day measurement of perception against expectation, and enables daily tracking of customer experience. Analysis should track both the customer’s previous answers and, in a person to person interaction, the performance of the agent. This data should then be viewed in the context of the operational performance on the day; were systems fully functional, was there a particular call flow issue?
This is a wider concept. How people feel about the organisation as a whole, takes into account not only day to day interactions but the total set of experiences and perceptions of the organisation and its brand. The customer will be influenced not only by his or her experiences but also by the experiences of others. This is because brand associations are a reflection of the individual’s personality. People wish to be seen to have made good choices in the eyes of others.
Whilst customer satisfaction tracking surveys will provide meaningful numbers for analysis, it is likely that qualitative research will be required to better understand customer attitudes and motivations.
We know that customer satisfaction and loyalty are closely linked and that they are correlated through the Net Promoter Score to business performance.
In a separate article we shall analyse in more depth the true relationship between loyalty and business performance across various business and activities. Satisfaction is clearly linked to both longevity and frequency, value, volume of cross sales and repeat purchase. We shall explain the mechanics.
Key to understanding the benefits of customer experience is measuring and analysing recommendation. We know that people only recommend if they are highly satisfied; satisfaction in its own right is not a motivator.
There are two aspects of recommendation which require analysis. Firstly, the characteristics and motivation of the recommendee. In sum, people recommend for altruistic reasons and also to build esteem in their social group. They like to be seen as early adopters. We also want of course to look at the value of our recommendee; there may be a correlation between their value to the organisation and the recommender.
Secondly, we want to understand the value of recommendation to us both in terms to reduce marketing costs and increased customer flows, including the performance of recommended customers compared to those joining by other means.
However, the real value arises from considering the perceptions of customers against their expectations on day to day and long-term horizons, in conjunction with their behaviour vis a vis recommendation.
The argument as to whether marketing is an art or a science has raged for years. It is interesting that long-term brand appeal is built primarily on emotion not rationality. The great TV ads are primarily emotional in nature; think of Guinness and its sea horses; does it matter how long the wait for the wave actually was, the point is that waiting pays off. Interestingly the same is true of oratory; Winston Churchill did not say how many owed how much to how many less; it was the idea that counted. People buy and recall ideas. Numbers were put to the sword in '1066 and all that'.
It is clear that people make emotional decisions in the main. They may think that they are making rational ones, or even post rationalise them. I would argue that an emotional decision is the sum of a number of rational trade offs. One example is whether we choose the highest interest rate for our savings or the lowest premium for our insurance.
It is clear that the majority do not, but will take name awareness, features, security, recommendation, history and a range of attributes into account.
Customer experience measures
It seems to me that a similar approach is likely to be most helpful in developing analysis of customer experience. Customer experience is also very much about perception. In essence it is a measure of external perceptions against external expectations, not internal measured results against internal standards.
It is not terribly helpful to know that we answered the phone in 8 seconds against a standard of 10. The customer might have expected 10, but perceived to be waiting for 12. Why? Largely because of prior, perhaps negative, experience of the brand, but more likely because the call was unsatisfactory when the connection was made – i.e. the customer did not get what he or she wanted.
The key question then in using analytics to help improve customer experience is to ensure that we analyse the things that matter to customers. Customers will be much influenced by the recency and frequency of their interaction with the brand and these are key members for us. But the focus is on the emotional response to those interactions.
Hence, we argue that the key numbers for analysis are three:
* How did you feel about your interaction with us today?
* How do you feel about us as an organisation?
* Would you recommend us to your family, friends and colleagues?
This is crucial. It is the day to day measurement of perception against expectation, and enables daily tracking of customer experience. Analysis should track both the customer’s previous answers and, in a person to person interaction, the performance of the agent. This data should then be viewed in the context of the operational performance on the day; were systems fully functional, was there a particular call flow issue?
This is a wider concept. How people feel about the organisation as a whole, takes into account not only day to day interactions but the total set of experiences and perceptions of the organisation and its brand. The customer will be influenced not only by his or her experiences but also by the experiences of others. This is because brand associations are a reflection of the individual’s personality. People wish to be seen to have made good choices in the eyes of others.
Whilst customer satisfaction tracking surveys will provide meaningful numbers for analysis, it is likely that qualitative research will be required to better understand customer attitudes and motivations.
We know that customer satisfaction and loyalty are closely linked and that they are correlated through the Net Promoter Score to business performance.
In a separate article we shall analyse in more depth the true relationship between loyalty and business performance across various business and activities. Satisfaction is clearly linked to both longevity and frequency, value, volume of cross sales and repeat purchase. We shall explain the mechanics.
Key to understanding the benefits of customer experience is measuring and analysing recommendation. We know that people only recommend if they are highly satisfied; satisfaction in its own right is not a motivator.
There are two aspects of recommendation which require analysis. Firstly, the characteristics and motivation of the recommendee. In sum, people recommend for altruistic reasons and also to build esteem in their social group. They like to be seen as early adopters. We also want of course to look at the value of our recommendee; there may be a correlation between their value to the organisation and the recommender.
Secondly, we want to understand the value of recommendation to us both in terms to reduce marketing costs and increased customer flows, including the performance of recommended customers compared to those joining by other means.
However, the real value arises from considering the perceptions of customers against their expectations on day to day and long-term horizons, in conjunction with their behaviour vis a vis recommendation.
Labels: online marketing, online marketing uk, ROI
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Tuesday, February 02, 2010
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Monday, February 1, 2010
Basic website filenaming structures
Your website's URL structure is an important search engine optimisation factor, so Dr Search thought I’d write a quick post covering some useful guidelines for you to keep in mind when building your website.
Let’s take a look at a typical small business website. While this may not be the case for every business, most sites often have the following pages in common:
* Homepage
* Services/Products Page
* Testimonials Page
* About Us Page
* Contact Us Page
Using the pages above, here’s an example of how to maximize the SEO impact of your URLs.
Homepage (www.example.com)
When choosing your domain name, always try and include your primary keyword somewhere in the name. A good strategy for this is creating a keyword + generic domain name. For example, if you’re targeting the keyword "electrican", you might go for gloucestershireelectrcian.com, cheltenhamelectrician.net, or gloucestershirelighting.com etc.
