To Rank or Not To Rank? That is the question...

Are ranking reports dead?  Are they slipping into measurement obscurity? Do they still have a place in the ‘monthly report’?

I recently had a conversation with a client regarding target setting, I paraphrase but it went along these lines ‘these rankings are great, we should be setting targets for where we want to be in 6 months time’ me ‘mmm well if I’m honest then I’d prefer not to.  Rankings are more indicative of actual website performance and the work that we’re doing right now. Yes, ranking improvements will improve website footfall, but we should be optimising against traffic uplift, sales and the monthly revenue that search creates against our overall targets’  client ‘yes, but we still want to be top (1st in Google) for these terms’

Since my first footsteps into search marketing the ‘Rank’ factor has always been synonymous with performance monitoring. This is logical, for it’s the easiest to monitor, the easiest to grasp the concept of and the easiest to view. I can’t even try to count the times that a client has asked those mortal words ‘where are we ranking for...’

Yet, for some funny reason, and against my better judgments, I just can’t resist checking my rankings reports every week (i would do it every day if i could) yes i know that rankings fluctuate daily, yes i know that rankings are a mere conduit for traffic, but despite all this, i just cannot help it! It’s an ego thing isn’t it? That first place ranking is the icing the icing on the cake, the final piece of the puzzle, the last battle won, the medal ceremony – take your 1st place on the podium.

I can only assume that for clients that it’s the same thing too, a form of bragging rights by getting that top spot off your nearest competitor.

Don’t read this wrong, I will always measure the true success of any campaigns by 100% advocating the use of statistical metrics. Every search campaign should, as a MINIMUM, be tracking and constantly improving (where appropriate) sales, registrations, traffic, downloads and ultimately ROI.

Take this hypothetical example to put it in to context:

If i was promoting a clothes website that specialised in clothes for tall people then you would imagine that my ultimate goal would be to rank number one for ‘large clothes’ or ‘tall clothes’

But, what if we found that achieving rankings on that one term would absorb 100% of the search team’s resource, and that it had no guarantee of conversions and ultimately could take months, if not years for you to finally get on to the 1st page of results?

Remember I’m selling clothes for tall people, therefore ‘tall clothes’ or ‘large clothes’ may offer large amounts of traffic yet little offer of reward.

The smart thing to do in this case would be to analyse your web traffic, see what keywords drove both traffic and conversions. Then you can benchmark rankings, form a gap analysis on rankings and look to optimise against these keywords. For example these could be ‘tall trousers for men’ ‘tall ladies clothes’ (a small PPC test on these keyword may also help set targets) if there’s room for improved rankings then you would assume that there’s also room for improved traffic and more sales.

By analysing actual data an securing your key battle ground you’re going to benefit on a far greater scale than chasing  ‘dream’ rankings that are frankly going to be a drain on your reserves. Yes, rankings on the ego keywords will, over time, develop, and that will be a great bonus.

However, the first thing that any campaign should do is look to secure the ‘bankers’ the keywords that will drive traffic and ultimately assist you in hitting your targets. Would you rather have 1 amazing ranking and low sales or 10 ok rankings that, by means of traffic and conversions, are setting you up for a nice little bonus?

Statistical benchmarks, growth projections and realistic targets will help ensure that your campaign stays on the right track. But still, we’re all ego maniacs at heart, we all want to be number one and there is no greater thrill for a search analyst that the sight of achieving that adored 1st place ranking – just make sure it’s on the right keywords first.

Google Drive - Why we should be happy to see a cloud for a change.

Not even a week ago I posted that I expected much more innovation from Google into 2009...it's not even the end of January and already there has been something to wet our appetite!

Coming to a internet connect near you is the Google Drive (Gdrive)- and this could be the most anticipated release of a Google's product thus far.

Crystal balls aside - The Gdrive has been talked about for a number of years; however 2009 seems to be the year that the cloud gathers pace. When it arrives, Gdrive is like to cause a major paradigm shift in how we use computers. GDrive is basically a cloud-based storage unit that allows you to access your local and online folders via a web interface from any network enabled computer.

It is expected that it will come with further integration of its already growing list of operating systems such as GMail, Docs,Picasca, etc... So the potential for this project truly is huge.

The news has not come without it doubters. Worries regarding what Google can do with you data will always be echoed.  Activity last year may ostensibly suggest that Google can be subpoenaed in the US courts to hand over data when needed, and this may limit its use on a true commercial scale.

However I'm sure that the doubters will not turn this particular cloud grey and as a search marketer i'll be interested to see how Google 'monetizes' this venture (they always do!) - perhaps a similar tailored ad-serving system to Gmail where relevant PPC ads are served to contextual keyword cues from the document that you store?  

All very interesting...

Google Bucks Economic Trend - Why?

So, Google declared today that they bucked the trend of the world’s economy by increasing revenues by almost 20% in Q4. Profits were down, poor stock market performance and ‘one-time-investment-write-downs’ saw to that, but nonetheless they posted top line growth.

