Chris Silver Smith of Argent Media

Local and Social: Trends and Tips for Growing Your Business

Google Local Rankings 2012

• Now over 200 Ranking Factors used
• Human ratings of webpages included
• Humans perform varying levels of local listing verifications too.

Classic SEO elements still effect local rankings: Title, description meta, domain name, image alt text, keywords in text, etc.

Categories that Influence Local Ranking Factors

1. Relevance: keywords in the business name, keywords in classic onpage SEO, business category match
2. Distance: radius of distance from city centroid, City/ZIP code outline region, user’s geolocation (IP address/cellphone)
3. Prominence: relative popularity determined by pagerank, this can be effected by a business. Mentions and citations also play a factor, as well as “PlaceRank”–the popularity of a location.

Google matches business listing data with website data. Basic business listings info from data aggregators effect your local listing, aggregated from its own data as well as third party business listings. Make data matching easy for Google–use semantic markup to ensure Google interprets your local business site properly. USE BOTH:

• hCard Microformat/RDFa
• Micro Data – Schema.org

Both aren’t that difficult to implement so it’s best to use both on your local business site.

Google uses citations throughout your site and across the web to figure out your listing. Number of mentions of your business name plays a factor, mentions of your street address and telephone also play a factor. Links are also influential.

Business Data Sources for Basic Citations

Superpages.com, New York Times, Hotels.com, Yellowbook, Dex, any business directory. Register for free on as many of these as you can. This process can be done by hand or paid for via a 3rd party service.

Analyze competitors place pages to discover more citation opportunities.

Wikipedia data has been integrated by Google for quite some time. Wiki mentions can place prevalence on your local place page.

Participate in local events, street fairs, etc., and get mentions to bolster your local presence.

Unorthodox Citation Sources

• Wikipedia Articles (your business, it’s historic building, shopping center, founder page, etc., if they’re noteworthy enough.)
• Wifi Hotspots–add your free hotspot to hotspot directories for citations
• Geo Cache Locations
• National Register & State Historical Marker Locations–is your business in a historic building or location?
• Chamber of Commerce Websites (and other member organizations)
• Pressed Penny Machines, pinball, classic video games, ATM locations
• Weather reporting stations
• Specialty directories–spanish speaking business, asian-owned business directories, etc.

Rapidly Developing Location Popularity Signal: Check-In Services

Google may be starting to use check-in data to rank business. There has been some correlation between check-ins and relevance of local search results. Encourage employees, customers to check in on sites on 4Square, Facebook, etc. Google Latitude has implemented Leaderboard to gamify check ins in the Google social scape. It’s only a matter of time until we’re able to find proof of check ins effecting local search results. Google+ and Hotpot Data is being incorporated into local search results.

Mobile Ranking & Optimization Factors

Web pages that have been optimized for mobile may be getting a bump in local SERPs. The user’s geolocation can effect SERPs. Make sure your Google Map page is optimized. Hours of operation is particularly important on Bing, so having hours of operation may be an important factor in appearing in the local search result.

Greg Sterling of Sterling Market Intelligence

If You’re Not Doing Mobile . . . You’re Committing Marketing Malpractice

Google in Q3 2011: 79% of its top advertisers didn’t have a mobile-optimized site.

In Q4 2011, only 37% of Internet Retailer 500 had mobile sites.

Mobile Web vs. Mobile Apps

Perennial debate; both will co-exist (mobile web won’t “win”). Mobile sites are a must for all search marketers. Mobile HTML sites have 100% reach.

• Smartphone penetration: 48% (over 50% for younger, affluents)
• 120 Million us mobile internet users
• Mobile first: 25% of smartphone owners say they mostly go online using their phone
• iPads/Tablets: 45M in US (doubling by 2014)
• Android has a larger user base; Apple OS drives more traffic.
• Mobile is still only 9-10% of web traffic–but growing.
• For women, Facebook is the top Android app after Android Market (Nielsen 7/11)

Mobile Advertising

Time Spent vs. Ad Dollars: 1% ad spend per mobile media vs. 23% time spent on mobile media.

US Mobile Advertising 2012: $2B+

The mobile ecosystem consists of:

• Search (Google PPC, Click2Call)
• Display (Publishers/Developers, networks, ad exchanges, mediators, banners, rich media, video)
• Networks (Google, Apple, Millennial Media, Jumptap, Microsoft, others)

Mobile Display Ad Unit Standards have been winnowed down from 60 formats to 6.

Both Google and Yahoo are pursuing cross platform targeting in search and display.

Mobile Search

The top categories searched in mobile are news, restaurants, maps, shopping, entertainment, sports.

Mobile search is stimulated by a response to a traditional media/ad, word of mouth, seeing something in a store, responding to a mobile ad, or responding to an online ad.

Google reports 29% of restaurants search queries are coming from mobile. Hotels 19%, Autos 16%, Consumer Electronics 15%.

Mobile Optimization Required by Google

Mobile optimization is now part of AdWords quality score for mobile and will be for organic as well.