Services/Products Page (www.example.com/[keyword])
On the page which lists your services or products, use another major keyword as the directory for this page. Using the example above, you might want to create the following pages:
* /electrcian-services
* /electrican-qualifications
Testimonials Page (www.example.com/[keyword]-testimonials)
The testimonials page is another chance for you to include one of your important keywords. Try using the format /[keyword]-testimonials, where keyword represents your business type or industry. Some examples might be:
* /electrician-testimonials
* /gloucestershire-testimonials
* /lighting-testimonials
About Us Page (www.example.com/about-[business name])
The about us page is a chance to make sure your website ranks strongly when customers search for your business name. Using the directory format /about-[businessname] with the business name in Meta tags and body content a good way to achieve this.
Contact Us Page (www.example.com/contact-us-[business name])
For the contact us page I’d recommend sticking with a simple /contact-us [business name] format which is standard across most sites and is easy for customers to remember. You will also get your name in regularly if you have a contact us link at the bottom of every page- as a call to action.
Whilst URL structuring is no magic bullet for search negine optimisation, following the above guidelines is a good way to build a solid foundation.
Let’s take a look at a typical small business website. While this may not be the case for every business, most sites often have the following pages in common:
* Homepage
* Services/Products Page
* Testimonials Page
* About Us Page
* Contact Us Page
Using the pages above, here’s an example of how to maximize the SEO impact of your URLs.
Homepage (www.example.com)
When choosing your domain name, always try and include your primary keyword somewhere in the name. A good strategy for this is creating a keyword + generic domain name. For example, if you’re targeting the keyword "electrican", you might go for gloucestershireelectrcian.com, cheltenhamelectrician.net, or gloucestershirelighting.com etc.
Services/Products Page (www.example.com/[keyword])
On the page which lists your services or products, use another major keyword as the directory for this page. Using the example above, you might want to create the following pages:
* /electrcian-services
* /electrican-qualifications
Testimonials Page (www.example.com/[keyword]-testimonials)
The testimonials page is another chance for you to include one of your important keywords. Try using the format /[keyword]-testimonials, where keyword represents your business type or industry. Some examples might be:
* /electrician-testimonials
* /gloucestershire-testimonials
* /lighting-testimonials
About Us Page (www.example.com/about-[business name])
The about us page is a chance to make sure your website ranks strongly when customers search for your business name. Using the directory format /about-[businessname] with the business name in Meta tags and body content a good way to achieve this.
Contact Us Page (www.example.com/contact-us-[business name])
For the contact us page I’d recommend sticking with a simple /contact-us [business name] format which is standard across most sites and is easy for customers to remember. You will also get your name in regularly if you have a contact us link at the bottom of every page- as a call to action.
Whilst URL structuring is no magic bullet for search negine optimisation, following the above guidelines is a good way to build a solid foundation.
If you’ve got any other URL advice, please let the Search Clinic know in the comments box below!
Labels: Dr Search, online marketing, Search Clinic, Search Engine Optimisation, SEO Services
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Monday, February 01, 2010
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Thursday, January 28, 2010
How to grow a forum online- the right and wrong way to go
Growing online forums should be simple, however some people make it harder to be succesfull.
Dr Search recently come across this guide from FeverBee Richard Millington on the Right and Wrong way to develop a community:
Do you think the person that created this forum really had a clue what s/he was doing? Nobody will participate in a forum that looks this empty.
There are a few lessons here:
1) When you launch a new forum you begin with just one subject/topic. As the forum grows and it becomes clear that you need more than one place, you create another topic.
2) Don’t try to predict what your community will talk about in advance. This is what leads to empty forums like those above. Just respond to what they talk about – and put an influential member on that topic in charge of that section.
If your members talk about obscure widgets from china a lot, create a separate forum for it with someone who speaks about the topic the most in charge of moderation.
3) It’s really hard to be the first person to create the topic. So when you do create the second forum you transfer relevant existing threads (and if you have any, you don’t need the forum) from the old forum to the new forum.
p.s. This is my favourite example of a terrible online community.
Thanks to Richard Millington
Labels: Dr Search, online marketing, online marketing uk, Search Clinic
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Thursday, January 28, 2010
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Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Yahoo profits increase but sales fall
Online marketing giant Yahoo has posted a £95m net profit in the fourth quarter of 2009, but has seen it's sales continue to fall.
The profit figure is an improvemen on the £200m loss in the same period in 2008, but revenue fell 4% to £1 bn.
Yahoo struggled during the global downturn as advertisers trimmed their budgets. The firm cut more than 2,000 jobs to try to reduce costs.
Shares in Yahoo rose 1% in after-hours trading in New York to $16.17.
"The fourth quarter marked a strong finish to 2009, which was a transformative year for Yahoo," said chief executive Carol Bartz.
"Our business has positive momentum and we feel good as we head into 2010."
For the whole of 2009, Yahoo made a £598m profit, up 43% on the previous year.
The profit figure is an improvemen on the £200m loss in the same period in 2008, but revenue fell 4% to £1 bn.
Yahoo struggled during the global downturn as advertisers trimmed their budgets. The firm cut more than 2,000 jobs to try to reduce costs.
Shares in Yahoo rose 1% in after-hours trading in New York to $16.17.
"The fourth quarter marked a strong finish to 2009, which was a transformative year for Yahoo," said chief executive Carol Bartz.
"Our business has positive momentum and we feel good as we head into 2010."
For the whole of 2009, Yahoo made a £598m profit, up 43% on the previous year.
Labels: online marketing, Yahoo
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Wednesday, January 27, 2010
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Thursday, January 21, 2010
Bad customer service costing billions of Pounds in lost revenue
Another study reveals the shocking cost of poor customer service- this time it's Dr Search's alma mater- Oxford Brookes University who delivers the damning verdict on poor service standards.
Its survey suggests that three out of four people have switched at least one product or service in the last two years due to poor service.
Its survey suggests that three out of four people have switched at least one product or service in the last two years due to poor service.
And the University's Professor Merlin Stone estimates that if the study is reflective of the entire population, firms could have lost up to 20 million good customers, costing them around £3.39 billion.
More than one in five people blamed poor customer service for switching to other firms in areas including finance, telecoms and utilities.
Lifestyle firm WhiteConcierge, which commissioned the study, said the findings suggested that more than 30 consumers were signing up with different companies every minute of the day.
