Impact Media Search Marketing Blog - Latest Comments

Re: Changing Media Landscape: The Rise of the Copywriter

benlocker — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:15:06 -0000

Demand for copywriting may have plateaued, but website owners are always going to favour excellent copy over dross. I'd say it's the bottom end of the market that's dropping out – which is no bad thing.

Re: Changing Media Landscape: The Rise of the Copywriter

Paul, copysnips.com — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 08:22:57 -0000

The big drawback with video is I can't just "skim" it, to see if it's worth my time viewing or not. That's why I don't see written copy disappearing any time soon.

On the other hand, with the rise of video will (I predict) come the rise of a new sub-industry... video copywriting (i.e. copywriters writing the scripts for the videos).

I've always advocated putting out QUALITY content first and foremost, because that's what Google will increasingly look for, and it also builds your AUTHORITY over time.

Paul Hancox
CopySnips.com

Re: What is ‘Bounce Rate’ and how can you Reduce it?

jamesgurd — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:07:50 -0000

I would also add to the equation relevance. Some pages are just not worth worrying about - that may sound negative but you have to focus on the pages that will add the most value. If you have a page that attracts 2 visitors per month and has a 100% bounce rate, then unless the commercial value of converting those 2 customers outweighs the cost (time & money) of optimising the landing page, there is no point trying to address the bounce rate issue.
We've gone through this exercise many times with clients using either Omniture SiteCatalyst or Google Analytics to pinpoint which pages have the lowest engagement (a factor of both visits, entry & exit ratios and bounce rate) and which ones could drive significant commercial value if improved.
Good article and some valid points raised - amazing though how many online retailers don't pay attention to bounce rate and landing page optimisation.
thanks
james

Re: How to determine your website’s best landing pages

jamesgurd — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:48:06 -0000

I think the point you make in the first para needs to be emphasised more - it is essential you know which pages are attracting the highest traffic.

If you are looking at driving conversion (whether that is sales, downloads, sign-up etc) then pages with high visits & a high bounce rate can deliver the greatest uplift when optimised.

We've seen landing pages with 90% bounce rate but minimal traffic and limited product range - even if the page was 100% optimised it would be impossible to deliver a positive ROI based on the cost of testing & optimisation.

It comes down to relevance and commercial goals.

thanks
james

Re: How blogging is changing media reporting

jamesgurd — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 07:27:16 -0000

Interesting article and I do agree in part - the Internet is certainly changing media consumption. However, I don't think it has all but put paid to traditional media. Traditional media still has relevance and blogging will never see it off completely.

It is interesting to see how traditional media owners are embracing the online channel and looking for new business models whilst ensuring that the offline service is delivered to those who want it. Circulation figures may be down but you will never replace the printed paper, there will always be an audience for it, whatever its guise might change to be.

What is more interesting is to see how traditional media owners like the big paper groups are exploiting the online channel to support the print medium and are increasingly using social media tools such as blogs via their journalists - just check out the Charlie Brooker blog for popularity. Positive online association can support offline sales - if I like a journalist I will buy the Sunday paper they write for; no matter how much my life is conducted online, nothing beats a lazy sunday with the paper!

thanks
james

Re: TechCrunch Take on Twitter

Adrian | Impact Media — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:13:45 -0000

Twitter themselves have since blogged about this issue - http://blog.twitter.com/2009/0....

As well as clarifying what exactly happened, it serves as a useful reminder to anyone who is active online to change passwords regularly and vary per service used.

Re: Google Webmaster Tools Reports Inbound Links to Not Found (404) Pages

ravm — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:44:58 -0000

This is great advice. It particularly great to use this tool after you do a URL change to make sure none of your pages get lost.

Re: 12 Strategies to Get More Inward Links

ravm — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:42:21 -0000

I've always seen Wikipedia as a lost cause for SEO link building. The link is nofollow and the watchdogs there are always marking anything even remotely commercial as SPAM. What a joke though, cause I've seen plenty of websites running adsense all over their pages and they still get listed. Just cause a commercial site is selling something doesn't mean they aren't relevant. Ah, well...rant done.

Re: Using the Search Query Report to Improve Your AdWords Campaign Performance

Adrian | Impact Media — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:37:37 -0000

By way of an update, Google have now improved the search query report so that you no longer have to suffer the curse of "other unique queries". In addition, the new AdWords interface allows for on-screen viewing and adding of negative keywords. The data is there, you just need to use it.

Re: Google Image Search Integrates Licence Filter

Nishadha Silva — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:41:51 -0000

Hi ,thanks for this great tip , finding relevant pictures with proper licenses can be a real headache

Re: Bing using DMOZ Description

Lemonaid_nt — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:43:31 -0000

I was wondering why Bing's listings were so much different from that of Google or the other major search engines. Good to know!

Re: Bing (Microsoft) adCentre For Multiple Accounts

Cedric Chambaz - Microsoft — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:47:28 -0000

Hi Sam,

Many thanks for this comprehensive explanation.

Just to let you know that we have also recently increased the number of client per credit card to more than 6. This was a decision made following several customer request, primarly amongst agencies like Impact Media. It is an option that can be activated when contacting our UK-based Search Experts (contact 0800 633 5915 between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Saturday).

I would also point you towards a brilliant tool, available free, that makes the planning of your search campaign even more efficient. The Microsoft Advertising Intelligence Tool (available for download here: www.LetSearchMakeYouSmarter.co..., with tutorials and case studies) is an add-on to Excel which connects to historical logs to provide keyword suggestion, click trends, CPC indication for different phrase match... But also demographic and geographic information. All that for free, straight in Excel so you can play around with it.

