Recently we consulted with a large resort chain who is in the top 4 for most of their keywords in Google. I was a little surprised pulling their statistics before our meeting, wondering why in the world they wanted to talk until......I pulled up their website. Then I knew exactly what sort of meeting we were going to have.
Turns out, the site is generating dismal bookings and they don't know why. I told them immediately I thought their bounce ratio had to be very high.
A bounce ratio is the number of people who logon to the home page and then hit the back browser or another way out, exiting the home page in less than 10 seconds. Quickly identifying the urgency of this, the client frantically ran and grabbed the login information for Google Analytics which has fortunately been set up. They just didn't know how to read it. Turns out the bounce ratio was near 60%! I need not explain that a resort can't afford to have that much of their traffic bouncing off the home page and never digging to an interior page.
This is the perfect example of how you can be at the top of Google and still loose. SEO is important, and we do our fair share of it with good success. But we never, ever do that until we have something that is worth putting the SEO efforts behind.
The first look at their home page gave me a headache, the page was far too busy and offered far too many options for the user. By changing the home page with a more clean design and allowing focus on specials or promo's, we are confident the bounce ratio will drop.
There could have been many reasons for the high bounce ratio, not the least of which could be attracting the wrong traffic. Without a thorough analysis of the traffic, numbers and history we would have been taking a shot in the dark. But knowing that most of their traffic was coming from the Google keywords they were after, we had our smoking gun.
We love solving problems for people on the web, and web analytics in Hawaii is no easy task. We have a very diverse market from around the world, and other variables. If you'd like a free consultation, follow the link at Web Analytics Hawaii.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
Interactive Agency Services
Why an interactive agency in Hawiai? There's a lot to consider when your doing an online marketing campaign. Most clients we visit with try a pay-per-click campaign and don't know of anything else they can do. And often, they spend a lot of money for very little results. What they don't know, unfortunately, is that there are many other options that could yield them far better results for far less.
Take a client we are working with right now who had an extensive pay per click campaign and had even stepped out so far as to do online banners with his local newspaper. Still, the results were dismal. Consulting, we discovered a new avenue for him, and last month he made nearly $3000 off of this banner which saved him a lot of expense and increased his ROI in a major way.
There is a lot of science to online marketing. We've been doing it for nearly 13 years and pioneered banner advertising when few knew what to do with it. We've seen a lot of successes and failures along the way. And we've seen a lot of wasted money at bad SEO companies, poor online marketing opportunities, and overdone pay-per-click campaigns. All of these options can be good considering the circumstances are right. An online agency can help make a decision that could really boost your business in tough ecomonic times.
Drop us a line and tell us what your needs are, and we'll set up a consultation to help meet your needs. Online marketing can be really beneficial with the right tools and resources. It's a very different world from traditional marketing, and we love helping clients make the most of it.
Take a client we are working with right now who had an extensive pay per click campaign and had even stepped out so far as to do online banners with his local newspaper. Still, the results were dismal. Consulting, we discovered a new avenue for him, and last month he made nearly $3000 off of this banner which saved him a lot of expense and increased his ROI in a major way.
There is a lot of science to online marketing. We've been doing it for nearly 13 years and pioneered banner advertising when few knew what to do with it. We've seen a lot of successes and failures along the way. And we've seen a lot of wasted money at bad SEO companies, poor online marketing opportunities, and overdone pay-per-click campaigns. All of these options can be good considering the circumstances are right. An online agency can help make a decision that could really boost your business in tough ecomonic times.
Drop us a line and tell us what your needs are, and we'll set up a consultation to help meet your needs. Online marketing can be really beneficial with the right tools and resources. It's a very different world from traditional marketing, and we love helping clients make the most of it.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
The Power of Web Analytics
Understanding the traffic on your site is probably the greatest goldmine you have for your business. It's full of all sorts of rich information, that if you know how to harness and utilize, can generate tremendous growth and productivity off of your site.
Knowing all sorts of things like where users are coming from, what pages they visited, and how long they spent on your site can give you valuable information.
