30 replies to this topic

[Jill]

Yet they seems to be failing to deliver targeted content when it is specifically requested.

Right. The answer to that is simple, of course.

THEY WANT YOU TO CLICK ON THE ADS

[chrishirst]

Odd thing isn't?

So many people trying to get clicks on the ads on their pages, and most fail to see that Google would like people to do that too.

Has everyone lost sight of the fact that Google is a business that exists to make a profit rather than for altruistic reasons.

[Randy]

re: Twitter and other social media pages showing up SERPs. Yes you should expect this to get "worse", of course with worse or better being largely dependent upon how one defines it. For searchers having closer to real time data showing up is not always worse. Many times it's better. For webmasters who want their site to show up in the top 10 and stay there for years it usually is worse.

Google has been and will continue to do a significant amount of testing in this area I suspect.

Why? Well, ask yourself the question of which platforms being utilized to both publish content and read content by real people. Also, and perhaps more importantly, ask yourself which platforms are being searched the most. The answer to that last one might surprise you. Sure Google.com is still #1 in terms of searches on the web. But Yahoo isn't 2nd. Neither is MSN or Ask or any other search engine. None of the other traditional search engines are even #3 from the information I've seen. Care to guess who's #2 and #3 in number of searches?

Search is just going to be different if you're using it as the sole way to attract traffic. Might as well get used to it. First page with traditional SEO isn't going to cut it anymore. If you want to get on the first page moving forward you'd have to be in the top 2 or 3 spots with traditional search methods.

That said, there are more ways than ever to obtain traffic these days. So nobody should be relying solely on search for their traffic. It's a whole other subject, or actually several subjects that happen to fit into the idea of Internet Marketing. Most of these other methods provide much better ways to attract visitors who are both interested and truly motivated buyers. Some do cost, but not nearly what a typical PPC campaign has in the past if you do it right.

[Catz]

At least the Google local maps only show up for very particular searches. Guess if those are some of the terms you are targeting that can be good/or bad depending on how you look at it.

Part of why it is even more important for people to understand the value of targeting more than just one keyword or phrase. Those results won't show up in every search...at least for now.

[1dmf]

Care to guess who's #2 and #3 in number of searches?

I could, but it would be a lot easier if you just told us!

I do feel the way the search landscape is changing I am seriously missing out , but I can't help this, I can't stand and am not interested in being part of social media.

I don't have a mobile phone and don't want one, the only tweets I want to hear are those from the birdies when I wake up in the morning!

Interestingly, my sister's new boyfriend has come over from Collarado to study for a masters in London, he eventually wants to obtain a PHD in marketing and media and would like to go into PR in Politics... He is heavily into Twitter and for him see's how he can utilise this environment for his purposes. He loves his iPhone and tweets constantly.

On the otherhand i'm a cynic and can't stand the social media boom. You know what we call someone who does PR in politics with a PHD? Yup a "Spin Doctor" (aka, lying bastard scum).

So ok maybe I don't get it, but if someone who aspires to becomming a spin doctor loves it and gets it, well then it's not surprising if I don't get it.

My aspirations are obviously rather different

[SelfMade]

1dmf..Do you really not have a mobile phone..???

I wouldn't say I would be "dysfunctional" without one, but it would be hard to "function" and that's being reserved about it!

None of the other traditional search engines are even #3 from the information I've seen. Care to guess who's #2 and #3 in number of searches?

Randy, if your question is in the context of most used SE's then I won't shirk your challenge...I'm going to have a 75% blind stab here and say...ummm, maybe Dogpile being #2 or 3...am I warm...??

[1dmf]

1dmf..Do you really not have a mobile phone..???

nope.... well ok a little white lie there.....

We have a household mobile I've had for @15 years, it's never switched on and I dont give out the number, we simply take it with us if ever we are travelling on the roads a reasonable distance to visit family, due to the fact public phone boxes are a thing of the past, how else are we going to ring the breakdown recovery service should we have a breakdown while out driving.

But that is the only time the mobile see's the light of day, @ 3 times a year

[Jill]

My aspirations are obviously rather different

Which is what makes the world go round. Wouldn't it stink if everyone wanted to do the same things?

