Adwords – Right Hand Ads to Disappear

November 15, 2011

Google is going to start showing AdWords ads above and below the organic search results; dropping ads on the right hand side. Google claims tests have shown a better click-through rate for ads at the bottom when compared to the right-hand side. Aside from potential revenue benefits to Google it’s likely this change is part [...]

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Siri – Apple’s New Weapon

November 11, 2011

The latest iphone 4S features a voice-activated virtual assistant called Siri. We’ve yet to have a play, but reading various articles it appears to be a real threat to Google’s search. More and more people are using mobile devices to search the internet, with Google being the most common search engine.  The theory is that [...]

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Two new Adwords features

October 8, 2011

Call metrics Call metrics is where Google generates a toll free forwarding number which appears on your ad. Being a forwarding number,  it automatically redirects to your phone number. The big advantage is that it enables you to track calls originating from AdWords. This feature is currently only available to US customers. We’ve implemeted our [...]

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AdWords and the +1 Button

September 22, 2011

For those who aren’t familiar with the +1 button it is best described as Google’s equivalent of Facebook’s like button.  Google have introduced it in all search results; paid and organic. You can vote for a site simply by clicking the +1 button within the search results. If you are performing a search whilst signed [...]

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Optimising Facebook Ads

July 20, 2011

Here are some tips to ensure your ads get clicked on and your campaign is profitable: Start with reasonably broad targeting to ensure your ads receive enough clicks.  This will help you identify good and poor performers. Pause the poor performers, write new ads and adjust your targeting to be less broad Wait until an [...]

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AdWords – Ad Copy Tips

July 19, 2011

Think about the conversation in your prospect’s head.  Reproduce that conversation in your ad, website, and beyond. Come up with a USP which is as much about your customer as it is about you e.g. ‘Fresh, hot Thai delivered in 40 minutes or less, guaranteed.’ Headline: Include keyword & try dynamic keyword insertion.  Inserting the [...]

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Blogging tips

July 13, 2011

Regular blogging is great for SEO and a good way to ensure you keep up with your industry. Here’s a few tips to help you maximise the impact of your blogging: Set up your blog on a sub-folder on your website’s domain e.g. www.yoursite.co.nz/blog.  Avoid setting up a blog on a separate or sub-domain. Try [...]

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Google Analytics Worldwide Report

July 4, 2011

A significant proportion of businesses worldwide use Google Analytics.  Because of this they can aggregate their data to show averages across key statistics per country.  Here are the results: Pages/Visit: 4.5 Time on site: 5:23 Traffic sources breakdown Direct: 37% Referral: 20% Search engines: 28% Other: 15% NZ Specific Bounce rate: 42% Conversion rate: 1.8% [...]

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Facebook pages & tips to build fans

July 4, 2011

Building your fanbase does take time but will pay off.  Here’s some tips to achieve some key milestones. Step 1: 25 Fans Achieving 25 fans enables you to choose a vanity name for your page so your URL will be facebook.com/yourcompany. By default pages have a long, complex URL, which can make telling people how [...]

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SEO & Keyword and Content Tips

June 27, 2011

Identifying target keywords Treat Google’s traffic estimates with a degree of skepticism!  Start small, focus on a small number of keywords, geographic areas etc and expand from there. Use Adwords data as well as web analytics data to build a target list for SEO.  Factor in conversions, not just traffic (traffic * conversions = sales) [...]

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SEO Tips for Online Retailers

May 15, 2011

For an eCommerce site with thousands of products/SKUs, trying to rank well for all products is a daunting prospect.  Here’s a few tips: For generic products (sold by multiple retailers) avoid using the manufacturer’s product blurb.  Generating you own blurb will help distinguish your product pages and should help to improve your rankings. Where a [...]

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SEO & Link building tips

April 28, 2011

Go beyond acquiring the same links as your competitors Quality and relevance will always be favoured over quantity PageRank hasn’t been updated for some time so don’t rely on it too much.  Use alternative ranking tools like Alexa and SEOMoz to determine the value of a link Re-check links from time to time to make [...]

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SEO Strategy

April 28, 2011

Your Online Marketing Plan needs to include an SEO strategy.  Here’s a few tips: Make it clear to senior management that SEO is a long term strategy and results may take months in competitive markets Embrace multimedia: use video, news, images,and a blog expand your presence If your building or rebuilding your site ensure SEO [...]

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New Search Engine Ranking Factors

April 28, 2011

Page Load Time Page load time is a ranking factor because pages that load quickly improve the user experience. Click-through Google indicated that click data is used as a ranking signal in Google News. It may be a factor for ‘standard listings’. References Like links, references (i.e. brand, product mentions) count as votes in a [...]

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Pay-per-click - Facebook vs. AdWords vs. Display

April 12, 2011

With the wealth of targeting options available on Facebook Advertising and the massive growth, we though it was time to perform a comparison. We ran a campaign for a client where the goal was registrations simultaneously across AdWords (display & search), Facebook and leading websites.  All ads were linked to a sign-up page on the [...]

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AdWords - Location Targeting

April 11, 2011

You can now choose to target or exclude your ads based on the user’s physical location or a location specified in their search query. If, for example, you were targeting Wellington and a searcher in the US was searching for ‘hotels in Wellington NZ’ your ads would currently show by default. Here are three examples: [...]

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AdWords and Dynamic Keyword Insertion

April 10, 2011

Dynamic keyword insertion (DKI) allows you to dynamically insert search terms into your advert.  The key benefit is that your adverts will appear more relevant which should increase click-throughs. Here’s a quick guide: Where can Dynamic Keyword Insertion be used? DKI can be used in the title, description and display url How exactly does it [...]

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AdWords and Landing Pages

March 25, 2011

Landing pages are an easily forgotten component in improving your AdWords performance.  Not only are landing pages important to convert visitors they also are a factor in determining your Quality Score (which affects your cost-per-click (CPC)).  So, spend time optimising landing pages and you should find your conversion rates increasing and your click costs decreasing. [...]

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AdWords - conversion optimisation

March 24, 2011

AdWords now allows you to optimise for conversions.  Previously, you had two options – Optimize for clicks: ads that are expected to provide more clicks are shown more often Rotate: ads are shown more evenly Conversion optimisation enables you to show ads that are expected to provide more conversions more often.  You can set a [...]

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AdWords – Automated Rules

March 21, 2011

AdWords has launched automated rules; enabling you to do things like schedule changes.  For those of you familiar with email marketing, it can be useful to schedule a send for say Sunday night and not have to interrupt your weekend to manually send a campaign.  AdWords now enables you to perform a similar form of [...]

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