Over the years I have had some great conversions (normally heated) and challenges related to the use of Keywords Vs Branding, this excellent thread poses some options for title tags on your website.

When looking at it purely from a search engine perspective though I would argue that Keywords should always win first. When arguing this point with a a “Marketing Guru” I tend to get them to understand that search engines are the method of getting your customers to your marketing message, which in this case is the website. This is no different from using postal services to deliver personalized mail to your database. The personalized mail is the marketing message, the postal service just puts your message under the noses of your customers.

Your branding will always be better reflected on your website anyway, and as such, you have control over images, design and words/phrases which reflect your brands message. So you should focus on improving the sites ability to be ranked well in search engines, as this will supply a nice amount of traffic/qualified leads to your site, who can then interact with your brand.

Most brands, if unique will naturally rank well on their own, without the need to worry about ramming the brand message home in every conceivable way. If you have a real unique catchphrase, that potential customers are going to search for, then be all means ensure those keyword phrases are included. But rather than thinking about search engine optimisation (Optimization, SEO), as a marketing tool, consider it the process of delivering qualified leads to your website, the point upon which the brand awareness should really begin.

Your website will always have brand dominance, as you control the real estate. So don’t try to battle for brand positioning on search engine results, your message will always have to compete and most often will be diluted.

Filed under: SEO, PPC, Design by Moley
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Been a busy week in the world of the mole! For those who haven’t already checked out previous postings, I am currently involved in a pretty awesome halloween party called – Midnight Massacre, presented by Elliot Events. To help promote this event we are literally taking as many available avenues as possible, using a cross media campaign to help generate massive awareness and help stimulate ticket sales.

This has included:

1. Radio advertising on 2 different stations
2. Advertising in a local, music/events magazine
3. Press Releases, both offline and online (mainly utilizing online as a link building tool for search engines)
4. Promotional girls, handing out flyers, yoyos and beer stubbies
5. Radio slot, discussing the event
6. Word of mouth
7. Viral Email and flash game

There are probably a few other aspects I have missed off the list so far – The last part, the viral email and flash game, were a moment of genius (well perhaps). Again it is designed to increase awareness, and with increased awareness and repetition of message, hopefully we will see increased sales. The email itself is funny enough, with some great images and quirky comments, plus it is halloween themed. It does relate to the event, ensuring relevance, but more importantly it contains links to a pretty cool flash game we have developed.

Halloween Hangman, presented by Midnight Massacre - is a pretty cool little hangman game to give everyone that little break from the pains of reality. Ultimately what the game does well is that it gets people to the website, gets them reading more info about the event, and again, hopefully then converting by purchasing a ticket for the event.

On the subject of viral material, there is a great video post on SEOmoz related to link bait. It isn’t quite viral, but the content is applicable to both sections. There are some great tips to consider if ever anyone is considering viral marketing.

Cheers!

Filed under: SEO, PPC, Design by Moley
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Ted Danson, whom is probably better known for his role in Cheers and numerous movies, has had a great post on the BBC website regarding the state of the oceans.

I generally have no real time for celebrities, too often they are too busy filling their pockets with too much money to actually give a dam about anyone or anything else around them. However kudos to Ted! I am very concerned about the state of our planet, and more specifically the oceans.

I find it deeply disturbing how we can justify the slaughter of sharks for the sake of asian people proving their social worth with Shark Fin Soup. Sharks are, without doubt, one of natures finest creations! They are highly evolved creatures which play an important part in our oceans, yet the only part of them which has nutritional value, is being thrown overboard as it has no FINANCIAL value – try telling that to all the people who are starving worldwide.

The Pro-Whaling arguement from Japan is almost laughable too. Japan came out with this very lame excuse as a reason to carry on whaling “You people eat lambs, we think lambs are cute but we don’t try to stop you eating them.” I agree lambs are cute, however they are bred for food, if we didn’t eat lambs, you can bet your ass there would be one hell of a lot less lambs available on the planet. I won’t even go into the religious implications of that statement, where lambs play an important role. You see Japan, IF, and I do mean IF whales could be farmed, and then killed in a semi-humane way, then whaling may be a possible option – however, anyone with a BRAIN will know that Whaling is horribly cruel, and really is a dead trade that the majority of people across the world want to see banned for good!

It seems that on the whole, too many people/governments/organisations benefit from the rape of our oceans, and whilst there is money to made, this rape will continue. Governments have failed to truly represent the people, and safeguard our futures. And sooner or later the deck of cards will come tumbling down. Hopefully the people of the world can unite, and demand real social change that will benefit MANKIND, both in the short and long term. It’s about time HUMANITY was put before PROFIT!