I'll give a great example from a webmaster friend who understands the importance of this. Looking at his clients traffic numbers and statistics every day, he noticed an individual from London had come onto the site two days in a row and browsed multiple properties. He told the realtors in the office to keep their eyes open for a call from London. Sure enough, 4 days later, he called and they were ready for him. The knew what properties he had browsed and were fully knowledgeable about what he was wanting. They were able to provide great service.
There are a lot of ways to utilize traffic data. It's important to know what your bounce ratio is - that is the percentage of users who have left the site in less than 10 seconds. This will vary from industry to industry but you should aim to keep it as low as possible. Another factor is how much time users have spent on the site. There is a direct correlation between how much time they spend on the site to how productive your results are from the website. There are a number of variables. Knowing Web Analytics from many years in the field, we can always help review your numbers and give an analysis of your site and what you can do to improve it.
Feel free to contact us for more information.
Knowing all sorts of things like where users are coming from, what pages they visited, and how long they spent on your site can give you valuable information.
I'll give a great example from a webmaster friend who understands the importance of this. Looking at his clients traffic numbers and statistics every day, he noticed an individual from London had come onto the site two days in a row and browsed multiple properties. He told the realtors in the office to keep their eyes open for a call from London. Sure enough, 4 days later, he called and they were ready for him. The knew what properties he had browsed and were fully knowledgeable about what he was wanting. They were able to provide great service.
There are a lot of ways to utilize traffic data. It's important to know what your bounce ratio is - that is the percentage of users who have left the site in less than 10 seconds. This will vary from industry to industry but you should aim to keep it as low as possible. Another factor is how much time users have spent on the site. There is a direct correlation between how much time they spend on the site to how productive your results are from the website. There are a number of variables. Knowing Web Analytics from many years in the field, we can always help review your numbers and give an analysis of your site and what you can do to improve it.
Feel free to contact us for more information.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Keyword Advertising and Trademarks
Earlier this month, there was an intriguing legal case between 1-800Contacts and a competitor, Lensworld. The fight started when Lensworld bought keyword targets ads (such as Google Adsense and the ads that show on the right side of a search result) for 1-800Contacts, 1800Contacts and 1 800 Contacts. It's a common practise, but 1-800Contacts filed a trademark infringement lawsuit. It's not the first time, and I'm sure it won't be the last.
The problem is, the ad networks are set up to allow you to do that. You can purchase any keyword you want, even a trademark name. The opinion is wide and far on whether or not its ethical. Some contend that if you own a trademark and have spent the thousands of dollars to establish that name and brand, no one else should be able to benefit from it. Valid point! I don't want my competitors showing up when someone searches for Aloha Media Group. Their looking for me. But it's a common practise. Searching for brand names in google will easily show, a lot of people don't have ethical questions about purchasing ads for a keyword that is a trademark. And what about the search engines and portals? Where is Google on all this? Silent for the most part. They have built the infrastructure and have not put any restraint in for straining out trademarked keywords. And can you imagine the technological/legal hurdles to accomplish that? It's very thought provoking, and sure makes for great blog material. If you have an opinion about this. Post it now, we'd love to hear.
The problem is, the ad networks are set up to allow you to do that. You can purchase any keyword you want, even a trademark name. The opinion is wide and far on whether or not its ethical. Some contend that if you own a trademark and have spent the thousands of dollars to establish that name and brand, no one else should be able to benefit from it. Valid point! I don't want my competitors showing up when someone searches for Aloha Media Group. Their looking for me. But it's a common practise. Searching for brand names in google will easily show, a lot of people don't have ethical questions about purchasing ads for a keyword that is a trademark. And what about the search engines and portals? Where is Google on all this? Silent for the most part. They have built the infrastructure and have not put any restraint in for straining out trademarked keywords. And can you imagine the technological/legal hurdles to accomplish that? It's very thought provoking, and sure makes for great blog material. If you have an opinion about this. Post it now, we'd love to hear.
Friday, February 15, 2008
"Microsoft.....get out of MySpace!"