Hope this helps your readers...
Yours.

Cedric

Re: Google Go on the Offensive Over State-led Internet Censorship

jana — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:05:18 -0000

I have to say, I HOPE it will always remain a forum for free expression.
In my mind "dangerous" is a very subjective word which can be understand by different governments in very different ways. That's the danger. Thus we would give the decision about what's wrong and what's right from ours in the government's hand...!

Regarding to Eric Schmidt's announcement, I would say Google, among other companies, has set up structures to support government censorship. As Carol Bartz, CEO of Yahoo notes, “It is not our job to fix the Chinese government.” I agree. But it is sort of spectacularly, willfully oblique to simultaneously condemn the Chinese government, support government censorship, deny responsibility for censorship, and most spectacularly, in Google’s’s case, criticize the efficacy of government-imposed censorship.
That internet censorship cannot be complete, and that such strategies are “terrible” and doomed, does not alleviate the complicity of companies and governments trying to tamp down free expression. Certainly governments, but also to a very large extent Google and other internet platforms, bear responsibility for not only maintaining the internet as a space for uncensored expression, but upholding principles of net neutrality, access, and free expression in the face of censorious individuals, movements, organizations, and regimes.

If you wanna read more about this subject, wanna discuss about it or just wanna write a comment, join our blog:

http://ncacblog.wordpress.com/...

Jana (member of NCAC)

Re: Import Your Google Analytics Goals into AdWords

Gavin Turley — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:28:39 -0000

This certainly is a useful addition Google have made which pushes them way ahead of Yahoo and MSN for their PPC functionality!

Gavin Turley
e-inbusiness.co.uk

Re: Bing Builds Upon Impressive First Week

Rob Abdul — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:58:12 -0000

I don't think that Bing will be successful until Microsoft sort out their indexing issues.

For example, sites that have almost all their pages indexed in Google have barely 20% indexed in Bing.

Therefore Bing is not seeing most of the web.

I wish Microsoft would sort this out - they have millions at their disposal and the brightest people working for them.

Re: Copywriting as a Peripheral to SEO

jamesgurd — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:34:59 -0000

Hi Stephen
I really like this article, it challenges my thinking about SEO and copy. I think I agree with your point that copy writing should serve a different purpose to SEO, though it can complement and where possible should support SEO.
If copy is optimised for search and not for the user, you might get good indexing from the search engines but you are likely to get a high bounce rate on that page as users find the information dull. The longer this happens, the lower the relevance the search engines will associate with your page anyway. For a website owner, engagement is as important as search engine visibility.
I guess there has to be a compromise; use a talented copywriter to produce the most relevant and inspiring copy, then get an SEO expert to tweak to optimise for the most relevant keywords. Great copy has high value but if nobody can find it, well it is irrelevant.
Thanks for the thoughts on this.
james

Re: Has Twitter Made the RSS Feed Redundant?

jamesgurd — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:02:39 -0000

That is an interesting question, shame there are no other comments as would be interested to know what people think.
My take is that Twitter will not replace anything, it will simply add another level of information to your communication network. RSS feeds will still have their place - you can access the content from 1 person in 1 place when you want. Twitter can at times be an overload unless you are using the myriad of apps that help you control the information you receive.
I think RSS will retain its value for content that is indispensible but Twitter will enable people to access a wider portfolio of information quickly without having to digest large chunks of content.
Good post, thanks.

Re: Optimising Localised Search with Google Local Business Centre

Springboard SEO — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:36:57 -0000

LBC offers great assets to the clients of my Internet marketing company. Those that have retail outlets on the outskirts of their advertising radius will prize the access to departure locations of Google Map direction queries. Very very nice.

Re: Google Web Elements Adds Dynamic Functionality to Websites

Denis Wilson — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:58:13 -0000

That's really helpful to know, was just looking for info like that. Best!

Re: Google Web Elements Adds Dynamic Functionality to Websites

Alex — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:58:12 -0000

Yes, Google has a lot of services like Web Elements. I like also translate.google.com. Thanks, for post

Re: Backlinks

Andy — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:07:35 -0000

Thanks, good article! Maybe someone needs backlinkchecker? Try www.BackLinkStat.com.

Re: Is SEO Copywriting Relevant Anymore?

dom taylor — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:15:02 -0000

God i hope not! otherwise a lot of us would be out of a job! I'm inclined to agree with you, there will always be high demand for unique copy. The search engine algorithms are getting more sophisticated and I don't think it will be too long before the Google spiders will be able to understand meaning and contextual relevancy.
Keep up the good work. I enjoy reading it!

Re: Google Highlight the Importance of Sitemaps

Adrian | Impact Media — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 09:39:22 -0000

A timely reminder Steve!

In terms of creating Sitemaps, GSiteCrawler is very good and useful for all kinds of tasks for the busy Webmaster.

Re: Redefining Search Engine Preference with BlindSearch

jamesgurd — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:25:34 -0000

Interesting blog Stephen, had not heard of Blindsearch before but will be giving it a shout.
I know this is an experiment and a raw beta, but do you believe that a tool like this could add value? Or do you think it is fine as an experiment but in real life would simply distract and makes search a more time consuming process? My mind is not yet made up but I always wonder whether the world is trying to over-complicate matters by adding more layers to everything we do.
thanks
james
ps initial results suggest that on a blind test I am a Binger!

Re: The Art of Link Building

chris — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 06:35:31 -0000

A very interesting post. Your I will try your rules and hope I get some links more. Thanks for sharing.