Archive for category Search Engine Marketing
To Whom Are You Related?
Posted by admin in Search Engine Marketing on July 19th, 2010
A tool associated with Google’s search engine is the ability to search for sites that are ‘related’ to yours. By simply typing in ‘related:your site address’ (for example, related:www.yoursite.com), you can view results that show pages that Google think are related to your site.
When searching ‘related:www.yoursite.com’, Google’s search searches that site for keywords and information to display results of websites that have related content. When Marion designs a custom business web site, we use this tool to let Google help us determine who the main competitors are. The related search tool is extremely useful when it comes to researching competitors and to get a feel for what other companies are doing.
Give the related search tool a try. You never know to whom you might be related!
For more information on related searches and custom business web design tools, contact The Marion Group at 713-623-6444 or info2@marion.com.
Yahoo Microsoft Alliance – Updated
Posted by admin in Search Engine Marketing on June 10th, 2010
We posted earlier that Yahoo and Microsoft have entered an alliance that will enable a new, unified search marketplace combining the Yahoo! and Microsoft paid ad networks. The merger is supposed to be complete by late 2010 but the companies have hit a few bumps in the road. An article published in Advertising Age discusses the not-so-unexpected snags. There are a lot of moving parts, and historically, these things don’t always go as planned. So what should keep an eye on for in the Yahoo-Bing integration?
- The timeline doesn’t give marketers much leeway to test the system before the holiday season.
- Yahoo execs say if it appears they can’t reach desired quality levels, the deadline will be pushed until 2011.
- Search advertisers know how Yahoo and Bing ads perform separately. How will they perform together?
- Yahoo-Microsoft advertisers will require an AdCenter account to use the new system, but AdCenter isn’t prepared for the volume.
- Microsoft isn’t the easiest company to partner with, but there’s a sense that this can’t be allowed to fail, and so far, so good.
- At this time, Bing’s gains in search volume seem to be coming directly from Yahoo, which doesn’t help in the competition with Google.
- Today, the combined query share of Yahoo and Bing is 23.73% in the U.S. according to Hitwise. Will it be different in October or sometime in 2011?
(Source: Hitwise)
Read the entire article at Advertising Age.
If you are interested in Internet Marketing Services at Marion that include paid ads not only on Yahoo! and Microsoft sties, but also on King Google, call us at 713.623.6444 or send us an info2@marion.com.
Have You Tried Google’s Latest Marketing Tool?
Posted by admin in Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization on June 2nd, 2010
Google is still remains a power player in the SEO and analytics game. Its newest effort, Google Insights for Search, is a new marketing tool that was set up to help marketers learn more about web search behavior. By typing in certain keywords, browsers can see many different statistics that have been searched for through Google, based on search volume pattern. Specific categories can be focused on and looked for as broad searches or broken down into much more specific searches, using the filtering process. This filtering process allows for marketers to look into four different search categories: web, image, news, and product search.
A key function that can be very helpful to marketers is the seasonality function. This function allows for companies to know when specific terms are being browsed for during the year, such as looking at t-shirts in 2009, 2008, and 2007. A drop box can be accessed to look all the way back to 2004 through to the present. If a specific year isn’t your option, then the past 7, 30, or 90 days can also be accessed.
Another helpful function of the website is the geographic distribution. Countries all over the world can be located. If a certain country is too broad, then the handy filtering process can pinpoint a certain region or city. Another thing to keep in mind, when it comes to looking at the geographical areas, is that a comparison of two different areas can be looked at, to see how they are either similar or different. For instance, if the United States is chosen, it will break down each state and rate it from a high to low search volume. Once a state in selected, a list of applicable cities will be given which will allow for an even more in-depth look.
When looking for the most frequently used keywords on the rise, there is a list at the bottom of the screen that gives that information. When a user researches the term energy drinks, Insight displays the terms involving energy drinks that are being used the most frequently and which terms are on the rise. This is an important marketing tool, in that a marketer can build a website with relevant keywords for SEO.
