Posts About ‘Research’

The growth of mobile search: huge in numbers, not in CTR (research)

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It is clear that mobile is not just a growing market, it is a market to really dive into. Mobile is interesting for both search engines and for advertisers. Research performed (in the US!) by Efficient Frontier shows us that the number of mobile searches and mobile paid ads is growing rapidly. But CTR and ROI still stays behind.

Efficient Frontier tells us that already 10-15% of traffic on average comes from mobile devices. And that’s an average, if you look at specific markets these numbers can sometimes even double. The research also shows that 5.4% of all paid search impressions currently come from mobile devices, which is a huge growth compared to last year. This means that by the end of 2011 Efficient Frontier believes that “somewhere between 7.0%-9.5% of search advertising dollars could be spent on mobile devices”. (more…)

Simple forecasting for SEO

One of the major talking points that came out of the recent Manchester SEO mini conferences related to the subject of forecasting for SEO purposes. As Head of SEO for a number of high profile search organisations within the UK, forecasting has become part and parcel of my day to day role, both in terms of providing a commercial rationale for undertaking a SEO campaign for the client, but also a way of providing a rational framework to the SEO project, one that has the end goals of the client at its heart and takes into account their fundamental reach and response requirements from SEO.

The main issue with forecasting has and will for the foreseeable future be search data, in particular an accurate number of potential searchers within a particular sector, and even more so on particular keywords. Yes ,there are various tools on the market such as the Google Keyword Tool/SK Tool, Webmaster Tools, Raven or even old school tools such as Elite SEO however the fundamental issue remains in terms of data integrity and robustness particularly when one compares this to a real time environment. Further to this, many of us are lucky to have clients which have 100% coverage on 100% off their keywords, 100% of the time, and without such data, it is very difficult to provide absolutely on the money forecasts. (more…)

Understanding Search Engines

What we commonly refer to as Search Engine Optimisation is something which I relate to treatment of a disease. The various treatments of SEO, from title tags and headers to information architecture and linkbuilding, are all focused on the symptoms of a disease.

Truly understanding the disease – i.e. going beyond the symptoms and superficial treatment – requires a deeper understanding of SEO. It requires that you understand how search engines work.

This aspect of SEO is, in the opinion of many including me, thoroughly neglected in our industry. Too many search engine optimisers focus exclusively on the symptoms and are entirely oblivious to the underlying causes.

Understanding how search engines work and how search engineers at these search engines tackle problems is a vital aspect of becoming a truly well-rounded SEO specialist.

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Review: SEO Effect

SEO EffectSEO Effect is a new suite of search engine optimization tools that’s currently under development by a team headed by Dutch search marketing expert Keesjan Deelstra. I had the opportunity to review the SEO Effect software recently, unleashing it on two of my websites.

First of all it’s important to state that SEO Effect is a work in progress. So far the tool suite has a keyword research module and a trend monitoring module. Under development are the site optimisation, link strategy, and task management modules. (more…)

State of UK Search: Guava and Econsultancy Launch 4th Annual Report

Yesterday afternoon was a hot one in the city. I was making my way through Soho Square towards the Groucho Club, for the launch of the fourth annual Search Marketing Report and I was pleased to see that Soho Square was packed with media types catching the afternoon sun and chucking back champagne. When I say pleased; I really mean jealous, (don’t you people have work to do?) but I took this as a good sign that perhaps things are really bouncing back for digital media.

I got to The Groucho (quick celeb check… Lenny Henry, Ross Kemp, Danny Dyer) and was greeted by our Econsultancy hosts; Senior Analyst, Jake Hird, Research Director, Linus Gregoriadis and a very nice Guava Champagne cocktail from the sponsors (nice touch Guava!) We chatted about the report and the general state of the industry (consensus – search up, display down), as the room filled up and the cocktails went down. Guava’s Martin Dinham began to round us up, so we took our places. Now in it’s fourth year this report, (from over five hundred respondants), is rather extensive and now includes social media; so I’ll highlight a couple of points that stood out for me. (more…)

Search is growing up, let’s take the client with us

The search industry, like the entire web industry for that matter, is a relatively young industry. The biggest player in the industry is only about 11 years old after all. Therefore its not surprising that the industry has seen a yearly recurring trend of growth. Even with the economy going downhill the search industry kept growing.

A new research performed by Reform Digital again shows the growing trend. Things are still looking bright for the industry. But the research, together with recent developments also shows the industry is growing up. Clients want a more ‘mature approach’ and the industry should take that approach to keep growing. Clients want more control and understanding and agencies will have to teach that to the clients. (more…)

The Real Time Hype: take it or leave it?

Search is changing rapidly. Search Engines are looking at user intent and what users want. And speed is one thing which users want badly. Get information as fast as you possibly can. It doesn’t matter if its not accurate or if its ‘only’ written in 140 characters, as long as its fast.

The need for speed makes that new tools are developed which makes information go around the web, and with that the world, faster by the second. Status updates on Twitter and Facebook off course are the best examples of content going around the web in split seconds. A continuos conversation. But what can we do with that information? Do we really care? (more…)

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