The beautifiul union of natural and paid search

An observation that I have come to (both by working on many search campaigns and from reading a hell of a lot of trade press) is that there is a distinct segregation between natural and paid search. By this I mean that natural and paid search marketing solutions tend to be delivered quite separately from each other. While the techniques used to build and optimise natural and paid search campaigns are very different, in my opinion there are two main reasons why the two should work in tandem.

It is massively short sighted to under estimate the power of paid search when run in parallel to natural search. There is a common misconception that paid search should only be utilised until a site achieves high natural rankings and increased exposure in the engines. In fact, the power of dual visibility (paid and natural visibility) in the search listings has been proven to have the 1 + 1 = 3 effect. Research has shown that when visibility is maximised for a particular term on both natural and paid search results are not only positive (to the effect of appearing twice) but there is also an extra lift due to the additional visibility. The results of this combined visibility have proven to drive increased brand awareness and lead generation.

Learning’s from either campaign can and should be communicated to the other. For example, if it is found that a brand term (i.e "Leapfrogg") generates a significant amount of visitors to the site from natural search, it would be a good idea for the paid campaign to add in brand misspellings. These paid listings would catch those search queries which are misspelt, as natural results would not be optimised to do this.

It is only when a search marketing solution is delivered as a whole that optimum results can hope to be achieved. With clear lines of communication between paid and natural search teams a unique and highly optimised campaign will be born.

Facebook out of control? perhaps.

Reading Jeremy Zawodny’s blog this morning instantly brought feelings that social networking site Facebook is getting out of control, but not in the fact of user addiction, more so in how the once slick and clean layout and operation of Facebook is evolving.

Since Facebook launched their own API (application program interface) last August numerous user profile have become crowded with new applications including fortune cookies, graffiti tools and ‘rate my photo’ buttons to name but 3 of the 1190 applications currently in existence.

The chaotic profiles reminiscent of a teenager’s bedroom wall spring to mind, but isn’t this just like Myspace?

The beauty of using Facebook, in my eyes, is about be able to network, speak to people you miss from school or perhaps drop your loved one a “poke”… but what of the other applications? Do we really need all these mindless button and tools to occupy our time when it would probably be better to step away from our screens and go and see our friends in person?

Would common sense indicate that Facebook’s business model relies upon advertising revenue, and thus requires substantial levels of page impressions and clicks? Argh.. perhaps that is why we are expected to spend 24 hours a day on our profiles….

The following image is one from my Facebook profile that my partner added using the graffiti application which she and her friends all love.... hilarious.

But is Facebook getting out of control? well I would love to finish with a conclusion but I am afraid I have just received an email from Facebook that has drawn my attention … something about a TripAdvisor application that wishes to know which cities I have visited…… Blimey!

Are disability experts right to slam Facebook, Bebo and Myspace?

It has been reported that some of the biggest social media names on the web, such as Bebo, Myspace and Facebook have fundamental flaws in their user centricity and don’t even meet up to the basic guidelines of accessibility.

I do think that it is an insane misjudgement by the social media community gurus, considering that for most people use of the internet in many ways brings both able bodied and disabled users together in a neutral world, void of physical constraints.

The web should be a place where access is made via the mind and any tools that can aid making the users presence felt are vital, not only to the single user but to preserve a true representation of humanity in the online populous. The fact that a deaf or blind person cannot gain access to a digital world is appalling, and social media sites should make it easier for them to be free to be exactly who they are, regardless of their disability.

Dean Russell of communications agency precedent said “These sites exclude people with disabilities; they could do a hell of a lot more to promote the issue. There should be a campaign aimed at anyone setting up a profile”.

Trenton Moss, director of webcredible said “User-generated content has come along and everything has changed. MySpace is one of the most horrendous sites for accessibility."

A spokeswoman for Bebo said "Our site has been embraced by the deaf community. Accessibility hasn't been raised as an issue."

MySpace and Facebook were unavailable for comment.

One hopes that they were too busy on the phone to Robin Christoperson getting accessibility tips?

Source: nma.co.uk Published: 21 June 2007 00:00

Gordon Brown’s Search Engine Rankings

We found this great article this morning on the “online reputation management of Gordon Brown”

It seems that his people have him covered in the areas of social networks so we thought we would take a closer look at Googles natural search results

We thought we would take a look at Gordon's official coverage for the following relevant terms which he really should be dominating results for:

Prime Minister
Gordon Brown
Number 10 Downing Street
Leader of the Labour Party
UK leader
UK PM

Prime Minister
Apart from the new stories the top 10 results for Prime Minister don’t mention Gordon Brown by name once. In fact many still mention Tony Blair, including the official Number 10 Downing Street government website!

