Social Web Tips

by Ross Dunn

Last week I was fortunate to enjoy the company and tutelage of some talented web marketers at the Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose. An annual occurrence, the San Jose conference is one of those particularly special events that I aim never to miss. On top of the incredible networking and party events such as the Google Dance and the Search Bash there were a great number of exceptional seminars on all facets of web marketing. In this case I would like to highlight my notes from a seminar in the paid advertising track titled “Ads in a Quality Score World”.

What is Quality Score?
“Quality Score is a dynamic variable assigned to each of your keywords. It’s calculated using a variety of factors and measures how relevant your keyword is to your ad text and to a user’s search query.” … “Quality Score influences your ads’ position on Google and the Google Network. It also partly determines your keywords’ minimum bids. In general, the higher your Quality Score, the better your ad position and the lower your minimum bids.” source: Google’s AdWords Help Center.

Now that you know how important quality score is to the effectiveness and bottom dollar of a pay per click campaign it begs the question… how is quality score measured and how can you enhance your own to improve return on investment? That very question was the topic of the “Ads in a Quality Score World” session. After most of the presenters repeated the quality score factors outlined on this informative Google AdWords help page they provided some very helpful tips for the audience. The following is a list of the top 10 tips I took note of during the session:

The Top 10 Tips for Efficiently Working With and Improving Quality Score

1. Work on improving the quality score of keywords in your campaigns with the highest minimum bids. To identify the best keywords to work on go to AdWords reporting and run reports of the minimum bids and drop them into Excel then sort the list by price. The highest minimum bids are where quality score should be worked on to save money in the shortest order.
2. Brian Geddes of bg Theory LLC offers a handy quick reference chart that shows which of the major quality score factors affect the different quality score types.
3. In Google viewing your quality score can be done by un-hiding the quality score column via the “customize columns” menu found in the campaign information pane in Google AdWords. (Campaign Management à Campaign Summary à Campaign #1)
4. When focusing on improving the quality score to lower minimum bids it is recommended to start focusing on minimum bids that are costing you 25 cents or more. Anything less than 25 cents (unless those are all you have) would not be as worthwhile to improve.
5. Landing page load time has become a critical consideration within quality score. If you find your landing page’s load time is not as fast as you would like it to be try minimizing the number of redirects, consider work arounds for slow servers (i.e. relocation may be worth considering) and balance your design and content on the landing page.
6. Create ultra-granular ad groups and draft keyword-specific copy for each ad group.
7. Creating landing pages specific to highly targeted ad groups will increase conversions as well as quality score. By the same token keyword tailored adcopy will improve click through rate as well as quality score.
8. Create keyword lists using the following keyword types: trademarks, non-brand, brand and long-tail terms. These keyword lists will bring you one step closer to having the type of granular campaign that favours higher quality scores.

   Note: Don’t forget to include negative keywords while creating your keyword lists.

9. After creating a comprehensive list of keywords and negative keywords to work with you should create separate campaigns across all available match types (i.e. exact match, broad match, phrase match); but first start with exact match to build history for your campaign and then introduce the others. Over time after introducing additional negatives and after progressive keyword trimming you should be able to drop your phrase match budget substantially.

   Ultimately the goal is to capture every possible relevant query as an exact match. This will provide you with the highest click through rates (CTRs) which will improve quality score and lower your costs.

10. Account organization is the key to efficiently managing quality score as well as producing optimal conversions/click through rates. Take the time to setup your campaigns meticulously and your advertising dollars will be spent far more effectively.

Special kudos and thanks go to the seminar speakers that provided such great information:

• Brad Geddes, Founder, bgTheory.com
• Ron Jones, President/CEO, Symetri Internet Marketing
• Kendall Allen, Former Managing Director, Incognito Digital, Digital Marketing and Convergence Media Consultant
• Misty Locke, President & Co-founder, Range Online Media

Don’t Forget! Search Engine Guide is presenting another phenomenal Small Business Marketing Unleashed conference. The Unleashed conference is a different breed of conference all together designed to provide the type of high quality training that is sure to leave you extremely well informed; the Unleashed agenda includes intensive work shops and a high trainer-to-participant ratio for ultimate learning potential.

Free White Paper: How to Optimize for Google
A free 10 page white paper on how to optimize a website on Google the right way - so the website succeeds.

Ontario-based group Ecorio was recently announced to be one of 10 winners of the Google Android Developer Challenge and took home a sweet $275,000 prize.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s official gubernatorial Web site is back up — to show off a two-paragraph statement about her thankfulness at being chosen to be Ariz. Sen. John McCain’s running mate on the GOP presidential ticket.
Better a day late, than two. Here’s a summary of her technical savviness. We’ll forgive and forget the shock […]

by Diane Aull

Lots of businesses use email as a marketing tool. One of the big issues they have to overcome is how to get the customer to actually open and read the email. There’s an art to it, and even the best can’t get recipients to read every email they send.