Google Insights focuses on providing insights into specific search patterns in the market. The filtering process allows for many different options to break down and analyze these results. Is Insight the site for you?
What’s the difference: Web vs. Internet
Posted by admin in Internet marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Uncategorized, Web Design on February 3rd, 2010
Ever used the terms “Web” and “Internet” interchangeably? Like “Surf the Web” or “Browse the internet”? Most of us have. But the truth is that the Web and Internet are different.
The Internet is a huge network of networks- it connects computers together, so that they can communicate and trade information. If a computer is connected to the Internet, it can exchange information with any other computers that are also connected.
The Web (aka World Wide Web) is just one way of accessing the Internet. The Web is an information-sharing application that is built on top of the Internet. The Web cannot work unless the Internet is connected. Simply put, the Web runs on top of the Internet the way a train runs on tracks.
When you are shopping on Amazon or watching videos on YouTube, you are using the Web. However, when you send an email, you are using the Internet, not the Web. The Web is by far the largest and most widely used subnetwork of the internet.
Here, at Marion, we provide a wide range of Internet and Web marketing services. For the Web, we can increase traffic to your page through our Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing. For the Internet, Marion can create and broadcast e-newsletters, so that you can stay in constant contact with your customers. Check out our full range of online marketing services or contact us today at (713)-623-6444.
Reliance on Google PageRank – A Thing of the Past?
Posted by admin in Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Uncategorized, Web Design on October 27th, 2009
Search Engine Optimizers have always relied on Google PageRank to determine the strength of websites on search engines; however, Google is trying to wean us off its use. To do this, Google removed the PageRank values from the Crawl stats section of Google Webmaster Tools.
Google PageRank stats range from (Lowest) 1 – 10 (Highest).
Google Toolbar PageRank
Google has always implied that PageRank is not the end all be all but no one seemed to listen. Now that it’s no longer there, Google is hoping the temptation to utilize these figures dissipates.
Still, the PageRank value is not completely obsolete. The Google toolbar and other third party applications currently provide access to this information, so technically this only affects those that utilize Google Webmaster Tools to closely monitor their sites.
It seems the moral of this Google update is, when analyzing the value of your website do not rely on only one metric.
Remember, when SEO has you confused, contact Marion to get you headed in the right direction.
Are Display Ads Really Measuring Up?
Posted by admin in Advertising, Brand Building, Search Engine Marketing on October 5th, 2009
| Online display ads are paid ad placements that may include graphic elements, audio, video or animation and appear on web pages in a variety of sizes and formats. They are also referred to as banner ads. |
How do you know if your display ads are worth your marketing dollars? The standard metric for measuring this media has been click-through rates but according to a recent study by ComScore and Starcom, clicks are a poor way to measure what’s really going on. In fact, the number of people who actually click on display ads has dropped 50% in less than two years and 85% of all clicks are by 8% of internet users. Only 16% of U.S. internet users can be categorized as clickers. In July 2007, it was 32%.
Are internet users ignoring display ads altogether or just becoming savvier viewers?
The study also found that although clicks are down, brand-site visitation and trademark search are up. Internet users may not click on the ad but within one week of viewing, they are 65% more likely to visit the advertiser’s site than someone who’s never been exposed to the ad. Even after four weeks, they are still 45% more likely to visit the advertiser’s site.
Search and display are more effective together than apart. If you relate your display ads to television spots, it is about creating awareness in the prospective buyer’s mind. It’s about building brand awareness verses measuring display ad success through clicks.
Marion Display Ad Example
Some key points to consider when analyzing display ads are:
- How do they fit into the big marketing plan picture?
- How are display ads and search working together?
- How have results improved in brand-awareness studies, purchase-intent increases and engagement rates?
- How are display view-through rates panning out?
- And, if you really want to measure clicks, is your creative message strong enough to demand a click?
If you are considering an online marketing campaign, let Marion guide you in the right direction. We create search engine optimized websites and strategies for your search engine marketing.
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