The report found that the worst affected sectors for losing customers over the past two years were motor insurance, electricity and home insurance.
Organisations have to work harder than ever to keep their best customers. Consumers have become increasingly demanding and discerning, and with the rise of price comparison websites for example, it is now much easier to compare and switch products.
Jonathan Breeze, managing director of WhiteConcierge, said: "Price is undoubtedly one important factor for causing people to change providers but many companies cannot compete on this at the moment. As our research findings show, issues surrounding customer service experiences are also key and can be addressed more readily."
The findings have come as no surprise to the CRM community. In the recent tough economic times, service may have been one of the many cutbacks made across the breadth of the organisation. However, service is precisely what will keep current customers and continue to attract new ones.
Much has been made of the birth of 'Generation Y'-ers – those who multi-task throughout life and communicate with organisations via a multitude of channels. This should strongly underline the need for businesses to reassess their service provision.
The findings have come as no surprise to the CRM community. In the recent tough economic times, service may have been one of the many cutbacks made across the breadth of the organisation. However, service is precisely what will keep current customers and continue to attract new ones.
Much has been made of the birth of 'Generation Y'-ers – those who multi-task throughout life and communicate with organisations via a multitude of channels. This should strongly underline the need for businesses to reassess their service provision.
This young demographic’s demand is for more, not less, personalised and tailored services, fully utilising technology to deliver robust services. Organisations that are providing and delivering robust services win; there is no second place.
Dr Search concludes by suggesting that although price is always a decision making factor- service is becoming increasingly important.
Labels: Dr Search, online marketing, Search Marketing, Top Tips
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Thursday, January 21, 2010
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Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Website Marketing budget guide- the real costs of online marketing
Online Marketing cost guide by Dr Search. Although we at the Search Clinic are pretty open about our services- both what we offer and how much it's going to cost you, when we found this recent post at INeedHits we thought that we would repeat it as a third party independent guide for your benefit.
Whether you’re just starting out, or re-evaluating your website strategy, it’s important for you to get your plan and budget right.
The rule “Build it and they will come” rarely works in the online space. For you to be successful with your website marketing strategy – you need to have a solid plan and be realistic about the real costs of doing it properly.
Too many business owners spend £1000’s on getting a fancy website developed, only to find they have no money left to promote it.
One of our sales guys uses this analogy
“It’s like building a shopping mall in the desert. Without the budget to promote it – who’s going to find it?”
“It’s like building a shopping mall in the desert. Without the budget to promote it – who’s going to find it?”
So to help you get your website design and marketing budget right – here’s a quick guide to what you need and the approximate costs to do it properly.
- 1. The website: Development/Design & Maintenance
The development of a website has many variables. Accordingly the costs can vary significantly depending on factors such as whether its static or dynamic, whether it includes a shopping cart, is the design bespoke or templated etc, etc, etc.
The reality is that websites can vary from £1000 – £50,000, and 90% of the time, you get what you pay for.
If it’s really cheap, it’s likely that there won’t be much functionality and it’ll use a template. The flip side of that is that if it’s too expensive – ask yourself whether you “really” need all the bells and whistles.
And most importantly – shop around. Draft a detailed requirements document and then check with a few website designers/developers to get the best price.
Also, don’t forget to budget for hosting and maintenance. Websites need to be updated in terms of content and systems (e.g. cms) regularly, and without hosting - you wont appear anywhere.
- 2. SEO – Search Engine Optimization
The simple truth is that the majority of website traffic comes from search engines and directories. Most of our clients see upwards of 60% of traffic coming from search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing. While the organic search engine traffic is free (no click costs), you do need to invest in a professional SEO program to ensure you’re maximizing this free search engine traffic.
SEO campaigns again vary significantly. To hire an industry leading SEO consultant can cost as much as $1000 per hour.
Here’s a guide on SEO pricing that Rand Fishkin from SEOmoz posted 2 years ago. As you can imagine – prices have grown since then…but it serves as a guide for the premium end of the scale:
| Service | Low End | Mid Range | High End |
| Site Review + Consulting | $500 | $2,500 | $10,000 |
| Hands-On Editing of Pages/Code | $2,000 | $10,000 | $50,000 |
| Manual Link Building Campaign | $500 | $5,000 | $20,000 |
| Keyword Research Package | $100 | $500 | $2,000 |
| Monthly Retainer for Ongoing SEO | $2,500 | $7,500 | $20,000+ |
Professional SEO is an investment. If you’re in business for the long haul, you’d be crazy not to allocate a decent proportion of your initial online budget on SEO – (or if your budget is tight, then study hard and invest the many hours needed to do it yourself).
To get started with an SEO campaign (fully managed by an experienced SEO professional) that’s going to generate serious ranking and traffic results – you should be looking to pay at least £500 per month - minimum.
- 3. PPC – Google AdWords and Other Search Advertising
As with all things, you’re probably looking for some quick wins in terms of traffic and results from your website. This is where PPC (pay per click) Search Engine Advertising (e.g. Google AdWords) helps.
With a well setup Google AdWords campaign, you can have highly targeted visitors delivered to your website almost instantly. It’s a great way to ensure you’re still getting a return on your website investment while your SEO and other strategies take effect.
Professional PPC campaigns, depending on your industry and how much traffic you need, can cost as little as $200 per month and the sky is the limit. But be aware that with cheaper campaigns, you’ll find most of your investment is going into the setup and management – rather than the media (click costs) – which makes it hard to generate decent ROI.
A serious PPC campaign for a small business should start at approx £500…and depending on your goals – go up from there.
- 4. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a very cost effective way of generating traffic for your website. With most affiliate networks offering CPA models (cost per acquisition) – it allows you to generate traffic that you only pay for when the visitor converts (makes a purchase, signs up for a newsletter, submits a query).
The challenge with affiliate networks is that they take time to be effective and the best networks are often very selective as to who they promote.
Most decent networks will charge a small set up fee ($500-1000 upwards) and then take a commission on every sale or acquisition. Some of the larger ones will also charge a monthly management fees to help you optimize your campaigns.
Most publishers will be looking for between 10% - 30% commission on sales, or a decent bonus for lead/enquiry based programs.