The one commercial email almost everyone reads

But you know, there’s one kind of business email that almost always gets read, and almost never gets reported as spam. It’s the confirmation email companies send to their customers when the customer makes a purchase.

I’ve probably received a few hundred of these over the years. (OK, I admit it; I do a lot of online shopping…) Most of them are pretty standard stuff. They thank me for my business and confirm what I ordered. Some give me information about the expected ship date. A few companies send a second email to let me know when my item has shipped and to give me a shipper tracking number.

All well and good, but if that’s all your confirmation emails do, you’re missing a big opportunity to grow your business. Did you know you can make your confirmation emails do double-duty? You can!

See, it seems to me one of the most overlooked techniques for getting what you want is to ask for it. I mean, what’s the worst that can happen? You ask, the person you ask says no. Oh, the horror — you’re no worse off than you were before. And, ya know, there’s always a chance they might say yes.

I admit this is something I had to learn the hard way, as have many other people I know. So it’s an issue we’re working on with my son. So far, I admit my success is mixed. He’ll hint all around what he wants, but sometimes getting the kid to just come out and say what he’s after is like pulling teeth. But he’s getting better, so I have hope.

HOW you ask makes a difference

The thing we’re trying to teach our son — beyond the basic technique of simply standing up and asking straight out instead of wandering around dropping vague hints — is to ask with respect. When you’re polite, I think you up your chances of getting the answer you want. Get the other person’s attention — but not by hounding them or butting in on them when they’re busy with something important. Say “please.” Understand it’s good to make a specific request, but it’s not OK to get upset if they decide to do something for you that’s a little different from what you asked. After all, they’re doing you a favor. Say “thank you” and move on. It’s rude to spend too much time examining the gift horse’s dental work.

Fortunately, your confirmation email is something the customer is looking forward to. It’s an email you can count on most folks at least opening and glancing over. Some will read in detail and even print it out. In other words, you already have their positive attention.

Now all you have to do is make a polite request.

So, what do you want?

Do you want to make more sales? Use your thank-you to suggest additional products that might be of interest to the customer. You can have a programmer write a routine to dynamically insert suggested cross-sales or upsales based on what the customer purchased. The routine can instead rotate through several standard products you’d especially like to promote. You can just include information about a single product — perhaps a new release or a special purchase — you want to share with all your customers. Or you can include a coupon code for the customer to use for a discount on a future order on the product(s) of her choice.

Do you want more links pointing to your website? I don’t know too many business sites that would turn down more legitimate links… so use your thank-you to ask for them. I mean, it’s possible — nowadays, even likely — your customers have one or more websites at their disposal. Maybe some of them will be happy enough with your product or service to give you a link or two from their site(s). Bonus! These are the kind of natural “vote for your site” the search engines are looking for.

Do you want more subscribers to your customer newsletter? Include a little marketing copy promoting the benefits of a subscription and a link to the sign-up page. Maybe you could offer an incentive (a free sample product, a members-only premium or a discount or coupon) for existing customers who sign up.

Do you want to recruit affiliates to sell your products? Many affiliate managers say people who use the product or service themselves are usually better at making sales. So you could add a short paragraph inviting your customers to check out your affiliate program, along with a link to a landing page where they can get full information about all the benefits and sign up.

Would you like more testimonials to use on your website and other marketing materials? Or are you seeking feedback about what you do right (and what could stand some improvement) to make your products or services better? Include a link to a survey page and ask your customers to tell you what they think. Again, offering a small incentive to those who complete the survey might help increase your response rate.

Does your company have a blog, or would you like to get more of your customers to “follow” you on your favorite social networking site? Include a link and an invitation to read the corporate blog, follow your company on Twitter, become your company’s fan on FaceBook, or whatever.

Do you want to reach out to people who aren’t yet your customers? Maybe you could work out a deal with a complimentary (non-competing) business to trade recommendations. You could include a recommendation of their product or service on your confirmation email, and they could do the same for you. It’s a win-win situation — your companies both get promoted to a whole new group of customers.

Whatever else you might want your customers to do for you — just ask. You may be surprised at the positive response.

Of course, I wouldn’t recommend doing all of these things at once! You don’t want your thank-you emails to be the size of War and Peace. (Trust me on this one, you don’t.) I recommend starting with your “most wanted” and trying it. If it works, great… and if not, try something else. Over time, as you refine your knowledge of what types of requests are most likely to get a positive response, your success rate will rise.

The possibilities are nearly endless; the potential benefits are great. And to start the ball rolling, all you have to do is ask.

Free White Paper: How to Optimize for Google
A free 10 page white paper on how to optimize a website on Google the right way - so the website succeeds.

