Interest-based advertising could be beneficial to companies offering internet marketing services.
In a post on its Inside AdWords blog, Google explains early testing results of its new function, which includes remarketing and interest category marketing, have been positive.
It gives users more control over the advertisements they read, the search engine explains, while new categories allow professionals to target their campaigns at people of a certain demographic, such as their age or gender.
These categories can be edited using Ads Preference Manager, while the function also allows people to opt-out of receiving the ads.
While the development allows firms to deliver better advertisements to their customers, Google claims it also results in more effective campaigns and higher website returns.
Testing of interest-based advertising is continuing and the company states it will be working with advertisers on the matter.
Google recently revealed it has launched an updated Keyword Tool that combines two separate functions.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a best practice Internet Marketing Agency.
We produced a one-page summary of our thoughts on Google Instant earlier this month for our clients, and thought we should share it with you too. It contains a quick explaination of the changes, an example of how search results change as you type, and how marketers should react. We hope you find it useful.
Firms using internet marketing services must know what motivates people in order to grab their attention, it has been suggested.
In an article for Search Engine Watch, Jennifer Van Iderstyne explained titles are one of the most important aspects of a piece as they are what gets the reader's attention.
In order to create an effective headline, marketers must study their audience and try to understand the way consumers think, she said.
"That's why some people think marketers are evil. But in our own way we're scientists, too. Through an understanding of what motivates people we can aspire to create those crucial motivators," Ms Van Iderstyne continued.
She also reminded marketers that title tags are different from a headline, so they can be used in alternative ways for SEO purposes.
Another thing businesses must take into account is mobile phone users, Shari Thurow recently noted for Search Engine Land.
Because the displays on their devices are different to a PC, she urged companies to have separate versions of their site.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in Search Engine Marketing & Internet Marketing.
This month, Dr Dave Chaffey explains why true online competitor analysis requires a much broader approach, and how by segmenting sites appearing for your target keywords you can open up opportunities for additional, untapped traffic.
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I think there’s a tendency for blinkered thinking about online competitors. We naturally think of our ‘direct’ competitors from the offline world. From a search engine marketing perspective I think it’s important to look more broadly at all competitors within the search results pages (SERPs) who are competition for traffic.
So who are your competitors? Imagine the range of competitors within the search results page for a multichannel retailer. The competitors for search traffic may include:
You can use a standard ranking position tool like ‘Advanced Web Ranking’ to review your online marketplace competitors. First identify your main strategic keyphrases, then for each country you compete in, use it to compile a list of the top 10 sites in the search listings and then categorise them.
Understanding the categories of online competitors which form your online marketplace or ecosystem is essential both to compete, but also to identify opportunities. Most companies will know their own performance ranking in the SERPs, but they won’t necessarily have reviewed the other types of sites that are successful in the SERPS – it likely won’t be restricted to direct competitors.
By contacting a complementary website that also ranks for a search phrase you are targeting, you may be able to strike an advertising deal, or create a partner arrangement to extend reach and awareness of your brands. For example, if you find a review site is performing well in the SERPs there may be opportunities for advertising or remarketing through the Google Display Network if the publisher uses Google AdSense; creating an affiliate link; a sponsorship arrangement for part of the site or editorial content or tools, perhaps on their blog.
So think beyond ‘direct’ competitors when conducting your competitive intelligence audit, as it may throw up new opportunities for partnering. Perhaps this should be called a ‘co-opetition analysis’ (co-operative competition), but I don’t think that mouthful will catch on!
Google have introduced Google New to keep everyone updated with Google product introductions.
However you interact with Google, whether as a searcher, as an internet marketing agency, as a business, or just an interested outside observer (can anyone in the world claim to be that?!), I would suggest that this is a must visit site.
What’s on there as of today? Well, it’s a rather smashing video which gives a fantastic visual demonstration of the potential and speed of Google Instant…
There has been a "huge shift" among internet marketing firms when it comes to the use of social media.
This is according to Tim Gibbon, co-founder and editor of the Social Media Portal, who explained websites such as Facebook and Twitter have become "engrained into online advertising".
He said marketers are unsure how long the phenomenon will last and as a result, are rushing to jump on the bandwagon as quickly as possible.
"Some brands are wisely beginning to integrate their social media, online and traditional advertising so that their approach is more seamless," Mr Gibbon stated.
He said Facebook and Twitter are "powerful" marketing tools as they are a completely different medium to other forms of promotion and advertising.
Earlier this month, the Telegraph reported that Benjamin Faes, Europe, the Middle East and Africa head of YouTube and display at Google, advised companies at the ad:tech conference in London that social networking sites will contribute to a display revolution.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in Search Engine Marketing & Internet Marketing.
Firms looking to improve their search engine optimisation strategies could benefit from a new development launched by Google.
Inside AdWords crew member Jason Shafton revealed on the official Inside AdWords blog that an updated Keyword Tool is now available.
This means that instead of two separate programs – Keyword Tool and Search-based Keyword Tool – marketers have all the technology combined.
The new program offers more refined options for users, as they can now filter results depending on word or keyword match time.
It is also possible for them to add keywords as negatives from their lists using a handy drop-down menu.
There search options with increased flexibility, while advanced choices allow marketers to use data filters based on mobile searches and ad shares.
Last week, Google launched its new Docs presentation feature that allows users to share presentations, as well as making them easier to work on in a group.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – specialists in Search Engine Optimisation and Internet Marketing.
As part of our Digital Academy staff training program Dave Chaffey, our Insights Director, held a Google Analytics ‘Boot Camp’ training session today for the ClickThrough team. Dave gave a streamlined version of his Econsultancy training session, taking into account the fact that almost everyone at ClickThrough uses Google Analytics on a daily basis!
For our newer members of staff, Dave went through the intermediate skills areas of Google Analytics Advanced Segments, Custom Reports, Goals and Funnels and use of Regular Expressions. Dave also demonstrated how using the Pivot feature in Analytics can help to reduce the need to combine data offline for comparative analysis and how to use custom variables to segment visitors across multiple visits.
It’s great to see that our search conversion experts were already using many of the more powerful functions e.g. Intelligence Alerts, Profile Filters, using regular expressions in goals and URL-based campaign tracking, but also really useful as an opportunity to keep up to date with the latest change to the Google Analytics tracking code as Asynchronous tracking is finally rolled out.
Big thanks to Dave for sharing his web analytics expertise, and to everyone who contributed some great questions.
Google’s Realtime search is no longer hidden but out in the open at http://www.google.com/realtime and boy, is it useful for businesses!
Although the full potential has yet to be explored, here are some potential uses:
Undoubtedly, there are going to be hundreds of uses for realtime that will allow you to spend less time searching the news and more time reacting to it, which will be an shot in the arm for internet marketers.
Analysis is a "core skill" for marketing firms offering pay per click services, according to one expert.
Writing for Search Engine Watch, Duncan Parry explained that once a search campaign has been established, it is essential for people to analyse its effects.
The author said it is "easy at this point to get caught up in the job of collating raw data, processing it and determining what happened".
Instead, analysts should be assessing why things are taking place in order to make changes or improvements in the future.
Mr Parry also said marketers need to develop the "skills of an analyst" and have an awareness of basic statistics, as a lot of data includes work with numbers.
One way in which businesses may be able to improve their search engine marketing strategies is to remove links.
In an article for the same publication, Gareth Owen advised companies to ensure their websites only include links coming in from relevant domains.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in SEO, Pay Per Click Services, Multilingual Search Marketing and Website Conversion Enhancement services.
