Posts Tagged ‘Search Engine Advertising’
Google Chrome
Introducing Google Chrome
A new web browser from Google
Google, the world’s most popular search engine has this week launched a new web browser.
It is called Google Chrome, and it aims to take a slice of the browser market away from Microsoft in the same way that Mozilla has done in recent years with it’s free and open source browser Firefox.
Google Chrome features most of the features you’d expect to see in a web browser, such as tabbed browsing, bookmarks and other mandatory gadgets, but at it’s core, Google Chrome has one thing the others don’t:
“One Box for Everything”
This is what Google Chrome is centered on, and it is basically a URL/Address bar and search box all in one.
Google Chrome
In the past, some of us web-savvy folk have scoffed at less experienced users who type a URL or web address into a search engine’s search box, or entering key words in a search box, yet it seems Google has discovered that the majority of it’s users aren’t
Google Chromes “one box for everything” feature predicts the words you’re typing, and immediately starts presenting URLs of actual websites that you’ve visited in the past, or search results related to your keywords that are indexed in Google, and even presents related pages to those you’re searching for. This new feature alone has the potential to change how users interact with web browsers and search engines.
Google Chrome comes at an interesting time when the Search Giant has threats from new competing search engines such as CUIL, who are offering a different search experience with supposedly more results, as well as Microsoft’s recent update to Internet Explorer which has a new privacy feature dubbed “porn mode”.
Google Chrome’s response to the new Microsoft feature is “incognito mode” which stores cookies and session data in a temporary cache and removes all traces of form data, cookies and pages visited when you’re done using it.
At a time when Microsoft had finally received some new attention and perhaps respect for the feature, Google has stolen it’s spotlight and positioned their browser at a perfect time when many people are ready to download browser updates.
Google certainly seems one of the most capable companies in the world to adapt to change and react to it’s competitors whilst leading the way in innovation, which goes a long way to demonstrating their abilities as a software company.
Changes, Questions, Uncertainty
When they already rule the world in web search, video streaming (youtube), and many other mediums, it begs the question, “when does google stop”?
There has been speculation in recent times that Google was preparing it’s own operating system based on Google, and perhaps google chrome is one step closer to that dream, however given that an operating system is less important in this web 2.0 world where feature rich applications are run on a web via a browser regardless of your platfrom, and the rising interest in SaaS (software as a service), Google is positioning itself to gain yet more of it’s competitors ground.
SearchKing has been often critical of browser plugins such as Adobe Flash being used to stream video on youtube as a hack. Google’s ability to obtain a large portion of the browser market could see the search engine/browser change the trends and introduce new browser plugins in favour of it’s massive content networks eliminating licensing fees and changing the way we interact wiht the web.
This is certainly a very interesting time for the internet and for Google.
What does this mean for Google? It means that it can promote Google Chrome as a superior browser using it’s target audience on it’s search engine. It also means they can use the browser to present results it favours from it’s own networks such as Youtube and Google maps. It certainly creates a much more feature rich experience for the user, but poses certain speculative questions about privacy and other concerns over google approaching a monopoly. The browser certainly will certainly further contribute in bolstering it’s own search network and securing it’s advertising space.
What does the introduction of Google Chrome mean for the for the future of firefox? It will probably die off or emulate many of the features in Google Chrome, or be amalgamated and swallowed up by google.
What does this mean for Microsoft? They need to get creative and innovative, they need to set new trends and benchmarks and stay a few steps ahead of the competition. They will probably set their lawyers out to find ways to pick at the new browser.
What does this mean for SEO? It means that google’s browser has the potential to change the way people search for information and how it is presented, and therefore SEO Specialist had best invest a lot of time researching the new browser and changes in the search engine if they’re able to deliver relevant results to their target audience.
Checkout Google Chrome Beta for Windows today: http://www.google.com/chrome/
Like all things Google, it first comes out in Beta mode, and the new software is available to download now for Windows (sorry mac and linux users).
This article is brought to you by Search King.
Yahoo offer Free Online Advertising
Yahoo have been offering a limited run of free advertising accounts for it’s search marketing network.
The offer is worth $199 and if you’re curious about trying out PPC, or even if you are putting your PPC via Google, and always wondered what Yahoo’s search network was like, now is the perfect opportunity to give it a go Free * (check the Yahoo website for conditions).
This offer has been on rotation on foxtel of an evening over the past few months, and despite supposedly ending a few weeks ago according to TV, is still available as of August 28th 2008.
The deal:
- Go to http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com.au/tv to redeem
- You cannot redeem if you are already a member of Yahoo search marketing
- Signup, and enter the promo code supplied, and you get $199.00 for free
- Follow the setup proposal assistant
The catch:
You need to pay a $99 upfront fee, so the old saying rings true:”There is no such thing as a free lunch”. Even so, this is an offer worth checking out if you’re wanting to look into setting up a Pay Per Click Campaign with Yahoo.
Presumably this is to weed out tyre kickers and the like
Getting the most out of your PPC Campaign
So, your boss has told you that Google is the great new channel for sales, or so he believes, and as the IT guy, it’s obviously your job to manage a new online marketing campaign.
Your boss has given you a budget, and an expectation that he’s going to see some return on investment, so where to from here?
There are a few things you need to ensure you get the most out of your PPC Campaign:
- You should setup landing pages and ensure they are well laid out and presented with good information. If you’re running a particular campaign, then directing your customers to a landing page tailored to the search results will produce far better results than pointing them to your general homepage and making them try to find what they’re looking for, give it to them straightt up.
- More importantly, your landing page will need to have an order process, or some way of contacting your sales team, otherwise your leads will never convert.
- Try a different mix of advertisers. Remember: Google has around 50% of all web traffic in Australia, so a Google Adwords account is a no brainer, but Yahoo and MSN also represent a large proportion of the SEA Market where web surfers are searching outside of google, so if your budget allows, you may want to experie
- Setup Google Analytics to monitor your conversions, this will be give you indications of success.
- Keep a tight leash on your campaign. Monitor your spend, and see which search terms are giving you the best return on investment.
- Monitor the terms that give the best ROI, and cull the terms that aren’t performing.
- Turn off your campaign when you’re not getting any return. The term tyre kickers is used amongst salesmen to describe potential customers who look around, and ‘kick tyres’ (referring to a potential car sale) and essentialy waste the salesman’s time. If your core operating hours are 8am-6pm, and your customers do most of their browsing of your site and purchasing during these hours, it’s likely that anyone who clicks on your paid links in non-peak times will be less interested in purchasing, and therefore increase your cost of acquisition whilst reducing your return on investment.
- Wherever possible, monitor your sales performance before the campaign and then reflect after a week or even a month into the campaign to see if the online advertising is having a positive impact on sales. If it has, this is where the IT guy goes to his boss to show the benefits of online marketing and asks for a payrise.
This article is brought to your by SearchKing, Specialists in SEO, Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Advertising.