I’ve been watching this battle for a couple of years now - this arm-wrestling match between the Washington suits and the Silicon Valley geeks to see which has more power. Tally one up for the geeks this week, who basically told Washington, “Yeah, you really don’t matter.”
Maybe that’s an extreme way of looking at it […]

by Jennifer Laycock

I scan hundreds of feeds and read dozens of articles each day so you don’t have to. From hyperlocal blogging to Google AdWords “Automatic Match” to new ways to use Twitter and LinkedIn, find out the six articles I dubbed as must-read for the small business crowd today.

• If you enjoyed Matt McGee’s post on Hyperlocal Blogging earlier this week, you’ll be pleased to hear he’s back with more. Part Two focuses on choosing a domain and setting up your blog. Part Three talks about developing a content focus and Part Four offers tips on marketing the blogs. Matt wraps up the series today with Part Five, an overview of what’s worked and what hasn’t. Overall, it’s an excellent series for anyone looking to use blogs as part of a local search strategy.
• Frank Reid offers up a good reminder on the need to be committed to search marketing if you want to reap the benefits. Frank offers up his advice over at Biznology and points out how difficult it can be for small and medium businesses to either learn enough or trust a partner enough to get their search engine optimization and search engine marketing up and running.
• SEO Copywriting guru Karon Thackston reminds site owners of the need to get their selling points front and center in their web site copy. According to Karon, it’s not just about creating a mood and using your keywords, it’s about differentiating yourself.
• If you’re a fan of Twitter and are looking for ways to maximize it’s use, you’ll want to check out a helpful list of Twitter tools over at Home Office Warrior. There were several in there I hadn’t tried yet, and quite a few I find essential to good Tweeting. On a similar vein, check out “Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn That You Never Thought Of” over at MBA Explorer.
• Thinking about taking advantage of Google AdWords’ Automatic Match feature to expand your paid search campaigns? If so, you may want to read the results of some testing done by Jim Gilbert and Mike Churchill over at the SEM Clubhouse blog.
• Barry provides links to a discussion in Google Groups that talks about whether Flash is still a problem with search engine optimization. While it’s true the engines have announced they’re making strides toward reading and properly indexing the content in Flash files, a former Googler issues a smart reminder of why Flash should still be used with caution.

Free White Paper: How to Optimize for Google
A free 10 page white paper on how to optimize a website on Google the right way - so the website succeeds.

by Jennifer Laycock

I scan hundreds of feeds and read dozens of articles each day so you don’t have to. From hyperlocal blogging to Google AdWords “Automatic Match” to new ways to use Twitter and LinkedIn, find out the six articles I dubbed as must-read for the small business crowd today.

• If you enjoyed Matt McGee’s post on Hyperlocal Blogging earlier this week, you’ll be pleased to hear he’s back with more. Part Two focuses on choosing a domain and setting up your blog. Part Three talks about developing a content focus and Part Four offers tips on marketing the blogs. Matt wraps up the series today with Part Five, an overview of what’s worked and what hasn’t. Overall, it’s an excellent series for anyone looking to use blogs as part of a local search strategy.
• Frank Reid offers up a good reminder on the need to be committed to search marketing if you want to reap the benefits. Frank offers up his advice over at Biznology and points out how difficult it can be for small and medium businesses to either learn enough or trust a partner enough to get their search engine optimization and search engine marketing up and running.
• SEO Copywriting guru Karon Thackston reminds site owners of the need to get their selling points front and center in their web site copy. According to Karon, it’s not just about creating a mood and using your keywords, it’s about differentiating yourself.
• If you’re a fan of Twitter and are looking for ways to maximize it’s use, you’ll want to check out a helpful list of Twitter tools over at Home Office Warrior. There were several in there I hadn’t tried yet, and quite a few I find essential to good Tweeting. On a similar vein, check out “Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn That You Never Thought Of” over at MBA Explorer.
• Thinking about taking advantage of Google AdWords’ Automatic Match feature to expand your paid search campaigns? If so, you may want to read the results of some testing done by Jim Gilbert and Mike Churchill over at the SEM Clubhouse blog.
• Barry provides links to a discussion in Google Groups that talks about whether Flash is still a problem with search engine optimization. While it’s true the engines have announced they’re making strides toward reading and properly indexing the content in Flash files, a former Googler issues a smart reminder of why Flash should still be used with caution.

Free White Paper: How to Optimize for Google
A free 10 page white paper on how to optimize a website on Google the right way - so the website succeeds.

[Guest Comment from Shane Steinert-Threlkeld]
A new spec on which JavaScript 2.0 will be based , should be finalized by the end of the fall. Yet most of the proposed changes do close to nothing to actually improve the language.
A lot of developers of so-called Rich […]

by Jennifer Laycock

Everyone wants to celebrate a viral success at some point in their marketing life. After all, who wouldn’t be thrilled to have their message take off like a streak around the web? The problem comes when you get so focused on the spreadability of an idea you miss the marketing ability of an idea.