- 5. Social media, Email marketing & Ad Networks
There’s a range of other website promotion opportunities such as Social Media, Email marketing and Ad Networks.
With Social Media, it’s definitely an area that small businesses should be getting involved with, but remember; it’s not a fit for every business and Social media is like SEO - it’s an investment and normally takes a while to generate good results.
There are plenty of other ways to drive more traffic to your site, but in reality – the areas mentioned above will be your main traffic sources.
So with that in mind – you can now get a much clearer and more realistic picture of what it costs to get serious results online. Even if we use the lower end of these costs as a guide, small business owners should be looking at
| Cost Guide | |
| Website Development | £1000+ |
| Hosting & Maintenance | £120+ |
| SEO - 6mth program | £3000 |
| Search Advertising (PPC) - 6mths | £1200 |
| Affiliate Marketing | Depends on Program |
| Others | Depends on Tactics |
| TOTAL | £5000+ |
Now that’s only a starting guide, and as I’ve mentioned previously - the cheapest options aren’t always the best in terms of results and generating good ROI.
So if you’re starting a new website project - you can see there’s more to consider than just the website design costs. If you want your new website in 2010 to be a success - be realistic when doing your planning and budgeting!
Labels: Adwords, Dr Search, online marketing, online marketing uk, Search Clinic, Search Engine Optimisation, SEO Services, social media websites, social web marketing
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Wednesday, January 20, 2010
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Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Now it's the Germans turn to attack Google
Coming hard on the heels of France's attempts last week to curb Google's activities (See France considers extra tax on Google, Yahoo and Facebook ) now the Germans are considering anti competitive legal rulings.
Last week, in a German magazine interview, government minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger suggested that Google was “becoming a giant monopoly.” She casually asserted that government action might be coming at some point if Google didn’t become more “transparent” and responsive to government concerns.
Almost on cue several companies have filed diverse complaints with Germany’s Cartel Office about Google.
Those complaints, which have not yet been publicly released, involve the following, according to Deutsche Welle:
* German newspaper and magazine publisher associations the VDZ and BDZV have reportedly filed their complaints about uncompensated use of article snippets. There are also complaints about how publications are ranked in Google search and news results
* Shopping site Ciao, now owned by Micrososft, is upset about its AdSense contract (entered into before the Microsoft acquisition): “The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported that Ciao believes the contract to be overly restrictive, while not offering enough transparency on advertising revenues generated by AdSense.”
* Finally mapping site Euro-Cities asserts that the availability of Google Maps to third party sites for free is “is destroying its business model.”
These descriptions are based on second hand information and so it’s impossible to evaluate the merits of the respective parties’ claims.
While there may be merit to some or many of these claims, one gets the sense that there is lots of frustration being expressed in Europe and thrown at Google in the form of various legal theories to see what sticks.
However, as a general matter, Google’s size and market power is alarming many European regulators and they seem intent on finding ways of asserting more control over the company.
Labels: Google, Microsoft, online marketing, Pay Per Click Marketing
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Tuesday, January 19, 2010
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Friday, January 15, 2010
Poor customer service- the true cost of lost sales
Poor customer service is costing UK plc about £15.3 billion in lost business per annum- with younger consumers less likely to put up with poor treatment than older ones.
According to a survey undertaken by Greenfield Online among 514 consumers, 73% had terminated a relationship in the past because of bad experiences, with the average value of lost sales being £248 per year.
But the report entitled ‘The Cost of Poor Customer Service: The Economic Impact of the Customer Experience’ also found that younger customers aged between 27 and 43 were 60% more likely to go elsewhere than older ones if dissatisfied with the level of service they received.
It is becoming increasingly crucial for organisations, particularly in service industries such as finance, to ensure they retained customers by providing "exceptional" customer service.
As to what poor customer service actually meant to respondents, the study found that problems could be broken down into several categories: customers having to repeat information; feeling trapped in automated self service systems and being forced to wait too long to receive a service.
Other bugbears included speaking to company representatives who were unaware of their service history and not being able to switch easily between communications channels. Some 41% of those questioned said they were most unhappy with having to use voice-based self-service systems, while 39% said they felt it critical to integrate such systems more intelligently with human interaction.
A huge 83% also said they would welcome proactive help when they became stuck trying to undertake a web transaction or some other form of self-service activity.
According to a survey undertaken by Greenfield Online among 514 consumers, 73% had terminated a relationship in the past because of bad experiences, with the average value of lost sales being £248 per year.
But the report entitled ‘The Cost of Poor Customer Service: The Economic Impact of the Customer Experience’ also found that younger customers aged between 27 and 43 were 60% more likely to go elsewhere than older ones if dissatisfied with the level of service they received.
It is becoming increasingly crucial for organisations, particularly in service industries such as finance, to ensure they retained customers by providing "exceptional" customer service.
As to what poor customer service actually meant to respondents, the study found that problems could be broken down into several categories: customers having to repeat information; feeling trapped in automated self service systems and being forced to wait too long to receive a service.
Other bugbears included speaking to company representatives who were unaware of their service history and not being able to switch easily between communications channels. Some 41% of those questioned said they were most unhappy with having to use voice-based self-service systems, while 39% said they felt it critical to integrate such systems more intelligently with human interaction.
A huge 83% also said they would welcome proactive help when they became stuck trying to undertake a web transaction or some other form of self-service activity.
With the rise of social media and increased consumer awareness, the cost of customer frustration continues to grow. Dr Search is advising enterprise businesses in the UK to develop cohesive strategies that straddle all channels of customer communication including Twitter and Facebook."
Labels: Dr Search, Facebook, online marketing, online marketing uk, Search Clinic, Twitter
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Friday, January 15, 2010
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Thursday, January 14, 2010
New data protection fines jump to £500,000
Beware- the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) will be imposing much stiffer fines for data security breaches in the future. At the moment the maximum fine the ICO can levy is £7,000.
The Information Commissioner's Office is getting tougher over data security with the imposition of fines of up to half a million pounds for serious breaches, something which could prove costly for careless marketeers.
"The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) will be able to order organisations to pay up to £500,000 as a penalty for serious breaches of the Data Protection Act," said an ICO statement. "The ICO has produced statutory guidance about how it proposes to use this new power, which has been approved by the Secretary of State for Justice, and has been laid before Parliament this week."
