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Friday, June 24th, 2011
Google has improved its free Google Analytics tool to help track click conversions more thoroughly.
The new Multi-Channel Funnels feature will help businesses understand where conversions are generated.
The old Analytics would only tell businesses where users had clicked prior to conversion. So, if they had followed a Facebook advert through to a Google ad click, Analytics would only displayed the Google click.
The new feature allows businesses to trace exactly how users have arrived and converted on their site.
It will display a more tangible pathway from the original click – whether it was on Facebook, Google or elsewhere – right through to conversion.
The Multi-Channel Funnels will also help analyse how different website marketing strategies are converging – such as email marketing, campaigns, organic search results and paid advertising.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in SEO, Pay Per Click Services, Multilingual Search Marketing and Website Conversion Enhancement services.
Tags: conversion, Google Analytics, multi-channel funnels, search
Posted in Website Conversion Improvement
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Wednesday, June 15th, 2011
Searching through Google will take much less time after the company introduced a new Instant Pages feature.
The new system will save several seconds on every search by predicting which result a user will click on.
A series of complex algorithms use previous search history to determine the most likely destination for a user’s click.
Google pre-loads the predicted page in the background, meaning it loads instantly when the search result is clicked.
Currently, it can take between two and five seconds for a webpage to load from Google’s search results.
Google hopes the change will give users more time to surf meaningful content on the Internet, rather than wait for search pages to load.
The company claims trials showed the speed of Instant Pages encouraged people to make more searches in one visit to Google, a side-effect which could greatly improve online marketing for businesses.
Instant Pages will be introduced to Google’s Chrome browser over the coming weeks, with extensions planned for Firefox and Internet Explorer.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in Search Engine Marketing & Internet Marketing.
Tags: chrome, Google, Instant Pages, search
Posted in Search Engine News
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Wednesday, June 15th, 2011
Search giant Google has introduced a new voice search feature to its Chrome browser.
The change will allow users to click a button and speak directly into a microphone in their PC, rather than manually type in search terms.
The technology was previously only available to mobile phone users.
The feature is currently only available on Chrome, and users will need a microphone built-into their computer, or a headset with microphone function, to make it work.
The voice search query works much like a normal Google search – but has some interesting features, such as being able to ask mathematics questions, with Google immediately providing the correct answer.
Whilst the speak-out-loud feature is unlikely to catch on in busy offices, it does represent a step towards the periphery-free computer interface – along with touch-screen technology – which could eventually remove the need for a keyboard or mouse.
The change could also affect search engine optimisation techniques, as users could streamline their search terms in the spoken rather than written word.
Google is expected to release extensions to allow voice search on other browsers soon.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in Search Engine Marketing & Internet Marketing.
Tags: chrome, Google, search, voice search
Posted in Search Engine News
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Friday, March 25th, 2011
One has to ask what Google is doing when sites such as this show up in the top 10:
Pirate Trike Hire – 08:47
Index of /. [ICO], Name · Last modified · Size · Description. Apache Server at www.piratetrikehire.co.uk Port 80.
www.piratetrikehire.co.uk/ – Cached –
Anyone who has surfed the Net will recognise this as a standard holding page for an unconfigured website. However, it seems Google does not view it as such, and deems fit to put in the top 10 for “rent trike uk”.
Standard server results such as this indicate a non-updated, unvisited, uncared for website. Surely they should automatically be excluded from the SERPS?
Tags: #fail, Google, results, search, SEO, serps
Posted in Blog, Google, SEO
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Monday, March 14th, 2011
The breaking story today in the social world is the development at Etsy which has led to all buyers’ personal details and purchases being able to be searched by anyone. Whatever they have bought, and whenever they bought it.
The theory behind the changes appears to be that people shop based on the recommendations of their ‘circle’ of friends. It’s all about making shopping ‘social’, but the debate has to be do you want every purchase you make through a website showing up on Google under your name? Along with your email address, real name and possibly even your Facebook link?
