Tag Archive for 'google'

The Return of the Splash Page?

Published by Marc on 15 April, 2008 in SEO and Web Standards. 3 Comments

With Google’s recent statement they were going to give increased importance to the loading times of a website’s home page (and penalise accordingly slow loading sites), could we be seeing the return of the Splash Page?

 

Here’s a favourite Splash Page of mine - Ginko Gardens

  

Ginko Gardens Splash Page

 

Splash Pages – Counter to ‘Usability’ and SEO best practice?


Much like hard copy brochure covers, splash pages typically contain very little content. Instead what you find is Flash animation, a striking image, a fancy tag line or a brief intro spiel advertising what the site is about. Throw in a logo, a keyword optimised footer and you’re done!

 

From a user’s perspective, splash pages are just one more click to make to get to the content they’re after. So they’re a big waste of time.

Splash Pages = Low Exit Rates

For website designers and online marketers, splash pages aren’t necessarily all bad news. For one thing, they can load pretty quickly (which given Google’s recent pronouncements is good news) and they usually offer a low exit rate.

 

Assuming few users leave the splash page and pursue their journey further into a website, that could have some SEO benefit. Search engines are known to value positively websites with low exit rates on their top web pages…

Is Google encouraging the return of the Splash Page?

So could Google’s latest pronouncement in favour of fast load times further encourage the use of splash pages? And doesn’t that run counter to usability best practice?

 

Imagine the web populated by useless splash pages. They would no longer contain Flash (as Flash increases load times), but they would be extremely content light to upload fast and would likely require users to click on to get to the content they’re after.

 

With savvy web marketers around… That scenario is not so hard to imagine.

 

Your thoughts?

Google Search Query Reports - Tweak your PPC and SEO

Published by Josh on 17 March, 2008 in SEM and SEO. 0 Comments

So your Google PPC campaigns are under-performing… Or your SEM client now wants you to do sort out their SEO… This is where running a Google AdWords Search Query Performance Report could come in real handy!

Search Query Reports – Where the magic happens

So what’s a search query report? It’s a report containing nearly every searched term that triggered a Google PPC ad. You find it under the AdWord’s Reports tab and it comes loaded with heaps of information on user search queries.

Google Search Query Report

Which keywords are converting? Which ads are performing?

Say you want to know which search query is your highest performer and which of your ads gives you the best return from that query… Search Query Reports deliver. You can drilldown to average position, clicks, impressions, CTR, etc, and at a glance identify the winners and losers among your ads and your keywords.

Spot negative keywords. Spot new ones too!

If you find your ads are being shown through irrelevant search terms, add these to your list of negative keywords. And should you happen to come across new keywords which led to conversions (if conversion tracking is on) you know what to do.

Give your CTR a boost!

The proof is in the pudding! When we tweaked the performance of a new account following our analysis of a Search Query Report, we noticed an immediate performance lift; a 20% sales rise coupled with a drop in our CPA!

Conversions vs CPA

You might not get this result every time, but with new accounts when you’re unsure about where you’re at, a Search Query Report can point you in the right direction.

A perfect SEM tool? Well… almost!

One thing you’ll notice when you run a Search Query Report is that Google spits out results in that show up as ‘## other unique queries. And no (before you ask), you cannot see what those ‘unique queries’ are… So what’s up with that?

Firstly, it’s labeled as a ‘unique query’ because that’s exactly what it is: ‘unique’. It may be a sentence long and could turn up once a year at best, so you’re not missing out! Google lumps these ‘one of a kind’ queries with the other one timers to save you the bother of sifting through the clutter.

Secondly there’s a server issue. Listing all one off queries would require heaps of memory – and even Google can’t carry that load!

That said… Give Search Query Reports a try and see how you go! It could make a big difference to your accounts.

What Australians Searched For in 2007

Published by Marc on 7 December, 2007 in General. 1 Comment

Google Australia just released its ‘Australian Year-End Zeitgeist Highlights Hot Searches in 2007‘ (try saying that quickly 3 times); a summary of what Australians searched online in the past year.

