seslondon07

February 19, 2007

SES London Session Recap – Competitive Research

Guest entry from Marie Howell, Bruce Clay Europe.

Marie will be digging through her notes and posting recaps on some of her favourite sessions from the London Search Engine Strategies conference.

The Competitive Research session featured Allan Dick of Vintage Tub & Bath who explained to the audience how he had dramatically increased the revenue of his company through organic optimisation the Web site. Allan described how competitive research is an integral part of an effective search engine optimisation strategy and made some suggestions as to how the attendees could use various (free and paid) tools to improve their own campaign. For example, in the competition research element of the Alexa Toolbar site owners can look at their direct competitors and estimate the traffic to their Web site. Dick also recommended using Shopzilla and Bizrate to research who the competitors are within their space and to identify their shop score. He suggested using the Wayback Machine to see the evolution of the competition, in addition to using Google Alerts and even ebay to search for your products.

Jonty Kelt from Double Click discussed Reverse Engineering and reinforced the need to know your competitors as well as you know your customers. He stressed that competitive research must be undertaken before search marketing is commenced so that the findings can be factored into the campaign. In an interesting and informative presentation, Jonty discussed how AdGooroo, for example, shows the competitive landscape for your industry and also suggested testing the bidding ‘savvy-ness’ of your competitors in search marketing. He left the audience with the wise words: ‘It takes the same aptitude to win in search as in any market endeavour.’

Daniel King from Hitwise concluded the panel by discussing how his company collects online data from 1,000,000 sites (by June / July of this year), which clients can use for online benchmarking and to check their own company against their competitors. The panel then took questions from the attendees on a variety of search marketing and organic issues.

Posted by Guest Author on 02/19/07 at 4:25 PM | Comments (0)

SES London Session Recap – Converting Visitors Into Buyers

Guest entry from Marie Howell, Bruce Clay Europe.

Marie will be digging through her notes and posting recaps on some of her favourite sessions from the London Search Engine Strategies conference.

With the suave and eloquent Mike Sack hosting Wednesday’s exciting Converting Visitors Into Buyers session that featured panellists Sarah Bubb, the delightful Alex Bennert from Beyond Ink, and Google Europe’s Head of Analytics Brian Clifton, the audience knew this session would be a true highlight of the conference.

Mike put the topic into context early, by explaining the need to test and improve conversion rates from landing pages in order to attain an effective ROI. Understanding and testing the different entry points to your sites is an integral part of understanding the conversion process, he stated. Mike then introduced the first presenter, Sarah Bubb from Tamar, who emphasised the need to keep a strong focus on online marketing, especially where money is spent within this technological arena. Sarah illustrated her point with an example from the car insurance industry and showed the audience that it was essential to use analytics tools effectively. Don’t just look at how many visitors your site gets per month, instead focus on where your visitors are entering and leaving your site, the abandonment rate and the point of abandonment.

The next stage in this process is to compare your metrics with your industry’s standard. Sarah advocated an holistic approach to internet marketing and promoted a blend of both natural and sponsored listings.

In her presentation entitled ‘Conversion Follies’, Alex Bennert from Beyond Ink encouraged attendees to look at internet marketing as a traditional offline retail store and to view it as merchandising your window displays. In this clear, yet clever, analogy, Alex stated that it is important not to get overlooked in the SERPs. To stay competitive you must think about your SERP appearance as your store’s window display. She also told the audience not to assume that their sites look the same from every angle and to check out variances in search terms. She used the example of using varying keyword phrases like “London streetmap”, “London street map”, “street map London” to see how your site looks from all angles. You have to ensure that you are bringing your visitors to the right page, and not to the ‘delivery entrance’ (i.e. a non-converting page which may rank well) but to ‘check out your curb appeal’. Alex suggested watching for well-ranking targeted terms that are not generating referrals and to identify entry pages with a high abandonment rate by checking log data carefully.