Gordon Brown
As one would expect the top 10 results are dominated by official sites and newspaper stories related to our new PM.

Number 10 Downing Street
OK these results are slightly better than those for “Prime Minister”. The top result is the official 10 Downing Street site again but this time the description has been updated to mention Gordon as the current PM. Never the less there are still mentions of Tony Blair on the page which funnily enough are again from the 10 Downing street site where the description has not yet been updated.

Leader of the Labour Party
On Google UK one would expect that all the top 10 results for this phrase would be Gordon Brown related but there are mentions of all sorts of leaders of various Labour Parties including the Australian Labour Party and Israeli Labour Party!! Come on Google surely people using that term on Google UK are wanting UK specific results?

In addition to this a few of the result are related to past Labour Leaders. Not really the impact Gordon wants to have here!!

UK Leader
Oh dear Gordon. Googles top 10 results do not in any way recognise you as the UK leader!! There is only one result remotely related to him and it doesn’t mention him by name, it just mentions that Tony Blair has stepped down.

UK PM
Another poor result for our new PM!! Out of the top 10 results for this phrase Gordon Brown is only mentioned at number 10 (pardon the pun!!) The first 2 results still have Tony Blair as PM.

OK so it was only yesterday that Gordon became PM but Google wanting to be the most relevant of the search engines should have been on the case last night spidering and updating it’s index with anything Prime Minister related. It could be that some of these sites have been slow in updating their content, or that Google has been slow in updating the index, but what is for certain, as Gordon has a reshuffle of his new cabinet, Google needs a reshuffle of it’s results.

I wonder if Gordon has appointed a Minister for SEO as I think he might need one!

A quick guide to SEO for web developers

We work with a number of local web design companies and have recently been asked to put together a checklist for them to work to when creating a search engine 'friendly' website.

We've gone a little further than that and actually created a downloadable pdf from our website that not only contains the checklist but expands upon each of the points made. We in no way claim that this is an exhaustive list; occassionally issues will arise with specific projects that fall outside of this checklist; however, we feel the main points are detailed here.

For those who just want the basic checklist, here goes...(and for anybody reading the downloadable pdf and noticing that the Leapfrogg website does not adhere to one or two of the points made, we are well aware and in discussion with our web guys to address!)...

Planning
- Have I considered search behaviour at the site architecture planning stage?

Internal linking and URL’s
- Have I used text based links between pages or CSS to aid ‘spiderabilty’?
- Have I included a site map?
- Have I included a breadcrumb trail?
- Do I really need to create a framed site?
- Have I thought carefully about the URL structure?
- Are the search engines going to choke on my urls - am I using session ID’s or Cookies?
- Can I create urls that are relevant to the page content?
- Are the page names changing as a result of redeveloping the site?

Content
- Is there an area for textual content on the page?
- If using flash, is this limited to a small area and not the entire site?
- How clean is my code? How much can I place in external files?
- Have I included a bookmark function?
- Is there a useful resources page?
- Is there a news/PR page?
- Has a blog been considered?

Tags
- Can I add a unique set of Meta tags and Title Tags on each page across the site?
- Can page headings be styled using H1, H2 and so on?
- Have images been tagged appropriately with Alt Attributes?

Domains and Hosting?
- Who hosts the domain and how long is it registered for?
- Where is the site hosted?

Usability
- Am I sticking to conventional navigation and layout?
- Are there prominent ‘calls to action’ across the site?
- Has the site been optimised for minimum download times?
- How much information am I requesting on enquiry forms?
- Has the shopping cart been tested?

Please note, that there is a stark difference between search engine ‘friendly’ and search engine ‘optimised’. It is one thing to design or program a site which is compatible with search engines. It is quite another to actually optimise the website through the use of correct keywords, good quality copy, properly written Meta tags, etc. This is why it is often the best case scenario for a developer to be working in partnership with an SEO company to achieve the best results for the client.

Until next time...

Social Media...It's all about tagging anything isn't it?

Social media platforms, have received immense attention over the last year and considering the current climate of online search it is such an area not to be overlooked regardless of your business size.