The Fastest Rising Keyword Searches

No surprise, social networking sites make a up a large part of Google’s fastest rising search queries in 07, most notably: Facebook, YouTube, MySpace and Bebo. And if Aussies weren’t chatting with friends, looking at videos or sharing their lives through pokes and ranking their ‘top friends’, they were trying to escape – dreaming of owning an iPhone, jetting off on a cheap Tiger Air flight to Asia, trying to catch up on the Rugby World Cup, or getting the latest update on their favourite fantasy show like Heroes or the ABC’s brilliant Summer Heights High (Yes! That made the list too!)

Channel Seven – Winning the TV Wars!

If Google searches are anything to go on, then you would have to conclude Channel Seven is tops while Nine is all but irrelevant! Out of the top ten searched shows on Google, Seven had 6, including: Heroes, Today Tonight, Home and Away, Prison Break, Lost and Grey’s Anatomy. Channel Ten followed with its two hot media properties, Big Brother and the ever-popular Australian Idol, while the ABC’s Summer Heights High and SBS’ Top Gear rounded out the top ten. Where did it all go wrong Eddie?

Paris, Britney… The Whole Gang’s Here!

As you’d expect, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears were top of mind in celebrity searches for 2007 – the Internet’s equivalent of the 18 car pile up (you can’t help but look, but you should really just move on!) Rihanna and Justin brought sexy back, John Howard didn’t, Steve Irwin will be fondly missed and Anna Nicole Smith closed out her 15 minutes on a sad note. What a year it’s been!

 For more insights on what Australians searched in 2007, check out the rest of Google Australia’s Search Highlights for 2007 right here.

Social Media Optimisation - what the heck is it?

Published by Marc on 14 November, 2007 in SEO. 1 Comment

A client recently asked us about Social Media Optimisation or SMO as to ‘what the heck it was’ and if he should ‘get in on that action?’ Little did he know he was already applying many SMO techniques - he just didn’t know it!

SMO as defined on Wikipedia is ‘a set of methods for generating publicity through social media, online communities and community websites’.

So if like our client you’re performing SMO if you are…

Adding links back to your site

Search engines like Google and Yahoo value links and reward sites who have many incoming links from other websites (especially relevant links from heavily trafficked websites). So listing your business on paid or free directories is a sound strategy for improving your natural (organic) search rankings.

How to find directories and acquire links

A good place to start: Type ‘Australia Directory Listings’ into a search engine and you’ll come across some popular directories, many of which are free.  Simply submit your site and wait to receive confirmation of your posting!

Popular directories include:

Making your site easy to tag and bookmark

Giving visitors to your web site the opportunity to bookmark your content is also a sound optimisation strategy. Don’t lose your traffic! Make it easy for users to stick around and engage with your brand by providing them with the tools to reconnect with you again and again.

Popular bookmark tags include:

Adding content mashups

A further way to enhance your website’s content is via content mashups. Add videos, maps or streamed content from a news source provider to provide a better web experience or facilitate a sale. It’s surprisingly easy and a handy way to take your website to the next level and as search engines improve, those new forms of content will count ever more towards your quality score.

For example:

Sharing your content

It pays to share. And that saying certainly holds true for the web. Sending your content on via newsletters or posting to your company blog interesting topics like ‘Social Media Optimisation’ can only serve to increase the number of repeat visitors to your site.

So share your content through:

  • Blogs (like this one)
  • newsletters

A little site called Facebook

And finally… Is there a person who has not heard of a little website called Facebook? Synonymous with social networking online Facebook is great way to network, keep in touch with friends and link to people with similar interest locally and internationally.

Launched in early 2004, Facebook has grown from a niche university social networking site into a worldwide phenomenon. By starting your own ‘special interest group’ on Facebook or joining an existing network of likeminded individuals, you can rapidly expand the reach of your content and broaden your link profile.