Alex’s analogy continued with her suggestion of looking at internal site search as kind of sales person to help you determine what your visitors are interested in. Internal site search is one of the most valuable tools a Web site has for conversion. Alex informed the session participants that misspellings/typos are extremely common and to include them in internal site search. ISS needs to report the most popular searches, report searches for no results, report searches for those that render results but no clicks, etc.

In the Q & A session, after Brian Clifton’s promotion of the free Google Analytics program, Mike deftly encouraged and directed appropriate questions from the audience to the panel – generating some excellent comments and suggestions, including Mike’s own pearls of wisdom (like being extremely careful of promotional codes, since they can stop conversions due to grievances from potential purchasers). The Converting Visitors Into Buyers session left attendees with a serious sense of the value of watching where their money is going and flying high with the useful and practical information they had received from the excellent moderator and top quality speakers.

Posted by Guest Author on 02/19/07 at 3:52 PM | Comments (0)

February 16, 2007

SES London Session Recap – Auditing Paid Click and Click Fraud

Guest entry from Marie Howell, Bruce Clay Europe.

Marie will be digging through her notes and posting recaps on some of her favourite sessions from the London Search Engine Strategies conference.

Jeff Rohrs was the expert moderator and the ‘host with the most’, introducing this advanced track session with flair, charisma and passion. In his introduction, he referenced his highly articulate and comprehensive paper ‘The Sausage Manifesto’ as a starting point for the session. Based on attendees’ frantic scribbling, you know that the traffic to that excellent document must have spiked dramatically later in the day.

Jeff introduced Jon Myers who discussed what click fraud and click auditing is and, as it was an advanced session, recommended sites like Search Engine Watch and NeverblueAds for more information. He discussed how Google has a four stage process to remove invalid clicks and how the user can view the results of this process within the reports available in their AdWords account.

There are a variety of different companies who deal with click auditing, and as advertisers become more aware of the potential for click fraud, the number of companies investigating it is only increasing. Jon stated that it is imperative to look at the log files and at the second tier URL to try and understand the click and conversion data. He said to particularly look out for repeating IP addresses/domains, where visitors are coming from (e.g. Asia), click spikes, etc. He told the audience that it is possible to refine this process with technology and to drill down into the data further by looking at factors like geo location, where the end user has used an open proxy, onion routers, where the DNS recorded doesn’t have a valid IP address, etc. The technology would marry this automatically with client conversion data.

Jon added that the search engines are willing to solve this before concluding that fraud detection will need to evolve and continue to develop as new products, such as mobile search, come into play.

Dr. Stephen Turner of Click Tracks discussed distinguishing poor performing ads from click fraud, and encouraged recognising false positives before the microphone passed on to Shuman Ghosenmajumder who added ‘a bit of colour’ to the previous perspectives.

Shuman gave the two types of click fraud, which are those from:

1. Competitors, trying to hurt other advertisers.
2. Affiliates, by generating false clicks on their ads.

He continued by saying that this might be via click farms recruiting ‘pay to click’ scams and software (Clickbots or Botnets – using a network of machines to create false traffic). Shuman stated categorically that Google detects fraud independent of the type of fraud. He showed how Invalid Click Reports show the number of clicks that are being marked as invalid and that Google aspires, naturally, to identify and refine out click fraud as soon as it happens.

Shuman described Google’s ‘shield’ that provides protection to the advertiser. He said that the search engines find it acceptable to have a high false positive rate and that Google will perceive many false positives as fraud and therefore not charge, even though it may actually be a genuine click. Google casts the net wide, apparently, to catch as many invalid clicks as possible and are quite happy for false positives to not be charged for.

Shuman discussed how real-time filters will come into play for a number of situations, including double clicks. Moreover, the offline analysis continues and although there is a period of time where the advertiser have been affected (and potentially not having their ads showing), a refund is given afterwards as soon as it is detected. Credits are given back to advertisers immediately. Shuman also covered reactive investigations – those investigations that are initiated by the advertisers from the logs that are submitted to Google. He says that this is a valuable feedback mechanism, although Google say this is a negligible percentage of the overall detected fraud.

