Thesaurus’ came in very handy when I was essay writing in Uni and are still very relevant to me as a search marketing professional today. The thesaurus is my number 1 keyword research tool and the perfect resource for finding synonyms or related keywords. The beauty of using a thesaurus is that a bulk of keyword research has been done for you by thesaurus publishers. My favourite online thesaurus site is Thesaurus.com. Visual Thesaurus is also a handy tool if you are after a visual representation of keyword relationships (but it requires an annual subscription of about $20). I’d rather keep things simple by sticking with Thesaurus.com. Better still, thesaurus.com used in combination with the AdWords Keyword Tool is a clincher for your keyword research efforts.

How to Use Thesaurus.com and AdWords Keyword Tool

Type in your keyword in Thesaurus.com (in this example I typed in “architect”) – it should generate a list of results

This not only helps you leverage two very powerful keyword tools at the same time but also ensures that no stones are left unturned over the course of your keyword research.

How to Use the Thesaurus to Kick Start Your Keyword Research is a post from: Fuzz One Media

I started today with my usual tech news digs on Twitter and RSS feeds BUT this release from the IAB (Internet Advertising Bureau) and article from the Guardian stood out from my endless stream of tech new articles and blog updates. They are both about Online advertising expenditure finally surpassing TV advertising spend. It was inevitable but I really didn’t expect it to happen so quickly!

The summary of the two articles was that:

• Online advertising expenditure in the first half of 2009 was £1.75 billion
• TV advertising over the same period (H1 2009) was £1.6 billion

It’s not a huge margin but considering that the entire advertising industry contracted by 16.6% in H1 2009 and TV advertising declined by 17% in H1 2009 (year on year); online advertising proved to be a recession buster with 4.6% year-on-year growth in the first half of 2009. Freaking amazing…I’ll say!

Lets dig a little deeper to find out the sectors in online advertising that actually tick:

Paid Search

Paid Search a.k.a Google AdWords  -  Yes you guessed it, grew by 6.8% in H1 2009 (year-on-year)

Paid Search now accounts for a massive 59.8% of online marketing spend with a total of £1.05bn spent in H1 2009

Paid Search which is clearly dominated by the almighty Google via its Google AdWords platform probably accounts for over 80% of £1.05bn spend in H1. Google actually recorded revenues of a total of £973m in H1 2009 – which is about 92.6% of H1 2009 UK Paid Search spend. Paid search provides a direct response advertising platform with very measurable results.

Classified Advertising

Advertising on classified sites actually recorded the highest growth of 10.6% in H1 2009 (year-on-year)

Classified advertising now account for 22% on all online marketing spend with a total of only £385m spent in H1 2009

It looks to me that over the course of the recession, advertisers woke up to the reality that newspaper classified ads were not working for them and then started to migrate to online classified advertising for lower costs and it’s reach. Only time would tell whether this trend would be on the up 12 months from now. A 10.6% year-on-year growth is none the less pretty impressive.

Display Advertising

Display advertising was the upset of the lot, with a H1 2009 year-on-year decline of 5.2%.

Display advertising accounted for about 18.1% of online advertising spend in the UK, at £316.5m in H1 2009

Display ads have not always met marketers expectations for sales and lead generation. They are akin to newspaper advertising as they are mainly used as branding tools. In a recession, marketers want fast measurable results, but display ads unfortunately do not deliver like Paid Search.

Conclusions

With plans for broadband in every UK home by 2012, I see advertisers pouring more and more money into online advertising. 70% of UK households currently have internet access, so there is room for an increase in online advertising spend to cater for the remaining 30%. I am in no doubt that the online advertising industry is still a growth sector and that paid search would emerge as the winner before the online marketing industry starts to mature. I can’t wait for H2 2009 results!

So UK Internet Advertising Finally Overtakes TV Advertising Spend – Paid Search is the Real Winner is a post from: Fuzz One Media

I came across this Webinar video presentation this morning when doing some research on the landing design best practises and have to say it is the best I have come across as yet. It was presented by Tim Ash, author of the book, Landing Page Optimization and the CEO of sitetuners.com for the official Google AdWords blog, Inside AdWords.

I have to say, it is a really long video, with a duration of about 1hr 15mins. For that reason, I have summarised the key salient points from his presentation. Hope you enjoy it!