Social bookmarking is the practice of saving bookmarks to a public website and “tagging” them with keywords, a beautiful example being that of Yahoo’s del.icio.us

Digg.com and Reddit.com on the other hand serve as community-based popularity sites where users can upload and tag stories, articles or websites which are then voted for, or ‘dugg’ by the community. One however, must question whether the lure of link baiting is diluting the authority of these platforms as they are subject to the target of spam attacks, characterised by poor quality and ill thought out content and websites submissions that might or might not be ‘dugg’ by associates of the author.

In the land rush reminiscent of the 90’s domain buy up we are seeing both businesses and individuals submitting just about anything with the hope of getting on Digg’s homepage and redirecting traffic to their websites, yet considering the potential power of such platforms there is a wonder why more focus is not put into it. Ultimately social media is driven by people, and whilst a particular article or feature you hope will infiltrate such platforms might appear pertinent and stimulating to you and your business, consideration must be cast toward the user.
A quick glance over the homepages of such community based portals unearths a broad range of content ranging from technology, politics, humour or news related stories for a brief synopsis, yet the beauty of the homepages of such portals is that they house only the most popular entries, whilst those that have yet to be tagged or ‘dugg’ are located on sub pages.
From a user perspective this model allows for a more efficient experience where they can access authoritative content, whilst from a marketing perspective this presents an opportunity, not to specifically target and infiltrate such communities and networks, but to widen the net of content distribution and allow the user to choose.


The question remains as to whether and indeed how user led search will evolve. Will the days of a governed search from Google’s algorithm be replaced by status from user tags and bookmarks?

The future is, unfortunately, unforeseen, however as previously discussed it would be foolhardy to bypass this medium if only for another outlet, yet it must be noted that such forms of social media are not always suitable for every business.

The embrace of social media must be considered in light of what you want to get out of it, and must not be, as history would tell us, reactive, but instead proactive.

Whilst - with the hope that people will tag you - your company blog is adorned with 20 or so social bookmarking buttons (like numerous others out there), does the phrase “flogging a dead horse” ring true?

In conclusion, focus upon your core strengths, your business, and allocate some time to embrace these mediums properly. Whether it be drafting a press release, article submission or writing a quality company blog bear in mind that social media is driven by the user, and if no benefit is offered to them then why would they tag, bookmark or share your website?

Rohit Bhargava recently blogged about the evolution of SMO or Social media optimization, providing a list of rules to consider when embracing social media including an awareness of how to target your audience, increasing your linkability and developing an SMO strategy, which are well worth a look…

Froggblog listed in top SEO Blogs BIGLIST

We are delighted to have been added by the TOPRANK team over in the US to their BIGLIST of top Search Marketing Blogs.

Check out the resource as its a real one stop shop of experts in all areas of Search Marketing.




I am sure we will be using it to top up our own knowledge!!!

A bit of Creative SEO fun

Well we have had a bash at one of those poems you tend to write at primary school where you come up with a relevant word for each letter of SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION.

So here is our bit of creative prose related to our industry. Please note we are not that happy with the last two words so any alternatives greatly received!!!

Striving
Ethically to
Achieve
Rankings,
Clean
Html,
Easy
Navigation,
Garnering
Internet
Networks,
Engaging
Only
Potential
Traffic,
Ingenious
Meta Tags,
Identifying
Spam
And
Trashing
It,
Ongoing
Notion

LeapFrogg Summer Outing: Goodwood '07

Friday 15^th June saw the Leapfrogg team enjoy a luxury summer picnic within Chichester’s Bishop's Palace Gardens before heading over to the horse racing at Goodwood.

Nestled on top of the Sussex Downs, Goodwood is internationally acclaimed as one of the most beautiful racecourses in the world and provided an outstanding setting to absorb the electric atmosphere, whilst reviewing the costs and benefits of betting on either the favourite or an outsider.

Despite winning 80p on the first race it was a relatively unlucky evening for me personally, whilst other members of staff including Christos and Ben were more fortunate. However the evening was great, with fantastic weather and plenty of opportunities to enjoy a cold pint after my first week here at Leapfrogg.

Yet even after the last race, conversation slipped back to the implications of Google’s take over of DoubleClick, whether the major such engines might develop a feature to ‘bury’ poor and spam related websites and if the term ‘Google it’ should be replaced with ‘Yahoo it’.
Conclusions must then reside with the notion that not even for a night can you take the Leapfrogg staff away from the Internet…

To view our photos, check out our Flickr account.

Or if you would like more information on Goodwood, check out their website here:

Everybody's Talking about the new Google Analytics!

