In 2010, Google officially retired their “Google Advertising Professionals” program and replaced it with a new, tougher Google Certified Partner certification. The new program requires you to pass at least 2 exams related to the Google Advertising program.
Effective November 1st, we are pleased to announce that Andre’ Savoie has earned this new certification! Congratulations.
In today’s world, talking about being first on Google for something is starting to get complicated. With the introduction of “personalization” of search, the items you see for a particular phrase will vary greatly from what I see when I search.
The good news though is that with the introduction of varied results, there are now more chances than ever for you to have MULTIPLE listings on Page 1 of Google for a certain phrase. So today, the real goal in the search engine marketing profession is to gain multiple listings instead of just focusing on one.
With Google, you have 3 possible spots that you could appear “#1” for a various phrase:
Have you noticed that when you search for something you get results that include news, videos and articles about the phrase in addition to regular search results? These are called “universal results” which are designed to give you a well rounded sample to choose from.
The good news is that companies can now shoot for multiple listings there as well with highly ranked videos, news items and articles or even social results from sites like Facebook and Twitter.
It seems simple – become the most relevant and Google will put your company on the first page. However, in order to know how to make Google recognize your website as the most relevant one, you would have to know the algorithm that Google uses to rank websites. That algorithm is a closely guarded secret, which is why there is no single recipe to the right mix of SEO, PPC, and keyword placement to get onto page one.
Our suggestion, go after multiple results on the first page so when you can’t win for one, maybe you’ll win for another!
Businesspeople often say that they feel that they are wasting money on advertising but that they are not sure which money is being wasted and which is translating into profits. In fact, John C. Penny (JC Penny Founder) once said that half of his marketing money was wasted, he just wish he knew which half.
Now that much of the budget for marketing pursuits is devoted to online marketing rather than tangible, traditional advertisements, it can be nothing short of overwhelming, especially for time strapped business owners and managers.
The popularity of Google has changed the way potential customers find companies and select products. For most people, the process starts online with a search. This has resulted in a complete change in the way marketers approach sales techniques to reach potential clients.
If the shift towards digital marketing has you stumped, you are not alone. The most effective online marketing approaches incorporate each of these three components into a comprehensive plan that reaches consumers where they are, in any and all of these places. This is something that is hard, if not impossible, to get “out of the box” so to speak and requires careful planning and work to get the results you want.
Google instant is a new feature from Google that you have probably already noticed, especially if you have been a little frustrated thinking Google was broken this past week.
The whole thing with Instant is that results are updated right before your eyes. As you type the phrase suggestions appear or disappear. So what may start as a single word gets more specific as you type longer phrases.
Google Instant is based on the assumption (maybe study) that we read faster than we type. So Google figured if they show you more results as you type, you can find what you want faster.
Google says it will save you 2.5 – 5 seconds per search.
Add it up…50 searches a day x 2.5 seconds is 125 seconds or 2 minutes. X 360 days that’s 750 minutes or 12 hours a year! Do you really think this search tool will save you 12 hours per year?
Google is actually trying to predict what you want – and show it to you so you don’t have to go searching.
Google is now giving you results without even typing in the whole search term.
I saw an interesting story this week about a situation where someone who wasn’t happy with Google’s search rankings of certain sites is considering suing the world’s most popular search engine. The Texas attorney general is looking into complaints that Google is tilting their search results to favor certain sites over others. The AG apparently has filed an “antitrust inquiry” into the matter.
As frustrating as it can be trying to crack the “Google code,” I can’t see deferring to the conspiracy theorists and resorting to lawsuits. And I can think of a bunch of reasons to find other things to do with my time besides threaten legal action against the world’s leading search engine.
The reason Google is so popular is not because they spend money on marketing. It’s because users think they give the best results when they search for things. It’s that simple.
And they don’t just do a little better than everyone else. It’s way better. Most studies estimate that Google handles 2/3 of all search requests worldwide.
My good friend Ari Malek beat this into my head early on. Just because you build a site and shoot for a certain phrase, search engines don’t just push everyone out of the way to make room for you. You have to earn your spot in the rankings.
With annual revenue approaching $30 billion, my guess is Google is ready to stay in court longer than you are!
“Given that not every website can be at the top of the results, or even appear on the first page of our results, it’s unsurprising that some less relevant, lower quality websites will be unhappy with their ranking,” Don Harrison, Google’s deputy general counsel, wrote in a Friday blog post.
Read the full story about the Texas AG looking into Google results
As if their stock price alone isn’t enough to impress you, you have to admire Google’s sense of adventure. Through the years Google has proven time and time again that they are willing to “tinker” with their product in an effort to make it better.
Sometimes the changes work out for the better, but other times there is a revolt and they quickly put things back as they were. Do you remember the Bing inspired background image fiasco a few months ago???
In the last week, we noticed that Google has switched their highlighting for AdWords from yellow over to pink. My guess is that part of the reason is that on many computer monitors – the yellow was somewhat washed out and hard to see and this new pink color has higher contrast and is definitely more noticeable. We’ll see how long they keep it!
Google has traditionally highlighting their ads or “paid” listings in order to separate them from their natural, or organic listings. This is for 2 primary reasons:
If you would like to learn more about Google’s AdWords programs or get help managing your online campaigns, contact WSI today. We are certified in the AdWords programs and can help you get the most out of your PPC budget.
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