Search Sense

We’re exhibiting at the NMA Online Marketing and Media show…and it’s getting busy!

Our Head of Business Development David Tradewell is taking the floor at 2pm this afternoon delivering a workshop  on our connected  approach to digital marketing using case examples from Channel 4, Lipsy and More Th>n.

There has also been much intrigue around our NetworkSense Maps we are offering visitors to our stand today and tomorrow at the show. Visualising your online network and understanding how your customers are engaging with
your brand online is essential. If you are planning on popping in to the show, please come and see us for a NetworkSense map of your brand.

There are also some interesting sessions to come this afternoon in the conference include Speakers from O2 and Lovefilm.com. You can also enjoy a cool glass of Pimms with us if you are quick!

The show is in Islington at the Business Design Centre in London…see you soon!

QuadsZilla just made an interesting post on http://seoblackhat.com titled: There’s no Such Thing as Advanced White Hat SEO he makes some interesting points about how so called advanced white hat techniques are basically bordering on grey/black hat. Refferring to Lisa Barone’s experience at SMX:

Here are some of the “advanced search engine optimization” techniques I picked up during my time in Seattle.

• There are lots of old sites lying around on the Interwebz with great link juice. Buy them and capitalize on that. But do it carefully or Google will pick up on it and reset the score.
• Conditional redirects are teh awesome.
• Search marketers don’t need ethics. They’re marketers. Check the ethics at the door.
• You can never have too many .edu links.
• I need to grow some balls, stop fearing Matt Cutts and start buying links.

Where were the white hat advanced search engine optimization techniques in Seattle?

Because black hat seo is the only place where there is any development. White hat can work, but it’s exactly the same stuff that worked 6 years ago. Why do you need to go to a conference to get 6 year old information?

I think they’re mostly talking aout on-site optimisation rather than advanced methods for acquiring links etc, however I thought it was interesting. The whole post is here.

Did you read my post about Amazon? Well here’s one about a company I hadn’t heard of. Zappos sell shoes on the web. Stupid idea. I remember when it all went down at boo.com during the dot com bubble! No one thinks buying shoes online is a good idea. What if they don’t fit? You need to go to a shop to try them on to make sure you like them. The fact a shop has a really limited selection is just something you have to accept.

Zappos storefront is so-so… but they do have 133 pairs of etnies to choose from. I notice across the top that shipping is free… and returns are free too… for 365 days! A whole year! Oh, and the reviews from their customers aren’t simply good, they’re outstanding:

Customer service heaven

Zappos.com: 3 steps to great customer service

Zappos has otherworldly customer service

Check the comments:

” Zappos really does go above and beyond, and I’m just as comfortable there shoe shopping as I am in the store.”

It seems they have the problems I thought existed sorted by getting products out to people very quickly, very efficiently and by making returns easy and free. They do in fact have a giant warehouse next to a UPS depot and phone-based customer service is available 24 hours a day. Their philosophy is explained on their site.

So far, not bad. What makes them so interesting? How about the fact that they pay their new employees to leave? Employees get four weeks training at full salary and then are offered $1,000 to quit. Why?

“Because if you’re willing to take the company up on the offer, you obviously don’t have the sense of commitment they are looking for… and it’s willing to pay to learn sooner rather than later.”

Here’s a great quote:

“Companies don’t engage emotionally with their customers—people do. If you want to create a memorable company, you have to fill your company with memorable people.”

… and this is making them money. In 1999 gross profit was next to nothing. In 2002 it was $32m. In 2005 $370m and they have a target of $1bn in 2008. Tony Hsieh, the CEO, says that:

“Our business is based on repeat customers and word of mouth. We view the money that we spend on customer service as marketing money that improves our brand.”

Why I am interested in this? Because here is a company that not only could not have existed a few years ago but is making the network work for its customers, both on and off-line. How on it are they? Out of 1,600 employees 327 are on twitter. They’re that social; this article explains it well. Each one of those employees is a public expression of commonly held values and creates a palpable feel that people make this organisation.

Every year each employee is asked to write a few words for a book that describes the company’s culture to better express what they do and who they are as a group. You can buy a copy here. I remember doing this for myself back in October 2005 shortly after joining what was then Spannerworks; if you want to see what I wrote then let me know. It would interesting for us all to do a similar thing to see how we understand ourselves. ‘Know thyself’ as the old quote goes….