The size of the fine will be determined after an investigation to assess the gravity of the breach and will also be based on the the size and finances of the organisation at fault, whether the breach was accidental or deliberate, and how much distress the leak of information caused.
"The Information Commissioner will take a pragmatic and proportionate approach to issuing an organisation with a monetary penalty," the ICO statement said. "Factors will be taken into account including an organisation’s financial resources, sector, size and the severity of the data breach, to ensure that undue financial hardship is not imposed on an organisation."
"Getting data protection right has never been more important than it is today. As citizens, we are increasingly asked to complete transactions online, with the state, banks and other organisations using huge databases to store our personal details," said Information Commissioner Christopher Graham. "When things go wrong, a security breach can cause real harm and great distress to thousands of people."
"These penalties are designed to act as a deterrent and to promote compliance with the Data Protection Act. I remain committed to working with voluntary, public and private bodies to help them stick to the rules and comply with the Act. But I will not hesitate to use these tough new sanctions for the most serious cases where organisations disregard the law."
The original Act came into force in 1984. Under the most recent Act of 1998, data can only be used for the purposes for which it is collected and cannot be given to others without the consent of the individual. Everybody has the right to see information that is held about them, with the exception of crime-related data.
The Information Commissioner's Office is getting tougher over data security with the imposition of fines of up to half a million pounds for serious breaches, something which could prove costly for careless marketeers.
"The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) will be able to order organisations to pay up to £500,000 as a penalty for serious breaches of the Data Protection Act," said an ICO statement. "The ICO has produced statutory guidance about how it proposes to use this new power, which has been approved by the Secretary of State for Justice, and has been laid before Parliament this week."
The size of the fine will be determined after an investigation to assess the gravity of the breach and will also be based on the the size and finances of the organisation at fault, whether the breach was accidental or deliberate, and how much distress the leak of information caused.
"The Information Commissioner will take a pragmatic and proportionate approach to issuing an organisation with a monetary penalty," the ICO statement said. "Factors will be taken into account including an organisation’s financial resources, sector, size and the severity of the data breach, to ensure that undue financial hardship is not imposed on an organisation."
"Getting data protection right has never been more important than it is today. As citizens, we are increasingly asked to complete transactions online, with the state, banks and other organisations using huge databases to store our personal details," said Information Commissioner Christopher Graham. "When things go wrong, a security breach can cause real harm and great distress to thousands of people."
"These penalties are designed to act as a deterrent and to promote compliance with the Data Protection Act. I remain committed to working with voluntary, public and private bodies to help them stick to the rules and comply with the Act. But I will not hesitate to use these tough new sanctions for the most serious cases where organisations disregard the law."
The original Act came into force in 1984. Under the most recent Act of 1998, data can only be used for the purposes for which it is collected and cannot be given to others without the consent of the individual. Everybody has the right to see information that is held about them, with the exception of crime-related data.
The new rule is expected to come into force in the UK on 6 April 2010.
The cost of data breaches is already staggeringly high for UK businesses; last year the average breach cost £1.7 million, or £60 for each identity lost. If the ICO's bite turns out to be as big as its bark, this cost could exceed £2 million; a huge expense at a time when businesses and public sector bodies can ill afford to waste money.
The cost of data breaches is already staggeringly high for UK businesses; last year the average breach cost £1.7 million, or £60 for each identity lost. If the ICO's bite turns out to be as big as its bark, this cost could exceed £2 million; a huge expense at a time when businesses and public sector bodies can ill afford to waste money.
Organisations that want to avoid these massive financial penalties must look to implement watertight data protection strategies, employing proven technologies such as data encryption to ensure that confidential information is locked down. It is only by doing so that companies can be sure that their customers, reputations and profits are protected.
Labels: online marketing, online marketing uk, Search Clinic
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Thursday, January 14, 2010
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Monday, January 11, 2010
France considers extra tax on Google, Yahoo and Facebook
Google, Yahoo, Facebook and other online companies could be taxed extra under plans being considered by the French government.
A report, commissioned by the government, suggests firms such as Google, Yahoo and Facebook should pay a new tax on their online ad revenues.
The money could be used to fund legal alternatives for buying books, films and music on the internet.
But critics say the tax would be difficult to implement and Google says it could slow down innovation.
President Nicolas Sarkozy has taken a tough line on the increasing dominance of digital content.
France has just introduced tough new legislation aimed at removing those who persistently download illegal content from the net.
It has also gone head to head with Google over its plans to digitise the world's books, with a project to set up its own digital library financed by the government to the tune of £700m.
Additionally it is considering a law which would give net users the option to have old data about themselves deleted.
The proposals for a tax on content is still very much in the early stages and there are few details of how it would exactly work.
Patrick Zelnik, who contributed to the report and is also the founder of the French president's wife's record label, hopes the idea will be taken on board across the EU.
But Google is among those to have voiced opposition to the plan.
"We don't think introducing an additional tax on internet advertising is the right way forward as it could slow down innovation," said Olivier Esper, senior policy manager for Google France.
The better way to support content creation is to find new business models that help consumers find great content and rewards artists and publishers for their work."
A report, commissioned by the government, suggests firms such as Google, Yahoo and Facebook should pay a new tax on their online ad revenues.
The money could be used to fund legal alternatives for buying books, films and music on the internet.
But critics say the tax would be difficult to implement and Google says it could slow down innovation.
President Nicolas Sarkozy has taken a tough line on the increasing dominance of digital content.
France has just introduced tough new legislation aimed at removing those who persistently download illegal content from the net.
It has also gone head to head with Google over its plans to digitise the world's books, with a project to set up its own digital library financed by the government to the tune of £700m.
Additionally it is considering a law which would give net users the option to have old data about themselves deleted.
The proposals for a tax on content is still very much in the early stages and there are few details of how it would exactly work.
Patrick Zelnik, who contributed to the report and is also the founder of the French president's wife's record label, hopes the idea will be taken on board across the EU.
But Google is among those to have voiced opposition to the plan.
"We don't think introducing an additional tax on internet advertising is the right way forward as it could slow down innovation," said Olivier Esper, senior policy manager for Google France.
The better way to support content creation is to find new business models that help consumers find great content and rewards artists and publishers for their work."