Mobile-only campaigns drive 11.5 percent more CTRs than campaigns simply imported from PC AdWords. Why? Possible reasons: use of location, phone extensions, greater relevance and more precise targeting of mobile.

Mobile Bidding Advice from Google

You must be in the top 2 slots. Nobody’s going to scroll. Ensure are you are bidding for positions 1 or 2. Try bidding 2x as much as desktop ad campaigns.

Use click to call. Conversion metric is easy to track ROI.

Local numbers in search ads have a higher CTRs. Have one.

Location is a ranking factor. Optimize your geolocation.

Local content boosts CTR.

The post Searchfest 2012: Local and Mobile Strategies and Tactics with Chris Silver Smith and Greg Sterling appeared first on SEMpdx.

Susan Delz of LiveBall

Conversion rates are  the same today as they were in the 1990’s.

10 Landing Pages Conversion Optimization Tips and Best Practices

1. Relevant–You have to be relevant with each landing experience. Create optimized landing pages for keyword groups. Sometimes you can create individualized pages by search engine. Create localized versions of landing pages. If you don’t know where someone is coming from, ask them.
2. Interactive–Create cool creative for your landing pages. Try HTML 5 for landing pages across platforms. Light boxes are a good option to support your conversion. Accordion content is a great way to bucket content for users to engage with, tabbed content also for interactivity above the fold to support conversions.
3. Dynamic–Use technology to make your page more relevant. Dynamic keyword insertion can add relevance to your landing pages by adding language your customers are actually using and searching. Geo location targeting is another way to add dynamic elements to your pages.
4. Progressive–Progressive profiling can funnel people through the buying process using cookies across different sessions. Use different pages as they cycle through the buying process. Multi step forms are great if you have submission abandonment. Tailor second pages based on first form submission field if they leave part way through the form submission process.
5. Mobile ready–Almost 7% of US web traffic comes through mobile. Dedicated mobile pages create relevance, increase conversions, and help build your brand. Make it easy to convert on a mobile site. Automatically optimized mobile sites change the landing page to be site specific.
6. Social–Embrace social. Social beacons can provide assurances. Fans and videos provide “social proof”, which is huge for ecommerce and lead generation. Social engagement can be a form of conversion or a secondary conversion metric. Landing pages can also be a great way to start a conversation. Create dedicated Facebook landing pages, even for B2B.
7. Social Sign In–Social sign in gives people an easy way to convert. Its accurate data and makes conversions easy. 25% of online publishers and ecommerce companies have implemented social sign in. This is not limited to B2C.
8. Disposable–Make landing pages quickly, efficiently. You have to be able to move through different message pages quickly for quick experimentation.
9. Data-mined–Use analytics to find the greatest opportunities.
10. Integrated–Get out of your offices and go talk to people. Try everything.
11. TEST!!

Brian Jones of Dealer.com

Mobile Landing Page Conversion Optimization Tips: Increasing Conversions in the Mobile Space

Mobile is Big

• 75 million US adults access the internet daily via mobile.
• Mobile web adoption rate is 8x greater than desktop was in the 1990’s
• Mobile ad spend is expected to be $6 billion in 2014

More than half of smartphone searchers purchase. 67% of mobile users continue research. 68% visit a business. 59% of mobile users discuss mobile searches.

Do you have a mobile strategy?

Have you implemented a mobile strategy?

How often do you test mobile?

If it is so big, why are the majority of people not doing anything about it?

Why test ad copy between mobile and desktop?

Because mobile users are trying to do different things than someone on a desktop. People at home are researching something; mobile users are trying to do something. “Visit now” vs. “Call us now”.

Mobile Ad Copy Best Practices

1. Highlight click to call functionality
2. Mention the fact the user and site is on a mobile device
3. Add local specific ad text
4. Include immediate calls to action: find directions or store nearby, call, find coupons.

Mobile Ad Formats

Google has 4 mobile ad formats. Click to call, click to call phone extension, click to download for apps, and call only.

Why increase bids on mobile?

Because there’s much less real estate. Be more aggressive with your bids.

Mobile Bidding Best Practices

1. Bid separately on mobile
2. Max of five ad spots on mobile vs 10 on desktop
3. Consider bidding 2x your desktop bids.

Mobile Budget Best Practices

• Internet and mobile media consumption are growing, investment lags.
• Determine your website’s percentage of traffic on mobile using analytics.

Mobile landing page strategy

1. Ease of use/simplicity is key.
2. Users want video for mobile.
3. Mobile call tracking is key for mobile campaigns.
4. Reduce navigation.
5. Get mobile specific analytics.
6. Create mobile specific design.

Best Practices

• Keep it simple.
• Don’t use flash.
• Put the most important information at the top.
• If you must scroll, scroll down not across.
• Minimize content.
• Minimize load time.
• Provide a link to the desktop version.

Jordan LeBaron of REI

Conversion Optimization Tips

Example: Slack line guy in Superbowl halftime drove a lot of slack line searches and purchases.

Where do you start your testing?

Most people will go and look at competitors first, and the stimulus can get overwhelming and distracting.