Shuman also advocated using the Google Autotag, which allows users to see which clicks are being recorded by Google and which are not. This reconciles the number of log clicks and billed clicks.

Shuman concluded by saying that Google wants to hear from advertisers who believe that click fraud hasn’t been detected and that they are investing in the click quality team to improve customer experience and ensure a good ROI. So, the floodgates are officially open. Google’s investment means that there should be sufficient staff to help address advertisers’ concerns – in theory.

Ever conscious of the audience’s needs, Greg Boser set the stage by summarising the history interaction process between the search engines and the advertisers who were trying to report click fraud. He even included reference to the Clickbot Wars and competitive sabotage that was rife in 2002-3. When AdSense first came out, it was evident that detection of fraud was becoming more apparent and so the process of fraudsters using dirty proxies had been pretty much stamped out. Greg stressed how vital it is that analytics comes into play to assess potential click fraud. He recommended tracking clicks especially if they are from anonymous proxies, to check log files, cookies, etc.

Controversially, Greg (based upon extensive experience and a really tight handle on this issue) doesn’t believe the suggested 38 percent click fraud rates, He believes this figure is amplified by the click auditing companies in their efforts to capitalise on this side of the industry. A superb speaker, Greg rounded off his presentation with a few pearls of wisdom and thoughts for the future, like recommending Jeff Rohrs' ‘Sausage Manifesto’, stating that it is the ‘greatest document’ and encouraging people to track contextual advertising in addition to search. He concluded by saying that he believes strongly that ‘it is the responsibility of the search engines and not the advertisers’ to monitor and prove click fraud, and that detailed log files from the search engines should be made available to advertisers in order to facilitate reconciliation with the site log files.

The Q & A saw the eloquent Greg come head to head with Shuman based on Greg’s vast experience on the history of click fraud management by the search engines, plus the value of contextual advertising. A highly interesting session – the star of which was Greg - with some real nuggets of information magnanimously shared with the audience.

Posted by Guest Author on 02/16/07 at 2:15 PM | Comments (0)

February 15, 2007

Search Engine Strategies, Day 3

Guest entry from Marie Howell, Bruce Clay Europe.

Marie was kind enough to act as Bruce Clay’s roving reporter during SES London. We will be posting her daily recaps throughout the day.

With day three bringing sessions on Web Analytics and Measuring Success with a struggling Rand Fishkin (who was braving a nasty cold and refused to evacuate to Paris like the other members of his team) and Sara Andersson; Site Optimisation Analysis Clinics with industry luminaries Mike Sack and Dave Naylor; and Link Baiting and Link Building sessions hosted by Chris Sherman with experts Dave Naylor (again – busy man!) and Nick Wilson, the final day of SES London was a resounding success.

The presenters were all highly accessible, offering expert knowledge to attendees. They took time during the clinics (and afterwards) to examine the optimisation of individual sites and help the audience understand the process with ‘real life’ examples. Constantly on the spot, these authorities demonstrated what even a cursory look at a Web site can reveal in terms of search engine optimisation. Naturally, this emphasised just how much information can be derived, and just how many issues can be identified, once an in-depth study is performed and keywords, coding, architecture, and navigation are all looked at in detail.

In the Site Advertising Analysis Clinics, Mike Sack covered optimising page conversion and used live examples to demonstrate what tweaks can be undertaken to a site and to a page to make the user’s experience better and increase conversions immensely. Comments from attendees later reinforced just how much they valued this opportunity to interact so closely with the speakers and expert panellists.

The final session on Link Baiting and Building with Nick Wilson and Dave Naylor was informative and beautifully presented. Nick stressed how link baiting is hard work. It requires dedication, tenacity and creativity. There are no shortcuts or easy paths to this, he stated, and emphasised the importance of keeping it clean and offering something of value. He likened it to fishing in that it is not an exact science, you must keep casting your line, and though you may not always land a fish you have to keep going until you find the ‘sweet spot’.

