Archive for the ‘ Online Marketing ’ Category

Google Instant: A Closer Look

 

Image representing Google as depicted in Crunc...

Instant good or bad?

There are many of us that just cannot find enough hours in the day to get everything done. Well, maybe you can settle for saving a few seconds. It used to take about 9 to 12 seconds for a person to type in their average search into Google or any other search engine. With the emergence of Google Instant, that time has been cut in half. On top of that, search results are available per letter typed of your search term. Now that is real time results.

In Google’s own words:

“The most obvious change is that you get to the right content much faster than before because you don’t have to finish typing your full search term, or even press “search.” Another shift is that seeing results as you type helps you formulate a better search term by providing instant feedback. You can now adapt your search on the fly until the results match exactly what you want. In time, we may wonder how search ever worked in any other way.”

Whoa now, lets not get too far ahead of ourselves. Before declaring Google Instant the new and, ultimately, improved form of searching the internet, we should probably take a look at the pros and cons it brings along with it.

Pros

  1. The very big pro and also the most obvious is that Google Instant saves you time. No need to hit the ‘search’ button multiple times. No need to even waste time writing out the entire term.
  2. Refining searches is a much a much easier and quicker task. Users should not need to continuously click through results to find the site they desire or until frustration kicks in and they give up.

That’s it. Some argue there are more pros that Google Instant brings to the internet search, but they all amount to the same two ideas: search speed and search term refinement. Now, lets take a look at the cons.

Cons

  1. It is easier to get distracted. With each letter typed into the search, new results are displayed. Google Instant works by assuming the human eye reads faster than the hands can type. Well, that isn’t always good. Before finishing your search term, you will be reading results that have no relevancy to what you want, but will catch your eye. We see, we like, we click; and the term we were searching for disappears into the realm of the forgotten.
  2. Basically, Google Instant is programmed to predict what you are looking for. A noble cause to be sure, but it does not address the real problem with Internet search: displaying better quality results. That is what everyone really wants. Fast is good, but quality is better.
  3. You think getting onto the first page was important before? Now it means EVERYTHING. With Google Instant, why click to the second page of results? If people do not see what they want, they will refine their search term before typing it out fully. Any website ranking on the second page of results or lower may as well not be ranked at all.
  4. There are black hat and white hat techniques for SEM. Google Instant gives the advantage to black hat techniques. It is regular practice for most black hat SEO campaigns to automatically query Google’s trending topic results and now it seems that Google Instant will be suggesting those trending phrases (verbatim), potentially putting millions of victims directly into the cross-hairs of cyber criminals.
  5. Google Instant is not accessible from everywhere. Matter of fact, it is only accessible from one place and that is the Google home page. You cannot get it on browser tool bars, mobile browsers or anywhere else. Kind of limited, though you can bet Google will address this con immediately.

Overall, it seems the employment of Google Instant is not the great new addition to Internet searching Google claims. It’s quick, but until it has more redeeming qualities than just that one, its use is not that appealing.

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2010
12/02
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Online Marketing
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Popularity is a Great Marketing Tool

By no means, is this a new idea. It is more along the lines of an often, overlooked tactic for creating interesting content for viewers. Current trends in entertainment and news are spread through social networks, online and off, like wild fire. If you are struggling to make your own content interesting, a great way to beef it up is linking it to what is popular. Find an angle that combines a main topic of your website with an issue in the forefront of your industry or a related one. It is a very simple concept that is followed by very few websites. The ones that do make use of this little trick, tend to be wildly successful.

Let me break it down for you. There are entire websites, based around nothing other than what is popular in the news or entertainment. Celebrities are always popular. Combine that with a gossip blog and you get a celebrity gossip blog. Thousands of these exist, one of the foremost being the blog by Perez Hilton. This man has made an actual living out of gossiping about what is popular in the celebrity world. TechCrunch is another site that is based entirely on what is popular and current in technology. Both of these sites are visited by thousands, looking for stories, information and media on the top issues in their industries.

While the above mentioned sites are more towards the extreme of my topic, they are clear examples of what catering to popularity can do for your website. Of course, not everyone is looking to do just that. Taking what is popular and using it in a means to help increase the interest in your own subject is the real goal. Running a website about protecting the planet? Maybe you should mention the steps towards green energy many businesses are taking. While you are at it, throw in a few articles about the rising cost of conventional energy sources. Is your website about politics? Find and focus on the big issues facing politicians in our country. Do some research and address the major concerns that are plaguing voters. Whatever you do, don’t only write about your own private opinions that may or may not relate to anyone else.

Website content must always be relevant to your target audience and the information they desire. That means that you cannot limit your website to one specific line of content. Find ways to link that content to other topics that interest your visitors. It will increase your traffic and help retain future visitors.

 

 

2010
11/29
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General Writing
Online Marketing
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Writing Quality Content Online

By now, most people who know anything about the Internet know that content is king. Top websites are constantly adding more to hold onto their stake in the online popularity contest. I guess the question is what are you doing about writing your web content? It should be something that was planned out and is constantly being adjusted and increased. Has it been attracting the right people? Has it been attracting visitors at all? If not, there is a reason and the sooner you find out what it is, the sooner you can fix it. The web content you produce may not be geared towards the ideal visitor of your website, which means what you are writing is for no one and is not doing one thing for you.

Problems with writing web content can come at you from many different angles. No matter what it is you write about, there are always different approaches that can be taken to the subject. For instance, a website that sells mixed nuts should approach their content in a certain way. Their number one concern is to convince people to buy mixed nuts from the website, so all the content should be focused on that goal. Information found on the website should filter towards that end. Look at the people most likely to buy the mixed nuts. Do they like anything about mixed nuts other than eating them? Are customers interested in hearing about the favorite mixed nuts of famous people? Do they like reading about the health benefits of certain nuts? How about attacking the area that deals with mixing mixed nuts (with other snacks)? There is an amazing amount of different ways to direct your writing, regardless of how small you think your subject.

If you are trying to attract a certain type of visitor, then it stands to reason that researching likely topics of interest within the theme of your website is worthwhile. If you are attempting to attract beginner chess players with a website, then it would be a bad idea to talk about a highly technical analysis of a game between two grandmasters. Consider your target audience and try to write from an angle they would, could and should relate.

Not sure how to go about doing that?  Ask yourself these questions as you plan the web content:

  • How do I describe the target audience of my website?
  • Am I advertising to more than one group of people? If so, do I have areas for all the different groups?
  • Does each page in my website serve a specific purpose?
  • Can I describe my ideal visitor?
  • Is my content relevant to my ideal visitor?
  • Am I providing proof for my assertions?
  • Is there a point of interest on each page?

If you still cannot figure out a way to reach your ideal customers, try relating it to a product, service or message that has had success with you. What was done to get and keep your attention? What did they tell you about? What did they show you? Maybe some of those tactics can be made to work for you.

If you want people to learn English, talk about how easy it is to learn it or talk about how hard it is without knowing the language. Either angle emphasizes learning English. One angle may catch more people than the other.

Creating great web content is about knowing which angle to cater towards the most for success and if it’s even worth having sections to handle other angles.

2010
11/16
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General Writing
Online Marketing
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