This growth in today’s economic gloom may be surprising. Yet, if you look under the skin a bit more then perhaps there are a few clear reasons for this upturn:

1. Internet usage has grown globally by 16% year on year (Internet World Stats) – more users means increased usage of Google and greater opportunity for revenue.
2. Google lifts their longstanding embargo for bidding on gambling and alcohol based terms – bidding wars for this lucrative traffic could reportedly net Google an extra £300 million a year!
3. Emergence of universal search makes natural listings harder to achieve – Paid search provides reliable shortcut to traffic for advertisers.
4. Google Suggest - Google, by pre-empting searches with ‘most popular’ cues, has said to be slowly killing off the longtail. This potentially means more people coming through on fewer search queries. In turn this bottle necks traffic by almost forcing people into higher demand keywords. A knock on effect of this being an increase in revenues on ‘costlier’ keywords.  
5. Growing reputation of SEM as a ROI focused sales tool - 80% of advertisers cite their search spend will increase in the next two years (European Interactive Advertising Association 2008)
6. Declining markets drives up advertiser demand for traffic- more competitive and aggressive bidding means higher CPCs.
7. Advertising Opportunities – Google’s innovative means of planning and delivering adverts to end users continues to grow (almost daily) The invent of Google 3PAS, Ad Planner and the pure global reach makes it an attractive medium when budgets are squeezed.
8. The festive season! – People spend more during Q4 with online shoppers spending £4.67bn   online last month, up 14%% on 2007.

So I’ve thought of 8 reasons why Google have posted this revenue growth. Some, theoretical, some solid fact, and am sure there’s plenty more to add to this.

Eric Schmitt, CEO of Google notes - "We had strong search query growth year-on-year, revenues were up in most verticals, and we had tight control of our costs, something which eluded us perhaps in the past, but we got the formula down now,"

It will be interesting to see how Google’s “formula” turns out in Q1. If it’s anything like its PageRank then I’m sure it’ll be water-tight, impenetrable and a success!

Mobile Search - Ready for take off?

Predictions abound at this time of year, and once again we hear it will be the year of the mobile web – and therefore mobile search - but this time I believe it. Figures released by Nielsen late last year suggest that mobile web use is growing eight times as fast as the conventional PC internet.

Finally, it seems, we have handsets that can deliver a user a true web experience. The success of the iPhone, Android and Storm has definitely fanned the flames of the internet’s mobile success and with Samsung recently stating that it will support the Android phone in 2009 it seems the  mobile web experience is literally up and running.

Why’s this important for search? Well the software that these phones run make Google more accessible than ever. The Android is obviously playing for the home team, Google’s iPhone apps are some of the best available and friends tell me that Google’s app for the Storm is also good. So that leaves us with an interesting scenario -  seamlessly using the world’s biggest search engine on the world’s fastest growing internet medium...interesting indeed.

However the real test of the mobile web, search in particular, will be the proof that it can drive sales at point of interest. It seems that sceptical opinionators suggest that mobile internet is still in its infancy as a ROI driver, and that makes it still risqué on the planning sheet. Unfortunately that could prevent the investment from advertisers that perhaps it warrants. I look forward to monitoring the impact of mobile on my search campaigns in 2009 and I’m sure others will too.

Search 2009 – 2.0, 3.0, 4.0??

Google took a slight dent in their pride in 2008, tales of misuse of data, sliding share prices and a failed partnership with its adversary Yahoo had its infamous PR machine spinning faster than a hamster’s wheel. 

However it hasn’t deterred their innovative engineers and this past year we welcomed the first post-beta release of Google Chrome, Google street view and numerous other experience enhancing products, this for both  professional and non-professional use.

And in 2009 I expect more of the same innovation. Early signs show further work on enhancing the personalised experience - the search wiki (web 3.0?) being the most advanced step forward.. It looks like it’s going to be another big year for the advancement of local search, improved geo-location relevancy  and  the inevitable crack down on malpractice (link buyers beware) .

Google’s bid to deliver the best, most relevant data to each and every user is no secret and improvements in Image search and the introduction of video XML site maps in webmaster tools suggests further developments in universal search that will display results for all formats. I’ve read mutterings of a potential tabbed results page where a user will be able to flick from tab to tab, viewing various results from images, to news, to video and perhaps even blogs. While this may just be paper talk it does offer a huge advancement in user friendliness and something that I for one would like to see.

But while innovation is important – so is getting the basics right and still so many brands fail on this score. We all see so many websites that cost an arm and a leg that are ultimately going to fail to deliver any search traffic. Great content, intelligent web development and some care and attention are a great place to start. Yes, there are many ‘do’s and don’ts’ in the SEO world but simple web practice should underline everything– get an agency to do the hard work.

Knowing your market and keeping on top your PPC campaigns will be more important than ever with trends likely to swing massively throughout the year in line with economic instability - the downturn of property and motor markets and the suprise lifting of embargos on gambling and  alcohol terms in Google is testament to this.

The recent popularity of voucher sites, in line with the emergence of the credit crunch, already suggests that the web is turning into ‘Del Boy’s’ dream.In search, the value of proposition over placement will be magnified significantly; touting your wares in a crowded market should not be underestimated with thrifty customers expecting a ‘deal’.

The beauty of search is that it really is so objective, the landscape changes so much that it can be tough to keep up at times. This month’s buzz words could be passé by February, however I’m hoping (slightly expecting) another great year in search, albeit a tough one, with Google top of the class once more.