A balance needs to be made, and perhaps new ways of managing fish stocks need to implemented, one comment in relation to the story on the bbc statement says the following: “Stop eating animals and you’ll be part of the solution rather than the problem.”Me, Bath, UK  – what is wrong with this statement is that if all of a sudden the whole world became vegens, we would only create a bigger problem – which is how to feed the world when basic food grains are short, soil degredation is becoming worse and the ever increasing onset of desertification means farming is only becoming a lot harder!

Something needs to be done, and it needed to be done yesterday, somehow real thinkers of the world need to come together, REAL solutions must be found, not solutions which safeguard shareholders profits, but solutions which safeguard the sustainability of our oceans, whilst helping to feed an over populated planet. Too bad the wasted billions used on the LHC project were not put to better use!

Filed under: Politics by Moley
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It was by chance that I found the following blog post basically bagging the SEO industry, it is slightly satirical in nature, but raises some great points. However what is sad is that if someone reads this as a newbie to SEO, there is every chance their view/opinion of SEO on the whole would be horribly biased.

There are some points which are horribly wrong with the piece, and Mark Pilatowski rightly points those out. However it is very frustrating when bad SEO-ers bring down the industry. It makes it harder for the rest of us to do ethical work, and de-values the quality and value of the work we do.

I have always believed that good SEO should start with good education. Clients need to understand what they are getting for their money, which requires some knowledge of how search engines work, and then also an understanding of keyword research and implementation across the site. Work doesn’t just stop there though, regular meetings need to take place, analysis of web stats is a must and of course, SEO is an ongoing process!

Filed under: SEO, PPC, Design by Moley
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As someone who works with the web, predominantly Search, it might appear that I am biased in my assumption that businesses would consider search engine marketing as a good strategy.

Well when considering the credit crunch has hit many businesses hard, especially in the UK, search is perhaps a real alternative to mainstream advertising. Yes mainstream advertising and media are great brand builders, but often the costs are high and returns are very low, or not even known.

Taking an average newspaper advert, I am guessing any decent publication would charge at least $500 for a quarter page advert. Now right away you are limited to the amount of content you can place in that advert. You are also limited in terms of time. Most publications are released daily or weekly, so the shelf life of that advert is very poor. The adverts are often not contextually placed, i.e. if the content discusses bmx bikes, the advert very rarely relates to the content. So getting people to convert to adverts through mainstream newspaper publications is almost a hit and miss process. In fact I would even question how much people take notice to printed advertising.

There is a tonne of evidence to suggest that online advertising is often ignored, and I wouldn’t be surprised if similar results were found with printed media. I ignore adverts due to time, in fact I actively seek out content due to time constraints. So why am I making the case for switching to search engine optimisation/marketing?

There a few reasons:

1. Accountability; You can see where your advertising dollars are going. If we used the same $500 for adwords, instead of a newspaper advert, there is every chance I could send at least 500 qualified leads to your business. These leads could be tracked from the moment they hit your site, right up until the point of conversion. Giving you real time statistics, and real return on investment information.
2. Highly targeted; Are you sick and tired of seeing your marketing budget wasted on areas you don’t target? Search Engine Marketing can help you target the smallest geographic niche. Helping you minimize marketing wastage by only targeting the audience in your key geographic area.
3. Cost; Search Engine Marketing doesn’t take a massive investment. In fact you can probably enter the market for less than $10/day or $300/month, certainly less than our $500 newspaper investment and helps lead me onto the next point…
4. Time; You can advertise as little or as often as you like. You can give yourself full control over your adverts, helping you to find specific times when conversions are more likely, or by limiting adverts during hours/days of poor activity. Also remember the newspaper shelf life? Well your search engine shelf life can be as long or as tight as you like.
5. Qualified leads; This point is quite possibly the most important. At the end of the day all businesses only want to market to individuals/customers who are actively looking for their products. Good keyword research will help you identify the keywords potential customers are searching for. Because customers are already searching for your products/brand etc, there is a higher propensity to buy.

Search Engine Marketing delivers qualified leads direct to your website, compare this to your $500 newspaper advert where you hope someone will firstly take note of your advert, and then secondly hope they are intested in your product enough to contact you. This also puts another barrier between the customer and the sale. At least with reacting to search engine results, the customer can go straight to the buying centre with little or not effort.

Imagine if you read the advert in a newspaper in a doctors surgery. Yes you liked the product, but then you were called in to see your GP, your mind goes blank, and later that day (if you can still remember the advert) you resort to the only method you can think to research the product – Google! By which point you find a similar product, for less and convert to one of the companies main competitors! (this might be an extreme example )

So with the credit crunch hitting hard, isn’t about time you considered moving your marketing budget to a more accountable option?

Filed under: SEO, PPC, Design by Moley
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