Labels: Facebook, Google, online marketing, Twitter, Yahoo
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Monday, January 11, 2010
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Friday, January 8, 2010
More small businesses move online to reduce costs
The recession is prompting small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to increase their online presence as they seek to cut running costs and use marketing budgets more efficiently, a new survey has revealed.
According to the Kleinwort Benson UK Entrepreneurs Survey 2009, 76 per cent of approximately 100 respondents said they intended to increase the use of e-marketing in 2010 and 53 per cent said an online presence was critical.
“When making choices to cut costs and determine future strategies, businesses are focusing on online channels,” said Joe White, chief operating officer of Gandi.net, an online service provider.
“It is cheaper to set up and distribute via the internet, so companies may well choose to close the shop. The recession has bought forward some of those decisions to focus on online channels.”
Social media are also being used more extensively, the survey revealed. Forty two per cent said LinkedIn and Twitter, two forms of online networking, would be used to expand their businesses in 2010. Thirty eight per cent and 36 per cent, respectively, said they would employ Facebook and YouTube.
Dominic Davenport, chief executive of Escape Studios, which trains computer graphic artists, said: “We have found that social media deliver very quick, tangible returns in terms of building awareness of our brand, and also identifying new customers.”
Glyn Heath, chief executive of Centiq, an IT consulting and services company, said the interest in social media and web marketing was striking.
“However, smaller businesses are still getting to grips with tools such as Twitter and LinkedIn,” added Heath. “Executives recognise that the web offers exciting engagement possibilities, but they are finding that social media are resource-heavy marketing channels, so increased spending will have lasting implications for workload.”
Julie Hall, founder of Women Unlimited, an online community for female entrepreneurs, said she was surprised that only 53 per cent of respondents thought an online presence was critical.
“The 47 per cent that don’t believe an online presence is critical to their business, don’t get it,” she said. “If they aren’t online, positioning themselves as the ‘go-to company’ in their field, one of their competitors will be.”
The Search Clinic is amazed that more than half of entrepreneurs are still not recognising the benefits of online marketing. Agreed online marketing can waste huge amounts of time and money- but if you get it right, you can acheive up to 500% ROI.
Labels: Dr Search, Facebook, online marketing, online marketing uk, Search Clinic, social media websites, social web marketing, Twitter
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Friday, January 08, 2010
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Thursday, January 7, 2010
ENom sucks your money
Having reviewed one company that purports to care for it's customers over the past few days Search Clinic reviews another at the other end of the customer care spectrum- eNom Inc.
eNom a domain name registration company has increased it's redemption fee for domains to a whopping $250 US Dollars- and has also stopped warning it's customers that their sites are up for renewal.
In an recent announcement, eNom states that they have increased their Redemption Fee for domains in the Redemption Grace Period (RGP) to $250 plus the fee for a 1 year renewal of the domain.
The redemption grace period follows the deletion of the domain by the registrar and was introduced by ICANN as an additional means to recover expired domains by the original registrant. The process of restoring the domain results in a higher charge by the registry and is a process consisting out of more than one step.
In many cases registrars such as eNom “simulate” this period for domains since they will offer domains in their partner marketplaces for purchase or auction after the domains’ expiry. Should a domain in this state be returned to the original registrant, the registrar will not occur any additional charges from the registry aside from the renewal fee.
However the redemption charges registrars apply is decided only by them.
Enom last year also increased some of their new registration prices by 50% for some of the most popular URLs like a .tv domain name.
The moral of the story is to shop around- if registrars like enom try ripping off customers- WALK AWAY.
Labels: online marketing, online marketing uk, Search Clinic
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Thursday, January 07, 2010
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Thursday, December 24, 2009
Google’s tips to avoid duplicate content issues
Google have shared some insights into duplicate content and how the search engine deals with it.
Google Search Quality Engineer, Greg Grothaus, presents the video as part of the Webmaster Outreach program.
Greg clears up one of the most common myths in SEM: the duplicate content penalty.
Here’s how Greg explains it:
I’ve seen evidence of people kind of get worried about this and thinking that [being omitted from the search results] is a penalty Google are applying on their site. What’s actually happening is that we’re looking at the query the users doing and we’re saying we want diversity in the results we’re going to show a user.
So if someone searched for “fluffy bunnies” we want to show, as maybe page one, the wikipedia article on fluffy bunnies but we don’t want to show as page 2 the print version of the same article with the exact same text. So what we’re doing for that specific query, we’re omitting the print article.
How can you combat this? Here are some suggestions:
* Don’t attempt to manipulate search engine rankings by deliberately duplicating content. If the content is changed in some way or additional value is added, then this is ok. But don’t just copy another website word for word, Google see this as a big no no
* Don’t dilute your linking by backlinking to several URL versions with the same content.
* Make sure your URLs are user friendly in the search results. URLs with useless parameters may offset branding efforts and decrease usability.
* Make it easy for Google to crawl you site. More time spent crawling the same content means less time to discover the important content. So make sure that you have a sitemap- and update it regularly.
* Pick one “canonical’ URL for each page and ensure you link consistently within your site.
Dr Search has posted Greg’s video here, so you can check it out yourself. It’s about 15 minutes in length, so you might need to grab yourself a drink and settle into a comfy chair.
Dr Search- the Principle Consultant at the Search Clinic wishes you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
Labels: Dr Search, Google, online marketing, Search Clinic, search engine marketing
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Thursday, December 24, 2009
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Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Nielson's top five advertising trends for 2010
Whilst the overall advertising environment in 2009 was fairly gloomy with revised strategies to address the credit crunch new trends developed.
The online marketing industry evolved, and the lessons learned will likely pay off in the year ahead. For example, advertisers started to look at the need for accountability metrics beyond the simple “click-through” and on to campaign-specific performance.
They also started to embrace burgeoning social networks and consumer generated media to bring consumers closer to a product or brand.
Top Advertising Trends for 2010
1. Optimizing media convergence is a top priority. A better understanding of media convergence will manifest in order to deliver a better return on investment. The ability to accurately measure activity and link online ads to offline purchasing behavior will be critical.
2. New models emerge to take advantage of smartphones. Accurate mobile measurement will be required to stay head of the snowballing growth of that media platform.
3. More cross media ad campaigns surface. The massive growth of online video games played and shared online leads the way for more successful interactive and cross-media advertising campaigns to appear. Growth in the adoption of this innovative advertising across screens and activities will increase.
