SEM Samurai: Search Engine Marketing Blog

SMX Sydney 2008 - Rand Fishkin’s Favourite Heath Ledger Movie & Much More.

2008-04-15T23:19:00.007+10:00

It’s official! In an impromptu tribute to Heath Ledger, Rand Fishkin declares “…I like the gay cowboy movie” while Danny Sullivan prefers of "A Knights Tail”!

…Me? Sorry Rand, I’m with Danny on this one…

In all seriousness though, SMX Sydney was a fantastic event and big congratulations must go to Barry Smyth of Search Strategies and the crew at Third Door Media for bringing 'SMX down under' and more importantly, to all the speakers - yeah you know who you are - for making it such a success!

I went into the two day event with one fairly straightforward goal. I wanted to walk away from Luna Park having felt that I’d learnt something truly valuable.

Thankfully I did!

In 2007 at Search Summit, I got a true sense of the passion and drive behind the attendees from across the Australian Search Marketing community. It was amazing to see so many like minded people in one place all intent on building their knowledge and improving their skills. The audience was not disappointed.

Jumping forward a year, what would SMX Sydney deliver? How much can things change in 12 months? …As we all know in this industry the fact is that anything and everything can change over the course of a year - nothing is sacred...

Search Marketing is evolving, so jump on people it’s going to be one heck of a ride.

My Top 8 SMX Sydney Moments.

1. Danny’s Keynote on Search 3.0, 4.0, etc – Mate, I love the passion! It was like DailySearchCast, only in the flesh!

2. Gord Hotchkiss – Enquiro - Your points on Human Hardware, behaviour etc, just blew me away – Inspirational.

3. Rand Fishkin – SEOmoz - Every time he opened his mouth – Hilarious

4. Ciaran Norris – Alltogether Digital - I want your Job?! Great run down of the viral marketing, Social Media space, and the work you’ve been lucky enough to be involved with.

5. Mike Motherwell – WMS Consulting - Funny, funny, man.

6. Rand’s Tie on Day two…

7. The speaker heckling via text message to the front.

8. Krispy Kreme Donuts from the Sensis Booth.

9. And last but not least, the FlightCentre Cloaking discovery… tsk, tsk, but what a forum in which to get caught!

There has been some great blow by blow coverage of SMX Sydney over the past week, most notable from Rand at SEOmoz, and also some solid work from local Aussie Blogger Neerav Bhatt.

Enjoy, and make sure you’re at SMX Sydney 2009. No excuses, If you’re in search, you need to be there because you can never know too much, and you can always learn more.

Paid Search (PPC) Tip: Dynamic Keyword Insertion

2007-12-19T19:39:00.000+11:00

Paid Search (PPC) Tip of the Day: Thursday December 20th

When using Dynamic Keyword Insertion in your Google Paid Search Ads, it is important to understand that the keyword that appears dynamically in the Ad Text is the one matched from in 'your' ad group, and not that which the user actually searched for.

Example:

Title: {KeyWord:Cheap Home Loans}

Ad Group Keywords: (broad match)

home loans cheap
home loan cheap
loans cheap

User searches for: 'cheap home loans sydney'

Title Appears: Home Loans Cheap as this was the keyword in your Ad Group.

Be sure to keep this in mind as you build out your keywords and ad groups using dynamic insertion.

Paid Search (PPC) Tip: Google AdWords: Ad Preview Tool

2007-12-18T23:44:00.000+11:00

PPC Tip of the Day: Wednesday December 19th: Ad Preview Tool

While this may seem second nature to many, make sure that any time you're testing your Google AdWords Ads, do so via the AdWords Ad Preview Tool.

Why? Well for one, you can easily test you keywords and ads against multiple targeting settings: Google Domain, Language, Country, state or region, and even specific coordinates, but more importantly you're not negatively influencing the quality and relevancy of your ads during the testing process.

Essentially, if you've viewing your, or your clients, ads directly via Google.com, then every impression you generate and every 'click' that's not received, lowers your CTR and there's naturally a flow on effect.