We all recently had a little bit of a shock when we saw the new Beta Google Analytics. After mastering the old one we now had to learn where everything was again and also get to grips with some new data.

So has it been improved or is this just a makeover?


Well after using it for the last couple of weeks and talking with a number of clients I would say that it seems to be a resounding success. I was sceptical at first but with every day I am discovering new things which please my little analytical mind more and more.

So some key improvements I have found are:

1. It looks slick and seems to perform even slicker.
2. We can now see the elusive average time on the site which was mysteriously missing from the old analytics!
2. We now have even more detail related to keywords, including pages per visit, average time, new visits and bounce rates.
4. We can now see separate data for all paid and non paid search engine traffic.
5. The new navigational analysis tool is great and you can see more data on where users came from and went to!

I am discovering more and more by the day and can only say that I have been very pleasantly surprised by Google this time!

Allow me to introduce myself....

An introduction that Cilla Black would be proud of… My name is Simon Dance and I reside in my hometown of Brighton, after some four years living in arguably the North East’s greatest city – Newcastle. Of predominance, my interests lay within online media in addition to design, contemporary art, reading business biographies and cooking.

As a new member of the team here at Leapfrogg I will be involved in the implementation of link and social media campaigns for all our clients in line with the evolution of algorithms and development of social media platforms. The current climate of search marketing dictates a continual creative approach in not only stimulating brand awareness but also custom in this increasingly competitive marketplace.

I join Leapfrogg with a passion for new media, having successfully run a number of websites and online businesses over the last five years and it is this passion -or call it an obsession- that sustains my excitement for the Internet. With a mentality of “I wonder what will be uploaded tomorrow”, I am most looking forward to getting my teeth into our client’s campaigns, and as part of the new division I aim to use my existing experience within online PR and social media to provide effective and efficient campaigns for our clients that are heavily driven by research.

How to Switch Off Personalised Search

Search Engine Land have a recent post explaining how to turn off personalised search that we thought you might find of use if you want to remain logged into your Google Account but not receive personalised search results.

Tips for utilising Local Search

If you are not engaging in some form of Local Search these days you are missing out on a trick. Particularly with the event of Google Universal Search, having your company listed with vertical local search facilities could give you the edge over your competitors.

With a pretty low level of effort there are a number of places you could get a local listing that could drive increased levels of targeted visitors to your site.

Here are a few places you should look at being listed:

• Yell (http://www.yell.com/)
• Touch Local (http://www.touchlocal.com/)
• Yahoo Local (uk.local.yahoo.com)
• Google Maps\Local Business Centre (maps.google.co.uk)

Having your business listed on the local business search portals above will not only drive increased levels of targeted traffic to your site but will increase your visibility on other sites that utilise local search listings.

With the recent buzz about the features that Google Maps offers including its new Street Map view, adding your business to the Google Local Business Centre is absolutely key. There is talk that Google is moving towards Google Maps becoming an alternative virtual world where people can walk down virtual streets and be served ads as they pass particular shops or premises!! It is definitely a case of "Watch this Space" with local search advertising!!

Who knows more...Tesco or Google?

The continued debate about Google, their recent aquisitions and their long term goal not just to organise the worlds information, but organise your whole life(!?), is clearly a concern for many.

Google want to create a better search experience for us all. That's understandable (and often needed!). Personalisation is the way to go Google believe. However, to do this requires information on our past searches, the websites we visit, the time we spend on them and so on, hence the release of many data collection vehicles (cleverly disguised as free tools) and their strategic aquisitions. All of this makes people nervous. However, it was a comedian (funnily enough - sorry!) just the other evening who opened my eyes to the fact that there are dozens of organisations who know just as much, if not more, than Google are seeking at this stage. The example, the comedian gave was Tesco. Have you got a clubcard? Well if so, this massive organisation know everything you have ever bought at Tesco, the time, the place, etc. Not bothered? Well what about your bank, credit card company, mobile provider, ISP, insurance company and so on. Combined, these organisations know more about you than, well, probably you know about yourself. So before we all jump on the Liberty bandwagon, sit back a minute and consider just how much information is already known about you by organisations who want to do a lot more than simply improve your search experience.

I agree that there does appear to be more to this. Google want to do a lot more than simply improve your search experience but for now little is known about their longer term aspirations. I have no doubt they have big plans to become an even more integral part of our lives. But lets cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, I dont see a major issue in the type of data they want IF it improves the search experience. Unfortunately, I also happen to doubt that it will - for various reasons that I will explore in greater detail another time.