If you ask on Facebook or Twitter which make of washing machine your followers or friends would recommend, that is your choice to reveal that you are planning to buy a washing machine. Or a hand-embroidered pink leotard to wear on your work at home days. Or whatever you plan to buy.
Purchases that you make normally are private unless you CHOOSE to review a product, ask your friends about it, or boast about the great deal you have just managed.
Etsy have just turned that privacy on its head with its PeopleSearch facility, by opting in all registered users to the new search system and opening up the database to the search engine spiders. You can opt out, but a new user should not need to trawl forums and consumer-run Etsy help sites to find out to opt out.
Whether or not this is permissible under strict UK privacy laws about data protection remains to be seen, but it is possible that Etsy may find themselves facing a fairly expensive lawsuit if they don’t rescind this functionality fairly quickly. Rather like Facebook did with Beacon.
Tags: data protection, E-Commerce, etsy, personal details, privacy, search, user
Posted in Blog, E-Commerce, SEM Industry, Website Usability
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Thursday, March 18th, 2010
For some people, creating new content is a struggle. It really needn’t be. There is fresh content to inspire you all over the Web. However, you should always create unique content, rather than copying someone else’s work. Internet marketing, whether it is SEO, SEM, PPC, Web PR, all relies on informative, keyword rich content to work properly.
Use the resources below to find exciting content to get your creative juices flowing in no time.
Squidoo – so many people maintain their lenses (or mini websites) regularly, and there are thousands of people who follow specific lenses and encourage the authors to post more often. Look for the top ranked lenses on your keyword, or most recently updated.
Delicious – is one of the many social bookmarking sites and offers a wide variety of search mechanisms which will open up thousands of new sites for you to investigate for inspiration. Others include Digg and Stumbleupon – feel free to add more in your comment below.
Twitter – it’s really quite staggering how many Tweets are now sent each day, and the search feature is becoming ever more useful for finding latest news for particular niches. When it is working, that is!
Alltop – is a funky news site (but be warned: you can get lost in here easily, so use the eggtimer to prevent that!)
That should keep your pen busy scribbling on the paper for a while with all the news and views that are available.
Which sites help you to develop new content, write blog posts, or just get into heated debates with colleagues?! Let us know.
Tags: Content, internet marketing, News, PPC, search, SEM, SEO, sites, social bookmarks, web pr
Posted in Blog, Content, Keywords, Small Business Resources, Social Media, Tips & Tricks
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Saturday, March 6th, 2010
Google has announced that it will be dropping the searchwiki feature from the search engine, and introducing Google stars instead.
These work in the same way as you may have become used to with Google Mail, News and Reader. The Google blog states:
“With stars, you can simply click the star marker on any search result or map and the next time you perform a search, that item will appear in a special list right at the top of your results when relevant.”
For those who actually used SearchWiki, don’t worry, your edits will be saved.
Tags: Google, search, search engine, searchwiki, stars
Posted in Blog, Google, SEO
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Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
As 2009 rolls to a close, everyone is considering the changes in the world of search during the year. So, we have gathered together the views from some of our experts in the Clickthrough Marketing office of what we may see in 2010 as a result of those changes.
Adam Symes, Head of Paid Advertising:
2009 has been a year of great change in social media. MySpace and Bebo have seen huge decline and yet back in 2006 they were the top two searched for terms on Google. Conversely, the Global Language Monitor has named ‘Twitter’ the word of the year. The last 12 months have seen a huge increase in the use of Twitter and although this may plateau in 2010 it will still remain a huge force as Google continues to integrate tweets into real-time search results.
Another trend that has experienced significant shifts is the use of retargeting, a form of intelligent behavioural targeting where an ad / banner is displayed on a site (sometimes unrelated) a user visits after the user visits the advertisers site.
Adrian Epstein, Paid Search Account Manager:
Google continued to develop AdWords opportunities this year. It is now allowing Google advertisers to place additional site links into ad creative when bidding on performing campaigns. These additional site links take users directly to the other categories within your site from within the ad; this is great for additional shelf space. Advertisers can now opt in to ad extensions taking products from the Google Merchant centre, this then provides selected products that are relevant to your ad, increasing conversion opportunities.