On high volume 'head terms' sure you may have next to no impact at all, but think of the tail terms, those that only get a handful of impressions an hour or a day. Every 'false' impression you generate is going to lower the CTR and potential Quality Score of that particular keyword.

Certainly something to think about as we all strive to maximize the quality of our campaigns.

Top Real Estate Sites In New Zealand June 2007

2007-07-03T23:38:00.000+10:00

Figures just released by Nielsen//NetRatings New Zealand show Trade Me Property maintains clear market domination in the region with more than double the Unique Browsers of the nearest rival - realestate.co.nz.

For NZ House Prices visit WhatPriceMyHouse.co.nz

Web 2.0 killed the Ad Impression Star!

2007-03-15T21:47:00.000+11:00

“…video killed the radio star… video killed the radio star…”

Ok, in all seriousness, enough of the late 70’s, early 80's pop… now imagine a time a few years from now… a time when technologies like AJAX, ‘communities’, the mobile web, social media etc. are just common place on the internet, a time when personalisation, collaboration, and contribution is simply what we all do online…. Now pull yourself back to today and ponder this – What does this mean for an online advertising industry that lives and dies by the ‘impression’?

In the not to distant future, the ‘Ad impression’, ‘page view’ or ‘page impression’ will simply be a meaningless measure on many sites. Users will no longer have to load a page to refresh their content. Content will update ‘in-page’, and be dependent on the particular action of the user. The poor impression counter will not move an inch.

In a climate where the CPM rate is still common place - a cost to the advertiser per thousand ad impressions, I sense a few revenue concerns for the many publishers out there today who do live and die by the number of impressions served to their advertisers. The industry must evolve…

OK, Ok I hear you, this is easy you say, ‘…we as the publisher will just implement a counter that refreshes the ad each time user interacts with our in-page content and keep charging a CPM because that’s the BEST solution…’

…are alarm bells ringing for anyone else?

The online measurement game is awash with re-hashed methodologies for measuring a ‘new’ technology. Take the traditional TV ratings panel methodology for example. Along came a medium where transparency was required around audience number in order to ascertain who had the best offering for an advertisers’ spend. So a ratings system was designed that would sample a select few to statistically represent the viewing habits of the masses. This is fine, perfectly acceptable from a data integrity perspective. It was fine because we had a finite number of channels for which this measurement methodology need be applied.

Enter the internet… These very same companies (and hundreds more) think it’s now perfectly acceptable to apply the same base methodology online. Wrong my friends, misguided and backward. In a world of infinite channels (the internet) the traditional ‘people-meter’ based sample approach simply does not cut it. Some companies are getting closer to the solution via large scale network based activity monitoring, but the fact still remains that the industry is still basing much of it’s research data on a methodology that was designed for a finite medium, and not the infinite medium of today.

Ok, rant over… but now enter web 2.0 and technologies that will make it even harder to measure online audience engagement with content. We can again re-hash archaic methodologies to find a best fit adaptation of an old technique to suit a new technical platform… but this is not a solution, is a deception... Ok rant over for real this time… back to the ‘Ad Impression’.

So ‘Ad Impressions’- an online publishers best friend because they bring in the dollars – what of them in the age to come? As the web evolves and an ‘impression’ does loose it’s value as an advertising currency, we can repeat the measurement mistakes of old (see above!), or, a better option, the online advertising industry evolves and hones in on what really matters to the advertiser… define what it is that truly represent value and return on investment for an advertiser and go from there…. It’s certainly not going to be a counter that increments every time a user interacts with an AJAX powered content feed or updates the content in their personalised home page widget.

As we move more and more into the second age of the internet, what matters most is the fact that people are viewing the content… people are eyeballing the ads as they traverse the internet. This media consumption need not be tied to a pseudo impression counter, what’s needed is a measure of how long the user interacts with content. How sticky is the site?

Maybe the solution is something I call it ‘Eye Ball Minutes’, but call it what you like, quite simply, it’s the amount of time users’ spend on a site. I.e. time spent interacting with a site. Tie this in with a ‘unique visitor’ count, and a ‘visit frequency’ count, and you then have a recipe for time spent interacting with site content. Unique Visitors x Frequency x Average Session Duration. What better way to gauge the effectiveness of advertising in an online world that’s evolving?