The Yahoo soap opera is getting very interesting from the news reports today. The deal is from News Corp's Fox Interactive Media and it's a very interesting merger. They have valued the merger at an estimated $50 billion, a little bit more than the Microsoft offer.
Most of us have little knowledge of who Fox Interactive is and why on earth this deal would be taking place. But with one domain name, you'll get a better idea: http://www.myspace.com/. Yes, they own the infamous and top traffic site of My Space. The major benefit of this potential merger is an advertising powerhouse that would have an astounding 35% market share of online advertising.
This is also a great way to stave off Microsoft. And that is important to Yahoo, as they recently communicated in letter to their shareholders. They implemented a new strategy last year (which has seemed like a great move in my interactions with Yahoo), and they fear the Microsoft bid would destroy their positive direction.
Personally, I'm much in favor of the Fox Interactive merger. I think it allows Yahoo to continue their direction to do something different by continuing their diversity with more online advertising. Many people in the media field are agreeing.
I think it is a brilliant step by Jerry Yang to not only avoid the Microsoft dilemna all together, but also to continue taking his company in the right direction.
Most of us have little knowledge of who Fox Interactive is and why on earth this deal would be taking place. But with one domain name, you'll get a better idea: http://www.myspace.com/. Yes, they own the infamous and top traffic site of My Space. The major benefit of this potential merger is an advertising powerhouse that would have an astounding 35% market share of online advertising.
This is also a great way to stave off Microsoft. And that is important to Yahoo, as they recently communicated in letter to their shareholders. They implemented a new strategy last year (which has seemed like a great move in my interactions with Yahoo), and they fear the Microsoft bid would destroy their positive direction.
Personally, I'm much in favor of the Fox Interactive merger. I think it allows Yahoo to continue their direction to do something different by continuing their diversity with more online advertising. Many people in the media field are agreeing.
I think it is a brilliant step by Jerry Yang to not only avoid the Microsoft dilemna all together, but also to continue taking his company in the right direction.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
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Sunday, February 3, 2008
Google Even Makes Mistakes
Straight from Webpronews.com http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/01/29/a-position-6-penalty:
It could be said pretty fairly that webmasters and SEOers, if dropped a rank or two, automatically assume they've been penalized. A recent development, involving the "position 6" penalty, proved to be a reality.
It's not clear why it was a reality, other than a Google glitch.
Webmasters reported worries about sites that historically had ranked in the top two results for certain keywords had dropped to the sixth position. Dropping to below the top five, or below the fold (below where a person may have to scroll), could mean sudden death in the exposure game.
Though it sounded kind of silly that Google would invoke a four or five-place penalty (for what, a broken link and saying something mean about Sergey maybe?), the number of webmasters reporting the problem added a bit of an urban myth weight to it.
Search Engine Roundtable is reporting that Matt Cutts confirmed a glitch with Google, and that the database is in the process of resetting everything to normal.
There wasn't much explanation other than that. Guess even Google sometimes makes mistakes
It could be said pretty fairly that webmasters and SEOers, if dropped a rank or two, automatically assume they've been penalized. A recent development, involving the "position 6" penalty, proved to be a reality.
It's not clear why it was a reality, other than a Google glitch.
Webmasters reported worries about sites that historically had ranked in the top two results for certain keywords had dropped to the sixth position. Dropping to below the top five, or below the fold (below where a person may have to scroll), could mean sudden death in the exposure game.
Though it sounded kind of silly that Google would invoke a four or five-place penalty (for what, a broken link and saying something mean about Sergey maybe?), the number of webmasters reporting the problem added a bit of an urban myth weight to it.
Search Engine Roundtable is reporting that Matt Cutts confirmed a glitch with Google, and that the database is in the process of resetting everything to normal.
There wasn't much explanation other than that. Guess even Google sometimes makes mistakes
Friday, February 1, 2008
Microsoft makes historic bid to buy Yahoo!