In this four part series I’ll dig beyond the hype of Viral Marketing and look at four key lessons companies need to learn before diving into this style of outreach. Part one covered the need to know your customer and to speak to their desires. Part two talked about the need to be remarkable in either your business or your marketing. Part three took a look at the hardest commandment to follow; the need to try, try again. Today, I’ll wrap things up by pointing out the three levels of viral impact and which level you should aim for.

Viral marketing campaigns tend to fall into three distinct categories when it comes to generating marketing or branding impact. They can get attention, they can build your brand and/or they can sell your product. In an ideal world, you’d find a way to make all three happen. In a realistic world, you may need to ask yourself which of these goals matter most to you.

Do You Want to Get Attention?

When most people think viral, they think of the campaigns that hit and hit big. Subservient Chicken, the Diet Coke and Mentos fountain, JibJab’s “This Land is Your Land” and some of the other viral greatest mega hits all have one thing in common. They’re entertaining enough people feel like they’re spreading joy rather than a marketing message.

But there are some pitfalls to the “get attention” approach as well. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the Elf Yourself campaign from the last two years. Elf Yourself allowed you to upload a photo of yourself or a friend and generate a video of a dancing elf with your face to send off to anyone and everyone. It was such a hit, it spread beyond the web and ended up being featured on tons of nightly news and morning shows.

But take a close look at the video snippet of Elf Yourself on Good Morning America:

Did you notice anything there?

Did you ever hear mention of which company Elf Yourself was promoting? Nope. In fact, ask yourself right now…what company put Elf Yourself out there as a viral effort? Do you know? (I’ll bet roughly 20% of you do and most of you know only because you’ve heard or read the case study so many times.)

Now, go ask someone else you know…what company was Elf Yourself promoting?

The answer is Office Max, but only a small portion of the people I’ve ever asked can answer that question. Why? Because the Office Max brand isn’t integrated into the ad. Office Max did something fun and sent it out. Sure, it went big, but what benefit did they really reap from it?

You have to ask yourself if that’s the kind of viral attention you want to score for your company.

Do You Want to Build Your Brand?

A better option than focusing on simply creating something likely to go viral is creating something viral that builds your brand. This is really only a slight departure from the “seeking attention” plan, but it’s an important departure. The idea here is to carefully integrate your company name or product name into the viral effort so there’s no question what’s being promoted.

A great example of this style of viral marketing is the McDonald’s Chicken McNugget Rap commercial. McDonald’s spotted the user generated rap on YouTube a little over a year ago and recognized the opportunity. They purchased the rights to the video, spliced in a commercial message and ran it both on YouTube and as as a prime time commercial. The video does a good job of retaining it’s catchy “non-corporate” viral feel, but there’s simply no question what it’s promoting.

The original video has logged more than 1.7 million views on YouTube alone and the subsequent commercial has logged nearly half a million. While the video never went as viral as some of the examples I mentioned in the first category, there’s no question what they were promoting. McDonald’s enjoyed a slightly smaller reach, but benefited from a much larger impact thanks to the integrated branding.

But there’s still an even better way to build your viral message for maximum impact.

Do You Want to Sell Your Products?

My favorite form of viral marketing is the type that promotes both your brand and your product. The ones that give people a reason to want what you have while still entertaining, educating and encouraging pass alongs. These types of campaigns are hard to come by, but there are several great examples out there.

The best one I’ve seen has to be Blendtec’s “Will it Blend?” campaign.

Created on a shoe-string budget, the campaign brilliantly accomplishes several things.

1.) It’s entertaining enough people will want to pass it along.

2.) It clearly and definitively explains the value of a Blendtec blender. (The blender may cost $400, but it will blend anything you could ever dream of putting in it without breaking.)

3.) It’s ongoing. There are literally dozens of Will it Blend videos on YouTube with new ones added regularly. The old ones still play, but the new ones capture attention and give people a reason to go back and view the old ones as well.

4.) It plays off reader feedback. Will it Blend regularly blends popular new products based on reader requests, essentially turning “being blended” into a pop culture status symbol.

The results have been stunning. Both awareness and sales of Blendtec’s home blender line went through the roof. Blendtec captured that rare combination of entertainment, education and persuasion. In an ideal world, it’s what your company would go after as well.

Put it All Together

You can create a successful viral campaign following any one of the four commandments. You can create an excellent viral campaign by following two or three of them. You can create a Will it Blend? style campaign by carefully following all four and adding in a hefty dose of timing and luck.

Free White Paper: How to Optimize for Google
A free 10 page white paper on how to optimize a website on Google the right way - so the website succeeds.