Learnings:

1. Don’t try to go big, you can get way in over your head. Minimize the process to streamline your efforts.
2. Start with baby steps. Outline your competencies and your gaps that remain and make decisions accordingly. Competencies: executive sponsorship, thought leadership, established process, technology, agency partners. Gaps: HIPPO (Highest paid persons opinion: “vanity keywords”), no expertise, no testing framework, IT roadblocks, limited budget.
3. Start with money drivers.
4. Identify a testing element.
5. Iterate, iterate, iterate!!! Test and learn, test and learn, test and learn.
6. Document and share your learnings. Create a formal template for proposals and testing so you can sell it across your organization. Don’t hog your learnings, share them across your organization.

The post Searchfest 2012: Conversion Optimization Tips with Susan Delz, Brian Jones, Jordan LeBaron appeared first on SEMpdx.

Joanna Lord of SEOmoz: 

The search and info discovery process has become so fragmented (every morning you’re inundated with facebook links, twitter links, spread across multiple sites) so marketing has changed. Re-targeting is the answer to the new way people search and discover information.

Display advertising of yesteryear: less was expected (old model):

• Acquisition: generate traffic and improve brand awareness
• Conversion: produce conversions, increase revenue of each conversion
• Retention: set expectations that will be met at this point and establish trust  (Here’s where retargeting shines.)

What is retargeting?  

Someone comes to your site, they are marked with a cookie, and then my ads are shown across ad networks on other sites. Goal is to bring them back to our site further along in the buying process–hopefully trust has been built through ads–so that they’re further down the purchase process.

Stats:

• More than 90% of retailers do not complete a transaction in their first visit.
• Retargeted consumers are nearly 70% more likely to complete a purchase as compared to non-retargeted consumers.
• Retargeted consumers spend, on average 50% more than those served with non-retargeted banner ads.

10 Retargeting Tips:

1. Go after the 90%: Optimize beyond the desired action. Retargeting ads should be optimized to each user’s site use patterns, if they visit the blog most, retargeting ads should be tailored towards the blog.
2. Capitalize visually on what makes your brand memorable: Because you have multiple impressions with retargeting, you can tailor your images and branding and be much, much more creative than display.
3. Sequence retargeting: Tell a brand story using sequential ads over time. Segment what you’re showing people based upon how long they’ve had your cookie without a conversion.
4. Expect more from the data: Know what to expect and then micro manage your way there.
5. Choose your triggers wisely with retargeting (& sequence them): Time sensitive promos are more powerful. You can only show a promo to someone who’s already seen your site, so a retargeted ad is a much more powerful ad.
6. Test any and every truth you operate under.
7. Get social: Engaging with strangers is nice, engaging with qualified leads is better. Use retargeting to start social conversations. PROTIP: CUSTOMIZE THE FB AND TWITTER LOGOS TO STICK OUT.
8. Correlation & Causation: Subliminal messaging FTW! Go to partners, stick your ads next to partners that will lend brand equity to each other.
9. Go beyond your site: Use search retargeting to target users that searched organically for related terms and target users that visited similar sites to your own, target users that visited partner sites to yours, target users that you correspond to in emails.
10. Think outside the box: Stop trying to use the time honored “build trust” and use retargeting to take what’s unique about your brand and leverage it in a creative way. You can be really creative with retargeting; leverage that to create a persuasive media message.

Where to start?  Start building out your first audience.

Challenges with Retargeting

1. Tracking can be difficult. Dial your segment code, burn code, and conversion code.
2. Settling expectations and handling haters: Send an email out to your company and let them know you’re testing the program. Be honest with people who email you about stalking them across the web: “we’re testing. please be patient”
3. Optimization is required. You have to optimize research, landing pages, negative sites, managing backlash, banner ads, reporting uphill, etc. It’s a lot of work and a lot of testing, but exceptionally effective once dialed.

Adam Berke of AdRoll:

Retarget Like a Rockstar with Adroll!

AdRoll is the most widely used retargeting platform in the world, used by Fortune 500 companies–over 3500 companies using it today.

The Evolution of the Display Ecosystem 

• Direct Buy
• Ad Networks
• Ad Exchanges
• Intent Data (98%* of carts are abandoned)

Leveraging Your Intent Data: Segmentation. 

• Look at time statistics to segment your retargeting.
• Time counts: time might be the most effective stat to segment.

Retargeting is great for retention.

It’s a fantastic CRM channel for cross selling, up-selling. Use reminders to get them convert after some time. “The cookie is the new email.” Nurture relationships using triggers and time stats.

Demand Control & Transparency

Demand transparency in your retargeting. Get the data and use it to your advantage.

Utilize the Display Canvas

Example, display different tshirts on a particular model the customer lingered on. Personalize your retargeting creative based on user behavior.

TAKE AWAYS:

• Leverage your intent data
• Segment and consider timing
• Make your marketing message useful
• Don’t obsess about pricing model, everyone has to buy it on a CPM

The post Searchfest 2012: Display Advertising and Remarketing w/Joanna Lord and Adam Berke appeared first on SEMpdx.