After of the recent to-ing and fro-ing on the topic, Bronco’s Dave Naylor posed the question as to whether link baiting is in fact a dirty word. He stressed that it is the idea to create something of value to a specific audience and that logically anything of value is not dirty. Dave referenced the blog and forum ‘spat’ between Jason Calacanis and the SEO industry in which Calacanis is aiming for ‘stink bait’ by stating that the SEO world is ‘bull’ in an effort to gain traffic to his sites.

Dave discussed different types of ethical linkbait including ‘how to’s…’, contests, breaking stories, scoops, controversy, etc. and also recommended that corporations start a blog. He reinforced the need to maintain integrity at all times and never attack anybody. He then suggested that becoming part of the community is an integral part of this and to build up credibility in your space.

With Nick’s ‘innate listen-ability’ and expertness, plus the humour, skill and verbal dexterity (plus dulcet tones) of Dave, the session was fun, lively and informative. Questions were handled deftly and in a very detailed manner with clear, practical examples. Both speakers charmed the audience – as did many others throughout the week - with their frankness, honesty and willingness to share best practice in order to inform the industry and enhance our approach to search engine optimisation and search marketing in the UK.

Posted by Guest Author on 02/15/07 at 4:44 PM | Comments (1)

Search Engine Strategies London, Day 2

Guest entry from Marie Howell, Bruce Clay Europe.

Marie was kind enough to act as Bruce Clay’s roving reporter during SES London. We will be posting her daily recaps throughout the day.

After a very good night in Docklands where drinks were aplenty and conversation exciting, I had the opportunity of meeting for the first time with delightful people, such as Jenny Rohr and the lovely SEO Wife,

After a keynote address and interview with the famous Matt Cutts, day two’s focus was on Social Search issues ranging from using news search mediums, to blog and feed search, to video and podcasting. (Incidentally, when questioned, Matt said that the current movement within the Google index is “not an update”.) In addition to the SS vertical, other exciting sessions included Successful Site Architecture, Landing Page Testing, and Tuning and Converting Visitors into Buyers.

Social Search SEO has been one of the most innovative strands at the London conference and attendees were delighted to learn from the classy Amanda Watlington, SES veteran and expert Greg Jarboe, the highly intelligent and forward thinking Nick Wilson from Click Influence, and Katy Howell (no relation) who delivered a snappy presentation on search engine optimisation public relations.

Nick covered the topic of why blogging is so beneficial for companies. He discussed how, over last 3-4 years, there has been a massive change in the way that people use the Web and how now in order to gain targeted traffic it is essential to dive into social media. Nick delivered his perception of blogging as if in casual conversation and spoke about the importance of playing nicely within this space, highlighting the etiquette in the blogalaxy.

Amanda Watlington’s prediction of 2007 being the year of RSS sent a resounding nod through the audience. Her advice on how to create a good feed, how to syndicate content for other sites, and how to optimise a blog and/or feed was highly valuable and instructive.

Greg Jarboe discussed how the press release has only been optimisable since 2002. He presented a case study on the optimisation of press releases and how, by a happy accident, he stumbled upon some very interesting findings with the help of his intern son!

Katy Howell took the audience through the journey of moving into the potentially daunting world of the press release. Complimenting Greg’s presentation extremely well, she showed the step-by-step process of thought and action in getting your message out there and driving traffic to your site.

In the Converting Visitors into Buyers class, Mike Sack hosted with his usual flair and charisma, whilst sharing his extensive knowledge and inserting pertinent and challenging facts and questions.