Oops. Forgot to post the link to the Zappos blog.

I have just noticed Google.co.uk is testing green backgrounds above and below the search results. This test seems to be happening only on a very limited number of datacentres. I managed to reproduce this on 66.249.93.99 (+2).

It looks like Google is trying out something new again and is testing it only locally. They have always been tweaking the layout and colours to make the Search Engine Landing Pages (SERPs) clearer and easier to use. In the past few years they have tested and implemented different ideas. I have always been under the impression the main 2 reasons were to improve the user experience and generate more visibility for the paid ads.

At first sight I thought the green backgrounds looked ugly and even tacky. However on a second look with my Search Engine Marketing head on, the premium placement ads stand out significantly more. Also my eyes are constantly dragged towards the top green bar which means I’m focusing on the premium listings and not lower listed organic results. As a result I feel more likely to click on the top results - paid and natural as well. If there are no premium ads (screen shot 1) I am tempted to click either on the first natural listing or the first AdWords ad on the right.

(click the images twice to view)

A SERP with three premium listings has a similar effect. My eyes are constantly coming back to the green bar and therefore all the top ads attract more attention.

Even though I personally do not like the green backgrounds I believe Google have come up with a design which will improve the click through rate for the premium and top organic listings.

I have also noticed that Google have added green backgrounds for premium ads on Google Directory SERPs but since I never use this I can’t tell how long this has been in place. This directory design seems to be rolled out to all datacentres. Unlike the SERP design mentioned previously I seem to be somewhat blind to the premium paid results. I think this is because the green backgrounds seem to blend with one another unlike the green/yellow combination which is much more compelling.

Google.com has recently been reported to be testing nearly white background for the premium placement AdWords ads. Rustybrick comments on Google Blending Ads More Into Organic Results.

I was using Facebook this morning to look at the new Facebook chat function and I started to think about data capture and the position of power that Facebook has attained. There is an underlying commercial exchange that occurs when we opt in as nodes in a network such as Facebook - in exchange for our position as a node we hand over personal data that can then be traded as a commodity by Facebook (Beacon).

I dont know if I like that, so I started to look for the ‘answer’. I came across an excellent post by Christoper Carfi on his blog The Social Customer Manifesto. He quoted his friend who had come out with a rather nice statement:

“Networks don’t have people. People have networks” - Demian Entrekin

These 7 words encapsulate how Carfi feels that the industry will evolve.

I think this is shaped and ratified by the concepts of web 3.0 and VRM. When I say Web3.0 I refer to the description put forward by Dave McClure as “the condition which exists when someone is always ‘logged in’ on the web, and can move from site to site without ever having to re-enter a username/password.”

This is a big step from web2.0 and is the most succinct description I have read to date.

If this is combined with VRM (Vendor Relationship Managment) where individuals choose what data they allow social networks to ingest then this may well result in a power shift. Instead of individuals having to enter relationships defined and controlled (sometimes from both sides) within each network controller’s silo, we can now become the point of integration. We reclaim personally controlled approaches to relationships, including the all important privacy variables. Sounds odd but is very simple when articulated by Carfi:

“Having my information (social network connections, preferences, purchase history, etc.) stored in someone else’s silo makes no sense. Having my information stored in (literally) dozens of silos makes even less sense. (Yes, dozens. Think about it. Your information is in Facebook, and LinkedIn, and innumerable CRM systems like Salesforce — one for each vendor you deal with — and in Visa’s systems, and in…you get the point.) The right point of integration is around the individual. Each of us is at the centre of our own universe!”

Here is a slick visualisation:

At the centre of our social universe (yes I am aware the image above is technically a solar system) we reposition ourselves as the gatekeepers of our data. We begin to reduce the power disparity and minimise the in your face commericialism that threatens to taint social media (until the next evil marketing scam….).

In theory this great, but it does come with some big buts (which I like):

- we can always just not use a site if we dont like its terms

- for this to work then social sites need to develop more efficient ways to monetize their offerings (if they dont have data collaterol and display isnt bringing in the bucks) - are the days of philanthropic networking sites behind us?

- does anyone care that people sell data other than when their mates find out what xmas gift they plan to buy them?