• Sin #1 – Unclear Call-to-Action
• Sin #2 – Too many Choices
• Sin #3 – Asking for too much information
• Sin #4 – Too much text
• Sin #5 – Not Keeping Your Promises
• Sin #6 – Visual Distractions
• Sin #7 – Lack of Credibility & Trust

Sin #1 – Unclear Call-to-Action

Question Visitors’ Ask: What do they want me to do on this page?
Answer: Strengthening Call-to-action

Common Issues

• Spend precious time deciding what to do
• Get confused and frustrated

The Fix:

• “Call-to-action” should be clear & draw the eye
• Placement of call-to-action should be “about-the-fold”
• Competing calls-to-action should be de-emphasized

Sin #2 – Too Many Choices

Question Visitors’ Ask: What do I do next?
Answer: Get them closer to their goal

Common Issues

• Too many choices cause paralysis
• Can’t find the right link to get closer to desired goal

The Fix:

• Don’t present detail too early in the process
• Group choices into a small number of categories
• Use visual shortcuts to reduce reading

Sin #3 – Asking for Too Much Information

Question Visitors’ Ask: Is this information absolutely necessary to complete the transaction? (Form fill test)
Answer: Simplified Forms

Common Issues

• Each extra form field makes the process more imposing
• Information asked for is inappropriate or too personal
• Have you earned the right to get my email?

The Fix:

• Ask only for absolutely-required information
• Collect additional information at a later date
• Shorten label and unclutter form layout (use usability tricks)
• You can break one pages forms into multiple phases

Sin #4 – Too Much Text

Question Visitors’ Ask: Do you really expect me to read all of this?
Answer: Shorten Your Text

Common Issues

• Short attention span – people don’t read on the web
• Information overload – hit the “back” button

The Fix:

• Use clear headlines and headings
• Put important stuff first – write in “inverted pyramid” style (Jakob Nielsen)
• Do not write in complete sentences – use short bullet lists
• Ruthlessly edit and shorten your text
• Cancel all subject speak make you

Sin #5 – Not Keeping Your Promises

Question Visitors’ Ask: This page is not what I expected
Answer: Keep Your Promises

Common Issues

• Disconnect from “upstream” ad promise
• Promised information is not on the landing page
• Mismatching the searchers intent

The Fix:

Repeat the ad-text or keywords on your page

Provide clear access to information from the ad

Sin #6 – Visual Distractions

Question Visitors’ Ask: Where am I supposed to look on this page?
Answer: Make it More Boring

Common Issues:

• Visual assault is extremely annoying
• “Gratuitous graphics” unrelated to product/service
• No clear separation of content and navigation
• Time wasted on looking at the wrong stuff

The Fix:

• Don’t compete with the call-to-action
• Remove colourful page elements and animation/motion
• Replace generic photos with specific relevant images
• Don’t use image unless they are directly relevant to your product

Sin #7 – Lack of Credibility & Trust

Question Visitors’ Ask: Why should I trust & buy from you?

Common issues:

• Lack of endorsements
• No “social proof” (testimonials)
• Trust symbols are not prominent
• Assurances are presented too late in the process

The Fix – Borrow & Solidify Trust:

• Feature well-known symbols/logos/brands prominently
• Use client logos/brands/media coverage as “badges”
• Remove anxiety with generous policies & guarantees

Recommended Reading

• Permission Marketing – Seth Godin
• Don’t Make Me Think – Steve Krug
• 24 Immutable Laws of Marketing – Al & Laura Ries
• Landing Page Optimization – Tim Ash

Remember multi-variant testing i.e. A/B testing to test your landing pages. You can use Google’s Website Optimizer for free.

Dos & Don’ts of Landing Page Design – 7 Deadly Sins of Landing Page Design is a post from: Fuzz One Media

I’ve said it a million times, I love local search engine optimisation – here is a presentation on tricky and inaccurate aspects of Local search by Danny Sullivan “Godfather of Search”. I cannot but emphasis the fact that business owners need to claim their local listing to ensure that correct information about their businesses are displayed on all local search engines. It’s a funny and informative video – I’d love to know what you think.

A Presentation on the Tricky Bits of Local Search by ‘Godfather of Search’ Danny Sullivan is a post from: Fuzz One Media

Local search is currently been taken very seriously by the major search engines.
Google, Yahoo & Windows Live each have special Local search listing platforms for businesses that target specific locales. Here is an overview of each of them.

Google Local

Google released its Local Business Center back in 2007 and has been adding new features to it like, the ability to upload photos, pop-up info windows via its maps interface, reporting capabilities and its integration with Google AdWords via Local Business Ads. It’s the most sophisticated and easiest to manage of all three local listing platforms. Unlike the other two platforms, its listings are better centrally managed and cover a lot more countries. It is also likely to generate the most traffic to your website due to Google’s new feature of including local search results in searches without specifying a location .

Yahoo Local

Yahoo Local (USA) works much the same way as Google Local but its free basic listing interface at the moment does not have extras like photo uploads and stats reporting capabilities that Google Local & Windows Live Local offer for free. You would need to pay for extras like including your Company logo, adding photos and adding a detailed business description (which I think is a shame).
It’s free basic listing still captures and displays information most important to your business like phone numbers, address, your website address, opening hours and many more fields. It is like Google, tightly integrated with Yahoo maps.