Sarah Bubb, the fabulous Alex Bennert from Beyond Ink, and Brian Clifton (head analytics Europe, Google) were experts on the panel and gave some excellent examples and brilliant analogies to help the mixed audience understand the concepts being discussed. Alex’s correlation between SERPs and a window display was illuminating for the attendees. She encouraged looking at the title and ‘abstract’ that appears within the search results page as your shop’s window, the idea being that anything placed in there should be enticing and pertinent to the potential visitor.

She also encouraged thinking outside the box by not assuming that your store looks the same from every angle and to search with different orders of your keyword strings. Alex commented, “Check out your curb appeal.” To increase the potential for converting customers into buyers, Alex stressed the need to bring them in through the front door, not by the delivery entrance. The importance of internal site search was also addressed by Alex as she highlighted examples of how you can ensure that this potentially very powerful tool for conversion is utilised effectively.

.With quality information, interesting and informative experts, and frequent audience interaction, attendees went home happy with a truly incredible second day.

Posted by Guest Author on 02/15/07 at 2:10 PM | Comments (0)

Search Engine Strategies London, Day 1

Guest entry from Marie Howell, Bruce Clay Europe.

Marie was kind enough to act as Bruce Clay’s roving reporter during SES London. We will be posting her daily recaps throughout the day.

Day 1 of SES London kicked off with a number of exciting sessions on search marketing, covering everything from keyword selection to click fraud and auditing. With high industry experts such as Greg Boser (Webguerrilla), Shuman Ghosemajumder (Google), Elizabeth Osmeloski (Search Engine Watch), Jeff Rohrs (of Sausage manifesto fame) and others.

The Organic track was the highlight of Day 1. Chris Sherman acted as the moderator and introduced industry luminaries such as Greg Boser, Mikkel deMib Svendson, Dave Naylor, Barry Lloyd (former owner of makemetop), and Rand Fishkin. (Sorry, you don’t get to catch up him with this time, Lisa!).

With panellists of such a high calibre, the audience certainly wasn’t disappointed and listened to the experts discussing various optimisation and site issues. From the angelic position of the gorgeous Rand, who championed white hat throughout, to a discussion of the ‘dark arts’ by some of the others, it was a fascinating and informative session. SEO Rockstar Greg shared stories of how white hat, organic search engine optimisation, and cleaning up sites (and then ensuring they remain clean) had benefited his corporate clients and helped them to drive vast amounts of traffic and revenue. Mikkel supported this assertion by recommending a similar approach in response to one of the audience’s questions about a particular client Web site.

Mikkel’s passion for search engine optimisation was evident through his eloquent monologue about SEO being a science. He stressed to the audience how search engine optimisation is difficult. It is a science which, unlike nuclear physics or rocket science, does not have manuals or books and so groundbreaking solutions evolve every day. Search engine optimisation is hard work. It requires expertise, constant training, growth, research, development, continual testing and sound methodologies. In another discussion, Mikkel equated search engine optimisation with public relations, saying it is an essential part of any marketing strategy and can result in great ROI.

An example of which was recounted by Rand when he told a captivated audience that he knew of one company who had invested approximately £1000 for a couple of hours of Mikkel’s SEO expertise, which resulted in the company’s revenue increasing by 30,000 Euros the following day. Investment in search engine optimisation is key to developing any Web site and the ROI can be incredible.

Dave Naylor made reference to Jason Calacanis’ Chicago keynote statement and subsequent “SEO is ‘rubbish’” linkbait comments (author discretion used!) He then reinforced this by expressing a personal opinion (!) before articulating very clearly and concisely to the attendees why that assertion is completely inaccurate. Using powerful arguments, persuasive language, and drawing on his extensive experience within the industry, Dave demonstrated the benefits of organic search engine optimisation using concrete examples and quality information.

Attendees were left enthralled during the question and answer period as the diverse panellists offered up their expert advice to an audience salivating over the pearls of white hat wisdom. Fun, lively and interactive: a truly excellent Organic SEO session and an incredible first day.

Posted by Guest Author on 02/15/07 at 11:11 AM | Comments (0)