Invest in search now to put you a step ahead in 2010.
Depending on your definition of ‘investment’ and ‘return’, search this Holiday is being asked to be as solid as investing in dollars in 2005. And, for most, it will deliver. But search’s ability as an investment vehicle today is struggling, better yet, starving for capital.
Many players have narrowed paid search’s scope and potential because of the need to deliver month-over-month revenue and profit consistency, despite the fact that year over year, search has proven it can be a consistent, star performer. And in better economies, it was used to prod the market because of its unique ability to instantly gauge and measure interest in products, services, messaging, brand positioning, promotions and more.
As we sit here on Cyber Monday during a time of year when experimentation can be disproportionately higher (to capitalize on naturally higher yields), do we run the risk of compromising next year’s opportunities for this year’s demand and profits? The answer is yes. But let’s be sure that we understand the expense implications for next year when aggressive growth will be back in vogue and required by management and shareholders. There will be zero tolerance and jobs will be on the line – talk about pressure.
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Our recent acquisition of SpinShark has enabled PM Digital to go deep with clients on new strategies for improving natural search and page rank. While pretty much any business benefits from outside counsel and perspective regarding SEO, there are also things that marketers can do themselves to gain insight on how to continually optimize their web properties for maximum exposure.
To that end, below are five easy-to-use SEO tools that we encourage any marketer to check out. And best of all, they’re all free!
1. SEOTools Back Link Analyzer
Back Link Analyzer quickly determines anchor text, page title and number of inbound links to a page. This is a great tool that gives you insight to how the page gets its visibility in search. Links are food for search engines, and this tool gives you an idea how satisfying your page (or a competitor’s page) is. We use this tool to inform our link building and search improvement activities.
2. Website Grader
True to its name, Website Grader attempts to “grade” the effectiveness of your website vs. competitors. It provides a score that incorporates things like website traffic, SEO, social popularity and other technical factors. This tool gives you a great way to objectively look at your page from a search perspective. It looks at all of the on-page elements that search engines look at and points out your weaknesses. Website Grader is a great tool that provides objective measurement with a no-nonsense result.
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“Black Friday” search data from Hitwise underscores how consumers are increasingly plugged-in to online retail research and deal hunting.
I sat in on a good session from Hitwise Research Director Heather Doughtery this week that looked back at Black Friday 2008 and offered some preliminary stats for Black Friday 2009. The findings are fairly predictable and mirror what we know from our own data: consumers are researching earlier and looking for deals. The bigger question for this season is to what degree the economy and unemployment will accelerate the thrifty, marketing-savvy behaviors already in play. Below are a few takeaways:
Black Friday searches start earlier each year. Per Hitwise, early “Black Friday” searches in 2006 started the week ending 9/30; for 2009 those same searches started the week ending 8/8. At this rate, “Christmas in July” may lose its oxymoron status by next year. Of course we’re talking searches, not purchases. But unless a retailer is sitting on headline-grabbing price reductions for late in the season, capturing mindshare early is crucial. Consumers need to know where the good deals are coming from, and a retailer may have to expend more effort now if they haven’t laid the groundwork already.
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Google Analytics adds more powerful reporting capabilities, expands mobile measurement and adds intelligence engine to drive smarter data insights.
Several new features for Google Analytics were announced last month designed to make the free web analytics platform more powerful and easy to use. Below is a highlight of several new features.
Goal tracking improvements. In addition to increasing the number of configurable goals to 20 per profile, new site engagement goal types have been introduced. Engagement goals can be set based on the visit duration or the number of pages viewed during a visit. For example, a goal can be set to occur if time on site surpasses 10 minutes or after 12 pages have been viewed in a visit. These new goal types allow site owners to measure the proportion of visits that meet a time on site or pageview threshold and are especially valuable for content websites. AdWords advertisers can use these Google Analytics goals for campaign optimization in cases where ecommerce conversion is not applicable or the target behavior.
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Google Commerce Search is the latest addition to a formidable merchant-centric tool set.
I spend more time every week thinking about Google than I play with my kids. I know, that is a sad declaration on the state of my life, but, Google keeps expanding its universe, and I still have the same number of kids.
I know that I am forgetting a few things here, but Google has its fingers in an enormous portion of the merchant marketing pie:
- Google.com: Google controls the presentation layer before a searcher makes a click.
- Maps: Google controls who and what shows up where for local search.
- Google Affiliate Program: Yup, you heard that right, you can do affiliate programs through Google now.
- Google Shopping: A free (for now) comparison shopping engine.
- Google Checkout: Google wants to be your transaction partner.
- And starting today, Google has unleashed Google Commerce Search.
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Don’t be held captive to short-term ROI. Free your brand.
Late last week, I was fortunate enough to be in the lobbies of each of these four institutions: Harvard Business Review, The Salvation Army, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Liberty Medical. Each is a stalwart business and their missions smack you in the face when you walk in the door. In their lobbies, I could feel the energy. Better said, lobbies are where the brand meets the customer, real and prospective. These four are amongst the most successful brand direct marketers in their categories because they intuitively and actively drive growth through discipline and iteration. But, more, they believe that brand direct marketing is the ‘Engine that Could’ (and does): it drives and shapes perception based on how people respond and buy. Offers, creative, pricing, terms, messaging evolve as performance reveals. Brand awareness and a brand’s performance are directly connected.
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November 30, 2009 7:29 am
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