Over the weekend I was out on Long Island and in need of a home service provider, specifically an exterminator. I setup an appointment and quickly realized my problem was “wildlife” and not “vermin” and needed a new provider. I was told to check the “phone book” and look for a specific company that could deal with the raccoon who moved in.

I consulted all kinds of variations of Yellow Pages online, phone books, yellow business directories – you name it, and I searched it. I found plenty of providers, but all of them did not service my area. I wasted a ton of time and phone energy calling these places only to be told that my area was outside of where they would travel. I soon learned to check the service area first…

Fast forward to my Google search and I found a few paid SEM ads that all seemed relevant. A few calls later and I had two prospects and finalized on a totally qualified company.

I clicked a paid SEM ad, found a provider, and signed up for business.

This is an activity that happens all the time, but it was still light years ahead of the targeting, comprehension, and experience of using a traditional yellow pages, or other online business directory.

Paid search continues to deliver the right contextual message as long as there is enough intent. The rest was generated through geo-targeting, keyword broad matching, and budgeting.

Many people ask me about customer acquisition costs through banners, email marketing, and all other forms of advertising. My answer back is always to force them into a cost-per-customer model so they can track and document what it takes to get a new user and assign them a lifetime value.

For me, paid search continues to be what I recommend the most.

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Paid Search FTW

When consulting with companies about “how their website is doing” one of the first things people checkout is the Google PR or Page Rank of the site.

To check the PR of your site officially you have to install the Google browser tool bar which will show you a small green bar from 0-10 with a black box algorithm used to calculate your score. The interesting thing that has happened in the past few years is that this score has become default off with the toolbar, little mention from Google, and an industry directing people that your PR is no longer that important.

What matters is real original content, solid back links from relevant websites, incoming search traffic, rankings on SERPs for specific terms, and referral logs for your site.

How does Google PR play a role in the SEO ecosystem?

It used to be that you could calculate your page rank by the volume of inbound links from other high page ranked sites. For example if many PR 5 sites were linking to your site, your score would increase. I am not sure this is case any longer, nor am I sure that it even matters.

In the past few weeks I have come across benchmarks from a few SEO projects that show an increased number of inbound links, an increase in SERP rankings, and a higher volume of quality content – but a decrease in overall page rank. The net affect of all this is that the webmasters remain happy because “progress” is being made from their SEO efforts – but the only number Google has given them to “score” their site is flat or decreasing.

The lack of cohesion around a metric of success has limited the marketing efforts of many SEO shops and consultants. I think that PR matters to marketers, decision makers, consumers, but not to SEO consultants or agencies.

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Does Page Rank matter?

“masterpiece” by 415style

I was talking with Amanda Peyton who I met after the Internet Week version of the NY Tech Meetup about SEO and gave my thoughts on why and how it is important. This was following another great event showcasing 50+ companies in the first NYTM Showcase demo room.

She asked “does SEO even exist?” to which I replied with what I believe is a very good analogy I will use going forward to explain my thoughts on SEO.

Seo is like Art

The gatekeepers who decide whether or not your page is “optimized” are the search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. This is done via a blackbox that people have tried to game, crack, follow, and abide by for many years.

The analogy holds true for art as well as the gatekeepers who decide whether or not your work is “art” are the major museums such as the MoMA, the Met, and the Guggenheim (at least here in NYC).

Each group is similar as they have different specialties and themes, and their own flavor of what works and what does not. They are curated and handled differently, but ultimately have the final say.

People spend vast amounts of time arguing whether or not something belongs in a museum or not, and one of my favorite examples is the painting Blue Monochrome by Yves Klein which is one color on the entire canvas.

I will avoid the argument for the moment of whether or not this is art, but clearly it has some foundation as it is hanging in the MoMA.

The same holds true for websites. You can build a site, optimize it, and throw it online and call it “optimized” but only the engines will determine if this is really the case. Your reward for optimizing towards the guidelines set forth by these gatekeepers is ranking. This is now heavily influenced by outside links coming in, but still determined by the engines.

So I challenge anyone who really questions the validity of SEO and so called SEO-experts, and use my analogy of artwork. If it were that easy, everyone would pickup a blank canvas, some paint and brushes, and create a masterpiece – whatever that may look like.

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SEO is like Art

Most people think that a cookie is a delicious treat – not a file on your computer that tracks where you have been, what you are doing, and other attributes about you. Behavior is what you do – not something quantified in a profile.

That is why with the recent announcement by Google to provide “more interesting advertising” you only see the mention of cookies twice towards the end of the post and behavior not mentioned once. The reason for this is because at the end of the day that is what people want – more relevant ads, without knowing much else.

