Search Seasonality

Talk about a fickle search market! What is happening when great keywords get a sudden spike in impressions ? We usually put it down to an event or publicity driving interest in a subject that increases the number of people researching using related terms.What about when your CTR drops likes like a stone all of a sudden.  Check those Ads !What about if CPA suddenly takes a jump even though CPC remains consistent ?  Have we screwed up the Ad or something. Ah perhaps it’s those new competitors again ? Ahh, the joys of Search Marketing.  We constantly Worry about each little blip on the trend lines and wonder what evil force is at work !  But what about when Impressions jump, CTR drops, CPA jumps (too much), CPC is flat and nothing has changed ?  Simple really.  HOLIDAY season !!! Did anybody notice this in some of the consumer goods sectors Post-Christmas ?  Amazing.  What is it about holidays that defies standard trends and then returns to normal only after you have blown a bunch of time trying to understand what’s happening ?  Are people just too lazy to click that mouse button too many times when they are holidays ? Why do they search and yet not buy ?  Well nobody will probably ever know for sure but I do have some thoughts. I suspect a least two things are at work here.

ONE  - I think the holiday period provides a lot of non-traditional web customers with the time to “play”. Time to scan around and find that non-critical item that they usually de-prioritise because of a perception that it will take too much time.  If this hypothesis has any truth, then this is a great thing for Online Marketing.  It indicates growth on the edges of our traditional market.Those that haven’t been buyers in the past are beginning to learn how to use online services and will most likely be back. If they have found what they were looking for quickly and easily, they will look for their next buy online.

TWO - I think the holiday season removes the urgency for traditional online consumers. Whilst on their holiday break they have the time to “shop around” and there is no pressure to buy on the first visit.  It may even be that bricks & mortar vendors are now more competitive with their Post Christmas sales and our typical online buyer having the time to check them out.  Suddenly the online convenience factor is not such an advantage.

Not sure how to prove or disprove either of these hypotheses but one thing seems certain. Holidays can change the mid-set of the average online researcher. Whether that is because there are more searchers overall or because there is unusual competition it will pay us to remember to remain competitive for the benefit of the new searchers (that are always coming online) even if we don’t feel we want to compete with holiday laziness or bricks and mortar desperation sales.  Best of all, it is suggesting to me that there is significant online growth just around the corner when even AFTER the Christmas rush, there are more people searching than normal.

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Tags: Search seasonality, SEM seasonality
Posted in Paid Search, SEM Stuff, Search Industry | No Comments »

When a Search Agency shares it’s IP and methodologies it demonstrates a number of great corporate qualities - Transparency, leadership, confidence and a team setting the standards and agenda in search. Great to see the latest initiative by e-Channel Search in launching the first in a series of Search Engine Marketing Training Videos. Thought I’d share the news… see link below to press release.  This initiative highlighted to me that there are many interesting & informative videos on search, particularly on YouTube. This one from e-Channel is different concentrating on how to design great creatives, giving it a point of difference. The fact that it is a proven method in an agency environment and assists with the very difficult task of designing a large number of ads (with less brain strain) for clients is fantastic!

http://www.e-channel.com.au/press-releases/       Check out the actual training video here:  http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=i9rKwFA9sqE

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Posted in 7 elements of search, News, Paid Search, SEM Stuff, Search Industry | 1 Comment »

In a world of on line marketing nobody hates  SEO scammers/spammers more than the ethical SEO companies.

But what constitutes ethical and what unethical SEO practice? And how to draw the line between the two?

In SEO geek language  “Black Hat” , “White Hat” and “Gray Hat”  terms are used when defining these practices. The term comes  from western movies cliché  where a bad guy wears a  black hat, while  good guy wears a white. This is in contrast to the gray hat guy, who is, I guess, just a neutral, or an extra that dies in at the mid point in the movie.

Putting that in search engine terms:

White hat SEO – lawfully good. Protecting and promoting the client interest and the interest of the web user.

Gray hat SEO – pushing the boundaries of ToS (terms of service) and taking high risks.

Black hat SEO – breaking the law. Often ripping of the client. They are risk protected.

So if search-engine ranking is supposed to reflect a democracy of the web, then the SEO are the Web’s lobbyist who are working for the client and their interest (not the other way around)

Black hat proponents on the other hand  ofter argue that  there is nothing wrong unethical SEO practice, their logic says: client pays the money -> we deliver the result in a quick and fast way. Many companies will follow this same logic as they also want instant result for their money. However, it doesn’t work that way.

So what is a problem?

The main  problem with SEO unethical practice is not that your mother will cry and say “Oh my dear son, but why?” while wiping hear tears off and wondering where did she gone wrong in the upbringing, but that Black Hat techniques or tactics  are in direct violation of the Google “Quality Guidelines” (which outline some of the illicit practices that may lead to a site being removed entirely from the Google index)

In short  – Unethical SEO can give you just a temporary page rank but eventually Google (without a doubt the God of the Internet and search engines) will punish your website  for being unethical – i.e. It will be sent to the deepest pit in hell never to see the light of day, or web-user. The most (in)famous case occurred in 2007 when Google banned  BMW website for deceptive practices.

The second problem is that because SEO scammers ripped off many companies by promising results but delivering zero value,  businesses often decide not to purchase this service from respectable SEO/SEM companies as they believe that: First, it’s not successful and second, it’s not worth  trying; which is unfortunate because in some cases good SEO can achieve better ROI (return of investment) then on-line marketing. This is especially true for mid-sized businesses , like Mr Bounce pointed out in  his blog where in competitive market  “the content is a King”.

So it is imperative for businesses to learn about these bad  practices By learning how shady SEO companies operate, the businesses are lees likely to waste money. 

The SEO strategy is not an “instant-win” as unfortunately many businesses  are led to believe.  I remember while  working for one web development company and while developing a  website for a winery  and after deploying it live, the client called me next day and asked me “why my website is not #1 when I search for ‘South Australia wines’”.  Similarly,  ‘SEO’ companies that offer instant #1 page rank, deliver temporary result but before contracts expire the client often realizes that he was ripped of and that long-term value is equal to zero.

To conclude, all reliable and genuine search engine optimization companies practice White hat SEO techniques that have long-term positive outcomes. Black hat SEO can fetch quick results at the start, but when detected, it leads to the blacklisting. So chose wise, chose well your SEO service.

Silver awaaay!

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Posted in SEM Stuff | 6 Comments »

I’ve read several articles over the last few months from a number of authors and publications and it seems to me that online advertising will be the media of choice to get companies through the tough times we are in! Specifically, pay per click advertising, will emerge as the preferred choice for many marketers as the move from banner and other forms of advertising dissipate.

All the research points to search marketing continuing to grow even in the downturn because, I suspect, it is a proven method of successful advertising with a great ROI, is very affordable and highly measurable.

One can only imagine that when the search fence sitters and depleting number of sceptics get over their fear of taking a search ‘ticket to ride’, consumers will have greater choice. In the meantime those with search in their marketing mix will weather the current financial storm and take market share from their competitors.

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