Fresh off the press, it has been verified that Microsoft has made a $44.6 billion bid to buy Yahoo. The specifics still linger, and time will only tell what becomes of this. The story is that Microsoft offered Jerry Yang at Yahoo quietly and he said no. Then, Microsoft harnessed the power of the press and went public with it. It could all be drama with Yahoo declining, but then it could be a very different story.
What does it mean to the rest of us who can't even fathom what $44 billion is like? Well its about more than search. It's probably more about combining resources for online paid advertising and other tools Yahoo has leverage of. Neither of them can really compete at this time with Google on organic search. Although, I will note that Yahoo has made some very positive and dramatic changes in 4th quarter of last year. The problem Yahoo has is getting people to go back to Yahoo. Once clients move away from a service or product, its much harder to get them back than it is to get new ones. Yahoo was once the giant we all used to some degree, and now few of us do. It's a valuable lesson for all of us about paying attention to our clients and users, and the price we can pay when we don't!
What does Microsoft stand to gain in this deal besides a little more of organic search marketshare and online paid advertising?
15.6% combined share of Internet visits (twice Google's)
28% of search (depending on who you ask)
Yahoo adds 35% of the Maps/Local sector (slightly competitive with Google)
10% of online shopping directories
87% of portal front pages
83% of web-based email services (still light years ahead of Gmails numbers)
12% of online news and media
39% of business information content
Flickr would give Microsoft 12% of the photo market
So there is benefit in this for sure for Microsoft. I'm not sure what this means for us but more consolidation in a field very dominated by very large companies. That may not be a bad thing since Google has grown out of control. This would create two mammoth companies who could more directly compete with each other. Whether that will be good or bad is anyones guess.
The problems inherent with search aren't likely to be fixed anytime soon by Yahoo, Microsoft or Google. What we need is more standardized platforming and more intuitive search tools. But what we would hope for is more R&D on organic search results, and more attention paid to users getting the results they are wanting. We have to be fair and say that neither Yahoo or Microsoft has a long history of the latter. We can learn a number of lessons from this. First, that Yahoo paid dire consequences for not paying proper attention to the users of their product. And secondly, a positive note. They diversified and made the best of a bad situation. That is what has kept them going until now.
What does it mean to the rest of us who can't even fathom what $44 billion is like? Well its about more than search. It's probably more about combining resources for online paid advertising and other tools Yahoo has leverage of. Neither of them can really compete at this time with Google on organic search. Although, I will note that Yahoo has made some very positive and dramatic changes in 4th quarter of last year. The problem Yahoo has is getting people to go back to Yahoo. Once clients move away from a service or product, its much harder to get them back than it is to get new ones. Yahoo was once the giant we all used to some degree, and now few of us do. It's a valuable lesson for all of us about paying attention to our clients and users, and the price we can pay when we don't!
What does Microsoft stand to gain in this deal besides a little more of organic search marketshare and online paid advertising?
15.6% combined share of Internet visits (twice Google's)
28% of search (depending on who you ask)
Yahoo adds 35% of the Maps/Local sector (slightly competitive with Google)
10% of online shopping directories
87% of portal front pages
83% of web-based email services (still light years ahead of Gmails numbers)
12% of online news and media
39% of business information content
Flickr would give Microsoft 12% of the photo market
So there is benefit in this for sure for Microsoft. I'm not sure what this means for us but more consolidation in a field very dominated by very large companies. That may not be a bad thing since Google has grown out of control. This would create two mammoth companies who could more directly compete with each other. Whether that will be good or bad is anyones guess.
The problems inherent with search aren't likely to be fixed anytime soon by Yahoo, Microsoft or Google. What we need is more standardized platforming and more intuitive search tools. But what we would hope for is more R&D on organic search results, and more attention paid to users getting the results they are wanting. We have to be fair and say that neither Yahoo or Microsoft has a long history of the latter. We can learn a number of lessons from this. First, that Yahoo paid dire consequences for not paying proper attention to the users of their product. And secondly, a positive note. They diversified and made the best of a bad situation. That is what has kept them going until now.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Search Engine Shake-Up
To say the last few weeks have been exciting, is an understatement. We've been on the edge of our seats here trying keep up on something we knew was going to affect every one of our clients. Another algorithm change by Google and Yahoo.