So yeah, Web 2.0 may just kill the Ad Impression star, but we need not re-use an old methodology to attempt to prove value to an advertiser. As an industry we just have to think on our feet and challenge ourselves to continually come up with new ways to measure success.

Top 6 Tips for Optimizing Ads on the Google Content Network.

2007-03-12T10:05:00.000+11:00

Steps to Improving your campaign performance on the Google Content Network.

Ensure your ad groups are themed – This is even more important on the content sites as the Google AdWords systems need to easily identify what your ads are targeting.

Experiment with separating out Content Bids in AdWords – You may find that increasing or decreasing standard bids improves performance. Eg. High volume, low conversion ads on the content network may be improved through implementing a lower CPC.

Remember your Audience – Content Ads are contextually targeted, not keyword targeted. Ensure you ad copy is descriptive and clear with a strong call to action.

Exclude sites that are not performing – Makes sense. If you identify sites that are not performing, or you do not want you Brand associated with, then exclude these sites.

Implement Conversion tracking – This goes without saying, and does not merely apply to the content network. If you truly want to gauge effectiveness of your advertising and have key success events to track, then implement either Google’s Conversion tracking or another tool from a 3^rd party vendor.

Analyze the data! – There are many analytics packages available today, and everyone should be using something to assist in their ongoing campaign and website optimization. If you’re not measuring your site audience, and you’re not tracking visitor sources, then this should be a priority. Google Analytics is a great start.

Google Webmaster Central: Robots.txt does not make files invisible to Google

2007-03-06T19:08:00.000+11:00

Some interesting comments from Google Webmaster Central at last week's Search Summit held in Sydney Australia.

It occurred during some questions surrounding what will and will not be indexed, and specifically, whether Google indexes CSS content. etc. A common myth is that the robots.txt file will hide anything that you wish not to be seen (for whatever reason), but be warned, if the content hidden does, in the eyes of the googlebot, impact on what is displayed to the user, ie CSS styles, then this content can still be spidered and looked over, it simply will not be displayed in the index.

So again, be warned if you're trying to do anything sneaky...

Yahoo!Xtra and msn nz to fight it out in New Zealand.

2007-03-04T18:40:00.000+11:00

March 1^st 2007 saw the launch of two new sites in NZ, Yahoo!Xtra and msn nz, both spawned post the demise of the Microsoft / Telecom NZ venture, xtramsn.co.nz

Time will certainly tell who reigns supreme in the market, however an early prediction from me is that Yahoo!Xtra may be on a winner here...

Yet, that said, one must not discount MSN, for while the current site may be relatively minimal and light on for content, I feel we have not yet seen the best msn nz has to offer.

We also should not forget the power of the msn content - with Live (mail, search, etc.), Messenger, and a host of other features, they're gauranteed to prove a formidable competitor to Yahoo!Xtra.

MySpace & Youtube popularity to decline…

2007-03-03T02:00:00.000+11:00

…Local and Mobile Search to thrive… Microsoft to be a contender… Social Search Optimization… Web 2.0 - what it means for the search marketer and the industry as a whole… Why SEMPO is good… Why buying links is not always bad… Why we should love Google Webmaster Central… and more!

Just some of the interesting predictions, topics, and debates to come out of this years’ Search Summit held in Sydney, Australia on March 1^st and 2nd.

On a whole, I was very impressed with both the breadth and depth of the content and the lively debate that ensued over the two day event. Even more impressed was I with the outstanding contributions made by Chris Sherman, Andy Beal and Adam Lasnik (Google), who really did make this event a stand out in my mind.

Additionally I should congratulate Barry Smyth of Search Strategies who pulled this conference together. Nice work!

Over the coming weeks I will endeavour to explore many of the themes and issues that were discussed, (…and hopefully add some value here and there!) so stay tuned.

For now I really should get off this computer and spend some quality time with my beautiful wife-to-be, whom I have neglected over the past few days.

