Ok, so this is a little tongue-in-cheek – I’m not actually saying that if anyone does these things then they’re automatically rubbish at search marketing, mainly because everyone does them at some point (including me). It’s just a few things worth thinking about.
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A few people have noticed a some advertisers are appearing with domain names as extensions of their headlines. Could this be yet another Google experiment with longer headlines?
Everyone likes shortcuts (as long as they don’t sacrifice on quality), and this is no more present than in search professionals. So much time and effort goes into the upkeep, analysis and improvement of search campaigns that any time saved can be a bit of a lifesaver.
Below are a few tools/sites I like to keep handy. Feel free to comment on what ones you like to use.
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It’s around this time of year that everyone starts producing lists of things to expect from the next twelve months. I’m no different. 
Arguably, the main players to watch in 2011 are Google and Facebook (although there are myriad other companies that deserve comment, which I will do in separate posts), and it is on the former that I will concentrate in this post.
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Yep, it’s official, Bing is now the provider of natural/organic search results in Australia, Brazil and Mexico. Only time will tell what the impact will be on traffic although it does beg the question: why use Yahoo at all? Read the rest of this entry »
In light of the recent scandal surrounding the US government and WikiLeaks, I thought it would be a great time to do a small piece on product launches and specifically how to make the most of them. I’ve got conspiracy theories in my mind at the moment so apologies if my prose style turns a little “Bourne”.
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Note a massive post, this, but just wanted to point out the importance of localising a product, and that attention to detail in this area is very important.
For example, Apple have just started their one-day sale in Australia, with their URL string containing the phrase “Black_Friday”. This would be OK in the US, however over here that phrase is more associated with the horrible bushfires that happened not long ago, which is a pretty big oversight by Apple.
This stresses how crucial it is to have input from local people when rolling out a global template. I doubt the Apple example will be seen to be a big problem for them, but for a brand so focussed on their brand message every little slip-up counts!
Last night I noticed that there was a new little thingy on the Google search results page – a little magnifying glass – that caused a pop-up showing the landing page for the link in question. Pretty cool, although not new in the industry.
Well this morning it seems it’s official – Google has rolled out it’s Instant Previews. Both Mashable and Engadget are covering it, and I dare say other techie website will be too before long.
Yet another way that Google is making small tweaks to improve the functionality of it’s results, although I can’t help but think that the original Google USP of the nice & clean interface is starting to disappear amongst the bolts-ons and additions.
Thoughts?
I thought I’d share with you a select few of my favourite websites for information on search marketing (among other things). If you’ve got some that you can’t live without then feel free to comment. Read the rest of this entry »
Recently, a few people in my company set up a Wednesday running club. I’ve been going for the last five weeks and so far I’ve found it to be a brilliant idea, but not just from a fitness point of view. Here is a few more reasons why I believe every company should have a running club: Read the rest of this entry »