From the post:

That’s why Google has worked hard to create technology that makes the advertising on our own sites, and those of our partners, as relevant as possible. To date, we have shown ads based mainly on what your interests are at a specific moment. So if you search for [digital camera] on Google, you’ll get ads related to digital cameras. If you are visiting the website of one of our AdSense partners, you would see ads based on the content of the page. For example, if you’re reading a sports page on a newspaper website, we might show ads for running shoes. Or we can show ads for home maintenance services alongside a YouTube video instructing you on how to perform a simple repair. There are some situations, however, where a keyword or the content of a web page simply doesn’t give us enough information to serve highly relevant ads.

This is a great way of introducing the idea of controlling your interest meter or define to Google exactly what you are interested in. You can do this if you are logged into your Google account at the Ads Preferences Manager (must be signed in to see full features)

Via this interface you can add interesting categories and topics that give Google a better idea of what to show you. Since you are going to be seeing ads anyway, you may as well have them tailored towards what you want, and exclude more of what you don’t want.

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Relevancy in advertising (not cookies or behavior)

Image via Wikipedia

My Agenda:
Looking forward to a number of Web 2.0 sessions – All Week
Will not miss the @ShakeShack event – 09/16/08
I will also be going to OMMA later this week.
+More

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Web 2.0 Expo Week

Social Media has been a hot topic this year. Why should marketers enter this space and what is the key benefit?

Facebook just announced a year over year traffic increase of 40%. Any major brand would be so lucky to have this big of a jump to their site. Marketers should enter the social media space because you always need to fish where the fish are.

The key benefits are 1) could introduce your product to a new audience 2) low barrier to entry 3) valuable/real time customer feedback 4) helps differentiate your brand since some brands have been slow to move in this space 5) Social Media is here to stay so the sooner you start learning and adjusting the better off you will be in the long run.

Unlike SEM (or even SEO), SMM seems to be lacking in measurable metrics that marketers can tie directly back to ROI. What do you say to marketers who feel uncomfortable putting money into a form of marketing that they can’t prove is giving them a proper ROI?

Sometimes you need to look at the other side of the coin: What is the potential cost of not doing anything? How vulnerable are you to competition if you don’t do anything? There may still be hesitancy even if the competitors are embracing new technology, the key is to start small and get a few wins rather than trying to build the “perfect thing” from the start.

It seems like every week there’s a new “hot” social network that everyone raves about–what key factors should a marketer look for when deciding which social media properties to target?

Which properties align with your demographic and psychographic? If you sell walking canes then you probably don’t need to be on MySpace. Figure out which media has the best chance to be around for the foreseeable future. Also, figure out what assets you already have that you can leverage. Do you have a lot of original video content or do you have a huge user base that wants to connect. This will help you select the right medium. Also instead of trying to be on all social places at once. Start with the one that has the best chance for success for your product/brand and then grow channel by channel from there. This is very similar to search; everyone starts with Google then expands to Yahoo, MSN, Ask, Kayak, etc.

Facebook’s advertising platform seems to have fallen far short of expectations. Is it worthwhile for marketers to advertise on Facebook or are they better off spending their money elsewhere?

You should definitely test this as it is very easy to get up and running. From there you can determine your returns and go from there. Many brands have found more success sending their Facebook ads to a Facebook Fan Page rather than to their on site.

While we hear about many marketers making huge ground by marketing through social media (such as those addressed in the panel), far more fail than succeed. Is SMM really something that you can guarantee will be successful if “done right” or is it luck-of-the-draw to a certain extent?

Nothing is guaranteed – intelligence, enthusiasm and luck will take you a long way in life.

Twitter is becoming increasingly popular, despite its many troubles. Do you see Twitter as a viable platform for marketers in the future?

It already is a viable platform as JetBlue, Comcast, Whole Foods, etc. have proven. If you are a big brand and you aren’t already doing so, you should immediately start following what people are saying about your brand. In the past we had to pay research firms for this type of data on our customers – now it is free and real time! A good tool for this is found at http://search.twitter.com.

If you had to guess, what would you say is the “next big thing” in Social Media Marketing?

The two next big things in my mind are advancements in mircropayments and search results incorporating the social graph (socialommerce™).

#1: Micropayments will allow users to easily transfer money between each other even in amounts less than twenty cents.

This might introduce micro-branding. For example on Facebook users can send each other gifts. This typically costs the user a $1. 100% of this goes to Facebook. Today companies like Skittles often sponsor these gifts (Teddy Bear, Skittle). While it’s nice that the user receives a gift they would probably be happier if they also received fifty cents along with their gift icon. This will happen in the future. It’s similar to the concept that MSN is introducing with their Live Search Cashback.