Two Horse Race In NZ For Top Employment Web Site

2007-02-10T17:48:00.000+11:00

Nielsen//NetRatings New Zealand have released the rankings for the top Employment web sites in New Zealand for January 2007.

New Zealand Jobs site SEEK Ltd in a strong position, despite fierce competition from Trade Me's Job Classifieds site, 'Trade Me Jobs'.

2007 is clearly shaping up to be a defining year in for the employment vertical in NZ, and only time will tell whether APN's offering Search4Jobs will be able to keep the pressure on at #3 or slowly slide, leaving SEEK and Trade Me to fight it out for Market Leadership.

Ahhrrgg! The Content Ads All Look The Same!

2007-02-01T19:06:00.000+11:00

I was surfing on YouTube Today, patiently waiting to see my Google Site Targeted Ads appear, when this group of AdSense ads jumped out at me. and not because they were examples of copywriting genius, but rather that they all looked the same!

It's been said before, but I'll say it again. If you want your ads to stand out among all the other PPC ads selling the same product or service, then think out side the square a bit.

In the case of the 'Satellite TV on Your PC' title, It's certainly descriptive, but when they're all the same you're just lost in the mix. This is doubly relevant for the content network as you're no longer listening to the desires of the searcher, your broadcasting a message in a semi targeted fashion, so catch their attention.

Why not try something simple like the below for the title?

Want 2500 TV Channels?

Satellite TV for Free

Free TV in 2 Minutes

airnewzealand.co.nz Top Travel Web Site in NZ - December 2006

2007-01-30T19:54:00.000+11:00

Air New Zealand clearly dominating the Travel Category in the below release from Nielsen//NetRatings detailing the top Travel Sites during December 2006, ranked on Unique Browsers.

Search Engine Marketing is simply ‘too hard’ for some traditional agencies

2007-01-15T22:11:00.000+11:00

I won’t deny it, I’m a big fan of Search Engine Marketing and it’s potential to benefit ‘any’ company, big or small.

Search marketing allows us advertisers to reach an audience predisposed to enquiring about, or register interest in, our own product or service. After all, it’s not rocket science, they’ve been on Google and search for ‘widgets in Melbourne’, hey, guess what? I sell widget’s in Melbourne, let’s serve them an ad!

Danny Sullivan communicated the power of search as a medium to reach an active audience in his Pubcon Keynote on November the 16^th 2006 when he discussed the concept of ‘Desire Marketing’ and the notion of ‘reverse broadcasting’.

“…search is a reverse broadcasting medium… broadcast advertising is all about trying to build desire, most of whom aren’t interested…”

”…desire marketing… you’re listening to the people themselves broadcasting what they want to you, and they’re searching and saying what they want and you as a marketer tune into that, the audience is just as broad as broadcast, just more efficient, search has way higher return.”

Could an advertiser ask for a more compelling medium through which to market their goods or services? No. Yet for some reason there is still a undercurrent of apathy from many agencies out there when it comes to adding Search Engine marketing to the media mix. Why? Well I’d not wish to over simplify the reasons, but in many ways I believe there are some fairly simple explanations.

Firstly, the mindset of the agency must be understood. Here we have a medium that could not be more targeted if they tried, yet many do not offer this option to their clients, why? I think one overwhelmingly strong theme here is that SEM is simply put into the too hard basket for many media planners and buyers. Here’s a medium that is a powerful tool, yet the downside for the traditional agency is that it’s too labor intensive versus the other media they schedule – and it’s too measurable! Take this as an example, If you’re putting together a media schedule for a client and you book outdoor, radio, some TVC’s, some print, and some online banner campaigns, you’ve got a defined timeline to work through, a sequence of events, and deadlines to meet. When the cycle comes to a close, and you’ve you’ve got everything with the publishers, network etc. it’s time to sit back and flick the switch and send the campaigns live.

Enter Search Marketing – unlike the above (perhaps with the exception of banner campaigns, if mid campaign optimization as allowed) the work (and the fun!) begins as soon as the campaign goes live. There’s no time to sit back and start planning the next gig. SEM campaigns – large or small – require loving care and attention in order to blossom.

