SearchPath Blog
SearchPath Internet Marketing Blog - Thoughts, ideas, humour, information and more ...
Saturday, October 14, 2006
We have just launch a new site (well it is nearly finished!).
It is called Review Network and you can find it at
http://www.reviewnetwork.co.uk.
The basis of the idea is that we need reviews and opinions to help us with the work we do. This "review network" will give us the opportunity to connect with people who would like to occasionally review something or add an opinion.
Just to make things fair we will donate money to charity for every review received. Also, just so nobody thinks it is a scam we will make the donation well worth the time invested i.e. over a pound given to charity for every minute spent reviewing.
We will choose one or two charities that are close to our hearts. Even though we admit that this idea will help our work, the money donated to the charities is
not some after thought.
As said, we are nearly ready to launch this properly, in the mean time have a look at the site and tell us what you think. Also. if you would like to join the network just e-mail us at
opinions@reviewnetwork.co.uk.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
An add on from our last article "
Help I am in Google's supplemental results" here.
All of this is theory I guess, but I also think that Google also distrusts your site, and puts some of its pages in the supplemental results, if you have duplicate content.
The duplicate content could be on other sites, but I think it's mainly to do with the content on the site itself i.e. your site and specifically the "snippets" that Google finds for the search phrase. "Snippets" are the 150 or so characters of text that appear on the search results, underneath the clickable link to your page. The "snippet" usually will contain the text around the first two occurrences of the searchers' search phrase.
If you have content on your site which appears on many different pages, then this could be the cause of the problem with your pages in Google's "second" index.
Basically, Google wants to provide good search results and part of that is making sure that each entry in the relevant search query is different from the rest. So, if you are using similar or identical content on your site (and this mainly occurs in the meta description) then Google might think that your pages are the same or most certainly it will find it difficult to display your entry as unique in the search results (i.e. the "snippets" will be the same). A full blog entry on this separate subject to come!
So, if you find some of your pages in Google's supplemental index, see if they have a duplicate content problem, it might just be the cause.
As always, if you need help
contact SearchPath, we can do this check for you.
Friday, October 06, 2006
A bit of fun for a Friday.
Try this site
http://speaker219.6te.net/customgoogle/. Here you can customise the Google or Yahoo front page logo to anything you want.
Really clever link bait and AdSense search money generating idea, well done to those concerned!
You can now fool your friends into thinking that you have actually changed the real Google or Yahoo front page.
OK bearing in mind this is an "in" joke, the chances of it being genuinely funny are pretty remote ... so now that I have built it up, here goes ...
How many (bad) SEO consultants does it take to change a light bulb ...
Three.
One to buy the bulb; who actually buys 50 of them by constantly saying the phrase "buy light bulbs", "buy light bulbs", "buy light bulbs", and on and on ...
One to hide the bulbs all over the room i.e. under things, camouflage them, under the carpet, etc.
And lastly ... one to
contact SearchPath to get the job done properly ...
Sorry ... just couldn't think of a funny ending, so I went for the cheesy one ... no more jokes, promise.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Yesterday we looked at adding negative keywords to your Adwords campaigns, to filter out searchers who don't meet your criteria. Today, we're looking at the 3 main matching options you need to consider: broad, phrase and exact match. These options get progressively more specific, with exact match likely to give you fewer impressions but perhaps a more focused result.
1. Broad match is the default. Taking yesterday's example and entering Dubai Holiday into Adwords, your ads will appear whenever anyone types those two words into a search, in any order and along with any other terms. Broad match can help you save time in setting up a campaign as you don't need to enter every combination of your particular phrase, but be careful - it can generate a lot of unwanted impressions, thereby increasing your CPC, and unwanted clicks that cost you money.
2. If you want to be a little more specific, use phrase match. Do this by adding "Dubai holiday" in quotes. In this case, your ad will only appear when a searcher has entered those words in the order you specified. Your ad will still appear if other words are wrapped around your phrase eg cheap Dubai holiday. As with broad match, you should still consider including negative keywords with your campaign to filter out those searchers you don't want.
3. Finally, exact match, eg [Dubai holidays] will display your ad only when a searcher enters the exact phrase you entered - ie if they include any other word with Dubai holiday, your ad will not be triggered. Therefore, you will have filtered out searchers looking for 'cheap' or 'bargain'. However, you may have also filtered out those searching for 'exclusive' or 'tailor made' so you need to be careful - your best bet is to enter all the various combinations of terms you want to be found for. If there's too many, then use phrase match and negative keywords.
Exact match will give you fewer impressions and therefore less potential traffic than the broad or phrase match, but the traffic you do receive will be much more targeted and therefore more likely to convert into business for you.
If you want to know more,
Contact SearchPath Internet Marketing.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
When adding your keywords and phrases in Adwords, you have 4 options from a 'broad match' to the highly specific 'exact match'. More of those tomorrow - today we're looking at negative keywords.
Imagine you're selling upmarket holidays in Dubai. You might consider using (amongst others) the phrase 'Dubai holiday'. Used in a broad match, your ad will appear anytime someone's search includes the words Dubai and holiday. It can be in any order, and mixed with any other terms. Your ad will also be shown for plurals and close variations (eg common spelling errors).
Since you're selling upmarket holidays, you don't want to attract anyone searching for 'cheap' holidays. To exclude these searchers, you should use Negative Keywords, in this case adding -cheap, or -bargain. These negative phrases can be added for specific groups of keywords or for your entire campaign. Adding negative keywords will mean you're not paying for irrelevant traffic or clicks and because your ads will be more relevant to the searcher, you'll get better enquiries.
Another option is to use more targeted phrases with the Phrase Match or Exact Match options - more of that tomorrow.
In the meantime, if you want to know more,
Contact SearchPath Internet Marketing.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Continuing yesterday's theme of making the most of your Adwords budget, today we're looking at Position Preference.
When setting up your ads, Google will position your ad according to various factors such as click through rate and Quality Score (on Adwords, bidding the most doesn't necessarily get you to no. 1).
However, do you find your ads produce better results at position 3 or 4 rather than at no. 1 or no. 7? Now Google lets you set a Position Preference enabling you to specify where you want your ad shown, and will avoid showing it when ranked higher or lower. If your ad is ranked for a position higher than you've set, Google will automatically lower your bid to show your ad in your preferred position.
As with setting the timing of your ads, Position Preference helps you maximise the effectiveness of your Adwords budget.
Want to know more?
Contact SearchPath Internet Marketing.
Monday, October 02, 2006
As with any budget, you want to spend it in the place and at the time that gives you the best return. With so much web traffic and the highly targeted nature of Adwords, Google is certainly the right place to be advertising. Now, with their ad scheduling, you can now also choose the right time!
Google Adwords scheduling gives you more control over when your ads are shown. So the question you should ask is, when are your customers most likely to search for your particular product or service? Are you targeting the general public or businesses? Do you need to be advertising at the weekend or in the evenings?
If you've been running a campaign 24/7 for a while, you'll have data you can use to understand which days and times produce the best results for you.
An advanced feature of scheduling means you can also adjust your bid pricing for those time periods that you know work really well for you. So you can ensure your ad is shown at the right time and, by increasing your bid, you can also ensure its shown in the most effective position on Google.
Want to know more?
Contact SearchPath Internet Marketing.