4. Commercialization of social networking hubs increase. Social media will provide a new sales channel for establishing product awareness and commercializing brands to better support traditional advertising or text-based ads.
5. More interesting and interactive online ads appear. Increased use of more creative advertising and content models online such as video, attention-seeking page takeover ads and mechanisms for greater interactivity will drive the next era of Web development.
Top Advertising Trends for 2010
1. Optimizing media convergence is a top priority. A better understanding of media convergence will manifest in order to deliver a better return on investment. The ability to accurately measure activity and link online ads to offline purchasing behavior will be critical.
2. New models emerge to take advantage of smartphones. Accurate mobile measurement will be required to stay head of the snowballing growth of that media platform.
3. More cross media ad campaigns surface. The massive growth of online video games played and shared online leads the way for more successful interactive and cross-media advertising campaigns to appear. Growth in the adoption of this innovative advertising across screens and activities will increase.
4. Commercialization of social networking hubs increase. Social media will provide a new sales channel for establishing product awareness and commercializing brands to better support traditional advertising or text-based ads.
5. More interesting and interactive online ads appear. Increased use of more creative advertising and content models online such as video, attention-seeking page takeover ads and mechanisms for greater interactivity will drive the next era of Web development.
From:
Labels: mobile marketing, online marketing, online marketing uk, Search Engine Optimisation, social web marketing
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Wednesday, December 23, 2009
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Monday, December 21, 2009
Google fined over French copyright infringements
A Paris court has found Google guilty of copyright infringement in a ruling which could have ramifications for its plans to digitise the world's books.
The search giant must pay £266,000 in damages and interest to French publisher La Martiniere. Google was also ordered to pay £9,000 a day until it removes extracts of the books from its database.
It was one of many to take Google to court for digitising its books without explicit permission.
Google expressed disappointment at the ruling.
"French readers now face the threat of losing access to a significant body of knowledge and falling behind the rest of internet users," said a spokesman for the firm.
Google wants to scan millions of books to make them available online.
This court case will be seen as a victory for critics of the plan who fear Google is creating a monopoly over information.
Publisher Herve de La Martiniere launched his court case three years ago but Google continued to scan books during this period.
La Martiniere, the French Publishers' Association and authors' group SGDL who started the court battle initially demanded that Google be fined £13.2m.
The search giant must pay £266,000 in damages and interest to French publisher La Martiniere. Google was also ordered to pay £9,000 a day until it removes extracts of the books from its database.
It was one of many to take Google to court for digitising its books without explicit permission.
Google expressed disappointment at the ruling.
"French readers now face the threat of losing access to a significant body of knowledge and falling behind the rest of internet users," said a spokesman for the firm.
Google wants to scan millions of books to make them available online.
This court case will be seen as a victory for critics of the plan who fear Google is creating a monopoly over information.
Publisher Herve de La Martiniere launched his court case three years ago but Google continued to scan books during this period.
La Martiniere, the French Publishers' Association and authors' group SGDL who started the court battle initially demanded that Google be fined £13.2m.
The book publishers claimed that scanning books was an act of reproduction and, as such, was something that should be paid for.
Google's plans to establish a digital library have hit several road blocks. It agreed to a settlement with US authors and publishers but is renegotiating after the US Justice Department concluded that the deal violates anti trust law.
Labels: Google, online marketing, search engines, Search Marketing
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Monday, December 21, 2009
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Thursday, December 17, 2009
Quick tips to boost your holiday sales
With Christmas fast approaching, here are some quick tips which can help you to maximise your sales during this peak time of year.
1. Increase Your Campaign Budgets
Throughout December there will be a big spike in the number of people looking for gifts online. If you are promoting your business through a pay per click program like Google AdWords, make sure to increase your campaign budgets to take advantage of the extra search activity.
2. Don’t Stop on December 25th
Even though the big day has come and gone, keep your holiday campaigns running into the New Year. Boxing day can be the busiest day of the year for online retailers, with many people looking for retailers trying to clear excess stock.
1. Increase Your Campaign Budgets
Throughout December there will be a big spike in the number of people looking for gifts online. If you are promoting your business through a pay per click program like Google AdWords, make sure to increase your campaign budgets to take advantage of the extra search activity.
2. Don’t Stop on December 25th
Even though the big day has come and gone, keep your holiday campaigns running into the New Year. Boxing day can be the busiest day of the year for online retailers, with many people looking for retailers trying to clear excess stock.
But make sure that you are your staff keep checking your online order emails! We know of one business that kept their pay per click running over the holiday period- but no one checked until Jan 2nd. So they had much lost money and dissatisfied customers.
3. Clarify Your Shipping Dates
A large majority of your customers will want to receive their goods on or before the 24th December, so make your shipping policy clear. On your home and product pages, list the final order dates for guaranteed delivery before xmas.
4. Consider a Holiday ‘Sale’
Give yourself an edge over competitors by running a special offer or discount during the holiday period. Some examples may include:
* Free Shipping
* Shop wide discounts- like a £10 off your next sale voucher code
* Buy One Get One Free Offers
* Free Order Bonuses- like a T shirt
5. Prompt Customer Service
Frantic, last minute shoppers will be looking for quick answers to their questions. By speeding your response times you’re more likely to keep their business away from competitors.
Good Luck- Dr Search hopes that you’ve found these tips a useful addition to your holiday marketing!
3. Clarify Your Shipping Dates
A large majority of your customers will want to receive their goods on or before the 24th December, so make your shipping policy clear. On your home and product pages, list the final order dates for guaranteed delivery before xmas.
4. Consider a Holiday ‘Sale’
Give yourself an edge over competitors by running a special offer or discount during the holiday period. Some examples may include:
* Free Shipping
* Shop wide discounts- like a £10 off your next sale voucher code
* Buy One Get One Free Offers
* Free Order Bonuses- like a T shirt
5. Prompt Customer Service
Frantic, last minute shoppers will be looking for quick answers to their questions. By speeding your response times you’re more likely to keep their business away from competitors.
Good Luck- Dr Search hopes that you’ve found these tips a useful addition to your holiday marketing!