UK readers: note that at the moment UK & Ireland Yahoo Local is powered by Infoserve. So you would need to have your business listed on Infoserve first.

Windows Live Local

When Windows Live Local was launched back in 2005 (as MSN Local Search), its results were powered by Localeze, a local business directory. But in 2008, Live Search Local Listing Center was introduced in a bid to compete with Google Local and Yahoo Local. Photo uploads are allowed and like Yahoo and Google, Live Local has tight integration with the Live Maps interface. And with a Window Live id, you can manage your business local listings.

UK readers: please note that the Windows Live Maps interface is actually Multimaps (which is owned by Microsoft) and that Live Local Listing Center does not support listing UK businesses at the moment (which is a real shame). To have your business listed on Multmaps, use this form provided by Market Location who provide Multimaps with business listing data. It’s all very confusing at the moment, because Multimap local results differ from Live local search results and as a representative from Multimap explained to me, ‘a lot of changes are going on at the moment’. Fro example, look at the results of a search for ‘estate agents in Oxford’ on Live Local and on Multimap.  Microsoft – please sort yourselves out!

So Why Should You List Your Business on Local Search?

Well the simple answer is that it is probably the simplest and cheapest way of getting your site listed on page one on each of the 3 major search engines at the moment. Local search results tend to be placed above organic search results. A well optimised local listing would add immediate value to your business’s exposure online, particularly if you target a local audience.

I was approached by a local estate agent in Oxford early this year and was asked why they didn’t seem to rank on Google for the search term “oxford lettings agents” and I explained to them that it was because their site was not organically optimised, they were not advertising via Google AdWords for the search phrase and they did not have a Google Local Business Center listing. The quick win for me was to get them up on Google Local. I optimised the campaign with all the necessary keywords and they started to rank above highly SEO optimised websites for the search phrase “oxford lettings agents” as well as other relevant search phrases.

Feedback from your local search listings can actually drive your Paid and Organic search campaign.

And the Drawbacks?

Unlike Paid Search campaigns, nothing is guaranteed in Local search. Optimisation involves including the most relevant keywords to your business listings. And you have to be spot on about this or face the risk of losing out on potential business.

Bottom Line

• Local Search is a good starting point if you are on a limited budget and need to get some exposure.
• Even if you have a budget for Paid Search and Organic Search, it would add more value gaining exposure on local search listings
• Use a unique traceable phone number on your local search listings to track their performance. I recommend using a Skype to get an online number that can be forwarded to your office line. Skype provides a web interface for tracking all inbound calls.
• Local search listings can be optimised, so if your current listings are not yielding your desired results, you can always shuffle things a bit by updating your listing.
• Hire an Local SEO expert to help you do some keyword research and properly list your business info on each of the local business listing sites (Google Local in particular).
• Remember not every SEO expert knows Local SEO – they are two different beasts

Why Local Search is Important to Your Business is a post from: Fuzz One Media

Whilst working on an AdWords account today, I came across a really interesting find – Google AdWords actually allows more than 25 characters in Ad Text headlines. They appear to be testing this feature on text ad headlines using the Dynamic Keyword Insertion i.e. {KeyWord:default text} only. The ad text headline below has 29 characters!
There would have been no way this would have been accepted if it was added the normal way.

What is the Effect of this New Feature?

Well, this added flexibility in the character length of Ad text headlines would certainly improve and increase the ad’s Click Through Rate (CTR) as it would match searchers exact search phrase.

How to Add More than 25 Characters to Your AdWords Ad Text Headline is a post from: Fuzz One Media

I came across this video on YouTube and thought I’d share it with you. Its show cases Google’s Chief Economist, Hal Varian, explaining how the AdWords Ad Auction system determines what you pay per click and how maximum CPC bids and quality scoring are computed.

The Economics of Google AdWords is a post from: Fuzz One Media

This is the first of hopefully many posts on our blog. The core focus of this blog is marketing on the Internet. Our objective is to enable you better understand what we do as consultants and to enable you understand how the web can positively impact on developing your business.

The effects of web marketing would be largely dependent on the web marketing channels you utilise as well as type of business and sector your company belongs to.

The following categories have been created to give an idea of topics we would be covering:

• Increasing Search Engine Rankings
• Advertising on Search Engines (Pay Per Click)
• Email Marketing
• Lead Generation
• Business Blogging
• Social Media
• Media Buying
• Guerilla Marketing (Back to the Basics)

Web Marketing 101 is a post from: Fuzz One Media