As to the number 2 search engine, I believe it might be YouTube.

[1dmf]

yup, sure does Jill, let's just hope he doesn't spin my sister!

[Randy]

I could, but it would be a lot easier if you just told us!

Well, it depends somewhat upon how one defines the term Search Query. And how one groups together the various properties different companies own. And whose data you believe.

The way comScore looks at it Google.com is still #1. YouTube is #2. Yahoo.com is #3.

However if you start trying to break numbers down as ecommerce vs non-ecommerce then other properties start popping up. Like eBay and Amazon --hey they're both totally ecommerce platforms-- and even Facebook.

And if I look at my own sites where I'm involved to some degree in different forms of marketing (search, social media, video, even PPC directed towards Gmail users) and break the numbers out by revenue generated, new customer acquisition and conversion rate it usually runs like #1 Google, #2 Twitter, #3 Gmail targeted PPC, #4 Yahoo, #5 Facebook, #6 Bing, #7 other more traditional PPC.

[1dmf]

Looks like Twitter is certainly working for you then Randy.

Do you only send marketing material to those subscribed to your own tweets? or can you pay to spam others (sorry if the word spam offends anyone!).

As a marketing channel, does it only work for those who have subscribed to receive your tweets or can you purchase 'subscriber lists'?

[Randy]

Do you only send marketing material to those subscribed to your own tweets?

Nope. Rarely send marketing material out via Twitter in fact. Almost never. It's more of a matter of having a conversation with someone, a conversation others can sometimes eavesdrop on.

or can you purchase 'subscriber lists'?

Not to my knowledge. However I do see enough traffic coming through some of them to lead me to believe not all of the visitors and buyers are actual subscribers. Meaning they've had to search on Twitter or some other way to find me talking about a subject.

The one of those potential traffic channels that actually interests me more right now is the very low cost, highly targeted PPC stuff I've been testing for the last year plus that's directed at Gmail users. Mainly because the advertising cost is so low, the conversion rates are so high. Not to mention that I have a much higher degree of control so I can test stuff. And the fact that I'm often able to siphon buyers from direct competitors if I decide I want to do that.

[1dmf]

how do you know the sale has come from Twitter, if it wasn't in response to a specific marketing campaign or tweet you made?

[1dmf]

with all this talk of Twitter and reading with interes Jills decare newletter regarding the socila media explosure, i finally sucome to having a look....hmmm, what is all the fuss about?

Ok let's see what people have to say about 'damce music downloads' I thought, as that's my bag!

well... at random i picked a tweet... it took me to their Twitter page...
the latest Tweet said the following

West lothian council are gonna face repair costs because the snow they didn't clear from the paths have caused alot of damage to them. Karma

looking further down at more tweets, I see the following....

Not feeling well today. -11:53 PM Jan 9th

Oh great. I had to get man flu on Denise's 30th - 3:43 AM Jan 9th

Flamin angry at the moment
7:48 AM Jan 11th

now, what does any of this have to do with dance music downloads, why on earth do I want to know who has a cold or what mood they are in?

Now I appreciate there are alot of BS tweets out there, but if it's just awash with total and utter crap, why even bother, how many turds am i going to have to pick up before I find a nugget of gold?

they say 95% of all email is spam, isn't that 95 % of all internet traffic is just a pile of ? (yes including my posts , I hear you cry )

So how do you wade your way through such a sea of crap to find something worth while, how do you get your voice heard with so much background noise?

I looked at a trending link, before i'd got to the fith tweet a message appeared saying...

27 more tweets since you started searching.

You what, sod that I can't keep up with that, and who the hell wants to....

Why do I feel like i'm the only person in the world who isn't tweeting? yet from glancing at the site, i must be the only person in the world who also isn't interested in the complete people seem to tweet about. hmmm, I must be to old for this !

Edited by 1dmf, 12 January 2010 - 11:47 AM.

[Jill]

1dmf, try this article:

Heard it From the Social Media Grapevine as well as as Measuring Your Marketing: Campaign Tracking via Google Analytics.