#2: Here’s a real world example of what the future of socialommerce holds:

Jim and his wife just had their third child. With this addition, his two sedans won’t cut it anymore, so he’s in the market for a bigger vehicle. Having vowed to himself and his friends that he’d never own a minivan, he’s in the market for an SUV or a crossover vehicle.

Jim is dreading the hours of searching on the Internet to find a vehicle that suits his needs. He’s dreading even more having to leave work early to visit the car dealerships to test drive his array of selected vehicles and then begin the haggling process. Jim is also fearful that he may make a mistake even after all of his diligent research.

The majority of these pains will become things of the past with socialommerce. Here’s why:

Jim performs a search on his favorite social network – he types in “buying a car.” Rather than receiving a bunch of irrelevant ads for car trader sites he discovers the following:

* 23 of Jim’s friends have purchased a car in the last year
* 16 of his friends are married with two or more children
* 14 purchased an SUV or crossover
* 9 purchased the same vehicle

Jim respects the opinions of the nine people who purchased the same vehicle, so he clicks to find out more, and gets the following information:

“I test drove Crossover X and Crossover Y. Crossover Y was the much better feel and it was easier to get into the back seat. Couple that with the fact that it gets 3 more mph to the gallon and it was a no-brainer.”

Listed alongside the qualitative reviews are certain data points for each friend: price, vehicle, options, lease or finance terms, color, etc.

What does this mean for brand marketing? Well, it means that companies and marketers better start spending more time listening to their customers and potential customers and less time spending hours upon hours figuring out their next award-winning – but “no-customer-getting” – 30-second television commercial. Your power consumers are going to take ownership of brands, and their referral power is now on steroids.

Just as important as listening to the customer is acting on the information received and working with the product team to make quick adjustments. These certainly aren’t new constructs, but in the age of Web 2.0, your brand will experience a quick death if these constructs aren’t adhered to.

For more information checkout Erik at SES 2008: San Jose during the social media track;

Marketing to and through social networks means humans are hot again. Not as directory editors; it’s Web 2.0, and your customers are in control. The old-fashioned media buy has gone bye-bye. Social media marketing is fast emerging as a must-have in search strategies. Learn about the social search revolution, and hear case studies of how marketers have successfully promoted brands and products with it.

Post from: Eric Friedman
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Interview: Erik Qualman – SES 2008 San Jose Q&A

Be sure to checkout the biggest news makers for 2007 via Google search.

Interested in the top searches on Yahoo!? check them out.

How about MSN? Check them out.

Post from: Eric Friedman
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What people searched most in 2007

A Yahoo! that executes with speed, clarity and discipline. A Yahoo! that increases its focus on differentiating its products and investing in creativity and innovation. A Yahoo! that better monetizes its audience. A Yahoo! whose great talent is galvanized to address its challenges. And a Yahoo! that is better focused on what’s important to its users, customers, and employees.

I feel that not since the Peanut Butter Manifesto situation has Yahoo had a chance to make such sweeping change.

Perhaps the motivation behind all this suddenness is to show an agile company that is coming into its own, showing the other players that it still has what it takes to compete.

Technorati Tags: Terry Semel, Jerry Yang, Yahoo, Marketing.fm

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Yahoo – The new vision

Half of the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.

Not too long ago, we ran this poll on Marketing.fm – do you think the Wanamaker quote should be revised with the advent of CPA, CPC, improved tracking & measurement in the interactive space? Please let us know…

Technorati Tags: cpc, cpa, interactive advertising, marketing, john wanamaker, marketing.fm, polls

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John Wanamaker’s Advertising Quote

From Yahoo’s new PayPal site:

With the Yahoo! PayPal Checkout Program, a blue shopping cart icon appears next to your ad in Yahoo! search results. This can help your ad stand out, and let customers know you offer PayPal Express Checkout, from the brand known for security.

This is definitely an interesting move given that Yahoo had to respond to the recent Google Checkout initiative. Looking at the options on the table they could have either A – built their own system and hoped for global adoption B – purchase a smaller checkout system with a user base or C – partner with the largest checkout system, over 130 million users. Option C seemed to be the best option pairing up with PayPal. I will be watching this space closely to see how they integrate PayPal into the Yahoo search ads and what types of changes this means to advertisers. At the moment they are claiming that everything will be free which seems to be the offer de jour on the Internet. I am sure Yahoo has some brand name advertisers lined to test out and feature the new system and I will post more information when it becomes available.

Technorati Tags: search marketing, search engine marketing, Yahoo, PayPal, Yahoo PayPal, Marketing.fm, marketing, online marketing, advertising, SEM, Google, Google Checkout

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Yahoo & PayPal Integrate For Search Marketing