What I propose is that Agencies and Media planners need not fear this additional workload and responsibility and in the process deny their clients’ the success of a solid paid search campaign. They need to embrace the opportunity that this medium offers them, and those that rely on them, and dive forward into SEM bliss!

Vertical Job Search Engines Fasting Growing Sector in Online Employment

2007-01-13T00:34:00.000+11:00

Visits to Employment Websites Up 31 Percent First Week of January

NEW YORK, NY – January 10, 2007 – According to Hitwise, the world's leading online competitive intelligence service, the market share of visits to the Business and Finance - Employment and Training category increased by 31 percent comparing the week ending January 6, 2007 versus the previous week, ending December 30, 2006.

CareerBuilder.com was the most visited website for the week ending January 6, 2007 receiving 13.73 percent of all visits within the Employment category. Monster.com was the second most visited website with 11.51 percent of visits followed by Yahoo! Hot Jobs (hotjobs.yahoo.com) with 5.33 percent of visits.

“Along with diet and fitness websites, employment sites experience an increase during the first week of January each year as the job force considers finding a new job as part of their New Year’s resolution,” said Bill Tancer, general manager of global research at Hitwise. “This year vertical job search engines experienced the greatest year-over-year growth as job hunters navigate the increasing long tail of job openings.”

As a category, Business and Finance – Employment and Training sites decreased 2 percent comparing the week ending January 6, 2007 versus the ending January 7, 2006. “The decrease in visits to employment sites is most likely due to the drop in the unemployment rate of over 8 percent during 2006,” said Tancer.

Family Cat Gets Bank Credit Approved - $4,200 Credit Limit

2007-01-05T12:35:00.000+11:00

Melbourne Cat 'Messiah' now has his very own VISA credit card thanks to his owner and the Bank of Queensland.

I was not sure whether to laugh or cry when I read this article, but either way, $4k is going to buy a lot of cat food!

The full article can be read online at news.com.au 'Cat gets bank credit approval' but the basic story line is as follows:

Cat owner Katherine Campbell wanted to test her bank's identity screening process and decided to request a secondary card for her four legged friend.

The card was issued within two weeks of it having been requested, and while the bank did request identification for Messiah, the credit card promptly arrived soon after with none provided.

The Bank issued a statement that the Credit Card had been approved in error, and apologised saying that this should not have happened... really?

I'm still laughing.

Kiwi's love their cars and they love their Trade Me!

2006-12-29T13:32:00.000+11:00

If there's anyone who can point me to another market where there's such a clear leader in any category, then I'd love to see it.

According to Nielsen//NetRatings Market Intelligence data for the week ending December 17th (yes I'm a bit behind the times, Christmas does that) Trade Me Motors leads the Auto category by close to 1000%!

Not bad in a market the size of Victoria (roughly). It does beg the question to be asked however, what sort of audience quality is the advertiser getting in TM Motors? I'd hazard a guess that it's not 10 times that of the second player.

SEEK Launch new site - Businesses and Franchises for sale.

2006-12-19T15:19:00.000+11:00

On Moday the 11th of December SEEK Limited (SEK), Australia's premier Employment site launched a new online market place - SEEK Commercial - A business and franchise for sale classifieds site.

Launching with an already impressive list of business/franchise opportunities and advice, SEEK Commercial is well placed to take on the other, already well established, players in this space.

Rude Olf - The Real Story Behind Everyone's Favourite Red-Nosed Reindeer!

2006-12-15T09:59:00.000+11:00

Christmas cheer from our friends at Australian job site seek.com.au.

SEEK have developed a x-mas Viral that tells the story of Rude Olf - How a rude reindeer landed his first job.

View this wacky animation here 'Rude Olf - The real Story'

Merry Christmas everyone!

LMH

Top Technology web sites in New Zealand from Nielsen//NetRatings' Market Intelligence - Week ending 19 November 2006

2006-11-23T22:08:00.000+11:00

Below is a snap-shot of the top technology web sites in NZ for the week ending 19th November 2006. All I can say is good to see yet another vertical that Trade Me’s not dominating!