Labels: Dr Search, online marketing, online marketing uk, Search Clinic
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Thursday, December 17, 2009
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Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Google and Facebook launch URL link shorteners
Google and Facebook have launched their own URL link shorteners, tools that transform a long internet address in to a much shorter string of characters.
Google's new URL shortener, goo.gl, will be available through Google's Toolbar and its Feedburner RSS feed, but is not yet available as a stand-alone service for "broader consumer use". Facebook's shortener, fb. me, is predominantly designed for use on mobile device, and it's unclear whether fb. me will be rolled out across the whole platform.
URL shorteners have grown in popularity over the last 18 months, with an increasing number of web users using services such as TinyURL and bit.ly to condense links so that they can be shared more easily on social networking sites such as Twitter, which imposes a limit on the number of characters that can be contained within a single message.
Google and Facebook's foray in to link shortening could be a disaster for rival service bit.ly, which has rapidly become the de facto URL-condensing tool. It is the URL shortener of choice for many third party Twitter clients, and bit.ly short links currently account for around 75 per cent of all shortened URLs circulated on the microblogging platform. Last month, bit.ly shortened more than two billion links, up from just 11.8 million the previous year.
Much of bit.ly's popularity stems from the metrics that can be gathered from every clicked link, enabling website owners to see where their traffic comes from. At present, neither Google nor Facebook has announced any plans to add analytics to their URL shortening services, but some industry experts believe Google could leverage its existing web trends and analytics tools and apply them to its goo.gl service if the tool is made generally available to businesses and consumers.
Within hours of Google's and Facebook's announcements, Betaworks Studios, which helped to develop
bit.ly, said that the company was launching a new service that would allow websites to create their own custom URLs built on the bit.ly platform.
Some industry experts have warned that the sheer volume of short links that could be generated by Facebook's and Google's URL shorteners could "overwhelm" the number of bit.ly links circulating on the internet.
URL shorteners have grown in popularity over the last 18 months, with an increasing number of web users using services such as TinyURL and bit.ly to condense links so that they can be shared more easily on social networking sites such as Twitter, which imposes a limit on the number of characters that can be contained within a single message.
Google and Facebook's foray in to link shortening could be a disaster for rival service bit.ly, which has rapidly become the de facto URL-condensing tool. It is the URL shortener of choice for many third party Twitter clients, and bit.ly short links currently account for around 75 per cent of all shortened URLs circulated on the microblogging platform. Last month, bit.ly shortened more than two billion links, up from just 11.8 million the previous year.
Much of bit.ly's popularity stems from the metrics that can be gathered from every clicked link, enabling website owners to see where their traffic comes from. At present, neither Google nor Facebook has announced any plans to add analytics to their URL shortening services, but some industry experts believe Google could leverage its existing web trends and analytics tools and apply them to its goo.gl service if the tool is made generally available to businesses and consumers.
Within hours of Google's and Facebook's announcements, Betaworks Studios, which helped to develop
bit.ly, said that the company was launching a new service that would allow websites to create their own custom URLs built on the bit.ly platform.
Some industry experts have warned that the sheer volume of short links that could be generated by Facebook's and Google's URL shorteners could "overwhelm" the number of bit.ly links circulating on the internet.
Labels: Facebook, Google, online marketing, online marketing uk, social media websites, social web marketing, Twitter
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Wednesday, December 16, 2009
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Thursday, December 10, 2009
Tiger Woods sex scandal better for websites 'than Michael Jackson dying', says Yahoo CEO
The Tiger Woods sex scandal has been "better than Michael Jackson dying" for helping websites make money, the head of Yahoo! has said.
Carol Bartz told an investor conference in New York that major Internet businesses and niche publications alike are benefiting from stories about the world No 1.
The scandal is "better than Michael Jackson dying" for helping Yahoo make money, because it is easier to sell adverts against racy stories than tragic events, she said.
"It's kind of hard to put an ad up next to a funeral," she added.
In response to a question, Miss Bartz even said Tiger Woods will "absolutely" help Yahoo hit its targets for this quarter, a comment the a spokesman later claimed was meant as a joke.
Google and Yahoo, which account for more than 80 percent of all Internet searches in the US and an even higher number in Britain, said they've seen a significant spike in traffic from people looking up Woods and his alleged extramarital affairs.
Yahoo says searches for the golfer's name are up more than 3,900 percent over the last 30 days.
However traffic levels have not matched the peaks seen in June following Jackson's unexpected death or Barack Obama's inauguration in January, both companies said.
Revelations about Woods' private life began emerging last month after he crashed his car outside his home in a gated community in Florida.
Yahoo has been more successful in capitalising on the Woods story than Google, according to Hitwise.
Hitwise says Yahoo and Yahoo News captured more than 17 per cent of all the traffic to major sites that came from searches of Woods' name. That's ahead of Tigerwoods.com, CNN.com and Google news.
Carol Bartz told an investor conference in New York that major Internet businesses and niche publications alike are benefiting from stories about the world No 1.
The scandal is "better than Michael Jackson dying" for helping Yahoo make money, because it is easier to sell adverts against racy stories than tragic events, she said.
"It's kind of hard to put an ad up next to a funeral," she added.
In response to a question, Miss Bartz even said Tiger Woods will "absolutely" help Yahoo hit its targets for this quarter, a comment the a spokesman later claimed was meant as a joke.
Google and Yahoo, which account for more than 80 percent of all Internet searches in the US and an even higher number in Britain, said they've seen a significant spike in traffic from people looking up Woods and his alleged extramarital affairs.
Yahoo says searches for the golfer's name are up more than 3,900 percent over the last 30 days.
However traffic levels have not matched the peaks seen in June following Jackson's unexpected death or Barack Obama's inauguration in January, both companies said.
Revelations about Woods' private life began emerging last month after he crashed his car outside his home in a gated community in Florida.
Yahoo has been more successful in capitalising on the Woods story than Google, according to Hitwise.
Hitwise says Yahoo and Yahoo News captured more than 17 per cent of all the traffic to major sites that came from searches of Woods' name. That's ahead of Tigerwoods.com, CNN.com and Google news.
Dr Search isn't surprised- "It's the old adage- Sex Sells".
Labels: Dr Search, Google, online marketing, Search Clinic, search engine marketing, search engines, Yahoo
# posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic : Thursday, December 10, 2009
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