It all started when we submitted a new site map for a client we had done some changes for. A sitemap is something that makes the search engines like you a lot - because you make it easy for them to find what you want. Google and Yahoo both LOVE sitemaps - imagine a big dog wagging its tail when it wants something really bad and you have the idea. When we submitted our site map, it was seen and indexed in 23 minutes - a process that normally takes several days. We knew something was up. And then, we submitted a new client site and it was indexed in 24 hours. Again, that is a process we have waited months for, so this was really stimulating. We couldn't help but wonder what was going on. Then all of our SEO connections, blogs and newsletters were all talking about the same things - something big is up.
Well, that something turns out to be a very good thing for us. But we watched a lot of sites change, but nearly all of ours went up. One site, we know was using illegal link farms, just disappeared from Google all together. Sad to see it happen, since we know them, but it was always frustrating to be doing things carefully and correctly and see others jumping in ranking through banned methods. Lesson is - you can acheive great short term results with illegal links, but if you plan on staying around you had better play it safe.
And all that leads us to this - the reason we're in this business is that we LOVE what we do. (I'll spare another reference to the dog wagging its tail) And so we are constantly reading, practising and perfecting SEO methods. Sure, there is always a way to do it cheaper and faster. But as we just witnessed last week, the client who wanted to do it himself and seemed to be having great results, paid a heavy price. That hurts his bottom line, and that doesn't make us happy.
But what did make us happy is to see a number of our clients move up in the rankings. In our own rankings, we moved from nearly no where to #3 and #4 for ad agency Hawaii in Yahoo.
We're watching things real close. Guess Yahoo has filed for some patents on search engine algorithms and is ready to take on Google in a new way. We've not been fans of Yahoo for many years, but the changes they implemented recently were very good, and have caught our attention. I'm using Yahoo now to find information and getting more of what I want than I was in Google. I would have never guessed that a month ago!
Stay tuned, and we'll have more info on this SEO shake-up soon. And if you need search engine optimization, contact us today!
It all started when we submitted a new site map for a client we had done some changes for. A sitemap is something that makes the search engines like you a lot - because you make it easy for them to find what you want. Google and Yahoo both LOVE sitemaps - imagine a big dog wagging its tail when it wants something really bad and you have the idea. When we submitted our site map, it was seen and indexed in 23 minutes - a process that normally takes several days. We knew something was up. And then, we submitted a new client site and it was indexed in 24 hours. Again, that is a process we have waited months for, so this was really stimulating. We couldn't help but wonder what was going on. Then all of our SEO connections, blogs and newsletters were all talking about the same things - something big is up.
Well, that something turns out to be a very good thing for us. But we watched a lot of sites change, but nearly all of ours went up. One site, we know was using illegal link farms, just disappeared from Google all together. Sad to see it happen, since we know them, but it was always frustrating to be doing things carefully and correctly and see others jumping in ranking through banned methods. Lesson is - you can acheive great short term results with illegal links, but if you plan on staying around you had better play it safe.
And all that leads us to this - the reason we're in this business is that we LOVE what we do. (I'll spare another reference to the dog wagging its tail) And so we are constantly reading, practising and perfecting SEO methods. Sure, there is always a way to do it cheaper and faster. But as we just witnessed last week, the client who wanted to do it himself and seemed to be having great results, paid a heavy price. That hurts his bottom line, and that doesn't make us happy.
But what did make us happy is to see a number of our clients move up in the rankings. In our own rankings, we moved from nearly no where to #3 and #4 for ad agency Hawaii in Yahoo.
We're watching things real close. Guess Yahoo has filed for some patents on search engine algorithms and is ready to take on Google in a new way. We've not been fans of Yahoo for many years, but the changes they implemented recently were very good, and have caught our attention. I'm using Yahoo now to find information and getting more of what I want than I was in Google. I would have never guessed that a month ago!
Stay tuned, and we'll have more info on this SEO shake-up soon. And if you need search engine optimization, contact us today!
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