Finally, rumour has it Google is taking into consideration the page load times as a factor for ranking. That pushes the focus back on hosting companies and more importantly developers who can decrease these page load times. Whether or not Google make page load times a factor in rankings, it is one that should be a focus.
Bryn Firkins, Director of Paid Advertising:
The iPhone has now shifted around 33 million units worldwide, by default bought by affluent consumers. For many, mobile marketing has been about banners and search. Now, iPhone apps have given marketers a powerful way to get their brand message in the hands of people who have proven they are happy to spend. The iPhone App store has gone from holding around 10,000 apps at the start of 2009 to just over 100,000 now.
Advertiser spend in developing these apps can sometimes sit outside usual online media budgets as they can be a powerful source of direct revenue in their own right. With Google Android now gaining some traction, and the relative portability of iPhone apps to Android, expect apps to continue to grow in importance in 2010.
Rob Stoubos, SEO Account Manager:
Brand building and online awareness through online PR and Social Media is becoming increasingly important. Online PR and Social Media are being factored into Google’s natural search algorithm increasingly, and Google wants to use ‘public opinion’ when it comes to deciding which sites to promote in natural search. Companies who don’t establish themselves in these areas and as a result increase their traffic referrals from these areas may begin to fall in rankings when Google’s new Caffeine algorithm comes into play in 2010.
What do you feel may figure highly in the world of search in 2010? Do you agree with our experts? Where will you be committing your online marketing budget next year, and where do you expect the big wins/losses to occur?
Tags: 2009, 2010, budgets, Google, itnernet marketing, mobile apps, search, search engines, search marketing, Social Media, Social media marketing, twitter
Posted in Google, SEM Industry, SEO, Social Media
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Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
From today, readers of Google news items will find their access limited to 5 items per day from certain sources – the majority of which are those who have been vociferous about search engines carrying their news for free. Announcements by the likes of Rupert Murdoch that Google is profiting from their work, and giving it away for free to people who then avoid paying subscription rates etc have been headlines for several weeks.
Some media groups have already made the shift to charging for online news content eg Johnston Press, who are charging £5 for a 3 month access to news on their website. It has to be seen how this will succeed in light of the speed that news now breaks on Twitter and so on, from citizen journalists as well as professional sources.
Is a new model required now that the internet has brought instant news access rather than yesterday’s news in tomorrow’s chip papers? Or will the major media groups find a way of extending the paid model yet further? Only time will tell.
Tags: Google, Google News, limits, News, Rupert Murdoch, search, subscriptions, twitter
Posted in Google, Stats & Trends
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Thursday, November 19th, 2009
Having spent much time over the years in forums, it strikes me that forums are being ignored by many in their internet marketing mix with the dash to incorporate Twitter and other social media.
However, there is much value in forums, which cannot be replicated in such depth using the likes of Twitter or Facebook. It all seems to hang around community and the level of engagement that occurs in forums, which is difficult to maintain in other noisy and fast-moving environments.
Additionally, for many people, forums have become a place where they hang out regularly, recognise old faces, welcome new ones, and get to know and respect (or not) each other’s views and thinking over a period of time.
There are obviously forums which struggle to achieve this ambience and sense of community, often not helped when forums are inundated, as the UK ones are, by people from other countries seeking to promote to the UK market rather than use the forums for their primary purpose – sharing and communication.
For the many who operate small businesses, SOHOs or one man bands, forums can become a social scene as much as a place to seek expert advice, and threats or dilution of that environment are often taken badly. Beware the guard dogs!
When you need an SEO or SEM answer or an opinion in a timely manner, do you head to:
a) Twitter
b) Yahoo Answers
c) your favourite forum – which?
d) a forum from a search result
e) offline eg colleagues via mobile, phone, email etc
f) somewhere else? Where?
Let us know!!
Tags: communication, community, forum, marketing, search, Social Media, twitter
Posted in Small Business Resources, Social Media
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